Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) (29 page)

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and Rake need a room,” Anna states, pursing her lips together. “You’re so . . .” She looks to Lana. “What’s the word for what they are, author?”

“In love?” Lana supplies, with a raised brow. “You know, the honeymoon stage. The can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other, life-is-wonderful, how-did-I-get-so-lucky, all-I-need-to-breathe-is-you stage?”

“That,” Anna says wryly, pointing at me. “That and more. I think a ladies’ night is in order.”

“Are you allowed out again after the Talon shenanigans?” I ask, trying to hide my amusement.

“No man controls me,” Anna says, puffing out her chest. “But yeah, I’ve been forgiven for the ordeal. I had lunch with Talon yesterday actually. He kept saying he was sorry and he shouldn’t have persuaded us to enter his domain.”

“Is that why he took Arrow’s hits without retaliating?” I ask, trying to figure out the man’s motives.

“I think so,” Anna says, drinking from her bottled water.
“Who knows what runs through his mind though. You know, besides everything that happened afterward, it was a pretty fun night.”

“It was. Did you tell Lana about Ranger?”

“You mean the sexiest villain to ever exist?” Lana says, laughing. “Yeah, I heard. Is it true his eyes are like hazel depths of heaven?”

“I so didn’t say that,” Anna says, nudging Lana with her shoulder. “More like hazel depths of sin.”

“He’s a beautiful man,” I agree, sighing at the memory. “Like, wow. It’s unfair for a man to be that good-looking.”

“And that evil,” Anna adds, scowling. “At least we beat him at beer pong. That will teach him.”

“I’m sure he’s crying in his bed over it as we speak,” Lana says, sarcasm filling her tone.

“Hey, he definitely didn’t like losing,” I agree, looking at Lana. “He was pissed. He’s a sore loser. Maybe he’s one of those competitive guys.” I pause. “Who also reads Shakespeare and shit.”

Lana puts down her phone. “What’s that all about?”

“Apparently he’s all into literature and books, and he’s smart as hell,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “According to Talon anyway. Looks and brains.”

“But his personality and the fact he likes to kidnap women in his spare time make him a total douche, I don’t care how much he looks like he belongs on the cover of one of Lana’s books,” Anna says passionately, her eyes narrowed to slits. “He needs to be taken down a notch.”

“So you like Slice more than Ranger then?” I joke, sharing an amused glance with Lana.

“Slice is my best friend compared to Ranger. The bastard,” she says, slamming her fist into her palm.

“Really? Should we invite him to ladies’ night?” I tease, dodging the pillow she throws at me.

“There aren’t that many good-looking men in the Wild Men MC,” Anna points out. “Don’t you think? There’s a couple. Talon, Ranger, of course, Slice, and there’s that red-haired guy. He’s pretty hot.”

“Our men are better,” I say, smiling widely, flashing teeth.

Anna and Lana wholeheartedly agree with me.

“Bailey!” I hear Rake yell, and something in his voice has me standing on my feet. Anna and Lana do the same, worried expressions on their faces. The door opens and Rake stands there, angry tension radiating from him. “Come here.”

I quickly step to him and he holds me in his arms, his chest rising against my cheek.

“We have a fuckin’ problem, baby,” he says, running his fingers through my hair.

“What?” I ask, dread settling in the pit of my stomach. “What happened?”

“Rake?” Anna asks, coming closer to stand next to her brother. “What’s going on?”

“Cara’s father is here,” he grits out, the word
father
leaving his lips like a curse word.

I lift my head. “Wh-what?”

Oh shit. He’s here? Does he have a death wish? How did he even know to come here? I’m definitely missing something here, because nothing makes sense.

And to make matters worse, I forgot to tell Rake that he
showed up at the school that day. If I’d told him, all of this probably could have been avoided.

“Shit,” I whisper, flashing Rake an apologetic look.

“What is it?”

“He showed up at my school asking to see Cara, but then I didn’t hear from him again. I completely forgot to tell you about it.”

“Seriously? That’s kind of important information, Bailey,” Rake growls at me, scowling. “She’s mine too, and if this bastard thinks he’s taking her, he has another thing coming.”

“What am I going to do?” I ask hesitantly.

“Let’s hear him out, then tell him to fuck off,” Rake says, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“I want my daughter,” I tell him, needing to have her near me. “I want to go to her, now.”

“She’s with Faye and Sin at their house,” he says, running his hand down my back soothingly. “Trust me, no one is safer than her right now. We just need to deal with this asshole.”

“So he’s actually here right now? At the clubhouse?” I ask, my eyes wide.

I still don’t get it. He walked into a biker clubhouse demanding to see my Cara and me?

Rake nods, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, yeah he is. He wants to see you. I’ll take you there because he won’t negotiate otherwise, but you will not leave my side, do you understand?”

I nod, swallowing hard. “He’s not taking Cara.”

“No, he sure as fuck isn’t. I’ll explain everything to you later.”

Fuck.

Why does this shit happen to me?

Rake turns to his sister and Lana and says sternly, “Both of you stay here.”

“Rake—”

“Just listen this time, Anna,” he says, pushing me forward until I’m out the door, then closing it behind him.

“Whatever happens,” he says, staring down at me intently. “I will make sure it’s okay. All right? You have nothing to worry about. He wants to start shit; I’ll handle him.”

I nod, not sure what to say.

I didn’t really understand what was happening right now.

We keep walking until we reach the living area, where Arrow is standing, arms crossed, looking imposing as hell. Next to him is Wade. It’s hard to believe he’s Cara’s biological father, because she looks nothing like him. It’s unfair that he gets to be called that, since the only thing he did was not wear a condom, but apparently that qualifies for the title.

“Bailey,” he says, standing and facing me.

“Wade,” I say, forcing myself to keep my expression neutral. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

“Like I said before, I want to see my daughter,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets. “Just want to see my little girl.”

I tighten my lips. “How did you know where I was?”

First the school, now the clubhouse? This is getting a little scary.

He licks his lips and looks away. “I have my ways.”

Another bullshit answer.

Arrow steps closer to the man. “Answer the lady. Or I’ll ask her to leave and I’ll ask you the same question in a much less nicer way.”

Wade smirks, but I don’t miss the flash of fear in his eyes. “My brother is on his way here. You can’t touch me.”

His brother?

“Who’s your brother?” I ask him, looking to Arrow and Rake, who don’t give me an answer.

I don’t like the smugness on Wade’s face right now.

Not one bit.

“He’s a Wind Dragon,” Wade tells me, satisfaction etched all over his expression.

His brother is a Wind Dragon?

So Wade thinks he’s untouchable.

I look to Rake.

Was he untouchable?

Rake gives me nothing, his expression never changing.

Was there a rule about this? Could Rake do nothing to Wade because he was family to one of his club brothers? Did Wade truly just want to see Cara? Why now, after all this time? There is more to this, I just know it. Wade wants something, but it isn’t just to see the daughter he never once gave a shit about.

When Pill storms into the clubhouse, wearing black leather pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and his MC cut, I don’t take my eyes away from him.

So this was Wade’s brother.

No wonder Faye didn’t like the man.

If he’s anything like his brother . . .

Bad blood.

The air fills with tension so thick I find it hard to breathe.

“My bro just wants to see his kid, Rake,” Pill says, putting his hand on Wade’s shoulder. “Not asking too much, I don’t think.”

“So you told him I was here then,” I say to Pill. “What, you
were gossiping about Rake’s woman to your brother and he pieced together that it was me?” I look to Wade. “Stop with all the bullshit. What do you really want? You don’t care about my daughter. Do you even know her name!?”

“Looks like someone doesn’t know her place,” Pill snaps, looking as if he wants to come at me.

“Even look in my woman’s direction and I will fuckin’ end you,” Rake says to Pill, in a deceptively calm tone. “Trust me, you don’t want to fuck with me.”

“Club comes first,” Pill says, but takes a step back. “You want to start shit with the Channon chapter? What, a civil war? Over this bullshit?”

Rake smirks, his eyes narrowed in anger. “You prospected here Pill, but you have no fuckin’ clue about me or my brothers. Bailey is my old lady, and your brother has shit to do with the MC. No one will take your side in this. No one. I will fuckin’ call Zach right now, see what he thinks. No one is going near Angel. She’s mine. I claim her. Don’t even think of her as your blood, because she has nothing of you in her. She’s all ours.”

“Zach doesn’t speak for all the men,” Pill says, lifting up his chin.

Arrow looks at Rake. “Your call, brother.”

Rake looks down at me, then back up at Wade. “Leave, go back to Channon. You’re not seeing my daughter. This is the last time I will warn you about this. Let it go, or no one will be able to save you. I don’t give a fuck who your brother is.”

“I’ll get a lawyer then,” Wade says, fists clenching. “You can’t beat the justice system with your threats. Say what you will, but I am her father, something a simple DNA test will prove.”

“Why now?” I ask him, steel lacing my tone. “You didn’t give a shit about her for the past six years, so why now?”

“I don’t need to explain anything,” he says arrogantly. “She’s my blood, end of story.”

Such a dickhead.

How did I ever sleep with this man?

“Can’t get a lawyer if you’re fuckin’ dead,” Arrow says casually, nodding his head like he thinks it’s a good idea.

Jesus.

“What do you want?” Rake asks him, looking him straight in the eye. “Cut to the fuckin’ chase.”

Wade looks down then up again. “I want a hundred thousand.”

So that’s why he’s here? For money? I didn’t think my opinion of him could get any lower, but he’s proved me wrong. Wow. So he’s threatening to try to take Cara if we don’t give him a hundred thousand dollars? I shake my head, unable to believe the audacity of the worthless man standing in front of me.

“And how do we know you won’t be back again? You’re clearly a shit cunt, so your word won’t mean shit,” Arrow snarls, shifting on his feet, as if trying to stop himself from losing control.

“He won’t ask for anything else,” Pill says.

He obviously knew his brother wanted money.

And is supporting it.

Fuck.

Yeah, Faye was right about that one.

T
HE
men all have a meeting.

The women and the kids are sitting outside; Rake said he wanted everyone together until they knew how they were going to handle this situation. I don’t know what to think. Giving Wade money was only going to solve the problem for now, and a hundred grand was a huge amount. According to Anna, the MC had a shitload of money, but that wasn’t the point. I couldn’t ask Rake to pay that no matter how much money he had.

“Don’t stress, honey,” Faye says to me, placing her hand on the inside of my arm. “They’ll handle it.”

“I don’t want to start shit,” I tell Faye, puffing out a breath. “But I don’t want Wade to win either. So I don’t know how to make both of those things happen.”

I watch Cara and Clover playing on the grass with some Superman and Batman toys. Cara laughs, the sound settling in my soul.

I’d do anything to protect her.

Anything.

In a way I feel guilty, because it was my bad judgment that gave her such a father.

She’s going to have to pay for my decision for the rest of her life.

“It’s not that big of an issue,” Faye says, tapping her burgundy fingers on her chin. “I don’t think so. The biggest problem is Pill, not Wade. Wade is easy. Pill however . . . I think Rake should head up to Channon and talk to the men there, sort shit out before Pill twists things and starts something.”

“Do you think that’s what he’ll do?” I ask, not really liking the idea of Rake leaving. “He will take some of the men with him, right? I don’t want him to go up there alone.”

“I’m sure he’ll take someone. Zach’s up there, and he’s a good man. It will all be good in the end,” Faye says, pushing my hair back behind my ear. “We’ll probably never hear from Wade again.”

I don’t even want to touch that comment.

“Why did he make everyone come to the clubhouse then?” I ask, scrubbing my hands down my face. “And he’s not even going to tell me the plan, is he? I’m going to be kept in the dark about everything because I have a vagina.”