Page 77 of Allegiance
“Please,” she huffed, turning it toward him.
“Please what?”
With a slight shake of her head, she replied, “Never mind.” She pointed to a table in the corner of the shop. “You can look at it over there, then come back here to place your order.”
“Cool.”
Fifteen minutes later, he’d found the perfect arrangement for Lena. It was simple, but elegant, with a tinge of romance running through it. He hoped she’d understand that sending her flowers was huge for him, and it meant he cared deeply for her.
He placed the notebook on the counter. “I’m done.”
“Do you know which one you want?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m at the counter.”
“Just making conversation,” she muttered. “Which arrangement did you choose?”
Tank opened the book to the photograph that had a glass vase with five long-stemmed red roses, an oriental lily, fresh foliage, and lily grass. He tapped the photo with his index finger. “That one.”
A smile spread across her face. “Oh, that’s beautiful. I’m sure she’ll love it, and it’ll get you out of the dog house.”
“I want to send it to her business.”
“Good thinking. It’s always such a lovely surprise to get a beautiful bouquet at work.” She turned to the computer. “Would you like to add any extras, like a stuffed bear, a mylar balloon, or a box of specialty chocolates?”
“The chocolates sound good.”I need all the fuckin’ help I can get.
“Perfect. She’s a lucky lady to have such a thoughtful man. Now, let’s create an order ticket.”
A while later, Tank was on his Harley, headed out to soak in the view of the coastline while devouring a plate of fish tacos and a cold beer. As he rode toward the harbor, he missed Lena pressed against his back. He missed her laugh, her sassy comebacks, and their conversations. He also missed the way her eyes sparkled when she created a new recipe, the way she smelled, her kisses… he missedeverythingabout her.
Gripping the handlebars, he increased his speed and let the roar of the engine drown out his thoughts.
* * *
Two daysafter Tank had sent the flowers to Lena, he still hadn’t heard from her. A part of him wanted to say “Fuck it,” but something deep down inside of him didn’t want that. Lena was the only woman who satisfied him in a way no other woman ever had, or ever could, and he didn’t want her to slip away. Plus, it didn’t help that his mother kept prodding him to keep working to win her back.
He wasn’t the kind of man who pursued a woman after a certain point, but with Lena, everything he did with her was a first. The fact that he could understand where she was coming from helped to keep his temper and impatience at bay. He knew he’d lost her trust that night he came in to collect the money, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get it back, but he had to try. If she never came around, then he’d leave her in peace and move on. But he wasn’t at that point just yet.
Trust was big in his outlaw world. It was the foundation upon which the Jagged Outlaws and other one-percenter MC clubs were based, and that was what made the current situation with Hammer so distasteful. At the end of the day, the Jagged Outlaws were going head-to-head with their own brothers. The trust they’d had in some of the members had been destroyed, and it would take a long time, if ever, to get it back.
Tank saw the irony with the problems in his biker life paralleled to the ones in his personal one. Trust took a long time to build and nurture, but it could be destroyed in a heartbeat.
The ping from his phone drew his attention. His breath caught in his chest when he clicked open the text, then released it when he saw it wasn’t fromher.
Maniac:Cougar’s collecting tonight. He’s gonna mess with ur woman. He’s pissed as fuck at u. Just wanted to give u the heads-up.
Tank:Thx.
For a long time, Tank sat in his office chair, staring out the window. He knew what he had to do, but it meant choosing between the club and Lena. In his heart, there was only one choice, and that was Lena. His mind was in conflict with the tenets of the brotherhood: loyalty, honor, and respect. Since he’d first put on his cut, he’d never been faced with such a dilemma. For him, the club always came first, but at that moment, it didn’t.
Tank hadn’t pronounced Lena as his woman, so the club saw her as just another sweet piece of ass. He knew Raptor would understand that Tank had to defend her. Cougar was planning to punish Lena because Tank beat his ass, and the fucker knew that messing with her was the best way to retaliate and destroy Tank. Maniac wouldn’t have warned him if he thought it was against the club. The dilemma lay in the fact that Tank wasn’t going to let Cougar and Rubble take one more dime from Lena. He was going to stop that shit right in its tracks, andthatwas against the club.
“Tank? I’m having a problem with one of the printers,” Dylan said, standing in the doorway.
He pushed up from the chair. “What’s it doing?”
“Freezing up. I checked off all the boxes, and it looks like everything’s in order, but I can’t get it to unfreeze.”
