“No, Jack, it’s okay ...” I try to protest, but he puts a hand up, and I can’t argue further.
“Yo’, Quinn, rally the troops and come over to Baylee’s house. We need a hand.”
He listens for a second, laughs about something, and then rattles off my address before hanging up the phone. I stare at him. “You don’t need to get your friends over to help me clean,” I say, feeling guilty.
Jack waves a hand. “Don’t stress, there is beer and pizza involved for them. And this ain’t going to be easy to clean up. No way I’m leaving you on your own to do it.”
I glance around at the mess, and I know he’s right. There is no way I’d be able to clean this up on my own and get enough sleep to help me function tomorrow. It’s already well past midnight. There are cups, food scraps, napkins, and rubbish strewn about everywhere. I look back to Rae. “Get to bed, and don’t come back out until I’m done.”
Rae stands, clearly happy she’s gotten away with not cleaning up. But Jack stops her with a sharp whip of his voice as he says, “Rae.”
She looks at him, horrified. “I don’t know who you are,” he says, his eyes strong, his jaw tight. “I don’t know your story. I don’t know a single fuckin’ thing about you, but I do know this: When someone is helpin’ you the way Baylee is, you don’t shit on them. You don’t treat them with the utter disrespect you treat her. So, I’m telling you, and believe me when I say I don’t fuck around, if I ever see her house like this again, I’ll be the one to toss you out on your fuckin’ ass.”
Rae’s eyes get big and swing towards me, as if I’m going to defend her. But I’m shocked. Nobody has ever stood up for me like that before. No one. My eyes swing to Rae, then to Jack, and I literally have no words.
“Fuck you, Baylee,” Rae snaps, and then storms off down the hall.
I still have nothing.
“The rest of you,” Jack says, snapping me out of my stupor. “Wait outside. Get out. Now.”
The group of people left stand and stumble their way out the door. They’re either too drunk, or just smart enough, but either way they aren’t going to attempt to argue with Jack. Hell, I wouldn’t argue with Jack right now. His strong demeanor is ... incredible. All the playfulness from his personality has gone, and a serious side shines through, a side I certainly wouldn’t mess with.
“Right,” Jack says, clapping his hands together and turning to me. “Let’s do this.”
I blink.
Who is this man?
~*~*~*~
“Baylee,” Jack says, taking my arm and pulling me to his side. “These are my friends.”
I stare at the five people standing in front of me, and honestly, could they get any better looking? Seriously?
“From the left,” Jack continues. “We have Roman and Molly.”
I stare at Roman and Molly. He’s got an arm thrown around her shoulder, and she’s tucked into him. He’s gorgeous. Tall, dark and handsome, and she’s equally as attractive, with blonde hair and probably one of the prettiest faces I’ve seen in a good long time.
“Then you’ve got twins, Phoenix and Quinn.”
I glance at Phoenix and Quinn. Well. Just damn. Good looking doesn’t even cover it. The first one, Phoenix, has brown hair, slightly messy, and the nicest green eyes I’ve ever seen. His brother, and twin, Quinn, looks identical, the only difference being his hair is cropped short. Both are stocky, well muscled guys.
“And this last pain in the ass is Matilda. Molly’s sister, though it’s not certain whether she’s adopted yet or not.”
Matilda is gorgeous. Hands down. Dark hair, brown eyes, skin the colour of coffee and milk. She’s breath taking. Like a young Pocahontas.
“Eat a dick, Jack,” she says, and flips him the bird, before turning to me. “Hi, Baylee. Nice to meet you finally. Jack has told us so much about you.”
I blink.
Okay then.
“You, too,” I say, my voice softer than I’d like.
“Yes, indeed he has,” Molly says, stepping forward. “You’re the one he couldn’t get. Good for you, girl.”
“Yeah,” Phoenix says, laughing. “Do the fucker good.”
Jack leans over and thumps Phoenix on the arm.
“Looks like someone had a good time here,” Roman says, eyes scanning the room. “Nice place, by the way.”
Molly rolls her eyes. “Don’t mind him. He’s a snoop.”
It’s not a nice place, but I like him already for saying it is, even when he clearly knows it isn’t.
“My, ah, sister had a party,” I say. “She made somewhat of a mess. I really appreciate you guys coming to help me out. This isn’t how I planned on us meeting.”
“So you were planning on meeting us?” Quinn grins, wiggling his brows.
Jack grunts and shoves him out of the way. “Go and start cleaning, dickhead.”
Quinn laughs all the way into the kitchen and something inside me lightens. How they’re interacting, how obvious it is that they are all so comfortable with each other and love each other, it blows my mind. It makes me long for that kind of connection with a family.
“All right, girlfriend,” Matilda says, clapping her hands together. “Where do we start?”
I stare at the mess. “Wherever you want.”
They all get to work, and for a moment, I just watch them, so humbled by their willingness to help. Surely, they would have been sleeping, or busy, or doing something fun for the night, yet they all stopped it to come here and help a perfect stranger.
“You okay?” Jack asks, coming up beside me.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “I’m just ... They’re so kind.”
“Don’t let them fool you,” he teases lightly. “They’re all giant pains in the asses.”
Pains I’d happily have in my life.
Happily.
“Who are all these people?”
I turn to see Rae staring at my five helpers with her signature scowl on her face.
“These people are helping me clean the mess you made, now go back into your room, or believe me, you’ll be helping.”
She scratches at her arms oddly and shifts from one foot to the other, her eyes darting around.
“Well, they’re making so much noise. Tell them to stop screaming.”
Screaming?
Everyone has stopped and is staring at the heavily pregnant girl standing at the end of the hallway.
“What?” she snaps, crossing her arms, still rubbing at one. “Do you want to take a fucking picture?”
“Rae!” I bark, storming towards her and taking her arm, spinning her around and pulling her down the hall. When we reach her room, I spin her towards me. “What’s wrong with you?”
“They’re being noisy. I’m pregnant, and I’m trying to rest.”
Her eyes dart to the left, and then quickly back to mine.
“Are you using?”
Her eyes widen and she takes a step back. “Don’t accuse me of things like that, Baylee. Don’t!”
“Well, you’re acting a whole lot like you are. Considering you supposedly didn’t drink tonight, I have to wonder where this reaction is coming from.”
She crosses her arms. “It comes from this fucking thing growing inside me! God, forget about it.”
She turns and storms into the room, slamming the door so loudly in my face I flinch and take a step back. I drop my head, take a deep, staggered breath, and turn around. Jack is standing about five feet away, staring at me. “She used to do drugs?”
I nod. “Yeah, she did. She stopped when she got pregnant, but ...”
“You’re worried she’s doing it again?”
I rub my arms. I don’t think I can cope with that again. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, I really do, but I just don’t trust her. “I am, yeah. She’s acting strangely, and she’s angrier than she usually is.”
A trait she inherited from her brother.
“Would she do that while pregnant?”
/> I study him. “Rae has had a rough life, drugs became her way of coping, she sees that baby as a burden ... so, yeah, it’s highly possible.”
“What are you going to do?”
I rub my temples. “I don’t honestly know.”
And I really don’t.
How much more am I supposed to take?
CHAPTER 10
THEN – MADDIE
“Shut the fuck up, Rae!” York barks, slamming his fist down onto the counter so hard glasses go flying, shattering across the floor into a thousand tiny pieces.
“What’s wrong with you, York?” Rae cries, her bottom lip trembling. “Why are you so angry at me?”
“Because I’m fuckin’ sick of you doing nothing for yourself. Get off your lazy ass and work, you’re old enough now.”
Rae’s eyes flick to me, and I open my mouth to speak, but York barks, “Speak, Maddie, and I’ll fucking go off. This is none of your business.”
“York,” I say softly, my voice fragile. “She’s young. She’s still a teenager. You don’t have to yell at her and speak to her like that.”
York turns to me, eyes flashing with rage. “Don’t you fucking tell me how to speak to my sister. What would you know about raising a child, let alone a young fucking woman?”
His eyes are bloodshot and completely wild. It terrifies me, more than I’m willing to admit to myself. It’s like with every passing second he’s changing. Turning from a man into a monster. I know it’s drugs, I’m not stupid, but every time I try to bring the conversation up, he flies off the handle. The only time I can talk to him is when he’s high.
He never remembers what he says.
It’s like talking to a wall.
But I want to help him. I want to help Rae. That’s what you do when you love someone ... right?
“Please, York,” I try again, keeping my voice as placid as I can. “She’s just being a normal teenager. You’re being so hard on her. Maybe we can all talk and—”
Slap.
It comes out of nowhere and shocks me so heavily I stand there, face stinging, eyes wide, horrified. York stands in front of me, glaring down at me, panting with a rage I’ve never seen on a person. “You fucking deserved that,” he hisses.
“York!” Rae cries, pressing her hand over her mouth. “Stop!”
I take a shaky step back, still in shock. “Y-y-y-y-you hit me,” I whisper, rubbing my cheek.
“I slapped you. I told you to shut the hell up ...”
I take another step back. “I’m leaving, I’m ... I can’t ...”
I turn and rush towards the front door, picking up my keys on the way. Who is this man? This ... this ... monster? It’s not the man I fell in love with. It certainly isn’t the man I want a future with. My cheek burns from the force of his slap, and when I reach the front door, a hand curls around my upper arm, jerking me back. “You’re not going out there to cry abuse, Maddie. I slapped you. I didn’t fucking punch you.”
“Let me go. Now.”
My voice shakes, but it’s firm. Firm enough for him to jerk his head back a little to look down at me clutching my cheek. His eyes flash, and his face gets softer, just a little. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he says, his voice still far too hard for my liking. “You just won’t listen to me ...”
“Let me go, York.”
“No,” he grunts. “I said sorry. It won’t happen again. Now, can we go to bed?”
I stare up into his eyes, and my body is screaming for me to run, to just barrel out the door and never look back, but my feet seem to be firmly placed on the ground, like I can’t move even though I want to.
“Come on, sugar,” he purrs, his voice going sweet, too sweet. “Please? I’m sorry, baby. I’ve just had a hard day. Come to bed.”
My feet still won’t move, not in either direction. His eyes flick to Rae, and he calls, “Come here, little sis. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
She doesn’t move either.
It’s like both of us are waiting for a bomb to go off, for him to explode all over the place again just as we get close enough.
“I think I’d rather just go to bed,” she says, rubbing her arms. “Is that okay?”
He studies her, and then nods sharply. “Yeah, of course, exactly what you should have done in the first place. Good girl.”
She nods and turns, disappearing down the hallway, leaving me with the monster that lurks right beside me.
“Come on, Maddie. Don’t be upset. Please. It was a slap. I’m sorry. I swear it won’t happen again.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and look up at him. “You hurt me. You’ve never hurt me before. You scared me, York.”
He reaches down and I flinch. His hand pauses, but carefully he rubs a thumb over my cheek. “Sorry, baby. Come on. Come to bed with me. I’ll make it better.”
He’s being so kind.
Maybe it was a mistake after all.
Maybe ...
“Okay,” I whisper. “Okay, York.”
“Good girl. That’s my good girl. We’ll all go do something together tomorrow, something fun, make up for it, okay?”
I nod, my knees shaking as he leads me down the hall.
I should have walked out that front door.
I don’t know it yet, but dammit, I should have run while I had the chance.
~*~*~*~
I push the front door open and step inside to see York and Rae on the couch, laughing hysterically about something. Empty pizza boxes are strewn across the coffee table, seemingly days old. I went out of town for work for two nights, and I certainly didn’t expect to come home to this. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard them laugh together, so I say nothing about the horrible mess as I step inside.
“Hey, guys,” I say and both of them stop laughing and look over.
“Baby,” York says, standing and walking over, scooping me up into a hug. “Missed you.”
He did? My heart swells. He hasn’t said nice things like that to me for so long, I’ve forgotten what it feels like. I have wondered if the man I love so much is even still in there, but now I’m seeing that he is. So maybe there is hope. Maybe.
“I missed you, too,” I say, snuggling close and breathing him in.
“Did you have a good time?” he asks, pulling back and staring down at me. He seems so chipper, so happy. Maybe he’s slowed down? Maybe he’s even stopped.
“Yeah, I did. How about you guys?” I look past him to Rae, who is staring down at her phone, giggling at something.
She seems so happy.
“She seems like she’s in good spirits,” I whisper to York.
York’s eyes flash to her, oddly, but he quickly smiles. “Yeah, she is. We had a good time.”
“That’s good, I’m happy.”
“What do you say we all go out to dinner to celebrate you being home?” he suggests, and my heart swells.
“That would be nice, just let me get changed.”
“No problem,” he smiles, turning to Rae. “Rae, come with me, we’ll go out onto the patio and wait.”
Something about that strikes me as slightly odd. Why wouldn’t they just wait inside? But I’m so happy that I’ve come home to a smiling York that I don’t argue or question it, I just go into the room and do as he asks, I get dressed and look forward to a night out with my family.
It only takes me a few minutes to get changed, and then we all head off to a local Italian place we always used to eat at when I first met York. We get our usual booth in the corner and order the famous creamy mushroom pasta. While we wait, I listen to York and Rae laughing. They’re laughing so hard it almost seems like they’re drunk, but I can’t smell a drop of alcohol on them.
“You two must have had a great time while I was away, you seem to be getting along really well.” I smile, snuggling into York as he slings an arm over my shoulder.
“We had a great time,” Rae chirps. “I’ve got my old brother back. We had a big talk. Sorted things out. We’re on the
same page now.”
She looks at him, and he must do something, because she smiles huge and claps her hands together happily.
“I’m really happy that you two have worked it out,” I say, sipping my drink and enjoying the first normal thing we’ve done together in months.
“Yeah, me too,” York says.
Our food arrives, and my stomach grumbles as the plate is placed down in front of me. I dig into mine, not noticing right away that both York and Rae only pick at theirs. I get halfway through and look to York. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Rae and I had a big lunch, I thought I’d be able to fit dinner, too, but turns out I’m still so full.”
“Me too,” Rae says, shoving her plate away. “But it was so tasty.”
I nod, finishing up a little more before pushing my plate away, too. “I’m full too.”
York kisses my temple. “I’ll grab the check, and then I’m taking you home to show you how much I missed you.”
I flush and smile over at him. “Okay,” I whisper.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe everything is fine after all.
CHAPTER 11
NOW – BAYLEE
“Do you think I’m crazy?” I say to Shan, as I adjust my top for the fiftieth time since I put it on.
“For going and having fun?” she rolls her eyes. “Absolutely not. It’ll do you good.”
“I don’t really know these people. And—” I lean in closer to her “—they’re bikers.”
“So? So what? That doesn’t mean they’re bad people.”
“I know that,” I scoff. “But still, I don’t know how to act, or what to do, or what to say ...”
“You’re over thinking, just have fun with that hot as hell man and let your hair down for once.”
I stare at her. “I don’t trust Rae here. I think she’s using again.”
Shan mumbles something under her breath, but says out loud, “She’s a big girl, she can take care of herself for a few hours. She’s not your child, Bay. She’s not even your sister.”
“I know but—”
“No buts!” she says, clapping her hands together. “That fine biker boy is going to be here soon, and you’re going to go and have fun with him and then tell me all about it.”