Chapter Two

“I just am. I was born into the MC life, although I did everything I could to stay out of it. When I was eleven, I begged to move away and live in Colorado Springs, and my parents agreed. They were never very interested in raising me or Donovan, and so having one less brat around was cool with them. I lived with my alcoholic aunt, and she basically gave me a key to our walk-up in a crappy neighborhood, and left me to fend for myself. I took care of myself, mostly, from then on.”

“So when you were eleven, you left your parents?”

She shrugged. “More or less, yeah. Anyway, my Mom was a former hellion and prostitute who got knocked up by accident, and Dad never fully committed to her, but he marked her as his, kind of. His first and only real love has always been the club. Same with Donovan – as I’m sure you know. If you hang out at Curves and you know Matt Kingston, then you’ll know my brother well, I imagine.”

Mac nodded. He’d had more than one run-in with her piece-of-shit brother at Dangerous Curves, the bar owned by one of his best friends, Jax Hamill. Curves attracted a rough crowd, and for years, The Fallen Angels had been regular patrons. Until Joker Kane had held a knife to Sarah Matthews’ throat, that is. Sarah was Jax’s girlfriend, and seeing Kane with his hands on her had driven Jax over the edge. The Angels were no longer welcome at Curves… but their presence was still felt there. Strongly.

Mac forced his mind away from Gabriela Torres for the moment, though it was hard. She’d been kidnapped and buried alive after witnessing The Fallen Angels President and VP murder one of their former contractors, and she was still reeling from the experience. Oh, hell, yeah… the Angels were definitely making themselves known and felt at Curves. And none of it was welcome or wanted.

So Mac knew full well what kind of monsters Mirrie had been born into and surrounded by during her childhood, what she’d fought to get away from. But if she’d escaped as a kid, why had they beaten her up so badly five years before?

“Go on,” he said. “I want to hear the whole thing.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “Well, about six years ago, I…” Her voice trailed off.

“What?” he said roughly, not liking her hesitation. “Mirrie, what? Fucking tell me.”

“I – I joined AA.”

Mac reeled from his second massive shock of the morning. “AA? Alcoholics Anonymous?”

“Yes. I’m – I’m an alcoholic.”

Mirrie stared down at her coffee, and Mac was blindsided by the sudden urge to hold her hand. Christ, the woman had kept things from him, and he now saw with dawning horror that none of what she’d hidden was any damn good.

For the first time since laying eyes on her the day before, Mac began to feel more worried about her than angry at her. Maybe she’d had genuinely good reasons to not tell him any of this… maybe telling him now was hurting her. Maybe what she still had to tell him was worse, even more disturbing. And no matter how furious he was, he didn’t want her to hurt any more. She’d done enough of that in her life already; he knew that first-hand.

“Hey,” he said softly. She started at the gentleness in his tone, and glanced up at him, surprised. “Hey, you OK?”

She blinked. “Uh… yes. Well, no. But sort of.”

“Mirrie?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it OK if you tell me the rest of it?”

She choked on her coffee. “What – now you’re asking me?”

“Yes.” He sighed, and felt some of the rage leave his body on the exhale. “Now I’m asking. I’m even asking nicely.”

“Oh.” She peered at his handsome face, trying to read the expression she saw there. Shane looked – regretful? But why? He wasn’t the one who’d just vanished without a trace four years before. What did he have to be sorry about?

“So.” He pushed his long hair back with both large hands. “Will you tell me? Please?”

“Well, since you said ‘please’…” Despite herself, she grinned at him, and to her utter shock, he grinned back.

Damn, it looked good on him. Back when they’d been together, she’d often had her breath smashed clean out of her chest when he’d smiled at her. The man was nothing less than breath-stealing, with that shining blond hair and those clear blue eyes, that strong jaw and those sensual lips. Mirrie remembered all too well how that mouth had felt on her own, on her breasts. Between her legs.

She flushed, looked away. Now wasn’t the time to take a horny trip down memory lane. Today was all about offering up the explanation and apology that Shane so desperately wanted and totally deserved, and then walking on out of his life again. This time for good, hopefully. And maybe even with a clear conscience.

“Ummm.” Mirrie struggled to regain her train of thought. “What was I saying?”