Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
KODIAK
That’s it. This woman just confessed she loves me. She didn’t love her late husband, but that Silas fucker killed him because or her.
I look over to where Icarus is with Oly.
“You have her?”
“Got her, Prez,” he replies, and I hear Oly ask where I’m taking Momma.
I storm through the house and upstairs to my old bedroom.
My girl is a bit tipsy, and I’m going to use that against her. I don’t care. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to keep her.
I slide her off my shoulder and stand her in front of me.
Turning her around, I untie the halter of her black dress, then unzip the lower zipper.
The dress slips down to her black heels.
She’s standing before me in a pair of black panties and nothing else.
Her sexy full breasts uncontained. I suspected when I saw them jiggling that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
And seeing the proof almost makes me lose control.
I bend her over my bed, where I used to dream about taking a woman just like her. As soon as she’s in position, I curve over her back, unbuckling my trousers with one hand while the other slides up the side of her body.
“Sugar, I’ve been needing you for so long. But I figured you needed the space. Now you’ve sealed your fate. You love me, and I love you,” I tell her before slipping her soaked panties to the side and sliding into her heat.
We both moan, long and loud.
“Fuck, I missed this tight pussy, baby. Don’t keep me out anymore.”
“Don’t stop, Rylan,” she begs as her hands grip the comforter.
I pull out and slam back into her, pushing her forward. I keep a grip on her hip and hold her tight. She’s going to wear my fingerprints, and I couldn’t care less. I pull her up so her back is to my chest and feel my cock hitting her in a different spot. I twist a nipple between my fingers.
“You going to take this body away from me again? You going to push me away.”
She turns away from me, and I stop thrusting and turn her back to look at me.
“Tell me,” I demand.
The pain in my chest is almost too much. She loves me, but she won’t take a chance on me.
“Rylan, I can’t lose you. It would destroy me if something happened to you.”
I pull out and push her down onto the bed. She rolls over as I lie down over her body, holding her in place.
“Why?”
I want to slip back into her body, but we need to get this out now, or we never will.
“My father sold my child. You can’t love me, because I allowed that to happen.”
I rear back, but not in anger toward her. I hold her head so she’s looking at me as I give her the truth.
“Did you ask him to sell her? Did you in any way facilitate it?”
“No. Not at all. Why do you think I ran?”
“Then you have nothing to worry about. I’ll kill him for it, but tell me about Silas. Why would he kill me for loving you?”
“He had some creepy obsession with my mother and now me. I look a lot like her, but I never wanted anything with him. I don’t think she did either. Maybe that’s why she committed suicide.”
“Are you sure she did? What if your father or Silas killed her? You said after she died, Silas became darker.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. But if I look into it, they will be alerted to where I am. Holden told me that not only had my father sold me, but he had sold Oly as well. It’s why I have to keep you safe. If they find us, they’ll take her away from me.”
“He sold you? Fuck, baby. Let me and my men protect you. We already want to and do.”
“I can’t. I’m scared.”
A pounding sounds at the door, and she cringes back.
“Prez, your sister is looking for you.”
“Fuck. Just a moment.” I rise from the bed, and she sits up. “We aren’t done. You’re going home with me tonight. We will discuss this.”
She slips her dress back on, covering her sexy body. When she looks at me, her beautiful amber eyes are shielded, keeping me from really looking into her soul like I did before. I should tell my sister to forget it, but it’s her day, and Shock would kick my ass.
“Come on.”
I’m all buckled up and my tux is straightened as I open the door.
“Stay with her,” I tell Icarus.
He nods as he holds Oly. I kiss her cheek, then we head downstairs and back out into the yard, where the party is in full swing beneath the canopy of heated tents.
My sister is standing there, and she takes my hand to lead me to the dance floor. People start to gather, and I spot Icarus standing there with Marnie next to him. She’s holding Oly, and I settle for a moment.
The song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” starts, and I shake my head.
It’s the exact version she and I loved when she was growing up.
We dance as people around us laugh, and I look up to see a slideshow of pictures flashing across the top of the tent.
I smile at the memories of us hunting and fishing with our parents.
Then I stop. The next image is from her birthday before Mom died. It’s the picture Shock carries in his wallet. The image that was stuck in my mind for so long. The last time we were all together before everything changed.
I turn back to see Icarus standing alone. I hug my sister, then rush over to him.
“Where is she?”
“She said Oly had to use the restroom.”
I head for the house and search everywhere, already knowing she’s not here. I’m going to spank her ass for this.
“Her SUV is gone,” the prospect, Juneau, says.
“Why the fuck aren’t you with her?” I demand as my fist flies at him. His body falls against the wall behind him, and I roar.
“Oh shit, who set him off?” Gunny walks into the room.
“Fuck you.” I run out the front door, something in my gut telling me I need to get to her.
Marnie
Ihated lying to Icarus, but I had to get away. I can’t believe I confessed to Rylan that I love him. My heart thumps harder as I think about the fact he told me he loves me too. But I can’t live this life.
I tuck Oly into her bed and kiss her softly on the forehead. She sighs and rolls to her side, cuddling against the bear Rylan got her. She loves that man too.
He doesn’t know that I’ve already arranged for him to have custody of her if something happens to me or if I have to run. I won’t lead Silas or my father to her. She won’t be safe until both of them are dead.
Part of me wants to take Rylan up on his offer to protect us, but I can’t lose him.
Silas killed Jean-Louis while I watched.
Shot him in the chest and let him bleed out, even though I tried to stop the bleeding.
I tried to call for help. That’s how I got the scar on the side of my head. Silas pistol whipped me.
When I step out of Oly’s room, the hall light flashes over my arm, catching the scars beneath the tattoos. Rylan has felt them before but never asked. I told him and his men that I had them, along with the scars where I tried to end my life.
Now here I am, worried that my life is heading toward a climax that won’t be sexy, and definitely not one Rylan gives me.
I pull the tie from my hair, letting the thick strands fall down my back.
As I unzip my dress and unfasten the tie at the back of my neck, it reminds me of Rylan stripping me in that room and starting to take me.
I wish we could have finished it, but if we had, I wouldn’t be here. I would have gone home with him.
My gaze drifts to the nightstand, where the book Oath Keepers MC by Sapphire Knight sits. Harley loaned it to me. She picked it up last spring at a book signing in Texas, before she moved here.
I glance down at the cover, then lift my head and look through my bedroom door toward the living room. Something doesn’t feel right.
I’m sure I left that book on the coffee table this morning before heading out to Sutton. I don’t remember bringing it back into my room.
I shrug it off, thinking it’s just one of those things I’ve been noticing lately.
Things being moved around my apartment. Windows being left open.
A toy of Oly’s broken. Some of my clothes missing.
It’s becoming real scary. It’s another reason I must stay away from Rylan.
I did find a new apartment, but it’s further away from the shop, and I’m not sure if I want to move yet.
I walk into the bathroom and change into a pair of pajamas and get ready for bed. As I’m removing my makeup, I hear a thud and think it’s Oly. I open the door and listen again. When I don’t hear anything else, I quickly finish up in order to check on her and then climb into bed.
The shop is closed tomorrow, but I want to go in and get some things arranged. I’m going to have to decide what to do with my business when I leave. Should I leave it to Harley and Quinn? They don’t know enough about baking, but they are good at what they do know.
Just thinking about closing it down makes my stomach curdle. My dream is being destroyed by my father and Silas again.
I head into the living room in my gray lounge set. The pants are wide-legged and heavier sleepwear for the chilly apartment at night. The top is a cropped shirt with long sleeves.
There’s one more nightly task I need to complete before bed. My laptop sits on the table. I open it and notice it’s on, but the lock screen is up. That doesn’t make sense. I always shut it down. It’s a habit I learned at Sparrow House, and Pen, my hacker friend, drilled it into me.
I log in as a chill races down my spine. I glance around the apartment, feeling like someone is watching me. But it’s just Oly and me. She’s asleep, so it isn’t her.
I open the private VPN Pen set up for me, then log into the secure server. I click on my secure email like I do every night. As I move the cursor over a new message, a noise comes from the hall. I jump up and spin around.
Standing in my hallway, staring at me, is Jim. His greasy hair is messed up and wild. He smiles a sinister grin as he reaches down to the front of his loose sweatpants and grabs his junk.
“Wish I’d set up a camera in your bathroom to watch you change.” He slurs his words and advances on me.
I don’t think. I just react.
“How did you get in here?” I scream and think of nothing else but protecting my daughter.
He reaches for me and grabs me by the wrist. I struggle for only a moment, then remember what Harley taught me.
I smash my other fist down on his elbow.
He groans and starts to fall to the side, pulling me with him.
I punch him in the side of the head before scoring a goal kicking him in the nuts.
He cries out as he falls backward onto the floor, releasing me in the process.
I rush from the hall and back to my laptop. I slam the lid closed, knowing it will log me out, and grab my cell phone. Jim is still on the floor, rolling and moaning in pain.
I race to Oly’s room and slam the door. Strength I didn’t know I had surges through me as I drag the dresser away from the wall and shove it in front of the door. Oly is sitting up in bed, crying. I scoop her into my arms and dial the only number that matters.