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“Leo! Stop!” My heart raced as I dropped the bags and took the stairs two at a time, inserting myself between my son and the open front door. Not wide open, but just enough to cause alarm.
“What’s wrong, Momma?” His blond brows crinkled adorably in confusion.
“Nothing,” I lied easily. “I’m bigger and I should go first in case there’s a huge spider in there.”
“I’m not scared of spiders. You are, Momma.”
He had me there. “Okay, but it could be bears or something,” I answered, and luckily, he didn’t seem to notice how sharp my voice had become.
But he wasn’t buying it, and I didn’t blame him, but I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave Leo alone while I went inside to whatever trouble might be there. Shit, why did I leave?
I was all ready to take Leo back to the car and phone Diesel, when I talked myself out of it. Wasn’t I trying to prove to myself I was independent and didn’t need to be protected? Time to pull on my big girl panties—it was morning, if someone had broken in, they’d be long gone now.
Another thought occurred, who would break into my house? I mean, it was nice, but there were bigger houses on the block with much nicer cars parked out front.
“Momma, you okay?”
Momma was not okay. She was scared and confused. “Stay right here for me, Leo, yeah?”
He nodded.
“Don’t move.”
“Okay, Momma,” he whined like a kid annoyed with his worrying mother, which was fairly accurate.
I pushed the door open slowly and peeked inside. The front hall and the living room were dark, only lit by the slits of sunlight that filtered between the blinds. I flicked on the light and waited a few seconds for someone to make a noise, to run through the back door. Something. Anything.
But nothing happened.
And that’s when I saw it, a flash of red and another flash of orange. They formed words that were always aimed at women. Slut. Whore. Bitch. Biker Cunt. The words were spray painted on the walls and the floor, even on some of the furniture. I looked at it all and my blood ran cold as my legs started to buckle.
I dug my feet into the ground, willing my body to stay upright. This was not the time to fall apart, not the time to let my emotions get the best of me. I slammed my eyes shut and breathed deeply before opening them again. The words were still there, and I stepped back, grabbing Leo’s hand and taking us both back to my car.
The roar of a motorcycle stopped me in my tracks. Gio pulled up to the curb just behind my car, dismounted the bike, and walked forward like he was an expected visitor.
“Gio. What are you doing here?”
He flashed a boyish smile that I was sure drove the younger girls wild. “Diesel asked me to look after you and Leo. Discreetly.”
Heat flared through my veins. Who in the hell did he think he was, putting a tail on me? “That son of a bitch.”
“He was worried, Ellie. And he knew I would make sure you both were safe.”
A part of me wanted to feel grateful, considering what I’d just stepped into… But then, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have had any trouble to begin with. The creepy notes and gifts had been bad enough. Now I was facing down the idea that not only was someone stalking me, I was also caught up in whatever vendetta someone had against the Steel Demons—or was it all linked?
“Safe from what?” I found myself asking angrily, wondering if the MC was in fact what I needed protection from.
He shrugged. “Anything. Everything.” He nodded to the door. “What’s going on?”
“Momma is scared of spiders,” Leo offered with a grin. “And snakes. And frogs.”
Gio smiled down at Leo and rubbed his blond locks. “Yeah? Most girls are,” he offered in a fake stage whisper before he straightened and looked me in the eye. “What type of creature was it?”
“The two-legged kind,” I answered through gritted teeth. “I don’t appreciate you, or anyone, spying on me.”
“Not spying. Protecting. Making sure no boogeyman tries to get to you, or to get to the MC’s president through you. Either of you.”
If possible, I went even colder at his blunt reminder of who Diesel was and what the risks were. Someone could come after me just to screw with him, which was just another reason I couldn’t give him my heart. “Go on, then. Have a look.” I nodded towards the door.
