“What happened?” I ask, yawning. “What time is it? Did you only just get home?”
“It’s six a.m., and yes, we just got in. I had a shower then came to get you,” he says, pulling the blankets down and laying me on the mattress. He jumps in and pulls the covers over us. “We followed him all night until he finally met up with some familiar faces.”
“And? What happened?”
“Nothing, we let him go, for now,” he admits, kissing my cheek.
“What? Why?” I ask, brow furrowing.
All of that and they let him go? What am I missing here?
“It got a little more complicated than we thought,” he says quietly, sighing. “We saw Georgia with them. And we need to play this the right way, because this woman gets away every damn time, mainly because none of us can touch her.”
“Why not?” I ask, frowning. “Who is she?”
“Because she’s Skylar’s mother,” he says, grimacing. “And she used to be Hammer’s old lady. I know her well, and because of who she is, none of us can go through with what we should have done a long time ago.”
I stay silent, because surely he can’t mean what I think he does.
At the end of the day, the woman is still Skylar’s mother.
“What does Skylar say?” I ask.
“That’s why we didn’t make any moves tonight. We need to speak with her and formulate a plan. The thing is, we know where Georgia lives with her husband, so we’ll always be able to find her. And it’s clear she’s never going to let this vendetta against us go. She’s going to want to bring us down until the day she dies.”
“What a mess this is,” I whisper, running my hands down his bare back. “I’m glad you are all safe.”
“Worried about me, were you?” he asks, kissing me again.
“Of course I was, especially when you weren’t home by midnight,” I say, and kiss his lips, then his jawline and his neck.
He makes a growling sound that turns me on, and gives me the confidence to explore his body a little in the sunlight. I kiss him down his chest, taking my time and teasing him, glancing up and looking him right in the eyes before continuing. I love listening to him, the hitches in his breath, his hand in my hair, stroking me, encouraging me.
Pulling down his boxer shorts, I find him already hard, but he gets harder the second my hand touches him and begins to stroke. Up and down, up and down, I get a feel for him before I taste him with my lips, my tongue licking over the head of his cock, and then sliding him into my mouth as far as I can without choking.
“Fuck,” he grits out, teeth clenched. His hips arch slightly, like he’s unable to keep still, while I continue to lick and suck. My nails score down his thighs, and he makes another growling sound. I don’t know how much longer he’s going to wait and let me play, I feel like he’s on the edge, and wanting to take control.
“I’m going to come,” he says, brown eyes pinned on me.
I know he’s giving me the option to move away but I decide not to. I’m curious, and this will be yet another first for me. He tries to move away, but I place my palms down on his hips so he can’t escape, and suck harder.
It works, and he comes in my mouth, but now I don’t know what to do—do I swallow it, or run and spit it out? The latter seems like the easier option, so I head to the bathroom and wash my mouth out. But then I realize the taste is already there, so I probably should have just swallowed.
Stepping back in the bedroom, Temper lies there naked, with his arms back behind his head. I join him back in bed and rest my cheek against his chest, while his fingers run down my bare back.
He kisses the top of my head, then rolls me to my back. “My turn.”
I take a deep breath as he teases me, paying special attention to my breasts before dropping lower, kissing down my stomach, around my navel, then lower still. When he nibbles on my inner thighs, I moan out loud, and when he puts his mouth on my pussy, I can’t help the sounds that I make. He takes his time with me, in no rush, my orgasm building, and my desire taking control of all of my senses.
In this moment, nothing other than him and my pleasure matters.
And when I orgasm, sparks fly, and my body comes apart and then rejoins. Even after that, it’s not over—he slides his cock inside of me, thrusting a few times before pulling out and going back down on me. He then flips me on my stomach, lifting my hips up, my ass pushed out in the air, and he licks my pussy from behind.
I hold on to the headboard for dear life, my thighs trembling. I thought I’d feel shy, or maybe even want to cover up, but I feel safe and am just enjoying every new damn thing he does to me. He’s giving me a taste of what I’ve been missing out on, but at the same time making me so glad I waited for someone I feel comfortable with to explore my sexuality.
He makes me come one more time before he slides back into me and thrusts until he finishes. I fall forward on the bed, a smile on my face, sated and happy. Temper pulls me back with him, so he’s spooning me from behind, then kisses the back of my neck.
“I love you,” he says, exhaling deeply.
I swallow hard. “I love you too, Temper.”
Which means we’re both fucked.
Chapter Twenty
“I can’t believe this shit,” Skylar groans, shoulders hunched in defeat. “It just makes no sense. Hammer is gone—why can’t she let the Knights be now? I just don’t understand why she hates me so much.”
After breaking the news to her about her mom being involved in all of this, we all sit around in the living room, trying to be there for her as she processes this. I personally don’t see what kind of solution there could be. It seems like Georgia’s never going to let this go—she means to hold this grudge against the MC until she dies.
It seems the woman really doesn’t take rejection well.
From what I’ve heard, Georgia is the Knights’ nemesis, a friend turned enemy, and she’s never going to just go away. It seems like she has made it her life’s work to bring the MC down, and that she has tried over and over again to bring pain and harm to anyone, including her own daughter, who calls this clubhouse home.
“I think she pictured herself being the queen bee around here for the rest of her life,” Temper states, arms crossed against his broad chest.
“And now she’s never going to be,” Renny adds, looking at me.
Clearing my throat, I glance back at Skylar. “I’m sure she doesn’t hate you. She’s obviously not thinking straight. I don’t think you should take this as a personal hit. She clearly wants the MC taken down, and you just happen to be a part of that.”
“I agree,” Saint says, arm around his woman. “She’s not right in the head, Skylar. She has some vendetta against us, and it’s clear she’s not letting it go. She knows that we won’t hurt her because she’s your mother, and now she’s playing that card yet again, thinking that we won’t do any damage.”
“So what do we do?” Skylar asks him.
“Damage,” Saint replies, baring his teeth. “I say we speak to her husband and show him proof of the person she really is for a start. If she wants to try to ruin our lives, it’s time for her to get a little payback. She’s been playing dirty this whole time while we’ve been playing by the rules. Time to even the playing field.”
“If we bring Neville into this, that’s going to push her over the edge,” Temper states, glancing around the group. “Are we all ready for the fallout?”
“She started this war,” Renny adds, lips tight. “It’s time we finished it.”
Skylar ducks her head, but she doesn’t disagree.
I don’t envy the position she’s in. Georgia sounds like a rotten person, but at the end of the day that’s still her mom. I can’t say what I’d do if I were in her situation.
Her family is coming after her family, and it’s so fucked-up.
&
nbsp; “She’s not going to give up,” she finally says. “She’s going to keep coming after the club. She got Dad killed. I’m never going to forgive her for that, and I don’t want to lose anyone else. My family is here now.”
Temper gets a text message and he instantly stands. “All right, I have to go.” He leans down and kisses me deeply. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
He walks away, leaving everyone staring at me.
“What?” I ask them.
“Temper’s into PDA now,” Saint muses, a look of confusion on his face. “Fuckin’ hell, anything is possible.”
I ignore their needling and reply to my text messages from Mom and Ivy. Mom is asking me to forgive her, and that she should have been honest with me from the start about my dad. Ivy is asking me to bring her back something cool, and I appreciate the normalcy of her conversation over the deep one with Mom.
The conversation I had with Temper about contacting Grayson nags at me. With everything coming out about Skylar’s mom’s involvement, I think we could use as much help as we can get. And Palmer is a drug lord or kingpin, whatever terminology he prefers. Maybe he can help.
So I send my mother a message.
Abbie: Send me his number.
She’s the one who brought him into this so quickly; she won’t mind us having contact now. While I don’t want any type of relationship with him, he may be able to help. These people, this family, they’re worth it.
She takes an hour before she sends me his number; knowing her, she probably made up a pros and cons list or something like that. I type out a new message to Palmer.
Abbie: This is Abbie. You don’t need to try to find me, I’m fine and I’ll be back home before the week is over. Mom made a mistake trying to contact you. But since she did, I could use your help. Think you can crawl out from the rock you’ve been hiding under?
I hit send.
Hating that I keep checking my phone to see if he replies, I hide it under my pillow and try to keep myself busy. It’s annoying he’s affecting me—even though I’m trying hard to just pretend like nothing has changed, it clearly has. After all of these years, I have a face for my father, which makes it so much more real. It was easier before when I didn’t have any information and I could just pretend I was created by immaculate conception or something like that. Now the bastard is living in my head, and I hate that he has a place there when he doesn’t deserve it. If he doesn’t reply to me, then I’ll know once and for all what a waste of a human he is.
“Is everything okay?” Skylar asks, knocking on my door and coming in.
“I should be asking you the same thing,” I say, tapping the spot next to me on my bed. “Parents can be so shitty, can’t they?”
“You can say that again,” she grumbles, sitting down and glancing around my room. “The worst part is that I’m so much closer to my brothers now, and I don’t want something to happen that’s going to tear us apart, you know? And if something happens to Mom and that’s on me, they’re going to hate me.”
“It’s such a hard situation,” I whisper, squeezing her hand. “I’m sure there’s a solution that doesn’t involve her...going missing or anything. Maybe we can think of a way that gets her off our backs for good, but she remains alive and well?” I say it with hope, but deep down I don’t know if that’s realistic. She’s out to kill the MC and she put her own daughter in danger, sending men to attack them when she was there. Skylar could’ve been killed.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to do this whole time.” She sighs. “And it’s why she keeps coming back, because we keep thinking we can fix this. But this problem never goes away. She’s like a fucking boomerang—she just keeps coming back to fuck with us.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know it will be okay,” I promise, smiling sadly.
“I’m so glad you came into our lives, Abbie,” she says, leaning over and giving me a kiss on my cheek. “You’re the gentleness we needed here, but you’re also so strong. It’s so beautiful to see you and Temper together. You bring out the best in him, you know that? You soften him, and he hardens you.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m meant to be hardening him,” I joke.
She laughs and winks. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Feeling my cheeks heat, I lift up my pillow and pick up my phone. “I’ve been avoiding checking this because I messaged Palmer, and I don’t know if he’s going to reply or not.”
“Do you want to check together?” she asks.
I nod. “Okay.”
We both hold the phone, my right hand her left, and I open my messages.
Sperm Donor: I’ll help, but I just ask one thing...
I watch the three dots blink as he writes another message.
Sperm Donor: Come meet me in person.
Skylar and I share a look. “Is he seriously blackmailing me right now? The piece of shit.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks, frowning. “Maybe he just wants to see you in person. Imagine having a child and you don’t even know what she really looks like or anything. He might just want to meet you once and for all. You know, I was in a similar situation as you—my mom never told me who my dad was, and when I found out it was already too late, he was already dead.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, thinking about her words. I don’t really know the full story on what happened between him and my mom. I deserve to know the truth and why he’s been absent from my life. “I think I need to go. If he can help us, I can give him the face time. And as much as I want to think he’s a scumbag loser who abandoned his child, I really don’t know the whole story and I’m not sure I would believe anything my mother told me at this point. Is it wrong for me to go and ask him?”
“No. And if I were you, I’d go,” she admits, rubbing my back. “Abbie, I think it’s incredibly brave of you to open up this wound to help the MC. It tells me that you are the perfect woman for Temper.”
I smile. “Thanks. And I think you’re right, but I should probably talk to Temper first.”
If I’m going to be the queen around here, it’s time I make some sacrifices of my own.
Chapter Twenty-One
When Temper returns, Skylar has me in the gym, teaching me a few self-defense moves, the rest of the MC around us in a circle. Crow taught me how to punch properly, and now I’m being taught how to get out of certain holds if someone tries to grab me. Using the technique Skylar showed me, I twist her arm and escape her hold from behind.
“Perfect.” She beams, panting a little. “Man, I forgot how tiring this was. You want to take over, Prez?”
Temper nods, and steps into the circle and hands me some gloves. “Let’s see what you got.”
“You sure you want me to beat you in front of all your men?” I tease, sliding them on and holding my fists up in position, in front of my face. I start to weave and duck, putting on a little show for him.
He simply grins, flashing his teeth. “I’m sure I’ll manage.”
I can’t deny being kind of turned on right now, especially with the way he’s looking at me, like he wants to eat me alive. He puts on his own gloves and takes a similar stance, only he doesn’t look like an idiot when he does it. He looks powerful, like a worthy opponent for anyone.
“You ready?” he asks, amusement in his gaze.
“Yes,” I reply, making the first move forward and delivering the first punch. Like I imagined, he doesn’t actually try to hit me. Instead he playfully makes a few jabs, but none of them connect, and he spends his time blocking my hits. “Come on, you’re not going to break me.”
“I’m not going to hit my woman,” he says, smirking. “I just want to see what skills you have.”
“And?”
“Workable,” he replies, throwing his gloves on the floor, and lifts me in the air by my hips. �
�You’re quick and determined. And fuckin’ beautiful.”
“I don’t think that would distract many other people, just you.” I grin, kissing his lips as he lowers my body down his.
“Um, we’re still all here, guys,” Skylar calls out, laughing. “Should we leave?”
“I feel like we should leave,” Saint agrees, and they all do just that.
“Are we that bad to be around?” I ask Temper, laughing to myself and removing my gloves. “Oh yeah, while you were gone, I did a thing.”
“What thing did you do?” he asks, lifting his chin and arching his brow.
“I messaged Palmer,” I admit, telling him about the exchange.
“What are you going to do?” he asks, putting away the boxing gloves and taking my hand in his. “If you want to meet him, you know I’m coming, right? I mean, I can wait in the car or something, or hide out somewhere, but I’m going to be around in case he pulls some bullshit.”
“I know,” I say, lip twitching. “And yes, I want you to come with me, of course. I wouldn’t do it without you.”
“Okay, when do you want to meet him?” he asks, leading me outside.
“I’ll message him now and say tomorrow? Do you have anything then?” I ask.
“Nothing that can’t be moved.”
Great.
Tomorrow, I meet my father.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I’m glad when Palmer chooses a public café, because I don’t know how anything can go too wrong here. There’s plenty of people around, and Temper is in a car at the front of the café, Saint at the back, and Renny down the road just in case. We don’t know what he has planned, but we can never be too careful.
He’s there before me, sitting alone with a coffee in front of him. I recognize him instantly from his social media—older, fit, with salt-and-pepper hair. The sound of the chair scraping as I pull it out makes him notice me.
“Abigail,” he says, eyes widening as he takes me in. “You came.”
“I did,” I reply, sitting down. “I don’t know why you wanted to see me, but here I am.”
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