Page 31 of Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers

“Never aim at anyone she wasn’t prepared to shoot?” My blood was rushing through my body, my fury growing with each additional word he spoke.

“Shit.” Reed looked at Vera. “Help me out here.”

She just grinned. “No way. I’ve never seen you look so scared before. This is great. I didn’t know anything would scare you, short of me getting shot.”

I watched as the man shifted from nervous to furious. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around, suddenly on guard. “Don’t even say those words, Vera.”

My sister rolled her eyes and reached out to take my hand. “Come on. I don’t have it in me to listen to a lecture about safety right now. I’ll let you bitch him out later for letting Way shoot.”

Waylan huffed after us. “I like shooting. I’m good at it, Mom. I can protect you.”

I stopped short and had to catch her when she ran into the back of my legs. “Baby, I don’t need you to protect me. I’m safe. Okay?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Reed keeps people safe for a living. I’m going to do that when I’m grown. You’re my first customer, Mom.”

I scowled at Reed once more. “I hope I like the other two better.”

Vera dragged me inside. “Sit with me while Waylan continues to get Reed in trouble. I love this.”

Reed sighed. “I was going to teach her some self-defense moves. Everyone should know how to protect themselves.”

The idea of Waylan not being able to fight someone off sent a chill down my spine. She was tough and she’d learned a few things from Blade but Reed had kept my sister from dying. That automatically made me trust his skills. “Fine.”

Waylan jumped in the air and fist pumped. “Yes!”

Vera led me to a low couch she kind of just fell into, her belly making it difficult for her. “I don’t know how you managed this alone. I practically need a crane to get off this stupid couch. Were you alone? I mean… No, you know what? I’m just going to start where I’m the most curious. Why did you leave? Who got you pregnant?”

Reed and Waylan had vanished down a hallway so I went for the truth with Vera. “I lost my virginity to Scott O’Day. I found out I’d gotten pregnant almost two months later. Scott wanted nothing to do with me or a baby. He told me to get lost. Then Mom and Dad said the same.”

She gasped. “What?”

“They told me to leave, Vera. I didn’t have a choice. They marched me to the gate and kicked me out. They said a lot ofthings but among the worst was that the family didn’t need me around, causing trouble. They said you’d all talked about it and I was too much. Though, I kind of realized over the years they’d lied about that part.”

“Nellie… No. They told us they’d caught you trying to run away and you lost it. They told us you’d been cruel and told them you hated us, hated being stuck on the ranch.” She didn’t bother catching the fat tears leaking down her cheeks. “I can’t believe they did that to you. I’m so sorry, Nell. None of us had any idea. I thought… I thought you’d chosen to leave us and stay gone. I should’ve known better. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you went through.”

I wiped my own tears away and shrugged. “It wasn’t easy at first. Then Virginia took me in. She and Blade helped me through the pregnancy and birth. You don’t need to apologize, though, Vera. You didn’t do it. It was our parents.”

“I can’t believe they did that. I’m just…” She burst into sobs and fell into my arms when I reached for her. “You should’ve been here, with us. We should’ve taken care of you. And fuck Scott O’Day!”

I winced. “I think he died a few years ago… You probably can let that grudge go.”

“Fuck that. I don’t care if he’s dead. Fuck him.” She sniffed and sat up. “I wish they were still alive, Nellie. All of them. Mom, Dad, Scott. You deserve the chance to curse someone out for this.”

“I do, don’t I?” I smiled, despite the ache in my chest. “Our big brothers are quickly becoming candidates for that job.”

“You don’t think they knew, do you?” Vera sat up, a furious look settling on her face. “If they knew, I’ll kill them.”

“I don’t think they knew. They seem too angry. If anything, I think they believe whatever Mom and Dad told them. They were away at war when I left. I can’t exactly blame them.”

“You didn’t leave, Nellie. You were kicked out.” She struggled to get up and then held her hand out to me. “Help me up so I can pace.”

I decided to change the direction of our conversation because there was only so much time I could spend being angry at dead people. “If you stay on the couch, I’ll tell you something I started to piss the big bros off. And I’ll tell you how it ended last night.”

That made her quickly forget about being angry. “Oh, my god. Tell me everything. Wait! Get my laptop! If this is what I think it’s going to be, I need to take notes.”

“I’m not letting you take notes!”

“Fine. I’ll just remember every detail up here.” She tapped her head. “Just tell me!”

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