child.
Neither one of them said a word for a long time, and when Chloe spoke, her voice was less pained, more thoughtful. “Lately I’ve been wondering what I’d be like if I hadn’t grown up with my mother, if I hadn’t been neglected or had those awful experiences. Would I have looked at you differently from the start?” She met his gaze and said, “I think I would have, and I wish I would have.”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I told you all that,” Chloe said, shocked that she’d dumped her dirty laundry on Justin of all people. “I’m sorry. You must have a zillion red flags waving in your head right now. It’s bad enough that I ever thought you could be like the men my mother goes out with, when you’ve never been anything but good to me, even if you do flirt like crazy.”
“I only flirt with you like that, babe. And don’t feel bad. You trust me, Chloe, and that’s a good thing. You know I would never hurt you.”
“I do know that,” she said honestly. “But everything I just told you makes me sound like a damsel in distress, and it’s embarrassing. Why were we even talking about me?”
“You were explaining why you assumed I was bad news, and it all makes sense now. But if anyone should be embarrassed, it’s your mother. You were a young girl who never should have been put in those situations. But the guys you call bikers? They’re not anything like me, and I assure you, they are not members of the Dark Knights.”
“I actually asked the guy we met last weekend if he was a member. He was awful.”
“I know you think we’re all leather-wearing, tattooed roughnecks who probably drink and swear too much and go around looking for trouble. But we’re not like that. We do go looking for trouble, but not the type of trouble you assumed. And yes, I’m a leather-wearing tattooed biker, and I definitely swear like a sailor. But I make a habit of not drinking too much. Dark Knights are always on call, so to speak. We need to be ready to get on our bikes and go if someone needs us at any hour, day or night. Our members are doctors, lawyers, teachers, blue-collar workers, fathers, and grandfathers. It doesn’t matter what clothes a person wears or how eloquently they speak. What matters is how they live their life, the moral code they live by. It’s easy to say you’re a good person or that you’d give your life for another. But living that way? Proving it to yourself and everyone around you with everything you do and say? That’s not easy, Chloe. And I’m not talking about being perfect, because I’m so far from perfect, it’s ridiculous. But I try to be the best man I can, whether it’s stepping in when I see a guy manhandling a woman or child, or redirecting young kids’ negative energy, or even carrying groceries for someone who’s struggling. It’s about being honest with yourself and with others, being a friend who listens for the sole purpose of offering solace. Those are the things that make a good, consistently trustworthy person. And maybe you think becoming a Dark Knight is easy, but it’s not. Ours isn’t the type of club where anyone can walk off the street and walk out with patches. It can take years to prospect and earn a place among the brotherhood. During that time, every single thing you do is judged and measured in terms of loyalty and respect—to yourself and to others—and not just by Preacher or Con, who founded the club and are the president and vice president, but by every single member. I’m proud to have earned the right to be a Dark Knight. We fight to keep our communities safe, and we don’t put up with, or turn our backs on, the mistreatment of anyone or anything. If you’d told a Dark Knight about any part of what you’d gone through when you were going through it—even being left alone by your mother—it would have been taken care of. You would have been taken care of. That’s the type of bikers we are, Chloe. That’s the type of man I am.”
Chloe was struck momentarily speechless as she processed everything he’d said. It was all making sense now. His protectiveness, his walking out the night of the storm when she’d hesitated to kiss him, his watching over her with