Page 17 of Savage Lust

“Wow.”

“Told you.” I walked to the edge, looking over the other part of the party. Groups of people gathered around bonfires. Some on bikes, others in chairs. I could name about half of them. The rest came from other charters, most had known Archer.

In the west, the sun had sunk so low only a pale orange glow kissed the purple sky. Archer would have loved this shit. There was a reason he’d bought this place, built the clubhouse here.

“Beautiful.” Her face was serene again, like she was soaking up everything.

“Yeah.” Shouldn’t be surprising that his daughter noticed the sky, too. I looked away, out toward the rock formations, one of my favorite rides.

The music was loud, but up here it was bearable. I could think clearly, try to remember why I wanted her close.

“They’re pretty good.” She made small talk when I said nothing.

“Not my thing.”

“What is? Gangster rap?” She tapped her chin with the tip of the bottle. “You don’t look like you’d go for country.”

I curled my lip and jerked a chin toward the stage. “Whatever it is, it ain’tthat.”

She chuckled and walked over to one of two folding chairs. The one she chose was well worn. Ironic, that the last person to sit there had been Archer.

I flexed my fingers and made a fist. Holding her throat, even for just a second, had left me caught between feeling like a fucking barbarian and hornier than a teenager with his first porn video.

I sat in the other chair and kicked my feet up onto the short ledge.

“This your spot?”

I pursed my lips and nodded. “Something like that.” It was Archer’s spot, but I’d found myself up here more in the past week than I had in years. She was right. She was intruding on my life. Yet, each time she poked her head in, I opened the god-damned door. Like right now.

Annoyed with myself more than her, I jerked out a cigarette and lit it. Even the nicotine couldn’t chase away the edge that had sharpened since Archer died. I doubt anything could. I wanted to cuss, to kick something. She shouldn’t be here.

We sat in silence for a long time, music and shouts from the party cutting through the night air. A woman’s shrill giggle,more laughter. All sounds of a good time, of happy people. Not very much grieving—but it was meant to be a celebration. It pissed me off.

“You don’t want me here, do you?”

Did I? “Haven’t decided yet.”

She laughed, then covered her mouth as if she hadn’t meant to. It was endearing and made me fight against a grin.

“I’m not trying to invade your space or hijack your grief. I feel like I’m this great big reminder of something. Only, I don’t know what any of it is.” The tequila made her chattier. It was weirdly soothing.

“Why’s that?”

“I didn’t know him.” Her words were slurring a little, and her eyes were heavy, even in the shadow of the lights from below. “I just show up out of nowhere. I could be anyone, you don’t know me. Haven’t met me.”

But I’d seen her more times than she’d ever known. Archer had kept close tabs on her.

“Money is a great motivator.” I tried to keep my voice level, hide the judgment. She wasn’t my problem. Keeping her safe was. I had no proof, not yet. Just a gut feeling. But it was one I couldn’t ignore. There was that edge again, flint racing across it, making it sharper.

A familiar old anger boiled up inside me. A feeling I’d put away years ago, locked up tight. It threatened to take over. When I reached to her, she handed me the bottle. I took two deep swallows before gulping in the cool night air, to fend off the burn in my nostrils.

She turned toward me, her eyes narrowed, before shrugging. “Screw it. My mom raised me on her own. Archer was never there. I was pre-law before Mom got sick. Left to take care of her, couldn’t work because we couldn’t afford daily care…” She drew in a shaky breath.

I curled my fingers around the bottle to keep from what—holding her hand? That was some bullshit.

Still needing movement, I handed her the bottle. She rolled it in her hands a few times.

“I lost the house and had to give her a beggar’s funeral. Everything else that’s left is in storage in California.”

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