Page 54 of Taken By the Biker Daddies

I shrugged. “I remember some things like my sixth birthday, the apartment my family used to live in, and my favorite toys. I don’t think anyone remembers everything from their childhood, though. Why?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.” Then he gave me a smile. “Go and rest.”

I watched Jake leave, then went back to my room. As I lay down on my bed, I caught a whiff of Max and Wade’s scents from the sheets, and for a moment, it gave me a sense of peace. But only for a moment. Now that Clyde had appeared, everything had changed. Trust that scumbag to ruin everything. Why, even Max hated me now. Well, at least, Jake didn’t. It seemed as if things were all right between us. But why did he ask about my childhood?

Thanks to that question, though, I was able to come up with warm memories to eclipse my fear, eventually getting sleepy. As I drifted off, the image of the man who once taught me to draw popped up in my head. Right. I’d forgotten about him. What was his name again?

Before I could remember, I fell asleep.

Chapter Seventeen

Max

“Lauren can sleep in any of the guest bedrooms upstairs,” I told Jake and Wade as we entered my house. “She’ll be safe here. No one will be able to get to her.”

Not only was the house that used to belong to my grandfather miles away from Jake’s house, it was also equipped with the latest security system. It had valuable paintings hanging in it, after all, and my grandmother’s diamonds in the safe.

Lauren gasped as she looked around the great room. “This…is yours?”

I didn’t answer. We still weren’t exactly on speaking terms again, anyway. I only brought her here upon Jake’s request. As angry as I was with her, I didn’t want her to get hurt.

I still cared about her deeply, I realized as my eyes followed her, absorbing her expressions of fascination as she took in her new surroundings. A part of me wanted to give her a tour and explain every little detail, but I reminded myself we weren’t a couple anymore.

Were we ever even a couple?

“Wait,” she said as she stared at my grandfather’s portrait above the mantel. “Sylvester Shelton owned this house?”

Then she looked at the smaller framed pictures, her eyes growing wide.

“Max is a Shelton?”

“Yes,” Jake answered the question. “And he’s the current CEO of Xosmo.”

Cat out of the bag. Then again, I was getting tired of keeping secrets, anyway.

Lauren’s eyes grew even wider. “That huge tech company? But…”

Her words seemed to falter as she looked at me.

“But what?” I asked her. “I don’t look like a billionaire like your ex?”

She frowned.

Jake patted her shoulder. “Let’s just be glad we found a safe place for you. Like Max said, Clyde Roarke won’t find you here. Now, let’s get you settled in.”

I watched as Jake ushered Lauren up the staircase. At the top, she glanced over her shoulder at me, and our eyes met briefly, but I looked away. Then I headed to the study.

I sat back in the large leather chair behind my grandfather’s oak desk, my gaze on the Van Gogh on the wall. At least, here in this house, I had my own office as well as my own bedroom, though I still missed Jake’s. I had gotten used to that gray living roomcouch and the smell of his black coffee waking me up in the morning.

A knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts. Wade peeked in.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.

I snorted. “When have you ever been so polite?”

He shrugged as he stepped into the room. “Well, you’re a big shot now, aren’t you? Though I suppose you’ve always been.”

I exhaled. “I’m sorry I never told you.”

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