Page 51 of Was I Ever Free
She giggles, and I’m reminded that the weed is probably hitting her a lot harder than me. “What do you mean?” she says with another laugh. “I must admit I don’t think I can even comprehend how much money that is.”
I don’t know how else to tell her how uncomfortable this money now makes me feel. As if she’s nothing but a paycheck. When in reality she’s… well—
I jump off the hood and reach for my phone inside the car. It takes me less than five minutes to find Lucy’s bank information and transfer the money over. “Well, I guess you’ll have to figure it out, because it’s yours now,” I declare with a shrug, pocketing my phone.
Lucy laughs, studying me with quiet amusement.
“I’m not joking, Luce.”
Her smile falls. “What? You can’t be serious…”
I don’t feel like placating her, the words sticking to my tongue even if I wanted to.
Finally, after a long breath, she murmurs, “I don’t know what to say.”
I shrug my shoulders. “So don’t.”
Her gaze turns soft, almost shy, her eyes bouncing back and forth.
Then suddenly, her face lights up as if she just had the greatest idea.
“Let’s eat, I’m starving,” she says with zeal, followed by a giggle.
I grin, letting out a small laugh too.
I hold my hand up toward her. “Sounds like a plan.”
The rules can go fuck themselves.
Her palm finds mine, her fingers curling into my grasp. We stay like this for a few seconds too long, her gaze fixed on mine. Then she smiles, and my heart is suddenly beating a lot faster than before. With my help, she pushes herself off and jumps down. As soon as her feet touch the ground, her hand leaves mine. The emptiness that follows feels all too familiar.
And for the first time, I wish it didn’t.
26
It’s the middle of the night when we finally arrive at the private compound.
Bastian wakes me up with a small shake of the shoulder and I jerk awake, looking around trying to situate myself, groggy and disoriented.
“We’re here,” he whispers, quietly opening the car door, and climbing out. “Grab what you need for tonight.”
I stifle a yawn, still half asleep, but grab my bag and a change of clothes, popping my cowboy hat on my sleep-flattened hair. The smell of pine is heavy in the air as soon as I’m out of the car. The property seems to be surrounded by forest, cloaked in darkness, but I can see light further ahead, through the trees, distant music and laughter accompanying it.
On our way here, Bastian enlightened me on what to expect around one-percenters like the Black Plague MC. What I got from it was that these motorcycle clubs were very similar to the Sin Eaters, but lived by a strict code that involved bikes and a whole lot of illegal activities.
I find Bastian near the trunk, speaking to a man with an accent I’ve never heard before. Curiosity gets the best of me, making me walk up without my usual nerves just to hear him speak.
Stopping mid-sentence, the man turns to me, his face mostly hidden by the surrounding night. “And who’s this bonnie lass?” he says with a smile.
All I hear are words, half of them carrying no meaning. I fight back the embarrassment of somehow always being slightly confused about everything at all times and turn to Bastian for clarification.
“Lucy. Lenix’s sister from Sacro Nuntio,” he responds coldly.
Hearing myself being described as such by Bastian stings a little, but ultimately those descriptors are not wrong, so I say nothing, simply nodding with a smile.
The man makes a sound of recognition, which leaves me a little weary, wondering what he’s heard about my family and the commune we grew up in.
He holds out his hand. “Name’s Kenzie. Pleasure to meet you, Lucy.” We shake hands as I mumble the same.