“Karma.”
"Exactly. Build up enough karma points, and who knows what'll happen?"
“If I hadn’t come around, what would you have done with the bike you’re fixing up?”
“Oh, that’s easy. I would’ve kept it until I found a different woman who needed it.”
“Have you done this before?” I ask suspiciously.
“Maybe.”
“You said the club saved you. From what?”
“I don’t like to talk about that,” Allie says, growing serious. “But maybe one day, I’ll share it. For now… the club saved me, and now, I try to save others.”
“I’m so glad that I swiped your number from Rob’s phone.”
“He didn’t give it to you?” she asks, clearly surprised.
“I didn’t ask him for it, although he did want us to meet. I wasn’t so sure about that at the time, but now, I’m glad. I just hope that our being friends doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.”
“I can handle myself,” she says.
“What exactly do I have to do to join the club?”
“It’s fairly easy. You have to have a bike and be able to ride it through an obstacle course.”
“An… obstacle course?” I repeat dully.
"You have to meet with the club's president, and he has to like you, and you have to be vouched for by at least four club members, of which you already have five."
“That’s if they want me in the club.”
She furrows her brow. “Why wouldn’t they want you in the club?”
“I’m just a bit of a pessimist lately.”
“I get it, but things are turning around for you, right? You’ll have your bike soon. You have a new job, soon to be two, and you have four guys you love.”
“Love is a strong word,” I say slowly.
She snaps her fingers. “There is a slight annual due you’ll have to pay as a club member, but working for the club will cover it for you. I knew there was something I was forgetting.”
“And meetings?”
“Yeah, there are some meetings and some events, get-togethers, that sort of thing.”
“And…” I hesitate.
“And what?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly.
I can’t bring myself to ask if the Grim Reapers have ties to the mafia. She wouldn’t bring women who were seeking protection from abusive husbands into the mafia, right? That just wouldn’t make any sense.
But motorcycle clubs are families, just like mafias are families. Both will do anything for their people.
Only one is dangerous, and I’m far too paranoid. This is a good thing. Besides, the guys aren’t in the mafia.
At least, I don’t think they are…