Page 30 of Biker's Dark Revenge

Everything that had happened with Kara made so much more sense in the context of what Lee had told me about his daughter – no wonder he was so good with her, and no wonder he got so weird when I pointed it out the first time. I didn’t blame him for having a hard time with it. I couldn’t imagine how much it must have brought up for him, being around Kara, but he had been so sweet with her, and I was grateful for every bit of his help.

When he pulled up on his bike, I noticed at once that his knuckles were coated with blood. My eyes widened, but when I saw the grin on his face, I knew the mission had been successful.

"What happened?" I asked, bolting over to join him, as he scooped me up in his arms and laughed.

"It’s over," he told me. "It’s really over. Lombardi’s..."

He glanced over at Kara.

"He’s gone," he told me. "Done for. All of them are. We got the information about where they’ve been holding the other women, and we’re going to get them all out over the next few days."

"Oh, my God," I gasped, sinking into his arms, and breathing a huge sigh of relief. I couldn’t believe it. After what felt like a lifetime, Lombardi was gone.

And there was still so much work to do when it came to rebuilding – the Kennels weren’t just going to string themselves back together, and I was sure the women who were going to be released would need help getting back on their feet after everything they had been through. But the hard part was over now – Lombardi was dead. I never thought I would feel the urge to celebrate someone’s passing like this, but that bastard deserved everything he got. I didn’t give a fuck. Let him rot – it was what he deserved.

"And...and the other man?" I asked him quietly. "The man who...?"

"Finished," he replied bluntly. No need to say more than that. He finally had the revenge he needed – finally made that asshole pay for what he did to Dina. I knew it was still going to be a long journey for him to fully heal from the loss of his daughter – well, as much as he was ever going to heal, anyway – but at least we were inching closer.

"You must feel..." I murmured, trailing off, as Kara got to her feet to come over to us.

"I do," he replied, but before we could get any further into it, he turned his attention to Kara. "Hey, what are you working on, little lady?"

"Drawing," she replied, a little shyly, gesturing with the pastel-blue chalk back to the work just next to the road.

He crouched down to get a better look at it, and nodded, as though impressed with what he was seeing.

"That’s pretty good, Kara," he remarked, putting an arm around her. She leaned into him, and I paused for a moment, just watching the two of them together.

Now I could look at them without the haze of fear about what might still be coming for us, I could tell what a great father he would be to her. I knew it would be a huge thing to ask, for him to even consider being a dad after what he had been through, but I couldn’t get through this without him. I was sure of it. If I was going to take care of Kara –I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it, not after how she’d come into my life. I wanted; no I needed him to be there to help me through it.

"You hungry?" I asked him, as he straightened up, lifting Kara into his arms. He moved with such ease around her – I doubted he would believe it but he was born to be a dad. Even though it had been ten years since he had allowed himself to be one, it was still somewhere deep down inside of him, somewhere he just couldn’t get rid of – somewhere, I was sure, he didn’t want to get rid of, either.

"Yeah, I am," he remarked, as he carried her back towards the apartment. "How about takeout? On me."

"Only if we can get pizza from this greasy place around the corner," I bargained with him. He laughed, and I collected the chalk off the ground and followed them into the apartment.

"I guess I could go for that," he laughingly agreed. Kara grinned at me over his shoulder – when she was in his arms, she always seemed so comfortable, like it was where she belonged.

"You ever had pizza before, Kara?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Then we’re going to have to introduce you to it," he remarked. "Do you like pineapple on pizza, Liana?"

I made a face.

"Ew, no!" I exclaimed. "What kind of crazy do you have to be to like pineapple on your pizza?”

"My kind of crazy," he laughed, as he opened the door. "You’ll have to be the deciding vote, Kara."

As I pulled the door closed behind us, I couldn’t help but feel a smile spread over my face. Here we were, just the three of us, spending time together, without the pressure of something happening, without worrying about him being pulled away for something dangerous. This wasn’t exactly how I imagined my life would turn out – and, hell, I still needed a whole lot of practice to get it right– but somewhere, deep down inside, I knew that this was what I wanted.

And maybe, more importantly, what I needed.

Chapter Twenty – Lee

"You don’t have to be here for this," I told her, giving her hand a squeeze as we approached the building.

"I know what those girls have been through," she pointed out, keeping her voice as steady as she could. "If anyone gets how scary it is to be thrown back out into the world after being locked away, I do."

---