Page 31 of My Enemy Biker

"Before we sign anything," I say, "I need you to tell me what being with you actually means. Not the easement. Us. What am I agreeing to here?"

His eyes stay locked on mine. "You want this to sound manageable or you want the truth?"

"I've never asked you for anything except honesty."

"All right." He leans back against the counter, arms crossing over his chest. "Danger. What happened to Walt happens to people in Vigil's orbit. Marrow knows about you now. They'll use that if they think it gives them an angle. I'll protect you but I can't guarantee your safety."

I nod. Expected that part.

"Violence. I'm good at it and I use it when I need to. You'll see more blood on me. You'll know I hurt people for information, for protection, for territory. Some nights I won't tell you details and you'll have to sit with that."

My jaw tightens. I don't interrupt.

"The club comes first sometimes. Not always. But when brothers are at risk, when Bloomfield's threatened, that takes priority over everything else. Means late calls, disappearing for hours, coming home at three in the morning with split knuckles and nothing I can say about where I've been."

"Keep going."

"Possessive. What you saw with Kyle gets worse, not better. I don't share and I don't compromise on what's mine. You're with me, you're with me completely. There's no casual version of this."

Mine. That word keeps appearing.

"Illegal activity," he continues. "Vigil operates outside the law. Always will. Being with me connects you to that even if you'renot participating. Could affect your work, your reputation, everything."

"What else?"

"I'm thirteen years older. I've done things you don't know about and won't ask about. Seen things I'll never talk about. That history doesn't disappear because we're together." He shifts his weight. "And I won't change. Won't get easier or softer or more acceptable. This is who I am."

The raw honesty hits different than I expected. He's not selling me on anything. Just laying out reality and letting me decide.

I take a breath. "I grew up watching the Devils MC destroy my neighborhood. They promised protection if businesses paid. Promised to leave kids alone. Promised the violence wouldn't spread. Every single promise was a lie." My voice stays level but I can hear the edge underneath. "Jonathan died at nineteen because they recruited him for a territory dispute. Mr. Russo still can't smile right after they broke his jaw. Everyone's word meant nothing."

Cain's expression doesn't change. Just listens.

"I came here to get away from that. Chose Bloomfield because it was far enough away to build something different." I take three steps toward him. "Then you showed up about a fence. Three days later I'm washing blood off your hands at two in the morning and calling you instead of the police when I get threatened."

"You are."

"So here's what I need to know." Two more steps. We're five feet apart now. "Yesterday you broke your word about the property. First time it was inconvenient, you broke it. Took you five hoursto think about telling me. Now you're in my kitchen asking me to trust you anyway." I stop moving. "Give me one reason I should."

His jaw works. Takes him a few seconds to answer. "You shouldn't. Based on yesterday, you'd be smart to kick me out and never let me back."

"That's not a reason."

"I know." He pushes off the counter. "But I'm asking anyway because I want you enough to actually do better. To keep my word going forward. To earn back what I lost."

"Words are easy, Cain. The Devils were great with words."

"I stopped the second you pushed me away." His voice drops lower. "When we kissed. When you shoved at my chest. I could've kept going. Could've pushed harder. Stopped immediately because your no meant no, period, no hesitation."

I hold his stare. Don't give him anything.

"I showed up at your door at two in the morning because I needed you." He takes one step closer. "I've been alone seventeen years by choice. Don't need people. Don't want them around. Needed you specifically and that hasn't happened to me since I was twenty-three years old."

My breath catches but I keep my face neutral.

"And I'm telling you the truth about what this costs instead of making it sound manageable," he finishes. "Showing you exactly what you're choosing so when you decide, you decide with full information."

"You broke your promise."