“See, gentlemen do exist,” Tia pipes up. “And they happen to wear leather. Who’d have thought?”
Talon chuckles and slides us a menu each as we sit down. “What are we having?”
“Anything with potato,” Tia says, scanning the menu. “Fries. Lots and lots of fries.”
“I’m getting a burger and fries,” I say, rubbing my eyes and not caring if my makeup goes everywhere. “Thanks for bringing us here, Talon.”
He smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners. “It’s no problem. I actually had a pretty fun night.” He pauses. “First time I enjoyed women’s company knowing I wouldn’t be going home with them.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Nice.”
He grins.
“Is my makeup all over my face?” Tia asks, looking at me.
“Yup,” I reply.
She looks at Talon. “Don’t judge me by what I look like right now.”
He rests his arms on the booth, studying us. “Yeah, you both look pretty different from how you looked at the start of the night.”
I roll up a napkin and throw it at him.
We order our food, stuff our faces, and then go home.
All in all, a pretty good night.
ELEVEN
THE banging on my front door makes my head pound. I force myself to lift my face off my pillow and open my eyes. Pushing myself up on my knees, I yawn and stretch.
More banging.
I see the blond hair on the pillow next to me and smile, poking Tia in the back.
“Someone’s at the door,” I groan.
She lifts her head. “What’s the time?”
I grab my phone off my side table and glance at the time. “Seven a.m.”
“Mom said she’ll bring the kids here at nine, after breakfast, so it isn’t her,” she says, scowling. “It better be a food delivery of some kind.”
“Yeah.” I roll my eyes. “Trust me, we’re not that lucky.”
Thump, thump, thump.
“For fuck’s sake,” Tia growls, getting off the bed and tightening her ice-blue robe around her. “Can’t a woman sleep off her hangover in peace? I’ll get it.”
“You’re the best,” I tell her, sinking back into the mattress and kind of feeling sorry for whoever was at the door.
I close my eyes and am about to go back to sleep when I hear her call my name.
“What?” I call back, eyes still shut.
My door opens, and suddenly the air in the room gets sucked out. I slowly open my eyes and then sit up when I see who is in my bedroom.
What the hell?
“Have a good night?” Rake growls, storming inside my room and starting to pace.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to tame my hair with my fingers. I probably look like utter shit right now. Do I still have makeup smudged all over my face?
Probably.
Great, just great.
“What the fuck are you thinking, hanging out with fuckin’ Talon and Slice? Do you want to fuck a biker so badly? Is that it?” he yells, his face going red, hands clenching. “You turning into a biker groupie? Do you know how fucking dangerous it is?”
Tia steps into the room then, looking like a fucking ice queen, before I can even answer.
“How dare you talk to her like that? You don’t even fucking know her at all, do you? And you have no say over what she does. Why don’t you just get out of her house until you learn some motherfucking manners?”
Yeah, only Tia would tell off a six-foot-something biker.
I stand up and make sure my boobs aren’t on show. “We went out; they were there. We had a couple of drinks, then we went home. I don’t know why I have to explain that to you, but there it is.”
They’re his friends after all, or whatever they are.
I look to Tia and give her a small smile. “Give me a second, honey.”
She nods, gives Rake the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen, then slams the door behind her. Rake stands in front of me, simmering in anger, but I’m not scared. He might be an ass, but I know this man’s soul, and he would never hurt me.
“You realize you’re overreacting, right?” I say quietly, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You have a kid, why are you out drinking with bikers?” he growls, running a hand through his blond hair in frustration. “You saw what happened at Rift. What if something like that happens again and I’m not around to make sure you’re okay?”
My heart melts a little at the expression on his face.
Behind his anger is worry . . . for me.
Everything he’s saying has already run through my head, so I know he’s not wrong in his observation. I close the space between us and rest my hand on his arm. “We were fine. Talon made sure we were. We went out for a drink. Tia and I never get to go out together because we take turns watching the kids. So it was a rare treat, and we wanted to enjoy it. I don’t really know any places other than Knox’s Tavern and Rift, so we went to Knox’s.”
I take a deep breath and continue. “I know it probably feels weird to you because suddenly I’m connected to your world, even though you don’t want me to be. And I don’t mean to. It just seems like I’m suddenly always in the wrong place at the wrong time and running into people I’ve met because of you.”
His green eyes soften but then harden a second later. “Fucking hell, Bailey. Did you fuck him? Because I’ve been looking for another reason to kill that bastard.”
I groan and close my eyes, frustration filling me. “No. I didn’t fuck him. And you know what? If I did, it’s none of your business. Why don’t you continue to fuck other men’s women and leave me alone?”
“I didn’t know that bitch belonged to that guy. She threw herself on me; sorry for assuming she was single, not an old fucking lady,” he says, sitting down on the edge of my bed and pulling me down to sit next to him. “We have a huge fuckin’ problem here.”
“And what’s that?” I ask warily, pushing my hair behind my ear.
Rake scrubs a hand down his face, then braces his elbows on his knees. Finally he looks me in the eye. “If you fuck someone I know, I’m not going to handle it very well, Bailey.”
“Rake, I—”
“When did you start calling me Rake?” he asks, something flashing in his eyes that I don’t like seeing there. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he didn’t like me calling him Rake. But that made no sense.
I shrug my shoulders. “I guess when I realized that’s who you are now.”
He was my Adam, but now he’s not. To everyone else, he is Rake, and why should he be anything else to me?
He swallows hard, making his throat work. “Fuckin’ hell, Bailey. My life was so much easier before you came back into it. I didn’t think so fuckin’ much; my life was stress-fuckin’-free.”
He looks straight ahead and sighs. “Those were the days.”
“Stop being dramatic,” I chastise, rolling my eyes. “We’re going to just have to deal with this, because I don’t want to have to stop seeing Anna and Lana.”
“Yeah,” he says, dragging out the word. “That worked so fuckin’ well last time.”
A giggle escapes my mouth. “They’re strong women; you should have expected that.”
“I know,” he grumbles. “Was hoping my sister would listen to me for once.” He slaps his thigh. “All right. You aren’t going to fuck anyone. Period. Glad we had this talk.”
He stands up, leaving me confused. “Pretty sure I never said I wouldn’t sleep with anyone.”
“Well, you can’t fuck a biker without starting shit. None of the Wind Dragons will touch you, and if you fuck Talon you’ll start a war. Oh, and if you fuck a civilian, one look at us and they’ll shit themselves. That doesn’t leave many men for you, does it?”
The bastard looks pleased with himself. Really pleased.
“You’re unbelievable, you know that? Why do you even care? It’s been years. Years. We broke up on bad terms, and now this!” I say, my voic
e rising with each word.
Rake stands and walks to the door, keeping his back to me. As he puts his hand on the doorknob, he whispers, “Because no matter what you did, no matter what happened in the past, you will always be the love of my life.”
With that, he leaves the room.
I don’t go after him.
I hear the front door open and close.
I just sit there, his words running through my head on a loop.
And then, it all hits me.
And I cry.
TWELVE
JEALOUS” by Labrinth fills my car as I start the engine. On my way to pick up Cara and Rhett from the after-school care they go to twice a week, I’m about to reverse when I get the shock of my life.
Something sharp presses to the side of my neck, and a man’s deep voice demands, “Don’t move.”
I put the car back into park, my eyes darting around frantically, but the parking lot is empty as far as I can see, everyone already gone home for the day.
“What do you want?” I ask, my trembling voice giving away just how scared I am.
My bag was on the passenger seat, in clear view. If that’s what he wants, hopefully he just takes it and leaves without hurting me.
“I need you to give a message to the Wind Dragons for me,” the man says, gripping my hair from the side of my head. The knife digs into my skin further, rendering me motionless. I barely breathe as his lips come close to my ear. I look up in the rearview mirror, but all I see is light hair and a mask.
How did I not see anyone in my car? What is wrong with me? I need to learn to pay more attention, to be more careful. I wait for the message, but as he bangs my head against the steering wheel, I realize that that is the message. The man leaves my car and I sit there, shaking. I touch my fingers to my neck, there’s luckily only a streak of blood there. I lock the car doors and pull out my phone with trembling hands. First, I call Tia and ask her to pick up the kids, then I make another call. I don’t have Rake’s number, so I call Anna.
“Hey, beautiful, I was just thinking about you,” she says cheerfully.
I stay silent, not sure what to say and still in shock.
“Bailey . . . ?”
“Can you come and get me?” I ask her quietly.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, her tone turning serious. “Bailey, where are you?”
“I’m fine,” I assure her. “But something kind of just happened. I’m in my school parking lot.”
“Are you safe?” she asks. “I’ll be there in ten. I’m getting on Arrow’s bike as we speak.”
I hear Rake in the background asking Anna what the hell is going on.
And as stupid as it sounds, I hope he comes with her.
* * *
I’m sitting in the Wind Dragons’ clubhouse after explaining in detail to Sin, Rake, and Arrow what happened.
“Church, now,” Sin suddenly demands, storming out of the room.
All the men follow him. Rake looks at me once more before walking out of the room.
I look to Anna. “They’re going to pray? They’re religious? What the . . .”
Her green eyes lighten. “No, they’re going to have a meeting to discuss what to do with the situation.”
“Ohh,” I mutter, cheeks heating a little.
She wraps her arm around me and pulls me in close. “I can’t believe someone targeted you. Who would do that? Who even knows you’re friends with us?”
“I saw the fight at Rift,” I suggest. “Maybe it has something to do with that?”
“Maybe,” Anna agrees. “Can I get you something to drink? A coffee?”
I nod. “Sure, coffee sounds great.”
She leads me into the kitchen and pours while I sit at the table.
Lana rushes in, a bunch of books in her hand. She puts them on the table and pushes her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “What’s going on? Tracker said I needed to get here ASAP without stopping anywhere.”
Anna gives her a rundown while placing coffee in front of the two of us.
“Are you all right, Bailey?” Lana asks me, her brown eyes filled with worry.
“I’m fine,” I tell her. “Tia messaged and the kids are both safe with her at her house. I’m a little freaked out, but I’m okay. I wasn’t hurt.”
“The men will handle it,” Lana says assuredly, placing her hand on mine. I look to the pile of books she brought with her and see a familiar one. “Hey, I’ve read that book. Zada Ryan’s awesome. Her sex scenes are . . . hoooottt.”
“I’m glad the three of you are having a good time in here,” Rake says in a dry tone as he walks in, grabbing my attention, his gaze roaming over me before he stands next to Anna, wrapping her in his arms. “So, we’ve come to a decision.”
“What?” Anna asks, looking up at her big brother.
“Until we sort this shit out, you don’t go anywhere alone,” he says, looking at each of us. “And, Bailey, since we don’t like the idea of you being alone in your house with Cara, someone will be staying with you.”
“What?” I ask, eyes widening. “That’s not necessary. Who?”
He grins wolfishly. “Me.”
Shit.
* * *
“You’re not moving in with me,” I say for what must be the tenth time.
“Yes, I am,” he says patiently, as he packs his bag. I’m standing in his room in the clubhouse, trying to talk him out of it, but he’s not backing down. He opens his cupboard and some black rope falls onto the floor. I pick it up and shove it back into his cupboard. He gives me an odd look I don’t have time to decipher because I’m already thinking of ways I can get out of having him live with me.
“Surely you have other things you need to do,” I continue. “Women to seduce. Fights to get into . . .”
“Shut up, Bailey,” he growls, slamming his cupboard door closed. “I’m staying with you until everything is clear, and that’s final. Imagine if something happened to you while Cara was with you—do you think I’m willing to have that shit on my conscience?”
I bite my tongue and concede, because he’s right. My own stubbornness shouldn’t get in the way of my daughter’s safety. “Fine.”
He zips his bag and glances up. “Don’t need your approval because it’s happening either way, but good to know you’re thinking straight.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Call me what you want, but I’m not letting anything happen to you or your kid,” he says, our gazes connecting and holding.
“Okay,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself. To be honest, I don’t know how I’m handling this whole thing so well. Being put in danger, for just being friends with people associated with the MC isn’t something I expected. I don’t know how I can be friends with everyone without putting Cara in danger too. I love them, but the payoff is too high—I just can’t gamble with my child’s safety. If it was just me, it would be a different story, but it isn’t. But at this point, I don’t know what to do besides trust Rake to keep us safe.
He nods. “Let’s get going then.”
I follow behind him and say good-bye to everyone. We walk outside and I’m surprised when he gets into a black four-wheel drive instead of on his bike.
“No bike?”
“I don’t want to make it obvious I’ll be there,” he explains. “Plus, I can’t exactly take you and Cara on my bike.”
He’s planning on driving us around?
Just how long is this going to go on for?
With questions running through my head, I put on my seat belt in silence and look out the window. Rake puts on the radio and flips the channel, the music filling the strained silence.
After about ten minutes, I turn to him, letting my eyes roam over his handsome profile. I wonder if he likes it when women gently pull on that lip ring with their teeth, or swipe their tongues over it. I wonder just how many women those firm, sensual lips have tasted. I wonder how many he’s given his heart to, and h
ow many have given theirs to his. Even though none of this matters, I can’t help but be curious.
“You going to stare at me the whole ride?” he asks in a husky tone that has me shifting on my seat.
“If I want to,” I reply haughtily.
“I’ll make sure to return the favor when we get inside, then,” he says, sounding amused.
I look back out the window.
Rake
I’m hard.
I’ve been hard ever since she picked up the rope, rope that I’d love to use on her. I’d tie her arms behind her back and fuck her from behind while pulling her hair. Then I’d tie her arms above her head while I took her slow and deep.
I shift in my seat.
What an inconvenience this woman is turning out to be. It’s like craving something that I know is bad for me, wanting it so fuckin’ badly but having to consider the consequences of giving in.
The price is too high though; I’d rather keep my sanity, my peace of mind, and my heart intact.
“I like this song,” she murmurs, turning it louder.
“What is it?” I find myself asking. When I’m with her I find myself forgetting what happened between us. I don’t think about anything. I just enjoy her presence. When she first came back into my life, I had to keep reminding myself so I could stay angry and not let my guard down, but now I’ve stopped. There’s no point, and I know I’ve been an asshole to her, even though she deserved it. I could be the bigger person here and cut the girl a break. At least, I can try. When I don’t think about it, everything is fine. It’s only when the past resurfaces that everything goes to shit.
She fits in here, with the women, and even the men are starting to like her.
The thing is, at the end of the day, she’s still Bailey.
And no matter what she did, she’s wearing me down a little.
THIRTEEN
Bailey
CARA picks up a slice of pizza, not taking her eyes off Rake. “Are you living with us now?”
“Yes,” Rake replies gently, chewing and swallowing his own bite.
Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) Page 9