“Let’s check on Gracie’s friend,” Hatch said, and I followed him up the stairs.
We passed a couple of beat cops and one of them turned and cocked his head. “Merrick Lundy, is that you?”
Hatch stalled as I faced the officer. “Who’s asking?”
“Mike Watts.”
I grinned. Mike had come up in the academy with my dad, but I hadn’t seen him in years. It was impressive he even recognized me. “Hey, Mike. It’s been a while.”
Hatch’s protective stance relaxed, and he continued up the stairs.
“What are you doing these days?” Mike asked.
“Law.”
“Of course you are. Shit, you could always bring an argument.”
I chuckled. “That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Well, good for you,” he said. “You and your sister were always good kids. Sad about your mom.”
My mom had killed herself ten years ago after taking Grace hostage, and it had been a nightmare. Particularly for my sister.
I gave him a chin lift. “Thanks.”
“Gotta get back to it. Tell your dad I said ‘hey’ and take care of yourself.”
“You too, man.” I gave him a chin lift and headed up the rest of the stairs.
Where I froze.
Remington Fucking Charles.
Goddammit.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped.
Apparently, she remembered me, too. Petite, blonde, and ample with both tits and ass, she was even prettier than she had been two years ago.
I smiled. “It would seem I’m saving you.”
“You know my brother?” Grace asked.
“Merrick’s your brother?” Remi asked, a look of horror crossing her face.
“Finch,” I corrected.
Her head snapped to me. “What?”
“Finch. Not Merrick.”
“Club name,” Grace provided.
“You’re part of the club?” Remi asked.
“Yeah, babe.”
“Don’t call me babe,” she ground out. “Since when?”
“Recruit since I was eighteen.”
I’d only recently patched-in, but I’d asked to be a recruit the second I’d turned eighteen. Unlike many of my brothers, I had a tight family unit, but my father was a police detective, so I’d had to wade into the pool of bikers with caution. For both them and me.
“Wait.” She waved a finger in a circular motion toward me. “You weren’t wearing your fancy vest last time I saw you.”
“I was dressed for court last time I saw you.”
“Court?”
I nodded. “I was defending a case.”
“You’re a lawyer?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course you are,” she lamented, dropping her head back. “What the fuck did I do, God? What? Huh? Is this my punishment? Okay, message received. I will never fuck some cute guy I just met in a bar ever again.”
My sister’s face was bright red as she tried to hold back her laughter, and I watched Remi in all her dramatic glory. Fuck me, this woman was still just as stunning as I remember.
Hatch and Flea were doing their best to pretend they weren’t listening, but Hatch gave me a fatherly eyebrow lift and I knew he’d expect some sort of explanation later.
He wouldn’t get one.
Well, he wouldn’t get much of one. What Hatch really wanted to know, was whether or not I respected her before, during, and after I fucked her. And I did.
The particulars weren’t important…not to him anyway.
I studied the cuts and bruises on Remington’s face and rage threatened to burst out of me. “You’re the one Vitaly attacked?” I asked.
“How did you know about that?” Remi demanded.
“He was there,” Grace said.
“What?” she squeaked. “How did I miss that?”
“He dropped Flea off…he didn’t know who you were.”
“God!” Her button nose scrunched up in despair. “Ain’t that all a glorious cherry on top of my shit sundae.”
God damn, her southern accent still made my dick hard.
“I hate to break up this reunion,” Flea said. “But we should probably get you both back to your Grams’.”
Grace nodded. “Yes. That would be good.”
“You’re still at your grandmother’s?” Remi asked.
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to intrude, Grace. I can go to a hotel.”
“You’re not going to a hotel,” I said. The thought of her at some dive motel, alone and exposed to god knows what made my skin itch.
“You don’t really have a say in it,” she countered.
“If Vitaly found you here, what would stop him from finding you at some shitty motel?”
“What makes you think it’d be a shitty motel?”
“Even if it was the fuckin’ Ritz, he could track you down and then what would you do? You’d have no way of escape,” I said. “Taking you back to my place.”
She turned her scowl to me. “Like hell you are.”
“It’s either my grandmother’s or my brother’s,” Grace said.
“You can both come back to my place,” Flea countered.
I shot him a look of warning and I know he understood it, because he grinned.
Fucker.
“Can you stay with Grams, Merr?” Grace asked.
Our grandmother had surgery on her broken leg a little while ago, so we were all taking turns staying with her, so she didn’t try to overdo anything.
“Flick’s still there,” Flea said.
I scowled at Flea. I didn’t want him inserting himself into a situation that was between me and Remington, but I tried to soften my expression when I glanced back at her. Her chin was up in a challenging position and she couldn’t have been more beautiful. I focused back on my sister. “If Flick needs to leave, I can stay with Grams.”
She smiled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. “Best brother ever.”
“Let’s go, baby,” Flea said to Grace, and grabbed Remi’s bag.
“Give me a sec, yeah?” I asked, and Flea nodded, ushering Grace down the stairs, while Hatch followed.
I cut off Remi’s escape and studied her. “How bad did he hurt you, Rem?”
“I’m fine.”
“Not what I asked.”
“Merrick—Big Bird—Tweety—whatever you call yourself these days…”
“Finch,” I provided.
“Finch. I’m fine. I just want to forget this day ever happened.”
“Did you get those cuts looked at?”
“Yes, but they’re superficial. I have a few bruises, but I’ve been icing. I’ve had worse injuries dancing.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Can I go now?”
“Not yet.”
She rolled her eyes. “Merrick, I’m good. But if you don’t step aside, I’m going to get in my car and drive to a hotel. This is ridiculous.”
“Don’t do that, Remington,” I said. “Grace was worried enough to drag us all down here, so I’m getting the impression you’re not being honest about the severity of the situation. You going to a hotel isn’t going to happen.”
“Well, neither is this conversation. Let me pass.”
I sighed, knowing I’d get no further, and stepped aside. She walked down the stairs and I followed trying not to notice the graceful way her hips swayed as she headed toward my sister. Memories of her tight pussy covering my dick flooded my mind and I had to take a few deep breaths to keep from humiliating myself in front of my family.
Goddammit, one night with her hadn’t been enough.
* * *
Remi
Flea took my bag from me and set it in the trunk of Grace’s car. “Why is my bag in there? I’m driving.”
“You’ve had a fright, Remi,” Grace countered. “I figured you’d rather not.”
“I’m good,” I said.
“I’ll drive
you wherever you need to go,” Merrick offered.
“That’ll give me an even bigger fright,” I mumbled somewhat under my breath.
Merrick chuckled, indicating it wasn’t quite under my breath enough.
I cleared my throat. “I’m fine to drive, on my own,” I said pointedly to Merrick. He stared at me, and the feelings I stuffed down two years ago flooded back again. I bit back frustration and met his eyes.
“I’m going to follow you.”
I scowled. “Merr—”
“Not up for discussion, Remi,” he bossed.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Grace and Flea. “Merrick. Please. Will you just go home?” I whispered.
“Fuck, no.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
He smirked and stepped closer to me. “You and I have some unfinished business.”
That’s what I was afraid of. “We finished our business two years ago,” I countered.
“If you really think that, then you’re high.”
“Ohmigod, Tweety, you have no right to say that.”
“You don’t think so?”
“No,” I snapped. “One night. That’s all it was supposed to be.”
He crossed his arms. “And, in the morning, did you still feel that way?”
“Yes.”
Merrick grinned. “Liar.”
I was a liar. So much so, I could smell the smoke coming from my pants.
“You come back to my place, we can talk and if you still want me to fuck off, I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. If I went with him, I’d fuck him, and that would not go well for me.
“I won’t let you take advantage of me,” he said, reading my mind and I gasped.
“Excuse me?”
“If you come with me, we’ll talk. Nothing else.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You can follow me to my place, or ride with me.”
“Merrick.”
“Finch,” he corrected.
I narrowed my eyes and said, “Tweety.”
He dropped his head back and laughed. “Come on, Rem, I have an extra helmet.”
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Now or later,” Finch said. “But it’s gonna happen, and I’m all about getting this kind of shit out of the way.”
“Why?” I demanded. “We had our time.”
He leaned closer. “Are you seriously still trying to tell me that that night meant nothing to you?”
“Was it supposed to mean something?”
Finch chuckled. “Not an answer, Rem.”
“Look, I have no problem sitting down and having a conversation with you about all of this, but can we not do it tonight?”
“Kinda forgot you’ve had a shit day, huh?” He sighed. “Yeah, baby, we can wait.”
I nodded and headed back to where Grace and Flea waited.
“You okay?” Grace asked.
“Yep. But, seriously, I’m going to drive, okay? I don’t want to be without my car.”
Grace faced Flea. “I’ll go with Remi, honey. Do you mind driving my car?”
He nodded, leaning down to kiss her quickly. “I’ll follow you.”
Grace and I climbed into my car and she directed me to Flea’s house.
* * *
If you liked the sneak peek of Finch & Remi’s story, you can order it HERE!
Copyright ©2018 – Piper Davenport
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States
Andi Rivers has had a hard life. She’s working on putting the pieces back together after a failed marriage that nearly broke her. Returning to the one place she’d rather forget, Andi finds that an old flame could reignite a fire she never knew was burning.
Dalton Moore has spent the past few years living in Scotland, close to his sister who has been "bound" into an immortal race of Vikings. His focus has been on keeping her and their newfound family safe, until his father has a heart attack and Dalton rushes to his parents' side. In coming home, he's once again face-to-face with the woman who broke his heart years ago and she's not ready to let him in.
When she's threatened by an unknown source, he finds himself unwilling to let her go. But will holding on mean losing his life...or hers?
PROLOGUE
Andi
Ten Years Ago…
I HAD JUST graduated from St. Vincent’s Academy and I couldn’t have been happier to be done with high school. Especially since my best friend, Aspen, and I were heading to her grandparents’ beach house on Tybee Island for a week of girl time.
The past two years could only have been described as a miracle. Starting with the arduous process of emancipating myself from my adoptive parents and taking refuge with Aspen’s family. I’m sure my birth parents had given me up for adoption to give me a better life, but they failed… miserably.
“You ready?” Aspen asked from the doorway of my bedroom.
I grinned and zipped up my bag as I bit back a yawn. “More than ready.”
“Are you dreaming again?” she asked.
I sighed. “Yes, but nothing violent. Just weird things like fire and sugar.”
Aspen laughed. “Like you’re burning sugar?”
I shook my head. “No, just something’s burning in a fire and I’m pouring sugar in a bowl. It’s super random and weird.”
“No, you’re just super random and weird.”
I nodded. “True dat.”
Aspen Westwood and I came from the same “stock” as my mother always used to say. Wealthy debutantes who were full of southern charm and grace. Of course, my mother was insane and didn’t actually know Aspen. If she did, she’d know my bestie took shit from no one and if she didn’t like something (or someone), her southern charm went right out the window as she told you exactly what she thought. It’s what I absolutely loved the most about her. She was the reason I was still sane, and probably the reason I was even still alive.
“What’s with the serious look?” she asked as she drove.
I shook off my maudlin thoughts. “I was just thinking about how much has happened over the last two years.”
“Holy cow, you went there?”
“Yeah.” I giggled. “But not in a bad way. I feel great. I get the first grant from my trust in two weeks and can stop living off your parents.”
“They don’t mind. Plus, it’s awesome for me. I have a real-life sister and can try to forget the fact I have three stupid brothers.”
I laughed. “Oh, it’s so hard for you having three older brothers who dote on you. Wanna trade?”
“No.” She gave me a sad smile. “Sorry, I really shouldn’t complain.”
“Aspen, I didn’t say that so you wouldn’t complain,” I countered. “My brother is a psychopath who’s finally locked up, which means I, as well as all woman-kind, are safe from him. It’s all good. I just wish my parents would have been held responsible.”
“They had to pay money, right?”
“Ten-thousand dollars,” I ground out. “My dad makes that in less than a day.”
My parents had hidden Jethro after he’d attacked and attempted to rape a freshman girl two years ago. My father had almost got him out of the country, but the FBI had caught them trying to leave on one of the company planes. I didn’t know how it all went down, only that I had to make a tough choice in the wake of Jet’s arrest. Nothing could have prepared me for that day.
“He does?” Aspen asked, surprised, once again pulling me from my thoughts. We really didn’t discuss the level of wealth our parents had amassed… it didn’t really make any difference in the grand scheme of things. We were at an exclusive all-girls school and had a nice group of friends away from the popular cliques, so we’d built our own safe world.
“Yeah. I really wish they’d put my parents in jail as well,” I lamented. “They’re the ones who created the monster.”
“I still wonder how you turned out so no
rmal.”
I chuckled. “My Nana. And you guys. Seriously, I’d be useless without you… plus I think nature vs. nurture plays a big role in this.”
Aspen nodded. “That is so very true.”
I let out a quiet snort just as Aspen pulled into the garage of the beach house. We climbed out, grabbed our bags, and walked into the refuge that was called “Weekend’s Worth.”
I took in a deep breath and sighed. “There is nothing like the sea air.”
“No doubt,” she agreed as she flipped on lights and then headed to the smaller master bedroom overlooking the ocean.
I could have chosen to sleep in the other master bedroom, but instead I chose the blue room, even though there were only a full-sized bed and no attached bathroom. It was my favorite place in the whole house. It always had been. Periwinkle blue walls with white wainscoting and thick floor and ceiling molding gave the room a rich and classic look. It had a large picture window overlooking the dock that led straight to the open ocean, and on a clear day I could see dolphins playing in the water.
I threw my bag on the bed and changed into my bikini before meeting Aspen in the living room. “Swim first, then—?” she asked, her nose scrunching up in apprehension.
“Um, duh,” I interrupted. “Swim most definitely first.”
“It’s freezing,” she complained.
“It is not freezing,” I countered. “It’s just right.”
She grumbled, but followed me down to the water where we had a quick dip (it was actually really cold), and then headed back to the house to shower and eat.
I pulled my long blonde hair into a scrunchy on top of my head to let it dry and then headed to the kitchen. Aspen peeked her head in a few minutes later. “Whatya cookin’?”
“It looks like Gran’s housekeeper left us a few things in the freezer,” I said, and waved my hand over the neatly stacked frozen foods. “Lasagna?”
“How long will it take to reheat?”
“The label says thirty to forty minutes.”
Aspen shrugged. “Sounds good. Need help?”
“Nope, I’ve got it.”
“Meet me in Grannie’s parlor when you’re done. I have something to show you.”
Redeeming the Biker's Past (Dogs of Fire: Savannah Chapter Book 3) Page 17