Page 44 of Biker's Babygirl

Much to my surprise, Shep seems too shocked to be the first to speak. It is Ellie that breaks the silence.

“We need to come up with a plan,” she announces, her words soft but sure.

“And before we can,” Elvis drawls, his gaze shifting between us once more, “we need to know exactly what we’re up against.”

At that moment, I realize something I’d buried beneath my own desire to protect and love the woman next to me. Just a week ago—it feels like a lifetime ago now—I’d been sure Ginny had feelings for Elvis, and him for her. My arm is around Ginny’s waist, and as the memory washes over me, I pull her tighter to me still.

My eyes search his face. Is his expression of shock because he didn’t see this coming, because the timing is shitty, or…

But even as I ponder, his lip curls upward on the right side, a silentatta boythat has me grinning back at him with palpable relief despite the circumstances.

My attention drifts to Ellie again, and I see her face too is absent of condemnation. There is frank curiosity, but I also know she is focused on more pressing questions at the moment.

“What kind of fresh hell has this girl gotten us involved in?”

Ah. Of course Shep wouldn’t swallow back any question he wanted answered. It wasn’t his way.

“Hey, now?—”

“No, Duke.” Ginny cuts me off, her voice soft, but full of resolve. “He’s right. It’s time I was honest.” Her eyes leave mine and travel to each of them in turn. “With all of you.”

I can feel her trembling, and I feel a wave of protectiveness seize me. I have never wanted to protect someone so much. I grip her hard, hoping my touch can convey what I don’t feel comfortable saying aloud in front of the others: that I will do anything to keep her safe, no matter what.

Shep’s eyes are hard and unreadable. “Take a seat.”

I feel it’s important to set the proper tone here. To let the room at large know that I have Ginny’s back. So we sit together on the couch so closely that she’s practically in my lap and my arm never leaves her waist. I can tell she’s grateful for the gesture, but still nervous all the same.

“It’s… it’s a long story,” she begins, and I can tell she’s trying to hold herself together.

As determined as I am to take care of her, I can’t deny that I’m nervous about how they will respond too. But as she begins to talk, her voice takes on a far-away quality as though she’s doing more than retelling a traumatic story: she’s reliving it.

No one is prepared for what she reveals. Not even me.Especiallynot me, because despite the fact that she shared with me earlier, the fear in her eyes, the trepidation in her voice, is hitting me even harder now that the Wilderness Warriors are hearing it, too. The shock of rounded eyes, paling skin, clenched fist in the three of them… I see all the above, and even though it makes me cling tighter to my babygirl, I can’t fend off the adrenaline surging through my veins.

When she’s done, the only noise I hear is the ticking of the grandfather clock. The discomfort that has swallowed the room is stifling, but no one wants to be the first to break the bubble.

“Duke…” Ginny’s voice is so soft, I hear her more with my heart than my ears.

“It doesn’t matter,” I insist at once. “I’m here for you, I’ll?—”

All at once, Shep and Ellie are talking over one another.

“What do you mean, ‘it doesn’t matter’?” Shep asks, his voice so loud and indignant it’s a bellow.

“We have to think about the risk, the whole team—” Ellie is saying.

“Wow. That is some deep doo-doo you got yourself into there, Ginny-Winny.”

Perhaps it’s the fact that he doesn’t usually add too much to the conversation, or the ironic drawl of his voice. But whatever it is, we all turn to look at Elvis. Ginny giggles, and that chagrined, yet childlike sound is enough to set Ellie off. Once she breaks, I let loose a chuckle.

Only Shep folds his arms across his chest, and I can see by his expression that he is seething. “This isn’t funny,” he says at last, each word measured and stern.

“No,” I reply, my expression sobering. “It’s not. It’s not funny, but it is very serious, and we have a duty to protect Ginny.”

“No,” he answers sharply. “We do not, we?—”

“Okay,” I retort, cutting him off. “Ido.”

Shep doesn’t answer that except with the tightening of his lips.

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