Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) (17 page)

“Your stereotypes hurt, you know that?” he says with mock pain in his tone, placing his palm over his heart. “We’re just misunderstood.”

Tia laughs, looking away from the TV to see the commotion. “I might need to get some advice from Lana. Seems that girl knows exactly what she’s doing.”

Tracker nods and smirks. “Yeah, she does. She does this thing with her tongue—”

I put my hand up, laughing harder. “Okay, that’s enough.”

“Can I ask you something?” Tia asks Tracker, leaning forward and bracing her elbows on her knees.

“Possibly.”

“Is Talon single? What’s his deal?” she asks, watching him and waiting for his answer.

I know Tia thinks Talon is a babe, and I mean, he is, but I don’t know if she wants to take it further. I know that look on her face. She’s interested, or at least intrigued.

Tracker scowls and scoots forward on the couch. “What? None of the Wind Dragons good enough for you? You know Talon’s MC is full of fuckheads, right?”

I hide my smile. “Who would you suggest for her?”

Tracker purses his lips in thought. “What about Vinnie? He’s a great guy. There, it’s settled. Vinnie is your man. Fuck
those Wild Men.” He jabs a finger in Tia’s direction. “Not literally.”

“Did you just pimp out one of your brothers?” I deadpan. “I’m sure that has to break some sort of manly code.”

“It breaks the code if the woman is ugly,” he says casually. “But Tia’s a MILF, so he’d be thanking me.”

“What’s a MILF?” Rhett asks as he comes into the room with Cara next to him.

I try not to laugh, I really do, but I can’t help it.

“Yeah, Tracker. Please explain what that word means,” I say, trying to keep a straight face.

“MILF,” Tracker starts slowly, “isn’t what I said at all. I said MILK. It stands for mother I’d like to kiss.”

Rhett blinks, then looks between Tracker and his mom. “I don’t think I’d like you kissing my mom.”

I bite my lip and stare wide-eyed as Tracker agrees. “Just on the cheek, bud. Like friends do, yeah?”

Rhett smiles. “Yeah, that’s cool.”

Awkward situation averted.

Rhett heads into the kitchen, but Cara stands there, staring at Tracker curiously.

“You didn’t say MILK,” she announces. “But it’s okay, I won’t tell.”

She then follows Rhett to the kitchen.

And we all burst out laughing.

*   *   *

It’s been three days since Rake and I had our blowup, and I haven’t seen him since. Tracker has been staying here, only swapping with Arrow when he goes to the clubhouse to see
Lana. Lana, Anna, Faye, and Clover have all moved back into the clubhouse until we know everything is safe.

As for Rake . . . no one has mentioned him to me, so I have no idea where he is or what he’s doing. I know he calls Tracker to check up on us. I see Tracker watching me curiously after he hangs up the phone, maybe wondering what’s going on between us. The truth is, I know about as much as he does, which is a big fat nothing at all.

“Any news on whoever threatened Bailey?” Tia asks Tracker in a hushed tone.

“I see everyone is keeping that a secret,” he replies in a dry tone, then sighs. “The only thing I can say is that it’s being handled, all right? You don’t worry your pretty head.”

Tia throws a pillow at him. “So how come you’re here instead of Rake?”

My body stills as I wait for his reply.

“I think only Bailey here can tell us what happened,” Tracker says, looking out the window. “But I’ll tell you one thing, when he called me to meet him here so he could leave, I’ve never seen him look so . . . shattered.”

I look down at my hands.

“Rake generally keeps his emotions in check—you don’t really know what he’s thinking until he says it,” he continues. “I’ve never seen him like that before. His emotions were written across his face for the world to see. He’d hate that. I know he would.”

“We had an argument,” I say as explanation. “Some things from the past came up. Some things he didn’t know before.”

“He cares for you,” Tracker states. “I’ve never seen him care about a woman besides Anna and the old ladies in the clubhouse. Other women, he enjoys them, fucks them, then bails.
No commitment whatsoever. Nothing permanent. One woman is as good as the next.”

Pain slices through me hearing him being described like that.

“I’m telling you this only because I want him to be happy,” he says quietly, but I don’t miss the steel underlying his tone. The threat. “He’s a good man. Always has everyone’s backs. Good heart. He deserves to be happy. And if for whatever reason you don’t have it in you to give happiness to him, I think you need to sort that out now, Bailey.”

“You don’t know everything though, Tracker,” Tia inserts, standing up for me. “I know you have your brother’s back, but I have Bailey’s. She’d never intentionally hurt someone. And I know for a fact that Rake is the love of her life. I just think there’s so much we don’t know, which is why I’m staying out of it and letting her sort it out with him.” She looks to me. “But at the same time I’m here if you want to talk about it, whenever you need me.”

“I know, Tia.” I can feel my smile hit my eyes. “And I’m so thankful to have you in my life.”

“Awww, come here, you cutie,” she says, wrapping me in a hug. When she pulls away her eyes are shining with moisture. “If Rake gets you, he’s the luckiest man in the world. And don’t worry about him being a man-whore, that just means you’re going to benefit from his experience when you pin him down.”

Tracker guffaws at that.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” I admit. “There’s so much history, some of it good, some of it . . . really bad.” I glance up at Tracker. “I wouldn’t hurt him, Tracker, but some of the stuff he had to hear did. But I can’t protect him from the truth anymore.”

He nods twice. “I like you, Bailey. And I know Lana loves you.”

“I like you too, Tracker,” I reply. “I’m glad Rake chose you to come here. Thank you for making me feel better.”

“I’ve been told I’m like medicine.” He grins, lightening the mood. “If someone’s sad, just send me in. Instantly cured. My sheer presence makes them happy as fuck.”

This time it’s me who throws a pillow at him.

A
FEW
more days pass before Rake walks through my front door again. Thinking it would be Tracker, I open the door without pause, smiling and saying “Good morning.”

“Hey,” I say when I see him, quieter and more subdued than my welcome. “How are you?”

He walks inside and looks around, then turns to face me. “Check who it is before you open the door, Bailey.”

I nod as he sits down on the couch, then lifts his hand to me. Hesitantly placing my smaller hand in his, he pulls me down to him. When I’m settled sideways on his lap, he buries his face in my neck and holds me, a desperate, almost hopeless air about him.

“Where were you?” I ask him, stroking my fingers through his soft, short hair.

“I needed to clear my head,” he rasps, the stubble from his cheeks rough against my neck. “Come to terms with everything.” He takes a deep breath and exhales before continuing. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Bailey, for what happened that night,
and for everything afterward.” His voice cracks on the last two words.

“Fuck, Bailey. I don’t know what to do, or what to say. There’s nothing that could make this right. How can you even fuckin’ look at me? How am I supposed to look into your daughter’s face now and know what I did to you, her mother?”

“It’s not you who did it to me,” I say gently. I wanted him to know, but I didn’t want to see him like this. This isn’t what I wanted. I just wanted him to know the truth so he wouldn’t hate me anymore, not for him to become as broken as me. I wanted to set the pain free for both of us, not to lay it all on his shoulders.

“You didn’t know, Adam. You didn’t fucking know. It was a messed-up situation, but it’s over now. We need to stop looking back, unless it’s to remember the good times.”

He mutters a curse word and lifts his head. The pain in his green gaze makes my chest hurt and my heart feel like it’s been constricted. In my entire life, I’ve never seen him like this before. I don’t know what to do, but I’m wishing I hadn’t told him.

Why did I tell him?

He could have gone on hating me. I’d take that over this.

I’d take anything over this.

“How did I walk away that night?” he utters, shaking his head to himself. “How the fuck did this happen to us, Bailey? How? You were my fuckin’ everything, and it wasn’t supposed to be like this. I might not have fuckin’ known, but it’s all on me. I jumped to fucked-up conclusions. I never spoke to you after that, to give you the chance to tell me what happened. How the fuck am I meant to live with myself now?”

I once thought I’d never ever forgive him for what happened
that night, but the truth is, I already have. It will always hurt, the pain will always be there, but it wasn’t intentional. Yeah, he slept with Christa straight after, which practically killed me, but he thought I’d cheated on him and reacted to that. It was a dick move, but he was young and hurt, and I guess he wanted to hurt me right back, even though he didn’t know I was already broken at that point. We both made mistakes, and it’s time to move on.

“I shouldn’t have told you,” I whimper. “I just . . . you kept . . .”

“Shhhh,” he soothes, running his calloused fingers down my shoulder. “You should have told me a long time ago, Bailey. Things could have been different. I would have tried to fix everything, instead of you handling everything by yourself. You’re so fuckin’ strong—you know that? I should have listened to you.” His breath hitches. “I should have fuckin’ listened to you.”

I don’t feel very strong, but I stay quiet, feeling safe in his warm embrace.

In the silence, it’s as if I can almost feel what he is thinking.

There is no happy ending for us.

Too much has happened, too much time has passed.

“I want to talk to you about everything, but I’m too raw right now. Do you mind if we leave it for a bit?” he asks in a husky tone. “I just . . . Yeah, I don’t really know what to do, Bailey. I mean, yeah, that fucker is going to pay, but . . . I don’t know how to make this right.”

“Where were you these last few days?” I ask again, taking the opportunity to touch him as much as I can while I have the chance.

“Clubhouse,” he says, but something in his tone makes me
think that he’s lying. He lifts me off his lap and sets me down on the couch.

“I’m going to take care of everything,” he says, both his voice and his eyes lifeless.

“Rake,” I whisper brokenly.

I’ll never forget the pain etched across his face.

But also, the resolution.

He has a plan.

And, suddenly, a bad feeling settles in my gut.

“Don’t do anything,” I plead with him. “Please. Just leave it be now. The truth is out there, now we can move on with our lives.”

He kisses my forehead, then stands up, facing me. “You’re going to find someone worthy of you, Bailey.”

With that, he leaves.

This was what I wanted, wasn’t it?

Then why do I feel emptier than before?

*   *   *

“Why are the two of you dressed all in black?” I ask as I walk into Knox’s Tavern, taking in Anna’s and Lana’s black long-sleeve tops and black pants. Both of them are wearing big sunglasses, covering half their faces. “Is this meant to be your camouflage outfits?”

They both maintain straight faces.

I sit down and try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. “If you’re trying to go unnoticed, why did you choose this place? It’s one of the two places everyone will think to look for you.”

They both remove their glasses at the same time. “We just didn’t want Rake to find us.”

I blink. “Did you two just plan that sunglasses move?”

Lana looks a little sheepish, flashing me a lopsided smile, but Anna just grins. “How awesome was it?”

“Not very,” I admit, laughing. “You two are so damn cute though. Maybe you should buy black catsuits for next time. So what’s all this about?”

I’d received a text from Anna to report to the tavern, and to not tell anyone where I was going.

“That’s actually a great idea. And you’re here because we overheard the men talking,” Anna says in a lowered tone. “They caught the guy who threatened you. He’s a part of the Kings of Hell.”

I sit up straighter. “What happened?”

“He thought you were Rake’s old lady, after how he protected you the night of the fight,” Lana whispers, glancing around the bar. “He’s still a little butt-hurt over Rake sleeping with his woman.”

“So he decided to stalk me, break into my car, wait for me to get in, and threaten me with a knife?” I ask incredulously, eyes widening. “What the fuck!”

“Lower your voice,” Anna scolds me, leaning closer over the table. “They’re bikers. Obviously the guy is a fucking lunatic. Anyway, we overheard Rake telling Tracker what happened. They weren’t going to tell any of us anything about it, but we thought you needed to know.” She pauses. “But you’re going to have to pretend you don’t know, or we’re going to get our asses kicked.”

“What did he do to the guy?” I ask, scrubbing my hands down my face. “Rake isn’t going to go to jail or something, is he? I don’t know how these things work!”