Page 41 of The Originals

“You okay?” Linda whispered.

Meg grabbed her soda, took a sip, and gave a quick nod.

The dinner lasted another two hours until the restaurant basically flickered their lights. Meg was happy to leave. They said their goodbyes, and she and Linda headed down the street where she was parked. Just as they crossed the street, she heard the rumblings of motorcycles. Meg spun around to see three sets of taillights. They weren’t Ghosttown, and she immediately felt a pit in her stomach. It was yet another reminder of how much she missed Mick.

“So?” Linda said, bumping her shoulder and walking down the sidewalk. “Are you going to tell me how you’re really doing minus theI’m finebullshit?”

“Iamfine.” Even to her own ears, Meg heard the doubt. And the lie.

“Oh right, barricading yourself in your room for two weeks only to come out to shower, eat, and work is the new ‘I’m fine’. Silly me.”

Meg sighed, digging her hands into her pockets. “I miss him.”

Linda stepped in front of Meg. “Then call him.”

Meg dragged her hands down her face in pure frustration. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It won’t change anything. He’s still the man who beat the ever-loving hell out of some guys, along with the whole club. You weren’t there, Lin. It was brutal, and when I tried to talk to him about it, he dismissed my concerns. He said it was his club, and that’s how they do things.” Meg sighed, reliving the night’s events in her mind.

“Ask yourself. Was it brutality with a purpose? Maybe in some sense, Mick’s right. You had been around the club for one month. But this is his life. Maybe he saw a future potential threat you didn’t.”

Mick had been so adamant about the violence being necessary, and that thought hadn’t crossed her mind in the last week.

“Maybe,” she whispered.

“Has he called you?”

Meg drew in a breath. “Four times last week. None this week.”

Linda wrapped her arm around Meg’s shoulder. “I got my brother’s car for two more hours. We can drive over to Ghosttown? You can talk to Mick, and I can” —Linda grinned with a playful glint in her eye— “well, I’m sure I can find something to occupy my time.”

Meg chuckled remembering Linda’s last visit to the clubhouse.The night I met Mick.Meg briefly considered the offer. But if she was going to see Mick, she wanted it on neutral ground. The last thing she needed was to show up unexpected at the clubhouse and find him with another woman. He wouldn’t be at fault. After all, she was the one who’d ended things. He was single. A burning heat rushed through her veins at the thought of him with someone else. It wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.

“Thanks, but maybe I’ll call him when I get home.”

Linda bounced on her toes, grabbing Meg’s forearms. “Yes, call him and make up. I hate seeing you miserable without him.”

Me too.

Linda grabbed her keys from her bag. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Meg looked down at the empty street. “I think I’ll walk. It’ll give me time to think about what to say to him.”

“You sure?”

Meg nodded and watched Linda get in her car and take off down the street. Meg started walking through the crosswalk and felt a chill race over her skin, pebbling her flesh. It was almost eerie, and she glanced over her shoulder, spinning around while hurrying her steps. She didn’t see anything. As she continued down the road and prepared to make the left off Main Street, she noticed three motorcycles on the opposite side of the street near the park. They were side by side with their lights shut off, but she could see the riders were on them. She half wondered if they’d been the same three from a few minutes ago.

Turnersville wasn’t necessarily a hub for bikers, but there were quite a few seen around town. Maybe they were waiting for someone. Meg turned the corner to her street. With only four blocks, she’d be home in less than ten minutes. It was after eleven, a little late, and she contemplated waiting ’til tomorrow to make the call.Who am I kidding?Mickwould still be up.

She was mid-step when she heard the roaring engines racing down her desolate street. She looked back and saw three single headlights cruising down the road. Meg expected them to pass, but at the very last second one of them made a sharp turn into the driveway just ahead, stopping directly in front of her as the other two pulled up alongside the curb.

She jumped back, pressing her hand to her chest, trying to calming her racing heart. It was threatening to beat out of her chest. Meg eyed the three men.

“Oh shit.” The one directly in front of her laughed. “Did I scare you?”

Meg swallowed the knot in her throat and licked her lips. “Considering you almost ran me over? Yes.”