Page 19 of The Biker's Forbidden Craving

“Maybe they do. A lot of bikers around here hate Duke. He’s stirred bad blood with everyone, but I don’t think these guys took Maci.”

Abby blows out a heavy breath and leans back in the booth. “You really don’t think they have her?”

“No, I don’t. The guys are pretty good at this stuff. They could find a spaded snowflake in a blizzard.”

Abby leans forward, holding her head in her hands. “So then where the hell is she? It doesn’t make sense. She couldn’t have just disappeared. People don’t just disappear.”

“No, they don’t. We’ll figure it out. Maybe she wanted a break and left town for a bit.”

She tilts her head to the side and wets her full lips. “She wouldn’t, though. The waitress said she didn’t even pay the bill. That’s not like her. People love her in this town. She writes all those good doer articles.”

A dish clanks in the kitchen and the distinct smell of apple pie wafts through the air as though someone has just taken a sky high pie out of the oven.

“She’s a grown woman, Sunny. If she wants to disappear, she can disappear for a while. Tell ya what, I’ll see if I can get Ghost to hack into her phone records. Maybe he can get a trajectory on her cell tower pings. It’ll take a couple of days, though.”

She nods and grabs a cheese stick, dipping it into the marinara before taking a bite. “Okay, sounds like the next logical step. Now we just have to figure out what to do with my brother. My psychopath of a brother.”

“Ithink we need to talk about how you said you love me.” I watch her fidget with her straw as she thinks over her response.

“Yeah, I—”

“I love you too, Sunny.” I reach across the table for her hand. “I’ve loved you as long as I can remember.”

“You have?”

I nod, brushing my thumb against the back of her hand. “I think about you all the time. We can work this out.”

A tear spills down her cheek. “And what if we can’t? Duke keeps rattling on about justice. I don’t know… I think he’s lost it.”

She stares at me, takes a sip of her coke, and stands from the booth, glancing toward me as though something has clicked, something that needs to be addressed right now.

“Where are you going?”

She doesn’t answer, so I throw down some cash, and follow as she flies out the front door of the diner and into the street toward her brother’s bike still parked at the end of the road.

Fuck!

“Abby!” I shout through the small crowd of people gathered on Main Street. “Abby, stop!”

She doesn’t stop. She doesn’t even turn around. She keeps going and going until Duke catches her eye and they’re standing face to face. “You’re an asshole!”

He stands tall, flexing his bicep as he crosses his arms over one another in the early afternoon light. “I’m sorry?”

“You heard me. You say you want to help me, but you don’t. You say you love me, but you really just want to control me. You don’t care about me at all. You don’t even see me, Duke. You can’t because you’re going after the guys that ran Mom and Dad off the road, aren’t you?”

He rolls his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Abby. Get a grip. I’m busy because I’m moving the entire ranch out here. It’s a ton of fuckin’ work. We came out here for a fresh start, and so far, no one is fuckin’ listening, and my best friend is sleeping with my baby sister who I haven’t spoken to in a year. So… shit sucks.”

Abby stares down at the sidewalk before glancing up again. I want to console her, but I know that’s only going to cause more drama. “You could communicate your thoughts, then I’d know this stuff. We could talk it out.”

“I am,” he laughs sarcastically. “Don’t fuck my best friend. That’s pretty fuckin’ clear communication.”

“Ugh!” She tugs at her hair and spins away from him. “You’re impossible!”

“No, you just have selective hearing.”

“Look, I love you, Duke. I miss what we used to be. Maybe when you come to your senses, we can—”

“I’m never going to be okay with you and my buddy. He’s way too fuckin’ old for you. He should know better. I meant it when I said twenty-four hours to be out of that clubhouse. If I see you two together, there’s going to be problems.” He pauses for a moment, letting his words sink in before he climbs on his bike and kicks up the stand, leaving us both in a cloud of musty, acrid exhaust.

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