Shit was starting to fall in place, and not in the way I had hoped it would.
Yeah, Ava was fucking right. We were fucking connected.
The guys that attacked me all those years ago were the same guys that killed her mother. On the same fucking night.
But why?
chapter twenty-one
(ava)
THEN
Dad held me on his lap. He was hugging me, smiling as he told me a story of when I was little girl and I would make him dress up to be part of my tea parties. His eyes glistened like he was going to cry but he didn’t.
I was twenty years old and too old to be sitting on his lap.
But he insisted.
“I want to talk to you,” he said to me.
“I’m going to stand up first,” I said. “You’re sweaty.”
I stood and looked at him. He looked ready to pass out.
“Is it your heart?” I asked.
He patted his pocket. “I have my magic pills. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I want to talk to you about me going away.”
“What?”
“Listen to me. Sometimes things happen in life. It’s hard to explain. Okay? But if I ever have to disappear for a little while I need you to just stay calm. Do not call the police, okay? My job…” Dad looked away for a second. “Ava, sometimes things go bad and I have to hide.”
“At the store?”
“Yes. Sometimes with Uncle Frank, we have to take rides. Meetings. Stuff like that. But I can’t give information about it. It’s almost like spying. It’s actually kind of fun.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
There was a knock at the door. “I have to go now. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Okay? You’re in charge of the store. Remember, Ava, no police.” Dad stood up and waved a finger at me. “Trust that I’ll be okay.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“I’ll be okay,” he said. “I just don’t want you to worry. You’re safe right now.”
Dad hugged me. I felt the pill bottle in his chest pocket press against me. He broke away and walked away.
“Dad!” I yelled. “Please tell me…”
“Just think of your mother,” Dad said. “I have to make this thing work. For all of us. It’s going to be just fine.”
Dad started to whistle as he walked to the door.
When he opened it, I heard Uncle Frank ask, “She okay in there?”
“She’s fine.”
“Good. We don’t have time. Glen is going to fucking lose his shit soon.”
The door shut and I stood there, empty and shocked.
One question burned in my mind.
Who the fuck was Glen?
chapter twenty-two
(ava)
NOW
It was my turn to make breakfast. I had quickly adjusted to Jace’s schedule. His morning didn’t start until after noon. His nights were long and sometimes, we saw the sun come up before we went to sleep.
Something about him was off. More off than normal.
The MC was going to go crazy trying to find my father and Uncle Frank. I met with them and they asked if I would be a decoy and I said yes. I would do anything to help find my father and help to prove myself to the club. I could tell a lot of the guys didn’t trust me.
Dad had come and gone so many times it wasn’t all that new to me. Sometimes it was a day, sometimes a week. Once he was gone for a month.
I flipped the pancakes and they sizzled on the griddle.
That’s when the outlaw came walking from the bedroom, no shirt on, baggy shorts on, looking like he had just walked out of my wet dream.
My nipples started to get hard and I knew they would be visible pressing against my shirt. We had fooled around in his bed and mine but we never took the plunge to sleep all night in one bed. To me, Jace had set a boundary and I was okay with respecting it.
“Morning,” I said. “Hungry?”
Jace walked right to me and grabbed the spatula from my hand. He threw it into the sink. He then grabbed the plug and tore it from the socket, sending a flash of blue sparks. His hands grabbed my pants and he lifted me up on the counter. Our breaths were instantly intertwined, the awkwardness of morning breath, but both of us not giving a shit about that.
“I’m fucking starving,” Jace said in a rough voice. “And you look fucking delicious.”
My bare ass was on the counter, my legs wrapped around Jace’s neck. His tongue lapped up and down between my legs, devouring my pussy like it was his last meal. He worked my clit like magic, suckling on it, bringing me to the edge of the counter, then backing off, just enjoying me. He was fucking with me and I was perfectly fine with it.
His hands were up my shirt, cupping my breasts, his fingers taking turns sliding across my nipples.
I had never been touched like this before. Just tossed around and pleasured. Made to feel wanted. Made to feel beautiful. That’s what he did to me and for me.
The tip of his tongue flickered against my clit again and that was it. He stayed right there and pounded at me, letting the wet flickers echoed through the kitchen. They were only matched by sounds of my groans as I reached climax.
The second I started to come, his mouth latched to my pussy, sucking all the fresh wetness.