This was it.

We’d been through the process with the cops. We’d spoken to Bev about the break-in, and the women had discussed what they would do, where they would stay. Bev had insisted she’d sleep over with one of her fellow cooks, even though I’d invited her to stay at my place—it wasn’t like I didn’t have room. And Riley? She hadn’t spoken to me about where she’d be.

Even though I wanted to make damn sure she’d be with me. At the house. In my arms.

We sat down in a restaurant on the River Walk, simply named—Joe’s—with a jaunty red-checked table cloth atmosphere, and old classics pumping through the speakers. It wasn’t where my sister worked, and that suited me just fine.

Riley shifted in the red booth chair across from me, her legs squeaking on the plastic. She looked out of the window and exhaled, her lips moving ever so slightly.

Christ, she was gorgeous.

Here, in side-profile, she reminded me of that first night, before all the complications.

Her Halloween mask sitting on her refined nose, her fingers wrapped around the stem of that empty wine glass as she waited for me. For us.

I have to protect you, Riley. Fuck it, even if you don’t want me to protect you, I have to.

“None of what’s happened is your fault,” I said.

“Oh,” she said, softly, and lifted her cup of coffee, turning back to me, her eyes blazing over its rim. “Well, thank you so much for the reassurance.”

“Riley.”

“No, really. So good to know this entire fuck-up of a day, of the past however-long we’ve known each other isn’t my fault. So good.” She slurped down some coffee then set the cup down on the table with a clunk. “God, I am so stupid. I really thought you were into me.”

“What? Are you kidding?” I shoved the napkin holder aside and caught her hand, squeezed it. “Riley, I came inside you. You think I was faking those orgasms? I’m not just into you. I’m—fuck it, you know what? No. Fuck. OK, you need to know, so I’ll tell you.”

She dragged her hand from my grip, folded her arms. “You said, one meal. This is it. I shouldn’t even be here. I don’t know.”

“Enough,” I said, stiffly, and she tapped her fingers on the table. “Enough of that. Let me fucking explain. Christ, Riley, I’m working myself up to this. I haven’t spoken about this shit to anyone, ever, so forgive me for stalling.” And for wanting you.

“Talked about what?” she asked, just as crossly as before.

“My past,” I replied.

That caught her attention. She sat forward slightly and dragged her coffee mug toward her again, cupping it in both hands. The rush of the diner, the music, the folks chattering and laughing was a strange juxtaposition for this moment, for what I had to say.

“I wasn’t a good man,” I said. “I joined the Crimson Riders when I was twenty-two years old.”

Riley shifted in her seat, and I put out a hand.

“Just wait. Listen. I joined them when I was twenty-two, young, dumb, total fucking asshole. I came off the streets, basically. Didn’t have much of a family except for Bev, and she was put in the foster system when we were younger. She was growing up in a separate home, and there was no way for me to help her.” I dragged my spoon through the coffee. “Fuck, that’s beside the point. I moved up in the ranks faster than most. I had a ruthlessness and a sense of humor that the guy at the top, Griphon, enjoyed.”

“Ruthlessness,” Riley said, quietly.

“Yeah, ruthlessness. I’m not pretending I was a good man, Riley. I was a jackass. I didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything, until I met Janine. She didn’t roam in the same circles I did. She was the daughter of one of the business owners in the city. A baker we were extorting on Griphon’s orders. I met her, and I thought I was in love. She got pregnant shortly after. Had Carly.”

Riley, thankfully, didn’t interrupt to ask questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

I cleared my throat, took a sip of coffee, swallowed it down, and relished the bitterness. “Having Carly was amazing, but it wasn’t enough to stop me. I was on a path to the top, or so I thought. I wanted to believe that being the big man, or close to him, would guarantee a good future for my family.”

“What happened?” Riley asked. She hadn’t run yet, at least.

“What happened? Janine left me. When Carly was two years old, Janine left me, because she couldn’t handle who I was, what I wanted to be, what I had become. She ran off to god knows where and left our daughter in my custody.”

Riley stared at me, her eyes shimmering, now.

“In a way, I’m grateful that it happened. In many ways actually. If Janine had never left, I would’ve continued on the same destructive path, and I would have lost my family, my daughter, maybe even my life.”

“How did you change?” Riley asked, still teary-eyed but with skepticism in her tone. “What changed?”

“I spoke to Griphon about it, told him I wanted to make a go of this. Go straight. Get out of the club. I had two ways of leaving ‘out good’ or ‘out bad.’ I didn’t want ‘out good’ because that’d mean I’d be able to contact them again, talk to them. So, I chose, ‘out bad,’ and Griphon resolved the debt I owed the club.”

“Debt?”

“Money I’d borrowed. Griphon, for all his flaws, was a good man,” I replied. “In those four years after I left, I had to get Carly away from the old apartment we were in and make a new life. So, fuck it, I called in contacts, I started my own business, I spent nights studying on the side, studying business, learning more about the tech landscape.”

Riley lifted a finger, and I tilted my head in her direction. “In four years you built your riches like this?” she asked. “Four years? That seems impossible.”

“Impossible is just a word.”

“OK, Tim Robbins.”

“I’m serious, Riley. I wanted to do this for my daughter, and I did. I had good contacts with high-ups thanks to the club, and that jump-started me. And then I worked, and worked, and worked, hired a nanny and kept going to create a good future for my daughter. I created the #dateme app and so many others. I—”

“But tech? Really? You went from biker club to tech?” she asked, her brow furrowing up.

“Yes, tech. Damn, I’m not one dimensional, and neither are you, Miss Pirate. You’re a nanny who wants to be a high school teacher who used to be associated with the Crimson Riders, who just so happens to love pirates. I never had the means to explore my passions until after I was out, and that was what I did.”

Riley sucked on her bottom lip and nodded slowly. “OK. OK. But what was that this afternoon? Why are you in contact with them?”

“That’s the tricky part,” I replied. “I got a visit from the member of the club. Johnny. He told me that the new guy in charge wants me to pay my debts to the club, that I owe the Riders, and if I don’t pay he’ll make my life hell. That includes, clearly, scaring the crap out of you and Carly.”

“But my apartment—”

“It’s because you know me,” I said. “That’s all there is to it. You know me and they see you as a chip they can use either for bargaining or to throw at me. None of this is your problem, Riley. I wanted you safe. I wanted to ensure that you didn’t get caught up in the middle of my shit.” I scratched the back of my head, then dropped my hand to the table. “Fuck it, I thought this was long gone. That it was years in the past and that my daughter, my life, everything would be safe. That this would be simple. I was wrong.”

She drank some coffee, didn’t speak, and set the cup down again. “I don’t know what to think,” she said. “I told you what I went through. That my ex was a part of the club, and that he—”

“I understand. I understand if you need time to think about this, Riley.” I took her hand again, brushed my thumb across the back of her knuckles. “But understand this, I care about you. I have since we started chatting on the app, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Neither do I,” she said, with a small smile.

“I’m kicking myself for this. It’s my past coming back to bite me in the ass. I should’ve moved out of San Antonio when I had the chance, but I didn’t. I thought I was invincible. The problem is, Riley, it’s too late for you to leave my house and my protection. If you do, they will track you down and use you against me. I need to keep you safe. If you’re going to leave, you have to leave the city.”

She didn’t squeeze my hand but didn’t pull out of my grasp either. I’d take that as a good sign. “What about Bev?”

“She’ll be fine. She’ll be safe. I’ve made a point of not being seen near her, at the house, any time, over the past few years, just in case something like this went wrong. Just in case. But with Griphon in charge, it wouldn’t have happened. Fuck, it doesn’t matter. Riley, you’ve got to tell me what you want to do. Are you going to come pick up Carly with me? Come home?”

“Home,” she said.

“Yes, to my home. To the home that’s yours now, too. Come with me.” She had to. If she didn’t… fuck, I couldn’t fathom harm coming to her, and I couldn’t protect her when she was out of sight. “I’ll protect you.”