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Maybe she’s right? I don’t even know. I hate feeling manipulated. Everything started with that stupid tape. I need to track down a working VHS player and see if there’s anything on it. I stick my head out the door and look back and forth, but before I can cross the road, Alpha darts across and meets me right on the sidewalk outside.
“Hey,” I say awkwardly, trying desperately not to think about the way his dream cock felt sliding into me.
“You okay? You sound funny this morning.”
“What? Yeah! Fine. Fine…” I cough and shove the paper cup between us. “I figured maybe you would like this.”
“Thanks,” he says with a tight nod, accepting the coffee.
“I didn’t know how you take your coffee, so I just put in a little milk and sugar. Was that all right? You probably like it black. I’ll go make a new one—” I reach to take it back, but he puts a hand on my arm.
“Relax, it’s fine. I’m not fussy.”
“I wanted to say…”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks, for yesterday, I mean. I don’t really know what’s going on, but you put yourself between me and the shooter, so…”
He licks his lips and runs a finger through his dark, cropped hair. Icy gray eyes evaluate me closely. “Prez woulda fucked me up if anything happened to you.”
Right. It’s all about the club. I step back and nod. “Still, thanks. Hopefully you won’t have to stick around long.” I don’t know what he reads in my body language, but he reaches out and runs a hand down my arm.
“It’s no hardship, honey.”
8
FAITH
I twirlthe VHS tape in my hands, looking at it like it can answer all my questions. It remains silent for now, but Nicky’s borrowing an old TV/VHS player from her parents and we’re going to set it up tomorrow to find out the truth. Will it even play? I close up the panel in my closet ceiling that opens into the loft space where I hid the box, then shove it towards my bed with my foot. I have to admit, I take a little pleasure in the fact that the guys couldn’t find it.
I should go to sleep. It’s past midnight, and I’m opening the store at eight tomorrow, but my mind refuses to stop whirring. Sitting in bed, with Ollie snuggled up against my hip and the gun on my nightstand, I dump out the contents.
Who put this stupid box on my doorstep?
Dad wants the tape badly enough to send his men to break into my house and steal it. He obviously doesn’t want me to even know about it, or he would’ve just asked. There’s got to be something really incriminating here, but it’s ancient. What has he done? What could be so bad that it hasn’t come out yet?
Part of me doesn’t even want to know. Most of me, really.
I’m no stranger to the dark side of biker life. When Mom finally decided she’d had enough, I was eleven. I still remember her rushing me into a cab in the middle of the night and driving away, leaving Dad behind. At the time I thought it was exciting. Like a movie. It took a while before I understood that it was for good.
It took even longer before I realized it was for the best.
With a heavy heart, I pick up the old jacket and sniff, expecting to get a whiff of the cologne I remember him wearing, but it’s just dusty leather. If someone had asked me to draw out all the different patches from memory, I would’ve blanked, but sitting here with it in my hands, I remember each and every one.
My feelings are all mixed up, because I loved my father with all of my tiny heart, but he was an officer in the club that nearly killed us. I never thought of him as one of the bad ones. Gruff, able to hold his own in a fight, sure, but not bad. All us kids knew who to stay away from when the club was open to family, and even if we didn’t, I remember Mom and the other old ladies always keeping one eye open.
It wasn’t scary. It was just life.
Most of the guys ignored us, some of them were fun uncles, and others lived up to the Viper name, ready to strike with little warning.
I should’ve given them the tape right away. Gotten it out of here and moved on with my life. Better yet, I should’ve recognized that the box didn’t have a normal delivery label on it and been more cautious, but my life has been so normal for so long.
There’s something stuck in the inside pocket of the jacket. Curious, I stick my fingers in there and pull it out. It’s a tiny pink vest.
My heart lurches in my chest. I snatch Ollie off the bed and put his legs through the arm holes. Oh my God. I forgot this even existed. This was why Dad bought him for me in the first place. I haven’t seen it since we left. How long did Dad carry this around with him?
Something slams downstairs.
