by Levine, Nina
Neither moved for a good few moments, each staring the other one down. Ryland was the first to move, taking a step back. “I’ve warned you. Let the chips fall where they may.” He stalked out of the clubhouse after that, leaving King to track his movements with disgust as he left.
“You think he’s got much on us?” I asked.
“He’s got something. But whether or not he can back it with evidence is another story. I’m not fucking removing our eyes off Gambarro, though, so Bronze better come through with something soon.”
We were dangerously close to the kind of shit we’d managed to avoid for a long time. Bronze had kept us off the cop radar most of the time, and whenever we’d hit it, he’d dragged us off it fast. But this time felt different; this time I was actually concerned about where it would all end up. Where we’d end up.
Chapter 10
Monroe
“So, do we think this is going to become a thing?” Tatum asked as she stirred our Milos and passed me mine.
“God, I hope not. Milo Fridays suck. But I can’t handle another night of too much alcohol this week. I’m barely recovering from Wednesday night.”
“How sick were you yesterday?”
I groaned as I sat on the stool at her kitchen counter. I loved being in her house. Since she’d moved in with Nitro, Tatum had decorated and made it a beautiful home for them. One of the things she’d scattered throughout was plants. The kitchen alone had three in it. Every time I visited, I thought about how much I would love some plants in my home, but I was certain they wouldn’t survive. I had a tendency to kill them.
“I felt ill all day and most of the night. I’m beginning to think I’m getting too old for hangovers.”
“Jesus, Roe, you’re only thirty-one. That’s not old.”
My phone rang, drawing my attention away from how old I really did feel. “Hey, Robyn, what’s up, girl?” It was one of my oldest friends.
“I’m calling to beg you for a favour next week, but I totally understand if you can’t do it, okay?”
I’d do pretty much anything for Robyn if I could swing it. She was the kind of friend every girl should have—loyal, kind and giving—and she’d never once let me down when I needed her. “Sure, what is it?”
“Bree has ice skating on Tuesday night, but I also have to go to John’s parent-teacher interview. And Matty isn’t home until Wednesday. Are you able to take Bree to ice skating?”
Her hubby worked away from home, and she often struggled with being able to do it all on her own. But she wasn’t the kind of woman to ask for help very often, so when she did, I knew she was desperate. And I loved Bree, her fifteen-year-old, so of course I would do this for her. “Just let me know the time, and I’m there.”
The relief was clear in her voice. “Thank you so much, Roe. I owe you huge.”
“You don’t owe me a thing, girlfriend.”
After I ended the call, Tatum asked, “Is she okay?”
I drank some of my Milo and nodded. “Yeah. Matty’s away, so she needs some help juggling the kids. I’m taking Bree ice-skating on Tuesday night. You wanna come?”
“I can’t. Nitro and I are going to check out cakes for the wedding.”
I almost spat out the Milo I’d just drunk. “Nitro’s checking out cakes? How the hell did you convince him to do that?”
She shrugged. “Sex. And well, the man loves cake, and I told him he’d get to sample lots of it.”
“That man loves you. I’d say that has a lot more to do with it than cake.”
She smiled. “And sex. Let’s not forget that.”
She was right. Nitro couldn’t keep his hands off Tatum. “Yeah, but he can get that from you whenever he wants.”
Her smile dimmed. “We’ve been a bit hit and miss lately. He’s been so busy with club stuff, and on edge, too. He comes home tense as hell and exhausted after the long days he’s putting in, and pretty much just falls into bed. I told him enough was enough and that he had to finish work early on Tuesday night to come to this with me.”
“He didn’t argue?”
“Well, that’s where the sex came in. I told him I’d make it worth his while and may have mentioned something about installing a mirror on the roof above our bed. He likes to fuck me in front of the mirror, so I figured we needed one in the bedroom. It arrives on Monday.”
I raised my mug. “Nice work, sister.”
She clinked mugs with me. “I thought so.” After she drank some Milo, she said, “How’s Bree these days?”
Bree had been a handful for the past three years, but was beginning to mature into the kind of daughter any mother would want. “Let’s just say that I think they’ve turned a corner with her. Robyn’s not reporting half as many arguments as she used to.”
“So you and Bree are still getting on okay?”
My face spread out into a smile. Bree was like the daughter I’d never had. I loved Robyn’s son, too, but I’d always wanted a little girl, so I felt a special bond with Bree. “We have our moments, but I never let her walk away angry with me. I always make sure we resolve any issues before they can become a problem.”
“You’ll make a good mum one day, Roe.” Tatum wasn’t really a kid person, but she always supported my dream of having a large family.
“That’s if I ever manage to have one before my eggs shrivel up.”
“Oh God, sometimes you are overly dramatic. You’ve still got years to go before that’s a concern.”
I lifted my brows. “You saw what happened to my friend, Davinda. That shit could happen to me, too.”
Tatum waved her hand in the air dismissively. “That’s not going to happen to you. Davinda will grow old alone because she was too much of a bitch to hold her marriage together. And then when it fell apart, she was too much of a bitch to find another man who would put up with her shit. She’s childless because of her personality. You don’t have that problem. Men fall over themselves to be with you. You’re just too damn fussy.”
“I’m not fussy. I just have extremely high standards.”
It was Tatum’s turn to raise her brows. “Look, I’m all for high standards, but yours are out of this world. I mean, what woman ditches a man because she discovers he doesn’t eat meat?”
“You know why I did that. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life arguing with my husband over what we eat. I like my meat, and I refuse to give it up.”
“Did he ask you to give it up?”
I put my hand on my hip. “No, but he would have.”
She shook her head in frustration. “You don’t know that, Roe. But that’s the thing you always do—you assume to know what will happen down the track and you make rash decisions based on those assumptions. I’m beginning to think you sabotage your relationships before they can even get started.”
“I do not. I—”
I was cut off by Nitro’s booming voice from the front door. “Vegas, you got a minute?”
She moved off her stool, a look of confusion on her face. I was confused also. He’d told her he wouldn’t be home for hours. Leaving me, she headed towards the front of the house.
I listened as he said something to her and then the door closed, leaving the house in silence. Guessing they’d gone outside together, I decided to fill in the time waiting for her by making us some tea. I was rummaging through Tatum’s teas when the front door opened and boots thudded down the hallway towards the kitchen.
Turning when they stopped, I expected to find Nitro, but instead found Hyde standing in the kitchen doorway.
Good God, the man was impressively built. So much so, that I found it hard to keep my eyes on his face. All I wanted to do was let them drop so I could take a good long look at his body. But I managed to stay strong and hold his gaze.
He had the darkest eyes. They matched everything else about him—his dark hair that hung in tangled waves around his face, his dark beard, and his tanned skin. And not to forget, his dark moods. I’d only seen one of them, but
I got the distinct impression they made up his personality. He seemed to be an intense man, that was for sure.
“I need your car keys,” he said after a few moments of silence.
I frowned. “Why?”
“So I can move your car.”
“You don’t think I could do that myself?” My tone got a little snarky even though I tried to keep it in check. I was acting weirdly, which annoyed even me, so who knew how he would take it. There was just something about this man—something that drew me to him when all I wanted to do was run the other way. Snapping at him would hopefully keep him at arm’s length.
His jaw clenched and he took a minute. Finally, he nodded and said, “I do. Could you move it so I can pull Nitro’s ute out of the garage?”
Well shit. I had to give him points for not losing his cool. Grabbing my keys, I made my way out to the driveway. As I brushed past him, I did my best to ignore his masculine scent and the hard muscles I grazed. The muscles that practically pleaded with me to reach out and touch them.
Stay strong, Monroe. You do not need a biker in your life. Not even for sex.
I reversed my car out onto the footpath and then joined Nitro and Tatum in the front yard. They were deep in conversation but glanced at me as I made my way to them.
Nitro raked his fingers through his hair as he lifted his chin at me. “Thanks.”
I took a good look at him. Tatum wasn’t kidding when she said he was exhausted. It was written all over him. “You doing okay, Nitro?”
Hyde interrupted us with an impatient look. “King just texted. He wants us back at the clubhouse.”
Nitro nodded and dropped a quick kiss on Tatum’s lips. “Don’t wait up, I’ll be late.”
She reached for him as he stepped away from her. “Be safe.” She spoke softly, but I heard the concern in her tone. Something was off here because it was unlike Tatum to speak like that to Nitro. She knew he was capable of looking out for himself, and while she always worried, she never felt the need to voice it to him.
He stopped and turned back to her. Taking her face in both his hands, he said, “I’ll call you as soon as I can after this is done.” For a man who wasn’t tender, Nitro had a way with Tatum that was as close to tender as I was sure he’d ever get. It seemed to do the trick. She nodded and motioned for him to go.
A few moments later, Hyde took off in Nitro’s ute while Nitro’s bike roared down the street.
Looking at Tatum, I said, “What’s going on? I’ve not seen you this worried before.”
She took a deep breath, straightening her body and pushing her shoulders back. Anyone would have thought she was the one going into battle. Some days, I figured she probably felt like it. “One of their guys was murdered. They’re looking for payback, and I know it’s not going to be pretty.”
“Shit.” No wonder she was concerned. I wasn’t sure how she managed to cope with this type of stuff. If the man I was dating went to work with the threat of murder over his head, it would be enough to make me spend my days worrying.
She nodded. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. This isn’t going to end well for someone. I just hope that someone isn’t going to be Storm.”
Chapter 11
Hyde
Someone was banging on my front door. Loudly and fucking insistently.
“Jesus,” I muttered to myself as I left my bed, pulled my jeans on and stalked down the hallway towards the door.
What fucking time was it anyway? It couldn’t be later than eight. After only getting to bed at about three this morning, the last thing I wanted to be dealing with was some asshole wanting shit from me.
The bashing on the door quietened before a female voice called out, “Aiden, are you home?”
I slowed.
My heart rate kicked up a notch.
Charlie.
What the fuck was she doing here?
She commenced bashing on the door again. “Fuck, Aiden, open the door.”
I yanked the door open and stared at my daughter. On one hand, I wanted to welcome her with open arms. On the other, the father in me kicked in and I knew I had two things to do here—pull her up on her attitude and call her mother to make sure she knew where her daughter was.
Our eyes met. Hers swirled with emotions I wasn’t sure I was ready for. I’d imagined this moment thousands of times over the years, but I hadn’t nailed it in my mind. Not if the way my daughter glared at me was anything to go by. I’d expected anger, but not this attitude rolling off her.
Crossing my arms, I said, “Does your mother allow you to swear in her house?”
My question caused her to hesitate, but only for a moment. “No, but this isn’t her house, is it?”
“I don’t appreciate it in mine either.”
Her brows lifted before she casually ran her gaze over me, zeroing in on the ink covering my chest and arms. “You look like the kind of man who couldn’t give a shit about swearing.”
“I’m the kind of man who gives a shit about how his daughter grows up, and growing up with a foul mouth isn’t how I imagined that to go. When you’re in my house, you don’t swear.”
She blinked. This time I managed to cause her a few more moments of hesitation. And then she simply shrugged and said, “Fine.” With that, she pushed her way past me and entered my home without another word. I stood in silence and watched with a full chest as the child I loved more than anyone in this world finally merged her world with mine.
Nope, I definitely hadn’t nailed this moment in my imagination. I hadn’t realised the depth of emotion I’d feel. My chest filled to overflowing, and feelings I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced roared through me.
She’s here.
Charlie’s home.
With me.
I closed the front door and followed her into the kitchen where she dumped her backpack on the counter before opening the fridge.
“You got any juice in here?”
I pushed against the refrigerator door and closed it. “No. And how about we start again? Does your mother know you’re here?”
“No. And she doesn’t need to know.”
I reached for my phone. “Yeah, she does.”
When I started hitting numbers on my phone to dial Tenille, she blurted, “We had a huge fight. I just need somewhere to crash for a bit, okay?”
I stopped what I was doing and stared at her. “You plan on staying with me?”
“You’re my father, right?”
Fuck, I was so out of my depth here. I knew how to deal with assholes and motherfuckers, but a teenager? No fucking clue. I placed my phone back down on the kitchen counter. “Yes, I’m your father.”
“Good. So I’m staying.”
“How did you get here if your mother didn’t bring you?” I hoped like fuck she didn’t say she hitchhiked.
“By bus.”
It was clear she didn’t want to discuss that, so I let it go for now. “What did your mother tell you about me?”
“Everything.” She didn’t volunteer any further information until she grew tired of waiting for me to speak again, which I didn’t do because I figured whoever spoke first lost in this situation. And I needed to get the upper hand here if I was going to have any hope of controlling this. “Fine, she told me you didn’t really die in that fire, that you faked your death and left town because of shit that was going down at your work.”
Her tone was indifferent, like she was detached from the whole thing. I wasn’t a man too interested in feelings, but I had to know how she felt about this. “Does that piss you off?” Fuck, this was the strangest fucking conversation. Asking my daughter if me faking my death and walking away from her pissed her off. Based on the way my father abandoning me as a child made me feel, I could only assume Charlie was angry and hurt.
Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Yeah, but I don’t blame you for wanting to get away from Gibson. He’s an asshole.”
That threw me. After Tenille had defended him, I hadn’t ex
pected Charlie to dislike him. But that wasn’t what I needed to focus on. For now, I needed to work on my relationship with my daughter. “Did she tell you anything else?”
She blew out a long breath, looking more pissed off about this conversation than any emotion I detected in her voice. “Look, I’m not into discussing how I feel, okay? It’s not what I do. I just want somewhere to crash until I get over this shit with Mum. You think we could do that?”
I recalled something Tenille had said about teenage girls slapping on a mask to hide their vulnerabilities, so I decided to let both this conversation and her attitude go for the moment. It was going to take us some time to work our way towards each other, and in the meantime, I was just going to have to ease into my role as her father. Unfortunately, patience wasn’t my strong suit, so fuck knew how this would go.
I picked up her bag. “Follow me.” I led her to one of the spare bedrooms. “You can stay here as long as you want, but I’m calling your mother now to let her know where you are.”
“She’s not going to come get me if that’s what you’re hoping for. All she cares about at the moment is getting drunk and avoiding her problems.”
I knew she was close to the mark with the getting drunk bit, but she was way off base if she thought Tenille didn’t care about her. In the small amount of time I’d spent with Tenille, the love she had for Charlie had been evident. However, I figured that getting into a discussion about that now wouldn’t get me anywhere.