Page 20 of Bound by Vengeance
My father is standing on the other side. Emery must have let him into the apartment.
“Hey, Dad.”
He walks in, turns to me, and crosses his arms. This is the pose for when I’ve done something I shouldn’t have. Fear spikes that he figured out about me going into the computers. I don’t see how, though, considering I put everything back the way it’s supposed to be. He’s so damn smart; I wouldn’t put it past him to know. Shit.
“Care to tell me what that scene with Ryker was about?”
Part of me is relieved. Not that I want to talk about Ryker, but it’s better than the computers.
“Nothing. There’s nothing.”
“Bullshit. Don’t play games with me. Ryker isn’t a man who will accept that.”
Anger spikes, but I control it. “Thought you didn’t get involved in shit like this.”
“If it involves you, then yeah, I get involved.” He moves closer to me. “You’ve changed since that shit happened to you, and I don’t know what to do to help.”
I have in more ways than one. Some things will never be the same. I don’t think I’ll ever be back to the me before all this went down. That doesn’t mean I’m not a survivor. That’s what my parents taught me—how to fuckin’ survive.
“We all change, Dad. It’s part of growing up and becoming your own person.”
He steps closer. “Not like this. Not changin’ who you are and becomin’ somethin’ you’re not.”
My dad and I are close. There were times when he was so protective it felt suffocating. Then there were other times when I wished anything for him to be with me, yet he’d given me space.
He’s always said we need to spread our wings and fly, but it doesn’t mean he has to like it. With my brothers, it’s different.
I know it. They know it. He knows it. I accepted it a long time ago.
It kills me that he sees it. That he knows what happened to me. That he lives with that. Lives with the thought that he didn’t protect me. He did, though. He gave me strength.
He blows out a deep breath, stepping away from me and moving toward the door. Then he stops with his hand on the handle. “Ryker comes off snarky with quips, but there’s more to the man than meets the eye. His loyalty runs deep, and he’s not a man to let go of something he wants.”
“Dad, you playin’ matchmaker?” I tease.
“Nah, just want you to know what you’ve got in store.” He winks.
“Don’t. Ryker was a childhood crush and nothing more.” At least, not now. Not ever. I could tell him that Ryker wants to be friends now, but there’s no point in that, either.
“Keep tellin’ yourself that.” He says no more, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
I move to let him out, but then I hear the front door shut and don’t bother. He’s locked it; I know it.
Ryker, I remember when he first started prospecting for the Ravage MC and coming around. The first moment I saw him, my world stopped and tilted on its axis. Something inside me changed. Even young, I felt it. I just didn’t know exactly what it was at the time. He’s ten years older than me, and I was only eight when he prospected, and nine when he joined.
Never. Not once did he ever show any interest in me, other than his brother’s kid or younger sister. He’d rub the top of my head jokingly, and I hated it. Even when I turned eighteen, nothing but more of the same, each time more irritating than the last.
I spent years making it no secret I wanted him, but he never wanted me. I got it. And it took a life-changing event to put that in perspective.
Now he’s suddenly taking interest. Like I’m a challenge or something, which is so far from the case it’s actually funny. If he knew everything, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me. It’s better this way. He wants to be friends, but I’m not even sure how to do that with him. I know spending time with him isn’t a good thing.
The ways he looked at me in my car. His pointed, no-holds-barred words. His body language and the way he held back from touching me when I knew he wanted to. He’ll be a diversion I don’t need right now. My mission isn’t Ryker. It’s JK.
I sit up, needing to get my mind off Ryker, and flip open the laptop. I click on a file, and my stomach bottoms out.
Pictures of the compound I was held in and hurt pop up. JK’s smiling face is in several of them. My gut squeezes so tightly vomit threatens to come out.
My eyesight is hazy, like there is a fog over it. I’m unable to see ten feet in front of me, though sounds of movement are all around me, along with murmurs from a stern voice.
