Motorcycle Daddy (MC Daddies Book 1)

by Laylah Roberts

  “My Duke?” As though there is going to be another one, Sunny.

  Jewel grinned. “The one and only. Didn’t think I’d see the day he fell for a woman. I’ve known him for years and I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice. Not that he’s a player or anything. He doesn’t jump on anything with a skirt, he just never seemed interested in commitment.”

  She ran her finger down the moisture that had gathered on the outside of her bottle of beer. “We haven’t exactly talked about commitment.”

  But she knew he was serious about her and she felt the same about him.

  Jewel snorted. “What do you think that statement just was? That was basically a wedding ring to these guys.”

  She blushed. “It was?”

  Jewel nodded. “So I hope you’re serious about him. Because Duke’s a good guy, one of the best. I don’t want to see him hurt.”

  Sunny stared at her for a moment. Hurt Duke? That was the last thing she’d ever want to do. “He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and the thought of hurting him makes me feel ill. The thought of being without him. . .” she shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about it. It’s hard to think we’ve only known each other a few weeks. I shouldn’t feel this intense about him already, right?”

  It was nice to have someone to talk to about this. She’d just met this woman, but she felt instantly at ease with her.

  “If it’s right, it’s right. Doesn’t matter if you’ve known them six minutes or six years. Don’t go messing it up just because it doesn’t stick to society’s timelines.”

  “You’re smart. And beautiful. I wish I was more like you.”

  Jewel threw her head back and laughed. Around them, men stopped and stared, their admiration for the dark-haired woman apparent. But Jewel didn’t look at any of them. Her attention was fully on Sunny.

  “Sorry, that probably sounded weird. I’ve never had a friend before, not that I’m saying you have to be my friend or anything,” she groaned. “Stop me anytime you like.”

  “Now why would I do that? You’re seriously entertaining.”

  Sunny just shook her head. “I’m a nutcase, is what I am.”

  “Babe, seriously, you do not want to be like me.”

  Sunny sighed. “You seem so confident and together.”

  Jewel leaned in. “A little secret, because even though we’ve just met I feel like I can trust you.”

  Sunny nodded. “I feel the same.”

  “It’s all a freaking act.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, babe. I give people what they want to see. Even if I don’t feel it on the inside.”

  On instinct, Sunny reached over and grabbed hold of her hand. “I’m sorry you have to pretend all the time.”

  Jewel smiled sadly. “Me too.”

  “I also wish I could dress like you.” Sunny looked down at herself with a grimace.

  Jewel narrowed her gaze. “You don’t like your clothes?”

  “Everything in my wardrobe has been there for years. It doesn’t fit me properly. I don’t feel like I’m me in these clothes. I think maybe I’ve been hiding too.”

  “I’ll take you shopping.”

  “What? Really?”

  “Yep. We can go this weekend if you like.”

  Sunny grinned. “That would be awesome, if you’re sure it’s not too much trouble.”

  Jewel took a sip of beer. “I wouldn’t have offered if it was. And truth is, I don’t have a lot of friends myself.”

  Sunny leaned in, looking around to make sure no one else was close enough to hear her. “Can I ask you another favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “I need to know how to seduce Duke, have you got any tips?”

  Jewel blinked. “Seduce him?”

  “He’s taking things slow. He doesn’t think I’m ready for sex.”

  “Oh, the whole I’m going slow for your sake deal.”

  Sunny nodded. “So any suggestions?”

  “Blow job.”

  Sunny gaped at her. Then she smiled. “Really? You think that will work?”

  “Babe. Not a man alive who can resist the woman he loves going down on him.”

  He’d said nothing about love, but he did care about her. A lot. Only thing was, were her blow job skills up to it?

  Well, there were videos to help with that, right?

  “Jewel, you’re a very smart lady.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you know what just happened out there?” Ink asked Duke as they stepped into the back area of the bar and headed towards Reyes’ office.

  “No fucking idea.”

  “Jewel just walked up to Sunny and took to her like they were long lost friends. For the first six months that she lived in the compound she wouldn’t even speak to me, but she just offers to babysit Sunny like that.” Ink stilled. “Do you think Sunny will be all right?”

  Duke had to smile. “Sunny will be fine. She has that effect on people. She’s sweet and genuine and people see that.”

  Ink studied him for a moment. “You’ve got it bad for her.”

  “You were just there; did that seem like I’m all in or not?”

  “Oh, that was definitely a declaration of ownership. You’ll be lucky to go home with your balls tonight.”

  Duke shook his head. “Sunny will be fine with it.”

  “You’re a lucky man, you bastard. She got any sisters?”

  He frowned. “No. She has no one.”

  “Well, that’s just changed, hasn’t it? She’s got all of us now.”

  Yeah. She did since he’d just declared she was his in front of the entire club. She’d be treated like his old woman now, respected and protected. And it eased something inside him. Knowing that he’d be giving her his family.

  They stepped into Reyes’ office. Razor, Spike and Jason were already there. Along with Reyes, who sat behind his desk, staring at his laptop.

  “What’s going on?” Duke asked, taking a seat at the side of the room. “Could we not have talked over the phone? I need to get Sunny home to bed, she’s had an eventful day.”

  Reyes raised his gaze to his. “No idea who messed up your truck?”

  “No.” And that really pissed him off. Not the damage, he could care less about that. But that Sunny could have been harmed.

  “Could it have been the Fox?” Reyes asked him.

  Duke narrowed his gaze. “There was no calling card. That’s the Fox’s thing, right? To leave some indication it was him?”

  “Usually, yeah,” Spike rasped. “But he was interrupted by your missus.”

  Duke didn’t deny she was his. They’d all hear about his declaration out in the bar soon enough. He frowned, thinking that through. If it was the Fox and Sunny had been so close to him. . .he sucked in a breath. Fuck! The danger she could have been in made him want to get up right now and find her, tuck her away and never let her out.

  “Easy, man,” Ink said. “She’s surrounded by her people. Probably nowhere that she’d be safer.”

  “Don’t underestimate the Fox,” Spike told them. “Bastard could be sneaking amongst us and we’d never know. He’s got a reputation for getting places other people can’t.”

  Ink glared at Spike. “Are you trying to give Duke a heart attack? Christ, he’s not going to let the poor girl pee on her own now.”

  That had basically been the case earlier so he couldn’t argue that.

  “Good,” Spike grunted. “If it was the Fox she encountered she needs watching like a hawk.”

  “How likely is it that it was the Fox, though,” Ink argued. “This guy is an assassin, why the fuck would he be involved in petty shit like keying Duke’s truck?”

  Reyes grunted. “It’s a good point. Unlikely to be the Fox.”

  “Jewel has her,” Ink told him. “She’s safe for the moment.”

  “Jewel has her?” Reyes asked, shock clear in his usually emotionless voice.

  “Yep.” Ink grinned
. “Think she’s taken little Sunny under her wing.”

  “But Jewel hates people,” Jason said with confusion.

  “She likes Sunny,” Ink drawled. “Everyone likes Sunny. Such a sweet little thing. Daddy Duke, such a nice ring to it,” Ink mused, tapping his tattooed fingers against the desk.

  “Can we get on with it? I don’t like being away from her.”

  Reyes nodded. “My contact called me earlier. Turns out that girl who was found last weekend is the same girl in the photos. She was a runaway. They’re trying to piece together what happened to her once she arrived here.”

  “Fuck,” Duke muttered. Having the girl turn up dead had sent him spiraling last weekend. Which is why he’d been trying to stay away from Sunny, until she’d walked over with a basket of muffins. “Fucker killed her.”

  “Raped and murdered,” Reyes confirmed in a cold voice. “Then in the early hours of this morning, Jason followed one of the senator’s bodyguards. And he caught him meeting with this guy.”

  The senator was loaded and he had two bodyguards that went everywhere with him.

  Reyes turned around his laptop to display a photo of one of the senator’s bodyguards handing an envelope to a fat, middle-aged white man with a serious comb-over.

  “Who is he?” Duke asked.

  “Arnold James Francine. Or Frankie to his friends and the devil to the women he pimps out.”

  Duke sat up straighter. “He was meeting with a pimp?”

  Reyes nodded. “And paying him off by the looks of it.”

  “So this could be the guy supplying him with the girls?” Razor asked with a scowl.

  “Looks like it,” Reyes said.

  “Even better, Frankie has ties to Bartolli,” Jason told them. “His son is married to Fergus Bartolli’s niece.”

  “So Frankie could have told Bartolli he was supplying a US Senator with young girls, Bartolli decides to blackmail the senator, uses us to do it so it doesn’t get back to him and Frankie isn’t identified as the leak,” Duke surmised.

  “That’s what we’re thinking.”

  “Think we can get to Frankie?” Ink asked.

  “I’ll talk to Grady. Think he knows Frankie,” Spike said quietly. “I’ll see if I can get a meet set up.”

  Reyes nodded. “Sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, let’s keep on this bastard. This could mean a new girl is coming in. It’s our chance to nail him.”

  They all nodded and started to leave. “Duke, wait a minute,” Reyes called out.

  Duke stilled, giving him an impatient look. He needed to get back to Sunny.

  “I’ve got her,” Ink said quietly.

  Duke gave him a nod of thanks and waited until the door was shut to speak. “What’s up?”

  “You told Sunny about any of this?”

  He ran his hand over his hair. He felt torn about this. Reyes wanted this kept quiet between the six of them. There were still men in the club who had been loyal to Smiley and weren’t entirely loyal to Reyes. He got it. But at the same time, he didn’t like keeping things from Sunny.

  “Not yet,” he told him.

  Reyes gave a sharp nod. “Figured as much. You should tell her.”

  Duke raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

  “Haven’t been around the two of you much, but the others have. And I see the way you are when you talk about her. You don’t even like her out of your sight.”

  “She was attacked today.” But he nodded. He didn’t like her out of his sight.

  “You’re in deep. We know that. The Fox might know it too. She deserves to know what’s going on so she can be careful.”

  “I’m watching her closely.” Except he hadn’t today. “You think he could target her?”

  “Not saying that. We haven’t heard from him in a while. No way of knowing if he’s even still around. But I know if she was mine, I’d want her to be informed. And I’d want her protected. Probably more than she’d be comfortable with.” Reyes smiled darkly. Duke knew the other man’s need for control ran even deeper than his. Any woman of his would be suffocated in his protection. Which might be why he was single. It would take a special woman to understand he wasn’t being an asshole, that he needed it.

  Duke got it, because he had some of that inside him. “I don’t think I can do surveillance on the senator anymore.”

  Reyes nodded. “Think that’s wise. Rest of us are single. But we need to keep Sunny safe. Tell her what you need to and let us know if you need our help.”

  This is what he’d been searching for when he’d first joined the Iron Shadows. Someone to have his back and to know he’d always have theirs.

  “Yeah. Thanks, man.”

  “It doesn’t even need to be said,” Reyes replied. Something dark filled his face. “She really ran towards the asshole with a knife?”

  “She didn’t realize he had a knife, but yeah.”

  Reyes shook his head. “I take it she won’t be sitting well tomorrow.”

  “Or maybe for the rest of the week,” Duke said darkly.

  “Good,” Reyes grunted, turning back to his laptop.

  Duke was used to his abruptness and he had somewhere else he wanted to be anyway.

  16

  “What do you need from your place for the night?” Duke asked her as he pulled into his driveway. “PJs, toothbrush, Moody, anything else?”

  She blushed a little at the mention of Moody, but she wouldn’t sleep well without him.

  Although, maybe she should use tonight to work on taking Jewel’s advice. She wasn’t certain about her blow job skills. Sex hadn’t been something Greg had wanted much of and he’d been her only sexual partner.

  Duke escorted her over to her place, making her wait while he checked the house over.

  “Make sure you get your hairbrush,” he told her.

  She found a bag and packed up her pajamas, a spare set of clothing, her hairbrush and other toiletries. Lastly, she grabbed Moody.

  “Ink’s guys are coming tomorrow to put a security system into your place.”

  He settled his hand on the small of her back as they walked to his house. He unlocked the door and turned off the alarm.

  “All right,” she told him.

  “No argument?” He sounded surprised.

  “Would it make any difference if I did?” she asked dryly.

  “Nope. Put your stuff away, I’m going to run you a bath, I want to make sure you really weren’t injured.”

  “I’m fine, Duke.”

  He ran his hand over his face. “Yeah, well, I need to make sure of it myself. Won’t be able to sleep until I do. I need to take care of you tonight, Sunny. All right? Tomorrow, we’ll deal with your punishment.”

  Well, that was something to look forward to.

  She put her stuff in the bedroom and grabbed her toiletries, taking them into the bathroom as he ran her a bath.

  “Right, little rebel. Let’s get you undressed.” He reached for her clothing.

  “I can do that myself.”

  “Little girls don’t undress or bathe themselves. They could slip and drown or hurt themselves,” he explained.

  “Oh, umm.” This was the first time Duke would see her naked, even though he’d showered her, she’d still had her underwear on and she’d been kind of out of it.

  He grabbed hold of her chin tilting her face up. “If you can’t do this, I’ll leave you alone. But I’d really like to take care of you. I need my little rebel right now.”

  No way could she say no to a request like that.

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Don’t you have any bubbles, Daddy?” she asked, looking down at the plain bath. “And what about toys?”

  He tugged off her sweatshirt then reached for her T-shirt. She had to work hard not to be embarrassed about standing there just in her bra. Her Little and adult sides warred against each other as he reached for her jeans. This wasn’t quite how she envis
ioned him seeing her naked for the first time.

  “I’m afraid I don’t. I seem to be very underprepared for having a baby girl to take care of.”

  “You could use some stuff from the kitchen as toys,” she suggested.

  “Good idea.” He pointed at the toilet. “Go potty and I’ll go grab some things. Do not get in the bath.”

  Go potty? Eek. He didn’t just say that, did he? But she did need to go. She was just finishing up when he returned and blushed bright red as he walked in. But he didn’t say a thing, just moved to the bath as she washed her hands. She left off her pants but kept her panties on, not quite ready to strip completely.

  He dropped some things in the bath then crouched in front of her. Taking hold of her panties, he started pushing them down her legs. Sugar. She was so glad she’d shaved this morning. Everywhere.

  “Hold onto my shoulders to step out of them,” he instructed. He tossed her panties onto her pile of clothes then stood and reached around to undo her bra.

  Wow. He was quick. She wondered how many times he’d done that. Then all thought fled as he whipped off his T-shirt. Oh God, he was gorgeous. She vaguely remembered seeing him without his shirt on that night he’d taken care of her. But seeing it now, with a clear head, she could really appreciate it.

  He swung around to turn off the tap and she got a good look at his back. Yum. She reached out and ran her fingers over his tattoo.

  “This is amazing.” His entire back was covered. It started with an eagle at his shoulders, its huge wings expanding out. It looked so realistic, like it was going to fly straight towards her. But under the eagle was a woman looking up to it and rays of light shone down on her face.

  It was gorgeous. Beautiful.

  He turned and cupped her face between his hands, lightly kissing her forehead. “Thank you.” He lifted her into the bath. His strength made her breath catch. He settled her on her bottom and knelt beside her. He’d already put some plastic cups, a sieve and whisk into the bath. Her toys, she guessed.

  “Do you need your hair washed?”

  “Yes, please. If you don’t mind. I left my shampoo and conditioner in the shower.” He rose and got them. Then he untied her hair and reached for one of the cups.