by Simone Elise
“He’s kind. He does have a softer side,” I mumbled. “And I can handle myself. I know my broken wrist doesn’t give me much credit, but I would never let anyone rule me.”
“Of course not. It’s not in our blood.” She winked, standing up. What did she mean our blood?
“Can I ask you something, Amber?”
“Sure, why not? It’s not like I can be anymore softer.”
“How did you handle the other women? Do you just turn a blind eye?” I knew what club life meant. I knew that they would always be around. That temptation for him. I wasn’t stupid; I had seen how wives and marriages were looked upon in this type of life.
Hell, it was like the biker had a wife and mistresses, just like Kings once did.
“Jackson slept with another woman,” she spluttered out, causing me to just stare at her. What the hell do I say to that?
“I um... well.... umm.”
“You can stop.” She wiped away the awkwardness. “I’m only telling you this because all couples go through rough periods. But at the end of the day, if he loves you and you love him, you’ll work it out.”
I nodded my head. “Life just keeps throwing me in his way.”
“Maybe life keeps placing you in his path because clearly he is meant to be sharing that path with you.”
I had never looked at it like that.
Chapter 38
Abby
There are some decisions that make themselves; then there are others that require more thought. Then, of course, there were those decisions that were impossible to make.
Like right now. As I stared across the common room from behind the bar, cleaning glasses, leaning back on the chair, smoke in one hand, beer in the other was the man that was slowly driving me crazy.
After that conversation with Amber, it had caused me to rethink what I was doing with Reaper. I knew he would never change. He would always be that scarred, scary, and loyal guy to the club.
I glanced over at Amber, who was whispering in Jax’s ear. Jax might be sitting around a table full of blokes, but all his attention was on Amber as she spoke to him.
If that was love, then fuck knows what Reaper and I have.
“You staying for the fireworks?”
My eyes bounced up and locked with Brad’s. He was only wearing his leather vest, displaying his tattoos and scars. It seemed to be the outfit of choice tonight, with most of the other guys also shredding their top layers off. Guess it was a hot night.
“Don’t know.” I began to put the clean glasses away. “Don’t see why Dad is making a big deal out of the Shields being here anyway.”
“Isn’t just the Shields, the North Landers and Westies are here, too.” He pulled up a stool and sat down. “Wanna get it off your chest, darlin’?”
My head snapped to look at him. “Just because some girls are using the heat as an excuse to strip doesn’t mean I am.” Did he not know me better than that?
He smirked. “Was talking about whatever was on your mind.”
Oh. Well, that’s awkward.
“Got nothing to say.”
“Amber being here doesn’t change anything between you and your old man, right?”
I frowned. “Of course I know that.”
“Then why is your sister getting high out the back and you’re here scrubbing glasses that usually just get thrown out anyway?”
“Why would there be a correlation at all between them?”
We were our own people, or did people just forget that ALL THE TIME! We are twins for fuck’s sake, not the same person!
He shrugged his shoulders. “Just thought you two were taking it hard finding out about Amber being your half sister.”
I blinked. I blinked again, then my fingers curled into fists.
“My what?!” I hissed across the bar at him.
He gulped. “Fuck, you didn’t know.”
“Clearly.” I snapped, storming off around the bar and heading for my dad's bedroom.
I could bet he was in there smoking a joint and getting laid. He only ever cared about himself. Everything was making sense now. Why he was so mad when we were here. Why he didn’t want us to meet her.
I didn’t knock on his bedroom door, I just twisted the doorknob and walked in.
The whore squealed and tumbled off the bed while Dad cursed.
“ABBY!” he roared when he realized who it was.
“You’re a LIAR!” I screamed in his face, not even caring that he only had a sheet wrapped around him. “WERE you EVER going to tell me that I had half sister? Hell, what about the boys, how many children have you fathered?!”
“YOU’RE OUT OF LINE, GIRL!”
“DID MOM KNOW THAT YOU WERE SLEEPING AROUND BEHIND HER BACK?!”
“BACK DOWN ABBY, YOU’RE TALKING SHIT ABOUT SHIT YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!”
Angry tears were spilling down my cheeks, which I was wiping away just as they dropped.
“HOW COULD YOU LIE TO US ABOUT THIS?”
“I DIDNT!”
“FUCK YOU.” I spat in his face and spun on my heel. He was a lying bastard just like every other biker outlaw.
“ABBY!”
I was at the bottom of the stairs and bolting through the crowded common room when he grabbed my arm, nearly ripping it out of its socket.
His face was still red with rage, but he had somehow found a moment to put a pair of pants on.
“LET GO OF ME!” I roared at him, not even caring that the filled common room had quieted.
Why would they want to talk when they could listen and watch the president yell at his daughter.?
“You aren’t leaving till we talk this through.”
My mind was swirling with questions and anger, but I couldn’t have this conversation with him because I didn’t want to hear his excuses.
I stepped in closer, glaring up at him. “Why would I want to hear anything that came out of your mouth when I know that while my mother was dying, you were off making another family. You’re a pig. A cold-hearted arsehole!”
I didn’t see it coming, but I felt it when the back of his hand whipped across my cheek at the same time he let go of me.
“I don’t want to see you again.” Pure boiling red rage was behind his words, and with fresh tears filling my eyelids, I turned and sprinted out of there.
Chapter 39
Reaper
He didn’t have to say it. He didn’t even need to say he regretted it. Because as soon as his hand whipped across Abby’s cheek, the impact of his reaction hit him immediately.
All eyes were on him, which meant everyone could see Abby being slapped down by her father; even all the guests saw it. What the fuck was the man thinking!?
My first instinct was to storm over there and block the slap for her, but I thought her old man would have kept a lid on it. I was wrong.
Kim, who was flirting with some bloke I hadn’t seen before at the pool table, had dropped to her feet and bolted out after her sister.
Now there was just an eerie coating in the air. Roach stood at the same spot, breathing heavily, while nearly all the women glared at him and half the bikers were even giving him a dirty look.
Bottom line was you aren’t meant to hit women. Though the girls do tend to get roughed up sometimes by their parents. But when it came to Abby, Abby was untouchable.
No one should ever hit her.
Especially because she was mine.
Downing the rest of my beer and kicking back the chair I had been sitting on, I wasn’t letting Roach get away with this.
“Take a seat, Reaper,”Amber’s enraged eyes locked with mine, “You will only make things worse. Getting into a punch on with her old man will only ruin any chance you two have together.”
Amber spoke calmly, but her eyes were burning with a boiling rage. I was surprised she could keep the clear anger she had inside her out of her voice.
“Why do you care?” I kept my tone in check, knowing Jax’s eyes were on me, along with her
brothers.
“Because I’m guessing it was me who caused that fight.” She planted her hands on her hips. “And I don’t let others fight my battles.”
“He hit her.”
“He slapped her. Which is even more demeaning, which is why he won’t get away with it.”
The deadliness in her words would send terror down a normal person’s spine.
“So you want to go head to head with Roach then? Cause no offense Amber, you’ve got more bark than bite. At least I’ll get some punches in.”
“When will you ever learn,” she took a step closer to me, rising to her tippy toes and whispering in my ear, “Words burn and slice deeper than any physical punch.”
Her soulless eyes met mine once more before she spun on her heel and headed in the direction Roach had stormed off in.
Fine. If she wanted to take on the old man, she could. I was going to find Abby. My stomach twisted, remembering the pain in her eyes. Amber better bloody well give Roach what he deserves.
But right now, I needed to focus on finding Abby before she fled town and I never saw her again.
Chapter 40
Abby
I hadn’t thought it through; I just ran and kept going. I didn’t stop when I heard Kim’s screaming voice behind me. I ducked around the corner and hid in a bush when I heard the roar of a familiar motorcycle.
I didn’t want to be dragged back there. I never wanted to see Dad again. I cupped my cheek and flinched at the touch.
He hadn’t gone easy on the slap; he had put his full force behind it.
After running for what felt like hours, I stumbled to a stop and slumped down at the bottom of a driveway.
I had nowhere to go.
I had no money.
I had no car.
I had only what I was wearing, and I wasn’t dressed for this chilly night.
I didn’t even have anyone to call, even if I did have my phone on me.
The clouds thundered above and the rain wasn’t far away. Which only confirmed to me that tonight still could get worse.
Why had he kept Amber a secret for so long? Did that mean the boys were my step-brothers? I gagged at the thought of how many times I had admired Troy and Tyler with their tops off.
The crying was slowing to a small stream now, but it was my cheek that really hurt.
“Excuse me, but you’re blocking my way,” a voice said from behind me. I wasn’t in the mood to be nice.
“Then walk around,” I snapped back.
“Sure, if you want me to drive over you.”
Pushing myself up from the ground, I let out a long sigh. “Think you would be doing me a favor if you did.”
He adjusted his suit jacket while his eyes examined me in a manner I hadn’t experienced before. His chiseled features and combed back black hair told me this man had money, and I noted the Bentley parked behind him.
He swallowed sharply and took a step towards me, his eyes still examining mine. “I’m assuming by the red cheek and tears you have had a break up with someone.”
I scoffed loudly. “You would be half right, half wrong. But what does it matter anyway? You're just a stranger, and I was just a girl standing in your way.” I took a noticeable side step out of his driveway. “Night,” I muttered, turning my back to him and beginning to walk in the opposite direction of the clubhouse.
I really needed sleep. Not to mention a plan. I groaned internally. I really needed Kim. She knew how to handle these situations so much better than I.
A car pulled up beside me, window winding down. “Do you want a lift?”
“My parents always told me not to get in the car with strangers.” Actually, that was a lie; Dad always said get in then pull the knife and rob them. Being a minor, you don’t get charged as harshly.
Never got to do it, though.
“My name’s Cody Marks, as in Mark Flets. My favorite color is blue, and I have a dog called Cobber.” He gave me a challenging smirk, “Now you know more about me than most of the people I see every day.”
Chewing my bottom lip, I came to a stop and leaned over into the car.
“I’m not a hooker.”
“I wasn’t asking for an hourly rate.”
“I don’t have money to give you for fuel.”
“Did you miss the part where I said I was Cody Marks?”
Of course I knew who Cody Marks was, but I found it hard to believe he was offering me a lift.
“The whole problem with you giving me a lift is I don’t know where I am going.”
He leaned over closer to me “Then it doesn’t really matter where you end up, does it?”
He had a point, and by that challenging, charming grin, he knew he had the upper hand.
“Fine. But if your hand comes over to my side of the car, I’m cutting it off.”
He laughed, popping the locks and letting me in.
I wasn’t sure if I was making a bad decision or not, but when I look back at my track record…
Chapter 41
Abby
Whether it was the heat from the jacuzzi or the expensive cider I was drinking, I was sure that this was what heaven was like.
“Chocolate strawberries be alright?” Cody stepped off the porch. His smirk teased me, “I guess you will just have to suck the chocolate off.”
I ran my tongue across my bottom lip and tilted my head slightly, “Is that so?”
He shrugged his shoulders while he stalked over to me, giving me a very long and nice view of his chiseled muscles.
“Who knew you were so toned under that jumper earlier?” When I first met him, all I took in was his frustrated glare, which was fair enough because I was blocking his driveway.
“Who thought that the girl crying at the end of my driveway blocking me from a boring meeting would be the highlight of my night?” He poured me another cider, and my hand shot out through the bubbles to take it.
“And here I was thinking I was going to spend the night in a gutter drinking some bad-tasting scotch.”
It did turn out Cody Marks wasn’t a serial killer or anything that his reputation was.
Sure, he had the bad boy image down pat. Tattoos, scars, upper body strength and that cocky grin, which just oozed bad boy.
So like the young hormonal, angry teenager I was, things continued to snowball until I was in my underwear in his jacuzzi.
Screw the tattooed, controlling bikers. What was wrong with an old school gangsta?
“You’re thinking too much, darling.” He dropped to his knees in front of me, his eyes locked on mine. “Wanna tell me who made that beautiful cheek of yours bruised?”
It was so twisted I wasn’t even sure if I had deserved it or not. God, I must look like a mess to Cody; one broken wrist and a bruised face.
“Do you know that saying,” I swam to his corner, pulling myself up to the curb. “If you play with fire, you get burnt?”
He scoffed. “Everyone knows that one.”
“Well, what do you do when you are born the flame, and everyone that gets close gets hurt. Or worse, they push me away before they burn.”
“You got a broken heart, sweetie.” He lightly stroked my cheek. “I can hurt them for you. You know who I am, don’t you?”
I knew who he was.
I knew what he was capable of.
He just didn’t realize that the Reaper already had my heart in his clenched fist.
I brought my wet hand through his hair, pulling his head down to me until my lips were inches from his.
“I don’t need protection, and I don’t need a lover.” My words were sweet and seductive, and I could see the sexual pleasure cross his face.
“Then what can I do for you?”
The one thing I had wanted someone to do all day
I reached around my back, unclipping my bra. “Take my mind off everything.”
And when he slipped into the Jacuzzi, I knew there was only one name that was going to be on my mind in a few minutes, and tha
t wasn’t Kade’s.
My legs wrapped around him as we floated in the middle of the Jacuzzi.
“I have one more request,” I whispered in his ear while my fingers ran up his back. “Get me to scream your name, and only yours.”
His eyes had darkened with the challenge before he drove forward, taking my lips.
Chapter 42
Abby
I strongly believe that there is someone up in that darn screen using my life as a source of entertainment. I sank deeper under the bubbles.
Things had been heating up between Cody and I, and then what happened? Only the most unthinkable.
My dad showed up!
Here!
Out of all the fucking places in the world, he turns up here at this time of night!
Cody got out as soon as he noticed who it was, and they had moved around to the back porch. I still wasn’t sure if I should continue to hide in the jacuzzi or if I should make a run for my clothes and hightail it out of here.
I was creeping to the edge when their conversation started to get louder. Shit. They were coming this way. I turned my back and pulled as many bubbles around me as possible.
“I’m telling ya Marks, shit won’t be clear next time.” Dad’s voice was hard and so easy for me to pick out. “I don’t take shit like this.”
“Neither do I, which is why we have the problem with your shipment,” Cody said back with just as much ice in his voice.
My eyes widened. Cody Marks wasn’t scared of Roach. I learned something new every day.
“Your drugs drying up is one thing, but I hear you got problems with your men, Roach. If that shit is impacting our business, you know what needs to be cleaned up.”
So this was how business went down. Talk about ruthless and cold-hearted. I knew Dad dealt with that side of things; it wasn’t all about riding loud bikes. But to hear it so bluntly and loud… it was disturbing.
“You got a pair of ears in that tub, Marks.” Dad’s voice hardened, and I immediately went stiff. He knew I was here, or at least he knew a blonde was in here.