Rather Be Wrong: Ronacks Motorcycle Club

by Debra Kayn

  He held his amusement in at her sarcasm. "Sassy, come in."

  Girl's whole body tensed the moment Heather walked into the doorway. He kept his hand on his dog and gazed down Heather's body. She'd taken one of his shirts out of the dresser and wore it over her shorts she'd had on last night.

  Heather only looked at Girl.

  "Sit on the floor and show her that you're not going to hurt her," he said quietly.

  "I can't run if I'm sitting."

  "Girl is more scared than you. Trust me," he said.

  Heather frowned and lowered herself to her ass, crossing her legs. "Have I ever told you that I've never had a pet?"

  "Not even a goldfish?"

  "Nope," she whispered. "Snarling, biting dogs are way out of my comfort level. I'd even go so far after what happened in the middle of the night to say, I don't like dogs."

  He needed to keep her talking. The more Girl got used to her scent, her voice, and her movements, the sooner he could trust the dog with Heather.

  "I think Girl's about six years old. She's no longer a young pup." Rod kept hold of the dog's tense body. "When she showed up about five years ago, I was out installing the fence around the property with Swiss."

  "My dad?"

  "Yeah." He chuckled. "We were drinking and working. It was summertime and hotter than hell, so more beer got opened than holes got dug. The first day, I was the only one of us who saw a black dog off in the trees. When I told your dad, he thought I was drunk."

  "You just said you were drinking."

  "I can still see when I'm drunk." He winked. "It wasn't until the end of the week when we were installing the gate that Swiss caught sight of Girl. She'd been following us around the perimeter of the fence while we worked, staying back and hiding. Your dad thought I should try and catch her, make a pet of her. I made it clear I didn't have the time or any desire to have a dog, but that didn't stop Swiss."

  Heather lifted her gaze from the dog and looked at him. "What did he do?"

  "The son of a bitch came over every day when I was gone and put food out by the gate for the dog. I only found out when I came home early one day, passed Swiss on the road going in the opposite direction, and found Girl standing at the gate eating her fill off a pile of dog food spilled on the ground." Rod loosened his hold on Girl, testing her reaction. When she remained beside him and made no move toward Heather, he continued. "Every day after that it seemed like Girl was showing up more often when I was home, hanging around but still keeping her distance. Then, one afternoon, I found her in the backyard laying in the grass. She'd dug a hole under the fence. I went out that night and bought a bag of dog food and fed her at the back door. It took a year of her coming and going until I got her in the house. She's been here ever since."

  Heather glanced down at Girl and then back up at him. "She was a stray?"

  "Far as I can tell." He laid his hand on Girl's back, giving her the option to move or stay. "I don't think she was treated well before she came here or she was left on her own when she should've had her mom showing her to act like a dog. That could account for her issues."

  Heather's gaze softened, and she looked away again. "She finds it hard to trust."

  "Yeah," he said softly, petting the dog.

  "But, she learned to trust you."

  "Eventually." A lot of patience and a ten-dollar dog food bill a week later and Girl turned into a loyal companion.

  "Do you think she'll ever not be scared of trusting others?"

  Something in the way Heather asked her question had him looking at the woman he was in love with and found her caught in her thoughts, staring at nothing. Inhaling deeply, his chest squeezed against what his head was telling him.

  Heather had stopped talking about Girl and was talking about herself.

  "I think Girl earned the right to be leery. It's her way." He swiped his tongue along his bottom lip. "Nobody should expect her to change, but she needs to know that even with all her issues, she's safe with me. That every day she'll have food, a few words, a friendly pat."

  For several minutes, he petted Girl while Heather continued to sit in the doorway. He avoided everything he needed to talk to her about, and she dwelled on what was happening between them.

  "Rod?" whispered Heather. "She's looking at me."

  He gazed down at Girl. The dog had put her ass on the floor while he'd talked, and remained alert. Girl's posture and body had gone from attack mode to highly interested but leery.

  "You gave her time." Rod removed his hand, letting Girl sit without any command. "She knows you're special to me."

  "What should I do now?"

  He'd put her through enough today. For both of them.

  "I think Girl understands who you are now. She probably won't run up to you with her tail wagging, but she won't be snarling at you anymore if you just move around the house normally. Don't try to pet her yet. Remember, it took me over a year to get her to actually come in the house." He stood. "We'll go to the kitchen, and you can eat. Since this is Girl's room, we'll let her relax here."

  He walked over to Heather and lifted her to her feet. "How's your elbow?"

  "Sore, but okay." She kept hold of his hand. "I took the bandage off when I woke up."

  He peered at it as he walked. "The scab is bigger."

  "At the rate I'm going, it'll be weeks until I get my scar." She lost her smile. "I’m sorry. That's no longer funny."

  He stopped in the kitchen and lifted her up to the counter. "I'll whip us up some eggs. Scrambled, okay?"

  "Sure." She peered around his kitchen. "So, will Girl stay in the bedroom because I'm here?"

  "Probably." He put a skillet on the stove and moved to get the eggs out of the fridge.

  "I feel bad."

  He flicked some butter off the knife into the pan. "Can't be helped."

  "I could go home."

  He glanced at her and cracked eight eggs into the pan. Last night he hadn't had the time to explain why she was here or what his plans were for today. Using the spatula, he mixed some milk into the eggs. Once he finished, he set the spatula on the counter and moved over to stand in front of Heather.

  With her sitting on the counter and him standing, he could look her in the eyes. "You're going to be staying with me until the problem with my brother is taken care of because I'm the only one who can protect you. I've already let your dad know what is going on and the club has men all around town looking for Tim. When I talked to Battery earlier, he mentioned that your job at the bar is secure. Raelyn will be ready to have you back when everything is over, no matter how long it takes. In the meantime, Jana and Bethanee have said they'd take up the slack helping out at the bar. Prez is keeping you on the roster, so you don't have to worry about not having money coming in while you're with me."

  "You've been busy while I was sleeping." She glanced over at the eggs sizzling on the stove. "What am I supposed to do here all day?"

  "We're going to hang out in the house and let your arm heal."

  Heather squinted, reminding him of Swiss and how his decision to bring Heather to his house put more hard feelings between him and Heather's dad. "Why wasn't I the first person you asked about bringing me home with you?"

  He stepped back, more shocked by her question than he wanted to admit. "Everything happened pretty fucking fast. The only thing on my mind was to get you safe."

  She shook her head. "That's not true. It was only yesterday morning when you came to my place with the intent to tell me everything you told me last night and instead, you left me believing you'd walked out of my life. That what we have together, what we've shared with each other, meant nothing. Last night, while I was working, all I could think of was you and why you'd acted so strangely and pushed me away. Maybe if I weren't distracted by all my problems with you, I would've noticed your brother grabbing my arm, and none of this would've happened. You'd still be gone, and I'd be trying to mend my heart today instead of sitting on your kitchen counter."

&
nbsp; "Fuck," he muttered, stepping toward the stove. He turned the eggs. "I never planned to leave you permanently."

  "But, it's true, isn't it?" She hopped down from the counter. "You wouldn't have come back to me if your brother hadn't shown up at the bar and grabbed me."

  "Heather, I—"

  A long beep sounded, making it impossible to talk over the noise. Girl barked, charging through the house. Rod grabbed Heather.

  "What is that noise?" she asked.

  "The alarm for the gate. Someone punched in the wrong code. Go in the bedroom." He ushered her to the hallway. "Shut the door, lock it. There's a pistol in the nightstand that's loaded, and the safety is off. Only open the door to me."

  She grabbed his vest. "Be careful."

  "Go." He reached up and removed a pistol from a high shelf in the hallway. "Now, Heather."

  She hurried away. He waited until the door shut and hustled to the living room. At the window, he looked through the blinds.

  "God damnit," he muttered.

  He shut off the alarm on the control panel by the door, shoved the pistol under his belt and yelled, "Heather. It's safe to come out."

  Girl heard the bedroom door open and ran down the hallway. He took off after the dog, making sure Heather wouldn't come out and meet Girl, startling both of them. The dog slipped into the spare bedroom at the same time Heather stepped out of his bedroom into the hallway.

  "Who is it?" she asked.

  "Your dad." He kissed her forehead. "Do me a favor and see if the eggs are salvageable while I go let Swiss in the gate."

  She pressed her hand to her chest and nodded. "Okay."

  He stalked away, pissed that Swiss's careless act had frightened Heather even more. Outside, the sun hit him. Running on no sleep overnight, he wasn't in the mood to deal with Swiss.

  At the sight of him, Swiss stopped pacing in front of the gate. Rod walked through the grass and his anger eased. It wasn't Swiss who fueled his rage. He was mad at himself for putting Heather through hell to solve his problems.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Inside Rod's house, Heather's dad held her. She hugged her dad's broad body wanting to keep him from punching Rod. The anger emanating off both of them made a tense situation even worse.

  "The alarm wouldn't have gone off if you'd have updated the club when you changed the security code." Her dad's low voice vibrated in his chest.

  "I changed the code on the gate for a reason," said Rod.

  Her dad stepped forward taking Heather with him. "Fuck you, man. The only reason I allowed you to ride off with my daughter was that you said I could contact her."

  She barely recognized Rod's tone of voice. After their talk in the middle of the night, she finally understood that a lot of the animosity between him and her dad had to do with not knowing what was going on regarding Rod's brother. He'd kept the childhood trauma, the lingering harassment even after he cut ties with his family a secret. Her dad had no clue.

  All her dad recognized was his MC brother had taken his daughter and not being able to help his friend pissed him off. Heather rubbed her dad's back to calm him down and turned around to lend her support to Rod, but her dad stopped her with a look.

  "Are you going to hide in your house with my daughter while fuck knows what is going on outside." Her dad's body remained tense. "Brother, this isn't like you and goes against everything the club stands for."

  "Did Battery send you?" Rod moved to the window and glanced outside.

  "No, I came because you have my daughter and I want to know what the fuck is going on," said her dad.

  "Dad, please don't." Heather inhaled a deep breath. "He has personal reasons why he's brought me here. He's been attacked by his brother, and last night his brother grabbed me." A calm came over her. "Rod and I have grown close. You know that. I want to be here."

  Her dad reached out and squeezed her neck. "I understand that. What you two do is your business, but when he puts your safety on the backburner—"

  "Oh, shit. The eggs." She hurried out of the living room and into the kitchen.

  The scrambled eggs resembled a crusted mess. She shut off the burner and removed the skillet. Nothing was going right.

  "You have no room to bitch about how I handle my business when I had to sit back and let you try and deal with Gia and Heather on your own," roared Rod from the other room.

  She groaned, cupping her head, and returned to the living room to try and keep the two men in her life calm. If she could get everyone to step back and think, maybe together they could come up with a better solution than waiting to see if Tim would show up and what would happen if he does.

  Her dad stepped toe to toe with Rod. "Don't tell me she's safe when you're fucking using her as bait."

  Heather stopped at the edge of the room and held her breath. Bait?

  "It's the only way to play Tim's game." The lines on Rod's forehead deepened. "I can end everything now, and keep Heather safe."

  Her dad caught sight of her and stepped away from Rod. She exhaled and approached Rod. "I'm bait?"

  Rod looked away, his jaw ticking. She grabbed his arm, stopping him from retreating. He couldn't push her aside and pretend she wasn't involved. The second he brought her back to the house, she became invested in his problem. His brother grabbed her. She'd nursed Rod back to life after getting stabbed. She had a right to know what was going on.

  "Is my dad right?" She lowered her voice to hide her shock. "Did you bring me here to use as bait to draw your brother to your house?"

  Her position in Rod's life teetered. The only thing keeping her in the room and not running away from his house was knowing her dad was at her back. For once, she needed him, and he was here for her. Having his support gave her more strength than she normally possessed to listen to Rod's reasons for having her here.

  "Yes," said Rod.

  She stared at him in disbelief. The weight of him admitting he'd set her up pushed down on her.

  "Why?" she whispered.

  "Because I know how my brother thinks." Rod reached out and kept her from stepping away. "I ran from you to keep you safe, hoping I could find him before anything else happened and to catch him before he was aware I was after him. But, Tim must've been watching me. When I got the call Tim made it into the bar and grabbed you, I knew he was already too far into his plan to leave you alone. Instead of coming directly to me, he'd terrorize you knowing it would destroy me if anything happened to you."

  She shuddered. "So, you brought me here because you're hoping he'll come after me."

  "Fuck, no." He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "You're here because I'm the only one who won't underestimate him. He'll come here, and I'll kill him."

  She gasped. "No."

  "Yes," said her dad behind her.

  She turned pushing against Rod and faced her dad. "How can you say that? Killing someone...anyone is wrong. We can get him help."

  "Too late," said Rod.

  Her dad shook his head. "You need to let the club take care of Tim."

  "Normally, I would." Rod crossed his arms. "Swiss, you've been by my side, having my back since I patched in at twenty-one years old. You know me. If I thought the club could ride out and stop Tim, that would be my first choice. You're going to have to trust me that it's not that simple. It's not a matter of using Heather to draw in my brother. I am the only one who can keep her safe, and that means she needs to be beside me. Heather is the one person my brother would use as entertainment to torment me. Having her here with me removes her from the situation. He'll have to focus on me. Not Heather. When it comes down to my brother showing up, you're going to have to believe he will only have me in his sight. He's been trying to kill me for too long for him to miss his chance. If Heather isn't with me, he'll draw my pain out, and he'll use her."

  "Jesus Christ," mumbled Heather's dad.

  "Brother." Rod uncrossed his arms and pulled Heather in front of him, her back to his front. "I love Heather.
She knows this and soon, I hope she believes me. I would die before I let something happen to her."

  Cocooned in his arms, Heather melted against him. She heard his words soaking into her head, felt his declaration throbbing deep in her heart, and witnessed Rod's love shining back at her through her father's eyes as her dad accepted Rod's stance and reasoning.

  She couldn't ignore or pretend that there were no real tangible feelings connecting Rod to her or that the thought of being deeply attached and dependent on him didn't scare her to death.

  She only knew she wasn't going anywhere. "Dad, I'm going to stay with him."

  "Heather." Her dad gazed up at the ceiling before blowing out his breath.

  She swallowed, becoming stronger. "Before I came here and met you, I worked in a career that was high risk. I'm not going to be reckless or willingly put myself in danger. But if Rod believes my being here will force his brother to contact him without bringing any harm to me, I want to help him."

  Her dad lowered his gaze, and his eyes softened. "Keep your cell on you at all times. Stay in the house. If you both leave for any reason, I want a call before you step out the door. I'll put riders on you faster than you can hit the gate. I can't...I won't agree to anything else."

  "Agreed," said Rod.

  Her dad never took his eyes off Heather. "All you have to do is make one call, baby. One fucking call, and I'll be here."

  Her throat squeezed, and she nodded, planning on keeping him to that promise.

  Her dad took his skullcap out of his pocket and pulled it onto his head. At the door, he stopped with his back to her. "I'd appreciate a call each morning, and each night, so Gia will be able to deal with you gone."

  She bowed her head, hit square in the chest by her dad throwing his concern onto Gia. "I will," she whispered.

  Her dad walked out the door. Rod let go of her and watched through the window. When her dad's motorcycle roared to life, Rod turned on the security alarm. She made her exit to the kitchen to escape the flood of emotions kicking her ass and the shock of reality making her antsy.

  "Hey," said Rod following her. "Everything will be okay."