Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed by the Mafia Biker: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 5

I was wiping down a cracked Formica counter, lost in the sound of the diner’s humming refrigerator, when the bell above the door rang.“Seat yourself,” I said automatically, not even glancing up.Then I heard steps, the kind of steps that don't ask for attention but commands it.My spine stiffened and something deep in my chest twisted tight. I lifted my head.And there he was.Cruz Maddox.The rag slipped from my hand and hit the floor, I stopped breathing and I couldn’t even blink.Four years and he still looked like the same beautiful, brutal storm I’d barely survived. “What the hell…” I whispered, but the words came out breathless.He didn’t smile, he just stared and then started walking straight toward me.“Nova.”He said.That voice, God It was like a punch to my stomach and a hand around my throat all at once.I stepped back. “You shouldn’t be here.”He kept coming. “You’ve been hiding, sweetheart.”“I’m not your—” I choked on the word. “Don’t call me that.”Cruz stopped on t

The apartment was too quiet.I sat on the couch in the dark, with my knees pulled to my chest and my phone clutched in one hand even though I wasn’t calling anyone.What would I even say?Hi, I think the man I’ve been running from for four years is about to tear apart everything I’ve rebuilt.Cruz knew.Not everything, not yet.But enough to make my chest feel like it was wired to a ticking bomb.He said he wanted to see her.He said he was coming for both of us.And the worst part?A part of me wanted to let him.That part that still remembered how it all started, before everything fell apart.Four and a half years ago.I was twenty-one. Broke and pissed off at the world. Working late-night shifts at a gas station off Route 9 just to keep my tiny one-bedroom apartment.I hated it there, because the floors were sticky, the lights flickered, and half the customers were either high or rude.But one night… he walked in, wearing black boots, a leather jacket, tattoos creeping up his neck

“You have five minutes to decide, Nova.”Cruz said with a low and thunderous voice that made me tremble.I crossed my arms, trying to stay upright despite the way my knees threatened to buckle. “Or what? You’ll burn down my life again?”He took a step forward. “You already burned it when you ran.”“You don’t get to do this.” I jabbed a finger at his chest, but it was like poking steel. “You don’t get to show up after four years and—”“Three years, ten months and two weeks.” His voice was cold. “That’s how long it’s been since you disappeared.”The pain in my throat choked me silent.Cruz’s jaw ticked, and his eyes flickered down to where my hand still rested against his chest. He looked at it like it was both a miracle and a weapon.“You didn’t even tell me,” he said, softer now. “You didn’t even give me a fucking chance.”I couldn’t look at him. My eyes burned. “You would’ve dragged me back into that life. The drugs, the guns, the blood—”“The club is clean now.”I laughed, bitterly