Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“I’m so sorry, Talia.” Caroline sounded genuinely distressed. I kept an eye on Ms. Collins’s retreating form as she stomped to her car and peeled out of the parking lot. I didn’t look back at Caroline. I didn’t want to see the pity in her expression. “I don’t know why my mom did that.”
“It’s fine. I need to get going.”
“No.” Caroline’s dad growled the command, and I was helpless to do anything other than wait for his instructions.
His name was Dr. Jude Collins, but I knew his road name was Doc. He was the doctor and safety officer for his club, Salvation’s Bane. My dad’s club, Grim Road, wasn’t as rich or noticeable as Salvation’s Bane, but they’d done business together a few times. I knew my dad respected both the club and all her members. He might not like a few of them, but he respected them.
I’d noticed Doc the first time he’d brought Caroline to class. He’d been tall. Muscled. Larger than life. I think I fell for him at first sight. He was even larger now, like he continued to work out even though he was the most in-shape man I’d ever seen. Occasionally, he’d wear a tight T-shirt that showed off his muscled biceps and tattooed arms. Most of the time, though, he was in scrubs and a lab coat, like he’d just left work.
Now, he stood in front of me in nothing but a pair of faded, ripped jeans and motorcycle boots. That bare expanse of muscled, tattooed chest taunted me to touch. He’d driven his truck -- I’d parked beside it -- but I noticed his cut draped over the arm of his chair. He might not be on a bike, but he was every inch the biker. “You’ll eat with us. I’ll make things right with Rocket. The least I can do is feed you for taking time out of your day to help my daughter.”
“It really wasn’t any trouble, Dr. Collins. Caroline is a wonderful young woman and one of my best friends. I’d do anything to help her out.”
“Doc,” he said with a wave of his hand. “And I appreciate your loyalty, Lia. Still don’t change what’s going to happen. Come on. We’ll go to Tito’s.”
“My car --”
“Ain’t goin’ nowhere, and I think you know it. When did the temperature light come on?”
“Umm, a while ago, I guess.” She hung her head again. Why was this woman so… beaten down?
“Your dad know?”
“No. I try not to be a bother. I was going to fix it as soon as I got paid.”
“Bother?” Doc jerked his head slightly, as if he couldn’t believe what I’d told him. “Lia, I’m sure you’re not a bother to your dad.”
“I’m not even supposed to be with him. I was supposed to be with my mom, but she got killed in a car accident when I was thirteen. I’ve lived with my dad ever since.” I have no idea why I let that slip. I knew better than to give out personal details. My dad would be so disappointed in me. My shoulders slumped. Add that to the long list of disappointing things I’d done this afternoon.
“In the Grim’s compound?”
“Yeah. He’s got a little house in the center of the property. He’s never made me feel unwelcome, but I get the feeling my continued presence on the club grounds since I turned eighteen is a source of tension between him and his brothers.”
“Because you’ve not been claimed. How old are you, anyway?”
“I’m twenty-two. I should have moved out four years ago, but…” I closed my lips and pressed my fingers against them to keep from finishing that sentence. How did I tell him I wasn’t inked as someone’s property, and I wasn’t a club whore, so the rest of the Grim Road brothers didn’t think I should be living on club grounds? It was a rule my dad was breaking by letting me stay with him.
He’d gone several rounds with the vice president over it too. It wasn’t that they didn’t want me or didn’t love me like a favorite niece. Rules were rules. While they all had their own moral code, they stuck to that code. The only reason Rocket had kept me with him was because of my panic attacks. Most of the club saw it as a weakness, and I couldn’t blame them. Any rules they’d adopted for the club would be upheld, whether I was comfortable with it or not. Which meant I had to go. Soon. I was surprised they’d allowed me to stay this long. I wasn’t sure I could survive with my sanity intact if I moved out on my own.
I was lucky my dad hadn’t tried to marry me off to one of his brothers. That way I could stay in the club with no fuss. I guess he knew that would be too much for me. No matter how much I loved the men in the Grim Road, I could never be an ol’ lady to any of them. They were too much like family to me, and I would be too much of a burden on them.