Page 66 of Taken By the Biker Daddies

“He showed up at the office yesterday, you know,” Irina told me. “Asked me a lot of questions. Looked at some files.”

So that was where Max went yesterday. I didn’t know that either.

“I don’t know. He just seemed different,” Irina continued. “It was like he’s all grown up and finally ready to take the helm of the ship.”

I shook my head. “I still don’t know how I’m supposed to take responsibility for that.”

Irina placed her hand on my shoulder. “Being in business, especially in our kind of business, is like waging an everyday battle. A bloody battle. It helps to have something to fight for. Or someone.”

I said nothing, not knowing what to say. I felt glad, flattered by the idea that I had inspired Max to finally take his place at the top of the corporate ladder, but it also felt like an honor I didn’t deserve. Was it really all right for Max to be inspired by someone like me?

Before I could figure out the answer, we reached Irina’s old room. She punched in the code on the keypad, opened the door, and turned on the lights. I felt like a kid in a candy store again as I gazed around the room. It was even larger than the room I was staying in, which was already the largest room I’d ever stayed in, and even though it must have been unoccupied for so long, there was not a single speck of dust on any of the beautiful furniture that was all done up in shades of pink and purple.

This was clearly a girl’s room.

There was a ruffled canopy above the bed, a dresser in a corner, a music box on a desk, and flowers on the wall. There were also snow globes and dolls on the mantel of the fireplace and a painting of a ballerina above it.

No wonder Irina looked like a princess. She had grown up in a room made for one.

“Aha! There it is!” she suddenly exclaimed, looking inside her closet.

I walked over to where she stood, and she placed her arm around me, pointing at the inscription on the wood.

“See that?”

I could make out a few scrawny letters. H-E-Z - or was that an N? Then an R and…

“Henry,” Irina read it out loud. “I had a crush on a guy named Henry when I was in sixth grade, and I was so crazy about him I carved his name into the back of my closet with the key to my diary.” She let out a sigh as she dropped her shoulders. “Ah, the stupid things we do for love.”

I nodded. Even I had done my fair share of those kinds of things. Funny when you’re a kid. Cringe-worthy as you get older.

As Irina kept quiet, seemingly going down memory lane, I turned my attention to the bed. There were toys on it, one of which was a stuffed cat. I picked it up, remembering that I used to have one, too.

A stuffed cat with a big bow on its head and purple stripes. I had a drawing of it on my bedroom wall, too. One which JJ helped me draw.

Wait. JJ? Right. He was the one who taught me how to draw all sorts of things. Cats. Ponies. Flowers. He drew for me, too.

A gerbera daisy just like the tattoo Jake made for me.

I dropped the stuffed cat and clutched the pendant of my necklace as my breath left me, a realization sinking in.

JJ. Jake. They both started with J. Surely, that wasn’t just a coincidence. Besides, now that I thought about it, Jake had the same serious look on his face when he did my tattoo as JJ did when he used to draw for me. Those furrowed eyebrows. The slightly clenched jaw. I remember because I used to stare at his face even though I was supposed to watch his hands, his expression simply captivating me. Then there was the fact that Jake asked about my childhood without explaining why.

My heart stopped as my thoughts raced, an idea forming in my head.

Was Jake the artist I had looked up to as a little girl?

Chapter Twenty-One

Jake

Don’t let the past hold you back.

Wade’s words, the same ones I told him years ago, echoed in my head as I entered the Shelton mansion.

I had returned to check on Lauren upon Max’s request. He was at my house right now, personally overseeing the installation of cameras and alarms to help keep the new Black Storm HQ safe, a task that was apparently going to take longer than he had thought, so he asked me to look after Lauren in the meantime. Half of me was excited to see Lauren again, eager to talk things over with her so we could finally put the past to rest, but the other half was still apprehensive, afraid that she would end up hating me. I didn’t think I could bear that.

At the very least, I should check on her to make sure she was fine, so I started looking for her in all the dozens of places she could be in this vast house. Finally, I found her in the library.

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