Watch Me Burn ( Savage MC Book Three)

chapter thirteen- same song and dance

Daria
It was the next day and we were sitting just inside the door of the garage connected to the compound. We were roused this morning early and have been sitting in the heat for hours.
Two prospects stood at the door watching us while the men went about their day.
"Ridiculous." Greta muttered. Again.  I whipped around to face her.
"Let it go. It made sense to me at the time to get on that stage ok? I was looking for a reaction and -" I said but Aurora interrupted me.
"You got that, alright." she giggled. I turned narrowed eyes on her.
"Kettle, meet pot." I grinded out and her giggles faded into a glare that matched my own.
"Children, enough." Greta called mockingly.
"At least I don't have a hickey." Aurora said under her breath.
"Wasn't me who didn't sleep in her own bed last night, assuming you slept... to be honest, you are looking tired. Everythig okay?" I flipped my hair over my shoulder looking back out the open door.
"Come talk to me when you don't look like you were mauled by an octopus. " Aurora snapped back. Outraged, I gasped.
"It is not that bad!" I admonished to which one of the prospects snorted with laughter. I turned my glare his way.
"Mindy! Boss wants you inside his office." was yelled above our bickering and we all turned to see Mindy strut her way from standing laughing where she'd been all morning with a biker at the end of the shop, to the side door and into the compound. Silence fell between us, the laughter gone from the air as everyone returned to what they were doing.
"Ria.." Greta called softly. I looked out the door taking in the high fencing surrounding the front lawn.
"Do you think he's nearly got the money sorted?" I asked feeling a heaviness I really wished I didn't.
"Yeah." She said sounding honest, "We'll be back to normal soon." she didn't sound convinced then but I didn't highlight it. I simply nodded.
"I want out next." Aurora spoke up and we both turned to look at her but her eyes were glued across the room on Smiles who was working on the engine of a car. Oblivious to her pensive gaze on him. "He scares me, what I feel for him terrifies me. I can't let myself think... the family would never allow... I need to leave before I make a mistake I can't take back. If I stay here longer.." She blinked and turned her gaze to me. "You should go soon too." She finished. Her silent words hung in the air mocking us and what we feared most, that we'd get comfortable enough here we wouldn't want to leave.
"He won't let her." Greta said her eyes glued to me. "He'll keep her until that payment is square and even then... he might just keep you as his." Greta watched me. A soft chuckle left me as I looked away.
"He'll never settle for one person and I wont settle for that so it's simple really. The minute the payment is done, we leave and we're gone. Home and happy." I nodded my head.
"Good job," Greta looled my way before looking back into the shop, "You almost convinced me you meant that." She finished, shaking her head.  I didn't respond, I had nothing to say. We sat in that silence for a long time. Long enough to watch a disheaved Mindy with a smirk on her face get into her car and drive away. Long enough we were there until there was only a few men left working. Long enough the doors were shut.
We were left sitting there until only Smiles remained. He walked toward us with a purpose.
"C'mon. Lets go back inside." He said and didn't wait for us to follow. Once inside he stopped in the main roon and turned to me.
"Stay here." He didn't pause, he simply walked forward again. "I'd advise you to follow me." He told the other girls and with quick glances back they begged with their eyes that I would be okay. I nodded shakily. I was alone for a few minutes before
I physically felt him enter the room. It was like he held an energy only I felt.  It wrapped around me when he was near. Before, it had given me shivers, after last night and seeing Mindy today, it made me feel sick. I turned to face him.
"Where are they going?" I asked, my voice carefully empty.
"Enzos woman, to your room. The other one could be in the same place or could be with Smiles. Either or they're fine." He pushed forward into the room moving toward me. I backed up a step and he froze. Tilting his head, he regarded me.
"Good day today?" He asked and a scoff left my lips before I could stop it. His eyes sharpened as he took a few more steps toward me. My body stiffened.
"Fantastic. Great, you?" I raised my eyebrows at him daring him to lie to me. Still he assessed me as he drew closer.
"Fine." He said carefully and I shook my head.
"Are you finished? Can I go?" I asked pissed off my voice shook. His eyes narrowed before he stepped directly into my space.
"No." He said before slowly raising his eyes. They were fixed on my neck where my hair revealed his mark. Slowly he moved his hands forward to touch it but I jerked back abruptly, freezing his in place. His eyes searched mine for answers.
"You're going to touch me with the hand you touched her with not hours ago? Seriously, you would actually be okay with doing that to me?" I was proud of the disgust that laced my whispered words. I wasn't proud of the undeniable pain that was there as well. His hand dropped but he didn't reply. Not for what felt like a millenium.
"I don't-" he started and I laughed.
"You don't answer to anyone. I know, trust me. But I need you to do me a favour. I'll be gone soon. Leave me be until then." I said," I can't do this." I finished vulnerably but it needed to be said. I turned and walked away from him desperate to be free from the his sheer energy that was wrapped around me, blanketing me in his emotions.
"I can't do that." He said and I turned to look at him.
"Fine. I'll make you want to." I said back not knowing what lengths I would go to but knowing I was going to do my all to keep my heart safe. The last thing I heard was his angry intake of breath before I escaped into my room.
Only Greta sat waiting for me.

The van bumped along the old winding road that was surrounded by fields. We'd been driving for the better part of an hour. It was a dirt road that sprayed dust up onto the car and would have choked us had we left the windows open. Smiles had been like a demon this morning, slamming through the compound. Now he drove us, Dive in the passenger seat. Both had been silent tbe whole drive, not even glancing in the mirror to look at us.
Suddenly we veered left into a field and came to a stop. Several men on bikes rode in behind us. None moved from their bikes, they simply settled in like they were waiting on something. Maybe they were.
Silence spread around us for the next ten minutes, then we heard it, the roar of bikes coming close.
They spun in like a force. Slamming to a halt they came to a stop before rising from their bikes as a unit. The men exited the car, clicking the locks in place so we couldn't leave. We could only watch through the tinted windows.
"Enzo." Greta breathed out.  I felt it then. The complete pain of what they were doing to us, having our family within arms reach and they had no clue we were here. The Savage men rose too, forming a unit that faced off with our men. The tension could be cut with a knife as words were exchanged in hushed tones we couldn't hear through the windows. The van was too far away. Suddenly Dante threw a black gear bag forward into the minddle of the open space between the two clubs. Zip strolled leisurely forward to get it before returning to the men at the same pace. The bag was opened and checked before any other words were exchanged. A decision seemed to be reached as Dive spun for the car and walked toward us. We all tensed in anticipation. Before we knew it he had the locks beeped, Aurora pulled from the car and the locked beeped back into place so we couldn't leave. 
"Holy shit," Greta breathed out, "They're letting her go."
"They're asking her to choose.  Highest embarrassment she could bring Dante is to turn her back to her cousin to stay here... holy fuck." I watched intently as words were exchanged and Aurora stood frozen in no mans land. Dante yelled from their side to her, anger and fear clear in his expression. He was her family, his duty was her protection and right now she was very vulnerable until she chose. Her gaze locked on Smiles who stood among his men watching her. He didn't speak just kept his gaze steady on her, chin raised unashamed in the air. Suddenly he took a step forward, hand rising slightly toward Aurora. He must have seen something in her expression but the minute he moved he shot her back into reality.  She stumbled back, head shaking side to side. She stopped suddenly before, lip quivering, she turned and ran. Our family moved with her once she was safety on their side. Jumping on their bikes, they departed without looking back, the roar of engines in the air. None of the Savage men moved, they simply watched as Aurora jumped onto the back of her cousins bike, wrapped her arms around him and disappeared around the corner without looking back. Only then did Smiles move, getting on a bike he sent gravel and dust flying as he took off in the opposite direction she had been taken. 
I didn't understand it but my heart ached at the sight.
"Wow... I wasn't sure she would." Greta mumbled, sounding shaky. "See how quickly Aurora went after Cecelia? We're getting closer and closer to home, Ria.  Hang tight." She stopped talking as Zip took Smiles place in the driver seat. Once Dive was in he drove us back to the compound. The air in the compound thick with something we didnt understand.
"What do you think was said between them?" I asked Greta that night when we were lying safety in our bed. I heard her role onto her side to face me in the dark.
"I don't know but they aren't happy. Ria, they messed with our family. I know ours messed around first but you know our men, they'll stop at nothing to get us back. They're proving that." She finished and although I didn't say it, I couldn't help but think that that was what I was most afraid of.