He frowned but nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
Smiling, I practically danced back to the kitchen where Aggie was still waiting. Seeing my happiness had her smiling with relief. “Okay then, let’s go. Little John is already waiting in the car.”
For the last two weeks, Aggie’s staff that wasn’t connected to the MC had been running the place, with Aggie herself only coming in an hour or so each day. It had been all Uncle Jack would allow her because he’d been so worried about her safety. Now that he was gone, Aggie was determined to get back to work as much as possible.
Sadness hit me like a ten-ton wrecking ball all over again, and I wrapped my arms around my middle as Little John drove us to work. The realization that Uncle Jack wouldn’t come into the diner and make Aggie blush with just a wink ever again brought tears to my eyes, but I quickly blinked them back.
The place was crowded by the time we got there. The waitresses were worn out, trying to get everyone taken care of. As soon as they saw Aggie and me, they groaned with relief. I grabbed my apron from the back and jumped in headfirst, getting everyone drinks and passing out food that was already waiting.
For the next few hours, I was run off my feet, but I had a genuine smile on my face the whole time. The time seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, the dinner rush was over. There were only two more hours before the diner closed for the day, and the place needed a good scrubbing after the last two weeks of who knew what kind of shape the others had left the place in each night. With Aggie absent, I knew things that should be getting done weren’t.
I started scrubbing the tables with disinfectant, filling up salt and pepper shakers along the way. The stickiness I cleaned off some of the tables pissed me off. If the health department had come in and done an inspection, there was no way the diner would have passed. To the majority of the staff, this place was just a job. For me, however, Aggie’s diner had always been a second home. I loved this job—being around the different people, getting to find out what was going on in others’ lives and forget about my own problems for a few hours. It was hard work, the pay was lousy at times, but there wasn’t another job I’d want to have.
Not even stripping. The money had been astounding when I was dancing, but I hated exposing myself for everyone to see. I felt sexy while I was onstage, but that feeling had gotten old fast with all those creeps watching me undress for them.
The bell over the front entrance jingled, and I lifted my head, a smile in place for the new customer.
Raider had fire in his eyes as he stomped toward me. I swallowed nervously but put a flirty smile on my face and lowered my lashes as he drew near.
“Hi,” I murmured softly as I stepped forward to kiss his cheek.
“Let’s go,” he bit out, taking my hand and tugging me toward the door.
I dug in my heels, not ready to leave. “I’m not finished yet.”
He stopped and jerked around to face me, the flames in his green eyes never dying down even for a second. “You shouldn’t even be here. I told you to stay back at the clubhouse where it’s safe. Instead, I come back from a long-ass day, tired as fuck, to find out you’ve been out all day.”
I could feel the heat of my own anger as it began to boil. “You told me?” I repeated, stepping back from him. “I’m not one of the damn sheep you can order around any which way you want, asshole. I come and go as I please.”
“Have you forgotten about what happened at your house?” he raged. “You want to chance that happening here?”
“Like the clubhouse is any safer? Someone planted a bomb in a vehicle within those walls. I’m just as likely to get hurt back there as I am here.”
“Did something happen?” he demanded, those green orbs narrowing. “Did Whitney do something to upset or hurt you?”
“Hell no! But if I’d stayed there for another minute, I would have ended up causing her or one of my other sisters bodily harm. I was getting cabin fever. People are meant to be around other people—”
“There are plenty of other people at the clubhouse!” he interrupted, grabbing my hand again. “Now, get your shit, and let’s go.”
I jerked out of his hold. “I’ll leave when I’m ready. You don’t like it, park your ass and order something to eat until I’m done. Or go home. I don’t really care at this point. Just shut up and stay out of my way until I’m finished.”
His nostrils flared, but to my surprise, he took a seat at the counter. Muttering under his breath, he crossed his arms over his wide chest and glared at the waitress who was working the counter. “Coffee and keep it coming.”
My teeth sank into the inside of my bottom lip as I stood there, breathing hard from the continued anger coursing through me, but fighting back a grin. I was still pissed, but after watching him for a moment, my heart melted. Quickly, I returned to what I was doing. I wouldn’t say I was the happiest I’d ever been in that moment, not with all the chaos and loss we’d all experienced recently, but I was content.
As I worked, I could feel Raider’s gaze on me, and every time I looked up, his eyes were glued to me. Nine out of ten times, it was my ass he was looking at, and the flare of desire in his green gaze was unmistakable. Each time our eyes locked, he licked his lips, and I could practically see all the dirty things he was planning on doing to me when we were alone. My insides quivered at the possibilities, and I found myself rushing through the rest of the chores that still needed doing.
As soon as the last table was clean to health-code regulations and the dining room was spotless, Raider was on his feet. “We’re going, Ag,” he called.
“See you later,” she returned distractedly from the kitchen. “Get home safe.”
He marched determinedly toward me, and I found myself almost shaking in anticipation. “A-At least let me wash my hands,” I breathed.
His eyes were on fire as he raked them over my small frame from top to bottom. “By all means, babe. Go wash your hands.”
That silky tone, the one he used when he was deep inside me, had my legs going all wobbly, and I had to force myself to move around him and walk into the women’s bathroom at the back of the diner. My heart was beating my chest to death as I turned on the water and filled my hands with liquid soap. I scrubbed my nails and rinsed, but as I turned off the water, the door opened behind me.
Raider shut the door and flipped the lock, and every inch of me was already anticipating his touch. Our gazes met and locked in the mirror above the sink, and all I could think about was how much I wanted him inside me.
Strong hands caught my hips and jerked me around. I had two seconds to drink my fill of the hunger on his face before his lips crashed down on mine and I was lost. This was crazy. I was addicted to his taste; his every touch blistered my skin, leaving behind a trail of pure, scorching bliss.
But I wasn’t the only one weakened by this thing between us. I felt him tremble as his fingers skimmed over my stomach and undid the button of my jeans. Then I found myself naked from the waist down, and he was lifting me onto the edge of the sink seconds before his cock was sinking deep into my begging pussy.
“Baby,” he groaned against my ear as his hips thrust against me, shooting me toward heaven as his cock stretched me to full capacity. “I love you so fucking much. Stop torturing me, stop making me chase you. Give me everything.”
My nails bit into his ass, holding him deeper for a second longer with each pump of his hip. “I love you too,” I panted. “You have all of me. You know you do.”
“Then stop fighting me,” he begged, his voice wobbling ever so slightly, but it was enough to catch my attention and force my chin up to meet his eyes.
“Raider…” I began, but the look on his face stopped whatever I was about to say.
“I’m at your mercy,” he confessed, swallowing hard. His hips pushed me back into the sink, but then they stopped moving. “Everything I have is yours. Every part of my heart belongs to you. I know this is the least romantic pl
ace to do this, to ask it, but I can’t wait anymore. I can’t give you more time to get used to me, not when I’m scared with each passing day that something will come between us again. I love you. I love this baby I put in your belly. I want forever with you. Marry me.”
My breath hitched, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was balls deep inside me, my insides melting around him a little more with each passing second.
Holy hell. I hadn’t expected this, never imagined this day would come. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected from this relationship, but marriage hadn’t entered my mind. If I were being honest, I would have admitted that I thought Raider was allergic to the idea of marriage. Yet there he was, asking me of all people to marry him.
It was a given that this was the least likely place for a proposal, but my heart became a puddle of goo as it dissolved with love for him. We would never share this with our baby; there was no way I wanted to tell our child exactly how their father asked me to marry him.
But I would tell them just how full my heart was and how much it broke when Raider’s eyes widened at my hesitation, tears springing to those green depths as he pressed his forehead to mine. “Please, Quinn. I love you. I fucking need you. Don’t say no. Please…don’t say no.”
I cupped each side of his face, forcing him to lean back and so I could look at him. “Okay,” I whispered, stroking my thumbs over his kiss-swollen lips.
“Really?”
A happy, stupid grin broke across my lips as I looked up at him. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
“Goddamn it, baby. I love you so fucking much.” His lips crashed down on mine again, rough and imploring. His hips started moving in earnest, as if they had a mind of their own, and the euphoric feeling at agreeing to be Raider’s wife was overshadowed for a moment by the pure ecstasy his body drowned my own in.
Chapter 19
Kelli
“Mrs. Murdock’s funeral has already been paid for, sir.”
I barely heard the voice of the funeral home director as he spoke to Colt, but I felt Colt’s tension as if he were physically a part of me. “How? She just died yesterday.”
“It was a private donation from an anonymous benefactor. Everything has already been attended to, and Mrs. Murdock’s body is even now being cremated.”
“Wait…” For the first time all day, I found my voice, pulling me from the darkest depths of my black soul and straight into the hell that was reality. “What did you say? Cremated?” The man nodded, his eyes sympathetic. “No way! My mother never would have wanted to be cremated. She was terrified of fire.”
A small burn on her wrist as a child had given Mom a phobia of fire. Years ago, when one of her friends had passed away, she had told me that, no matter what, she didn’t want to be cremated. That it was up to me to make sure she had a proper burial.
“I’m sorry, Miss Murdock, but the process has already begun. I was told that Mrs. Murdock was without family and that this was her last wish.” He grimaced as if in pain. “The benefactor had all the paperwork. I apologize for any upset, but I had no choice but to comply with his wishes.”
“Fucking Calvin,” I raged, turning away from the funeral director as fury, pure and white-hot, boiled inside me.
Behind me, I could hear Colt talking to the man, but I didn’t hear a single word spoken between them. The bastard hadn’t been happy just taking my mother from me; he had to stick his nose in this as well? He couldn’t just let his ex-lover rest in peace. He had to do the one thing he must have known she never wanted.
He wanted his revenge on me, thought I would just accept it and walk away?
He was crazy.
Taking my mother away was the last thing he ever should have done. She had been the final wall of defense between us, and now that he was going to war on me, it was time to reciprocate. Every hateful feeling I’d ever experienced in my heart for the man who’d aided my mother in giving me life burned brighter than the pain of her death. The last traces of love and wishes for acceptance, small though they were, evaporated into the air.
He wasn’t going to get away with this. I refused to let him hurt me again.
It was past fucking time he understood what it felt like to have everything he held dear taken away from him. Maybe Kevin’s death had hurt him, but it was nothing to how destroyed he was going to be when I took away his career.
If Calvin wanted a war, I would give him his fucking war.
After I pulled out my phone, it took me less than a minute to find the contact information I needed for one of the top daily political papers in the country. My fingers were steady as I hit connect, my breathing calm and even—the complete opposite of the hurricane of emotions swirling around inside me—as I was connected to the editor.
The guy barely got finished answering in that smooth New England accent of his before I was introducing myself. There was cynicism in the man’s voice as he asked me question after question, and I fed him every answer he could ever want. The great Senator Calvin Samson had never been part of a scandal before. No, no. He was far too smart and damn well too rich ever to have his perfect name touched by that dreaded “S” word.
But there was no amount of money that could stop me from opening my mouth now. Calvin’s mistake was going after my mother, when he should have just come after me. Mom, she hadn’t even known what year it was, let alone all the secrets the love of her life had confessed over the years of their relationship.
Me, on the other hand?
I knew every dirty little secret that had ever touched Calvin.
Yeah, he really should have just taken me out.
Because I was going to make him pay in the most painful way someone like him could be struck. Straight to the ego and a direct hit to his reputation. By the time I was done with him, there would be nothing left. Everything he ever imagined he was would be nothing more than trash. I didn’t care whose name got dragged down with him.
Not now.
Not when I was left with nothing more than a tin can containing my mother’s ashes.
“You realize I can’t just take your word for any of this right?” Mr. New England Editor told me, but his skepticism was gone now. In its place, the not-so-carefully-concealed glee of someone who knew he was about to unravel the story of his career.
“I’m well aware,” I assured him. “I have all the proof you could ever possibly want. I even have my DNA test on file, showing that I’m really his daughter, if that makes you feel any better.”
“How much?” was his final question.
“I’m aware of the amount of money you normally pay for this kind of story. I don’t want it. Instead, donate the full amount to the Alzheimer’s Association in Leslie Murdock’s name.”
“Fair enough. Get me that proof, Miss Murdock, and I’ll have this story breaking on our website by dinnertime. It will be all over the world by tomorrow morning. I suggest whatever affairs you need to get in order, you take care of them now, because I don’t imagine Samson will take kindly to any of this becoming public knowledge.”
I felt Colt at my back as a twisted, evil smile lifted my lips. “I’m hoping for it.”
Hanging up, I turned to face the still-seething biker. Throughout my whole conversation on the far side of the funeral home, Colt had been arguing with the director. He hadn’t heard anything I’d just unloaded to the editor, but seeing the smile on my face, I knew he understood something major was about to go down.
“What did you do?” he demanded, his eyes narrowed on my face.
“You should head back to Creswell Springs,” I advised. “It’s best if you’re with your people when this shit hits the fan.”
“We’ll head back when everything with your mom is sorted. But what the hell is going to hit the fan, Kell?”
“All those secrets I was spilling to Michaels instead of feeding him information on you?” He nodded, but the wheels were already turning the right way in
his head, and his shoulders stiffened. “They’re no longer secrets.”
“Damn it, Kelli!” he exploded, pulling the director’s attention to us. I gave Colt a meaningful look, and he lowered his voice. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Samson is going to be out for blood when this hits the front pages.”
“I’m aware, and I look forward to it. I would give just about anything to be a fly on his office wall when he finds out I sold all his secrets.”
His jaw clenched and he caught my hands, holding them in a viselike grip in one hand as he looked down at me with dread and concern for me bright in his eyes. “What secrets did you reveal? How much damage did you do?”
“All of them. Every single dirty secret Calvin has will be the hot topic at every dinner table from here to DC tonight.” Pulling free of his hold, I pushed open the front door and walked out to my car.
Getting in the driver’s side, I waited for him to fold his long legs into the passenger’s seat, and I started the car. The drive to the bank took fifteen minutes, tops, and the moment I walked in, I produced my safety deposit key. Once the manager appeared, we were shown back to the vault, and as soon as the large metal box was retrieved, I waited for the manager to leave us before opening it.
“What the fuck is in there?” Colt demanded as he waited impatiently for me to lift the lid.
“Retribution,” I told him calmly as I took out the contents. Stacks of money I’d put in there that Derrick Michaels had paid for the same secrets I’d just given away freely. I didn’t need that money now, but I wasn’t going to give it away. It would go a long way toward starting a new life somewhere no one knew me or Calvin Samson. Next, I pulled out the flash drives that held my birth certificate, DNA records, and every other sordid secret my father had. Unfortunately, my mother’s name was linked to some of those secrets, but it couldn’t be helped. She never should have climbed into bed with the devil if she wasn’t prepared for the gates of hell to smack her on the ass.
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