Page 22 of Menace

Earlier tonight, after chatting and reading a book with my squirrel until she fell asleep, I finally told him everything.

And when I say everything that’s exactly what I mean.

Everything.

I told him my real name. Told him about my family being criminals and why I was hiding from them.

He was furious about so many of the things I told him. Furious that my presence in their lives endangered Delene. Furious that I hadn’t warned him. Furious that I had suffered at the hands of my own brother. Furious that I hadn’t felt safe enough to take him into my confidence. Furious that I was relying on Asa to keep me safe and not him and his club.

Thankfully his fury burnt hard and fast and then burnt out.

Once he got over it and accepted I needed to be safe but at the same time not endanger those I cared about, we talked some more. And then I made the mistake of telling him I was leaving the country to escape from my sick family.

He once again exploded.

I suppose I should have stopped there with the revelations. Stopped and waited for a better time to tell him I was pregnant.

I didn’t. I had felt almost compelled to come clean, to tell him everything.

To say my best friend wasn’t pleased was putting it mildly.

“Who the fuck is he and why isn’t he with you?” He demanded.

My shrug did not go over well.

“You better tell me who the motherfucker is before I get on my fucking bike, Joney. You know I will.” He threatened.

I knew him well, knew he would make good on the threat.

“Rider, please, I can’t tell you. Not yet anyway. I swear once I get to where I’m going I’ll tell you.” I tried to placate him.

“Not happening. You’re not doing this shit alone. I’m calling Chris and Scar to come over and watch Delene then I’m on my bike. You tell that Asa fucker I’m on my way and he’d better see to it that they open the gates when I get there. If they don’t there will be hell to pay. I’m not joking, Joney, you know me, you know I mean what I say. You’re. Not. Doing. This. Alone.”

Oh shit. The mood he was in he would do exactly what he was threatening to do. My bestie was not to be crossed when he got a bit rage-y.

“Rider, please, please don’t, don’t come here. They’re watching Asa’s compound. If they see you the bastards will start to wonder why you’re here, and what you have going on with Asa. It will put you and Delene on their radar and I don’t want that to happen.”

His answer came almost instantly.

“If you don’t want me there you tell me what I want to know. Who the fuck is he?”

Closing my eyes I drew in a deep breath and whispered his name. Whispered because since he left I have avoided saying his name out loud.

“Lucky.”

If I thought Rider was angry before I was wrong. It was like he turned into a raging animal.

“Motherfucking bastard. Pretending to be my fucking friend so he can get to a woman who means the fucking world to me and my baby girl. When I get my hands on that overgrown gorilla I’m going to kill him. With my bare fucking hands!”

As he raged my eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. Never, in all the time I’ve known him, have I seen Rider loose it. And right now he has definitely lost it. I’ve never heard him swear as much as he was doing right now.

“Rider!” I called out trying to get his attention.

I had to do it more than once before he looked at me. His hard brown eyes met mine through the screen, his nostrils were flared and he was breathing heavily. His cheekbones were tinged red his lips clamped in a thin tight line, his jaw bulging with how he was gritting his teeth.

He looked alive, involved, in the present, something that has been missing since the very first time I met him. His rage made him come alive the way his love for Delene did. In a way it was awesome to see, but in another it was scary as hell.

“Tell me why that motherfucker isn’t here protecting you. Keeping you and your child safe.”

---