Falling For The Biker: The Vice President's Girl Chapter 48

Ezra

"You can't ask me to stay back, Ezra!" Wren snaps. "I want to come with you."

My jaw ticks. "No! I'm dropping you off with Quincy."

"Ray's my brother," she chokes out. "I need to make sure he's okay."

"He's fine, Wren. No one was seriously hurt."

"But someone was hurt."

I pull into Ray's driveway, and cup Wren's jaw. Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears, cheeks red and nose even redder.

"Hey," I murmur, looking into her eyes. "I'll call you, okay? Please, just stay here where I'm sure you're safe."

She sniffles, and a tear drops.

Something in me cracks open, the air seems not to be enough.

My thumb catches the single tear drop, and then I pull her to my chest, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"I promise you, sweetheart, your brother is fine." I kiss her forehead.

She clutches my shirt, and looks up at me. The unadulterated hope, and adoration in her eyes has me nearly bolting out of the car.

The trust, and faith she has in me...fuck, it terrifies me.

"Call me," she croaks.

"I promise, I will."

She leans in for a kiss, but I turn my cheek at the last minute when I spot Quincy coming out of the house.

Before Wren can ask why I did that, I jerk my head toward her side of the window.

"Quincy already knows about us," she says.

I frown. "And I don't like that. Come on, let's get you both inside."

She scrubs at her face harshly as we step out of the car, meeting Quincy halfway.

It takes a moment to see the puffiness of Quincy's eyes.

Oh my goodness.

"Ezra..." Quincy begins.

"No one is hurt, I promise," I cut in immediately. "Ray is fine, the others... it's probably just a small scrape."

Quincy hugs Wren, and they sniffle like someone just died.

This is the most uncomfortable situation of my life.

I've never been in the midst of crying women, what the fuck am I supposed to do? Take them shopping?

Fucking hell.

Quincy meets my eyes. "Can we come? I want to see Ray."

"I'll bring him in one piece, but I need to go now." I back away from them. "They need my help."

Quincy's lips wobble and she holds Wren tighter.

I nod. "That's good. Keep holding each other like that, but do it inside."

By the time I'm near my car, Wren is leading Quincy into the house. She spares one last glance and my lips lift in a seemingly encouraging smile.

When the door shuts behind them, I'm speeding the fuck away from Ray's home and toward the clubhouse.

Ray tosses a fire extinguisher to me the moment I run up to them. The rest of the men are with fire extinguishers, while the women gather together watching.

"Why can't we call the fucking fire department?" Someone screams, one of the new women.

"Because they'll come with the cops. Trust me, you don't need the cops showing up here," another answers.

I tune them out, running to the back of the house and aiming the nozzle at the yellow flames that cackle softly at the doors.

Most of the fire has been put out, but there's still enough that could spread.

Kicking the door down, I burst into the house, squeezing the extinguisher at the fire.

Torch and Clay pop in a few seconds after, heading up the stairs while I take care of the sofas, rugs and the fucking liquor cabinet.

Shit!

It takes us at least forty-five minutes until all the fire is gone.

The third bottle of extinguisher falls from my hand with a loud thunk and I collapse on the nearly blackened sofa.

Smoke fills my lungs and I choke, sputtering until my chest relaxes.

"I'm going to kill every single person responsible for this!" Ray storms in, and hell, he's pissed.

But so the fuck I am.

I stand, nodding at him. "Who did it?"

"Fucking Smitties."

Just like I suspected.

They promised they'll come back, and they have.

"This is crazy." I run a hand through my hair. "What are we going to do? They can't set our shit on fire and go about like it's sunshine and rubies."

Ray hesitates, lips frowning at me. "EJ..."

"Yea?"

He presses his lips together, and my brows furrow. Eyes stare at both of us, a hush silence falls.

"Tell me the truth, did you kill Tristan?"

The question falls like a thick cloud, weighty.

I blink, raising a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Don't get me wrong, he deserves to die. But I just want to know if you actually killed him."

"I didn't kill him." My fists clench.

Ray stares at me for a long minute, and then asks me the dumbest question I've heard in my entire life;

"Are you lying to me?"

I still, lips pressed into a thin line. "What the fuck kind of question is that?"

"Answer it."

"I already did."

"Don't fucking lie to me, EJ. Tell me the truth, and nothing's gonna happen."

I scoff, glaring at him. "Nothing's going to hap—fuck you, Ray."

The words are barely out of my mouth when his fist cracks across my jaw. I push him by his chest, and he rams into me.

I'm knocked off my feet, and the breath is yanked out of my lungs as we both topple to the ground grappling against each other.

Everyone gives way as we throw punches on each other, adrenaline pumping through our veins.

It takes a bit of time and struggle, but I manage to shove him off me and rise to my feet.

"What the fuck-" I spit, "is your problem? I didn't fucking kill Tristan. Sure, I beat him to an inch of his life, but I didn't kill the twat even if he fucking deserved it."

My chest heaves, fists clenching and unclenching as I stare at Ray. He's sitting now, a knee propped up to his chest.

"Help me up." He stretches a hand.

"Fuck no." I swat his hand and storm out to my car, shoving anyone in my way with my shoulders.

At the glove compartment, I pull out a stick of cigarette and light it up.

My jaw ticks, heart pounding in my ears.

The smoke drags into my lungs, and I hold it. It warms my chest, thawing the pent up anger and frustration at both Ray and the Smitties.

And then, I blow it out, watching the puffs curl in the air before dissipating.

A presence joins me seconds later. I don't have to look to know it's Ray.

"I'm sorry," he says with a sigh. "All this is getting to me, and it's no excuse but I'm sorry for railing into you like that."

I don't respond.

Another ring of smoke puffs out from my lips.

"You hit me in front of everyone. You questioned my honesty. Have I ever lied to you, Ray?" I ask, inhaling the cigarette.

He sighs. "You haven't."

"We're all frustrated, Ray. You just don't go about hitting people whose only offense is to stand by your side."

"You're right." He nods, rubbing his hands down his face. "We just paid Reggie eleven point five million dollars, and just when things look like they're back to normal, another shit happens."

He continues. "It's like we're taking one step forward, and two steps back. It's exhausting. I have a little sister, a girlfriend and a baby on the way."

"I know you're terrified," I say. "I am too. I have family too...family I had to run out of to help with this shit show."

"Shit!" His eyes widen. "You mentioned it's Noah's birthday today."

I nod, a small smile on my lips. "Yea. It is. Wren and I went, dropped her off with Quincy before heading here."

His neck tilts, eyes slightly narrowed. "You took Wren to meet your family?"

I snuff out the cigarette with my shoe, something to hide the nervousness in my eyes.

"Yes," I answer. "We've been living together for almost two weeks if not more, somehow we've become acquaintances and maybe friends."

"Friends?"

Irritation slams into my chest, and my lips curve downward. "What Ray? I can't be friends with your sister?"

"Come on," he settles back. "You can, but it's weird. You've never been friends."

"But we've been cordial once, before she suddenly hated me."

"Fine, jesus! You can be friends, I guess." Then he places a hand on my shoulder.

His grip is firm, almost digging into my shoulder blades.

"I know my sister used to have a crush on you," he says, eyes hard. "You may not see her like that, but you're still a man, EJ. Can I trust you with my sister?"

I swallow thickly. Cold sweat runs down my spine, and I look into my best friend's eyes with faux courage... And I lie. "Yes, you can."

His brown eyes look into my soul, unsmiling, intimidating. But I don't break.

After what feels like hours, he grins.

"Good!" He slaps me on the back. "Because if you break my trust, not only will I hang you by the balls, but you'll cease to mean anything to me."

His chuckle rings out after that, and I join him, albeit a little less ecstatic.

The only similarity in our laughter is that we both know he's not joking.

Not in the slightest.

So now, I have two options after Ray's 'not so subtle' threat.

One, end things with Wren.

Or two...pray we don't get caught.