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Ryker
Everything about spending time with Harlow and Iris made him want more from them. He wanted them to be a family—a real family, but that was still up in the air. Ryker wanted to demand an answer from Harlow, but he had made her a promise not to push her for an answer, so he’d wait. He wouldn’t be patient about it, but he’d wait because he knew that if he pushed her, she’d push back.
They decided to take advantage of the nicer weather and take Iris for a walk around the block. He loved how normal it felt to go for a walk with Harlow and Iris—almost as if they were the family that he had been waiting for.
He never had any brothers or sisters, since his father left when he was so young. It was always just him and his mother, and when she passed, he felt so alone. It was one of the reasons why he had joined the Smokey Bandits MC. His club made him feel less alone and now, he had brothers who he knew would always have his back. They were his family, but something always felt as if it was missing—or in this case, two someones. Ryker knew how hard family was to come by and he wasn’t going to take even one minute of the time he was lucky to spend with Harlow and Iris, for granted.
“I’ll see if my mom can come over early and we can head over to the bar. I know that you have inventory to do, and I can help,” Harlow offered. He had been spending all of his spare time with her and Iris, leaving him very little time to get things done around the bar. If he didn’t order beer and food soon, they’d have to shut down to restock.
“I’d appreciate that,” he said. “I need to get my order in, or we’ll have to shut our doors for a few days to get everything done.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” Harlow said. “Give me just a minute to run over to her house and I’ll come back home to get ready. Will you take Iris?” she asked.
“Of course,” he agreed. “Iris and I love to hang out, don’t we squirt?” The toddler smiled up at him from her stroller and he chuckled. They walked around the corner and Harlow’s gasp had the hair standing up on his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh God,” she whispered. “That’s Craig’s mother.” Harlow nodded toward her mother’s house, and he saw the woman standing on Gloria Jean’s front porch. She was pointing at Harlow’s mother and shouting something about wanting to see her granddaughter.
“Hang out here,” Ryker ordered. “Don’t let her see you or Iris. And call the cops,” he quickly added.
“Be careful,” Harlow whispered.
“Always,” he promised. He jogged over to Gloria Jean’s house and the woman shouting at her didn’t even notice him—she just kept yelling.
“Everything all right here?” he asked.
Corinne turned and shot him a look that could free even Satan’s balls. “What’s going on here isn’t any of your business,” she spat.
“I think that it might be my business,” Ryker said.
“He’s going to marry Harlow while your miserable excuse for a son rots in prison,” Gloria Jean taunted. Shit, that was the last thing he needed—to antagonize Corinne. She already looked about ready to take Harlow's mom’s head off.
“You bitch,” Corinne shouted. “How dare you talk about Craig that way. Your whore daughter is the reason why he’s in that place. She did that to him and how she got away with it, I’ll never know.”
“I’m guessing that she gave herself that scar on her face too,” Gloria Jean said. Ryker groaned and stepped onto the porch as Corinne crowded into her space.
“How about we just agree to disagree, ladies?” Ryker asked. He turned to Corinne and could tell by the scowl on her face that she didn’t care for his suggestion.
“How about you butt out of our business?” Corinne spat.
“I’ve already told you that I can’t do that,” Ryker insisted. “I’ll give you just this one warning. I’ve already called the cops on my way over here,” he lied. He hoped like hell that his girl called them as he ordered her to. “Leave now and I’m sure that Gloria Jean won’t press charges.”
“I want to see my granddaughter. You can’t keep her from me,” Corinne insisted. Yeah—he was pretty sure that she wasn’t going to leave peacefully, as he requested.
“You will never see her again,” Gloria Jean said. “You’re an awful mother and you were never a grandmother to my granddaughter.”
Ryker didn’t know what was happening before it was too late. Corinne launched herself at Gloria Jean, pushing her into her house and knocking her onto the hardwood floor of the foyer. Gloria Jean’s head hit with a thud and Corinne landed a strong right hook to her jaw before Ryker could separate them. Corinne kicked and punched the air, trying to break free and when the sound of sirens drowned out her screeches, he released her onto the front porch.
Two police officers jumped from their cruiser guns pointed at the three of them as poor Gloria Jean moaned from the floor. “She attacked me.”
“I did not,” Corinne spat.
“You did and I’m a witness,” Ryker said. One of the cops helped Corinne down from the porch and read her rights to her as he cuffed her.
“You’re just going to take their word for it?” Corinne shouted. “They’re both liars. They’re keeping me from my granddaughter.” She protested and shouted at the poor cop until he slammed the back door on her complaints.
“Would you be willing to come down to the precinct to give a statement?” he asked. Harlow pushed the stroller up to where Ryker stood, not even bothering to look back at her ex-mother-in-law.
