Owen: The Lost Breed MC #9

by Parker, Ali

  My friend shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her chair. “Hold up. He’s the guy you’re daydreaming about? The broke guy with the obnoxiously loud motorcycle? Wasn’t he always getting in fights?”

  Growing up the way Victoria and I had meant it was easy for us to pass judgment on others who came from other backgrounds. People like Owen. She saw the parts of him that my father saw, but she had never seen his whole person and who he actually was.

  “Yes, that’s him,” I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my tone.

  “What brought this on? It’s been forever since you guys saw each other last.”

  “I know. But when Matthew and I—”

  “So dreamy. So handsome. So rich.”

  “Shush,” I snapped, scolding her. “When Matthew and I went for dinner, I ran into Owen. Turns out he moved here a year and a half ago or so.”

  “Seriously? I thought he was one of those born and raised in Chicago boys who would never leave his neck of the woods.”

  “Well, he sort of got pushed out.”

  Victoria frowned. “What do you mean?”

  I wasn’t sure if telling her everything that had happened to the Red Rogues was the best idea. I knew she wouldn’t tell me not to see him. Victoria never told me what to do in general. She trusted my judgment—as she should because I had better judgement than she did.

  But what Owen had gone through was rough and dirty and bloody, and it was a part of him that I wasn’t sure I had a right to tell.

  But I also knew it might help her see him in a different light.

  So, I came clean and told her everything about what happened to the Red Rogues and how Rhys took Owen, Liam, and Aiden out here to track down Isaac Reed and put him in the ground.

  Victoria breathed out a shaky breath. “So he’s a murderer?”

  “No.”

  “Sorry, he just hangs out with murderers? That’s cool. Your father definitely had no right to worry about you back then. I can’t believe he’d overreact like that.” Her eyes widened as she pursed her lips around her straw and sucked back a couple of gulps of water.

  I stared blankly at her. “He’s not like that. And they were in a bad spot. What were they supposed to do?”

  “Um, I don’t know. Maybe let the police handle it?”

  “The police were doing what they could. This guy killed over ten people, Victoria. And he wasn’t going to stop. It was them or him. I, for one, am glad he was the one who was killed.”

  Victoria shifted again and ran her hands down her thighs. “Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

  Our waitress came back to the table with our salads in hand. She set them down, asked if we needed anything else, and took her leave when we assured her we were fine.

  Victoria and I ate the first half of our salads in silence.

  I never should have told her what happened to Owen. Now she saw him in an even worse light than she already did.

  I put my fork down and dabbed my lips with my napkin. “Look, I know this makes you uneasy. It would make any sane person uneasy. But you trust me, right? You know I would never put myself in a position that jeopardized my safety or the safety of the people I care about?”

  She searched my eyes, and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded.

  “Good,” I said as relief trickled through me. “I’m sorry if I scared you. But if you knew him like I knew him, you would understand that all those fears are completely unfounded. Owen is a good man. Like, to his core good. He went through some rough patches in life that set him on this path, but that doesn’t compromise his integrity or his heart. He would never let anything happen to me.”

  Victoria tucked her hair behind her ears and fixed me under her calm stare. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

  I nodded. “I always have.”

  “But you ended things with him. You threw in the towel.”

  “Not because I wanted to,” I said.

  She nodded slowly. “You did it for your dad?”

  “Yes. I had no other option. At least, I didn’t feel like I did at the time. But this time, things feel different. I feel like I have power. Like I’m the one who can make the right choices for me. Does that sound silly?”

  Victoria smiled and shook her head. “No, babe. It doesn’t sound silly at all. It sounds like you know what you want. And it also sounds like I might have to drop my delicate sensibilities and come around to the fact that my best friend is in love with a criminal.”

  I grinned. “He’s not a criminal.”

  “That’s what you’re going to deny?” she asked sharply, her smile growing. “So you do love him?”

  “Wait. What?”

  She pointed an accusing finger at me. “Ah hah! I caught you! You do love him, don’t you?”

  I was spared from having to answer her when my phone rang. Victoria groaned, clearly dismayed that her well-planned attack had been thwarted.

  Then I groaned alongside her when Matthew’s name flashed across my phone screen.

  Victoria craned her neck to look at my phone screen and winced. “Are you going to answer it?”

  I had to answer. He was an associate of my father’s, and I wasn’t going to ghost him. I had more class than that.

  He was also a nice guy.

  I answered the call. “Hi, Matthew.”

  “Evangeline,” he said, his voice full of that classic charm of his. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. Just sitting and having lunch with a friend.”

  “Oh, then I won’t keep you. I just wanted to tell you I had a wonderful time with you the other night. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Are you free for a drink this evening?”

  “I’m sorry, Matthew. But tonight isn’t good for me. Can I take a rain check for some other time when my schedule opens up a bit more?”

  Matthew was quiet for a minute. “Yes. Yes of course. No worries at all. We’ll talk soon, yes?”

  “Sure.”

  I ended the call, put my phone facedown on the table, and lifted my gaze to Victoria, who was analyzing me closely. “What?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Nothing. I was just thinking.”

  “Thinking about what?”

  “Thinking that I never really saw you with a guy like Matthew anyway. You know, the whole corporate suit thing just doesn’t seem like your jam. But leather jackets and dirty boots and fast motorcycles? It makes a little more sense.”

  I giggled and blushed. “Stop it.”

  Victoria reached across the table and put her hand on mine. “I’m sorry I was so judgy. I do trust you. And I want you to be with someone who makes you happy. So, on that note, tell me all about Owen. I want to know everything.”

  Chapter 13

  Owen

  Thursday afternoon was sunny and warm, so I brought my bike out onto the driveway, along with a bucket of soapy water and a soft-bristled brush. I spent the better half of two hours scrubbing her down to the point where she was all shiny and new again. Then I went through my garage looking for wax while she dried out in the sun.

  Liam pulled into my driveway on his hog shortly after I put the hose away. He parked on the opposite side of the driveway, swung off his bike, and pulled off his helmet to run his fingers through his hair and tame it down a bit. Then he tucked his helmet under his arm and came over to meet me in the garage.

  I opened my mini fridge and tossed him a can of beer.

  Liam caught it and, in one flourish, popped the tab open and took a sip. “Thanks, man.”

  “Out for a ride?”

  “You know it. The sun won’t last much longer.”

  “I know. It’s a bitch, ain’t it?”

  Liam nodded and took another few gulps of his beer before setting it, as well as his helmet, down on my workbench. Then he reached his arms over his head and indulged in a long stretch. I heard several popping sounds from his spine as he twisted from side to side.

  Gross.

  �
�What’s new?” I asked, leaning up against the workbench and crossing my ankles. “Haven’t seen you since the bar fight. Sorry about that, by the way. You know how it is. I got ahead of myself a bit there. Dragged you into it.”

  Liam shrugged. “You were right to do so. They deserved it. And Quinn was outnumbered.”

  “If we hadn’t stepped in, she would have killed them with her bare hands. Let’s not get it confused.”

  Liam laughed and nodded. “You’re right. She’s scarier than all of us combined.”

  “And she knows it.”

  “What have you been up to, man? Getting into any more fights? Stirring up trouble?”

  “You know I’m done with that shit.”

  Liam chuckled. “I know you want to be done with that shit. But let’s not fuck around here, man. It’s in your blood. You were itching for that fight back at the bar. I could see it in your eyes. It’s like you were happy we’d run into a bunch of assholes.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately.

  “Nah, it was coincidence,” I said, almost like I was trying to convince myself.

  Liam gave me a skeptical look over the rim of his beer can as he lifted it to his lips. “Sure it was. You had fun. So what? What’s the harm?”

  I licked my lips.

  Liam’s eyes narrowed. “Unless there’s another reason why you’re trying to pretend you didn’t get off on kicking their asses.”

  “No reason.”

  “Bullshit.”

  I smirked and shook my head at him. “Leave it alone, Liam.”

  “No. Tell me. What’s up?”

  I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “Fine. There’s a girl, all right?”

  Liam’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “A girl, huh? What’s her name? What’s she like? Do we get to meet her? Does she know you’re a Lost Breed?”

  “Slow down.” I laughed, holding up a hand and leaning away from him and his eagerness. He had too much energy for me at times like this. “I know her from back home. Evangeline Snow? Ring any bells?”

  “Evangeline Snow? Who the fuck is that? She sounds like a royal princess or some shit.”

  “You’re not far off,” I muttered.

  “What?”

  “Her father is Frank Snow. You know the guy with the cleaner oceans program? His face is on a shit ton of billboards all over the place and—”

  “Oh yeah!” Liam smacked himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. “I remember you telling me about her one time. Rhys, too. You guys had a serious thing going on for a while, didn’t you?”

  “About a year.”

  “And why did it end again?”

  “Her daddy didn’t want her hanging around a guy like me.”

  Liam shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  “Hey,” I warned.

  “What? It’s true. You and I aren’t exactly the sort of dudes fathers are hoping will show up to court their daughters, you know? It’s nothing personal. It just is what it is. We invoke a certain… expectation.”

  “Which is what?”

  “I don’t know. That we’re dangerous uneducated risk takers?”

  I snorted.

  “Am I wrong?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

  I sighed. “No. No, you’re not wrong.”

  My phone started buzzing in my back pocket. I put my beer down to pull it out and grinned when Evangeline’s name flashed across the screen. I held up a finger to Liam, who gave me a knowing grin and nodded for me to go ahead and take the call.

  “Hey, Angel,” I said, putting my back to Liam. “I was going to call you in a little bit. What perfect timing.”

  “Oh, you were, were you?”

  “Yes, ma’am. What are you doing tomorrow night? I want to take you out.”

  She hesitated. “I have an event to go to tomorrow night. I’m standing in for my father. He had to head out of town for work, and he had a speech planned at a fundraiser gala downtown.”

  “Sounds like a shitty way to spend a Friday night.”

  She laughed softly. “Well, on that note, would you like to accompany me?”

  I felt my eyebrows drawing toward each other on my forehead. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Why not?”

  “Because I don’t exactly fit in with that sort of crowd.”

  “So?”

  “So. Are you sure you want to do this? Your father will catch wind and—”

  “I don’t care. I’d like to have you on my arm tomorrow night, Owen. If you’re comfortable coming along, that is. I understand if you’d rather stay away from events like this. I would if I could.”

  “No,” I said hurriedly. “No. I’ll come.”

  I could hear the smile in her voice when she sighed on the other end. “That’s fantastic. I’ll have something sent to your house for you to wear. Text me your address and your sizes after we get off the phone? Your shoe size, too.”

  “You don’t trust me to dress myself?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  I laughed. “So my leather jacket won’t blend in?”

  “With all the silk and wool and velvet? No, it most definitely will not blend in. You will wear what I send over to you. Yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” she said.

  I turned back toward Liam and looked out at the bike in the sunshine. “Are you sure you’re okay with me tagging along? You’re not worried about me making a fool out of the pair of us?”

  “No, Owen. Not even a little bit. I trust you to respect that this is important to me and my father and his business. I expect that you’ll be able to handle yourself just fine at the event. If you don’t think you can, just tell me now and I’ll fly solo. I totally understand if you’d rather not tag along.”

  “You can’t get rid of me that quickly, Angel.”

  “Darn.” She giggled. “Worth a try, right?”

  I dropped my voice so Liam couldn’t hear me as he wandered onto the driveway to inspect our bikes. “So, what are you going to wear then?”

  “Tomorrow night?” she asked, her voice going as low as mine.

  “Yeah. Something sexy?”

  “Not too sexy. This is a formal event.”

  “Come on,” I purred.

  She giggled. “Owen.”

  “What, baby? All I’m asking for is a bit of skin. Something to get me through the evening in one piece. Help a guy out.”

  She was still giggling into the phone and becoming more and more breathless with each passing second. “How about I make you a deal instead?”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “I’m going to wear the dress I had made for me for this event. It doesn’t show a lot of skin. But if you ask nicely, I could accidentally forget to put panties on while I’m getting ready.”

  My cock twitched in my pants.

  God damn her.

  “That sounds like a reasonable compromise,” I said.

  “I expect you to make the most of it, Owen McCully. It’s not every day a girl wears a dress and no panties.”

  “Woman,” I growled. “I asked for skin. Not for you to torture me like this.”

  “Oh, sugar,” she cooed into the phone. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  She hung up before I had a chance to say anything else, leaving me staring down at my phone like a lost man staring at a broken compass.

  “All good?” Liam asked, joining me back in the garage.

  “All good.” I nodded, my mind still consumed with thoughts of my girl walking around a gala, looking hot as sin without any panties on. I swallowed. “All good.”

  Liam arched an eyebrow. “Okay then.”

  I drained the rest of my beer. “She’s taking me to a gala tomorrow night. Apparently, it’s very fancy.”

  “You’d better be on your best behavior then.”

  “I will be,” I said defensively.

  “I hope so,” Liam said. “Evangeline was the one that
got away in your books, right? Don’t fuck it up. Those rich pricks might try to fuck with you. Let them. Keep your eye on the prize.”

  I nodded.

  He was right.

  He knew me too well.

  “I will,” I said.

  Chapter 14

  Evangeline

  Brittney stood behind me and wrapped a strand of my hair around the barrel of her curling iron. She held it in place for about seven seconds before letting it fall and spraying it with a shit ton of hairspray. Then she coiled it around her finger and pinned it to my head for the curl to set.

  “Are you looking forward to your evening?” she asked as she gathered the next strand and brushed it through with a fine-toothed comb.

  I stared at my reflection in my vanity mirror as my hairstylist worked her magic behind me. She was focused on her work, and I watched her bustle around in the mirror behind me. “Yes. A little nervous too. I have to make a speech, and public speaking is so not my cup of tea.”

  “A speech on your father’s behalf?” she asked.

  Brittney had been working with me since I moved to New York, and she knew most of the ins and outs of me covering for my father.

  “You know it.” I smiled.

  Brittney glanced up at the mirror and grinned at me. “You’ll kill it. You always do. Remember last time? You were telling me about how nervous you were, and then some magazine wrote an article about how you were the new up and comer in environmental something or other?”

  I giggled. “Yes. I remember.”

  She put a hand on my shoulder. “Just think of that when you start to get nervous again. You’re going to be fine. More than fine. You’ll capture the attention of the room as soon as you take the stage. I mean, look at you. Who couldn’t sit in rapture listening to someone with your presence?”

  “I owe it all to my hairstylist,” I said, winking at her.

  Brittney smiled and continued working around me in a circle, curling, spraying, and pinning.

  Once she had every strand of my hair pinned in place, she doused my head with another full circle spray of hairspray. Then she planted her hands on her hips and nodded confidently. “All right. We’ll let that set for about fifteen minutes, and then I’ll take the pins out. Once it rests for another fifteen, I’ll brush it out, and you’ll be all set. Should I send your makeup girl in now?”