Page 10 of A Biker's Tiny Present

She’s not wrong. I full on ugly cried until the tears wouldn’t fall anymore. I am not a pretty crier. My face turns red as a tomato, my eyes squint and get all puffy, and my lower lips does this unproportionate pout thing, I turn into a mutant disaster.

August 2nd—It’s my first weekend back to work after having Nicholas and I already wish I could quit. I need to find a different job, but it’s not going to be easy getting out of this mess. I didn’t tell Riley about borrowing money from Leo to cover the medical bills that never seem to stop pouring in, but I thought I could handle it myself. She’s sacrificed enough by being by my side and so supportive of taking on the role as a second mom to my baby, that I can’t let her know the hole I’ve dug myself.

Taylor borrowed money from her boss to pay her medical bills? Why would she do that? If she needed money that bad, she should’ve asked me for help. And who is Leo?

I asked her a couple times why I never saw any statements or bills from her prenatal care or Nicholas’s delivery, but she insisted that she was taking care of it. She said she had money saved, in addition to getting good tips while she was pregnant and bartending instead of stripping.

With the cash she said was coming in, I had hoped once she went back to work after having the baby, that she would keep bartending. But based on the next chunk of pages, things only get worse.

I can’t read them all. I have to skim, picking up on keywords that make me sicker page by page, until I get to the last entry. It’s dated this morning.

December 14th—I have to go. It’s too much. He has gone too far.

When I got to work last night, I made it through two dances on the main stage before he pulled me aside. There was a request from someone who used to be on my list of regular customers. Leo keeps a list of men who pay god only knows how much for private time with a dancer, and any time a man on my list would come into the club, I would get pulled from whatever spot I was in and forced to spend time with them whether I wanted to or not.

I never wanted to.

The first time I borrowed money from Leo Castelucci was to repair a dent I put in the front fender of my car. I never told Riley about it. She wouldn’t have been outwardly mad, but my car is a hand-me-down from her when she got a new one last summer, and I didn’t want to disappoint her.

Another one of the other dancers overheard my phone conversation with the guy at the auto body shop, heard me gasp when I heard how much the repair was going to cost, and suggested I ask Leo for a loan. She just failed to mention what dancershad to do in order to pay back the loans. I punched her square in the nose when I found out—Leo tied my hands behind my back, held my head, and forced me to give him a blowjob. It only got worse from there.

Riley, if something went wrong and you’re reading this, please stop. Don’t read any more. I don’t want you to witness my most embarrassing moments, even second hand.

Go get Nicholas. He is with his dad.

Tiny is a member of the Rebel Vipers MC. I know you know who they are. His real name is Henry Taggert.

I met him one night when I went to a party at their clubhouse with some co-workers. I didn’t go there planning on sleeping with anyone, but one drink turned into five, and a couple hits of weed later, I was feeling pretty down on myself. He noticed that I was sitting at the bar by myself, because everyone who came with me was already paired off, and one thing obviously led to another. I don’t need to bore you with the details, but since it gave me my baby boy, I wouldn’t change that night for the world.

Go find Tiny, I’m going to leave Nicholas with him. He’ll know how to keep you both safe from Leo.

Last night a customer went too far in the private room, and when I tried to tell Leo, he punched me and told me to suck it up. He threatened to hurt you and Nicholas if I ever complained again, so I knew it was time to go.

Thank Jazz for me. She’s a club girl for the RVMC. I called the clubhouse looking for Tiny and she toldme he was playing Santa for the kids tonight at The Lodge, so that’s why I’ll be taking Nicholas there. Go there and hopefully you two can work out some arrangement so you can share time and he can get to know his son. I never meant to keep him away for so long, please tell him that.

I don’t know how long I’ll be gone for, but the threat from Leo should go away since I’ll be out of the picture. I’d rather Nicholas be safe with his dad than all of us being threatened and constantly looking over our shoulders.

I’m sorry. I love you, sis. Please forgive me. I’ll see you soon.

“What’s wrong?” Tiny kneels down next to me on the floor and wraps his arm around me. “What happened?”

I can’t speak. The words won’t come out, so I hand him the journal so he can read the words for himself. One arm still over my shoulders, he takes in what drove Taylor to do what she did and I can feel his body get tenser by the paragraph.

Closing the my worst nightmare, he sets it on top of the pile of other horrors, stands up, and pulls me along with him. Wrapping me in his arms tighter this time, pulling me into his chest, I have no choice but to return the embrace.

My hands barely reach behind his back, but I like it this way. I like that he’s bigger than me. I like that his entire body dwarfs mine in his shadow. I’m five foot six, so not short but nowhere near as tall as he is, and I feel protected in a way I don’t think I’ve felt since I was ten years old.

Tiny pulls back a bit and kisses me on the cheek. Now talk about a mood killer.

Cheek kisses are for your sister or grandma, not a woman you’re interested in. Whatever lines he was buttering me up with before must have been just to see how far he could push me to get what he wants. I have no doubt he wants to get in my pants, I could feel what he’s packing in his when he had me pushed against the wall, but I didn’t feel it this time when he hugged me. This was a platonic hug. He found me crying and comforted me because I’m his son’s aunt.

I take a step back but he keeps me from running away too far by grabbing my hand. I feel my cheeks turning red in embarrassment, but hopefully my prior tears keep him from noticing.

“I need to call Whiskey about this. Will you be okay for a couple minutes?” Tiny tucks a piece of my wild hair behind my ear. “I’ll come right back.”

“Do whatever you need to do.” I pull my hand free with a little bit of force, then flee to the kitchen.

Reading Taylor’s inner thoughts took longer than I realize, because I find one and a half perfectly cooked pizzas cut and set out on the island. Tiny obviously started eating without me, so I dig in without waiting for him to finish whatever phone call he needed to make.

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