Page 10 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“Marlo? Damn. All the snakes are crawling out of their holes now, huh?” He shakes his head in dismay. “I’m telling you, Robyn, there are some dark times ahead.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. You know what Marlo’s deal is.”

I roll my eyes as I say, “She claims she’s a legitimate businesswoman, unlike her daddy and grandaddy.”

“Right, and I’m RuPaul,” Morris scoffs and brings the takeaway drinks in their own cardboard box, complete with rings to keep them in place while I carry them. “But listen, Robyn… I’m only telling you this because I care about you.”

“What?” I ask, pushing a twenty-dollar bill across the counter for the coffee and pastries.

“He was in here earlier.”

“Calvin?” The sound of his name fills me with dread.

Morris gets the scones out of the display box. “Yeah, he was asking about you. I told him I haven’t seen you, but that… you know, you’re doing alright, that the Riders are looking after you.”

“You told him that?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because he needs to know he can’t just walk back into town and come bother you like he owns you,” Morris says with a furrowed brow. “That man is a fucking monster, Robyn.”

“Don’t I know it,” I say, sighing deeply.

“It’s a shame I can’t set the cops on him or something. The prick got out on good behavior; I can’t believe it…”

I nod again, my blood running cold as flashbacks of our marriage flood my nervous system and make me tremble despite the warm weather.

“Did he say anything else?” I ask Morris.

“Nope. He ordered coffee and the cherry-filled donuts, your favorites. I think it was a dig meant for you.”

“He probably knew you’d tell me,” I mumble. “Thank you, Morris. Keep the change.”

“You’re a sweetheart.”

I grab my drinks and pastries and head straight for the door with a sense of urgency. Morris’s voice stops me in my tracks.

“Hey, Robyn.”

“Yeah?” I ask, glancing over one shoulder.

“You should carry a taser, honey.”

That’s not the worst idea I’ve heard since last night, to be perfectly candid. I’ve thought about it too. But once the jig was up, once Knox and the guys confronted Calvin about his abusive behavior, he turned into a mild little lamb—at least in my presence. It was as if the monster inside him had disappeared.

But it was there; it was always there. I should never forget that and maybe I should get a taser.

3

Robyn

Seated in my car, I take a long sip of my coffee and practically inhale the blueberry scone—saving the one next to the babyccino for Kyra. As I eat and drink and process the events of the day, I feel an invisible force reaching out and gripping my heart. Tighter and tighter it squeezes until I can no longer breathe.

“Fuck.”

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