Page 3 of Joy Ride

“Your father has been worried sick about you.”Clive leaned on the jamb as if he was harmless—a neighbor dropping by to shoot the shit instead of a henchman who could drag her back to an existence she didn’t approve of and punish her for daring to break the rules.She didn’t miss how he positioned his body in the path of the door to prevent her from shutting it again.

“Angus is not my father,” Joy snarled.Now that she was a parent herself, she couldn’t see how the man who’d married her mother and ruled them like a ruthless dictator could ever be called that.

“He’s obsessed with finding you and making sure you’re safe.”Clive cleared his throat, as if even he couldn’t stomach that lie.“It looks bad on him that he doesn’t know where you went.You know he can’t have that.He counts on his reputation to keep people in line.There’s talk that maybe his enemies got to you and that makes him seem weak.He’s furious.”

“NowthatI believe.”Angus was the president of Wildfire, an outlaw motorcycle club that was mostly a front for lucrative, if primarily illegal and always shady, dealings.He’d stayed on top all these years by being ruthless and never letting anyone circumvent his authority.Joy and her mother—who had foolishly married the bastard—included.

Fear was the main instrument he used to ensure compliance.While her mother had been willing to trade her independence for a twisted form of security, Joy was not.No longer.She stood straighter, clenching her fists.“And you’re going to return me to him and reap the rewards.Am I right?”

“Think about this, Joy.How are you going to support yourself and a baby on the couple thousand bucks you stole from me?Which, by the way, you could have just asked me for.Money is nothing; there’s plenty of it around.You know I’d have given it to you.I owe you that at least.”Clive leaned in as if he was going to hold her hand.

She snatched it away before he could try.And yeah, he done more damage to her than that covered.She didn’t even feel bad about the cash she’d swiped on her way out of town.

Joy prepared to employ the self-defense tactics she’d learned in her lessons from Walker and Dane.Too bad she hadn’t been able to shield her squishy heart from them as well as she knew how to guard her body.“I don’t know how I’m going to get by yet, but I’ll figure it out.”

“Did you come here hoping for protection from Walker and Dane?Are they here?”Clive licked his lips as he peered around her.He damn well better be nervous about that prospect.They hated Clive even more than she did.

“They’re around,” she lied.

“Is the baby Walker’s?”Clive raised a brow.“That would be a hell of a game changer.The only person your father would love to have back more than you is him and if his son had an heir for Wildfire…”

Joy honestly couldn’t say, because she didn’t know for sure.Shame washed over her, goading her to lash out twice as hard.“Don’t you fucking talk about my baby.Don’t even think about her or who her father is.Just forget you saw anything and get out of here.Leave us alone and go home, Clive.With Walker, Dane, and me out of the picture, you can have what you always wanted.To take over afterthat manis dead.If you’re really lucky, one of the rival clubs will off him sooner rather than later.”

She refused to ever call Angus her father—step or otherwise—ever again.

To her surprise, Clive actually considered her words.Walker and Dane had been a massive roadblock on his path to success.But she could tell the moment he thought of an even better solution.

A slimy grin spread across his face before he made her an offer she could absolutely refuse.“Come back with me, Joy.As my wife.We could say we eloped when we found out you were pregnant and that you wanted some time to yourself with the baby.I’ll take care of you.I’ll raise your child as my own.Give you everything you could want.You would be treasured.Spoiled, even.With you by my side and that tie to his family, you’re right—your father would finally acknowledge me as his successor.”

“Never!”Joy had to resist the urge to slam the door in his face.

No.That was not an option.

She was glad she hadn’t had lunch yet or she might have lost it then.Even if it wasn’t for what he’d done to her, all those years ago…

No.Hell, no.

Joy stumbled backward, swinging the door shut despite Clive’s intrusion into the space.

He shoved it open again and took a step inside.“Even after all this time, you’d still choose one of them over me?They may have you now, but we both know who had you first.You’d rather fuck your own brother than sleep with me?”

“Stepbrother,” she corrected.Walker, Dane, hell…anyone.Yes, she’d chooseanyoneelse over Clive—the man who’d stolen her virginity and ruined her chances at a real relationship with either of the two men she’d adored since she was a kid.

Joy didn’t have to say it.When she met Clive’s questioning stare, it had to be plain.

He grimaced but, shockingly, nodded.“Fine, have it your way.”

“What do you mean?”She narrowed her eyes, unwilling to trust his seeming change of heart.

“You’re right.Knowing Walker and Dane are gone for good is enough.If you swear never to come back with their crotch fruit, who might give them reason to return someday, I’ll cover for you.”Clive acted like he was doing her a favor when she was practically clearing the way for all his disgusting dreams to come true.

If he was under the misconception that having her or Arden around Wildfire would entice Walker, she wasn’t about to correct him.Neither Walker nor Dane gave a fuck about her.They were never going to get involved in Angus’s bullshit empire again.But suddenly it didn’t matter, because neither was she, as long as she could get the hell past Clive and run for it.

“Great.Have a good life.I’ve got to go.”Joy turned her back on Clive, trusting that his ambition would hold and keep her safe by default.

“Are you meeting them in Middletown?”Clive wondered, though why he cared she couldn’t say.“We heard they took jobs at a shop there.”

“None of your business, remember?”Apparently none of hers either.She had no earthly idea where the pair of them were since they hadn’t bothered to so much as send her a damn email after they’d fucked her then disappeared.And even if she knew, would she go to them?

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