Page 11 of Bride for the Bikers

“Why would she tell you that?”

He looks at me with the kind of smirk that tells me the answer without words. All he’s wearing are boxer briefs, and the view has me swallowing hard. These guys might be bad news, but that doesn’t change the fact that he looks sculpted for pleasure. His broad chest tapering to a tight V, covered in scars and tattoos, with long, strong legs. “I’m going to take a quick shower.” It’s impossible not to watch as he pads with panther-like grace to the bathroom.

Lightning laughs out loud. “Guess one cock’s not enough.”

Thunder chuckles, and even Outlaw snorts in spite of clearly hating me.

“Don’t be gross,” I grumble.

“Nothing gross about being human,” says Thunder, not hiding the amusement in his tone. “Look all you want. Shit, I’d let you do more than that if we had the fucking time. I gotta ask, Harper. Tell me to fuck off if it’s none of my business, but we gotta wait for Shadow to get outta the shower and you don’t seem like the kind of pushover that would just do whatever the fuck she was told. What the fuck is going on?”

Ugh. I sit up, running my finger through my hair to comb out the tangles from letting it dry overnight. Last night, I couldn't imagine spilling all of this to my kidnappers. Maybe it’s having gotten some sleep, or just wanting someone to listen, but today I suddenly have a hard time keeping it in. “It's a long story. I never knew my father. Vincent. No matter how many times I asked,Mom wouldn’t say a word. All she ever told me was that it was another life, best forgotten. We didn’t have any other family that I knew about, so I figured she must’ve been disowned when she got pregnant with me. She was young. I never wanted her to feel sad about it, so I stopped asking eventually.”

“So Mesner was the one that tracked you down?” Lightning asks.

I shake my head. “No. A couple years ago Mom had a stroke. The doctors thought it was a random thing, but she kept having these episodes, and they couldn’t figure out what was going on. She… she kept getting worse and the doctors ran out of ideas that our crappy insurance would cover.” Even knowing she has a good chance at recovering now, it’s hard to talk about it. About dropping out of school to take care of her and work longer hours when she couldn’t anymore. About knowing there were potential treatments available but a computer somewhere didn’t think my mother was worth it. “A couple months ago, she was in the hospital. I was scared she wasn’t going to make it, so I started going through her things and found an old box full of stuff from when she was a teenager. There was a picture of her with this guy…”

“Mesner?”

“Yeah, but I had no idea who he was. There was just a V with a heart on the back, and an email. I wasn’t really expecting anything, but I was sad and alone, and this was someone who—even if he wasn’t my father—was a part of Mom’s past. Maybe it would at least be someone who could mourn with me after she was gone, you know?”

Shadow picks that moment to come back out, skin glistening and still only wearing his boxer briefs. “So you sent him an email and he just claimed to be your father?”

“The fucker’s worth hundreds of millions, if not more. No fucking way,” Outlaw says dismissively. “I bet he’s used to bitches claiming their kids are his.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Lightning growls.

I shake my head. “It’s probably true. We wrote back and forth a couple times before I asked if he knew of anyone that could be my father. He was the one that arranged for me to do a swab kit. A week later, the doctors were planning Mom’s new treatments and he was arranging for me to come out here to meet him once she was out of the woods.”

Shadow looks disgusted. “Life doesn’t mean shit unless it’s worth cold, hard cash, apparently.”

“Wait. If your mom’s still recovering, how long have you been here?”

“A little over a week I guess?”

“So you’ve known this fucker for months, max. Only met him in person a fuckingweekago and you were walking down the aisle with some random asshole he wanted you to marry? What the ever-loving fuck is that about?” Thunder spits out. “This is some daytime TV level shit.”

“I know! Why do you think I asked you to take me with you?” I throw my arms in the air, forgetting that I’m not wearing a bra, and then slap my arms back over my chest. But not before they all get a good look at my girls swinging free with the headlights clearly visible under the thin silk. They pretend it didn’t happen, but Lightning’s really bad at hiding his smirk. “Look, I came out here thinking my father was just some rich business guy. Real estate, investments, I don’t know and so long as it paid for Mom’s treatments and the fancy rehab place, I didn’t askquestions. The day after I got here he introduced me to Devin as his second-in-command or whatever, and then the next thing I knew, he was talking about how it would be so much easier to make sure Mom and I were taken care of if he could move money around. I’m not a lawyer, but he made it sound like if Devin was family, then they could do taxes differently, or… I have no idea.”

“That sounds shady as fuck,” Thunder growls, so deeply I can feel the vibrations through the bed. “He's using you, Harper.”

It’s both hard and a little gratifying to hear someone else say what I’ve been feeling. “But he's my father, right? He said it would only be for two years and it would just be for show. He saved my mother! Even if he’s a horrible person, isn’t putting my life on hold for a couple years still worth it?”

“That's fucked up.” Thunder slips out of bed to pull on his clothes. It's like watching a mostly naked mountain move. He barely seems real, and there are two of them! Lightning isn't any less impressive.

“I know…”

“I get it, though,” Shadow says softly. “My mother raised me by herself, and if she’d been fucking dying? I’d do a lot worse to keep her breathing.”

Outlaw stands. His build is leaner than the others, but nobody would call him weak. His tattoos ripple and sway as his muscles move, and they're everywhere. Almost everywhere below his chin has something inked on it, different colors, different styles, different everything, like a living patchwork. And studs through his nipples, I realize when he turns my way before pulling on his shirt. I'll freely admit it's really hard not to stare at so much masculine perfection, each mouthwatering in their own way.

“This is all touching and shit, but we’ve gotta move.”

“You’re coming back, right?” I know we can’t stay together forever, but the idea of being alone and having to decide what to do terrifies me.

Shadow and Thunder exchange a serious look and Shadow shakes his head slightly. “We have to get out of town, Harper. Your asshole father won’t cooperate too much with the cops, but we still did a lot of fucking damage yesterday and our pictures are probably all over the fucking place. The longer we’re away from the club, the more dangerous it is for us.” His tone is gentle, but crushing.

“Right. Of course.” They’re in a club, or a gang or whatever. They have somewhere to go that will protect them. People waiting for them.

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