Page 47 of Mile High With the Bikers
“That’s Rory. She’s with Bull and his gang,” Mila explains.
The new woman waves. “Hi, I’m Emily.”
“Emily is the OG,” Kaylee explains. “Eagle-eye blames it all on her.”
Emily snorts. “Please, if his men didn’t kidnap me, none of this would’ve ever happened. It’s their own damn fault.”
“Kidnap?” I squeak.
She nods. “The club was a little rougher back then. They were still settling in, and my father was trying to wipe them off the face of the earth. I was eighteen and had no idea what I was getting into.” She waves a hand like it’s no big deal, and then her face softens and she smiles. “But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“And the guys don't mind? No jealousy? Like, even with kids? How do they know who's whose? The club supports it?” Once I open the tap, the questions pour out of me.
Alessa and Emily share a look that speaks volumes about how much they’ve been through.
“There is no one size fits all answer, but no, they don’t mind. There might be some speculation here and there, but all of the men are the kids’ fathers. We’re a team. As for jealousy, there’s no room for it in families like ours. It might seem strange that men who the outside world thinks would be violent and macho are okay with this situation, but that’s because they don’t live here. They don’t see how these men are willing to fight and die for each other.”
“Most of the guys who end up in this life haven’t had easy lives,” Emily adds. “Sharing the load with the friends they hold as close as brothers helps them stay steady when they don’t trust themselves with something as fragile as a family. They can relax more knowing that they aren’t the only one responsible for keeping us safe.” She giggles. “Maybe I should get a psychology degree to add to the nursing.”
I must look shocked, because Kaylee smiles at me while she reaches out to take her baby girl from Alessa. “I know that expression. I think we've all worn it at some point.”
“Are there any disadvantages?” There's got to be something, right?
The four of them give each other a glance, their expressions sobering. Kaylee clutches Brooklyn just a little closer. “Club life is dangerous. They say very few bikers end their days peacefully. Eagle-eye takes good care of his men, and the Screaming Eagleswatch out for each other, but I don't think there's a single old lady that came into the club without some kind of trouble surrounding her. It's exciting, but it’s not for everyone.”
Alessa laughs and Emily rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Little Miss Mafia princess over there.”
Eeep!
“Technically, you can thank me for bringing you in,” Alessa grins at me. “My father was the one who got Bull, Diesel and Shrapnel on the plane where you met.”
Alessa is a Giordano?
I'm not sure how to explain that I basically hold the secret to blowing open every secured computer system in the world as long as I can get close enough. Somehow I think in this group it would just end up another piece of crazy club trivia, and there’s actually something comforting about that. This might be the only place in the world where I could say that I met my future husbands during a plane crash after my narcissistic father tried to disrupt the world economy without completely killing the conversation.
Future husbands? Now I’m the one dreaming.
“I feel a little bit like a stray cat that you’re all adopting.”
“We've all been there.” Mila says with a laugh. “Just let it happen.”
My phone buzzes. It's Diesel.
Coming to pick you up in a moment. I heard you’re at Viking’s place. Just warning you so that I don't have to overhear you telling the girls how amazing I am in bed.
“I'm getting picked up. Thank you for inviting me, it’s been nice.” I take a quick sip from the sparkling cider and grab a pastry for the road.
Alessa sees me out and makes me promise to come back if I stick around. She seems really certain that I will.
And when I see how Diesel looks at me when he comes to pick me up, I start thinking she might not be wrong after all.
Future husband?I tell my mind to shush.
24
DIESEL
“How were your parents?”Rory asks. She glances back at Alessa’s house with a wistful expression on her face.
