Aden

Chapter One

Aden

I didn't know how late I was in my office until my secretary knocked on my door and told me good night. Time wasn't a concept. It didn't feel like one at least. The days mostly blurred altogether, and the hours meshed up until every day seemed the same.

I guess I was the one to blame. I liked a set routine, liked the organization of a schedule. Some days I wouldn't even know what month or week we were in. I don't think I cared. I liked keeping busy, keeping my mind alert, and thinking.

It kept me centered. Kept me sane. I didn't have time for frivolous activities or shitty hobbies. Any man that had a hobby was just fucking weird, like go get a job, get a degree, just go and do something with your life.

I didn't believe in an easy life, but I did believe in grabbing life by the fucking balls and fucking it before it fucked you.

I believed nothing in this life came easy and it was proven through and through with how we grew up. If it wasn't for my older brother, Alex, we'd still be in the streets or those four-hundred square feet apartments where we all shared a room.

My fists clenched at the thought of the life we used to live, the life I used to live. I could never fathom it. Could never think too hard about it, or I swear I'd go fucking crazy.

I stayed a few hours longer in my office, going over every file and document, and even though I had already checked, I double-checked every single piece of paper again.

I liked being thorough. I hated mistakes. I hated stupid people that lacked common sense. I didn't demand perfection, but I demanded you work your fucking ass off or get fired trying. I didn't believe in second chances, especially if you didn't learn from your first mistake.

I grabbed my briefcase, turned off my computer, and snatched my keys and phone off my desk before leaving the office. I locked it and took the elevator down to the underground parking lot. I had a motorcycle back in my garage, but I rarely got on it.

It was more Alex and Aries's thing. They could have that wild lifestyle. I preferred four wheels and the stability of a car being on the actual ground not tiling side to side. I slid inside my car, placed my briefcase in the back, and then I was driving out and away from the building.

It's not like I was a workaholic, but I didn't have much in my life. I was good at this, really fucking good at my job and I preferred to be there a lot. There was another place I preferred more than my office and without even thinking too much about it, I found myself driving there.

I didn't have to come. I didn't have to wait and walk her home. Camo or Snakes would be there, and they knew to care for her in my absence.

They didn't know the details. No one knew about the details. I hadn't told anyone. It wasn't anybody's business to know. I remember just telling Alex that she was hurt on the way home and that she needed someone to stay with her until the bar closed.

That was it. That should have been it, but I couldn't stay away from her no matter how hard I tried. I parked my car and tried convincing myself to just leave, to drive away, but my feet had a mind of their own as I stepped out of the car and walked up to the bar. Half the lights on the name worked while others didn't.

It was a biker's bar, so it was always packed with bikes outside and bikers inside. The Sinners MC was the only biker gang in this part of the city, and no one dared to step over our boundaries.

The smell of cheap beer, weed, and even sex filled the air and my nostrils once I stepped inside. It wasn't a fancy bar, but an ordinary bar that most people used as a pit stop.