Page 23 of Beautiful Dangerous

“So don’t wind him up. Play nice.” I lean back against the counter and take another sip of coffee. “You hungry?”

“Always.” He smiles, and it’s funny, but when a lot of these men smile it completely changes their faces. The hard edges blur into something more real, and it’s nice, to think that underneath that dangerous exterior there’s a human being.

“Help yourself to pastries.” I look over at the stove, where Celine’s pan of eggs are sitting. “I can get Celine back, if you want some fresh eggs…?”

“No. What’s there is fine. I’ve eaten much worse than cold scrambled eggs in my time, believe me.”

I smile and pull myself up onto the counter top, crossing my legs up underneath me. “Did you grow up with connections to the club?”

He picks up a plate and dishes up a pile of eggs, offering them to me first but I shake my head. “No. I kind of gravitated toward the Devil’s Creed after my mom and dad left me.”

I frown, reaching into the bag of pastries and pulling out a cinnamon roll. “Left you?”

“I wasn’t an easy kid to be around. I was a dick, if I’m honest. I blamed them for being crappy parents, for never being there, so I showed them just how much they pissed me off by getting into trouble. Just petty shit at first, stealing liquor from the shop on the corner; painkillers from the drug store; destroying the neighbors’ front yards, skipping school, fucking irritating shit, when I think back. But it was enough to get their attention. And I thought that would be enough, to make them realize I needed them to be around more, but it didn’t work. Which meant I just got more angry, with everything, not just my parents. The world in general; authority, I hated being told what to do, that really fucked me off.” He bows his head and drags a hand back through his jet-black hair. “I got involved with this gang of kids from downtown, I mean, they got into some real messed-up crap. We got caught trying to sell prescription drugs on Devil’s Creed territory, and I guess that’s when I realized I could go bigger than some dollar-store crew. Those bikers, man, I was in awe of them. That’s when I started hanging around the entrance to the compound, until they got so suspicious of me they thought I was working for someone; dragged me inside the compound, interrogated me until even they knew I couldn’t know a damn thing, I was just some kid with big ideas. They started letting me hang out at the clubhouse, gave me jobs to do, running errands, cleaning up after them, that kind of thing, but it made me feel like I was a part of something. And even in those early days I knew they’d be there for me, I trusted them. They became the family I felt I’d never had, but had always wanted. So the day my dad sat me down and told me they couldn’t take no more; that he and my mom were moving away; that my mom’s nerves were so shredded she was on medication for depression – medication they couldn’t really afford – I only had one place left to go.”

“Your parents moved away without you?”

“Yeah,” he sighs, and shrugs. “Just packed up the car and drove away without looking back. I remember standing on the doorstep, watching the car disappearing into the distance, convinced they were gonna come back for me. That they were just trying to fucking scare me, you know? But they never came back.”

“How old were you?”

“Fourteen. I learnt how to not give a shit pretty early on in life.”

“Jesus, Angel, I’m so sorry…”

He shakes his head, turning it to look out of the window at the ocean and the trees and the sky. “Don’t be. The club took me in, and from that moment on they really did become my family.” He drops his head and slides his hands into his pockets. “I pushed them away, my parents. I know that now. But I only saw the truth when it was too late. When I was old enough to think back and see everything for what it really was. They were only doing what was best for me, and I threw it all back in their faces.” He looks at me, his expression full of regret, and that’s not something you see often on the faces of these men. “They were working two jobs each, trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table, they weren’t neglecting me. I just chose to see the worst in them, when there was never really anything bad in them at all.”

“Maybe they should’ve talked to you more. Told you what was happening.”

“They were just trying to protect me.”

“Have you spoken to them at all? Have you seen them, since they left?”

“No. I have no idea where they are, and I’m okay with that. I think it’s best it stays that way, I’m doing good now. I have the club. That’s all the family I need.”

I finish my coffee and slide down from the counter, rinsing my mug under the faucet.

“Aren’t you lonely, Olivia?”

His question surprises me, and I slowly turn around. “I don’t have time to be lonely.”

“Yes, or no.”

I cross my arms, my eyes meeting his. “No.”

“I think you’re lying.”

“Well, you’re not here to think, Angel.” I walk up to him and cup his cheek, gently digging my fingernails into his skin, his beard rough against the palm of my hand. “So don’t.” I let go of him, and he laughs quietly.

“I don’t think you’re quite the bitch everyone thinks you are.”

“I said, you’re not here to think.”

“How does Lucca fit into all of this, huh? I mean, what’s the real story there?”

I pick up the keys to the Jaguar and throw them at him. “Go check the car over. I’ll meet you out front in ten minutes. We have somewhere to be.”

Twelve Years Earlier…

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