All Chapters of Raven's MC Series; Marlowe & Torin -Book One of the series: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Days passed and I’d begun to think maybe Tannin was right and Torin had been nothing more than a pain-induced dream. Or maybe it was just me missing him. But if he hadn’t been real then I had one whopper of an imagination. Every nuance, every movement, even his intoxicating smell had been too fucking real. Painfully real. He was the devil, aptly named by his brothers. I’d been in Hell since I’d first caught sight of him all those years ago. I don’t know that I believe in love at first sight, but the feeling that had gone through me had been as close as what one could come to describing it as such.My dad had picked me up from school, the bike’s engine rumbling like a beast outside the school gates. It was the first time he’d ever done that, and the whispers of the other kids had been like a siren's call to the rebellious spirit I didn’t even know I had. I straddled the bike, feeling the leather of the seat stick to the bare skin below my shorts and the heat of the engine seep through t

As I laid back down, my thoughts wouldn’t stop racing. How the hell was I supposed to face the monster Lucien had turned out to be and still remember the way his hands had felt on my skin, the way part of me had wanted him before I knew what he really was?I’d survived his attack, but fear still clung like smoke in my lungs. I needed a way to get him to leave me alone for good. I needed to be smarter than him, sharper, meaner if that was what it took.Use your brain as a weapon, Mar.My mind kept circling back to that night in the warehouse. To the look in Lucien’s eyes when he’d snarled, Where’s the fucking money, Marlowe. Another missing puzzle piece jammed sideways in my chest.Had Torin taken the money? If he did, how the hell had he gotten his hands on it in the first place? Torin had been a lot of things, but he’d never been small time. Whatever he’d been playing at, it had been bigger than Lucien ever hinted at.I knew I had to get stronger. I couldn’t face any of this lying fla

After leading me through the city’s skeleton streets, Torin finally cut the engine outside a dilapidated building on the outskirts of town. It slouched against the night like it had been abandoned for years. Boards over some windows, graffiti decorating the outer walls.It looked empty, but I knew better.Torin helped me off the bike, his hand lingering a second longer than necessary on my waist, and then he was all business again, guiding me through a side door that stuck halfway, shoulder-bumping it the rest.The inside was cleaner than what the outside had promised. Spartan, but lived in: a mattress against one wall with sheets that had seen better days. A small table, a space heater and crates doubling as shelves, as well a beat up fridge humming in the corner.He’d been living here.He motioned to the chair at the little table. “Sit.”I stayed standing, arms crossed over my chest like they were the only thing holding me together.“You gonna keep barking orders,” I muttered, “or yo

~TORIN~I’d watched Marlowe disappear through the door, the slam of it echoing behind her. I'd done what I had to do to keep her safe. But at what cost?She'd never forgive me for using her as I had, but I’d done what I’d had to. Better my uncle believe she was in possession of something he wanted than the alternative.With a deep breath, I walked over to the table, and picked up the USB sitting on its surface. The small drive contained secrets that could bring down the entire Dinelli empire, secrets that had cost my parents their lives. I clenched my fist around it, feeling the plastic bite into my skin, a reminder of what I'd given up in the name of vengeance.Restlessness thrummed through my system, and I began pacing. Marlowe was hurt and angry, but it was a small price to pay for her life. The USB was my only leverage against my uncle. For a year, I’d hidden, faked my death, and gathered information on my uncle.I continued pacing before finally stopping at the window, I peered ou

At Casey’s request, I began recounting my parents’ murder to Casey, forcing myself to stay steady as the memories clawed their way back to the surface. I talked about the night everything broke, about learning too young that the world didn’t care who it chewed up. I told her about my time with the club. She already knew about my SOG training and the way the club functioned as a cover, so I didn’t linger there. What I did tell her was everything leading up to the USB. And then I told her what Lucien had done to Marlowe.I laid it all out. Every threat. Every calculated move. Every way he had wrapped his hands around her life and squeezed. I left out only two things. My uncle’s death. And my role in some of the bodies that had fallen along the way.Casey listened without interrupting, her expression locked down tight. When I finally stopped talking, my throat raw and chest tight, she leaned back in her chair and exhaled slowly.“Alright,” she said after a moment, her tone clipped but con