Page 56 of Tinsel & Chrome

Sampson sat at the small table beside the window, stretched his legs, then crossed his ankles. “Mammoth should be here soon.”

I returned to the window and moved the curtain aside to peer out again. My palms were sweaty as I ran a hand through my wet hair.

“Hey, Wren,” Sampson said. “This is weird, and I bet you’re nervous, but it’s going to be okay. Mammoth showed no signs of being an asshole when I spoke with him last night. He and my Merciless Few brothers are the good guys.”

A silver Ford truck pulled up in front and my jaw dropped when the driver climbed out. The man had long blond hair and wore shades. He was tall, wearing a snug black Harley Davidson T-shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders and chest, blue jeans, and black boots.

I hurried and sat on the bed beside Joy when the man knocked on the door.

When Sampson opened the door, the man walked in and removed his shades revealing gorgeous blue eyes that made my stomach somersault.

He stared at me while he made small talk with Sampson.

“Who is that man, Mommy?” Joy asked sheepishly.

“He’s a friend of Sampson’s,” I replied, my eyes locked with those handsome blue ones.

Taking my daughter’s hand, I stood as the man approached us.

“Wren, meet Mammoth,” Sampson said.

Mammoth offered me his hand, and I shook it, amazed at how small mine was in his.

His warm hand squeezed mine gently. “Hello. My real name is Cameron Payne. I’m the Vice President of the Maryland chapter of the Merciless Few MC. Everyone calls me Mammoth.”

I swallowed the knot in my throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Cameron. I mean Mammoth.”

“You can call me by either name,” he said.

“Cameron is a nice name. I’m Wren. And this is my daughter, Josephine. She likes to be called Joy.”

Smiling, he knelt on one knee. “It’s nice to meet you, Joy. I see you have a cat. I like cats too. What’s its name?”

“His name is Fluffy,” she replied and smiled, holding tightly to her worn and tattered stuffed white cat toy, which had one blue eye missing.

“I have a cat, too, her name is Harley.”

Watching this hunk of a man kneeling to talk to my baby girl made my heart melt.

Even though I did my best to shield her from all the violence and bad things I’d experienced, there were still some horrible things she had seen in her 4 years of life.

I was lucky to have been saved from the Soulless Bastards, and I would do all I could, even if it meant giving my own life, to give my daughter a better one.

CHAPTER 3

––––––––

MAMMOTH

––––––––

My heart was pounding when I stepped outside the hotel room. The petite woman inside was definitely Wren Hughes, I knew it the moment I looked into her beautiful brown eyes. No more staring at her image in a photo for two years, now she stood in front of me in the flesh! That primal instinct to protect this beauty and her daughter kicked in.

I pulled the phone from my back pocket and called Zero, pacing back and forth.

“Hello,” Zero answered.

“Your sister, Wren. She’s alive, and wants to see you.”

---