Chapter Six
Sophia
“Dad!”
The sight of my dad lying motionless on my hallway floor sent a punch straight to my gut. He was annoying, grumpy, hard-headed, and stubborn, but he was my dad, and I loved him.
When Thor had shown me the picture of the guy breaking into my house, I’d realized things could go real bad real fast. It was my dad, and he had the code but probably forgot it.
He was never really good with that kind of thing.
He didn’t know what was going on, and none of the Riptide guys would recognize him so they’d assumed he was one of the bad guys.
I had Thor text both Deuce and Tiny, but neither of them answered. Thor was adamant that we not go back to the house until Deuce okayed it.
I don’t take orders well.
Janet and I had smiled nicely and told him to go to hell. We tossed some bills on the table for our lunch and headed back to the house. Thor trailed behind on his bike. I didn’t think anyone would die in the time it took us to get there.
I knelt down beside Dad and slipped a hand under his head. He made a grunting noise, and his eyelids fluttered. He was alive!
Janet put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’ll get some ice. He’s got a nasty bump on the side of his head.”
“Thanks, sweetie.” Dad gave her an innocent smile.
I rolled my eyes. Faking it, at least somewhat. He was hurt, but not as badly as I thought.
“I’m going back on perimeter guard.” Thor beat a hasty retreat out the front door as Deuce came out of the kitchen, followed by Rattler.
I jumped to my feet and stomped over to him, hands on my hips. “That’s my dad! What did you do to him?”
Deuce caught me by the shoulders, holding me at arm’s length. “I didn’t know it was your dad, and he jumped me from behind the door when I got here. I just defended myself. What the hell is he doing here, anyway? I thought you said you weren’t going to involve him.”
“Involve me in what?” Dad sat up, one hand going to the lump on the side of his head.
Deuce let go of me and I dropped to my knees beside my dad. “Are you okay?”
He grunted. “Takes more than an uppity biker or two to kill me.”
Yup. That was my dad. Grumpy to the core. Janet returned with a bag of frozen peas and handed them to him.
I winced as he placed them against the lump on his head. “What happened?”
“He took out Tiny and jumped me with a baseball bat.” Deuce sounded grudgingly impressed.
I glared at him. “I asked Dad, not you.”
“What he said.” Dad jerked his chin at Deuce. “I would have took him out too, but that other guy come in. Two young fellas against one old guy. Not fair odds.”
Amazing how he could play the age card when it suited him. He couldn’t be that badly hurt. “I wasn’t expecting you, and they were just trying to protect me. They didn’t know who you were.”
Dad gave me a shrewd look. “And why do you need a bunch of bikers to protect you?”
Damn . I looked up at Deuce.
He raised his brows but kept silent.
Rattler stirred. “I’ll put on a pot of coffee. It’s a long story.”
“I’ll help you.” Janet winked at me as she skirted the two men and followed Rattler into the kitchen.
Dad looked up at Deuce. “You plan to stand there all day?”
“Don’t have anything else to do at the moment.”
“Lazy bugger.” He turned his attention back to me. “So what am I not getting involved in?”
I sighed. “You know those dating apps you thought were a bad idea?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah?”
“Well,” I said. “Turns out you were right.”
“Coffee’s ready!” Janet’s voice sounded from the kitchen.
I stood, holding a hand out to help my dad get up. “We might as well go sit in the kitchen while I explain.”
Beast was busy stuffing loops of rope into the garbage can, and a sheepish looking Tiny was standing by the stove rubbing the angry red welts on his wrists.
I didn’t ask, but I noticed the smirk on my dad’s face when Tiny glared at him. Someone could fill me in on that later.
When we were all seated, coffee in hand, I took a deep breath and explained the whole situation to my dad. I left out the part where I suspected Deuce or Rattler had shot one of the guys. As I recounted the prior day’s events, I realized the story sounded bad enough without adding dead bodies.
“So, Deuce offered the services of Riptide to watch over me until it’s safe,” I concluded.
“Why leave me out of it?” Dad sounded hurt.
“These guys are pros, Dad. I’ve only got one of you, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll stay until they find the guys who hurt you and deal with them. I was in the SEALs for over a decade. I’m not exactly helpless.” Dad slapped one palm down on the table for emphasis.
Janet choked on a mouthful of coffee. “Well, that could be awkward.”
I glared at her.
Dad looked from one biker to another, his attention lingering on Deuce. “Why? Which one you sleeping with?”
“I’m not sure there was much sleeping involved.” Rattler snickered.
“Careful, son.” Dad glared at the biker. “That’s my little girl you’re talking about.”
Deuce cleared his throat.
Afraid he was about to confess; I held up a hand. “I’m not a little girl anymore, Dad, and my sex life is none of your business.”
He reached across the table and took my hand in his big callused one. “You’ll always be my little girl.”
I tried to hide the wince as he gave my hand a gentle shake, causing the road rash to bump onto the table.
“You’re hurt.”
I nodded. “Just a little. Road rash. From jumping out of the van.”
He pursed his lips and turned to the group of bikers. “I’d like a few moments with the assholes when you catch up with them.”
“No.” It was my turn to glare. “You are not going to land yourself back in jail on my account.”
“ Back in jail?” Rattler spoke up.
“It was nothing. Bar brawl that got out of hand. Some idiot college kid got his face messed up. His rich-assed parents pressed charges, and they gave me a couple of days in the clink to keep everyone happy. Just because I served in the SEALs, they thought I had an unfair advantage.”
“It left you with a criminal record,” I pointed out.
He shrugged, the ghost of a smile on his face. “Keeps the nosy neighbors out of my hair.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to make my point. “I don’t need you here. Deuce and his buddies will make sure nothing happens to me.”
Dad turned to give Deuce a careful once-over. “So you’re the one she’s got the hots for. Be careful. If you hurt her in any way, you’ll have to deal with me.” He grinned. “Next time you won’t be so lucky.”
I heaved a big sigh. “And now you all know why I wanted to keep my dad out of it. Speaking of which,” -- I tried to sound firm -- - “I do not want you staying in my house while this is going on.”
“No problem.” He sounded much too calm.
“So you’ll go back to the homestead?”
He shook his head. “Camper is on the back of the truck. I’ll just park in front of the house.”
“Not to interfere in a family matter, but that’s a bad idea.” Rattler put his coffee mug down. “The perps will see you out there, and they could target you. If they take you while you sleep, they’d have a hostage to use against your daughter here. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
Dad shrugged. “Huh. Biker with brains. Guess I’ll be staying in the house then. Spare room still made up?”
“No. You are not staying here.” I looked to Deuce for help. “There’s a campground just outside town. You could stay there.”
Deuce looked thoughtful. “You’re an ex-SEAL?”
Dad nodded. “I am, and proud of it. Why?”
“Thank you for your service. Give me a minute to check on something.” He pulled out his phone and strode out of the room.
I frowned. “What was that about?”
“I think I know, but let’s wait until he comes back.” Rattler stared at the empty doorway, a thoughtful look on his face.
Janet bounced out of her seat. “Well, this was fun, but I need to go home and get ready for work. Got bills to pay and all that.”
I stood up and went to give her a big hug. “Thanks for coming over. I’ll let you know how things turn out.”
She leaned forward and stage-whispered in my ear. “I’ll be back tomorrow. You don’t get to keep all these gorgeous hunks to yourself!”
Thor let out a muffled snort, his eyes dancing with laughter.
Janet grinned and blew him a kiss. “Later, gentlemen.” She sashayed her way out the door, with Thor trailing close behind.
Rattler shrugged. “He’ll make sure she makes it to her car safely.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right. That’s what’s going on.” I got up and went to refill my coffee cup, only to find the pot empty. If these guys planned to stick around, I was going to need a bigger coffee machine. I busied myself putting on another pot.
Deuce came back in. “You can stay at the clubhouse. Ace okayed it, pending Shadow doing a background check on you.”
Dad frowned. “Why would I want to bunk down with a bunch of bikers?”
“We’re all ex-SEALs. Seems like you’d fit right in.”
Dad looked intrigued. I opened my mouth to object, but realized he was probably just as safe there as hiding up on his acreage waiting for the end of the world. At least he’d be out of immediate danger. Might even do him some good to be surrounded by guys who understood him.
“Can I bring my dog?”
I stared at him. “You brought Willow with you?”
“Didn’t know how long I’d be gone. I couldn’t very well leave her to fend for herself.”
“I’m not sure.” Deuce frowned. “Never had a dog at the club before. Have to check if everyone’s okay with it.”
“She can stay with me.” I realized I hadn’t seen his truck when I got home. “Where did you park?”
“Around the corner at that playground. Wasn’t sure your neighbors would appreciate my old bush buggy in their neighborhood.”
That explained why Tiny hadn’t seen him coming. “Go get it. After all the bikes in the past day or two, your truck might look like an improvement.”
Dad lumbered to his feet, dropping a paternal pat on my head before heading out.
“So, Willow?” Deuce strode over to the coffee maker to help himself to a fresh cup. “Doberman? Shepherd? Pitbull?”