Page 10 of Pike
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He said nothing and neither did I, not for a long time. I watched Steel City rush past into Las Vegas and then the interstate before the road shifted into a country highway with nothing but desert for miles and miles. The car was dead silent, and I was content to let it stay that way.
My little girl, on the other hand, had other ideas. “Mr. Will,” she began in a sing-song voice.
“Pike,” he interrupted. “Call me Pike.”
She frowned, thought about it, and then nodded. “Mr. Pike, is it easy to ride your bike?”
His lips twitched before he nodded. “It’s a lot to learn at first because it’s so different from a car but yeah, it’s easy. You want to learn?”
Gemma shrugged. “I dunno, it’s really loud.”
He barked out a laugh, and it was the first time I heard him laugh that wasn’t bitter or sarcastic. “It is really loud but that’s part of the fun.”
“You have weird fun,” she added with a giggle. “I like the drawing on your arm.”
Drawing. She called his tattoos drawings. It took everything I had to remain silent because I didn’t want to give him any reason to get angry with me.
“Tattoos,” he corrected her gently. “They are drawings, but drawings are on paper, tattoos are on skin.”
“Tattoos.” Gemma tested the word out on her tongue a few more times. “I like them.”
“Thanks. And yeah, they do hurt a little, depends on where you get them.”
“They hurt? But I draw all the time and so did Miss Ash and her drawings never hurt.” Gemma gasped. “Sorry, Mommy said sometimes talking about her can make people sad and I don’t want to make you sad, Mr. Pike. I like you.”
She did. In fact she seemed to like all of the Steel Demons. She’d easily taken a shine to T-Bone and from the moment we arrived at the clubhouse, she was open and friendly with all of them. It was such a stark contrast to how she’d been around Marcus and Nate and Victor and the rest of them. Maybe my daughter was just a better judge of character.
“I like you too, Gemma. You’re chatty as hell but it doesn’t bother me.”
She giggled again. “Are you sad?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “I’m sad about Miss Ash. She was my friend, and we used to draw together all the time.”
His grip tightened on the steering wheel and his jaw clenched hard for a long minute before he relaxed just enough that helookedrelaxed. “Thank you, Gemma. I appreciate that. And yeah, I’m sad too.”
I turned away, unable to look at the play of emotions on his face for another minute. My vision blurred with every passing cactus and tumbleweed but the constant chatter between my daughter and the man who hated me most continued. She told him about her favorite color, purple, and he asked her what she liked to draw. They chatted like old friends, leaving me feeling like the odd woman out.
Stop it. He’s protecting you and he likes Gemma, so he’ll keep her safe no matter what.That’s what I told myself as the desert faded away and tall trees shadowed the road as it moved up and turned into mountains.
Eventually Gemma talked herself to sleep, plunging the inside of the car into another round of oppressive silence. That was all right, I was used to making myself small, nearly invisibleto avoid pissing off a man. That was my plan to survive the time at the safe house. Stay out of his way. Stay quiet. Stay alive.
The road grew more isolated as the miles wore on and eventually, we came to a stop in front of a mid-sized log cabin with two floors, an expansive deck and behind it on either side water that twinkled under the midday sun. “Wow.” It was some safe house, and it was more than big enough for me and Will to coexist semi-peacefully.
I hoped.
Chapter Eight
Pike
She was quiet. No, that wasn’t right she wasn’t just quiet, she was silent. For the entire ride Chloe said nothing until we arrived at the cabin and even then, it was just a softly whispered expression of awe. She took in the wooden structure in front of us and the lake beyond the cabin before she turned slowly, eyeing the heavy gathering of trees that surrounded the property with careful eyes. They darted around carefully, taking in every detail and tucking it away for later.
Then as if she knew she was being watched, Chloe let out a breath and turned to the car where Gemma still slept. “I’ll grab her and then get our things.”
I nodded. “Hope this place meets your standards.” It was an asshole thing to say, I knew it, but I couldn’t help myself.
Her eyes flashed wide and then she looked away, grabbing her daughter and carrying her inside the cabin. Part of me wanted to go after her but I suppressed that urge and went to check out the property. I hadn’t been up for a few years, not since the MC first took over the property from the Carter family. Slate said he’d done some upgrades, so I kept that in mind while I searched for traps or other weaknesses in the property.
The road leading to the cabin was just long enough that no one would be able to sneak up on us unannounced, especially not with the camera system Slate had installed. I studied every inch of the property until I was confident I knew it inside and out.
