Page 54 of Texting the Wrong Bikers

“Because lawyers exist for a reason and calling him would be playing into exactly what he wants from you. This is all just to get a rise from you.”

A pause. Then unexpectedly, Sadie laughs softly.

“What?” I ask, frowning.

She shakes her head slightly. “Nothing.” Another small smile. “It’s just weird.”

“What is?”

“Having someone else care about this stuff.” Sadie stares out toward the yard where Owen now rides on Dash’s shoulders like a tiny screaming king. “With Ethan,” she says quietly, “Everything important always fell on me. He made the money, so he should be able to relax at home, he said.”

Anger flickers instantly beneath my ribs. I can picture it too easily: Sadie managing everything while Ethan stayed emotionally checked out. So many women end up being the ones to handle the daily, mundane yet necessary tasks, paying bills, signing school forms, booking appointments, and basically being an unpaid family secretary.

“You shouldn’t have had to do that alone,” I say quietly.

She looks at me then. Really looks at me, as if she can see into my soul. “Maybe not. But that’s just the way it was with Ethan.”

I look at her, and the words fall from my lips without thinking. “He was an idiot to let you go. If I had a woman like you, I sure as shit wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

Sadie blinks, caught off guard by my outburst. Suddenly, the space between us feels smaller somehow. The warm evening air changes direction, carrying the smell of cut grass and Sadie’s perfume. All of a sudden, I’m acutely aware of her, the bead of sweat on her chest, the way her hair blows in the breeze, caressing her face, the flush of her cheeks. For one dangerous second, I want something I absolutely shouldn’t. I want this. I want the noise, the family feeling, Sadie beside me, looking tired but safe. Domesticity has never interested me before. That was until Sadie walked into this clubhouse with her little boy and somehow made the place feel different. More alive. I’ve been so busy worrying about Kane falling too fast and too hard for Sadie that I didn’t even think about myself.

Chapter 15

Sadie

After another week of nothing, the guys finally relented and agreed to back off a little. While I appreciate their concern, the constant babysitting was starting to feel suffocating. Plus, I need breathing space to get my head straight. I thought that the more I got to know the guys, the quicker my attraction to them would fade. Instead, the opposite is true. The more I get to know each of them, the more I like them.

At first, it was fun. For the first time since all of this started, Dani and I hung out properly and spent hours talking about the guys like teenagers, discussing their favorite boy band and the hottest things about each of them. I’ve still been visiting the clubhouse daily with Owen. There’s been no more letters or anonymous threats.

However, a few days after the guys stopped shadowing me, I started to notice it. A presence, the feeling of being watched. I told myself it was just my imagination, that I was bound to feel a bit paranoid after the note, and now the guys aren’t with me. I told myself that the car I keep seeing—outside my house, outside the gym, outside the grocery store—isn’t following me.

But then I get another note.

I stare at the folded piece of paper in my trembling hand, my stomach twisting violently. The kitchen suddenly feels too quiet. Too still. Outside, evening rain taps softly against the windows while Owen watches cartoons in the living room, completely unaware that my entire body has gone ice cold.

The note is shorter this time. Just four words written in thick black marker:

I SEE YOU NOW.

Fear crawls slowly up my spine. This one feels closer somehow. More personal. My pulse pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears as I look toward the dark kitchen window over the sink. There’s nothing there, just my own pale reflection staring back. Suddenly, every weird feeling from the past week crashes together, and I know I wasn’t just imagining the car outside the grocery store, the sensation of eyes on me at the gym, the prickling awareness every time I walked to my front door alone.

Oh God, I feel sick. My hands shake badly enough that I nearly drop the paper. I glance over at Owen, peacefully sleeping on the couch. I place the note down on the counter, as if by ignoring it, it might disappear, and move to carry Owen upstairs, tucking him into bed. I watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest, heart aching with worry and guilt. The notes aren’t threatening him, but I still wonder if I should call Ethan and ask if Owen can stay with him. But if Ethan is the one behind this, I’d be playing into his hands. After a moment, I reluctantly walk downstairs.

The note lies on the counter where I left it. It’s not going away. This isn’t going away, no matter how much I want it to.

I grab my phone and, for half a second, hesitate, because after feeling smothered by the guys’ protectiveness, calling them now feels dangerously close to admitting they were right. Then thunder rumbles faintly outside, and my fear wins.

“It’s me, can you come over?” I ask sheepishly.

Chief doesn’t ask a single question. “We’ll be right there,” he says before hanging up.

I’m grateful I don’t need to tell them what happened because I’m not sure I could bring myself to say it out loud.

They arrive in less than fifteen minutes—all four of them. The sound of motorcycles carries above the rain outside, as they pull in one after another, engines growling low enough to vibrate through the house.

By the time I open the front door, Trigger is already halfway up the walkway. The second he sees my face, something dark settles over his expression instantly. “What happened?”

I hand him the note silently. Steam practically pours from his ears as he reads. Behind him, Chief takes it next while Dash and Shadow immediately start scanning the street, like predators scenting danger. The atmosphere shifts so fast it steals my breath. Chief’s jaw tightens hard as he reads the words.