Reign (Riders of Apollo #1)

Chapter 10: Roman Hayes

I didn't mean to take the turn to get here.

Prez told us where she lived just in case she needed us and I was just going to ride for awhile to clear my head as I decided to leave the Jack alone for one night.

While I was just going to a quick ride-by just to make sure she got home okay, my body was pulled to her in a way I can't explain. I stepped off my bike expecting to be ignored but found relief in her opening her door to me, I just wanted a hug to be honest but I fought my instincts that called to me to grab her.

I wanted her close and I got to share a bed with her. She fell asleep quickly and I watched her for awhile, lost in the moment, savouring it just as I'd asked. 

God, she is beautiful. 

Her features are soft when she's asleep and her muscles relaxed so much I thought she'd melt into the bed. She's normally so tense, so ready for a fight but looking at her then she looked like a normal woman, untouched by the world's darkness, soft on her spoils.

So, when I woke up today I thought she would revert back to the fighter but when I found her in the kitchen with her hair down her back and dressed in yellow, my heart almost exploded.

It's not the sleep that does it... it's me.

My pride straightens my back as I take her in, my ego boosted by her trust in me. "Do you still want to know why I came here?" Her eyes flick to mine with curiosity in her eyes, I can tell that she wants to ask but doesn't want to push.

She walks towards me and reaches for my hand, I give it to her willingly and follow her to her garden. She hops up onto the couch swing and pats the seat next to her. "I'm only curious, don't tell me if you don't feel comfortable." I take the seat next to her and pull her legs into my lap.

Her soft skin keeps me distracted by the emotional nature of what I'm about to tell her. "I was having a bad night, they happen sometimes. Sometimes they happen randomly, sometimes they're triggered. I was just gonna drink my problems away with a bottle of Jack but decided that my liver has had enough. I got on my bike thinking I was gonna take a long ride and then be able to sleep but I ended up riding straight to you."

"I get them too." My head snaps up and I pin her with my eyes. Her voice is soft, contemplative and a little sad. "Sometimes the memories come back but they're warped and I always wonder whether I'm remembering the actual thing or the nightmares it causes but it gets bad. Staring at walls and thinking dark things, it's been getting a little easier."

I grip her hand and place a gentle kiss on the back of it, her palm ends on my cheek and I close my eyes as I lean into it. Her warmth and her softness just relaxes me as I take in the sun on a normal Saturday, like a normal man.

She makes me feel normal.

"Do you want to come out with me today?" I ask her after about ten minutes of silence, just enjoying each others company.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I slide off of the swing and pick her up, wanting to keep her close to me. I slide her down my body and she shivers. I like that I affect her that much. I place a gentle kiss on the top of her head and tug her through the house.

She locks all of the doors before taking the helmet and sliding on behind me. I drive us across town to where I'm supposed to be for today and she greets Rubble with a happy smile. Him and I are on recon today so we're watching over a rival club and she settles in with us.

"What are we looking for?" Her voice is hushed so that she doesn't alert our targets and leans towards me to hear the answer, her eyes still focused on the warehouse.

"They stole some of our product so we just wanna know what they're gonna do with it. If they try to sell it we'll stop the deal, get our merch back and take the money."

"Not that that's not a good idea but these guys aren't your standard gang members. Look." She tugs me closer to the edge and points through one of the windows. "You've got the coppers on your hands, the corrupt ones are running their own system, have been for awhile. I figured they got out when their boss got taken down, it looks like they've just been biding their time. You guys need to be careful, you take them out they will bring down the government on you legitimately even if they don't play that way."

"Shit." Rubble states before pulling his phone out and dialling our Prez, worried about the repercussions of our next actions. We can't play this like we would in the underworld, we need to be careful about how we deal with this, we don't normally play around in the light. It's not something we're good at, in our world diplomacy is for the weak. "Prez is calling us back, Peyton needs to come too. I think we're gonna be needing her help."

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"Why are they getting involved? They've stayed relatively quiet for so long, why now?" We are all sat in church, Peyton and Lexie included, while Prez is pacing angrily in front of the table. He rubs his face in agitation and groans.

"You're getting bigger. I hadn't heard of you before but three years ago a bounty was dropped on your head," Peyton points at Prez and we look at him in confusion, he never told us any of this but he seems just as confused as we do, "I looked into you, as I normally would for any case, you hadn't done the things you were accused of so I removed the bounty. Granted, they came after me for that, they wanted you locked up since they control the prisons. This is personal."

"How were you able to remove the bounty?" Prez asks, gratefulness lacing his tone. This woman had never met him, never met any of us, yet she was willing to put her life on the line for him.

"A few threats here and there and a fun hacking spree that killed the website for a few weeks. We get our bounties online, we post when and where we are and they tell us the ones in our radius. They tell us when to drop them off and how much they're worth everyday, you were worth 200K but your interest was 10% every day the contract was outstanding. I thought that was weird considering it would've been easier to just drop 1 mil, they were trying to drag it out."

"Thank you, Peyton." Prez squeezes her hand and she laughs.

"Yeah, well, it was worth it. I think the first step should be baiting them."