“So…” I started, deciding to try to learn a little bit more about the man sitting across from me, “how long have you been with the...um, with the club?”
He smiled, seemingly pleased by my question. “Over twenty-five years,” he answered, with immense pride. “Started it way back with two brothers of mine before Vegas got to be as crazy as it is.”
“Wow…” I poked at my biscuit. “Why’d you start a club?”
He laughed out loud. “I’m not meant for a nine-to-five job and the crap that goes with it. I needed something where I felt free. Where I could do my own thing. Falcon and Rome felt the same way.”
I tried to digest what that meant, then the other night’s antics and what I’d read in the news came into my mind. “You mean...like doing illegal stuff?”
Viking’s amusement cooled a bit. “Me and those that are part of the club choose to live a way of life that many may not agree with. And we won’t apologize for making our own way in this world.” His expression became serious. “Kate, darlin’,” he said, his voice soothing and compelling, “you have to understand that your mom had a good reason to keep you shielded from me and who I am. I don’t agree with it, since I don’t like knowing I had family out there I couldn’t protect and take care of. But I understand, and what’s done is done. Know that I fully accept you, and I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it. My family is your family. The club is your family, but there are rules you’ll have to learn and decide if you want to live by. It’s your choice, but once you accept, you accept all of it. All of us, as we are. Or not at all. Do you understand?”
I swallowed, my throat as dry as the biscuit. “And if I don’t?”
He sighed. “You’ll always be part of my family—Meredith, me, and the boys—that goes without saying,” he said, carefully. “But I’d rather have you be part of the club as well. It’s the other major thing in my life, other than my wife and kids, including you. Not sharing that part of me with you...it wouldn’t be easy, Kate, but it’s possible.”
I gnawed on my lip, trying to process everything. I appreciated his honesty and trust that I could handle whatever he threw at me. But it was all so heavy. I inhaled and exhaled loudly and met his gaze. “I’ll try,” I said. “That’s all I can promise.”
He gave a nod and dug into his food. We didn’t talk much after that, which I was okay with. He always answered my questions, no matter how personal they got, but so far, he hadn’t said anything about me ignoring the questions about myself and my past he had asked when we were texting. I knew, at some point, I’d have to open up, and that ate at me more than anything else. I’d never opened up to anyone. I never had anyone who cared to know, but even after such a short time, Viking wanted to know everything about me, even the silly stuff, like what my favorite food was or asking how my day was. Simple, but oh so wonderful. And still too good to be true.
“Are you going to stay for a bit?” he asked when I didn’t get up at the same time he did.
“Yeah, I need a little more caffeine before I do anything else.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” he said, squeezing my shoulder briefly. Then he headed to the front to pay for our meal.
I watched the four other guys follow Viking out of the restaurant and climb on their bikes. Through the window, I could feel Mac’s eyes on me, even though they were hidden behind his sunglasses, and I felt my whole body flush. The sound of their roaring engines was starting to become familiar, and almost comforting.
A couple of minutes later, Pam came back over to offer me a refill on my coffee.
“I wasn’t expecting a group of Desert Sinners to join you when you said you were waiting for someone.” The smile on her face told me she wasn’t speaking negatively about them, just surprised.
“Do you know them?”
“Honey, everyone around here knows them.” Now I was curious, so I waited for her to continue. “They don’t have the best reputation and often clash with our local police, but I’ve never had a problem with any of them. And they always tip well,” she added with a little wink.
Her description of the club gave me pause. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about hanging out with a motorcycle club with a less than stellar reputation, but it wasn’t enough to discourage me from getting to know my father. And what he’d said earlier really had an impact on me.
“So, what’s a nice girl like you hanging out with them, anyway?” Pam asked, not hiding her interest.
“Viking…he’s, um, my father. We both just found out.”
“Oh! So, you’re like an MC princess.” She said that like it was a good thing.
“Nothing like that, more like a lost girl just trying to find her way.”
I had no idea why I was so open with Pam. Maybe it was the motherly way she had about her, something that had been absent from my life for some time.
As she started clearing our plates from the table, an idea hit me. And with that idea came the decision that I was going to stay and make this work with Viking and my new family. I pointed to the window. “I noticed there was a help wanted sign in the window. You still looking for someone?”
“I think we could work something out.” She smiled at me. “Why don’t you come back later to talk to my manager?”
“I’ll be there,” I said, smiling genuinely for the first time in ages, and with a sense that everything was going to be okay.
7
Mac
The last few days had been tough. The Phantoms were causing more problems and were determined to use our routes for their own smuggling activities. It was bad enough they were trying to move in on our territory, selling their drugs and weapons, but the Phantoms were also known to be actively involved in human trafficking. That was not our thing, and we didn’t tolerate others conducting that, or any other kind of business, on our own turf. Our last run had been successful, and we now had a new client who was going to need regular shipments of guns. We’d also ensured the routes between us and Reno, as well as Los Angeles, were still holding strong.
We had just finished up church when Viking asked the officers in attendance to stay behind. “While we were gone, I had one of our guys look into Kate,” he announced as soon as the door closed.
“Doubting her story about you being the daddy?” I chuckled, the others joining in.
“No, asshole,” Viking growled in a low voice but continued, “I wasn’t lying when I said she looked just like Anneliese. But I was curious about where she was living and why she was suddenly in Vegas. She hasn’t shared much about her past.”
I knew Viking and Kate had been keeping in contact, but I wondered what was making her so guarded. Granted, she was probably still grieving. She’d just moved from California to Vegas, and it’d only been a week, but Viking was the type that when he decided something, he was all in.
“What did they find?” Wolf asked.
“She’s started working at the diner nearby, so it sounds like she plans on staying put, at least for now. But she’s been living in some rundown piece of shit motel, in a part of Vegas we don’t have much control over. I want to ask her to stay with me and Meredith, but I don’t want to scare her off. We all know, with the Phantoms running around, she would be safer somewhere I could keep an eye on her.”
“Do we know where she came from?” That was another question from Wolf.
He seemed overly curious about Kate, but Viking wouldn’t take kindly to anyone trying to get with his newfound daughter.
“She was living with her grandmother before she passed away not too long ago. She has an uncle back in Apple Valley, but there’s something you need to know about him,” he said grimly. “Her uncle, Stuart, tried to patch into this club years ago, when we were a relatively new MC. That’s how I met her mom. Her uncle was a dick. He was more interested in the image that came with our lifestyle than actually living by our code. He didn’t even make it to a vote. Had to physically kick him out when he refused to leave.”
That insta
ntly put me on alert. It explained a lot about her behavior.
Viking continued, his expression hard. “He had to have known I was her father. I’m guessing him not telling me was his way of getting back at the club. I’ll deal with that, but I asked you guys to stay back because I want you to watch out for her. She’s out there struggling, and I want to help her, but with the crap going on with the Phantoms, I don’t want them catching wind of the fact that I have a daughter.”
“Got it,” we all agreed.
We may not be upstanding citizens, but we didn’t allow anything to happen to each other or our families.
“Since I’m too obvious a target and might draw unnecessary attention, Wolf, I want you to drive by her place tomorrow and check it out as well as the surrounding area. Until people know she’s under the protection of the Desert Sinners, she’s fair game for anyone. Be discreet.”
“Yes, sir,” Wolf said.
We stood up to leave, but Viking stopped me, letting the others exit. Wolf gave me a raised-brow look before I closed the door in his face. “Yeah, Prez?” I asked, turning around to face Viking. He was leaning over the table, and I knew something heavy was on his mind. I didn’t interrupt his thought; I just waited until he was ready to say something.
“I think we’ve both figured out that Kate’s life has been...as far as we know...sheltered.” He paused, standing tall. “She has no idea what this life is about. I can tell her home life was hard, and having an asshole uncle probably didn’t help. I think that’s why she’s here…to escape. But I also know she’s earnest in wanting a relationship with me, and that has to include the club as well.” He stepped away from the desk and faced the window that looked out over the front courtyard, folding his arms across his chest. I watched his intense reflection in the glass. “You’re the first person she met, so that might help.”
I ran a hand over my scalp. “What are you asking, Viking?”
“I need you to help her. I can only do so much on my end. Get her comfortable with the club, but don’t rush her. I’m trusting you to keep her safe, personally.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “No one touches her, Mac, no one. Go with Wolf tomorrow to check on her, then start spending some time with her. Show her who we really are at our core.”
“And the less prettier side of the club?” I asked.
Viking sighed, glancing out the window again. “One hurdle at a time, brother.”
“You got it.” I turned and walked out, closing the door behind me. I stood there for a minute, dissecting our conversation. Christ, my president wanted me to befriend his gorgeous daughter with the understanding that befriending her was all I could do.
The stress from the shit with the Phantoms was already getting to me, and now I had this Kate situation to deal with. I knew the perfect remedy would be finding a chick to sink my dick into. Unfortunately, each time I thought of who I wanted, an image of a certain blonde popped into my head. I was fucked, and not in a good way.
8
Kate
The loud banging—and not the bright, late morning sun—woke me up, just as it had every day this week. It seemed the couple renting out the room next to mine had a habit of kicking each other out on a regular basis. This resulted in one of them banging on the door repeatedly until the other finally let them back in, or the cops came by to break it up.
The first time it happened, I called the clerk at the front desk, who laughed off my complaint and never did anything about it. Between them and the other residents who apparently stayed awake all night, I hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep since I got here. I needed to find a new place to live since I planned on staying in Vegas for the foreseeable future. I was starting to get more steady hours at the diner, but it was going to be a while before I had enough saved up to move out of here.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, I decided to shower and get ready for the day. I was going to meet my coworker, Evelyn, for an early lunch; otherwise, I didn’t have any other plans for my day off. I slipped on the pair of flip-flops I kept next to the bed since I refused to walk on the carpet barefoot. I grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a tank top out of the rickety old dresser and headed to the bathroom. The lighting in here filled the room with a harsh yellow glow, the water pressure in the shower barely produced more than a trickle, and the towels were the roughest pieces of fabric I ever felt. But this was all my budget would allow.
After I quickly washed up, brushed my hair, and put on a touch of makeup, I heard the unmistakable sound of motorcycle engines outside.
I peeked out at the parking lot from behind the heavy drapes, and immediately recognized Wolf and Mac. Mac was climbing off his bike, but Wolf’s bike was still running. They were talking, but I couldn’t hear anything from here.
No one knew I was here, not even Viking, despite the fact he’d asked a few times. Were they here to conduct some sort of illegal transaction? It wouldn’t be the first time I saw a drug deal go down in the parking lot.
The text alert going off on my phone shook me out of my reverie, and I let the blinds close in front of me. Picking my phone up from the bedside table, I made a face when I saw it was Jonathan...again.
Jonathan: Please talk to me. I miss you.
I’d tried to talk to him once since I left but he made a bunch of excuses for his behavior, and he didn’t take any responsibility for the hurtful things he’d said. I explained to him that I thought it was best if we took a break from contacting each other for a while, but he was relentless. I thought about blocking him, but I didn’t want to completely cut him off yet. Our friendship was hanging on by a thread, but I wanted to give him the chance to fix things...eventually. I just wasn’t ready to fix things now.
I threw the phone on the bed and grabbed my shoes so I could finish getting dressed. I had just finished tying them when I heard a knock at the door. I immediately tensed, not saying anything, hoping the person would go away.
“Kate, open up. We saw you looking out the window.”
I recognized Mac’s voice right away. I hadn’t seen him or the other members since breakfast at the diner with Viking. Fear washed over me, and I wondered if something happened to Viking. I’d just met the man but the thought of something happening to him before I even got to know him made me feel like I was losing something special all over again.
“Is everything okay?” I asked before I opened the door all the way.
When I looked out, Mac’s eyes slammed into mine. He had a way about him that was a little too intense for me, like now, and I wasn’t sure if it was a turn-on or a turn-off. Right now, a little bit of both.
“Everything’s fine,” he said softly. I blushed when his eyes roved over me from head to toe. I didn’t dress like the girls at their club, but he seemed to approve of my jeans and long-sleeved top.
“Where’s Wolf?” I asked, for lack of words.
His eyes narrowed. “Why do you care?”
I stared back at him. “I saw you both outside; just being polite in asking,” I shot back, feeling bold. I was done with men treating me like crap, but I knew it was dangerous to finally find my nerve with a badass biker like Mac. “What are you two even doing here? No one knows I’m here.”
“There’s not a lot we don’t know when it comes to what’s happening in our city, sweetheart.”
Ugh, I thought, not that word again. When Mac grinned, I realized I must have said it aloud. I blushed. “No, seriously, why are you here?” I asked, going for civility.
He shrugged, his focus never leaving my face, like he was trying to capture every feature and commit it to memory. “You’re new to Vegas, and we protect what’s ours.”
I shivered because instinctively I knew Mac meant every syllable that came from his mouth. “I don’t belong to anyone, Mac.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Kate.” He stepped in, and I stepped back. “You’ll realize that, and you’ll even appreciate it when you’re finally one of us.”
I sh
ould have been scared at the idea of being “part of a biker gang,” but the idea of being part of something, of knowing that someone had my back—and I knew both Mac and Viking meant it as both a promise and a creed—made my chest go tight at how absolute it felt. It was confusing but uplifting as well.
Wordlessly, my whole body shaking, I turned around to grab my purse but spun back when I heard the door close. Mac was moving around my room, like he had the right to do so. All he did was make the space seem even smaller. Mac was around six foot, and in normal circumstances he was intimidating, but right now, I felt like the room was closing in on me. My pulse sped up, and I didn’t know if my body was warning me to flee or if I was reacting to being stuck in a room with an incredibly good-looking man. I could feel my palms starting to sweat and my breathing quicken.
“Relax, babe, I’m not going to hurt you.” Mac’s soothing tone was almost convincing, but his burning gaze ramped up my nerves again. I realized the tension wasn’t one of violence, but rather somewhat sexual. I wondered if he looked at every woman like that.
I cleared my throat, checking the contents of my purse to give my hands something to do and to distract my mind from unnerving thoughts of Mac. “Well, you saw me, you can report back to Viking that I’m alive and breathing.”
Mac smiled, a nice one that was disarming as hell. “Are you working today?” he asked as I grabbed my keys from my nightstand.
“Nope, got the day off. But I’m meeting a friend for lunch, and I’m going to be late if I don’t leave soon.”
“A friend?” He frowned. “Who?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, a friend. Evelyn and I work together at the diner.”
I couldn’t figure out why he was grilling me about what I was doing today. “This your phone?” Mac asked, picking up my beat-up cell phone that was still on my bed. It drew him even closer into my personal space. This close up, he was even more attractive. I could smell hints of leather and smoke, but also an earthy, desert fresh scent over that.
Mac (Desert Sinners MC Book 1) Page 5