I was driving the SUV because, well, Romeo wasn’t about to ride bitch and Phee looked at our rides like they were demonic. They seemed to scare her a little. I wasn’t sure why, but I’m sure there was some sort of reason. I respected her choice.
“I told you about the club,” I explained before launching into introductions. Each of my MC brothers shook his hand. Romeo was still standoffish. He didn’t say much, which surprised me, given we were here to protect him. I guess that was just him. Suspicious and untrusting. He hadn’t always been that way, but he definitely wasn’t one to make friends easily either. There was still time to develop relationships and trust. He’d see soon that he could trust each of these guys with his life—if he let them in.
“Come on,” I insisted, waving toward the SUV Phee and I had arrived in. “We’ve got a plane to catch in a couple of hours.”
I started walking, but when I didn’t hear footsteps behind me, I turned and looked over my shoulder. Phee was staring up at Romeo with a raised eyebrow. “You didn’t tell him?”
I turned slowly hearing Blizzard chuckle and mumble. “Oh, this should be good.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I dared to ask, “Tell me what?”
Romeo smirked. “Probably should have mentioned I’m on a no-fly list.”
I threw back my head and closed my eyes. “Of course, you are,” I groaned. “Do you know how many hours it is to Athens from here? Like twenty-seven hours. This wasn’t something you could have mentioned before?”
Romeo shrugged. “Forgot. Was a long time ago. They gave me ten years.”
Wrench cleared his throat, and I looked over at him. “Not to be a downer, but aren’t you meant to be going to prom tomorrow night.”
Fuck.
Fucking fuck.
“I promised I’d be there,” I muttered, already feeling her kick me in the balls. And you know what? I’d fucking deserve it because I hadn’t figured this all out properly. I’d rushed off, thinking the sooner, the better without asking the questions I needed to ask or even fucking bothering to say goodbye.
“You leave now, you might make it in time if you drive straight through,” Blizzard noted stepping forward. “You gotta move ass though, and these guys are gonna have to help you.”
“I can drive,” Phee offered straight away.
My eyes moved to Romeo. He grinned. “Oh, I can help drive, but first you need to explain to me why the hell you’re going to prom.”
I rolled my eyes, rushing forward. “Just get in the damn car, will you.” I looked over at Blizzard. “We’ll drive with you part way until you turn to head to the airport. You’re gonna have to call the guy we got the car—”
“Just go…” he waved me off, “… I’ll sort it. We’ll catch you when you get home.”
“One more thing,” Wrench called as I ran to get in the car. “You’re gonna be cutting it fine, so stop somewhere and buy a damn suit.”
I waved at him over my shoulder before opening the driver’s side door only to find Romeo already in it. “I’ll take first shift since I know my way around here like the back of my hand.”
Once I was in, we took off like lightning, the desert road dead straight and almost empty. Not a lot of people, and only the odd small community. Romeo obviously had no care for being pulled over. You’d think since he’d just got out of prison, the last thing he’d want to do was run into a cop.
I wouldn’t want to be that cop anyway.
It took a little under an hour to get to the city. The place was crazy, and it wasn’t somewhere I could ever imagine myself living or spending a lot of time. I liked the quiet that small towns bought, the ability to just escape so easily into the countryside.
The lights and sounds were way too much for my senses.
I’d probably go mad.
Whereas, the look on my brother’s face told me everything. The smile, the way he slouched back in his seat, the ease and smooth driving.
He was at home here.
This was his place.
We pulled up to an intersection. My club joined the straight lane to the airport while we were veering to the left to head east toward Athens. “Honesty, this gives me anxiety.”
Romeo shook his head as we pulled away from them. “Once we’re out of the city, we’re fine. They don’t leave Las Vegas, they don’t want to or need to. If they haven’t made an appearance yet, I’m pretty sure we’ll be okay. Ten minutes, and we’ll be well out of this place.”
“Pretty sure isn’t exactly convincing,” I countered.
His eyes flicked to me before they moved back to the road. “It’s all I’ve got. Nothing’s for sure in life, you know that.”