“They aren’t going to stop—it’s not safe for any of us right now. Either we take him down, or we’re sitting ducks,” Temper chimes in.

  Instead of making myself known, I step back and listen to their conversation. They will never tell me what’s going on, and although I feel bad, I really want to be included this time.

  “I know,” Hammer growls, a large bang, one that sounds like him slamming his fist on the table, makes me jump. “I fucking know, all right? We need to make a plan, and we need one now. It feels like five years ago all over again. When will this end, though? His brother died, and he wants revenge. But if we take him out, then what? Is there another fucking brother we have to look out for?”

  “Nope, just the two of them,” I hear Saint add in. “It’s not safe right now, and yeah, we need a plan. I don’t want Sky in any kind of danger.”

  “And you think I do?” Hammer fires back, tone lethal. “No one we care about is going to get hurt. We just need to find this guy, and... Fuck. Why did he have to get out of prison? I know we can handle him. The question is, can we handle him without any of us doing time?”

  Silence for a few seconds.

  I step back a little then walk to Saint’s room instead, my head buzzing with everything I just overheard.

  Revenge?

  Sitting ducks?

  Could they be talking about the man Mom offered to hand me over to? It makes sense, because that man did end up in prison. The past has come back to haunt us all.

  This time I’m older, and there’s no one to throw me under the bus like last time. But I still have no idea how I can help. I don’t want anything to happen to any of the men, and I don’t know what I’d do if it did.

  Saint comes in about thirty minutes later and I pretend to be fast asleep.

  “I didn’t even hear you come in,” he whispers as he jumps in bed with me.

  Snuggling up to him instantly, I struggle between ignoring everything I just heard and acting normal or confronting him. I decide on the latter. “I heard what you guys were talking about.”

  Saint sighs and lifts my face up to look him in the eye. “We will handle it, all right? You don’t need to worry, but I just want you to be a little more vigilant than usual. Don’t trust anyone you don’t know and just be extra street smart in all situations.”

  “What’s happening exactly, Saint? No more bullshit. This affects me too,” I say to him, frowning. “Is this the same guy that was after Hammer when I left? The one Mom wanted to use me as a bartering tool with?”

  “Yeah, that’s him. Killer. He’s been in prison all of these years, but he’s finally been let out and apparently hasn’t let go of his vendetta. His brother died, so I guess it’s understandable,” he says, words turning to mumbles.

  “His brother was hit,” Saint says, wincing. “And he fell back and knocked his head and died. It was a big group brawl, so we don’t even know who hit who, but it was us they were fighting, so Killer decided to take it out on our president and swore Hammer would pay for him losing his little brother.”

  “But then he got locked up,” I whisper, finally understanding the situation. “So what are you guys going to do? We all have to protect Hammer.”

  “Yeah, basically we’re all going to be on guard,” Saint says, kissing my forehead. “He might want Hammer, but none of us are safe until the threat is stabilized. If Killer sees his opportunity, he’s going to take it.”

  “What did he go to prison for?” I ask, trying to formulate a plan. I might not be able to fight or anything like that, but I’m smart, and I’m good at problem solving.

  “Assault. But that was his second offense, so he didn’t get a lenient sentence like I did.”

  “Okay, so he’s on probation now, I’m assuming, which means he can’t step out of line. What if we try to get him locked up again? I don’t want any of the Knights having to go to prison because of this guy.”

  Or getting hurt, or worse. I don’t want any of them having to end someone’s life to protect my dad’s. I don’t want anything to happen to my dad, either. It’s hard to win in this situation without someone being sacrificed.

  “And what about my brothers, are they all safe?” If something happened to any of them, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

  “Your brothers will be fine, but we will give them a heads-up just to be safe. If it gets bad we will have a shutdown, where anyone we love can come here and be safe. Trust me, we don’t want that either, but if it’s us or them, it’s going to be them,” he states, a hard look in his pretty blue eyes. “I don’t want you to worry about anything other than keeping yourself safe. If it gets to a critical point, we’re going to go into lockdown, and you will be escorted to classes or work, or wherever. It’s better to be safe than sorry, all right?”

  I nod. “All right.” I love my freedom, but I’m not stupid. These men aren’t messing around and I’m going to be careful.

  “Good girl,” he whispers, sighing. “I’m sorry you have to deal with all this.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” I tell him. “I’m just worried about all of you. I can’t lose you, Saint.”

  “You won’t,” he replies, sounding confident. He even manages to flash me a cheeky grin. “When I have you in my bed, there’s no way I’m not going to return to it.”

  “Be serious.”

  “I am being serious,” he says, rolling me over and holding my wrists down against the mattress. “I love you.”

  “And I love you.”

  The sooner this whole situation comes to an end, the better.

  Killer needs to go back behind bars where he belongs.

  * * *

  “Tory, what are you doing?” I ask the energetic toddler as she runs around the clubhouse, leaving a spiral of disaster everywhere she goes. I don’t know how moms do it, because this looking after a small person thing is no joke, and I’m watching Tory only while Saint’s out to get us some lunch and run some errands.

  “Don’t you like the new toys I bought you?” I ask, eying the discarded pile. Instead she seems to enjoy playing with the box one of the dolls came in.

  “I like,” she says, nodding, but continues to drag the box around. I follow her into the kitchen and watch as she tries to open up the cupboard.

  “Are you hungry?”

  She looks at me with those blue eyes and nods again. “Yes.”

  “Okay,” I say opening the fridge. “How about some yogurt?”

  She cheers, so I’m guessing that’s a yes.

  I sit her at the table with a spoon and watch her shovel the yogurt into her mouth. She really is a cute little kid. Her mom did the DNA test, so we’re just waiting on the results now, but I think it’s obvious that Saint is her dad. I don’t know why she said otherwise—maybe she just wanted to hurt him and get more leverage over him.

  “Yum,” Tory mumbles, placing the cup down and looking up at me. “More?”

  “More, please?” I suggest to her.

  “More pweese.”

  Grinning, I grab her another tub and some blueberries. “Your dad better hurry up with the food or you’re going to be full by the time he gets here.”

  I hear the rumble of his motorcycle just as those words leave my mouth. “Oh, he’s here. Can you hear the sound of his bike?”

  Tory nods, eyes going wide. “Bike loud.”

  “It is pretty loud, isn’t it?” I agree.

  Saint comes in with bags of food, smiling when he sees both of us sitting there. “Sorry it took so long.”

  “That’s okay. Your little girl got hungry, though, so she had some snacks,” I tell him.

  He comes over to me and kisses the top of my head. “Why do you do that?”

  “Why do I do what?” I ask him, lifting my head back to look up at him.

  “You always say ‘your little girl’ or ‘your daughter,’ emphasizing the ‘your.’ I’m going to marry you one day, Skylar, which means she’s yours too. Just because you didn’t give birth to her doesn’t mean she’s not your family. You should know more than anyone that blood doesn’t always mean the most.”

  “I didn’t even realize I was doing that,” I admit, and never would I have thought my wording would upset him. I don’t see Tory as mine in any way—at least I don’t consider myself her second mother or anything like that—but I do care about her and would do anything for her. So I think that has to count for something. Saint is right, of course. Blood isn’t everything—loyalty is.

  “You’re a part of this family,” he says, kissing me again, and then unloading the food. I know he’s making sure I feel included and I appreciate it, but he doesn’t need to. I’ve accepted the situation as it is, and I’m going to make the best of it.

  “I know, Saint. And thank you for making me feel that way.”

  We have lunch, and then I head off to work, leaving Saint to have some alone time with his daughter. Carol seems to be slowly letting him have her more, and I wonder if it’s because the results are going to arrive within the next few weeks and we’re all going to know the truth about Tory’s paternity. Or maybe she’s just in a good mood with all the extra money she’s been getting.

  Either way, we get to see Tory, so that’s all that matters.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  As I’m leaving class, the last person in the world that I want to see is standing next to my car. After having such a good morning—spending some much needed alone time with Saint and then a great class where I got high marks on a test—I feel like my day is about to be ruined.

  “What are you doing here, Mom?” I ask, searching for my keys in my handbag. “You have no daughter, remember? So why don’t you go and visit one of your sons? You have plenty of them.”

  I don’t know how she knew I’m doing this program or what time I’d be here, but I hate that she does. She’s obviously still keeping tabs on me, which annoys me to no end.

  “I just want to talk,” she says, pursing her lips. “Can you give me that, at least? I want to apologize. I know I’m not a perfect mother and that I’ve messed up, but I want a chance to apologize and explain some things to you. This is all my fault, and it’s time that I told you who your real father is. Do you have time for a coffee? I’ll explain everything from start to finish.”

  “I thought you didn’t know who my father was,” I remind her, frowning. She’s dangling the bait right in front of my face, but it’s the one thing that I’ve always wanted to know. “Was that a lie too?”

  I don’t know how much more of this I can take. The back and forth, it’s so exhausting. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew this whole time who my biological father is and just didn’t tell me. Not that it would matter. Hammer is my father.

  “I have my reasons, and when I explain, you’ll understand everything,” she promises.

  “Okay, I guess we can have a coffee,” I decide, willing to hear what she has to say. “There’s a place down the road. We can walk there or drive.”

  “Let’s drive. I’ll walk back once we’re done,” she suggests.

  “Okay,” I say, opening the car door. She gets in, and we buckle up and leave.

  “I really am sorry, Skylar. I took you out of that world for a purpose, and when I found out you had gone back there, I just lost it,” she says, sniffling a little. “And I’m sorry about the money. I still have some of it and I will give it to you. I’m sorry about everything. I’ve been a terrible mother. I hope you can forgive me.”

  She got dumped—she didn’t choose to leave and save me like she is now claiming—but I don’t bring that up to her. You can’t argue with crazy, and she’s the queen of talking shit, so she’s going to have an answer for everything.

  After parking my car in the coffee shop lot, I turn to her about to ask her if she really knows who my dad is.

  Instead, I’m greeted with a sharp knock to my head, and all goes black.

  * * *

  When I wake up, my head is pounding. I don’t think it has ever hurt so much in my life. Rubbing the back of it gently, I force my eyes open and glance around at my surroundings. I’m in a room, which is bare except for a mattress on the floor. The windows have been barred with big pieces of wood, blocking any light from getting in.

  A sick feeling in my stomach, I sit up and remember how I got here—because I trusted my mother when she said she wanted a fucking coffee and an adult chat about everything that has happened. I’m here because I wanted some closure, and in return, I get knocked out and kidnapped by the woman who gave birth to me. This takes family drama to a whole new level.

  Moving to the locked door, I bang on it loudly. “Mom! Let me out!” I yell, banging harder.

  What the hell is she going to do with me? I have no idea what she has planned, but I know it can’t be good. The fact she has crossed this line means she has clearly lost her mind—I need to never underestimate her again.

  Wherever she’s decided to put me, she obviously thought about this. I try to pull the wooden planks off the window, but they don’t budge. There’s nothing I can use as a weapon, and no way I can break out of here except through the door.

  I was going straight home after class and not to the clubhouse, so the MC isn’t even expecting me, and I don’t even know if Logan is home to realize that I’m missing.

  Basically, I’m fucked.

  I scream until my voice is broken, then fall back onto the mattress in a pile, not sure what the hell I’m meant to do or how I’m going to get out of this. Why didn’t I just drive off and leave her there? I thought I was fine and had accepted my situation with her. But no, I’m still a little girl who needed her mother to love her, who wanted to know the truth behind the father who I’ve never known. Stupid idiot that I am.

  Hand on my forehead, I curse myself for thinking there was even an ounce of good in her. Getting back up, I place my ear against the door and listen for any sounds or movement but hear nothing. Is she out there? Deciding all I can do is play the waiting game and see what she has in store for me, I sit back on the bed and pray that Logan has called Saint or Hammer.

  I don’t know how much time passes, an hour maybe, but the door finally opens, and it’s not my mother. A man stands there, one I’ve never seen before. A very large man. He’s dressed in black and worn leather, and looks like his personal hygiene isn’t a high priority with him.

  He grins evilly when he sees me, revealing teeth too big for his mouth, surrounded by a beard that needs a good wash. “Skylar O’Connor,” he says, cracking his knuckles.

  “Who are you?” I ask, back literally against the wall. “Where’s my mother? And what do you want with me?” I can’t believe that once again, my own mother has thrown me under the bus. At this stage, I don’t know why I’m so surprised, but the hurt and betrayal is still there, ripe as ever. I never should have given her a second of my time, or thought that she was human and wanted to apologize.

  I’ve fucked up, big time. My stupid bleeding heart that wanted her mother to love her. Idiot.

  “You, my girl, are going to be used as bait to bring Hammer here,” he tells me, booming with laughter.

  “Killer?” I guess, starting to panic.

  “Oh, you’ve heard of me then? Good. You’re about to find out how I got my road name,” he declares, stepping closer to me. “You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t you?”

  Fucking creep. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I warn him, placing my hands in front of me. “Besides, aren’t I a little old for you?”

  He laughs harder. He clearly belongs in a mental ward and instead he’s been let out of prison to ruin other people’s lives. “I like you, Skylar.” He leans forward and adds, “And that’s probably not going to end well for you.”

  Great.

  He moves back to the door, and I relax a little, my shoulders slouching. Movement from behind him brings none other than my mother into view.

  “Mom, don’t leave me here!” I call out, pleading with my eyes. “I am your only daughter—how can you do this to me?”

  “You’ll be fine,” she replies with a shrug. “It’s just Hammer we want, Skylar. And after we have him, we will let you go. No harm will come to you.”

  She acts like that makes all of this okay, that just because I will be able to walk out of here, it’s no big deal. She’s batshit crazy.

  “How can you do this to him?” I ask her, feeling tears threaten. “He raised me! You loved him more than your own kids at one point—how can you do this to us?”

  “Don’t bother begging, little one,” Killer says to me, his beady, dead eyes looking right into mine. “My brother died, and now someone has to pay. A tooth for a tooth. If not Hammer, then who? Would you rather someone else take his place?”

  I feel bad, but my mother does come to mind.

  “Killer, give it a rest.” She pushes him aside and steps toward me. I instinctively take a step back. “I told you I was going to tell you who your father was,” Mom says, looking at me unflinchingly in the eye. “I never wanted you to find out the truth, but I agree. It’s time you knew the whole truth.

  “When I met Kieran—that’s your father—I was a single mother with five boys at home. I fell for him, and I fell for him hard. When you were born, you were the apple of his eye. He looked at you like you hung the moon.”

  I want to smile at the thought that my biological father, whoever he is, loved me. Truly loved me, but I bury those feelings for another time.

  “I hated that he loved you so much. Loved you more than me and my boys. He didn’t want anything to do with your brothers. I don’t even think they remember him.” She sneers. “I couldn’t let him ignore my sons and I couldn’t let him put you before me. So I took you away from him. I left and changed my name, and met Hammer a few months later. And Hammer loved me. Sure, he loved you too, but he loved me in a way Kieran didn’t.

  “When you were sixteen, Kieran found me. And he was furious that I had kept you from him for years. I knew he’d come after you and he’d make me pay for what I did.”