Page 83 of Tempt Me

Eventually, Carys and the rest of her family need quiet. Tack and Indigo flank me as we move from Cary’s house to the second farmhouse. The other bikers are moving around a lot outside, nearly daring someone to take a shot.

Sleepy and Grumpy chase each other around the open area. Unlike earlier, they seem completely unbothered. Though I want to believe the mercenaries made the smart move and slipped away, I still fear someone else will get hurt because of me.

“I’m going to stay up tonight to keep an eye on things,” Indigo tells us once we’re inside the house.

Golden locks the front door and says, “I’ll chill with you, man.”

I smile at how the men might tease each other and get highly competitive about dumb stuff, yet they’ve always got each other’s backs.

As I strip down in the bathroom, I start considering how Tack will return to Banta City’s roads soon. The club’s enemies will creep out of their hiding spaces and start causing trouble again. My fear for him could easily cripple me.

When the panic grips me, I’ll need to remember how the club came together today. Everyone rallied around Carys and Pork Chop. The farm and Backcountry Kings have established rules and plans for when trouble hits. They know their world in a way I’ll never understand. I ought to trust in them like they trust in each other.

As the night wears on, Tack and I can’t sleep. We make love in between watching TV and texting people. I also check out news reports.

The worldwide media has gone wild over Matt Parker’s arrest. They show him leaving his villa in only boxers and socks. The French prostitutes partying with him before his arrest are immediately interviewed on local news.

No longer hiding, Suzanne plans to be in Banta City by tomorrow afternoon. Her PR team has already put out a release from me, stating I’m relieved by the arrest and hope justice will be served for those whose lives were lost.

Tack and I crash until ten in the morning. I awake to messages from Suzanne who has touched down in Banta City. She’s on her way to the estate to get details in order with the staff and new security team. She’ll be over after lunch.

Tack and I stay in the shower for way too long. I must soap him up three times in between fucking. He washes my hair, kisses me for so long he forgets he already washed my hair, and washes it again. By the time we exit the shower, our skin is pruned, and we’re ready for a nap.

“I don’t want to do anything,” I mumble to Tack who smiles since he was likely thinking something similar.

Tack and I soon eat grilled cheese sandwiches in the second farmhouse’s kitchen. Indigo and Golden are sleeping in their rooms. The dogs nap on the front porch. The farm is quiet when we step outside.

When we check on Carys and the baby, Pork Chop is tossing the ball around with Hicks and Hudson. Inside the house, Carys breastfeeds Ripley in a recliner.

As soon as we enter, Siobhan hugs me and whispers, “The Feds are coming tomorrow. They want to redo all the interviews now that they’ve found their suspect.”

“Why are you nervous?”

Her big blue eyes seem extra wide as she fights tears. “What if the FBI tries to use this case to bring the hammer down on the Backcountry Kings?”

“Do you remember how Carys told me to let the men handle the club stuff? Well, I plan to be a good club wife and not stress the legal issues. That’s why we have so many lawyers.”

Siobhan sighs and glances at Carys. “I want a baby.”

“No,” her sister insists. “Just let that feeling pass. The twins are in school now. They spend half their time with Sync. You’ve got the freedom to be a single gal and fall in love. If you get pregnant, I doubt you’ll ever find a man.”

“I don’t want a man,” Siobhan insists. “Romance is overrated. I like being a mom, though.”

“If you had a baby, you couldn’t bartend,” Carys replies immediately if she’s kept all these facts locked and loaded. “You were never alone with the twins for long periods of time when they were babies. You had Sync. You lived on the farm. This time, you’d do it alone. Why put yourself through that stress?”

“Because I love being a mom and I want one of those,” Siobhan says and stares longingly at Ripley. “She’s so cute, and looks like Mom.”

“She looks like me.”

“You look like Mom.”

“Mom looks like Grandma. We can play this game all day.”

“The girls look like Sync.”

“No, they look like you.”

“But I look like Mom, so that means they look like Grandma.”

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