“Ryker, I—I know I’m not supposed to call.” Sky stumbled over her words and paused so long that he wondered if he got cut off. Sky continued, “I needed to hear your voice.”
She’d been crying, he realized with a shock. The overwhelming urge to hunt down whoever caused her to shed tears took him over, but he reeled his anger. When it came to her, Ryker had no rules. He’d do anything for her. Hearing her voice again triggered the emotions he’d learned to suppress over the years.
Seeing the other members of the Familia with their women made him yearn for the same thing. Ryker turned twenty-six this year. Giovanni kept encouraging him to find a woman, to settle down, but the only face he pictured waking up to was Sky, and Sky had always been off-limits.
Sky needed him now, he reminded himself. Ryker needed to find out what was plaguing her. He never told her, but he kept tabs on her. Giovanni saw her as part of the Familia, and they even chatted once a week on the phone. Ryker wanted to talk her many times, but he knew if he heard her voice, he’d drive all the way to where she lived and take her back with him.
Ryker nearly blew it when he found out she’d started living with her boyfriend, Rodney, but Giovanni made him promise to keep his distance. Ryker made his decision two years ago when he flat out told her they’d never be anything but family.
“Sky, I’m here. I’ll always be here for you. Now tell me what’s wrong.”
****
Sky clutched the phone to her ear, her heart thumping the moment she heard Ryker’s deep, commanding, and comforting voice. Since the day he’d found her, rescued her, he’d become the family she never had.
I’ll be your family, always.
Those had been the last words he said to her after she poured out her heart to him. She’d never seen him as a big brother, not the way she saw the other guys in the Familia. When Ryker took her in, she also had inherited the rest of the Severin Familia.
Every week, Giovanni even called her, asked her how she was. It was nice, like having a grandfather who was interested in what was going on with her life. Giovanni was about to retire, about to hand over the reins to his son, Marco. Sky didn’t want to bother him with her silly personal problems, so she lied and told him she was fine.
Ryker wanted her to find a life outside the Familia, but maybe deep down, she always knew her place was with him. Sky caught sight of her reflection in the bathroom mirror, staring at the yellowing bruises on her wrists where Rodney gripped her too hard the night before.
Why had she put up with him so long?
You should be grateful I’m here, because no one else would want a damaged bitch like you.
Sky had endured comments like that since they began living together, or rather, when he moved into her apartment. Rodney didn’t need to bring up her old scars, because she’d always been self-conscious of them. Throughout college and even at work, she made it a point to wear long-sleeved shirts and blouses to cover up her arms.
She told herself repeatedly that he only got mean when he drank. He was the first guy who showed any interest in her. She thought she genuinely loved him, but maybe she only clung to him because the only one guy who mattered, who she truly wanted, was off-limits to her.
Ryker made that painfully clear when he flat-out told her he wasn’t interested in her, not in any romantic way. He didn’t stop her from moving out either.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” she whispered to the phone, knowing Ryker was still there, patiently waiting for her to speak.
She’d avoided involving Ryker and the Familia because she wanted to solve her own problems for a change. That was the reason why Sky moved to a new city in the first place. Start fresh.
She did what Ryker asked, but after seeing what the world outside the Familia had to offer, she realized she only wanted one thing. To come back home to him.
“Don’t put the phone down without telling me what’s wrong, sweetheart.” Ryker spoke in a firm, but patient voice.
“I want,” she began, biting down on her bottom lip, unsure of what to tell him.
Would she come across to him as a failure? She promised him she’d try living on her own, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.
Sky hovered her finger over the end call button, until he asked, “It’s that fucker Rodney, isn’t it?”
Sky let out a breath and blinked. “You know about Rodney?”
“Giovanni told me. He sends out one of his guys every couple of weeks to check on you.”
Sky wasn’t even angry, because two words kept flashing in her mind. Ryker cared. She thought he’d forgotten all about her. Giovanni called her on a weekly basis, but Ryker never once picked up the phone to ask how she was over the past two years.
“Wait,” she began. “So me bumping into Uncle Gino at the farmer’s market a month ago wasn’t by accident?”
Why hadn’t it been you?
“You know why.”
Crap. Did she just utter those words out loud? What the hell was Ryker talking about? She confessed her love to him when she turned twenty-one, but he turned her down.
“I’m on my way. Pack your things. I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Wait, I haven’t even told you everything and you’re already bossing me around?” she demanded.
In truth, relief filled her entire system. She was sick of working overtime at the accounting firm, only for Rodney to flush all their savings down the toilet in a week or two.
It didn’t help that she lost her job at the firm to a fresh, leggy Ivy-league brunette the boss seemed interested in. No surprise there. After she told Rodney about the news, he’d come home late every night, drunker than usual and smelling of another woman’s perfume. Sky was sick of it all—this city, this apartment, her career going nowhere, and Rodney.
“Then talk to me.”
In the background, she heard the slam of a door and the ping of the elevator. Ryker was serious, she realized, about picking her up. She hesitated.
“I want you to know I tried. I built my own life here, but I made mistakes,” she explained. “Rodney was nice, you know? No other man but you has ever shown interest in me.”
She swore Ryker literally growled at her like some kind of animal.
“What did the prick do?”
She rubbed at her wrist. “I—I’m just tired of him, of everything. I’ll tell you the rest when you arrive.”
“Then I’ll see you soon.” Ryker ended the call, and she stared at her phone for a couple of moments.
Why had she waited until night time to call him? She rubbed her sweaty palms against her jeans. Ever since she realized she had feelings for Ryker, she sometimes got nervous around him, even now.
Strange how it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. Sky exited the bathroom and began to pack. She pulled out the dusty old duffel bag from the closet, the same one she’d used when she moved out of Ryker’s apartment.
That felt like ages ago. Ryker had saved her when she was eighteen, and she’d lived with him until she turned twenty-one, until she finished her accounting degree. This year, she turned twenty-three, and by now, she thought she’d have gotten over him when it was the exact opposite.
While stuck at her desk at her old workplace, Sky did her spreadsheets methodically, but her mind always wandered. Sky had spent hours making lists in her head of what she’d take with her with she left this city. It didn’t take long for her to finish.
She checked the wall clock in the living room. Ryker would be here soon, but maybe she could take a shower first. She headed to the bathroom, stripped out of her clothes and entered the shower. She shut her eyes, enjoying the sensation of water on her skin.
Before she’d leave, she’d give the landlord her keys. Rodney, well. Screw him. Half the time, he kept threatening to break their relationship off, and he didn’t seem to listen to her when she told him this morning they were done.
She finished up, dressed in a comfy pair of jeans and her favorite shirt, then heard the door sla
m from outside. She froze. That could only be one person. She touched the bruises on her arms. She’d never been a doormat, and yet she let this toxic relationship go on for so long.
Relationship. Right. Rodney practically mooched off her, constantly telling her he needed to focus on his music, but in all the time they’d been together, she’d never seen him perform on stage. She took deep breaths and straightened her shoulders.
Sky could do this. She’d be civil, although it was tempting to give that asshole a piece of her mind. She exited the bathroom only to see Rodney swaying on his feet in the living room. Nearing him, the overwhelming yet familiar smell of alcohol made her grimace
Rodney seemed to be squinting at her duffel bag on the floor next to the couch. Then he turned to her, eyes narrowed. “What the fuck is this?”
Chapter Two
Sky crossed her arms. “I’m leaving. I’ll give the landlord my notice before I go.”
“You’re going, tonight? Where?” he asked with a sneer. “Back to whatever shithole you came from? What about me?”
She blew out a breath and silently counted to ten in her head. Of course. Rodney always thought about himself first.
“I lost my job three days ago, Rod. I can’t afford this apartment anymore. It’s paid for until the end of the end of the month.”
She was already being too generous. He always bragged about his friends who’d made big it in the music industry. He could stay with them. Wait. Why should she care?
Sky always had that problem. She cared too much, about what people thought, about pleasing everyone. Even at work, she worked doubly hard compared to everyone else just to prove she could be on par with colleagues who graduated from better universities.
Despite all that, when she overheard one of the women in the break room complaining about her salary, she realized her own salary was merely half of what the others were getting. Why bother working so hard, when her efforts would never be rewarded? In a way, getting fired might be the best thing that ever happened to her.
He looked at her dumbly, then clenched his hands to fists. “That’s next Monday.”
“Wow, you can count the dates?” she asked, letting him hear the sarcasm in her voice. “I’m sure you can figure things out.”
“You insensitive, useless bitch,” he muttered, walking right up to her face.
Sky didn’t back down, although her heart thudded against her chest. She hadn’t thought Rodney was capable of violence, not until last night. The front door slammed wide open. Rodney must have forgotten to lock it again.
Both of them turned their heads. She widened her eyes. Ryker hadn’t changed one bit in the last two years. With his intimidating size, he practically filled up the entire doorway. Rodney looked so tiny in comparison.
“Who the hell are you?” Rodney demanded when Ryker shut the door behind him and locked it.
Heart in her throat, she let out a breath. She recognized that look, the way Ryker’s blue eyes seemed to turn glacial. Ryker curled his lips to a wolfish smile. In a span of seconds, Ryker had Rodney up against the wall, one large hand over Rodney’s throat. Rodney gasped, clawed, punched at Ryker but to no avail.
“What the fuck did you call her, you useless piece of shit?” Ryker practically growled into Rodney’s face. Rodney sputtered more words. Ryker released him, only to pull out his gun and shove the barrel down Rodney’s throat. “What’s that? I’m not interested in hearing scum talk.”
“Ryker, please.” She appeared by his side, gripped one muscled shoulder. “He’s not worth it.”
Tension mounted. It looked like Ryker rode the killing edge, and nothing and no one could stop him.
She always knew what Ryker did for a living. He’d never hidden anything from her. Heck, Ryker always warned her he wasn’t a good guy, that it was better if she stayed away, but to her, he’d always be her black knight. If it wasn’t for him, she would have died, and no one would give a damn.
She never told Rodney about her past. He’d never understand, but Ryker would.
She didn’t know what possessed her to hug him from behind, to bury her face into his broad, warm back. She inhaled the familiar smell of his cologne, the soap he used. Her Ryker. She only associated two words when it came to him.
“Mine. Home.” She didn’t realize she’d whispered the words until she felt his back muscles bunch up.
Ryker retrieved his gun and released Rodney. “If I ever see you again, you’re a dead man, Rodney Madison.” Ryker leaned in close to Rodney’s ear, and she took a step back so Ryker could finish up here. All she wanted was to be back in his truck, secure in the knowledge she’d wake up to her old bedroom the next morning.
Ryker continued, “I know where you usually hang out and who your friends are. Talk to the police and I’ll bury your body somewhere where no one will find you.”
Rodney paled, looked like he was about to say something, but wisely shut up. Rodney didn’t look at either of them as Ryker grabbed her bag from the floor, then walked up to her and gave the back of her neck a squeeze that almost seemed possessive.
She shivered, liking the feel of his big, callused fingers on her skin. In the past, Ryker would back away, mumbling an excuse, but this time, he pinned her with his intense blue gaze. No longer filled with icy rage, Ryker’s gaze seemed different now. Hungry.
Her nipples tightened, and heat flooded between her legs. How many lonely nights had she spent fantasizing about him? What it would be like, being his woman? Even the few times she and Rodney had dismal sex, she’d kept wishing it was Ryker above her.
Hope fluttered in her chest as they walked away from her apartment. Now that they were alone, she could study him closer. Ryker still kept his black hair short, cropped close to the skull. He wore a thin, faded, black shirt, jeans, and scruffy boots—what he usually wore in a casual setting in the past. He looked good. Sexy.
Crap. She shouldn’t think of him that way, because once she started on that path—no. Sky already had her heart broken by him once. She couldn’t endure it again.
“I need to stop by the landlord’s unit, tell him I’m moving out,” she said. Ryker nodded, not saying a thing as she led the way to the end of the corridor and knocked on the door. The landlord, Mr. Samuels, looked somewhat intimidated by Ryker. They conducted their business quickly.
The next thing she knew, Ryker spirited her outside the building and into his truck. He started the engine, and she looked out the windows, at the city she thought could be her home when she first arrived.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Ryker asked.
“That I’ve never liked this city.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because I made you a promise.” She shook his head. “It’s not just that. I wanted to prove to myself I can live out here on my own, but it’s different. Lonely. I missed you so much and the rest of the Familia.”
“Giovanni said you sounded fine on the phone.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I lied, because I didn’t want to worry him.”
“We need to talk. I want to clear up some things, about what happened two years ago.”
“Can we do it later? I’m a little tired.”
“No problem.”
“Can I turn the radio on?”
“You can do anything you want, sweetheart.”
That nickname sent tingles up her arm. Remembering the way he looked at her at the apartment made her put her thighs closer together.
She huddled in her seat and shivered, wondering if Ryker picking her up tonight meant something else. He’d said he wasn’t interested in her, not that way, and yet she swore she didn’t mistake the look of pure want on his face just now.
At a red light, Ryker reached over from behind.
“Sit a little forward,” he ordered.
She did as he asked, and he put his comfy and worn black leather jacket around her shoulders. She leaned back, gripped the collar of the jacket, and took a whi
ff.
“What? Does it smell or something? I just had that laundered.”
“No, it’s not that. I like how it smells of you.” She blushed, realizing what she just said.
After that, it was a silent drive back. She felt a little awkward. Sky had shut him down when he tried to talk, but this was her Ryker. Unlike her ex, he would listen. She regretted her actions and decided to do a better job of opening up to him.
“Did you have plans tonight? Like a job, or a date or something?” She tried to sound casual, but crap, her voice became a little wobbly at the end.
Who Ryker saw was none of her business. He never had a problem when it came to women. She overheard some of the Severin women talking about him when she paid Giovanni a visit in his office years ago. However, if she strained her mind, she couldn’t remember Ryker having a girlfriend when they’d lived together.
“Let’s get one thing straight. There’s only been one woman I’ve been interested in.”
“Really? Who?” Sky didn’t dare hope, because he’d crushed her heart before.
Thinking back two years ago, she understood him a little better now. Back then, she might be twenty-one, legally an adult, but in many ways, she’d also been a sheltered young woman. Her own blood might’ve abandoned her, but she got adopted into a bigger, warmer family instead. Ryker had wanted to give her twenty-one-year old self a choice, a chance to see the world beyond the limited scope of his own.
“You know who.”
It took a couple of seconds for the words to sink in. “You told me you only saw me as a younger sister.”
“I made a mistake, one I’ve regretted since the day you left.”
Her chest tightened. She couldn’t hold back all the frustration and anger she kept inside her heart anymore. “Why didn’t you say anything? You could have picked up the phone and called me.”
Sky fisted her hands on her lap before looking at his profile. Ryker wasn’t a guy women would typically call handsome. He was rough on the edges, didn’t have any hesitations when it came to violence, but he’d always made her feel safe. She waited for his answer, and he seemed to take his time, to consider his next words.
Staking His Claim Page 2
