CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Danielle

When Steven and I had met and started dating, he’d said his family lived out of state… Vermont to be exact, and it would be impossible for us to meet right away. He’d made a big show… all lies… of “planning” a trip over Thanksgiving, but he’d walked away with all my money a week before the big holiday and I hadn’t seen or heard from him again. His phone was a burner that he’d destroyed and I’d found out the last name he’d given me was a fake. He’d said it was Arnold, but my sister had uncovered the truth. Unfortunately, not soon enough to find all of my money. She was only able to find the credit card fraud and that’s ultimately what he was prosecuted for.

“This is bigger than we originally thought,” Elliot said.

“Sounds like it.” I yawned. “Sorry.”

“I think you should go back to bed,” Austin said, and set a mug of hot tea on the table beside me.

“Nope, I’m good,” I said right before a coughing fit.

He frowned, handing me some cold meds and a glass of water. “Take these.”

I did as he instructed and wrapped my hands around the mug of tea, sipping it carefully, the heat of the liquid soothing my sore throat. Austin sat beside me and I carefully folded myself into his side, trying not to spill my tea. He wrapped an arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze.

“What does your father say about all of this?” Austin asked.

“I haven’t spoken to him at length,” Elliot said. “We’ll talk more tonight. But he’s gathering all the paperwork he has on file and I’m going to talk to my brother-in-law at length about how to best protect the family. Emily’s not an easy mark.”

“She’s kind of a gun-carrying, badass, with a black belt, so she can defend herself,” I piped in.

Elliot nodded. “But that doesn’t mean Mitch isn’t gonna want to get in on this. He’ll also have a game plan.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah, I get it. It’s all alpha male all the time in her world.”

Elliot chuckled. “Shocking that you’ve found one of your own.”

I smiled up at Austin. “Austin’s not an alpha male. He’s totally meek and easy to deal with. I make all of my own decisions and he just lets me do whatever I feel is best. Why, he tells me everything that’s going on in his life, down to the minute detail and he never makes a move on anything without first discussing it with me. He’s the best boyfriend ever.” I yawned, suddenly finding my eyes difficult to keep open. “I can’t seem to stay awake.”

“That’s because I gave you the nighttime cold meds,” Austin revealed.

“What?” I blinked up at him.

Elliot laughed. “You were saying, little sister?”

Austin smiled and took my mug from me. “You’re gonna lose your fight to stay awake soon, baby. Just remember that I’m the best boyfriend ever.”

“I hate you so bad right now.”

“I know. Sleep, sweetheart.”

I did.

* * *

I woke up to an empty bed, but feeling a lot better than I had earlier. Having missed a call from Kim and wanting to thank her, I called her back.

“Hey, lady, how are you?” she asked.

I wrinkled my nose. “Sick, actually.”

“Yuck. Sorry.”

“No problem. Austin’s taking care of me. Thanks for getting all that stuff for me. And Mack. I should probably thank him too.”

“Oh, he wasn’t the one who took me to your place.”

“He wasn’t? Who was?” I asked and Kim sighed…actually school-girl sighed. “Kimmie?”

“One of the other bikers did. His name’s Knight and holy shit, Dani, he’s delicious.”

“Oh, really?” I grinned. “Are you working your magic?”

She groaned. “He’s really young, Dani. I don’t know that I can work my magic. I might kill him.”

I laughed. “How young is really young?”

“I think he’s five years younger than me.”

“That’s still legal, Kim. He’s even old enough to drink,” I retorted.

“Yeah, but he seems like a good guy. And you know my life isn’t sunshine and roses.”

“Kimberly Church, you’re an amazing woman,” I pressed. “The rest is just circumstances because your parents are assholes.”

“Amen to that,” she said. “He’s going to be a vet.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He’s into horses too.”

“Babe, you realize you’re describing the perfect man for you here.”

“Possibly.”

“Honey, there’s no pressure here. Get to know him. I’ll talk to Austin about him…get his story.”

“If you do that, swear your man to secrecy.”

“I will.” I started to cough and pulled the phone away from my face. “I should probably go,” I said, once I could speak again. “Thanks again for grabbing my stuff.”

“No problem. I’ll call you later this week.”

“Okay. And I’ll let you know what Austin says.”

“Thanks.”

We hung up and I crawled back under the covers.

* * *

Wednesday night I was back at my place and trying to find the will to walk from the living room to the kitchen for some kind of food. It was my first day back at work and I was still a little under the weather, but I always felt guilty taking sick time because I missed my kids. Plus, I always seemed to be missing a stapler when I had to put in for a sub.

Austin was at “church,” which he explained meant club meeting, so I was on my own for the moment. Well, alone meaning I had a recruit on me. Buzz was currently sitting in his truck downstairs watching my door. Austin was still concerned there was a threat to me, but since my sleep was a major priority to me, I wanted to be close to school so I didn’t have to wake up as early in the morning. Hence the decision to let me be back at my place with the caveat of having someone watch me.

Depending on how late the meeting went, I may or may not see Austin, and since I didn’t think I could find enough energy to care one way or the other, I vegged under a blanket with HGTV on low volume.

My phone buzzed and I answered it without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

“You sound terrible,” Kim said.

“I know. But I really do feel better. Just tired from wrangling five-year-olds.”

“I bet.”

“What’s up? I kind of miss your face.”

“Me too,” she said. “That’s what I’m calling about. I don’t have to work tomorrow night, so I wanted to see if you wanted to go shopping with me. Maybe grab dinner after?”

“Yes, please,” I answered immediately.

“We’ll make it an early night so you can get your beauty sleep, but why don’t I pick you up at five and we’ll head to the mall.”

“Perfect.”

“No conflict with your man?”

“I see him every day, Kimmie. You I get when I get you, so you’re the priority.”

She laughed. “That’s why you’re my favorite. Okay, gotta get back to work. See you tomorrow.”

“’Bye.” I hung up and set my phone on the coffee table.

I heard the locks in my front door turn and then Austin was walking into the room. He frowned as he sat on the coffee table facing me. “You still sick?”

“Just tired. Why are you here so early?”

“Not a whole lot of business. It only took an hour.”

I smiled. “I like it when you’re early.”

He leaned down and kissed me quickly. “Did you eat?”

“I haven’t left the sofa since I got home.”

Austin stroked my cheek. “You hungry?”

I nodded. “Starved.”

“How hungry?”

“I could eat a cow.”

“Okay, I’ll run and grab burgers.”

“My hero.” I grinned up at him. “Onion rings too, please.”

He rose to his feet. “You got it.”

After he left, I took a few minutes to freshen up a little and then resumed my place on the sofa. The tickle of his stubble woke me, and I smiled as I opened my eyes. “You were quick.”

He chuckled. “Been back for almost an hour.”

I frowned. “Really? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You needed to sleep. Come eat. Then you should go to bed.”

“Are you staying?”

“Yeah, baby, I’m staying.”

I smiled again and forced myself to get off the sofa and eat. “What do you think of Knight?”

“Why?” he asked in suspicion.

“Because Kim likes him, but you can’t tell him that.”

“Not in junior high, Dani, I can guarantee this conversation won’t leave the room.”

I smiled. “So?”

“Knight’s a good guy. Don’t know him as well as his brother, Ace, but he seems cool. Knight works at Blush when he’s not in vet school. He kinda keeps to himself, but he’s super tight with his family.”

“How old is he?”

“I don’t know, Dani. We don’t sit around and do each other’s nails.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, then what good are you to me?”

“If you’d rather I get personal information from Knight than eat your pussy and make you come, let me know, baby. But that’s kind of a deal breaker for me, ’cause I’m not really interested in not eatin’ your pussy and makin’ you come.”

I shivered. “Why do you have to make everything sound sexy?”

He laughed. “It’s my gift.”

“Apparently.”