Page 61 of Biker Daddy

Chapter Fourteen

Drew

He didn’t chase her when she ran. She needed to process, needed to read her uncle’s letter and he’d let her.

Drew went the back way by the cliffs, the same way they came into the camp, to avoid the media and rode out of town to the spot where he and Addi had made love on his Harley. He sat under the same tree, this time in an expensive suit, and pulled his sketchbook out. She needed time and he’d give it to her even though they had little. The Skull Grinders would know where he was soon. As soon as Rebecca’s story broke, they’d come for him. He’d need to lure them away from Addi and the camp. And then he’d convince them that he’d paid the price for leaving by taking full responsibility for the murders they’d committed, keeping them out of jail. And that he’d never be the kind of person that could run a one-percenter club.

Drew shook off the thoughts of his father, Mauler, and Dingo, and started sketching Addi’s face, the way he saw her, powerfully sexy and strong. Not the woman she saw herself as. He knew she saw herself as weak and only playing the part of competent.

She was beautiful and pure of heart, but what would this truth do to her? Would she hate him, or worse, would she compromise herself to be with him? Would she convince herself that it was worth the risk to be with him?

His portrait complete, he looked at the sun hanging low in the sky. It was time to head back. The time he’d spent working had settled his mind. He was ready to face his past and the consequences of his time with Addi.

* * *

There were still a few cameramen and reporters hanging out by the front entrance, but only the diligent. Most had given up for the day. They perked up when his bike rumbled past, some rushing for their cars, but he’d already tucked into the entrance by the cliff house and killed the engine before they drove by.

He left the bike, needing the walk, and made the half-hour trek to his studio. His heart pounded when he saw Addi on the cliff. First, because she’d taken a dive from that cliff years ago and second, because with her hair whipping around in the wind and her dress fitting flush against her curves, she looked stunning and haunting—it spoke to his artistic side, just as the danger called to his protective side. His hands itched to paint her, but also to turn her across his knee for standing too close to the edge.

Paper fluttered in her hands, which she struggled to fold neatly, before turning back to the house. At the sight of him, her mouth widened enthusiastically.

Her smile was contagious and putting a firm look on his face was harder than he thought. He headed for her, but once again, she ran to him, jumping into his arms carelessly, before he got to her. He spun her around, overjoyed she didn’t hate him, even though that would have been easier.

“I love you, Mr. Biker.” Her mouth crashed into his, mashing their teeth together ungracefully and he laughed into her mouth.

“I love you too, now tell me why you’re out here in the wind, dangerously close to the edge of that cliff, young lady? And how come you’re not back at your cabin?”

“I needed you to know something. I figured you’d come back this way.”

“Okay.” His eyes narrowed and he set her back on her feet.

“No matter what your past holds, no matter how guilty you feel, I love you and I’ll always love you. You don’t even have to tell me what’s going on, because I trust you.” Her eyes tilted in a flirtatious way. “And if by chance you want to spank and fuck me, my friends are busy unpacking in the cabin next to mine.”

His chest fluttered and his gut sank simultaneously. Now that he had her, he couldn’t bear to lose her. He couldn’t help but picture a life with her, but she deserved better than him. Way better. Some normal guy not running from his past, someone with a nice family that could become hers too.

“Come on,” he said and grabbed her hand. “I’ve got something to show you.”

“I hope it’s your…”

He covered her mouth and his brow shot up. “Baby girl,” he warned in his deep timbre. She gave him a toothy grin when his hand left her mouth to find and swat her plump, sexy ass.

He led her inside to the bedroom with the locked door and took his keys from his pocket. Unlocking it, he pushed the door open and flipped the lights on. The windows in the room had blackout blinds and the paintings on the walls were hung not as art should be, but lined up in a sequence of sorts. Each with its own dramatic lighting to show the shadows of evil that encompassed him when he saw them.

He watched her as she went to the first. The only other thing in the room was a desk with newspaper article clippings piled on top and notes about the Grinders, their whereabouts and activities.

“Is this you?” Addi asked, looking over her shoulder at him. He nodded. The painting was of him on his dad’s bike, sketching in the lamplight of the dingy alley the night Officer MacAfee had been killed. Every detail was in that painting, from the trash on the ground to the look of pure evil on his father’s face, everything was perfectly captured.

“How old were you again?”

“Twelve.”

She looked closer, pointing at the man with the tattoo of the devil on his neck. “He was here.”

Drew nodded. “The acting vice president of the Skull Grinders, Mauler.”

“Acting?”

He looked down a moment. “Acting because I was the true vice president. As soon as I was old enough, Mauler was going back to his position of sergeant at arms.” Drew figured that might be another reason why he hadn’t been found. Some of the Grinders wouldn’t want him back.

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