If that was the worst of her suggestions, I can handle it. I deserve to grovel. Hell, I'll make a whole crow pie if it means I can get back together with Crispin. "How?"Pearl was quiet for a moment. "Oh damn," she said. "I can't think on an empty stomach."Her eyes lower, looking at the cookies, and I hurry to pop off the lid and pass them across the table to her. I'd even sacrifice Anessa's chocolate chip cookies if it helps her come up with a way for me to win Crispin back. No sacrifice is too great.She pushes the container away. "No, no, this won't do. Can you heat them up a bit?""You want your cookies warm?"Pearl smirks as if in a private joke with herself. "Now is not the time to question my methods, Stella.""Right." I grab the cookies and make my way for the microwave. Pearl's been giving advice to young hearts for decades. It's not my place to question how she wants to do it now. I am only happy she would at all."Does he like your dog?""Who, Crispin?"Pe
Once inside Crispin turns and looks me in the eyes without speaking, a quick reminder this is my show and I still haven't eaten crow. Figuratively, of course."I'm sorry." My hands get nervous. I don't know what to do with them and I knock one on the table hurting my knuckle. But I do my best to keep my face calm so Crispin doesn't notice. They raise and lower in the air as I speak, becoming hazards to anyone who dares get close. "I freaked out because I've never been on a stakeout before or kidnapped or even seen a gun in actual life. This stuff doesn't happen to people," I pause picturing all the times Katy wasn't the least bit nervous. "Okay, this stuff doesn't happen to me." People in this town have their own issues.Nice normal people are gun shy, but as I've learned over the last two days of being alone, what good is normal if your friends are weird?"So you don't think the town is cursed?" Crispin asks with a straight face.My hands start again. "Oh no, it is, but it's g
"NO, you have to eat the extra cookie," Tabitha says, placing the second on my plate after I turn it away.The bakery is bright, letting the setting sun through all the windows, and the smell of fresh-baked chocolate temps me further. "Why do I have to eat more cookies?""To make up for the fact you didn't eat here for days. It's been almost a week.""Don't argue with her logic," Katy says, turning the page in the magazine while she sits at the table across from me reading. "Tabitha can out-logic anyone. She wears you down eventually."I guess in that case I don't want to offend anyone, so I pop a bite of cookie in my mouth enjoying delicious gooey goodness.It's crazy how much can change in a matter of a few days. Hush and I are back at Crispin's house and we worked hard all day after our reunion to remove evidence of Hush having even stepped foot inside my brother's home. He would never know his canine niece had spent almost a week there.Not just my issues with Crispin h
Katy shushes me as if I've yelled my own name, and I turn, shock coloring my emotions, as Ben stands on the sidewalk next to his car parked in the middle of the street. Oh, shit.He's wearing a pair of black pants and a suit jacket, looking like he made the lengthy drive up here after leaving work. I turn back, trying to ignore him and hoping with the adrenaline I'm hallucinating. It could be a heart attack. I swear I once read an article that said ex-boyfriend hallucinations were a sign of something.My attempt to ignore him does no good. "I see you!" he yells, walking closer to my bush where I refuse to stand up and blow our cover. "I drove all the way here from New York and you will talk to me."He has to be kidding me. What about this situation looks normal? Like I want to sit down and have a chat? I turn, yelling "shh" at him and put my finger to my lips, trying to warn him to shut the hell up, but he keeps walking closer.I wave with my hand hoping he'll see it and get th
A gunshot. I scream, but neither Katy nor I fall. Ben, behind us and now awake, screams like a small child as I whip around, checking him and expecting to see blood pouring from the wound. But he's fine, still huddled on the cushions. I run my hands up and down my arms looking for a wound I can't feel or see because of adrenaline, but there's none.Katy does the same and we both stand, jumping back as the man who seconds earlier planned to kill us tumbles to the ground. His gun lands inches from his hand on the floor beside us.An old man I've never seen before, wearing green plastic pants, walks out from the doorway leading to the bottom of the boat. His complete body shakes and holds his gun pointed high at the man at the wheel telling him to turn off the boat."You ladies all right?" he asks, not taking his eyes from the driver, who walks toward him leaving us next to a dead man by ourselves.He reaches the wheel and shuts the motor off, walking his captor down to our level.
VOLUME NINE: FAMILY RISKWould sleeping with a muscular hot guy ever get boring?Nah.A thousand thoughts flutter through my brain as I lie wrapped in my yellow sheets in a post-orgasmic haze. Elliot and I have fallen into a routine the last few months, and I snuggle into my pillow waiting for him to rest for a few minutes before round two begins. There's always a round two.With a break in tradition, he leans over and gives me his quick goodbye kiss on the forehead before slipping out from underneath the covers. What the hell?I sit up and lean with a pillow against the headboard. "You're leaving so soon?"Elliot's never been one to lie around for an after-the-deed cuddle. We haven't once woken up together the next morning, but he's also never been a one-and-done guy either. The reason I've been okay with our brief liaisons is because he's never treated me like a fuck and run, but that's the feeling blossoming in my chest watching him get dressed in the darkness. It catche
Rocky, this six-year-old Yorkie who spends half his time acting like a puppy and the other half lounging around like he's an old man... er... dog lifts his head from his spot beside me on the couch. He scans to the left and then the right. I should have expected what's coming, but regardless of how quick I've gotten at sensing Rocky's shifts, I don't get the laptop on the floor in time.The dog who two seconds before slept peacefully, lunges off in his very own super dog move and races for the front door.Bark. Bark. Bark, bark, bark!"Rocky, no," I yell, chasing after him, but it's too late.Ray, the mailman, shoves letters through the slot in my door and Rocky wastes no time snatching up the first one to touch his lips and violently shaking it back and forth. I don't know what the dog has against junk mail, but he definitely holds a grudge.A very personal, violent grudge.It's a daily occurrence, as if he thinks each piece of mail is here to attack us. I've tried everyth
I clench my teeth together and follow my stepbrother, pretending nothing bothers me in the slightest. Just another random day in my life.Except it isn't, and I've just walked into the one place I vowed to never visit.It might not have been my smartest idea.Shit.As soon as the door closes, he turns on me. Too late to pretend I'm sleep walking at this point. "What the hell are you doing here? You know it's important to keep our distance."There isn't time for Dom to give me another lecture on how I should behave in Pelican Bay. "I know."He stomps to the section behind his desk and takes a heavy seat in his chair. "I gave you the cell phone to call me if you need something."Ohhhhh, right, the cell phone. In my haste to get out of the house, I forgot.Oops."You don't know what you've done by coming here. There are eyes everywhere in this town, Har."He looks to the outside, his large window at the front of his office with a view out over the sidewalk and street.
ElliotFive years later"No, sweetie, we only get one puppy today." I squat getting on the same level as my daughter, Brandise.The round ball of fluff she squeezes onto with all her might so he doesn't run away licks her across the face and she giggles. "Daddy, they're twins just me and Bray. They have to stay together."My eyes flick back and forth between each dog. One held in the tight grip of Brandise and the other being sized up by my son. Their mother, Harley, a woman who took too long for me to figure she meant everything stands between the two of them with her lips pinched together not helping me in this situation. She's left me out in the cold on my own.The two puppy siblings look alike, but in my eyes every Yorkie looks the same. How can you tell them apart? The puppies my babies held both had a lighter colored face than Rocky, but other than that they were big puffballs of fur."Sweetie, Rocky only needs one brother," I try again hoping to talk sense into her.
Elliot's steps are slow but sure as I hold open the bakery door to let him get through the space. Once he's cleared the way, I stand beside him in case he needs me for support as he makes his way to the first table in the busy sitting section. You wouldn't expect a shoulder injury to cause issues walking, but with each movement his body makes, his shoulder sways with the force and his face grimaces.It's too soon for him to be up and moving, but I couldn't make him listen to reason.He finds his seat and plops in it heavily, the chair legs scraping on the tile. The people around us stop what they're doing and turn before a small round of applause starts from behind the bakery counter and then picks up including people from every space in the bakery. Elliot turns to the noise, catching everyone in their adoration, and scowls until the clapping fades."Cupcakes for everyone," Anessa says smiling from her spot at the counter. "Especially for our new hero."Elliot's scowl deepens.
Dominick releases a breath and sucks in another one as if preparing himself for this new life. "Are you positive? Because there are very eligible bachelors in my club. A brother could keep you safe."I don't argue with him that Elliot kept me safe. Well at least until he got shot, and no one can blame a man for that. He literally stuck his body in between me and a loaded weapon. How much more could he have done?Plus I could never live life in the club again. Now after experiencing life on my own. "Yeah, and then they'd cheat on me or go to prison."Dominick shakes his head. "My men aren't that way. They love hard and deep. I changed the club here, Harley. It's different from how we grew up in Colorado."There's honesty in his words, but it will never be enough to bring me back. "Elliot is mine."Dom shakes his head once, admitting defeat. "Fine. Onto topic two. I met your father," he says father accusatorily like I've been keeping something from him.Which, in a way, I hav
Without warning there's another harsh pop in the air like someone shooting off a firecracker, and then red blossoms in the middle of Pete's forehead. His body falls back hitting the ground once again. The thud is too far away to hear, but I swear my body feels the vibration.Holy fuck.My ears ring from the gunfire as men pool around us each of them yelling things back and forth. It's coordinated chaos. An ambulance with its lights flashing speeds over the highway."That man took three bullets to the chest," Huxley mutters to himself shaking his head. "I haven't seen anything that crazy since Thailand."... The steady beat of Elliot's hospital machines lulls me into a restless sleep as my head rests on Elliot's hand."Harley," a deep voice whispers in my ear, shaking my shoulder. "Har."In a start my head pops up and my eyes search Elliot's face, but his hand still rests underneath my head, a pool of my drool sticking between his fingers."Still drool, huh? I wouldn't
"Dominick won't pay anything for me," I lie.Pete laughs. "Don't want money. I'm looking to trade you for a free get-out-of-town card. If he won't offer me his protection, you'll be a going away gift to my men. They're upset with having to leave. I'm sure you understand.""What?" Fear causes me to choke out the word as a hundred images flash through my brain of what he could mean, but only one is sick and depraved enough for this man.He smirks. "They'll love you if the Impaler doesn't."I fall to my knees against the back of his seat. "No, please don't." I'd rather he shoot me now than do what his smile promises. He means I'm to be a sexual gift given to his men and passed between them. I'd never survive. Sure, Dom trained me in basic self-defense skills, but my mother sheltered me from club life so I only heard the evils of the world through others. Until now, I never once felt concern for my safety. Not the way I do now.The cargo van travels on the highway, passing a bill
"Stand up, Fucker."Elliot scoots away from me as I claw deftly on his leg trying to hold on and keep him close. He turns, not making any sudden movements and puts his body in front of mine to shield me once again from the nasties of life."Let's not do anything drastic, Pete." Elliot takes a step forward with his hand held out defensively.I twist seeing the old man wearing a pair of board shorts, a blue Hawaiian shirt with palm trees, and flip-flops on his feet standing in the middle of the beach. He resembles a tourist who belongs in Florida not a man running a drug ring in Pelican Bay. He sneers at me taking the tension from Elliot for just a moment and waving the gun in his direction as if either of us could forget it's there."She's the only one who can name me. Without her I can pick up shop and start somewhere fresh and there's nothing you can do about it. You guys don't have shit on me.""You're standing in the middle of a public beach during the day, Pete," Elliot t
He flinches as of my question has hurt him, but I'm the child who didn't have a father. "I got out early for good behavior and I looked up your mother. I learned what happened. Sorry about your loss," he says. The words are stagnant as if he knows what he's supposed to say but struggles with the meaning. Yet, something in the inflection makes me believe he means each one. His eyes turn soft, possibly remembering his time with my mother.My life has never been cupcakes and cookies, but the last month has been indescribable except for the word surreal. First, I had no father, then I picked up a club president for a stepdad, lost him, and now gained back the original. What is happening to my life?"What will happen now?"My father shakes his head and stares at me with a touch of a smile tweaking his lips. "I'm out of the club life. Plan to take the straight and narrow from here on out."I hold back the cringe at his promise. It's one I've heard from club brothers my entire life. E
Elliot shakes his head, his fingers curving around the handle of his gun. His face pinches together as if he has so much to say, but is staying silent for me.Until he doesn't anymore."Would someone mind telling me what the fuck is going on?"He's not the only one looking for answers. "Me too. Mom said you died in a motorcycle crash. Drove your bike over a mountain ledge one night." She hadn't said he'd been drinking, but I've filled in the blanks for myself as I aged.My father's teeth come together hard making a gnashing sound I hear even from my position. "Yeah well. She thought it would be better than the true story. Easier for both of you to move on rather than wait around on me living only a half-life.""Then what is the true story?" After my mom left Dominick's dad, it was the three of us together. I always believed we never hid any secrets from one another.My father shakes his head and stares at me but looks past me as if he's reliving the memories himself. "She s
My gaze and thoughts flip to the back door, but I'm too far away to reach it before he could shoot me.The man is younger than Pete and not the person I saw put a bullet in someone earlier this month, but he's old enough to be my father. His skin is leathered and wrinkled as if he's spent a lifetime in the sun. His jeans are loose and a leather jacket lacking any MC cut is wrapped around his body. Not a Bloodhound.I stand next to the kitchen island breathing heavily while trying to come up with an escape plan as the two of us stare at one another unmoving.He speaks first. "Now, Harley, is this any way to greet the old man who named you?"His words scatter in my brain, startling me into paying attention, all my plans of escape lost. "Excuse me? My father named me."It was one of the few stories I had of the man who shared such a brief relationship with my mother. "He wanted to pay homage to the best...""Damn motorcycle company the US has ever seen," he finishes my sentenc