“I don’t know, I’ll figure it out,” Jesus said as I followed him out to his Harley.
“They call you King?” I asked him, and he turned to me with a half-grin and then shrugged his shoulders.
“Yeah. Nobody has called me by my name in years. It sounds strange coming from you,” he said, and we stared into each other’s eyes. It was still hard to imagine, that after all these years, here we were, both grown-ups, talking to each other. We had just had sex. He had been inside me.
The sound of footsteps behind me interrupted us and Jesus looked up at the muscular, tall man who was walking towards us now.
“I just spoke to Moira,” the man said.
“Yeah?” Jesus replied as I swung my face expectantly between the two of them.
“She’s willing to house Valentina for a while, till things settle down,” he said, and the two men shook hands.
“Thanks, brother,” Jesus said, and the man shrugged his shoulders casually.
“I’m Commando, by the way,” he turned to me next and gave me his hand.
“I’m Valentina,” I said, shaking it and he grinned. Then he looked at Jesus again and was gone.
“Who is Moira?” I asked him, while we walked over to his Harley.
“Commando’s sister. She doesn’t actually live here anymore. Commando just got married, and she came down for the wedding, and she’s still here. I’ll take you to her place. Commando is right, you’ll be safe there,” Jesus told me as he helped me up on his bike.
When I wrapped my arms around his waist, I did feel safe. There was nowhere I could feel safer than with him. Ten years later, and he was still the only person I could depend on.
xxx
Moira was pretty and smiled kindly at us when she let us into her apartment.
“It’s been a long time, King. And you must be Valentina, King’s friend,” Moira said as she held the door open for us. I watched as she and Jesus hugged and I’d noticed the way she had said the word “friend.” Everyone knew that there was more to us than that.
“I’m sorry for imposing on you like this,” I said to Moira, who ushered us into her living room. She waved her hand in the air.
“Don’t be silly. I know exactly how it feels to want to get away from the MC world. That’s exactly why I left,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Besides, my brother seems to think that the safest place for you to be would be here. I hope that’s true,” she added and led us towards one of the two bedrooms in the back of the apartment.
“Thanks, Moira,” Jesus told her, and she hugged him again.
“I would say to you to take care of yourself, but I know you’re already doing that,” Moira said with a broad beaming smile, and I entered the room and immediately felt at home.
“I’m going out for a few drinks, Valentina, you should settle in. Feel free to raid my closet for clothes or any other stuff that you need. You should feel entirely comfortable here,” she added, while she was already half way out of the door.
“Thank you
,” I called after her, but she had shut the bedroom door behind her.
“She seems lovely,” I told Jesus, who was staring at me again.
“Yeah, she’s a gem,” he replied, and I sat down on the bed with a thump. It was a springy mattress, and it made me bounce and smile. Jesus still looked worried, like he was still not at peace.
“Thank you too, Jesus…I haven’t actually thanked you for everything you’ve done and are doing,” I said, and he walked towards me. He had his hands thrust into the pockets of his leather jacket and was studying my face.
“You don’t have to thank me, Valentina. You might not know this, but you saved me when I was at my lowest. You gave me hope that things could be better,” he was speaking in a thick low voice while we stared at each other. I could see that he meant every word he was saying.
“Please don’t worry about me here, Jesus. I’ll be okay…your friends are right, I’ll be safe, you’ll be safest if I don’t live with you,” I said, and he stepped even closer to me.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed, and he was hovering over me, looking down at me with narrowed dark eyes.
“I don’t care what happens to me,” he grunted.