Page 75 of Riot's Thorn
Even I can sense she’s not ready for any kind of official relationship. She’s happy here, but sometimes, I catch her eyes on the front door, and I know she’s thinking about running. But she doesn’t know Bart like I do. He’s ruthless and has law enforcement in his pocket, which is proven by the fact that her dad’s sins haven’t been discovered and exposed.
The club’s protected too, since we keep video evidence of every politician who walks through the doors of the Honey Pot. Most are married, but even the ones who aren’t don’t want the public to know they visit a brothel. But Cy would never want to test if Bart’s pull is more powerful than ours.
In an instant, it feels as if the ground beneath me is slipping away. The life I’ve painstakingly crafted seems on the brink of being snatched from my grasp. I’m torn between the urge to burn the world down to keep her close and the fear of losing the control I desperately cling to.
Storming to the kitchen, I have one thought and one thought alone. I need to see her and make sure she’s okay. Then I need to drag her back to the cabin and sink my cock into her pussy and not let her out of bed for days.
Except when I stop in the doorway to the kitchen, she’s not there.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
PARKER
I’m a coward. Even worse than that, I’m an uncertain coward. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing, and the fear of making the biggest mistake of my life has me wanting to turn back and hope Riot hasn’t noticed I’m gone yet.
It’s been two hours since he went into his meeting, so surely he knows I’m gone by now. He’s probably already on his bike, trying to find me so he can drag me back by my hair, the way cavemen do in cartoons.
“Miss Richter, we’re here,” Roland says, peering into the back seat.
Roland is only a couple years older than me, but he’s been working for Dad for five years—wasworking for Dad for five years. He was Dad’s personal assistant, but he hadn’t been at the house the day of the shooting.
I didn’t know I’d be calling him today, but when I went to use the bathroom shortly after Riot went into his meeting and saw the bowl of cellphones sitting just outside, I made the snap decision to leave.
At first, I walked right passed the bowl. It wasn’t until I was washing my hands after peeing that the idea came to me. I didn’t even think; I just acted. Roland was more than shockedto hear from me and agreed to meet me down the road from the clubhouse.
After placing the cell phone back in the bowl, I just walked out the front door. I paced in circles on the sidewalk, certain a slew of bikers would come barreling out of the clubhouse before I could get away. But they didn’t, so I fled.
Now I’m outside the mansion that had been my grandfather’s home before my father’s, looking at it with new eyes. There’s still crime scene tape draped all over the expansive courtyard, and a pit is lodged deep in my throat that I can’t swallow. It feels like a year has passed since the last time I was here, not just weeks.
I’m not the same girl who showed up for family dinner that night, clueless as to how much my life would change when I walked through the front door. Part of me wishes I were, because life was so much easier. But the other part is glad I have the chance to fix the mess Dad made and maybe stop even more women and children from suffering.
“Has security been lined up?” I ask.
“Yes, ma’am. A team should arrive here shortly.”
“Please just call me Parker, and thank you for picking me up.” I step out of the town car and take a deep breath.
“I kept extra cellphones because your dad had a tendency to break his.” Roland rounds the car and hands me a silver phone. “Figured you might need it. The cops said yours was left behind in there.”
We both just stand there, staring at what was the scene of a horrific crime. I haven’t told Roland anything about where I’ve been, mostly because I’m still working on a believable story that won’t implicate the club. I left Riot, but I still care about him deeply.
My heart hurts thinking about the complicated man who changed my life forever, in both good ways and bad. I hope he forgives me, and that after I get everything settled here, he’llsee me again. Maybe we can try to have a real relationship because what we had wasn’t sustainable. I don’t want to be in hiding for the rest of my life, and Lucas—no, he needs to be Riot when we’re together, alone—needs to see me as a person, not a possession.
“What now?” Roland asks.
“I haven’t figured that part out yet.”
“If I may, where have you been for the last two weeks?”
“Dad owns a mountain home in Graeagle. After the shooting, I was in shock, and I fled. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to hide.” It’s the most believable story I could come up with. “That’s why I asked for the security team. I still don’t know if whoever killed my dad could be after me.”
“I’m sure, after what you went through, you weren’t thinking clearly.” He shakes his head. “The cops will probably want to speak to you now that you aren’t missing.”
“Speaking of, I need you to find the key to the cabin in my dad’s office and make it look like someone has been living there for two weeks, just in case someone goes poking around.”
His eyes widen. “Didn’t you just say?—”
“Please, Roland. You don’t need to know any more than that, and I’d appreciate your discretion.”
