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I barked out a laugh. “Fucking hell, you’re perfect, woman.”
Instantly she sobered. “No, I’m not. But I’ll try to be the best old lady and mother I can be.”
“Good. I’ll be the best man and father I can be. You understand I’m adopting Cassandra as mine. Right? You don’t know me too well yet, but you should know I don’t half-do anything. You’ll get my property patch, my ink, and my name.”
She gasped. “You’d… you’d marry me?” Her eyes were wide and round, and shock filled her lovely face. “I never thought… that is…”
My eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to me. “Why didn’t Dustin marry you?”
“He never wanted to marry me, Rage. I’m pretty sure the only reason he kept me around was because I was a convenient sex partner. One he didn’t have to worry about satisfying, especially once I had Cassandra. He thought I’d never willingly leave him, and he was right. Unless you’d indicated you wanted me. It makes me sound pathetic, I know. It’s how I was raised, though my parents loved each other very much. They worked through any problems they had, and I expected to do the same.”
“You’re not pathetic, Pepper. My brother is. Pathetic and fuckin’ stupid.” I kissed her once more before pushing off her. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
I went to the bathroom to clean myself and get a wet cloth to wash Pepper. When I found my fucking brother, he was going to pay for everything he’d done to Pepper, from taking her virginity because he could, to not being the man she needed him to be, to taking advantage of her sweet and loyal nature. If he truly intended to harm Pepper or Cassandra, he’d die. And I’d be the one to fucking kill him.
Chapter Five
Pepper
I was anxious to see my baby, but I’d started this. I knew I was going to have to wait to see what the conclusion was. Rage hadn’t indicated there would be a problem, but the fact remained that I’d essentially dropped my baby off at the gates to a biker compound. Great mother material there.
“Don’t you dare drop your head, Pepper.” Rage hissed the command in my ear. I glanced at him to see the displeasure on his face. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, and I won’t have anyone trying to convince you otherwise. Even yourself.”
“What if they won’t let me have Cassandra back?” I had to voice my fear. If I trusted Rage at all, I had to let him know what I was feeling and thinking. It was the only way I knew to build a relationship.
“They will, baby. Wylde will let us know what we’re up against and, we’ll all work together to keep you and Cassie safe.”
I wasn’t so sure this bunch of men would be as forgiving as Rage indicated. They all looked pissed as hell, and I wasn’t altogether sure that anger wasn’t directed at me. When we were settled in a large room in the basement of the clubhouse, a man I assumed was the president whistled for silence.
“Wylde, what’d you find?”
A younger man with shaggy hair that looked like it needed a brush -- badly -- shook his head. His face was pinched, like he wasn’t at all looking forward to imparting his information. “Well, Rage’s brother, Dustin, is into some pretty heavy shit. He embezzles from medium to large companies. Pretty prolific, too. I’ve tracked seven companies looking into record losses over the last three years. I’ve linked him to each of them, but I suspect there’s more.”
“The police got wind of it?” The president -- Sting? -- asked, never taking his eyes from Wylde.
“Not until about four months ago. Took another month for them to get enough evidence in their investigation to make an arrest.” Wylde leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Never did find the money, so they held him without bail. Three months later, his lawyer got a new bail hearing, and someone claiming to be his father made his bail.”
“His father’s dead,” Rage said gruffly.
Wylde nodded his head, grinning. “Yep. So I hacked the bondsman’s security system and got an image of the guy. They keep detailed records of anyone coming into the office for any reason but especially to post a bond.” Wylde turned his laptop around and showed us all a picture of the man who’d posted Dustin’s bail. I gasped, recognizing the man.
“That’s the man who visited Dustin and told him how he wanted him to get the money.” My voice was soft, but it carried in the room. Immediately, I ducked my head, turning into Rage’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK, baby. That’s why he showed us the picture.”
Sting smiled at me. “You’re good, honey. We ain’t got no formal protocol, and you were brought in to give us information. Speak up if you see or hear something you feel needs elaboration.”
