Renee giggled.
“Sounds about right.”
Then it clicked with David what his mother was up to. He put his bottle on the railing and crossed his arms.
“Okay, I give. What are you suggesting, Mom?”
“Me?” Renee pretended to be wide-eyed and innocent. “I’m not suggesting anything.”
“Don’t lie to me, you know I don’t like it. What’s going on?”
He thought Renee was going to dance around the subject, something that his mother was not known for doing. Then his mother’s grin softened and she nodded towards the door.
“I just think that you couldn’t go wrong with her.”
So, she was trying to put them together. Renee was known as a matchmaker but David had made it clear that he would not be a subject for her. He wasn’t interested in settling down with someone. Renee was good at matching people together but people were good at hiding their true selves when they heard a billionaire was trying to find a prospective partner. David knew a gold-digger when he saw one and kept well away from those people. If he had to interact or thought they would be good in bed, he made it up front that it was just one night, maybe two if they were lucky, and that was it. Every girl knew the score up front and it wasn’t his fault if they took it the wrong way and thought they could get more from him.
And his family wondered why he used a fake name every so often.
But Dagmar was not a gold-digger. She hadn’t even batted an eyelid at the fact he had ten times more money than she would in her entire career. But there was a very definite spark and David knew that wasn’t faked. Dagmar wanted him as much as he wanted her.
However, Dagmar was not a person to have a one-night stand. At least, David didn’t think she was. He was going to damn well try and find out but it was all going to hell if Dagmar refused to have anything to do with him unless it was a relationship. Or she slept with him and wanted more. David didn’t want to ruin the moment.
Even though he had spent a lot of the time avoiding her as well as Brittany.
“You’re trying to set me up with someone I barely know? I thought we agreed I was off-limits, Mom.”
Renee shrugged.
“Well, I think she’d be a great addition to the family.”
She may have been a great addition but David wanted to find out if she was a great addition to his bed first. If he even thought about a relationship, it would be up to him, not Renee and his family.
“No matchmaking, Mom. And I don’t think Dagmar would appreciate it. She only broke up with her ex last week.”
“Well, I’m just saying.” Renee nudged him. “If you go into a relationship with her, you would have my blessing.”
“Good to know,” David muttered.
Then his ears pricked up. He could hear the sound of several car exhausts coming into the street. There were far too many and they sounded rather unhealthy. His gut said it sounded like trouble.
Leaning over the side of the balcony, David shouted down to Nick.
“What’s going on down there, bro?”
Nick had hurried to the edge of the yard to look out into the street. He looked up at David, his expression grim.
“Susie’s back. And she’s got reinforcements.”
*****
Dagmar heard the sounds of the exhausts and winced. They sounded like they were moments away from falling apart. Slipping off her chair at the dining table, she padded over to the living room window and looked out. Nick’s grandmother, a lovely little lady in her nineties, looked up from her cross-stitching.
“What is it, Dagmar, dear?”
Dagmar’s heart sank when she saw an array of cars that looked like they were borderline to passing their service parked all over the cul-de-sac, blocking all the other vehicles in. She saw Susie get helped out of one of the cars. Her ankle was wrapped up tightly and she was leaning heavily on a thickset dark-haired man in his late twenties. They started making their way towards the house, people climbing out of the other cars and joining them.
They had to be mad. Dagmar couldn’t believe they could be so brazen.
“Dagmar? What…?”
Brittany joined Dagmar and looked out. Dagmar saw her face go pale.
“Oh, God.”
She looked like she was about to freak. Dagmar grabbed her arm and gently drew her away from the window.
“Don’t panic, Britt. That’s exactly what they want.” She urged her friend to sit beside Nick’s grandmother Laura. “Miss Laura, would you mind showing Brittany how to do some cross-stitch? We’ve got a little problem arising and I need Brittany calm.”
“Of course, Miss Dagmar, dearie.”
Laura started talking to Brittany and the younger woman was too polite to walk away. Robson Mach’s mother was just too nice and nobody had the heart to leave the sharp-minded woman who could barely walk.
Dagmar hurried into the hall just as David came hurrying down the stairs, his mother close behind him. Nick came running through from the kitchen. Both men looked grim. Renee hopped down past them and hurried towards the kitchen.
“I’ll call the police. Don’t let them in or there will be a bloodbath.”
Nick made a face.
“That’s a shame. I feel like pummelling someone.”
Dagmar frowned at David.
“I thought Brittany had a restraining order on Susie?”
“An emergency one. They’re going for a longer-term one tomorrow.”
Dagmar grunted.
“And that’s going to be one day too late. With backup on her side.” Then Dagmar spied one of the teenagers standing near them watching them, mostly her. She beckoned him over. “What’s your name, honey?”
The boy blushed as he took his headphones off.
“Tim, ma’am.”
“Have you got a camera phone on you?”
“Of course.”
Tim proudly displayed his phone. Dagmar pointed him towards the living room.
“Go to the window, put the video on record, and point it at the people on the lawn. We can match names to faces later.”
Tim nodded and hurried into the other room. Dagmar turned and saw David and Nick walking towards the front door. They were actually going to confront her? They had to be nuts.
Dagmar wasn’t about to stand there and do nothing. That wasn’t her style. She hurried after them, grabbing David’s arm.
“Wait for me.”
“Where are you going?”
“What do you think? I’m coming with you.”
David’s eyes widened. Then he shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
Nick snorted.
“David, you’re talking to Dagmar Gable. Of course she’s coming with us.”
“Like hell,” David growled.
Dagmar liked the protective side flaring up. He did care to an extent. His protective streak for his family was a mile wide. It was nice to be placed on the edge of that same category.
David frowned at her, clearly not happy about her coming along.
“She’s going to go mad when she sees you.”
Dagmar rolled her eyes.
“You think that’s going to be any different when she sees you guys? I’m not going anywhere. Don’t try and move me.”
David was bigger than her, but he wouldn’t lay a hand on her. And Dagmar was prepared to stay firm and not budge. She could see the realization dawn in David’s eyes as he figured this out. He sighed and shook his head, waving his hand dismissively.
“Fine. But Nick and I will do the talking. Don’t go past us.”
Dagmar wasn’t planning on taking each and every one of them on in an all-out fight. She shrugged.
“Fine by me.”
Nick glowered at the two of them, his hand on the catch.
“If you two have quite finished? I want to get rid of some trippers on my lawn.”
He opened the door and went out, David following close behind. Dagmar joined them on the porch
and saw Susie and the young man she was hobbling with reach the halfway point on the lawn. Nick jumped off the porch and walked towards them. His hands were clenched at his sides and he looked about ready to blow. Dagmar hovered on the porch and watched as they stopped within feet of each other like a Mexican standoff.
“Get out of here, Susie,” Nick growled. “The cops have already been called.”
Susie shrugged. She looked awful compared to the other week, even worse than she had high and drunk. Her hair hung limply on her shoulders and she was much thinner than Dagmar realized. How this woman was still standing upright, albeit against someone, was beyond her.
“Let them come,” Susie challenged. “We’re not going anywhere.”
It sounded like she was very confident of that. Had she forgotten that an emergency protective order had been sent to her?
“Really? Because you’re violating an emergency order,” Nick shot back. “My dad is back there and he’s got a gun. He’s not afraid to use it after what you did to his granddaughter.”
Susie brushed this off. Dagmar couldn’t believe how unaffected she was about hurting Rachelle.
“I’m here to talk to my granddaughter, Melanie.”
Nick snorted.
“Melanie wants nothing to do with you after seeing what you did to her sister. And she’s not your granddaughter.”
“She is!” the young man Susie was leaning against snarled. “My brother is Melanie’s father. She has every right.”
“Luke’s rights were terminated in court two years ago.” David had hung back before this and now he was traipsing across to join his brother. “Nick adopted Melanie the same day. He’s her father now, which means you have no rights to Melanie.”
Susie snarled. She still looked confident that she was going to get past them.
“You can’t terminate blood.”
Dagmar stiffened. She knew from Nick that he and David had been abandoned by their biological parents. They had been turned over to the state and had been lucky enough that Robson Mach picked them up from foster care. A total stranger had cared for Nick and David better than their own parents. Susie was saying that statement to the wrong people.
“Court of law says you can terminate blood,” Nick said with a snarl. “And if you think I’m going to let any of you in there after you tried to kidnap and hurt my daughter, the one who’s not even related to you, you’re fucking deluded.”
Susie sneered at him. Dagmar wondered at her position. Surely she knew getting past a protective family who wanted her blood was not going to work. Then Dagmar saw the look on Eddie’s face and the gun not-so-subtly hidden under his jacket, and she realized why she was looking so confident. They were going to shoot their way in.
Oh, boy.
“We are going to see Melanie,” Eddie said, and a few of the raggedy men behind him nodded fervently.
David folded his arms. Dagmar saw the muscles in his back flex.
“I think not. You haven’t forgotten you’re supposed to be in court tomorrow, Susie? I’m sure the judge is going to love that you violated the EPO the day before it was to be amended.”
Susie snorted.
“I’m a little old lady with a botched-up ankle. The judge isn’t going to grant that.”
“Oh, he will.” David waved towards the window. “You’re being recorded right now, showing that you are violating the emergency order. Get out of here or Dad will be out here with guns.”
“Make us.”
Dagmar couldn’t believe how stupid these people were. They were aiding in violating an emergency protective order and yet they were standing here expecting to be let in. Susie had to still have drugs in her system to believe this. Either that or she didn’t believe the rules applied to her.
Then Susie looked past the brothers and spied Dagmar on the porch. Her eyes widened before her face went bright red. Dagmar was surprised steam didn’t start coming out of her ears. She tugged on Eddie’s arm and pointed at Dagmar.
“There she is. There’s the bitch that assaulted me!”
Dagmar barked out a laugh.
“You fell over yourself. I simply restrained you.”
But Susie wasn’t listening. She turned to her son, pointing towards Dagmar with a yellowed fingernail.
“Get her, Eddie. I want to make her pay.”
Eddie flexed his muscles and started towards Dagmar. He had barely gone two paces before David stepped in front of him. Eddie puffed out his chest and squared up to him.
“Get out of my way or I’ll make you.”
Chapter 6
Dagmar almost laughed out loud at that. Eddie was a head shorter than David and scrawny. David could pick him up with one hand and flick him into the next state. She couldn’t see David’s expression but was sure he wasn’t smiling like he was happy to see Eddie.
“Touch her and I’ll break both your legs. And if any of you get past us, you’ll be going to the hospital or the morgue, depending on how stubborn you are to leave.” Then he shouted over his shoulder. “Dad, are you there?”
“Just coming, son.”
Then Dagmar saw Robson Mach coming around the side of the house, a huge shotgun in his hands. Behind him were several of David’s adopted brothers, all of them bearing arms. They started to fan out across the lawn, putting a wall of people between Susie and her little party and the house. David glanced back at Dagmar and she saw the evil grin on his face. He was actually enjoying the conversation.
Why did this make her feel aroused?
David turned back to Eddie, whose cocky expression had suddenly turned nervous.
“You want to try it, Eddie? Try it.”
Eddie was backtracking very quickly. Up against one man, he could have got away with thinking he could win. But a dozen men carrying guns? He knew when he was beat.
He shook his head and backed up, grabbing his mother’s arm.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“What?” Susie screeched, almost falling over as Eddie tugged a little too hard to make her follow. “But what about Melanie? We have to get her out of there! These people are thugs!”
“And you lot are a bunch of crackhead bullies,” Nick shot back. “Which faction do you think Melanie’s safer with?”
“They mean it, Mom,” Eddie pleaded. “Let’s go.”
It was almost hysterical to Dagmar to see Eddie pulling his mother back to their car, their various relatives scattering to their vehicles. Susie was trying to put up a fight and pull back, attempting to go back to the house. But her ankle gave up on her each time. Finally, she sat on the sidewalk and screamed like a baby.
“Melanie! It’s Grammy! She’s going to get you out of there so stay safe, darling!”
Dagmar had to cringe. Her voice sounded absolutely awful at the normal level but at that scream it made Dagmar’s ears ring.
Finally, Eddie managed to get his mother into the car and it spun its tires before screeching around in an arc, leaving deep skid marks on the tarmac before careening down the street.
David’s family started to break up. They lowered their guns and started back to the house, laughing and shaking their heads. Nick joined his father going around the side of the house while David joined Dagmar. Dagmar could feel the heat prickling deep in her belly as he approached. Something like that should not be a turn-on. Why was her body screaming for her to jump David and have sex with him on the porch? This was not her at all.
“You okay?”
Dagmar looked up. David was looking at her strangely. Dagmar blushed, realizing that she had been openly staring at him. She coughed and licked her lips.
“I’m fine. I…I’d better go and check on the kids.”
She hurried inside, aware that David was watching her leave.
*****
The day had gone better than David had expected. With the exception of Susie and her gang trying to gate-crash a barbecue, it went along swimmingly. Rachelle was doing well despite having just been let out of
the hospital and Nick, Brittany, and Melanie seemed to be calmer than before. David was glad that Melanie, especially, didn’t seem so shellshocked over what had happened. Having said that, she did stay near her little sister for most of the barbecue.
And Dagmar had been a hit with everyone. His parents had welcomed her with open arms and the rest of his biker family had relaxed. There were a few of the older generation who were a little wary, mainly because of her skin color, but Dagmar was friendly and put them at ease. By the end of the evening, all of them were practically eating out of her hand.
She didn’t seem bothered at all that his family was a biker gang. They didn’t have the best reputation in the world but they all had hearts of gold. Which was why David didn’t gravitate far from them. He would always stay in Houston because of the people he had grown up with; they were his family and David believed that families stuck together.
Even against other families that had turned completely crazy.
Brittany did try to get his attention a few times. They had a conversation on the back porch while the children were playing but that was it. And David made sure he was within sight of everyone. Whenever there was a chance for Brittany to get him alone, David was certain to keep someone else close by. He didn’t want a replay of what had happened before Rachelle’s attempted kidnap.
Chances were his family wouldn’t be too keen to see the mother of an injured tot openly hankering after her brother-in-law.
It was embarrassing. David knew it was ridiculous. He was in his forties and had a business he had built from the ground up since he was in college. He was an independent man who could have any woman he wanted. But the one woman he knew was out of bounds – and would have been off his list due to having a child – kept coming after him, ignoring the fact she was in a committed relationship and he didn’t want her.
Renee had to have seen it. His mother had hovered nearby, more often than she had done before. It was annoying but David was grateful that afternoon. He had a feeling Brittany was going to put him in a position where he couldn’t argue with her and then if they were caught Brittany could blame David. With his status of taking women whenever he felt like it, that would be more believable.
Fallen For A Biker_BWWM Romance Page 6
