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“I don’t wanna talk about Kiera right now.”
“You know, she had a good life growing up. Her parents gave her a great upbringing, but she chose to club hop. She finds it fun.” Most club girls have shit upbringings, so when Kiera told me her story, it shocked me. Who would choose that life?
“Some people,” I joke, rolling my eyes. “So, what did you cook for me?” I ask, lifting the dome nearest to me. “My favourite.”
“I know,” she almost whispers.
I pick up the steak and tear into it. She smirks. “Perfect,” I say, chewing the now cold but tender meat. “I was pissed when you said this was for Brick.”
“Really?”
I take another bite to stop me from continuing that sentence. “Did you manage to sort Vinn?” She nods. “And then you came back and cooked your old man his dinner. I like that. I could get used to it.”
She laughs. “Don’t bother. Temporary arrangement, remember?”
“I might decide to keep you.” My eyes burn into her for the briefest of minutes before I take her glass of wine and drain it. “You look great, by the way.”
She looks down at her outfit. “Yes, joggers are a good look on me,” she jokes.
“How about, I shower and you get into my shirt, and we pretend that we had a great night eating steak and drinking wine?” I suggest. She smiles, nodding. Sharing her bed the last few nights has been something I’ve looked forward to. It might be dangerous—in fact, I know it is—but I can’t help myself. While she’s my ol’ lady, I’m gonna make the most of it.
* * *
I lie with my arm around her, aware her arse is pressed against my thigh. With one slight shift, she’ll most definitely feel the erection I’m desperately trying to hide, but it feels good to have a woman lying next to me where there’s no pressure or drama. We’re just a couple of good friends enjoying each other’s company.
“You know so much about me,” she whispers, “and I know nothing about you.”
“That’s a lie. You know I had a brother.”
“Was he married? Did he have kids?”
I gently rub my chin against her hair, liking the soft feel of it. “Yeah. Cain had an ol’ lady, Meghan. They have twins, Shelby and Rose.”
“Wow, you have a niece and nephew?”
I nod. “Yep. Aged three.”
“Oh god, that’s so young to have lost their dad. They must be heartbroken. And now, you’re here, so they’ve lost you too. Are you going back to see them?”
A pain twists in my chest. “Probably not.”
Raven sits up slightly and stares at me wide-eyed. “Why not?”
I shrug. “It’s a reminder, seeing me. We looked the same, and I don’t want to hurt them any more than they’re already hurting. They have the club and Ruby.”
“Oh, so Ruby is still at the club without you?”
“Yeah.”
“Usually, when an ol’ lady is caught cheating, they leave, not the biker.”
I twist her hair around my finger. “As I said, it’s complicated. Tell me what happened after you left your uncle’s house. Did you run away?”
Raven nods. “I got pregnant.” She waits, letting that shellshock settle in my brain. “There was no fucking way I was gonna stick around there and bring a child up in their fucked-up world, so I ran away. There was this guy on the estate who had a flat and all the teenagers used to go and hang out there. Looking back, he was clearly some kind of paedophile, but he offered me a bed, and I took it. He paid for me to have a backstreet abortion. It was horrendous. The night I got home, I was in agony, and that piece of shit said I owed him. He raped me.” She sighs heavily. “After that, I just went from one bad guy to the next. I was a mess. Sometimes, I think it’s karma for aborting an innocent child.”
I pull her tight against my chest and kiss her on the head. She’s spent so long being used and abused, she thinks it’s her own damn fault. “That isn’t true, Raven. You did the right thing, and it couldn’t have been easy. Look, I know Vinn has hurt you, but you’ve still got the club. You’ll always have a home here.”
