Chapter 42

The sound thundered through the room and shook the door on its hinges. Bard burst into action. He grabbed me, flipped me to the side, slid down to the floor and reached beneath the couch, then stood just as fast holding a shotgun.

My eyes widened as he shook it in one hand, and the resounding click of a cocked weapon echoed the room. Panic set in. The moment had arrived, and my heart was racing faster than I ever thought it could.

But it wasn't because of Drake.

It wasn't because I was afraid of my own death.

Bard was here, and he wouldn't run.

I could tell by the look on his face, by the way he held the gun, by the way his eyes carved into me as if taking a piece to keep with him.

Bard would fight until they killed him.

A hundred and one emotions filled the space between us.

Bard's jaw clenched as the banging sounded once again. His free hand reached forward and jerked me to my feet, then before I could even recover my balance, his lips hit mine.

He pulled me close with that one arm, and the kiss was nothing like the one we'd shared the moment before. It was as if he were trying to take a lifetime's worth all at once. Rough. Desperate. It held no promise... only...

Goodbye.

Moisture pricked my eyes. A Goodbye. The end. I shut my lids tight. This was it.

I'd dragged Bard down with me.

The door shook again, more thunder sounded, even louder than before.

Bard pulled back and locked me in a hard stare. "Run, Jessie. Don't look back."

I shook my head.

No. I wouldn't do that. He couldn't ask me to do that.

He gripped my chin and stilled me, eyes blazing. "Yes, you will. You're going to do what I fucking said, and you're going to live."

I glared at him. "No."

His teeth gritted and bared. His eyes sharpened again and scanned the room, cut to the door, searching... for an escape? A plan?

But the next set of thunderous knocks was accompanied by a voice. "Police! Open the door!"

My breath caught, and a million 'oh fucks' ricocheted around my skull.

Officer Jones.

I forgot.

Again.

I didn't just forget.

I broke probation by skipping town.

I'm going to jail.

"Actually," I whispered. "Running doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Bard held me in place. "Let's see what he wants."

I gaped at him. "He wants to lock me up. That's what he wants!"

"Ms. Murphy," Officer Jones deep baritone boomed. "While I should be taking your ass straight to lock up, luckily for you, I owe your employer a favor. However, if you do not open this door, I may just change my mind."

Bard stepped around me and slid the shotgun back beneath the sofa.

"What if he's lying?" I whisper hissed at him.

"Then I guess one of us is going to jail."

My face slackened, and Bard noticed.

"It won't be you, Tequila." He strode across the room and grabbed the doorknob.

The minute he pulled it open, the hangman himself zeroed hard eyes on me and pushed his way inside. "You just can't seem to get it together, Ms. Murphy."

Bard stiffened beside the mountain that was my probation officer, and his eyes narrowed.

Officer Jones turned and studied him. "I'd like a few moments with my parolee." It wasn't a request. Hell, it wasn't even polite.

Bard paused for a long moment, and I held my breath for what would come next.

His eyes met mine and stuck for a reluctant pause, then with a clenched jaw, he nodded and exited the front door.

Officer Jones grunted in the direction Bard had gone then turned back to me. "Ms. Murphy, imagine my surprise when you didn't show up for your routine appointment." His eyebrows lifted. "There wasn't any."

His steps echoed as he walked further into the room. "I should have had a warrant issued for your arrest that day, but instead, I gracefully decided to check with your new employer." He towered above me and, despite his admittance to doing me such a huge favor, his expression suggested I'd killed every kitten he ever owned.

"Zeke has requested that I do your visits here. He seems to think you are in some sort of danger," he paused and grunted, "which I don't doubt. Under normal circumstances, I'd refuse. It's a violation for me to even agree to this." He took a seat on the edge of the chair, testing the capabilities of the old piece of furniture. "You are a very lucky girl." Each word was spoken pointedly, slowly, and his eyes held mine locked in their disapproving stare.

I took a deep breath and released it. My heart rate gradually returned back to normal, and I took a seat on the couch facing him. "Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me. It wasn't my idea. If it was up to me, you'd have been locked up a week ago."

"Yes, sir. I understand, sir."

Another grunt. "Any danger you may be in could be avoided. All you'd need to do is help."

Help.

Testify against Drake, against the club.

Commit suicide.

"I don't know anything."

His lips thinned. "Then, tell me, Ms. Murphy. Why is it that you're out here?"

I paused. Why was I here...

I couldn't answer honestly, and he knew it. He knew the real reason why. As bad as things already were, I wouldn't become the rat. They saved special treatment for those. I hadn't even played witness to what happened when someone crossed that line, but... I'd heard stories.

Officer Jones continued to stare at me, waiting for a response. "Well?" he barked the word, tone lifted and demanding.

I searched my mind, fighting to come up with something worth the trip, something that didn't involve the club. But his presence and the looming gallows that came along with him, all of it had my brain in a damn coma.

"Ms. Murphy! If you can't even explain..." His voice thundered throughout the room.

I spat the first thing that came to mind. "Bear hunting, sir!"

He heaved a breath, sat back more in his chair, and shot me a flat look. "Bear hunting."

I inwardly cringed.

What.

The.

Fuck.

"Yes, sir."

His eyes narrowed, and he stared at me. One long, hard, silent stare. "Ms. Murphy," he started, tone lacking any and all patience, "not only is it not bear hunting season, but being on probation, as much as you'd like to forget," he glared at me, "means that you are not allowed to wield, have, touch, look at, think about, nor even have a dream about a firearm."

I'm. A. Fucking. Idiot. I wanted to crawl inside myself and smack inner Jessie across her face. Over, and over, and over. "Um... I'm not."

"You're not what, Ms. Murphy?"

"I don't have a gun. We aren't actually hunting them. We're just tracking them, and then we... look... at them?"

He grunted, gaze drilling.

Beads of sweat tickled my forehead, and I fought against the compulsion to wipe them away.

He continued to stare at me for another long, drawn out, and extremely tense moment. "You are a very lucky girl."

I swallowed hard. "Yes, sir. I know, sir. Very lucky, sir."

"Stop talking."

I rolled my lips inward.

He shook his head and stood. "I'll be coming back. No, it will not be scheduled. No, you will not know when. Keep your nose clean, Ms. Murphy. If I find out you've even thought about anything illegal, I won't hesitate to drag your ass straight back to jail."

I looked up at him. "Wait... really?"

He grunted one last time before he turned and headed stiffly and heavily towards the door. When he opened it, Bard was right on the other side.

The two men eyed each other, then Bard watched him walk down the steps and didn't stop until his car was well out of sight.

When he turned back to me, he didn't speak, didn't make a sound. He swung the door shut, expression determined, and his legs moved with swift purpose towards me.

I held my breath, frozen in place.

The minute I was within reach, his arms shot out and pulled me into him. "The next time I say run, you run."

I didn't get a chance to respond because. The second my lips parted around an answer, Bard claimed my mouth with his.

His chest rumbled as he reached down and yanked my legs up and around his waist.

I was lost.

Bard carried me towards the sofa, kiss urgent, desperate.

For a split second, I'd almost lost him. I'd almost lost any chance at a future at all. He could have died if things had been different, and I knew... I would have lived. He would have made me live with the knowledge that he'd saved me, sacrificed for me, and the regret that I'd never allowed myself this moment or any other that could have been.

"Tell me to stop, and I will," he rumbled against my lips. "But do it now, Tequila... I'm hanging on by a thread."

Tell me to stop, and I will...

That was all it took.

His kiss, those words.

My wall didn't crumble. It opened. It invited him inside, and closed the gate firmly shut behind him.

"I'm done wasting time, Bard." I kissed him back, ran my hands into his hair and pulled him closer.

Hope you enjoyed! I'm so nice! Next upload Sunday, sooner if you love me right!