My leg bounces with nervousness, drawing Iris’s attention.
“What’s wrong, Valencia? We’re talking about our dreams here, and suddenly you seem nervous.”
I shrug, forcing a small grin. “I am nervous. It’s a huge step,” I partly lie.
I am nervous, but not about school.
Iris nods as she places her hand on my bouncing knee. “I totally understand. Doing something new is nerve-wracking. The only way to overcome that is to just jump in and do it. I told you already you have a lot of people supporting you.”
I smile and nod. I wish it was as easy as just jumping in. If I jump, I’m likely to be found, and that is the most terrifying thing.
It’s not something I can talk about, so I focus on the conversation and try to keep my nerves at bay.
“Damn, it’s time to lock up already,” Iris says, standing up.
“This was fun,” I say, pushing my chair in.
“It really was,” Faith agrees.
As we step outside, Iris locks up and grins. “Let’s head down to the club together.”
The three of us walk down the street to the club. As we’re laughing about some of the customers we’ve had, something across the street catches my eye.
There’s a guy standing with his arms crossed. He’s wearing a baseball cap and a gold chain that the moonlight bounces off.
My heart begins to race as panic wraps around me.
Am I worrying about being found for nothing? Am I hiding for no reason?
Has he already found me?
CHAPTERNINE
Reno
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time with Valencia over the past couple of weeks. I’ve always enjoyed spending time with her. I’m starting to really think we’re forming something here between the two of us. But, it doesn’t keep the issues the club is having at bay. Boss called church a few minutes ago, and oddly enough, I was included in this one. I don’t know if it’s a sign that Boss is going to patch me in soon or what, but I’d like to think it means there’s going to be some sort of change happening.
I’m the last one in the room, and I lean up against the wall, crossing my arms. “Reno’s in here,” Chuckles snickers, causing everyone to look right at me.
“He’s in here because I asked him to be. Now stop with your childish bullshit, Chuckles. I really don’t have the time for it today. Nor do I have the patience.” Boss shoots Chuckles a glare that tells you how pissed she is. She’s furious, and someone must’ve pissed in her Cheerios already today. Boss waits a moment for someone else to speak up, but no one is going to. They know better than to keep flapping their jaws. “All right, since everyone’s going to be on their ‘best’ behavior, I’ll continue. I have some news from Joker and Devi about the cult. There’s been movement sighted outside of Toronto, and it has us all wondering what in the fuck is going on.” Boss stops, and Ricochet clears his throat.
“How far away from Toronto are they?” he asks.
“About twenty kilometers outside of the city limits,” Boss answers him, and everyone around the room is taking in what she’s saying.
“They’ve never been that close to Toronto before, have they?” Muffler questions.
“No, they haven’t. Joker called me, saying it might be the cult, but we damn well know it’s the cult. It’s never another group, and he explained the attire they’ve been sighted in, which hits the mark compared to what we’ve dealt with stateside,” Boss comments.
“It’s pretty crazy that they’re popping up in another country. Don’t you think?” I’m the one speaking up now, and everyone turns around and looks at me like I’ve got three fucking heads. “What? She invited me in here. No one told me to keep my mouth shut.”
Boss releases a laugh. “You’re right. I thought you might know you need to listen your first time in here, but to answer your ever-so-curious mind, it’s not crazy they’re in another country since we’ve known they’ve been there for a while now. We didn’t know anything about how many there were. We thought it was only a few here and there, but it appears like they have an entire camp there. I’m wondering if we chased most of them out of the States, and that’s why we’re seeing an influx of their numbers in Canada.”
“You think they believe the Iron Vex MC is weaker across the border?” Mug chimes in.
Boss licks her lips and nods, “It’s possible because these people are completely deranged when you think about it.”
“Fuck, Joker and his charter will show them when the time is right,” Venom adds with a bit of sass in her voice.
