Chapter 11

Silk

I’d pulled on some yoga pants and a loose t-shirt and was toweling my hair dry when I finally left the bathroom. Eagle had joined me in the shower, but had left me to wash my hair by myself, saying if he didn’t stop touching me he really would fuck me again. I chuckled. The man was insatiable. But I hadn’t been kidding about the gravel rash. Eagle was not a small man and I hadn’t had sex for about two years before he took me the first time yesterday. My pussy needed a fucking break to recover.

A smile curved my lips and warmth spread through my chest when I entered the bedroom. Eagle stood by the bed. He’d made it, neat as a pin. I was pretty sure it would pass a military inspection. He was now putting all the stuff back in my bag that we’d obviously knocked onto the floor during the night. Each time he leaned down to get something from the ground, I got an epic view of the incredibly sexy way his ass filled out his jeans. He had no shirt on and I was thoroughly enjoying the sight he made. I must have made a sound as he stilled, then turned toward me. Heat spread over my cheeks when he smirked and raised an eye brow.

“Guess we made a bit of a mess of things, huh?”

“Nah, we didn’t even break anything.”

I rolled my eyes before turning back to the bathroom to dump my towel and quickly drag a brush through my hair. When I returned, Eagle was lifting my father’s bag onto the mattress. My breath hitched and I reached out to run my palm over the rough material of it.

“You ready to open it? I really think we should work out what those other books contain. I need to know who else will be potentially coming after my girl.”

Through the ache in my chest a spark of humor flared. “Your girl, huh?”

“I think I’ve well and truly claimed you now, Silk. The moment I get my fucking top rocker, the whole world will know it too.”

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my hand away. “Maybe after some food. I need breakfast. Then I’ll open it and you can help me work out exactly how much my father fucked up before he died to leave me in the middle of all his shit.”

My voice sounded bitter but I couldn’t help it. Until earlier this week, my life had been good. I worked hard, had a job I loved. I owned my own business. Sort of. I was happy and content with where I was. Then, in one move, my dead father had swiped it all out from under me. I truly doubted Antonio was going to leave me completely alone after what went down. Especially considering the club no doubt delivered a beat down on the man after I left.

With a sigh, I spun and strode out of the room, for the moment not caring if Eagle followed or not. The kitchen was empty when I entered and I frowned as I stopped still to listen. The house was silent.

Eagle came up behind me, resting his hands on my hips. “What’s wrong?”

“Where are your boys? The house is too quiet.”

He rubbed his cheek on my head. “They’re probably both checking out the surrounding area more thoroughly. Setting up some alarms to warn us if we get uninvited visitors.”

I shook my head but didn’t ask anything else. I was fairly certain I didn’t want to know what kind of ‘alarms’ they were making. I opened a cupboard and snatched out the box of cereal.

“Who stocked this place?”

“I pay extra to have the cupboards and fridge stocked. That way I can come up on my bike. Lucky for us, I’d been planning on leaving yesterday to come up here so it’s all here, ready to go.”

Pulling out a bowl, I glanced at Eagle. “You fine with cereal for breakfast? Or you want to cook something? I’m big on simplicity, personally.”

“I’ll eat anything, babe.”

With a smirk, I took down a second bowl and set things up on the table for us.

Naturally, the bastard waited until I’d taken a mouth full before he spoke again.

“So, what did your dad have to say in that letter?”

I glared at him as I slowly chewed my mouthful. He had this innocent expression on his face that I didn’t buy for a moment. I didn’t want to discuss that letter. Didn’t want to think about my father’s plea for forgiveness.

“It didn’t say anything relevant to what’s happening with the mob.”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s not the only thing I care about, Silk. It clearly upset you. I didn’t force the issue last night because I thought you could use some time to wrap your head around whatever that shit was. I want to know about anything that is important to you, and the reason why your father did all the shit he did is obviously going to be important to you.”

His tone was so deep and serious it had me wincing in guilt for trying to hold back from him.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

My voice cracked and I stared down into my bowl as I ate the rest of my breakfast as fast as I could, hoping he’d hurry up and forget all about the stupid fucking letter. Deep down I knew he wouldn’t, though. At some point, I was going to have to tell him about all my father’s lame excuses that didn’t make one bit of difference to anything.

Eagle

I remembered why I’d never bothered with a relationship before. Women were a pain in the ass. Maybe I should just take the damn letter while she wasn’t looking and read it. But that wouldn’t help get her to talk about it with me.

There was a small part of me that wanted to know what was in the letter and books since I was pretty sure the FBI was going to be very interested in them. But the main reason I wanted to know was so I could help Silk deal with it. No matter what her father had written, it would feel like a betrayal. Whatever his reasons were to keep secret files on various organizations, they were why Silk was orphaned and now hunted.

I rubbed the back of my neck as I followed her into our bedroom. She’d not said one word to me since telling me she didn’t want to talk about it and I was worried. Silk was a strong woman. Seeing her so closed off, stiffly walking around, was simply unnatural for her. At a guess, I had maybe another half an hour before Mac and Taz would return to the house, so I needed to make the time count. She wouldn’t want them seeing her like this, and I didn’t want them to witness me being all soft and gentle. I had a hard-ass reputation to maintain.

Once in the room, Silk went directly to the bag on the bed and palmed the lock. By the time she had it unlocked, I was by her side. The zipper sliding open was loud as a siren in the silent room, and her body stiffened when the bag gapped open to reveal men’s clothing. Needing to touch her, I pressed my palm to her lower back and made slow circles. A little of the tension left her body at my touch and I smiled, relieved she found at least a little comfort in our connection.

She knew what was in the bag, had seen it all back at the airport. I guessed with the pressure of Sabella standing over her, she’d done a quick job of finding what he’d wanted and not focused on the other stuff. With both hands, she carefully lifted the shirt to her face where she inhaled.

“It still smells like him.”

A faint trace of a citrusy scent reached my nose as she placed the shirt on the bed, and stacked the jeans and other items of clothing from the bag with it. When she lifted out and opened a smaller bag, a shudder ran through her. I moved to stand close behind her, drawing her body back against mine as I wrapped my arms around her waist. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she fingered her father’s toiletries. A simple comb, a throwaway razor, a small can of shaving cream and a bottle of Tommy cologne. She removed the lid and a strong alcoholic smell filled the air. With a groan she recapped the bottle.

“That’s not how I remember it smelling.”

“It’s gone bad. All perfume loses its scent after a few years. Can’t remember how long exactly, but I’m guessing it’s less than fifteen years.”

She twisted her head to look into at me with a frown.

“How in the hell do you know that?”

Heat crept up my neck. I never got embarrassed! I certainly never shared the fact that I knew some finer points about perfume with anyone. The boys would have had a field day with that, if they knew. I shuddered to think what kind of nickname I’d have ended up with if the Marines had known when I entered boot camp.

“Ah, one of my foster mothers worked at a perfumery. It was all she’d talk about, so I picked up a few things.”

Her expression softened and she reached a palm up to cup my face. Closing my eyes, I leaned into her warm touch. This woman was so far under my skin, I should probably be terrified–running as fast and far away from her as I could–but I couldn’t do it. I’d never wanted to be tied down with a woman or child, but with Silk, the thought of marrying her and having her belly swollen with my child often filled my dreams. This woman was my home.

“I didn’t know you grew up in the system. How old were you when you lost your parents?”

I took a deep breath. I didn’t talk about my past. Not with anyone. Mac and Taz knew the basics, but no details. Normally, I’d refuse to answer. I could easily side-step it with a question of my own, focusing back on Silk’s father. But for some fucked-up reason, I wanted her to know. Wanted her to see all of me.

“I have no clue who my parents are. My mother dumped me at a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina when I was only a few days old. I assume one, or both, of my parents were part of the Waccamaw Siousan tribe, but I’ve never tried to join them there. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever came face to face with either of them. I mean, what kind of person abandons her newborn baby like that?”

Emotions rose up in me that I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager. I shook my head to try to get rid of them, but stopped when Silk turned and caught my face between both her palms before she pulled me down toward her. Opening my eyes slightly, I watched her as she pressed a soft kiss to my mouth.

“I’d never be able to abandon any child, especially my own. She may have had an excellent reason for doing it, but you’ll never know. And no matter how great that reason is, it’ll never take the hurt away. You’re allowed to feel pain over it. I know I do.”

Tears ran down her cheeks and I brushed them away with my thumbs. “What did that letter say, sweetheart? What reason did he give you?”

“He said things got out of hand. That he’d never meant for it to go as far as it did. Initially, it was him trying to better his brother. The Charons weren’t a real MC. Not like the Iron Hammers, so he joined them. Well, he prospected with them. Before he got patched in, he’d discovered that selling information was a great way to make money. He didn’t say who asked him to go, just that he was asked to go north to gather secrets. Turned out he was good at finding out information he shouldn’t know. I guess he got greedy when he figured out it was easier to steal money from those he was investigating, rather than simply sell the information he found.

“He stole from the L.A. mob. That was what Antonio was after–missing millions my dad had taken from his family.” She paused to scoff. “Crazy bastard put it all in an offshore account and siphoned off the interest to live on. He didn’t even live large on the stolen money. In the letter he said he was fairly sure Antonio’s family would catch up to him at some point, and that he hoped I wouldn’t be hurt when they did. He said he was sorry and that if I hadn’t already, I should go find my Uncle Clint for protection.”

Her voice cracked and I pressed her face against my chest as I wrapped her tightly against me, trying to take away the pain that was wracking her body. My poor girl. Her father’s jealousy, then his greed, had cost her so much.

“I’m so fucking sorry, baby.”

She didn’t respond, just tightened her arms around my waist. I could feel the dampness of her tears against my bare chest and it had my heart aching for her. I stood there, simply holding her, stroking her hair and back as she cried and shuddered against me. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d willingly held a crying woman. I’d tried to comfort a couple of foster sisters over the years when they’d been upset, but I hadn’t wanted to have their tears on me. With Silk, I wanted her to lean on me. I needed her to give me her tears and her pain so I could help bare the load for her.

Fuck, I was in so deep with this woman and I had no idea how she truly felt about me. Did she feel the same connection? Or was I simply convenient because I was around and was willing to stand up to the club for her?