Page 4 of The Biker's Second Chance
I fill Bruno in on what I’ve been up to. We stayed in touch over the years, so he knows that I got a fake identity and tracked my mother down in Cork, helping her run the family business.
But as soon as I heard it was safe to come back to the States, I took the first plane here.
“There's always a place for you with the club if you want it.” Bruno says. “I’ll speak with the guys, but I know you’ll be voted back in.”
Bruno brings me up to speed with what the club's been up to, the legitimate strip club business and their troubles keeping drugs out of the territory.
He shows me pictures of his wife and kids on his phone. It’s hard to imagine the wild Bruno I knew seven years ago settled down as a family man. But he seems happy enough. More than happy. He’s beaming as he tells me about Scarlett and the audacious way he kidnapped her from a rival clubhouse.
As he’s scrolling through his phone, it stops on a photo of a young woman. She’s curvy with long auburn hair and bright green eyes.
“She's a beauty.”
I realize my mistake as soon as I've said it.
Bruno shoves his chair back and grabs my shoulder, his fingers digging into my collarbone.
“That’s my fucking daughter, man.”
“That’s Lily?”
When I left, Lily was an awkward adolescent, all gangly legs and braces. “I’m sorry, man, I didn’t mean anything by it. All I mean is that she’s grown into a lovely young woman.”
He grunts at me but loosens his grip.
“Don’t get any ideas, O’Leary. She’s off limits.”
Its goes without saying. You’d be a fool to mess around with the Pres’s daughter. Bruno may have settled into family life, but he still presses iron most days by the looks of him.
“I didn't mean anything by it, Pres.”
He narrows his eyes at me, still suspicious, but he sits back down.
What would I want with a young girl like that when there's a woman like Gina around? Which brings me to what I really want to talk to Bruno about.
“So, Gina’s no one's old lady?” My fist clenches under the table, afraid of the answer I’m going to get.
“No.”
Relief floods me, and tension eases out of my body. As much as I told myself I wanted Gina to move on, I’m so fucking glad she didn’t.
“She’s not met anyone then?”
Bruno gives me a hard look.
“No, not since you left.”
He must see the relief on my face, but it only seems to make him tense.
“Gina was broken up after you left, Sean. Like really heartbroken.”
A sharp pain tugs at my heart. I never meant to do that to Gina. I hate that I'm responsible for causing her pain.
“I had to leave. You of all people should know that.”
“I know, and Gina knew why you left. But that didn’t make it any easier for her.”
“I want to make things right with her. I want her back.”
