by Erin Osborne
Her piercing blue eyes hold me captive for a minute and I can’t speak. “It’s simple what I want with you. I want you to be happy, I want to get to know you, and I want to get Shelby back for you. Riley, I haven’t been interested in anyone since Bailey. I’ve known her forever and tried to make somethin’ work with her even though I knew her heart was lost a long time ago. Grim has owned it since they were little. The first time I met you, I felt alive again. Like you ignited somethin’ in me that’s been layin’ dead for a long time. I told you the other night we’d take this at your pace and in the direction you want to go. But, I’m goin’ to fight for you and I’m goin’ to do everythin’ in my power to make sure that you end up by my side,” I tell her, letting her know now that I fully intend to make sure that Riley becomes my Queen. She will be by my side in every aspect of my life.
“I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t feel something with you. I just don’t know if I can afford to follow through on it. Every man I’ve ever been with has treated me like shit and beat me down. You know the shitshow I went through with Sam and my daughter. I don’t even know if you know all the details from when Rage and I were taken by Sam and his goons. It wasn’t pretty, and I don’t want to go over it again. Gage, you have the power to absolutely break me though. I won’t come back from it if you’re just trying to get a piece of ass before moving on,” she tells me, letting the weight of her words settle in my chest.
“That’s why I’m goin’ to prove to you that I’m in this for the long haul. Startin’ tonight. I will be in this house with you every day and night. Got me?” I ask, even though there’s really nothing she can do about it. “Now, we’re goin’ to lay on this couch and go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day for you and you need to get your rest.”
We get settled on the couch after Riley went and changed into a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. She’s not wearing a bra and my mouth instantly waters with the images that spring to mind. Forcing them away, I focus on not letting her see my reaction to her. I lay down on the couch first and hold my arm out for her to climb in next to me. Riley hesitates only a fraction before she lays her body down next to me and turns to face me. It’s honestly the only way that we’re going to lay here together. Sleep soon claims us, and I find a peace that I haven’t felt in a long time.
I wake up before Riley does and I spend a few minutes just taking her in. She’s laying in my arms, half on my body. Her face is full of worry and concern instead of the peace that should be showing in her sleep. It’s a look that I want to take away from her and never see mark her beautiful face again. Sleep is the one place that she should be able to get away from her fear and nightmares. That shit shouldn’t follow her into sleep.
This shit ends today. Shadow already has a list of things I want him to pick up for the house, including a new bed. That should be his first priority because I’m not spending another night sleeping next to her on this couch. Don’t get me wrong, I like waking up to Riley in my arms. My back can’t stand another night on this couch though. I hope I never end up in the doghouse and get banished to the couch. Not only will I not let that happen, I’d rather sleep on the fucking floor.
“Morning,” Riley says, her soft, sleep filled voice filling my senses and putting me on full alert.
“Mornin’ beautiful,” I tell her, stretching and trying to adjust my body so she doesn’t feel my rapidly growing cock pressing against her.
Riley gets up and heads upstairs to the bathroom after a little fumbling on her part. While she gets ready to head out to work, I message Shadow to let him know that I want a bed delivered today. Before we get back from the salon. He can stop by the salon to pick up a key and head out on his errands of the day. After that, I put on a pot of coffee, the only thing that’s in the house. Riley makes her way down and I hand her a mug of black coffee before heading up to take a quick shower.
“Gage, we have to go,” I hear Riley yell up as I’m getting out of the shower.
“I’ll be right down beautiful,” I answer, hurrying my movements along. “You know we’re takin’ the bike, right?” I ask.
“I figured that,” I hear her reply come back up as I make my way down and back into the living room to grab a shirt.
Looking up, I see her staring at my naked chest. No, I didn’t do this on purpose, but I’ll take the heated look in her eyes and her staring at me as a good sign. This gives me an idea to walk around half-naked on a more regular basis in front of her. Eventually she will know that I’m serious about making her mine. Until then, I’ll make sure to get that look to appear on her face as often as I can. Especially with the pool in the back yard.
As we pull up to the salon, I see Crash is about to lose his shit. Looking toward the building, I see what has his blood boiling with the rage he’s feeling. There are pictures of Darcy plastered to the windows of the salon and the door. I’m not sure what the writing says, but I’m sure that it’s not good when I see Trojan getting out and looking at it too. Before I can move, Darcy is out of the truck and I can’t catch her without dumping my bike and hurting Riley in the process.
We watch as Darcy crumples to the ground while Riley and I make our way over to finish ripping the pictures off the salon windows. This is complete bullshit that someone is attacking her like this. Out of the corner of my eye I see Riley continuously looking back at her friend with tears in her eyes. She truly feels the pain that Darcy is feeling in this moment. My heart breaks for the two women and I know that we’re going to step up as a club to make sure that this shit ends as soon as possible. And that I find Shelby before her first birthday gets here in a few short months.
“Beautiful, why don’t you take Darcy inside and get her mind off of everythin’?” I ask her, noticing that Darcy is starting to calm down a fraction while Crash and Trojan stay by her side.
“Yeah. I’ll have her show me where everything is and what she expects me to do,” she replies, making her way over to the trio while I hop on my bike after talking to Shadow.
I make my way to the clubhouse to take care of some club business. One of the things I’m doing is following up on some feelers I put out about Shelby. Riley had given me all the details of where she was when she went in to labor and what hospital she had her in. One of the clubs that we’re on good terms with knows a nurse at the hospital and she’s been digging into records to find out anything she can about what happened the day Shelby was taken from her mother. Hopefully Crash gets back to me soon about the feelers that he’s put out too.
Just as I go to pick my phone up, Shadow comes bursting through my door. He’s not one that doesn’t knock on a door and comes in without warning, so I know that something is seriously wrong. Shadow is out of breath and holding something in his hand. I give him some time to get himself together before reaching out to take the piece of paper from him. It’s another note to Darcy, and they keep getting worse.
“Where was this?” I ask, letting the unbridled rage flow through my body on the only old lady in our club’s behalf.
“It was delivered to the salon with a package. I don’t know what was in the box, Trojan just told me to bring this to you immediately,” Shadow tells me, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of my desk. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to go with me back to the salon. We’re goin’ to have more men watchin’ the place. Even when it’s closed,” I tell him, leaning forward in my chair and picking up my phone. “Let me make this call and I’ll be right with you.”
Shadow leaves my office, making sure to close the door tight on his way out. I scroll through the numbers in my phone until I find the one I’m looking for. Bringing the phone to my ear after pressing the number, I wait until Savage picks the phone up. Our conversation is short and to the point. I’m going to be making a trip a few hours away and meet with this nurse to see what she could find out. According to Savage, she did manage to find something out. Hopefully it’s the lead I need to get Shelby.
&nb
sp; As I enter the main room, I see that Mike is standing behind the bar. He’s not even working but watching a few of the club girls as they sit and talk at one of the tables. If this is his idea of working and making sure his job is done, I don’t see him lasting very long as a Wild Kings prospect. Mike doesn’t even notice that I’m standing there, but Wayne and Shadow do. Watching him for a couple minutes, I see that he is doing absolutely nothing but standing there.
“Mike, you got a problem?” I call out, finally announcing my presence.
“No, Prez. I don’t have a problem at all,” he says, turning toward me and letting his nerves and fear show on his face.
“Then why the fuck aren’t you doin’ a fuckin’ thing behind the bar? The club girls interest you that much?” I ask, calling him out in front of the few brothers sitting in the room. And the club girls.
“I’m sorry Prez,” he says, picking up a towel and starting to wipe the bar down.
“Not good enough. For the next week, you’re Riley’s bitch. She needs anythin’, you’re gettin’ it for her. And, you’re on bathroom duty for two weeks. Whatever else the brothers, including Shadow and Wayne, want you to do, you’re doin’ it. Got me?” I tell him his punishment, waiting with my arms crossed over my chest to see his reaction.
“I understand Prez,” he says, tilting his head down and away from me.
“Now, you need to get on this list of shoppin’ that Shadow was supposed to do,” I tell him. “Wayne and Shadow are with me, so you better get to movin’. The bed and groceries are your first order of business. After that, finish the rest of the list. And it better be done by the time Riley is done at the salon,” I tell him, motioning for the other two prospects to follow me back to the salon.
On the short ride to Darcy’s, my mind settles on the trip I have to take and Riley. I need to make sure that she’s okay and that nothing touches her. This twatwaffle that’s after Darcy needs to be caught before anyone gets hurt. I’m going to have to tell the guys that we’re having an emergency church right away to figure this shit out. Especially with me leaving for a day or so.
Chapter Three
Riley
GAGE IS THE MOST INFURIATING man that I’ve ever met in my life. The first day I worked at the salon, we came back to my house to find groceries, a brand-new bed, dishes, and a few other things that I needed. Necessities like toilet paper, toiletries, and a stuffed animal for Shelby. While I know that Gage didn’t pick the things out himself, he did have one of the club’s prospects do it for him.
We argued for an hour about this. The whole time we were arguing, he was making dinner like we were having a simple conversation. I honestly think a few times he had to stifle a laugh at some of the things I was saying to him. When I asked him to explain himself, he only said that I would learn that he’s going to take care of me no matter what that entails. Telling him I was going to pay him back every cent he spent on the things now present in my home didn’t go over so hot either. Gage took it as a slap in the face and turned his back on me. I officially got the silent treatment until it was time to go up to bed.
In the weeks since then, Gage has been making sure that I have more clothes. He’s constantly bringing food to me if he doesn’t think I’m eating enough. His reasoning for this is that since meeting me I have lost a ton of weight and I need to put it back on. I understand where he’s coming from with the weight thing. With all the stress and shit, I lost a lot of weight. Following the kidnapping and trying to get ready for the move, I haven’t eaten the way that I’m supposed to. If I’m honest, I forget to eat most days.
Today, I wake up to find Gage not in bed. There’s amazing smells coming up from the kitchen and it’s drawing me out of bed. I quickly go through my morning bathroom routine. As I enter back into the bedroom, he’s standing there with a tray in his hands. Honestly, I’ve never seen a man look as sexy as he does in this moment. Wearing only a pair of jeans that have been left unbuttoned, his hair is still a mess from sleep, and there’s a smile gracing his face.
“I thought you could use breakfast in bed,” he tells me, stepping closer to the bed and setting the tray down on the night stand. “It helps if you’re still in bed.”
I laugh a little at the pout that he manages to pull off while hiding his smirk. “Are you just trying to get me in bed for breakfast or something else?” I ask, walking over to the bed.
“Honestly, I’d keep you in bed all day long. We’re not there yet. Eventually, I’ll want to get you back in bed for other reasons. For now, it’s just for breakfast. You deserve a little pamperin’,” he responds, pulling the blankets back so I can climb back in.
Giving Gage his wish, I climb into bed again and place pillows behind my back so that I can sit up and eat the food he made for me. There’s eggs, toast, orange juice, and coffee on the tray he places over my outstretched legs. Hell, there’s even a flower placed in a cup Gage pulled from somewhere. I know there’s some in the back yard so I’m guessing that’s where he picked it from.
Taking a bite of the eggs, I find myself in heaven. They are light and fluffy, absolute perfection. “Thank you, Gage. These are really good,” I tell him around a mouthful of eggs.
Within minutes I devour the food on my plate while he sits and watches me. The only movement in the room is me eating and Gage sipping his coffee every so often. I don’t even want to pause eating long enough to talk to him right now. There will be time for that once I’m done and getting ready for the day. It’s Sunday so I have the day off. No one scheduled any appointments and I’ve been picking up the slack while Darcy has been dealing with insurance companies and other bullshit since the fucker blew her house up.
“What made you decide to make me breakfast in bed?” I ask him, holding my coffee cup and turning my attention to him.
“I wanted to do somethin’ special for you,” he replies, setting his empty coffee cup on the tray and removing it from beside me on the bed. “We all deserve to be treated special every now and then at least. Now, get in the shower and get ready to go. We’re headin’ out for the day.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
“We’re headin’ out of town for a little bit. There’s a few spots I’d like to show you. Then, maybe we’ll go out to dinner and see more of the town,” he tells me, getting off the bed and heading out of the room to let me get ready in peace.
I’ve noticed that he never stays upstairs when he knows that I’m getting into the shower. Sometimes, I find him outside when I get done. He really must want to be away from me when he knows that I’m getting naked. Or, he’s just trying to be a gentleman and not touch me. Now that’s a word I wouldn’t put in the same sentence as Gage. I’ve never known him to be a gentleman. He’s sweet and kind, always doing things for me. That doesn’t make him a gentleman though. Gage is rough and an alpha with caveman tendencies when he wants something. It’s something that I never thought I’d find sexy, but I’m finding out that when it comes to Gage, I think it’s one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.
Hopping in the shower, I rush getting washed and then dressed. I put on my normal wear of jeans and a long sleeve tee when I know we’re going to be on the bike. Braiding my long hair, I let it hang down my back until I put the helmet on my head. Making my way downstairs, I hear Gage on the phone and my heart rate accelerates with the mention of Shelby’s name. I want to go see what he’s talking about, but I can’t make myself move. I’m rooted to the bottom step as Gage makes his way in the room to see where I’m at.
“You okay?” he asks, coming up and placing his hand on my cheek to bring my eyes to his. “You heard me on the phone?”
“I heard her name and I couldn’t move. I promise you that I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on your conversation,” I tell him, needing him to believe that I wouldn’t betray his trust like that. At the same time, I’m waiting for the blows to land at having been caught on the steps.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he
says, trying to reassure me that its fine. “I’m following up on leads about Shelby. The last trip I told you about was a bust in some ways. While the nurse knows that an elderly lady has Shelby now, that’s not who she left with. I’m not sure how she knows about this other lady, but she said a young junkie is the one that took your daughter. She must have just been the middle man or somethin’. I have markers out trying to find out where this lady is. My only concern is lettin’ you know what’s goin’ on because I don’t want to disappoint you.”
For a minute, I look at Gage with tears in my eyes. No one has ever taken my thoughts and feelings into consideration like he does. He’s going above and beyond to find my daughter and make sure that she comes back to me. I’ve tried on my own, but after I left the hospital, I was lost, and people knew about it. I wouldn’t have given my daughter back to me if I were them. Plus, we never truly understood how far Sam’s reach was. Throwing my arms around him, I hold him tight and let a few stray tears slip from my eyes. Gage is truly winding his way into my heart in a way that I’m not going to be able to get him out. His claws are sinking deep and they’re going to stay in me if I don’t figure out a way to make sure that he doesn’t get any further entwined in my life.
“Thank you!” I tell him, pulling back and looking into his piercing blue eyes. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you’re doing. Even if you never find my daughter, it’s still more than anyone has ever done for me. I couldn’t even find her myself after it happened. You deserve the world and there’s someone out there that’s going to give it to you.”
“You’re right, and she’s standin’ right in front of me,” he responds, wrapping his arms around my waist and keeping me in place.
I immediately interrupt hi m so that he knows that I’ll never be that person for him. “Gage, you have no clue what I’ve done and what I’ve been through. I’m the last person that’s going to be good for you. When I lost Shelby, I turned to drugs and alcohol to forget. I couldn’t save myself, let alone look for my daughter. From the time I woke up until I collapsed in bed, I was high and drunk beyond belief. When it comes down to it, I’m so weak. You need someone strong by your side and that’s not me,” I tell him, letting the shame and guilt show on my face while my shoulders sag in defeat of finally telling someone the truth of what I did when I lost my little girl.