“You call him Jimmy, not Dad?” He put the bowls on the table and puffed out his chest. Success. This wasn’t so hard after all.
Maia fiddled with the strap of the bag slung across her shoulder, a small black beaded purse with a skull emblazoned on the front. “Just because we’re related to him doesn’t mean we have to call him Dad. He doesn’t act like a dad. Dads look after you, and take you places, and spend time with you, and make sure bad things don’t happen. Plus, Jimmy hates us. He tells us that every time we see him.”
Lost for words, Cade stared at Maia. He didn’t have the heart to tell her good dads were few and far between. His dad sure wasn’t one of them.
“Sucks,” he said, for lack of anything better to say, or any wisdom to impart.
“Spoon.”
“What?”
“Spoon,” Maia said. “Are we supposed to slurp the cereal out of the bowl?”
“Maia. Manners.” Dawn appeared in the doorway wearing a filmy white blouse he could almost see through and a short, tight skirt that hugged every delicious curve of her body. Her hair was loose and partially dried, the soft golden curls hanging just above the crescents of her breasts. His groin tightened and he turned away to get himself under control.
“You got some sweats, babe? Maybe a sack?” He turned on the cold water and splashed his face. “We’re a dress-down kinda club. Like hide-all-the-good-bits kinda dress down, especially when you’re in public or there’s brothers around.”
“Why is your face red?” Maia chewed her cereal staring at him with the kind of gaze that could send a man to his knees. Christ. If they were his, looking as pretty as they looked now, he’d have to barricade the door when they were teenagers. He couldn’t imagine how his brothers with teenage girls handled the boys who came around. He’d probably just fire off a coupla shots and keep the bastards away.
“It’s … hot in here.”
Tia lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. He had a feeling that he’d just been judged and found wanting although he didn’t know how. After all, he’d managed to fix them breakfast.
“Gotta get going,” he said. “Got some work to do. See you later, ladies.” That got him a few smiles and giggles. At least he hadn’t totally lost his touch.
Dawn followed him to the door and leaned against the wall while he pulled on his boots, her folded arms highlighting the delicious curve of her breasts.
“You working at the florist this afternoon? And then at the bar?”
“Yes.” She ran her hand through her curls and her blouse opened just enough to send all his blood rushing to his cock.
Fuck. He had to get out of here or he’d be dragging her back to the bedroom and the kids would never make it to school.
“It all happened so fast I never thought about child care,” she said. “But I just called Martha, a retired neighbor who lives a couple of houses down the street. She used to watch the girls for me before Jimmy took them away. She said she could come over today.”
“I’ll look after them this afternoon.”
Dawn hesitated. “You? Are you sure? I mean…”
“I got them breakfast. No one died. I can handle a coupla hours.” He dug into his pocket and held up his hand. “And I got a key. I’ll make sure Tank and T-Rex are outside watching the block. You can trust me, sweetheart.”
Her face lit up with a smile that almost stopped his heart, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “They get out of school at three-thirty. They’ll need a snack. No treats.”
“Might have to feed them some sugar to keep them sweet, so I won’t make any promises.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him. His cock throbbed and he groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Dawn’s eyes lit with amusement. She knew damn well what was wrong.
“You. Too sexy. Waking up this morning with your little ass grindin’ into me … seeing you dressed like this. Too much.”
She twirled a curl around her finger. “I thought when you saw me with the kids you’d wonder what the hell you were doing with a mom of two when you have a club full of sweet butts fighting for your bed.”
He heard the waver in her tone. Saw her vulnerability. And yet nothing could have been farther from the truth. He cupped her face between his hands and leaned down to kiss her. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was to him, inside and out, and how the fact she had kids made no difference to him. He wanted to tell her how he loved her sweetly rounded curves and how he liked the idea she had created such beauty with her body. But he suspected it wouldn’t come out right. He wasn’t an eloquent man. So he just said, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” And then he kissed her again and walked out the door.
* * *
“This here’s an axle.” Cade pointed out the part on his bike to his two attentive young students, sitting side by side on the grass in the back lane behind Dawn’s house. T-Rex and Tank were parked in the alley, close enough he could hear them snickering.
“You have those tattooed on your chest,” Maia said. “I saw them this morning. And wings. Blue ones.”
“Well, now. You shouldn’t be looking at my tat. It’s not for little girls to see.”
“Why?”
Cade gritted his teeth. Over the last few hours he’d grown to hate that question. Maia had an uncanny ability to detect when he was trying to be evasive and called him out every time. Who knew seven-year-olds could be so smart?
“Some things are for grown-ups to see and some things are for little girls to see.”
“Why did you get it if everyone can’t see it? You have another one on your back, but it has cuts on it. Why did you need two?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Why did he need two? Every full-patch got a Sinner’s Tribe tattoo, usually on his back. It represented a lifelong commitment to the club. But the second tat had been all his. The wings for freedom, blue for the sky, and the axles for his bike. No ties. No commitments. No one to answer to. Just him and the bike and the open sky.
“’Cause I wanted it just for me and for people I wanted to share it with.”
“Not us?” Her mouth turned down and Tia’s mouth turned down, too. One voice with two faces. Maybe one day Tia would trust him enough to talk to him. He hadn’t lied when he told Dawn he thought she had a lot to say.
“Fuck. Don’t look at me like that. You’ll break my goddamn heart.”
Maia’s eyes lit up. “You swore in front of us. Let us see your tat or we’ll tell Mom.”
Christ. Blackmailed by a seven-year-old. And with witnesses. He’d never live it down.
“Okay. Just for a minute.” He removed his cut and tugged his shirt over his head. The two girls stood to stare at his tat.
“Can we touch it?”
“No.”
Maia frowned. “Why? Are you poisonous?”
“Not that I know.”
She stood up on tiptoe and poked his chest. Cade froze. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He lunged forward and the girls shrieked and ran away.
“Hey, Cade. You’re losing your touch,” Tank yelled. “Girls are supposed to run toward you.”
“Fuck off.” He pulled on his shirt and cut and grabbed a polishing cloth. Dawn was due home any moment and he’d already run out of things to do. They’d watched TV, played a video game, and eaten the box of donuts he’d brought with him. But when they asked him to play princesses, he took them out to help him with his bike instead. Bike polishing had seemed a safe and useful activity. Now he wished he’d put on that princess crown.
“Can we sit on your bike?” Maia rested her little hand on his seat.
Cade shook his head. “Only a biker sits in his saddle. His old lady rides in the pillion seat.”
“Is Mom your old lady?”
Unable to resist her pleading look, he lifted her onto the pillion seat while he scrambled for an answer to her question. She was so small and light he was almost afraid he would crush her with his big hands. “You’ll have to ask her.
”
“She is,” Maia settled on the seat. “We saw her leather vest. It says PROPERTY OF CADE. That means she belongs to you.”
“I guess that’s right.” He lifted her off and held out his hands for Tia, but she shook her head and backed away.
“So if Mom belongs to you, we belong to you.” Wise beyond her years, Maia continued with the awkward conversation despite Cade’s less-than-forthcoming answers.
“It’s not really like…”
“So you have to protect us.” She cut him off. “You have to look after Mom and us because that’s what you do when someone is yours.”
Cade dropped to a crouch in front of the two little girls. “I’ll protect you and your mom. If something bad happens and you need me, I’ll be there.”
“Even from Jimmy?”
“Even from Jimmy.”
Maia cocked her head to the side. “Promise.”
“You have my word,” Cade said. “A biker’s word is his bond. That means you can count on it.”
She smiled, the same devastating smile as Dawn. “Then I won’t tell Mom you swore at Tank and T-Rex.”
“Thanks.”
“Since we’re yours, can we have our own bikes so we can ride with you?”
Cade closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He so knew what was coming.
“No. Even if you were old enough to ride, I wouldn’t let you have a bike.” He polished the chrome until it gleamed in the sunlight.
“Why?”
“Because they’re dangerous and I promised to protect you.” He braced himself to be called out on his hypocrisy but she just kept going.
“What about a leather vest? I want one that says PROPERTY OF TREVOR.”
He squirted more polish on his cloth. “Who’s Trevor?”
“My boyfriend. He pulls my hair in class and chases me around the playground at lunch.”
Cade put down the bottle of polish, his brow creasing in a frown. “Does he live nearby?”
“No.”
“I’ll come by the playground tomorrow. Point him out to me and I’ll make him stop.”
“I don’t want him to stop.” Maia put a hand on her hip and gave an affected sigh. “Don’t you know anything about girls?”
He thought he did. Apparently, he was wrong.
* * *
“Mommy.”
Dawn waved to Maia and Tia from the back lawn. She’d been watching Cade polish his bike with her girls ever since she got off the bus and her heart warmed at how well they got on together. Even Tia, although she didn’t talk, stayed by his side.
A family. Just like you always wanted. Jimmy’s taunt flitted through her brain. She bet he’d never imagined she would have a family like this, albeit a temporary one.
Or was it? Their talk last night was all about a future together. But they hadn’t addressed the elephant in the room. What would happen when it was all over? Was he really thinking of becoming a one-woman man and settling down?
Tank and T-Rex were chatting at the far end of the lane, looking less than enthused that they’d pulled guard duty. Dawn crossed the grass and stepped out of the small gate separating her property from the back lane. She’d taken the evening off so she could spend time with the girls, and she could hardly wait to tell them.
She closed the gate behind her, startling when she heard the rev of an engine. A black van sped down the lane so fast it left a trail of dust behind. Cade reached out and yanked the girls to safety. Dawn froze when the van screeched to a halt. Moments later the back door opened and a body rolled out and onto the gravel.
Shocked, Dawn could only stare as the van took off down the lane, racing full tilt at Tank and T-Rex. They scrambled to safety and then took off after the van, the rev of their engines echoing through the alley.
Maia and Tia ran across the road and into her arms. As the dust cleared, Dawn took in the body, now slumped beside Cade’s bike, with the letters MD spray-painted on his back. She knew that sign. MD for “Mad Dog.” Her muscles went taut and she shoved the girls behind her.
“Go inside.” Dawn tried to keep her voice from wavering. “Go to your bedroom and lock the door.”
“But is he okay?” Maia tried to look back over her shoulder. “Should we call 911?”
“No. Cade and I will look after him. Inside. Now.” She hadn’t meant to shout, but the words came out in a rush of fear.
When the girls were safely in the house, she joined Cade. He slowly turned the body so the man’s face was clearly visible, and Dawn gasped.
“You know him?”
“He’s the private investigator from the video Jimmy produced in court to win custody.”
And then the weight of what Jimmy had done hit her hard and she swayed on her feet. “I’ll never get the girls back for good now,” she said with dawning horror. “Not under civilian law. Not unless Bunny can find out who filmed the video, and that’s a long shot without the investigator.” She scrubbed her face with her hands. “God, what have I done? He’s totally lost control. The risk he’s taken to do this … And in front of the children…”
Cade pulled her into his arms. “We’ll call Wolf. We’ll make it clear that he’ll have to do more than just sanction Mad Dog or he’ll risk losing Sinner support for his election bid.”
“He’s not afraid of Wolf anymore,” Dawn said, her voice rising in panic. “Don’t you see? This was as much a message for Wolf as it was for me, and he clearly has men who are willing to defy Wolf as well. If he’s prepared to do something like this, either he’s left the club, or he knows he’s going to win with the Black Jacks’ backing. And if he wins, nothing will stop him. He’ll come for me. And the girls … he doesn’t want them. What if…”
“Dawn.” Cade grasped her shoulders. “I’ll protect you. You’re a Sinner now. The club will look after you and the girls. You don’t have to worry.”
“You can’t protect me.” She pulled away, letting her fear spill over in words. “You weren’t there when he broke into my house, or when he caught me on the street. The Sinners didn’t stop him from coming into town again the night he attacked me. Tank and T-Rex couldn’t stop him from throwing a body in front of my children. No one can protect me. No one ever could. I was a fool to think I could stand up to him. I’ll call Doug. He’ll get me into witness protection. I can’t lose my girls again.”
She knew she’d hurt him when his eyes hardened. “You’re panicking. We’ll deal with this. Together.”
“There is no dealing with this.” She was shaking now, her words coming thick and fast. “There’s a dead body in my back lane, Cade.” She gestured behind her, unable to look at the man again. “Not just dead. Murdered. Jimmy murdered him just to make a point.”
“I’m not going to lose you because of him.” Cade cupped her face between his palms. “Trust me, Dawn. I won’t let anything happen to you. I love you. I didn’t want to, but I do. I didn’t think it could happen, but it did. There isn’t anything I won’t do for you and the girls. I’ll give my life to keep you safe. Just don’t run away. Give me a chance to make this right.”
She stared up at his handsome face, trying to memorize every plane and angle, the scars on his cheeks and chin, the way his nose was slightly off center as if it had been broken and never properly set. His lips were perfectly shaped, full and firm. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine those lips on her body, feel his breath on her skin. She leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his cheek. His eyes darkened almost to black, and she wanted to drown in that inky sea.
“Please, Cade. Don’t make me choose.”
She’d made the biggest mistake of her life getting involved with the Sinners, thinking she could beat Jimmy at his own game. She’d forgotten how clever he was, how ruthless, manipulative and totally unforgiving. Jimmy played to win and he would never give up. Not until he had her back. Not until the girls were gone. Not until Cade was dead.
Never.
TWENTY
I will strive t
o understand myself and my machine so that I rely on no one but me.
SINNER’S TRIBE CREED
Dawn laced her fingers together under the wooden table. She’d never been in an interrogation room before, but it was much as she’d imagined—four white walls, a one-way mirror, cold fluorescent light on the ceiling, camera in the corner, and Doug seated across from her, clearly uncomfortable, as evidenced by his constant shifting in his seat.
“Where exactly were you when you saw the body?”
“In the back alley behind my house.”
He tapped on his laptop his eyes focused on the screen. “Who else was there?”
“The girls. Cade. And two Sinners.”
Doug’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly when she mentioned Cade’s name. “Did you know the deceased?”
“He’s the private investigator from the video Jimmy showed at court to win custody of the girls. My lawyer has a copy if you need to see it.”
“And the mark on his shirt?”
She’d never seen Doug so cold and detached. Professional. A little part of her died inside. He’d always been a good friend to her and he clearly felt hurt and betrayed. “MD for ‘Mad Dog.’”
He stopped typing and looked up. “You think Jimmy did this?”
“I know he did. It’s a message. He’s angry because…” She cut herself off just in time.
“Because you’ve taken up with the Sinners.” Doug slammed his laptop closed. “I can’t believe it myself, Dawn. I mean, what the hell were you thinking? After what you’ve been through—what you’re going through now—how could you do this? How could you put your children at risk? How could you go back to a world that caused you so much pain?”
“Doug…” Nausea gripped her belly. He was right. About all of it. She’d spent three years trying to get away from the biker world and live like a civilian. And now, not only was she fully immersed in the life, her children were, too. “I want to take you up on the witness protection offer. I want to testify against Jimmy.” Bile rose from her throat as she spoke the words.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. She felt it in her gut, but she didn’t have a choice.
The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3 Page 58