by Debra Kayn
"Why?"
Her hands came up, and she shrugged. "Because I love him. I don't know. Am I supposed to have a reason? Tony and Brad are always in trouble. I can't control what they do. But they're the only family I have. If they need me, I will be there for them."
Brage tilted his head, and his mouth softened. A tear rolled unchecked down her cheek. If he hadn't of caught her meeting with Tony, she would've been gone by now, and he would never have to see her again.
As quickly as that thought entered her head, she regretted wanting to leave Brage. She wasn't foolish. She understood the situation, having grown up watching her brothers fight for their place within a motorcycle club. It was a hard and mostly illegal lifestyle. Her brothers paid for many of their crimes, but she also knew that what they did to others wasn't legal or right.
Her time with Brage, which started off wonderful had turned to something bigger than she'd planned. If circumstances were different and she could've remained the woman he'd hooked up with a few times, she could've enjoyed the way he was looking at her right now. As if he could fix everything and take her back to having pleasure in her life.
"Babe, your birth certificate says you're twenty-four years old," said Brage softly.
Shaking her head, she forced herself to pay attention. "Then, there's a mistake. I know my own birthday."
Brage leaned closer. "Brad Reed is listed as your father."
"No, he's my brother. My parents were Al and Michelle Reed. They died in a car crash when I was almost six years old." She scoffed. "Brad got custody of me after their death because he was twenty-two years old. Someone got their facts wrong. He had custody of me because my parents are dead."
Elling cleared his throat. She looked up at the Slag member.
"A change in custody doesn't change a birth certificate," said Elling. "Even if that were the case, putting Jane Doe without any other identifying information in as the mother on a government-issued document would classify as fraudulent by law."
"Jane Doe?" She looked at Brage. "What's he talking about?"
Brage held out his hand. Roar passed him a file.
"Read it." Brage stood and walked over to the other men.
Curious, she opened the tan colored file and shifted through the papers. Glancing up at the men, she wanted to ask why they had paperwork on her, but the sight of the birth certificate caught her attention.
The little details were new to her. She had no idea what time she'd been born or at what hospital. Seeing the misinformation about who her parents were, she looked up and found Brage watching her, ignoring the other men.
"This is wrong. I-I don't know why it would say this, but I know who my parents are," she said.
He returned to the chair in front of her. "Do you remember them?"
"No, but—"
"Babe, you claim to have been six years old when they died. I'm much older than you, and I can remember things back to the time I was four and five years old. It's not all clear in my mind, but I could give you enough details you could find out if they are facts." He paused. "I was four when my younger sister was born. I remember the hospital waiting room, seeing her get her head washed by the nurse, and holding her for the first time."
She stood, not wanting to hear his memories. Everyone was different. Just because she couldn't remember what her parents looked or sounded like it didn't mean anything was wrong with her.
How many times had she explained the same thing to the school nurse growing up or the therapist she was sent to because her teachers suspected something was wrong with her?
Brage followed her and guided her over to the corner of the room, blocking the others from her. "It's important that you remember, Dinah."
"Why? So I can feel the pain of losing my parents again?" She swiped at her eyes. "Just let me go. I'm not going to tell Tony anything about Slag Motorcycle Club. I don't even know what he wanted me to find out or know anything about what you do. I'm done. If he's in trouble, he's going to have to face the consequences on his own. I can't do this anymore. He was almost killed—by you today. I'm miserable, and I just want to go back to Idaho and—"
"So were you."
Her heart pounded. "I was what?"
"Almost killed today." Brage's voice lowered. "You were in the middle with over four hundred men pointing their guns at—"
"I know. I know." She fisted her hair and backed into the wall. "I'm not a part of this. I swear to God. I am not a part of Moroad. I was only trying to save my brother from getting in trouble with his club. That's all."
Brage closed his eyes an extra beat as if it was painful for him to hear that she was innocent. She had no idea what he expected, but she'd handed him the truth.
"Please," she whispered. "Let me walk out the door. You'll never see me again. I promise on my life."
"I can't," he whispered back. "It's more dangerous for you out there by yourself now that Moroad has taken a hit. They won't stop coming after you until..."
She looked away, unable to face what he was saying. Deep down, she knew he was right. Even Tony had warned her that Moroad wasn't above killing her.
Chapter 17
"She's not going to be held a prisoner by Slag." Brage refused to sit at the table in the meeting room of the clubhouse.
"My opinion..." Roar looked at each officer. "I don't trust Dinah."
"She doesn't even know why her brother, or whoever the hell he is, sent her here." He gripped the back of the chair. "Besides looking around to see if any of us are watching her, she hasn't tried to fight her way out since the fiasco with Moroad. She's given us no reason not to believe her."
Every fucking day, he witnessed Dinah slipping into a depressed state. Over the last week, she hadn't put up any fight. She followed him around like a puppy, even into the sauna. He had a feeling; she'd pass out from the heat rather than open her mouth and ask him if she could leave the room.
She had finally realized her life was in danger and decided Brage was the only one who could keep her safe.
She'd taken responsibility for the Moroad attack without anyone asking, and Brage no longer believed she'd instigated the meeting. Slag had gone after Moroad and expected retaliation before she'd arrived.
"You can't argue that she doesn't do her job. She fits in at The Fire Ring as much as Lizzy, Coco, Heather, and Monica." Brage inhaled deeply. "There are three hundred members we can use to watch her. I have no problem with that. And, if she wants to come and go, I'll go with her. For her protection and the club's."
Roar studied him, thumping his thumb against the table. Their friendship spanned years; his word golden. He saw no reason to keep Dinah under lock and key at night.
He'd never claimed a woman before. Though he wasn't making that declaration with Dinah, he also wasn't going to let her go out on her own and walk out of his life. Not yet. Her safety came first.
"Despite everything, she is a good worker and gets along with the others at the bar." Roar exhaled loudly. "Lizzy's been telling me Dinah's a good woman lately, despite the trouble."
He dipped his chin. He'd lived with the woman for a while now. His opinion went from self-beating himself for bringing danger to Slag to wanting to help Dinah. There was more to her story, and he had a feeling once she learns the people she always thought of as family wasn't blood-related to her, she would remember what happened to her before the age of six.
There was more going on with her than being mixed up with Moroad and coming after Slag.
Roar looked around the table. "Go ahead and vote."
Marcus, Elling, Joel, Peer, and Viktor voted on Brage's side. He nodded with respect.
"I'll inform the other members." Roar remained sitting. "For future plans, we need a crew together to make a visit to Brikken next weekend."
"I'll have names for you in the morning." Brage pulled on his beard. "Do you still want to intercept them on their run?"
"For now, that's the only way we'll make contact with them. They have their co
mpound closed up tight. They match us man to man. There's too big of a risk going in shooting. We need to put some worry on them, not point a fucking bull's eye on our back. We've already got Moroad targeting us." Roar thumped the table. "Meeting shelved. I need to go meet with Finn about Dag."
"Is he having problems?" asked Peer.
Brage waited to hear about Dag's condition. Wrapped up in Dinah's problems, he could've missed something.
"Ja." Roar tapped the side of his head. "He's stubborn."
"Good thing he is." Brage whistled softly. "We could've lost him to Moroad."
"Ja," came the group answer.
With every member of Nordic descent, they all fell back on speaking Norwegian on occasion.
Leaving the room, Brage walked out to the main room. There were still a couple of hours left until Dinah needed to go to work.
He found her sitting at the table with Heather and Monica, right where he'd asked her to wait for him, knowing the other women would make sure her needs were met.
Dinah noticed him before he'd reached her. He wanted to touch her and get some kind of reaction, but she simply watched him, waiting for what he needed her to do next. Her lack of emotions bothered him.
He'd admired her strength and independence when he'd first noticed her at the party. Loved the fact she wasn't throwing herself at him or bending over backward to get him to notice. He'd rather work for her attention.
It killed him that she'd checked out, physically and mentally.
He held out his hand. "Let's walk outside."
She ignored the offer to help her out of the chair and stood on her own. He nodded at the other ladies and walked with Dinah out the door.
In the alley, he kept going. There were members hanging around the motorcycles, and he needed privacy. He had a feeling, they'd both had enough of the bedroom lately.
Near the back door of the bar, he stopped and leaned against the wall. "Are you feeling okay to work tonight?"
She nodded.
"Did you eat lunch?"
She gazed down the alley, avoiding any eye contact. "Yes."
"What?"
She looked at him. "What?"
"What did you eat?"
"Oh." She crossed her arms and cupped her elbows. "The same thing as everyone else. An open sandwich and a slice of cantaloupe."
"Ja...good," he murmured, glad she wasn't refusing to eat.
"Do you speak Norwegian? I mean, beyond saying ja," she asked.
"When I call my family." Encouraged because she questioned his life, he wanted her to keep talking. "Why?"
She shrugged. "Some of the other members do."
"A lot don't." He lit a cigarette and found her eyeing him. Holding out his pack of smokes, he offered her one.
She shook her head. "I quit."
"Good for you." He exhaled in the air. "I started smoking when I was fourteen years old, thinking it was an occasional thing, and here I am, down to a half a pack a day."
"You need to chew gum. Any kind and flavor. It helps."
His cock pulsed, remembering how she always chewed gum when he'd first met her and tasted like cinnamon. He was partial to cinnamon.
"Slag has decided they are no longer holding you at the clubhouse." He inhaled on the cigarette, needing to relax.
She raised her perfectly arched brows. "You believe me?"
"There are a lot of holes in your story, Dinah. I don't think your brothers are who you think they are, and I have a feeling you know that. But I don't think you came here to destroy Slag. You came to protect your bro—Tony Reed. Luckily, Slag doesn't discuss business with outsiders, and there was no chance of you ever gaining the information Reed wanted from us." His mouth tightened. "Slag will take care of Moroad in time."
"So, I can leave?" she asked.
"On one condition."
Her shoulders sagged, and she waited for him to continue without asking any more questions. He stubbed out his smoke with the toe of his boot.
"I want you to stay with me at the clubhouse." He held up his hand when her mouth opened. "It's not safe at the rental house, babe. Moroad could get to you before I or anyone else could help you."
"What if I go back to Coeur d'Alene, so you're not responsible for my safety?" Little lines appeared between her brows.
He knew deep down, she'd ask. Last night, he'd prepared to let her go. Standing in front of her, sensing the attraction between them that'd never left, even when she flashed claws and he'd locked her in his room, he couldn't let her go. "I can't let you do that."
"Then, I'm still being held captive here." She looked away and swiped at her cheek. "How long will this go on? Are you going to keep me here forever? Is my life over?"
He grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him. "I don't know what tomorrow or next week will bring. But what I do know is you can continue working at the bar, earning money, and have a safe place to lay your head at night, right now. You'll have the freedom to come and go as long as you let me or one of the other members escort you off the property. If you want to go out to eat or go shopping, I can make sure that happens. It's for your protection. Slag isn't—I'm not going to throw you out to survive on your own."
"Why not?" Her voice shook. "You don't care about me."
"I've never said that."
"You don't have to." Her gaze dropped to his chest. "I've slept in the same bed with you for...I don't know how long, and you don't touch me. You can't forget that my brothers belong to Moroad. It's like I'm your enemy now, and I haven't done anything to you or your club. I've tried to follow all the rules, and I make sure I never leave the room without you knowing and going with me. Do you know how many times during the night I want to get up and go pee, and I stare at the wall until my stomach aches because I'm scared of waking you up and asking you to walk me down the hallway? I don't know what else I can do to prove to you that I'm—"
He hooked her neck, bringing her forward, and captured her mouth. She struggled against him until he opened wider and stroked his tongue against hers. As she gentled, she grabbed the front of his vest. His whole body stiffened. The weeks of ignoring his attraction to her set free.
She mewed. The vibrations of her moan absorbed by his lips.
His cock had other plans. He pulled back and kissed her lightly, holding her until she came down from the kiss.
"I never not want to touch you," he whispered.
Her gaze lowered to his lips. "You don't hate me?"
"I hated wanting you when I believed you were trying to bring Slag down."
"Do you still think that?" she asked.
He pressed his lips to her forehead. "No."
She looked up into his eyes. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do or what will happen to me."
"Will it help to know that tonight, there's nothing keeping me from fucking you?"
She swallowed and nodded.
"You better run in and get ready for work." He removed his hand from her neck.
She stepped backward. "What are you going to do?"
He adjusted his cock and caught her looking down at his jeans. "Walking it off."
Her mouth formed an O, and she turned and hurried into the clubhouse. He inhaled deeply and strolled halfway to the line of motorcycles before he got rid of the rush of lust.
Searching for one of the prospects, he found Jon talking to Rune. "Hey, Jon."
The prospect turned. "Do you need something, Brage?"
"I want you to go to the store and buy every pack of cinnamon gum on the shelf."
"Gum?"
"Ja." He found himself grinning. "Cinnamon."
He pulled out another cigarette. It was going to be a long eight hours until the bar closed and he could have Dinah again.
Chapter 18
Two hours into the bar opening, every table was full. The phone in Brage's pocket vibrated. He retrieved his cell and read the long text on the screen.
"Fuck," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
The news wasn't good. Hating what he needed to do, he tipped back the last of his beer and stood from the stool.
"Dinah?" He motioned her to him.
She wound around the tables and approached him with her brows raised. He leaned down and whispered, "I need to take Peer away for the rest of the night. Do you think you can cover the bar?"
She blew out her breath. "I can try."
"Ask Lizzy if you need help." He texted on his phone. "I've let Elling know Peer will be gone. He'll watch over you ladies."
Dinah glanced over at the bar. "Um, does Peer know he's leaving?"
Peer talked with one of the customers as he filled glasses. A heaviness settled on Brage's shoulders. What he had to do would forever change Peer's future.
"Not yet." He hooked her chin with his finger and said, "If things get too hectic and you ladies can't keep up, let Elling know."
She frowned. "You're leaving, too."
"Ja." He trailed his thumb along her bottom lip. "You can do this on your own."
"I'll try." She glanced around. "I need to make some drinks."
He watched her walk behind the counter and said, "Hey, Peer."
Waiting until his MC brother finished pouring the drink in front of him, he motioned Peer to follow. What he had to share needed to be done in private. He caught Dinah's gaze. There was a guard at the front door, she'd be safe while he handled business.
In the hallway, he waited for Peer to arrive. The wait wasn't long. Too short for what he had to do.
Peer flung the towel in his hands over his shoulder. "What's up?"
"Walk with me for a few." He smacked his hand down on Peer's shoulder.
Used to keeping club business private, Peer came outside to the alley with him without questioning why he was being taken away from working the bar. Brage lit a cigarette and handed the pack to Peer.
His MC brother lit a smoke, inhaled deeply, and exhaled. There was no easy way to break the news to Peer and Brage found himself at a loss for words.
"Are you trying to break the news that Kelli called and said she's in labor?" Peer dragged heavily on the cigarette. "I'm prepared for that. She's told me the whole time she was pregnant that she was going at it alone and doesn't want me around. Not much I can do without any warning. She left Seattle. I don't even know where the hell she is. She won't tell me."