Wild Ride(The Soldiers of Wrath MC, 7)(15)
She was finally going to live.
12
One week later
The sound of the chime above the door going off sounded, but Constance didn’t look up. She was working on paperwork, trying to distract herself because all she could think about was Vengeance. God, just thinking about him had her getting chills.
“Hey, Constance.”
She glanced up when she heard the deep voice. At first she expected it to be Vengeance, because she was the only man she spoke with these days, but it wasn’t who she expected.
She felt her brows knit, not sure if she was really seeing Craig there.
“Craig, right?” She set her pen down and stared at the man who took care of the landscaping at the graveyard. She’d seen him plenty of times, but the fact he even knew who she was, let alone remembered her name, was surprising. They’d spoken one time since she started going to the cemetery, and that was so long ago she was surprised she remembered his name.
“Hi,” he said and smiled.
Although this was a bit weird, Constance chalked it up to him needing flowers, which would be why he was in a floral shop.
“How can I help you?”
He didn’t say anything for long seconds, just walked around looking at the different displays.
“Craig, anything I can help you with?”
He stopped and looked at her, this serious expression on his face. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. I normally see you at the cemetery but it’s been a while.”
She stared at him, realizing she’d never actually told him where she worked. Just as she was about to open her mouth, ask him how he knew where she’d be at, the sound of a motorcycle came through.
Constance focused on the outside, saw Vengeance pull up to the curb, and couldn’t help but smile. Maybe she was a fool, but nothing else mattered at the moment.
Vengeance pulled his Harley in front of the flower shop, having decided to be the one to surprise Constance. He couldn’t help but smile at the last time he saw her, how they’d gone for a ride, neither needing anything but the feel of the wind on their faces, the open road beneath them, and each other.
He dismounted, took off his skullcap helmet, and made his way inside. The first thing that came to him was the scent of flowers. The scent was fresh and reminded him of Constance.
He saw her right away, but he also saw the guy that was moving closer to her, eyeing Vengeance, and bringing out all the protective instincts in him.
“Hey, baby,” he said to Constance and moved toward her. He glanced at the man again. The vibes the guy threw off were slightly proprietary and that pissed Vengeance off.
“Hi,” she said, her focus on him, her smile wide.
“You helping someone?” he said, gesturing to the guy still standing there, about to get confronted if he didn’t stop looking at Vengeance.
“I don’t know, actually,” she said and glanced at the guy. “Was there anything I can get you, Craig?”
Okay, so she knew who the guy was, but that didn’t change the fact the guy was acting shifty as fuck.
Craig shook his head. “I just wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay. I haven’t seen you at the cemetery in a while.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” Vengeance saw her cheeks get red, and then he glanced at the guy again. Craig looked pissed, and that told Vengeance that the fucker was here for more than just a checking in.
“I’ll see you around.”
Craig left, and Vengeance stared at the guy the whole time. When he turned the corner and was no longer in view, Vengeance looked at Constance.
“You’re okay?”
She smiled wider and nodded. “I am. It was just weird seeing him in here, given the fact I never told him where I work.”
The red flags in Vengeance went up even higher. If someone wanted to go up against him for the right to be with Constance, well, Vengeance would go head-to-head with him.
Constance was his.
13
Craig wanted to spit on the fucking bike but he saw the shitty looks he was getting from the scum, and he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction right now. Glancing back into the shop, he saw Constance smile up at that ugly biker, and then the man kissed what he shouldn’t.
Just the sight of the two of them together was enough to sicken him. Moving along the street, he made his way back toward his apartment near the graveyard. He hadn’t seen Constance tending to the graves of her family, and he’d been worried. No one spoke to him. No one even noticed he existed, and he was fine with that.
What he didn’t like was another man thinking he could take what didn’t belong to him. Entering his apartment, he turned on the light and looked at the picture over his fireplace. It was of Constance when she had been in high school. He’d found it online, printed it off at home, and now he stared at it every night.