Page 3 of Changed Biker Daddy

“The young lady wants to return to the compound,” he reminded him, speaking as though I wasn’t standing right next to them. “Granted, Chase may want someone to work at the bookstore, but I know he’ll understand if she would prefer to stay at the compound after such a fright.” Looking back at me, he tilted his head to the side. “Unless you would like to stay here with the rest of us?” As much as I wanted to stay and finish the work that I had promised Sarah and Amanda that I would, I was weak from the exhaustion and the fear that I had felt when the men showed up, so I shook my head in response.

“I want to go back to the compound, please,” I informed them. “I’m scared and want to go back home, please.” An understanding smile spread across Eric’s face, and he nodded as he turned to look at Bradley.

“There you have it,” he replied to an angry looking Bradley, sounding a bit smug as he spoke. “She’s frightened and wants to go now. Chase will understand.” Bradley looked from me to Eric and back before shaking his head, giving up as he sighed.

“Very well,” he reluctantly agreed, sounding disappointed as he spoke. “Just have Chase reach out with further instructions as soon as possible. We still have more patrols to complete.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Bradley

As much as I hated Eric for running off with the woman, I knew better than to argue with him, especially with so many members of my patrol group being those who had been with Nathan before being called to come in and help settle down at the new location. If I tried to start a fight with Eric, the entire crew could turn against me, and I didn’t want to deal with the consequences of fighting with the crew. So, once Eric had taken off to the compound, the tiny woman clinging to him as they rode off, I sat down in one of the many chairs throughout the shop to wait for Chase’s call.

Now that they were gone, I was finally able to sit down and think about everything that happened. More importantly, I could finally think about the woman without worrying about someone like Eric getting in my way. The last thing I wanted was him trying to tell me to stay away from her.

I knew that a lot of women at the compound didn’t like me, but I wasn’t exactly sure why. I usually kept to myself, only interacting with the men at the compound, not the women. The women were always too much trouble, and I preferred not to get distracted by them regardless of everything. However, after seeing the way the woman had smiled at me despite the fact that she was still afraid thanks to what all had happened, I had begun to wonder what it would be like to have a Little just like Chase and the others.

Before I had joined the Barbarians, I had been engaged to a much younger woman, and she was expected to have my baby. However, after she had the baby, I quickly learned and had confirmed through DNA tests that the baby wasn’t mine. At first, I was confused and felt betrayed, but, when her other boyfriend showed up at my door, threatening to beat me because I was stealing her from him, I quickly realized the scam that she had been running.

Of course, the man didn’t survive the fight. In fact, the man ended up paralyzed from the waist down, and I was sentenced to six months for assault, only getting a lighter sentence when I managed to prove that, despite the story my ex told, I had acted out of self defense. The man and my ex both got it much worse, and the child ended up in foster care.

Thankfully, while I was in prison, I had saved Russel from getting jumped in the showers after accidentally setting off the wrong people, and Russel offered me a chance to speak to Chase and join the Barbarians when I got out. After being let off early for good behavior, I made my way to the original compound, looking for Chase, and, after hearing what I had done for Russel while in prison, he agreed to let me join, automatically providing me with shelter and a job once he learned what all had happened.

After my experience with my ex, I always swore that I would never get involved with women again, and I had always been true to my word. Even when Joyce and several women like her were wandering around the compound, offering their services in order to pay off their debts, I stayed as far away from them as possible. The last thing I wanted was to technically pay for anything like that, regardless of how craft they all were.

I supposed that the reason why the other women were afraid of me was because of Joyce. She didn’t like taking no for an answer, and she did everything she could to get with every member at least once. I was no exception, and, when she came for me, she refused to accept no for an answer. So, when she returned to Chase with a sprained wrist, once more, I was in trouble thanks to a woman.

Thankfully, when the accident happened, Adam was in the other room, and he heard the entire exchange then came running in to see what was going on. When confronted by Chase after I informed him of what happened, Adam confirmed that he had heard me telling Joyce to leave me alone and that I had said no, then he informed him that he heard something shatter on the wall. When he came in, Joyce was on the ground, screaming about her wrist, and I was covered in glass.

Not long after that accident, Joyce was kicked from the group, and I was given a warning. If I had to take a guess, Joyce didn’t waste any time blaming the entire thing on me, saying that I tried to force myself on her. However, by the time she was gone, the damage had been done, and none of the women would talk to me anymore. At first, I had absolutely no problem with it, especially if it prevented someone like Joyce from trying again.

I could admit that it got lonely sometimes, but I didn’t mind it. I always focused on my work and found other ways to distract myself. Now that I had met her, I was starting to grow curious again, which most people would have viewed as a good thing, but I was still a bit concerned.

I didn’t know any of the women well enough to develop a crush, but I knew that almost all of them were Littles. I had seen the way they behaved at the compound, especially when they didn’t have to work, and I could honestly say that I did find several of them attractive. However, having seen the way she smiled at me, regardless of her fear and her knowledge of who I was, I already had a feeling that she was different from the rest.

“Hey, Boss,” said Richard as he offered me the phone in his hand. “It’s Chase. He says he wants to talk to you.” Nodding my head, I accepted the phone from him and held it to my ear.

“This is Bradley,” I answered right away, and, from what I could tell about Chase’s voice, he was in a forgiving mood.

“Hey there, Bradley,” he said in a calm and lighthearted voice. “Eric told me you chased off the outsiders. Did you cause any trouble for anyone else?” Rolling my eyes, I shook my head.

“Of course not, Chase,” I reassured him. “We came in, scared off the intruders, and stood by as were our instructions. The only other thing I did was offer the woman a ride back to the compound.” Realizing that he likely believed Eric more than me, I braced myself for the argument that was bound to come. After a moment, I heard Chase sigh.

“Lock up the shop and start back on your patrols,” he commanded, dropping the subject right away. “Make sure no suspicious characters are hanging around, either. I don’t want those outsiders coming back and threatening us again.” A smile spread across my face as I nodded in response.

“You got it, sir,” I replied. With that, I hung up the phone and handed it back to Richard. “Let’s roll out. Make sure no one else is hanging around, either.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Kiera

That night, as dinner finally arrived, I found myself actively avoiding Sarah and Amanda, both of who seemed distracted by little Rachel, who was a bit collicky as she passed from Sarah to Amanda and back. According to Sarah the other day, Rachel was either teething or was coming down with something, and she was nervous about leaving her with anyone else but Adam. That’s why she was missing work so much, but I didn’t mind. It was Amanda I was avoiding.

I knew that what happened that morning wasn’t my fault, but I felt as though I had not only let Sarah down, but Chase and the rest of the group as well. It had been up to me to work all day so that the income would support the group, but I had decided to run and hide after facing that other small color gang today. Anyone else would have been scared out of their minds, and I even knew people who would have milked it for everything they could, but I wasn’t doing either. Instead, I was still debating with myself as to if I had made the right call or not.

“There you are,” Sarah said as she lifted Rachel into the air, trying to distract the grumpy newborn as she looked at me. “When did you get back?” Having been on my way over to the table to help myself to a cookie, which Rebecca had been making as our dessert, I froze, not enjoying the idea of having to face the consequences of having failed her.

“I got back earlier,” I told her, trying to be as vague as possible. “I got that shipment today, but I didn’t have a chance to get much of anything else done.” Much to my surprise, she nodded her head understandingly at me.