Seeing that woman, she could have been an alien just for the fact that she was obviously there for Rand, and seeing a baby… it was beyond the realm of understanding. Rand can’t be a father, can he? None of the guys said anything at all about a wife or a child.
Before Rand noticed where it was exactly that he was looking, Sean slammed his eyes back to his sides, where his balled-up fists hung. The woman looked too young for Rand. Way too young. Which meant, that if it wasn’t his wife, it was probably his daughter.
Sean gave himself a shake. What do I care? The guy is a dick either way. Even if he does have a really pretty daughter.
“Fuck you, Rand. I guarantee I’ll have this bike in here by tomorrow evening.”
“Great. You do that. I can’t wait to see it. Have a great evening, Sean. Enjoy your bike and whatever pathetic existence you manage to eke out that passes for a life.” Obviously satisfied that he’d had the last word, childish as it was, Rand turned on his heel and strutted back, proud as a fucking peacock, back to the office.
Sean didn’t give the guy, or himself, the satisfaction of looking back that way. He was afraid he’d lock eyes with that woman again, the one who was likely Rand’s far too pretty daughter. He didn’t have any right to look at a woman. He didn’t have any right to be with a single person at all. He’d taken the rights of a normal person and thrown them out the fucking window the day he became one of the Ironstone Bloodsons. Not only was it a stupid fucking name, it was a stupid fucking gang and an even stupider fucking thing to join.
And not even fourteen hundred miles could free him.
Chapter 3
No Room At All
Carrie
“Who was that guy, dad?”
Carrie waited a good half hour, almost right to the end of their drive, to broach the question. She thought she’d let her dad cool down before bringing up the topic, since he was sure to get heated and turn red again.
She didn’t take her eyes from the road. She kept her hands on the wheel. She wished she could remain as steadfast in her own mind. It bugged her, no- it drove her nuts, that she couldn’t erase that guy’s face from her mind. His features were etched there, like she had a photograph of him imprinted on her damn brain.
The whole once bitten twice shy thing apparently didn’t apply to her. Neither did better judgment. Ever since she got pregnant and Cal told her straight up if she kept it, he was going to have nothing to do with it, she’d been saying that she was better off alone. That not only would there be no more children, there’d be no more guys in her life, shitty or otherwise. And here she was, with a three-month-old daughter, already eyeing up some stranger who was clearly an asshole and also one of those bad types. She could tell just by looking at him and it wasn’t the long hair and tattoos that did it. No, guys like that one were trouble. Guys like him had a past. It was written all over his face and in his eyes, even from a distance. Wrong, all wrong. Why can’t I stop thinking about him then?
“Who?”
Her dad turned her way and Carrie had to concentrate real hard to keep the red from creeping across her face. She’d received her dad’s pale coloring, but she also received his ability to go from a pale shade to straight up red in a matter of seconds.
“That guy you were arguing with. The one with the motorcycle.”
“Oh. No one.” Lawrence stated it like it was of no consequence. As if blonde giant god like men dropped into his work with a bike every single day.
“He was trying to work on his bike there. I could tell. Why was he doing that?”
“He works at the garage. He thought he could take advantage of the bay and work on his bike there. He was dead wrong. I set him straight.”
“He works there? I’ve never seen him before.”
“He was hired last month.”
“From where?”
“Detroit.”
“Why? Why move all the way across the country just to get a job as a mechanic? It’s alright, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not like it’s a specialized profession or anything. Not something he couldn’t do anywhere else.”
“I don’t know why he was hired. I’m not in control of that, unfortunately. If I was, maybe there wouldn’t be such a crew of donkeys working for us.”
“Dad.” Carrie finally turned and shot a patient smile her father’s way. “Not everyone is that bad. I mean… I don’t like them. I’ve heard all your stories. But isn’t that just mechanics in general? Or just guys? It’s a blue-collar trade.”
“Hmph.” Her dad made a noise deep in his throat. She turned back to the road so she couldn’t see the expression on his face. It was probably just as well. “White collar people are no better when it comes right down to it. Most of them are snakes. A man in a suit isn’t to be trusted.”
“You wear a suit to work every single day.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because my suits don’t cost hundreds of dollars and aren’t custom made.”
“So really what you’re saying is you don’t trust rich people. The suits have nothing to do with it.”
“I don’t know who I trust. Very few people seem to be worthy of that anymore.”
Tell me about it. I’m as fucking jaded as my dad and I’m only twenty-three. “So the guys at the shop. I know they’re not great. I know they drive you nuts. I know they’re mean and rude and crass, but they do a good job don’t they? That’s why they still work there. If they didn’t, they’d be fired.”
“Some of them have been. Anyway, don’t worry. I don’t care if they like me or not. I’m not there to be their friends. I’m there to make sure the shop gets appointments and completes the work on time. I’m there to ensure that our customers go away happy and the work we do is good work and doesn’t endanger lives. That’s it.”
“You don’t ever wish that you were part of the group.”
She glanced over at her dad in time to see his honest, sarcastic smile. “Not a chance. I have nothing to add. I like to keep my life away from that place. I work there. That’s it.”
“Doesn’t it ever get lonely? Being by yourself?”
“Never. Not now, at any rate. I have you and I have Jennie. You’re all I’ve ever needed.”
Carrie cursed the lingering pregnancy hormones. She had to reach up and swipe away tears. “Oh god, dad. Don’t say things like that. You’ll turn me into a bawl bag and I won’t be able to see the road.”
“It’s true, you know.”
“I know. You’re the best dad in the world. Even if you don’t drive and you like to just sit at home and read books.”
“I also have Prissy.”
“Yes. I know. Prissy too.”
Carrie really did know how much her dad loved his cat. The thing was spoiled beyond belief. It was some kind of Persian mix he’d adopted off a classifieds site before she went to college. He needed a companion when she wasn’t going to be home. She didn’t mind the cat, even if the animal didn’t really like her. Prissy adored her father and since it was his cat, Carrie cut the grouchy feline a break.
“Why did you want to know?”
“What?” Luckily, they came to a red light, a block from the house of course, so Carrie turned to her dad again. “Why did I want to know what?”
“About that guy.”
“Oh. Uh- no reason. I- I just haven’t seen him there before. It seemed weird, this flat deck rolling in and him trying to stuff his bike in there. I figured he had to work there or at least know someone, but I also hadn’t seen him so I was just wondering what was going on. I wanted you to be safe.”
Her dad seemed really touched at her concern for him. She felt instantly guilty at the fact she’d tacked the last part on just to throw him a little off track. She didn’t want him to think she was interested. Because I’m sure as hell not.
“I’m always safe, honey. Don’t worry.”
“He just looked… rough or something. What was with all those tattoos?”<
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“I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t pick them or hire them. I just try and maintain some sense of order.”
“You guys should hire a woman. That would be better.”
Her dad actually laughed. He laughed seldom and it was good to hear the deep throated, full belly sound. “Oh god. If you wanted to see chaos, just add a woman into the mix there.”
“No, poor thing, I would never suggest that. I meant fire everyone else and just have women. They would probably be way better and much more efficient. Probably nicer too.” Maybe they’d have enough class not to call my dad a yes man.
“I don’t doubt it. I don’t doubt it for a second.”
They laughed together and it felt good, two tired people who hardly ever slept because of the newborn who had currently been slumbering for a record two hours in her little bucket seat. The laughter was contagious and once one of them started, neither could stop.
It was good. To just stop and let loose and enjoy life, every single second of it. Carrie wished she could do it more often. She needed to cherish it. Cherish all of it. Her dad, her daughter, ever single waking, screeching, sleepless, dirty diapered minute of it. They meant everything to her.
She resolutely set her attention to pulling into the crumbling concrete driveway and into the garage. She had no room in her life for anything else. No room at all.
Chapter 4
Hope
Sean
Two days. Two whole days. The hours had never ticked by slower. He’d never held out so much hope in his life. Hope that he’d see her again. The sweet, ethereal, beautiful, impossible daughter of their boss.
That’s who she was. He’d asked a couple questions at work and the guys filled him in. It turned out their weasel, balding, sickly looking, yes man, paper pushing, pale, asshole of a bike and tattoo hating boss, had the most beautiful daughter in the entire universe.
Sean spent his time throwing himself into work. He contacted the owner and got the okay to have his bike in the shop. It might not have been the day he promised, but he had the flat deck set to bring the bike back to work at five, the minute he was off. He made sure the guy would show up on time, so that Mr. Yes might have a full-on apoplexy in the parking lot again. He had the owner’s email printed out and folded into the back pocket of his jeans. He was ready to rock.
And despite it all, despite the fact that he knew there was no place in the world for him, no place at all, after the things he’d done. Not only that, he’d left a gang he swore brotherhood to, a gang that didn’t just let its members go. Blaze and Jim and Slim Rick wouldn’t take kindly to his leaving. He knew that, so he’d gone. Gone without a word. Without a trace. He’d taken what money he had and gone with the clothes on his back.
He knew he had to shave off his beard and cut his hair. It was safer that way. It was just hard to see it go. It had been a little over a month and he knew he had to do it. Get out the razor and just get on with it.
He hoped he was well enough hidden in Miami. He had a fake passport, a fake license, a fake name. Fake fucking everything. A hole in the wall apartment and a bike he’d bought with that fake fucking ID and money that he hadn’t truly earned. It was the beginning of a new life. And he would not, under any circumstance, fuck up or endanger another person with his own stupidity.
That included pining away, not sleeping, barely eating, being completely out of focus and having a one-track mind. It included sticking his head out the door every ten seconds and stealing glances from other bays when he made excuses to walk that way to pick up tools that weren’t his. Tools he had tucked away in his own chest.
It included petite brunettes who were so far out of his fucking league it was laughable. It included beautiful, sweet, innocent women with brand new babies who probably had a fucking boyfriend or husband somewhere.
He’d crossed a thousand lines in his life. He would never cross that one. Unfortunately, the guys at the shop only knew the woman’s name. Carrie. They knew nothing else about her. It turned out Mr. Yes was pretty tight lipped when it came to his family. They didn’t even know if they guy had a wife. They didn’t think so, but they didn’t exactly know. No one had ever seen anyone but the daughter come to the shop.
“Hey, yo, Sean… you gunna throw me that wrench over there or do I have to come get it myself?”
Sean snapped out of his damn trance real fast at Jays’ annoyed tone. The guy looked like a brute, but he was actually alright. Most of the guys at the garage looked that way, in one form or other. It was like being a part of another club, another gang, but this one didn’t ruin people’s lives with drugs and steal shit and a general assbackwards menace to society.
“Yeah. Sorry.” He passed over the wrench Jay was pointing at. “What happened to yours?”
“Fuck if I know. One of these assholes probably took it.”
“That would be me.” Rone, Jay’s best friend and brother in law, shouted from across the garage. “I’m not even sorry I took it. I needed it. Someone took mine. Probably you and you probably lost it.”
“Not a chance,” Jay snorted. “I treat my tools like gold. And I never borrow.” He glanced down at the wrench that was not his. “Never.” He turned away chuckling.
Sean went back to work on the back brakes he was installing into a rusty old sedan. The thing had definitely seen better days. As in, brakes were the least of its problems, but he said nothing about that of course.
The fucking gang. God, what a dumb ass he’d been. He had decent parents. Parents who cared about him. Brothers. People at home who meant something. He’d just been stupid. Wanted some cash real fast. Was young and dumb and didn’t listen to anything anyone warned him about. They knew. That was the worst part. Everyone knew, but everyone pretended not to.
They knew something, at any rate. He didn’t talk, but people knew what was up. His parents did and his brothers. They knew he was a part of something he shouldn’t be. He’d moved out at eighteen because he could. Because again, he though he knew everything. He had more than enough money to get his own place. It allowed him to keep people out of his business. He trusted the guys he ran with. Even Slim Rick, that piece of shit. The guy didn’t used to be so bad before he started dabbling in his own product. It was all downhill from there.
He should have been replaced years ago and maybe if he had, they all could have gone their own ways and had some piece. As it was, to get out under his watch, you went out with some fucked up limbs. He wasn’t the kind of guy and they weren’t the kind of people who ever killed anyone. He didn’t even do any of the harming shit when people couldn’t pay for the product. That wasn’t for him. He didn’t have the stomach for it. He moved it otherwise. Figured out how to launder the money. He was the brains for a long time.
All because he had a thick skull and liked bikes. His love for bikes started it all. Maybe that shit, Mr. Yes, was right about not trusting people who owned them. People who owned them and looked like him.
The gang might have been small time on the scale of things, but he knew he was never getting out. It was fine to turn a blind eye to that shit for ten years, before things stated escalating. Slim Rick had lost his mind. They all knew it. He’d gone nuts on the drugs and the drinking. He was out of control. He’d wanted them to do things that all the guys knew weren’t okay. Those who protested suddenly lost fingers. They got bashed in knee caps or a mouth full of broken teeth. Their families got harassed. Their kids got threatened. All sorts of dumb fucking shit that he wasn’t cut out for.
So he’d up and left. He knew they’d leave his family alone. He’d been in it for too long. Not one of those guys would do a thing to them, not even Slim Rick himself. No, they wanted him. They wanted him because he was the one person who could give up their secrets. They knew that if they touched his parents, his brothers, he’d talk. They needed to find him and he had no doubt, they eventually would.
If he stayed.
And he didn’t plan on staying long.
; As soon as his bike was fixed, he’d stay another month and he was done. He’d run until they fucking gave up and stopped looking for him. If it ever happened. Which it might. Slim Rick had to die or be overthrown sometime. He’d lose it for good and someone else would take over and if they did, they’d either up their game or put it to rest. He’d either be a goner, full of broken bones, maybe even a smashed in skull, or they’d stop coming because they knew he’d never rat.
He couldn’t take the change though. No attachments. It was the name of the game. Those guys might not touch his immediate family, but anyone else… they were just a target, a lure, a pawn. They’d be in danger just by talking to him. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He wasn’t taking anyone down with him.
If someone had told him how bad he’d fuck up his life at eighteen, he wouldn’t have believed them. He wouldn’t have listened. But he knew better now.
“Hey… Sean. That lady? Mr. Yes’ daughter… she’s there. Pulling up now.” Jay pointed obnoxiously out the bay. The look on his face was even worse- smug, telling, like he knew what was on Sean’s mind just because he’d asked one question. “You gunna go up and introduce yourself?”
Sean wished he had a wrench to throw in the bastard’s face. He didn’t glance up. Didn’t even act like he heard.
Though, a few minutes later, out of the corner of his eye, he did steal a glance. All he saw was the tail end of a blue station wagon.
Chapter 5
An Anomaly
Carrie
Carrie was half way into the office when her dad startled her. He rushed out past her like he didn’t even see her. The front door into the office slammed shut hard enough to crack the glass. She stood still, gaping, baby carrier in hand with a wide-eyed Jennie staring back at her, as her father rushed over to where a flat deck was once again pulling up.
Hard and Dirty: Bad Boy MC Romance Page 2