Page 42 of Bishop

Matty gave me a knowing look. “That’s an easy one. Like most men who have eyes in their head, Becker thinks you’re hot. He figured he could make up for assaulting you at Cantiville with a handful of droopy flowers and old khakis. He’s an asshole and a predator, Evie. The men in Cantiville didn’t respect him for the same reason. I’m only glad you weren’t alone tonight when he showed up. Now he knows I’m in the picture, he’ll leave you alone. If he doesn’t, he’ll wish he had.”

I thought that through. Though I was caught off guard by John showing up tonight, I was grateful that Matty had been here. I remembered the way the guard had tried to make a move on me in the prison when we’d been surrounded by others. What would he have felt comfortable doing if we’d been alone? I wasn’t eager to find out the answer to that question any time soon.

Since Matty had been honest with me, I decided to do the same with him. “I’m not sure what this says about me, but I’m glad you were here tonight, too. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d been the one to open that door and saw Becker standing there.”

Matty put his finger under my chin and lifted it. “You won’t ever have to find out, Babe. Becker got the message tonight. You’re off limits. He might be a dumb fuck, but he doesn’t have a death wish.”

I nodded, satisfied with that particular question answered. “You said something about him making friends with Nazis. Is that true?”

Matty’s eyes flared with an unspoken memory from his time at Cantiville, but he quickly suppressed the emotion before I could decipher it. “There are two types of COs in prison, Evie,” he explained. “One minds his own business, keeps his word, and is generally an all-around good dude. The other is like John Becker. A cheat, underhanded, and spiteful.”

I watched my handsome biker unconsciously brush his left eye where the shadow of a bruise still lingered. I gasped when I put two and two together. “John is the one that beat you in prison!”

Matty barked a laugh. “Nah, babe. He isn’t tough enough for that.”

“The Nazis then,” I reasoned, knowing now that my instincts had been right all along. John couldn’t be trusted. He was a predator of the worst kind. Preying on those in his care.

“Yeah,” Matty spoke blandly. “But, as you can see, I’m fine.”

“Why would he do something like that? It seems such a foolish risk to take?” Matty didn’t speak a word, but his steady gaze said it all. My hands flew to my mouth. “Because you stood up to him after he attacked me outside of our class!”

“Babe,” Matty soothed, “Becker hated me from day one. He would have found any reason to set those Nazis bastards on my ass. This isn’t your fault.”

But I knew it was. Becker might have hated Matty, but I’d been the reason he’d hurt him. Tears filled my eyes as I stroked his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

Tangling his hands in my hair, Matty pulled my face toward his and sealed our mouths together. The kiss began slow and soft at first but soon blossomed into something more.

After a few seconds, he reluctantly pulled away. “If we start that, Babe, I won’t be able to stop.” He shifted the evidence of his words to the side in his jeans. “And then I won’t be able to answer your questions.”

I blushed, feeling the same way. “I’m sorry.”

“Christ!” Matty moaned. “Don’t apologize. It turns me the fuck on how quickly you get wet for me.”

I could feel my face scorching then. I cleared my throat and launched into my next question to avoid my embarrassment. “I’ve never asked, as I wasn’t sure it was any of my business,” I prefaced, “but why were you in Cantiville?”

“I’m not going to lie, Evie. I’m not a saint. I’ve done a lot of illegal things in my life. But the reason I found myself in Cantiville was because some asshole cop was obsessed with my sister and he wanted to use me as leverage to hurt her. He trumped up some phony charges with the Feds about human trafficking just to bone me and my Club. After the dust had settled, all of those sick as fuck accusations were proven to be lies and I was released with my record expunged. If you need proof, it’s all there in the public records. Anyone can get a copy of them at any time.”

He was right. Criminal records were open to the public. I know because of my dad’s inability to get a stable job the few years he wasn’t locked up when I was a kid.

“And your Club,” I asked then. “Are they dangerous?” I didn’t know how else to put it.

Matty hiked a brow. “Hell yeah, the Devil’s Riders are dangerous! But not to you, Babe. If you’re with me, they’re the best fucking protection you can have in this world.”

I could see he prided himself on being in his Club. As someone without any family or strong bonds outside of my friendship with Bobby, I got it. Everyone needed connections. Relationships that anchored them down and made them feel safe. Accepted. Needed. I wanted that, too. That carrot being dangled in front of me now was the hardest by far to ignore.

As I contemplated what he said, his phone buzzed. Lifting it off the nightstand, he glanced at the screen and swore.

“Shit! My phone’s blowing up. My sister wants to know where I am and why I’m not answering her call.”

“Call her back,” I said, needing some time and space to think. “She’s probably worried because you just disappeared without telling her where you were going.”

Matty scanned my face and then nodded. “K. When I get back, we’re ordering some food. I’m starving and need to find out what happened on Suits at that damn dinner party!”

I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “Sure. But good luck finding a place that’s still open at this time of night.”

“I know a place that’ll deliver,” he confidently relayed, before placing a hard kiss on my mouth and stepping out into the living room to call Amelia.

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