Chapter 3

CHAPTER

THREE

DILLION

The women introduce themselves. There’s Shawn, the bakery owner. Ryan, the quiet one who hasn’t said two words but has had plenty to say with her eyes alone. Then there is Spencer, who is the beautiful blonde, the one sitting at the table chatting with them.

Spencer is newly engaged. She shows me her stunning ring and tells me all about her fiancé, Evan. Shawn and Ryan are married. Shawn has a toddler and a baby. Ryan has a son in elementary school and a toddler, whom they gush about.

And if I had to guess, Ryan will be having another baby again. I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s going to happen. She clearly has baby fever all over again, and it seems as though both of them are completely and totally in love with their husbands.

I love that for them.

I can’t deny that I’m a bit envious of it as well.

All in all, they seem absolutely wonderful, but I’m still not sure why they’re giving me a free muffin and befriending me. The baristas in the café down the street didn’t give much of a shit about me for a long time…. I’m honestly not sure if they care now.

I open my mouth to ask them why they’re being so nice but decide against it. Maybe I don’t want to know. Maybe they’re just nice people, or maybe they pity me. If they do feel sorry for me in any way, I wouldn’t want to know that.

Popping some muffin into my open mouth, I chew instead of asking any questions. I don’t need to know the truth. I can just live in a state of denial. I’m good with that. I do it on a regular basis.

“What are you going to do for work? You’re new to town, right?” Ryan asks.

“I’m new,” I confirm with a single nod. “But I don’t know what I’m going to do. I went to college but didn’t have an area of study. I graduated, but my grades weren’t that great, and my degree is in general education because I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do. I still can’t.”

Shawn smiles. “Not everyone knows what they want to do. Maybe you can find something that pays the bills for now?”

She’s right. That’s exactly what I need to do. But I’m not sure what the reality is on that. I’m not sure I’m qualified for anything that can actually pay the bills. I’m afraid I’m going to be right where I was before I was willed this house, where I am right now— broke .

“What about Sal’s? They just opened after their expansion remodel and I’m sure they need help,” Ryan finally speaks. She’s stayed completely quiet the whole time, and I’m a bit taken aback by the sound of her voice. “We could ask Kyle. She’d know.”

“What’s Sal’s?” I ask.

Spencer laughs softly. “A bar,” she says, although it’s clear that there is more.

“And a gambling house,” Shawn says.

“And a…” Ryan lets the words hang in the air, and I open my mouth to ask her what else could be there, but she finishes her thought. “A strip club.”

My eyes widen at the strip club part, but Ryan doesn’t stop. “Our friend Kyle, she works there as a waitress in the bar.”

Popping another piece of muffin into my mouth, I think about that as I chew, avoiding responding immediately.

“I tried stripping once, but it’s not for me. I’ve waitressed before, though. I could do that again. I’m not terrible at it.”

I’m not sure if I should have admitted all of that, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not ashamed that I tried to take my clothes off to pay the bills. It’s actually more embarrassing that I couldn’t actually do it. I completely froze.

Spencer sucks in a breath before she murmurs. “I don’t think stripping would be the way to go.”

Looking down at my small chest, I have to agree with her. I don’t think anyone would pay to see me naked. The one time I did it, I never made it to the part where I actually took all my clothes off. I ran off the stage before that happened. I don’t tell her that, though. Instead, I give them a smile.

“I agree. I don’t think stripping would work for me.”

Spencer reaches out and wraps her fingers around my wrist. I look down at her hand, her diamond ring flashing in the sunlight. That is until I hear something, the sound of a bumblebee rumbling.

But it’s not a bumblebee.

It’s a motorcycle.

And the man straddling that motorcycle is hot.

So hot.

Like, so hot that my entire body jerks in my seat. Pressing my thighs together, I can’t stop staring at him through the window. He pulls his bike beside my car, killing the engine but not moving.

I can’t stop staring at him. He’s mesmerizing. His attention is focused on the shop window. He’s wearing aviator sunglasses, a leather vest, jeans, boots, and a short beard. I’m not sure where to look.

Every part of him is appealing—every single inch.

God.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as sexy as this man.

I think that he, without a doubt, gives my secret lover a run for his money—then again, I haven’t ever seen my secret lover’s face. Maybe their sexiness is matched, although I find that hard to believe.

This guy is excruciatingly hot.

My mouth goes dry as he moves toward the door. I cannot imagine he would want anything from this fancy organic bakery. I picture him eating steak and eggs every day, maybe drinking some black coffee, too.

But a fancy organic, gluten-free, vegan treat… not in a million years.

The door opens, and I hear the three women gasp simultaneously. They seem just as surprised by his presence as I am, but I don’t say a word. I don’t make a single noise—I don’t even breathe. Instead, I watch him, and my lips part in awe as he moves into the room.

I can hear his bootsteps against the tile flooring, one foot, then another, until he stops at the table, my table. My table. My breath hitches. I suck in a breath, holding it as I wait to hear what he has to say. It’s clear they are just as surprised as I am by his presence.

I’m not sure where I expect him to go, but it isn’t directly to Shawn and Ryan, to this table. There is no hiding the expression on my face. The complete shock and awe. My eyes widen as I stare at him.

I watch as he kisses them each on the cheek, murmuring what I assume is a good morning, then he turns to Spencer and gives her a smirk and a wink as well.

His gaze scans my face, and I watch as his lip twitches into a smirk, but he doesn’t say anything immediately. Instead, he turns to Shawn. “What’s new in the case this morning, babe? I’m starving.”

He ignores me, which is fine because I have no idea who he is or how I would even speak in front of him because I don’t think I could make a single sound at this point.

His voice.

His.

Voice.

It’s not as raspy as my secret lover’s, but my body jerks at the sound anyway, a natural reaction flowing through me. My thighs squeeze together automatically. I don’t know what to do, what to say.

I just sit there, completely useless, staring as he walks toward the counter and talks to Shawn. She nods and smiles, taking things from her case and placing them in a box. I stare with avid curiosity.

Internally, I beg for him to turn around and look at me, but he doesn’t. He continues to talk to Shawn. She laughs and hands him the box as he digs into his pocket and slides a handful of cash across the counter. She continues to chuckle, shaking her head as she takes the money and places it in the cash register.

“You’re coming to the clubhouse tomorrow night, right?” he asks her.

Shamelessly, I listen in on their conversation, trying to get anything on this guy. Not that it matters. He doesn’t see me. He sees right through me. And even if he did actually see me, I am not for the likes of him.

He’s sexy as shit.

He’s rough and tumble, but he’s also way too hot for me. There is no way he would want anything to do with me at all. No, this is a guy whom you admire from afar. You stare at his beauty and have dreams about him at night.

“We’ll be there,” Shawn says.

He jerks his chin toward her, then turns around and glances at our table. “You girls, too, yeah?”

“Yeah,” all of them say simultaneously.

I, personally, don’t say a word. But he doesn’t walk away the way I expect him to. His gaze finds mine, and he holds it, almost to the point of making me feel uncomfortable. I squirm in my seat, unsure of what to say or do under his intense gaze.

“You’ll come too,” he states.

I blink, unsure of how to respond. I open my mouth, then close it, repeating the move at least three more times, no doubt appearing like a fish out of water. But that pretty much matches my feelings for the moment, so it all fits.

“She’ll come. We’ll make sure of it,” Spencer announces from beside me.

The sexy biker winks at me then sinks his teeth into the corner of his bottom lip before he tugs on the skin and releases it. I think it might be the sexiest thing in the whole world, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s staring at me the entire time he does it.

“I look forward to it,” he says, and then he walks away, leaving me staring at him slack-jawed. I don’t know what to say or do. Everything inside of me is completely frozen.

“Oh, this is going to be good,” Ryan murmurs.

CLINK

I probably shouldn’t have gone into the bakery knowing she was inside, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to see her up close and in person during the middle of the day. Seeing her surrounded by the old ladies of the club does something to me.

It makes me want to claim her—immediately.

Leaving her there at the bakery and not demanding that she be on the back of my bike as I ride away is also something that makes me feel off. She belongs beside me, on the back of my bike, and in my bed.

Dillion is not the darkness. She is the light, and I’ve selfishly kept her hidden away for far too long. She doesn’t know who she is to me. I’ve visited her in the night, never showing her any part of me.

Just worshiping her body and nothing else.

It’s worked out well, but I’m not sure it’s what I want anymore. Maybe Atomic was right. Seeing her at that table with my sister and the other old ladies, I liked it far too much. In fact, I absolutely fucking loved it.

Heading back to the clubhouse, I toss the baked goods on the bar and watch everyone surround it like the vultures they are. Nobody asks me why I went to Shawn’s bakery. Nobody else cares, and I’m good with that.

I don’t even know why I went.

Except, that’s a lie.

I was just riding through downtown when I noticed her car, then rode by and saw her. I had to go in. Maybe it was fucking with her. Maybe it was something more than that, but I had to make contact.

She had no fucking clue who I was, but she wanted me. I could see it on her face, in her eyes. When she clenched her thighs together, I knew she wanted me. Not the man who comes during the night, but me.

I also knew that those clenched thighs could probably still feel me between them. Fuck. It feels dirty, wrong, and yet absolutely fucking perfect all at the same time. I need to see her at the clubhouse. I need to watch her move through the crowd and see her reaction to my life.

Then I’m going to fuck her. Face to face, in the goddamn light. I’m just not sure if I’m going to tell her who I am. I’m not ready yet. I’m still having a damn good time going to her in the night.

Would it make me a piece of shit if I started something with her in the light but continued to fuck her in the dark? Or would it make her that if she thought that she was fucking two different men?

I’m not sure how I should be feeling about any of this, but what I do know is that my cock is one-hundred-percent down for it all. I have a lot of sex to make up for after three years of being locked up.

And the only person I want to make up that time with is Dillion.

“Clink,” my name is called out from the hallway.

Turning my head, I look behind me to find Atomic standing in the hallway. He jerks his chin and turns, walking away. I know he wants me to follow him, so I do, even though I want nothing more than to just spend some time alone thinking about Dillion.

Making my way toward Atomic’s office, I slip inside behind him and close the door. I don’t sit in the chair that’s in the middle of the room across from his desk. Instead, I stand, crossing my arms over my chest, my feet parted as my gaze focuses on his.

“Vixen’s sister, I talked to the contact about taking over her contract as one of our girls,” he begins.

“And?” I ask when he doesn’t continue.

He shakes his head. “They don’t want to give her up. She’s not one of the contracts up for us to choose from,” he murmurs.

“Wait a minute, I thought we got anyone?”

He leans back in his chair, his eyes focused on mine as he does. “Loopholes,” he grunts. “We can choose from the contracts they offer us, and she is not one of them. Which only means that they consider her valuable. Too valuable. I don’t know the ins and outs or why, but I think Vixen has a right to be concerned.”

“How do we get her?” I ask.

Atomic clears his throat. Then he dips his chin slightly before he speaks. “You’re not going to like it,” he warns.

“Kidnapping.”

“That and betrayal. Not that I am particularly loyal to the Southern Mafia, but I have a feeling shit might get ugly if we fuck with them. They’re bigger than I anticipated. Also, this will have to go to a vote.”

Fucking shit.

“Then to a vote it is. This is Vixen’s blood we’re talking about. And from what I’m getting, her sister doesn’t fully understand what all she agreed to.”

“I’m sure she didn’t. I’m sure none of them completely understand what they signed. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have agreed to a damn fucking thing.”

Atomic stands and moves toward the door but stops before he turns to me, his eyes finding mine. “This might put your woman on their radar. You may want to claim her and lock her up when we get started. I can’t make any promises without that claim.”

His warning isn’t all wrong. Except, I’m still not one-hundred-percent ready to do all of that. Not only is this really fucking fun, it’s also all I can handle right now. I need to get my head on right before I claim anyone, even the woman who is already promised to me.

“I’ll do that when it’s time. Right now, we need to get a pulse on how the rest of the brothers feel. We’ll go from there.”

Atomic gives me a smirk. “I won’t say anything else about it. I’ve already said too much… more than once,” he murmurs.

Together, we walk out of the office and into the clubhouse. Atomic announces that we’ll have church in two hours. He takes his phone out of his pocket and sends a group text to the entire club.

I guess we’re figuring shit out sooner rather than later, and I’m fucking here for it.