by Simone Elise
“He’s family. I protect family with my life. You know that.” He took Tyson. “Now, what are we going to watch, Tyson?”
Colorful, loud and annoying kids’ shows. Torture, if you ask me. I headed back to the bar. The boys were already reaching for the liquor bottles. The girls weren’t up yet and there was no food prepared. I should organize things so that doesn’t happen again tomorrow. The boys were grumpy enough, let alone without food.
“We will get food on the way,” I said to them as they piled into the room. I supposed a café would be open in town. I doubted their morning crowd would like a bunch of bikers showing up. But they would like the money I’d throw down for food. Knowing Tyson was settled for the day and I now had a vice president, I could move on to my list of things to do. First thing was food, and then splitting the boys up. Today I was planning on raiding every cookhouse we had on the map.
Then there was the post office we were camped out at. We would turn up something. Some lead. Something or anything that would lead me to Abby.
***
Kim
The sun coming in through the curtains woke me up. I blinked a few times. At first, I didn’t know where I was till I recalled the night before. Well, this morning. Right. Trigger’s room. I sat up. He was nowhere to be seen.
I lit up my phone that was sitting on the bedside table. And my eyes sprung wide open when I saw it was after one in the afternoon. Holy hell! I scattered, picking up my dress and threading my arms through it. I didn’t have any missed calls from Reaper, which meant he was still here looking after Tyson. I usually took over from him at like seven in the morning!
Oh my god! I had held him up all morning. He had more important things to be doing than looking after Tyson all day. I could do that. It was the only thing I was any good at. Why didn’t he call? Why the hell didn’t someone wake me the fuck up?!
I grabbed my phone and opened the door. I couldn’t believe I’d slept for so long. I doubted any of the girls had organized the boys’ breakfast and now it was after lunch. Considering it was me who organized the meals, it would be fair to say I was about to walk down to a bunch of hungry and grumpy bikers. I was prepared for the worst. Right down to the Reaper being in a foul mood. But, after taking the stairs two at a time, I entered an empty bar.
OK. Where the hell was everyone?
Why wasn’t I walking into chaos right now?
I heard the sound of the TV and followed it. Rounding the corner, I saw something I had never expected to see in my lifetime.
Trigger with Tyson. Trigger was holding Tyson with one arm and they both were watching something on television. I went unnoticed till Trigger glanced away from the TV for a second.
I was just standing here, staring in complete awe. Words weren’t coming to me.
“You’re up. You hungry? Thought we could go out for lunch.” Trigger turned the TV off and got up.
“You... me...Tyson...,” I stuttered, unable to form words.
“They are the three people in the room, Kim.” His voice had a mocking tone to it.
“No.” I shook my head. “What are you doing with Tyson?”
“Looking after him.”
My mouth hung open. I was still processing. “Why the hell didn’t you wake me up?”
“You needed sleep.” His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me. “Did you even have a shower before coming down here?”
My hair would be a mess, and I was sure I still looked half asleep, but I was wide awake. “Of course not! Reaper counts on me looking after Tyson. The routine is I take over from him at seven. You should have woken me up!”
“As you can see, we managed fine without you this morning. Believe it or not, Kim, the world doesn’t fall apart if you sleep in. And you needed it, too.”
“Did the boys get breakfast this morning? Does Reaper even know you are taking care of Tyson? ’Cause I doubt he was jumping for joy about the idea.”
“Yeah, Reaper has no idea. I just took Tyson when he wasn’t watching.” Trigger rolled his eyes at me, walking around me. “You ready for lunch?”
“Don’t even think you are getting out of this that easy. Why the hell did you volunteer to look after Tyson? In fact, why the hell did you get up this morning before me?” I gasped. “YOU TURNED MY ALARM OFF!” That was the reason I was always up at seven. Or before. Alarms. Why did it take me this long to remember that?
Trigger walked past me, holding Tyson. “You grab the stroller, Kim.”
“What did Reaper say when he couldn’t find me this morning?”
“Just grab the stroller, Kim.”
“Did you tell him I slept with you last night?”
Trigger turned and looked at me. “I’m not telling anyone my business. What happens between you and me stays between you and me. Simple.”
“So you’re ashamed.”
“Fuck, you’re annoying. Grab the stroller. I’m hungry.”
I wouldn’t let this happen. Nope. Not now. Not ever. I was not letting Trigger play with my heart again.
“I want to make something crystal fucking clear to you, Trigger.” I took a step closer to him, poking a finger into his chest. “You and I aren’t anything. Not friends. Not lovers. When it comes to you and me, we are nothing. Got that? So next time you see me drinking at three in the morning, leave me the fuck alone and don’t get involved with Reaper’s and my plans. You might be acting sweet now but I know you. I know you better than you know yourself. Come tonight, you will be with another girl and I won’t be heartbroken. Because I’m over you. Now give me Tyson. And you get the fucking stroller.” I took Tyson and walked around him. I had to hold my ground. If I didn’t, I would become the crushed girl with the broken heart again. I wouldn’t go back to that. Not for him. Not for anyone.
Men used and abused.
I wasn’t stupid. I’d learned my lesson.
Trigger equaled heartbreak. So when tonight came and I saw him laughing and drinking with another girl, as if she was something special, I wouldn’t be tearing up about it and I wouldn’t be wanting to rip the girl’s hair out.
Trigger wasn’t getting in. Not again. My heart was sealed when it came to him.
***
The boys were partying. Hard. They were actually celebrating. We finally got a solid lead on Abby. It took Reaper’s fists to get it out of the guy, but we knew now she was staying at Jake’s house. She was alive. And he had people coming to the house for pick-ups and drop-offs.
So there was going to be one person out there somewhere who knew the address of Jake’s house.
Reaper also found out Jake’s house was on the outskirts of town. So Abby hadn’t been taken that far. The chances of finding her alive were higher now than ever.
“You alright?”
I turned around to see Reaper. “Tyson’s with Dad.” I turned my back on him and started to flip over the meat. It was after eleven at night and the men were looking for midnight snacks. So meat was on the menu. I had already cooked half of it and it had basically been taken off the BBQ as soon as it was cooked.
“I didn’t ask if Tyson was OK.” I felt him walk toward me till he was standing next to me. “I asked if you were.”
I reached for my cider and took a gulp of it. “I’m fine.”
“You haven’t said much tonight.”
“Nothing to say.” I kept my eyes on the meat.
“Trigger giving you a hard time?”
I scoffed. After my outburst, he didn’t speak to me again. Which made for an awkward lunch and an even more awkward day, since he still insisted on hanging around. As soon as Reaper rode through the gates, though, Trigger was back to being himself and nowhere near to be seen.
When I didn’t respond, Reaper pressed me for more detail. “Kim?”
“Does he have to be the one to watch me? Can’t you get someone else to do it?” I gritted my teeth. I really didn’t need anyone to watch me to begin with.
“No. No, I don’t. In fact,” I turned to look up at him, “I would prefer anyone else watching me. Why can’t Dad do it?”
Reaper scoffed and crossed his arms. “He is too busy doing whatever it is he is doing.”
“What about Brad?”
“I need my VP.”
“Well, don’t you need Trigger? Surely he is good for something else other than just stalking the crap out of me.”
“I trust Trigger with you. And if he is with you, he isn’t pissing me off.”
I scowled at him. “So I get to be pissed off instead?”
He smirked at me. “Come on, you two will make up.”
“There is nothing to make up over. He is... him.” That was the trouble to begin with. I turned back to the meat, having burnt some of the steaks. I flipped them quickly.
“He loves you.”
I looked up, seeing him across the lot with a girl under one arm and beer in his hand. Just as I expected, he was laughing and having a gay old time.
“Yeah, of course he does. Because that’s what love looks like.” I pointed the tongs at them, then started to pick up the meat and dump it onto plates. “Here, do something useful and put these plates on the table. I’m going to bed.”
I handed Reaper the meat and he frowned, looking at me, like he was going to say something. But instead, he nodded his head and walked off with the plates.
I wiped my hands on a dishtowel, turned the BBQ off and turned around, walking straight into a hard chest.
I gasped as a cold beer spilled all over my chest. It was cold. It was wet. And it was completely unwanted.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” a guy I had never seen before started to apologize. Clearly not thinking about it, he reached out and attempted to dry my wet shirt with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
I slapped his hands off my breasts. It didn’t help I was wearing a white t-shirt and no bra underneath.
He noticed.
“Shit, sorry.”
I scoffed and started to walk around him. Having a see-through top on around so many men wasn’t going to go down well. I stepped to the left and he met my step, smirking down at me.
“But I’m not sorry about the view though.”
“PIG!” I couldn’t believe he just said that. Yes, my top was see-through. Thanks to him!
I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face with my fist.
“Here, hold this.” He handed me what was left of his beer.
It was an automatic response to take it. So here I was, holding his beer, with my top see-through. I watched him take off his leather vest and then his sweatshirt.
Revealing him in a t-shirt. He handed me his sweatshirt.
“Here, take it.”
“I was going to bed anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah, but if you go to bed, that means I can’t buy you a beer to say I’m sorry.”
“Considering we don’t charge for beer, I’d be interested to know where you were buying this beer from.”
“Come on, let me make it up to you.” He glanced over my shoulder. “And if I were you, I’d put the sweatshirt on. Before the men start circling.”
He had a point. It was bad enough being clothed around them. I took the sweatshirt from his hand and slipped it on. It was huge on me, going down to my knees.
“Now that you are covered, how about that drink?” He gave me a charming smile I didn’t think many women had said no to. He was charming. He was tall. He was handsome. Yep. Not many women would say no to him.
Even in this light, I could pick out his chiseled facial features, his strong jaw line, the tattoo that ran up one side of his neck, the way his blue eyes were twitching with desire. His hair was half shaved on the sides and longer on top. He was good looking and as he slipped his vest back on, I noticed one patch on his vest. President.
I knew most of the presidents. But I didn’t know him. Why hadn’t I seen him around before today? Seeing as I was feeding most of them, and was brought up meeting most of them throughout my life. But he was a complete stranger.
“Why don’t I know you?” I tilted my head, still studying him.
“The more important question is, why don’t I know you?” He smirked back at me. “So you on for that drink?”
I glanced over my shoulder. Trigger was still with that girl. Why did I let it bother me? “Yeah, why not?” I finally said, running a hand through my hair.
I was still glaring over my shoulder at Trigger when the guy came back with two beers. He gestured with his head for me to follow him. And I did. I was expecting us to just blend into the crowd of bikers. Instead, he peeled us off to a corner and an empty picnic table. He handed me a beer then stopped in front of me.
His hand went to my stomach and I was about to scream when his hand went into the pocket of the sweatshirt.
“Just need my smokes, sweetheart. Don’t stress.” He pulled them out of the pocket. And I took a steady breath in. Why did that make my blood spike?
There were still a hundred or so bikers and their friends in the lot. But I felt like we were separate from them.
He sat down at the picnic table and cracked open a beer. “So, what’s your name?” He lit up a cigarette.
“What’s your name?” I fired back at him. “And you still haven’t explained why I haven’t seen you around here.”
“You don’t like answering questions yourself.” He blew out a mouthful of smoke and smirked at me again. “Trent, and the reason, sweetheart, is I just rode in this afternoon. Reaper called my charter in last week but it’s a long ride to get here.”
“So you’ve been on the road for the last week?”
“Yep. So what’s your name?”
I chewed my bottom lip. Why did it seem like a big deal if I told him? I was so used to people just knowing who I was. I never had to introduce myself to anyone. I took a deep breath in. “Kim.”
“So, you hooked up with any man here?” He handed me the cigarette.
I took it from him, slowly putting it to my lips and sucking on it lightly. He was testing the waters, making sure he wasn’t stepping on anyone’s property. Not that I belonged to anyone to begin with.
“If I was, do you really think I’d be over here talking to you?” I handed him the cigarette back. “Trent. That’s not a biker name.”
“Don’t have one of those.”
“A president without a biker name. Interesting.”
“So what’s a girl like you doing at a party like this?” He tilted his head, trying to read my reaction.
“I live here.”
“So you’re a club girl?”
I laughed, nearly choking on my beer. “You saying I look like one?”
I felt like his eyes were going through me. “No, you don’t. Which is why things aren’t adding up.” He put his beer down and counted on his fingers. “You live here. But you said you don’t have a guy. You don’t look like a club girl. Yet something is telling me, despite all this, you are loyal to the club.”
“What has you saying that?” Him picking up that I was loyal to the club threw me. He barely knew me.
“Your shirt.” The smirk was back on his face. “I got a good look.”
“Right.” I blushed. My Satan’s Sons top. Well, at least he noticed the logo and not just my breasts. “Glad to see you looked so closely.”
“What can I say? I liked the view.” He laughed, and it lit up his whole face, causing me to laugh too.
“You and any other man,” I added.
“Yeah, you are right there.” He took a large gulp of his beer. “So, do you know the girl who went missing?”
That sobered me the fuck up. The smile that was on my face dropped and I found myself finishing my beer instead of answering. Abby wasn’t missing. She was kidnapped.
Trent arched an eyebrow. “Did I hit a sore point?”
&nb
sp; I put my empty beer on the table. “Something like that.”
“So you knew her?”
“Know her,” I corrected him. “And yes. I’m her twin. And she isn’t missing. She was taken.” It was the first time I had admitted I was Abby’s twin. Usually people saw us together and just knew. All through school, throughout our life, people just knew. There was a difference between her being missing and being taken. It wasn’t like she ran away.
His charming smile dried up. “That explains why you live here then.”
I nodded my head.
“So you’re Roach’s daughter?”
“Yep.” If he had even been mildly interested, he wouldn’t be now. I came with strings. Big and strong ones. Heck, being Reaper’s sister-in-law added to my reputation. I was about to get up and head inside when he spoke, stopping me.
“So what’s your favorite color?”
I frowned. “What?”
“What’s your favorite color?” His sober expression from before was gone. That charming smile was back on his face.
“Emerald blue, I guess.” I looked at him in complete amazement. What a random question. Just after finding out I was Roach’s daughter and the sister of the girl taken, he wanted to know my favorite color?
“Emerald blue.” He nodded his head. “So what do you do with yourself? Do you work?” Trent finished his beer. “Should have gotten more of these.”
“At the moment?”
He nodded his head.
“I look after Tyson.”
“That’s Reaper’s son, right?”
“Yes. My nephew.” I wasn’t embarrassed about looking after Tyson. As far as I cared, he was the only man in my life. Saying you look after a newborn would scare a lot of men away. But not Trent. He just looked at me more intently.
“He is lucky to have you,” Trent said with a smile. “So you’re close with Reaper?”
“He is my brother-in-law. And I do care for his kid all day. So yes.”
“Good, ’cause I might need you to pull some strings so he doesn’t kill me.”
“Why would Reaper want to kill you?” I couldn’t think of one reason for Trent to be on Reaper’s bad side.
