I didn’t mind, to be honest. I loved having a full house, and it was big enough that if I needed to escape, I could. Plus, they’d be free labor when I needed to start setting up for a club party we were hosting.
We’d moved in two months after we closed on the house. Doom had helped his father with the kitchen renovation and ended up doing most of it himself with the help of Otter and a few of the bikers. Once we did the kitchen, though, we decided to upgrade the bathrooms, so that tacked on a few more weeks.
We were in two days after that.
Caspar’s nurse, Andi, was able to hook him up with her brother-in-law who owned one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and he built Caspar a ‘bionic’ hand. Caspar thought it was a ‘fuckin’ hoot,’ and said he could do more with that hand than he ever could with his real one. Brooke was starting to warm up to the club again, but she’d refused to walk inside for close to a year. I had a feeling Caspar had a come to Jesus meeting with her, only because if it had happened to Otter, he told me in no uncertain terms that me staying away from his family would not fly.
Us women tried our best to rally around her and I could see that her anger lessened as the months wore on. Now that I was part of the ‘old ladies,’ I was given a gorgeous pendant that was really a panic button. If I activated it, Otter would know exactly where I was and would come for me.
Beau had shed his idiot persona and was now the brother and uncle I always knew he could be. You could have knocked me over with a feather to discover he was an undercover cop the entire time he’d been acting the fool, but now that I was protected fully, he felt he could let his guard down and just be my brother.
And he loved Bodhi. Lordy, these two are thick as thieves, and I knew he was going to be an amazing father when he finally met his ‘person.’
Otter’s mother had been accepted into a drug trial and was actually doing better. We tried to visit her once a week and brought Bodhi with us, which made her happy. His brother, Steele, had moved back to Savannah and into my condo. The arrangement was working out perfectly and it meant I could keep my place which was a good retirement move in the future. One of the recruits had moved into Otter’s place, and I was quite frankly glad to be free of it.
Daphne was in the wind as far as I knew. It’s not like anyone would update me on her, but I liked to believe she was gone for good. After the shock had worn off about Darci, I’d broken down and finally mourned the loss of my best friend. The loss part happened long before she died, but I’d never dealt with it, and the fact she was dead really messed with me. The bullet that killed her had come from Sparkles’ gun, and it was way too accurate to have been an accidental crossfire, but no one would ever really know if Sparkles had killed her on purpose. Darci had been into Daphne and her crew for a drug debt of several thousand dollars, and this saddened me, even if it wasn’t a surprise. Darci obviously had demons I knew nothing about.
I had decided to take a year off of work now that Bodhi was here, but I honestly didn’t know if I could go back. I loved being home too much. Otter said if I wanted to stay home, I could, so I figured we’d address that when we crossed that bridge.
Bodhi began to fuss, pulling me from my memories, so I switched him to my other breast just as Otter walked in, looking hot as fuck in his cut and tight T-shirt. “Hey, honey.”
“Hey, beautiful.” He grinned, settling his hand on Bodhi’s head. “Did he sleep long?”
“Almost three hours,” I said.
Bodhi smiled up at his daddy, but never once let his mouth leave my nipple. He knew his priorities.
Otter cupped my chin. “Did you sleep?”
“With all that noise going on outside?” I challenged.
“Right,” he said, and stalked toward the door.
“I didn’t mean…” I didn’t finish my sentence as he was already gone.
“Hey, assholes!” Otter bellowed so loud, it startled Bodhi and he scrunched his little face up as tears filled his eyes. I shouldn’t have opened the window.
“It’s okay, baby,” I crooned, stroking his cheek as he tried to decide if he was going to cry or suckle. After a few seconds, he decided food was more important. “Daddy’s just making sure everyone is quiet so we can rest. That’s his protection voice. It’s kind of overkill, but I imagine you’ll be doing the same thing when you become a man.”
Bodhi didn’t care. He’d fallen asleep again, so I lifted him to my shoulder and rubbed his back, eliciting a loud burp, then a hiccup, before he went limp again. I set him back in his crib just as Otter walked back in. I settled my finger to my lips and Otter grinned, closing the window, then taking my hand. “You’re going to bed, but before that, I have something to show you.”
“You finished,” I breathed out.
“I finished.”
Otter had been working on a sculpture for the better part of six months, and he refused to let me see any of it until it was done. It had taken me two months to convince him to show me anything, willingly. He was shy when it came to his art, but there was no reason for it. He was amazing. After finding the portfolios, he was a little irked to discover that I’d gone through one of them, but finally showed me a few things, and we now had his self-portrait and a couple of his landscapes framed and on our walls.
I let out a quiet squeal of excitement. “Show me.”
He chuckled, leading me out to the back yard, before moving behind me and using his beefy hands as a blindfold. “No peeking.”
I slid my hands to his wrists and squeezed. “Don’t let me fall into the pool.”
“I won’t, baby,” he promised, and guided me a few more steps before we came to a stop. “Keep your eyes closed.”
“Okay,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest.
He pulled his hands away, kissing the back of my neck. “Open your eyes.”
I did and I suddenly couldn’t breathe. The sculpture was about six-feet-tall and it took my breath away… literally. “Easy. Oh. My. God.”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. This is going to sound weird, but it reminds me of us.”
He grinned, turning me to face him. “It is us. I’m calling it ‘Love Abides.’”
I bit back tears, wrapping my arms around his waist. “It’s perfect, honey. Thank you.”
He leaned down and kissed me. “We can talk about where you want it after you sleep.”
“Here, I want it right here. It’s perfect.”
“Okay, baby. Come on, time for bed,” he said and led me to our bedroom.
“I just made it,” I countered. “The pillows are exactly where I want them.”
“You can remake it,” he said.
“I have too much—”
“Bed,” he repeated. “No one’s gonna make any noise and we’ll set up everything for tonight, quietly.”
“Grab the monitor.”
He held up the monitor already in his hand. “I’ve got Bodhi covered, Loh. Go to bed.” He leaned down and kissed me, lifting me and dropping me gently on the bed.
I nodded as I yawned. “Fine.”
He chuckled as I stretched out and he laid a blanket over me. Leaning down to kiss my cheek, he whispered, “I love you, baby.”
“Love you, too,” I whispered, and closed my eyes.
As much as I hated to admit it, my brother’s shenanigans had led me to my forever, and I would owe him a debt of gratitude for the rest of my life. I’d gone all in, laid my cards on the table, and had been rewarded with a full house.
Copyright © 2018 by Trixie Publishing, Inc.
Andi Rivers has had a hard life. She’s working on putting the pieces back together after a failed marriage that nearly broke her. Returning to the one place she’d rather forget, Andi finds that an old flame could reignite a fire she never knew was burning.
Dalton Moore has spent the past few years living in Scotland, close to his sister who has been "bound" into an immortal race of Vikings. His focus has been on keeping h
er and their newfound family safe, until his father has a heart attack and Dalton rushes to his parents' side.
In coming home, he's once again face-to-face with the woman who broke his heart years ago and she's not ready to let him in. When she's threatened by an unknown source, he finds himself unwilling to let her go.
But will holding on mean losing his life...or hers?
Andi
Ten Years Ago…
I HAD JUST graduated from St. Vincent’s Academy and I couldn’t have been happier to be done with high school. Especially since my best friend, Aspen, and I were heading to her grandparents’ beach house on Tybee Island for a week of girl time.
The past two years could only have been described as a miracle. Starting with the arduous process of emancipating myself from my adoptive parents and taking refuge with Aspen’s family. I’m sure my birth parents had given me up for adoption to give me a better life, but they failed… miserably.
“You ready?” Aspen asked from the doorway of my bedroom.
I grinned and zipped up my bag as I bit back a yawn. “More than ready.”
“Are you dreaming again?” she asked.
I sighed. “Yes, but nothing violent. Just weird things like fire and sugar.”
Aspen laughed. “Like you’re burning sugar?”
I shook my head. “No, just something’s burning in a fire and I’m pouring sugar in a bowl. It’s super random and weird.”
“No, you’re just super random and weird.”
I nodded. “True dat.”
Aspen Westwood and I came from the same “stock” as my mother always used to say. Wealthy debutantes who were full of southern charm and grace. Of course, my mother was insane and didn’t actually know Aspen. If she did, she’d know my bestie took shit from no one and if she didn’t like something (or someone), her southern charm went right out the window as she told you exactly what she thought. It’s what I absolutely loved the most about her. She was the reason I was still sane, and probably the reason I was even still alive.
“What’s with the serious look?” she asked as she drove.
I shook off my maudlin thoughts. “I was just thinking about how much has happened over the last two years.”
“Holy cow, you went there?”
“Yeah.” I giggled. “But not in a bad way. I feel great. I get the first grant from my trust in two weeks and can stop living off your parents.”
“They don’t mind. Plus, it’s awesome for me. I have a real-life sister and can try to forget the fact I have three stupid brothers.”
I laughed. “Oh, it’s so hard for you having three older brothers who dote on you. Wanna trade?”
“No.” She gave me a sad smile. “Sorry, I really shouldn’t complain.”
“Aspen, I didn’t say that so you wouldn’t complain,” I countered. “My brother is a psychopath who’s finally locked up, which means I, as well as all woman-kind, are safe from him. It’s all good. I just wish my parents would have been held responsible.”
“They had to pay money, right?”
“Ten-thousand dollars,” I ground out. “My dad makes that in less than a day.”
My parents had hidden Jethro after he’d attacked and attempted to rape a freshman girl two years ago. My father had almost got him out of the country, but the FBI had caught them trying to leave on one of the company planes. I didn’t know how it all went down, only that I had to make a tough choice in the wake of Jet’s arrest. Nothing could have prepared me for that day.
“He does?” Aspen asked, surprised, once again pulling me from my thoughts. We really didn’t discuss the level of wealth our parents had amassed… it didn’t really make any difference in the grand scheme of things. We were at an exclusive all-girls school and had a nice group of friends away from the popular cliques, so we’d built our own safe world.
“Yeah. I really wish they’d put my parents in jail as well,” I lamented. “They’re the ones who created the monster.”
“I still wonder how you turned out so normal.”
I chuckled. “My Nana. And you guys. Seriously, I’d be useless without you… plus I think nature vs. nurture plays a big role in this.”
Aspen nodded. “That is so very true.”
I let out a quiet snort just as Aspen pulled into the garage of the beach house. We climbed out, grabbed our bags, and walked into the refuge that was called “Weekend’s Worth.”
I took in a deep breath and sighed. “There is nothing like the sea air.”
“No doubt,” she agreed as she flipped on lights and then headed to the smaller master bedroom overlooking the ocean.
I could have chosen to sleep in the other master bedroom, but instead I chose the blue room, even though there was only a full-sized bed and no attached bathroom. It was my favorite place in the whole house. It always had been. Periwinkle blue walls with white wainscoting and thick floor and ceiling molding gave the room a rich and classic look. It had a large picture window overlooking the dock that led straight to the open ocean, and on a clear day I could see dolphins playing in the water.
I threw my bag on the bed and changed into my bikini before meeting Aspen in the living room. “Swim first, then—?” she asked, her nose scrunching up in apprehension.
“Um, duh,” I interrupted. “Swim most definitely first.”
“It’s freezing,” she complained.
“It is not freezing,” I countered. “It’s just right.”
She grumbled, but followed me down to the water where we had a quick dip (it was actually really cold), and then headed back to the house to shower and eat.
I pulled my long blonde hair into a scrunchy on top of my head to let it dry and then headed to the kitchen. Aspen peeked her head in a few minutes later. “Whatya cookin’?”
“It looks like Gran’s housekeeper left us a few things in the freezer,” I said, and waved my hand over the neatly stacked frozen foods. “Lasagna?”
“How long will it take to reheat?”
“The label says thirty to forty minutes.”
Aspen shrugged. “Sounds good. Need help?”
“Nope, I’ve got it.”
“Meet me in Grannie’s parlor when you’re done. I have something to show you.”
“Okey doke.”
I preheated the oven, slid the glass dish with the premade lasagna in, and set the timer, then went looking for Aspen. Grannie’s parlor looked like something out of the thirties, floral and over the top, and it was awesome, because it was all Gertrude Westwood. I don’t think she’d ever changed anything in this room from the time they built it. Aspen had a large photo album settled on her lap.
“Whatya got there?” I asked, flopping onto the antique settee against the wall.
She grinned and slid it to me. “I found it when I was going through the closet.”
“Are you allowed in the closet?”
She rolled her eyes. “If I wasn’t allowed in the closet, they would have locked it.”
“Aspen,” I said, in suspicion.
“Okay, if I wasn’t allowed in the closet, they shouldn’t have made a lock that was so easy to pick.”
I coughed on a giggle sliding the album back to her. “You scare me sometimes, you know that right?”
“Of course.” She pushed the book back. “But look. Grannie wrote a list and then put Grandad’s picture next to it.”
“What kind of list?”
“I think it’s a wish list. A man wish list.”
“What the heck is a man wish list?” I leaned in trying to read the faded lettering. “Two-inches taller, no more. Ah, green eyes—”
“No,” Aspen corrected. “Green eye.”
I wrinkled my nose. “She wanted a short man with one green eye?”
Aspen giggled. “Grandad does have only one green eye.”
“He’s not a Cyclops, Aspen.”
“No, but he has one green eye and one blue.”
“He does?”
Aspen nodded. “Y
ep.”
“I can’t believe I never noticed that before,” I said, and turned back to the list. “Look like Anthony Perkins.” I frowned. “The Psycho guy? Wasn’t he gay?”
“I don’t think they knew that back then.”
“But he’s so… I don’t know, emaciated looking.”
“He had the skinny nerd thing going on, though. Of course, not sure how you could find Norman Bates sexy, but Gran’s always been a little weird.”
“I think if I was her age, I’d have gone for 1950s Clint Eastwood.”
“Oh, yeah, he was hot.”
“Okay, what else?” I mused, and then giggled. “She wrote on here, Carnie.”
“What?” Aspen leaned in. “Ohmigod, it does say Carnie.”
“Like, as in carnival worker?”
“Andi, Grandad was a mechanic who fixed carnival rides.”
“Shut up! When?”
“A million years ago. I think it was when they first met.” She took the album back and flipped to the back page and blank pages of stationery fell out. “Oh, crap.”
I dropped to the floor to help her gather the pages. “This looks like the same paper she wrote the list on.”
“I think it is,” Aspen agreed, and then smiled up at me. “Do you think…?”
“That we should write a list of what we want in a man?” I sat back on the sofa. “On your Grannie’s special paper, no less?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Come on, Andi, it’ll be fun.”
“We have already invaded her privacy, Aspen. I don’t feel comfortable stealing from her, too.”
“It’s paper, honey, not the family jewels.” She grinned. “You could list all of Dalton Moore’s attributes and see if he comes to you.”
“Comes to me? Like in a vapor?” I joked.
“That would be so cool!”
My heart stuttered and feelings I’d stuffed deep inside long, long ago, slid into my mind briefly. “What brought that on?”
Calling the Biker's Bluff (Dogs of Fire MC: Savannah Chapter Book 7) Page 19
