Ryder glared at the man sitting in front of him. Even if Tiffany could find some compassion in her heart for the man, he sure the hell couldn’t.
“Sorry about your sister, man. I didn’t know.”
“She’s fucking fourteen.”
“Jesus. I can’t believe he did that.”
Ryder wasn’t having any of this bullshit denial. “You’re going to start out by lying to me?”
“All right, I can fuckin’ believe he did it,” Ace amended. “I wish everything was back the way it was before it all went to hell.”
Dropping into a seat across the table, Ryder crammed the gun in his pocket and grabbed his coffee. “You’ve been out of the slammer, what, a week? You attacked a man, shot him twice, stalked him over the state line, and shot him again after threatening to kill a woman. Jesus, it’s like you’re fast tracking yourself to death row.”
Ryder watched as the man wrapped his dirty hands around the warm mug of coffee. “I should have been there for him.”
“You were doing time for the sick son of bitch. How much more being there could you be for your brother?”
Ace stared down into the mug. “I must have failed him for him to not understand how wrong it is to touch a kid.”
“Nobody failed anybody. He had exactly the same fuckin’ parents you did,” Ryder snarled. “He was born fuckin’ as selfish as they come. You ain’t got control over nobody but you, man. The sooner you see that, the sooner you’re gonna get your life back on track.”
“What fuckin’ life?” Ace murmured, sounding defeated.
“You ain’t the only brother ever been locked up for ten years. You went in young. Now you got your whole life ahead of you. Don’t fuckin’ waste it by makin’ me kill your foolish ass.”
Ace huffed. “What the fuck kind of life can I possibly have. I’m and ex-con with a rapist for a fuckin’ brother. People ain’t gonna give me a chance to prove nothin’.”
“The club is always lookin’ for prospects,” Ryder said, extending an offer he never imagined he would. “That was the path you were on until that brother of yours fucked it all up for you.”
Looking up at him, Ryder saw hope on Ace’s dirty face. It squeezed at his heart. By the grace of God, he could have been sitting where he was right now. “Look, man, I’m sorry about your brother. I kept warning him, but he wouldn’t listen. I came home from a run and found her pretty beaten up. She was hiding out in the attic so my folks wouldn’t see the bruises on her face. Had to force it outta her.”
Ace grimaced. “Shit makes me sick inside.”
Ryder continued. “I hunted him down and he didn’t even deny it. Said she liked it rough and bragged about it being her first time.”
“Fuckin’ idiot. Fourteen-year-old virgins don’t like it rough.”
“No, brother, they don’t,” Ryder agreed. “She had a black eye, two cracked ribs, and a dislocated shoulder. I just meant to kick his ass all over the bar, but he pulled a knife.”
“I don’t want to hear any more. It might have gone bad if I had been the one confronting him. He was always so hardheaded and fuckin’ aggressive.”
“What’s done is done. The police came and did their thing. Said it was self-defense. You better believe that if they thought they could make a case at all against me, they’d have tried.”
Nodding, Ace took another drink of his coffee.
“Look, man, when was the last time you ate real food,” Ryder asked, looking the man over. He was a mess.
“I don’t even know. Does prison food count?”
“Shit.” Moving to the slow cooker, Ryder dipped him out a slab of beef and slid it across the table.
Ace’s face lit up. “Thanks, man. Sorry about the bullet holes.”
Ryder brushed it off. He wasn’t looking for a new friend, but he could see now that Ace was a decent guy. The least he could do was feed the poor bastard. “I been shot before. It ain’t nothing new. Are we square?”
“Yeah,” Ace said around a mouthful of beef, “more than square.”
“You know the brothers are gonna take you to the dungeon for a while,” Ryder informed him. “When the time comes, I’ll speak up for you.”
Ace didn’t look up from his food. “It’s not like I ain’t never been locked up before.”
“Well, as soon as my pretty little bitch gets outta the shower, you better get your ass in there ‘cause I doubt they’ll give you another chance.”
Ace nodded. “Thank her for the food, will ya?”
“Sure.”
No sooner had Ace finished eating than Tiffany came back into the kitchen with wet hair. “Glad to see you two acting like grown-ups.”
“Mind if Ace grabs a shower?”
She nodded. “I laid him out some clean clothing. Hope it fits properly. He’s a little bigger than you are.”
Leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head, Ryder commented casually. “I’m bigger where it counts, babe. Don’t you worry about that.”
Ace staggered to his feet and headed to the back part of the cabin. Tiffany threw him a questioning look, but he just shrugged. Ace wasn’t going anywhere, ‘cause he had nowhere to go. He’d stay and face the brothers for a chance to prospect, he was sure. The outside world didn’t have much to offer him after ten years in the slammer.
Watching her gracefully moving around the kitchen, Ryder knew Tiffany would be his one day. “Thanks, babe.”
She didn’t look up when she said, “What part of my fantastic contribution to this clusterfuck are you so grateful for, Ryder?”
Laughing, he replied sincerely. “Reminding me that things never get so bad that you can’t find your way back.”
She paused, lifting her head to meet his eyes. “So, you two really worked things out?”
“I was so angry. I probably would have ended up killing him if you hadn’t been here. You’re right about us being a lot alike. You got me to see reason when it was the furthest thing from my mind. It’s a lesson I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”
Smiling at him with genuine warmth, she walked over and dropped a kiss on his cheek. “I’m gonna hold you to that, mister.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her down into his lap. “What do you say we put your four days off to good use?”
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, grinning.
“My brothers will bring my sled. I’d love to have your pretty little ass on the back of my bike. Maybe you can come and check out my neck of the woods. Might be you find something you like in South Dakota territory.”
Grinning madly at him, she murmured, “Might be I already have.”
“Stop talking like me, doll. It gives me a boner.”
Her expression turned heated, and he could tell she was thinking of sucking him off at the hospital. It was the only association she’d had with his cock so far. As soon as he got rid of tall, dark, and brooding in the back room, he planned to fix that oversight. She seemed to instinctively know where his thoughts had drifted.
“We won’t be doing anything fun until your wounds heal a bit.”
Ryder’s lips skimmed the delicate column of her throat. “It’s cute that you think a few stitches are gonna stop me from pounding the fuck outta you.”
Laughing, she responded playfully, “If you tear out those sutures, I’ll have to drop a set myself. I’m no doctor, so that won’t be a walk in the park for you. Remember that the next time you start thinking sexy thoughts.”
“You know something, doll? Your eyes are the deepest blue I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re a real charmer,” she said with a light laugh. “I can tell that I’m going to have to be careful around you. You probably say the same thing to every girl you meet.”
“Maybe, but you ain’t like other girls. You’re quality. The kind of woman meant for luxury and fine things.”
“If you think I care about money, you don’t know me very well.”
“Women like you never care about shit like that,” he said, leaning back to look up at her. He brushed her hair back from her face. “I’m telling you my opinion of what you deserve, not what I think you want.”
Those big blue eyes of hers softened. “Don’t you think it ought to be up to me to decide what kind of man I want to spend my time with?”
“You like dirty bikers, babe?”
“Keep it up, smart mouth. I might run out and snag someone just like you out of spite.”
“If you’ve got a mind to throw your life away, it ain’t gonna be on someone like me. It’s gonna be on me, trust me on that, darlin’.”
“You might just possibly be the most arrogant man I’ve ever met, Ryder Staunton.”
“Gotta be honest, babe. That ain’t the first time a woman ever told me that.”
“Aren’t you supposed to say it also won’t be the last?”
He melted a little, enjoying their innocent flirting. “Maybe I want the last woman tellin’ me that to be you. Ever consider that?”
Suddenly, the roar of a half dozen motorcycles sounded outside the cabin. Standing, Ryder saw Ace walking in all clean and looking much less like a serial killer. Jerking his head, he spoke low and fast. “It’s my brothers. Let me and Ace do the talking, all right, doll?”
Nodding, she walked out with his arm draped around her waist.
There were six motorcycles in total. Looking like a bunch of leather-clad demons straight out of hell, his brothers dismounted from their bikes and headed in his direction. They stopped about twenty feet away and stared at him.
Ryder relaxed a little. Badasses though they were, he always felt safer in the company of his brothers. Stepping out to meet them, Tiffany kept to his back with both hands gripping his hips.
He tilted his head, trying to figure out what was keeping them from approaching. His brothers’ eyes slid from him to Tiffany. He could practically hear their thoughts. She was a stranger, one who stuck out as not like most of the people they knew. They’d see her as an interloper until they got to know her. Motioning his brothers forward, they reluctantly approached.
“Everything okay here, Ryder? I ain’t itching to kill no bitches today.”
“Ain’t nobody whackin’ my new girl. Get your head around that shit or we’re gonna have problems.”
“Mind tellin’ me why you brought her along for this particular shit storm of an assignment.”
“I didn’t bring her. She was my nurse at St. Mary’s. Bitch is good at keepin’ stupid fuckers alive.” Jerking his chin at Ace, the other man nodded his agreement. Ryder watched his brothers’ eyes crawl over both of them, knowing full well they were riddled with holes.
Darkness spoke first. “Well, I say that’s a mighty fine quality to have in a wife. Ain’t nobody here has their gun out, so I’m thinkin’ you two bitch-slapped some sense into each other.”
Frowning, Ryder replied flatly, “A lifetime of friendship does not give you the right to say disrespectful shit to my face. Don’t think for a goddamn minute that three bullet holes will keep me from beating your fuckin’ ass.”
Darkness laughed. “Just checkin’ to make sure my best friend was still in there somewhere. Hate to see you so whipped right out of the gate.”
The moment his eyes slid to Tiffany, Ryder nailed him with a fist to the face.
Ace shook his head. “I already told you that you can’t keep people from looking at her, Ryder.”
“I can fuckin’ try.”
Tiffany spoke up. “He’s just overprotective. I think relationships are new for him, so don’t hurt him.”
Suddenly, everyone was laughing.
“Calm your pretty little ass down. We ain’t gonna do nothin’ to hurt him. He’s our brother.”
“Your woman is a bossy little bitch. Might want to see to that, brother.”
“You’d probably be surprised how hard it is to train a woman who’s smarter than you are, since you only seem interested in the really stupid whores.”
“Ain’t no need to get belligerent. Get her in a property cut. She’s damn sexy standing there at your back taking up for you against us scary bikers. Loyalty like that’s something a man can’t buy in this world. You’re one lucky bastard.”
“Can’t say I’m all that thrilled about you takin’ such an interest in my nurse. Care to shut the fuck up and get Ace outta here,” Ryder instructed.
“Too bad it had to come down to this.”
“Just take him home and lock his ass up. No fun and games. Feed him and keep him with honor. Just because his brother wronged us does not make him our enemy.”
“You got three bullet holes that say otherwise.”
“We worked that shit out, and we’ll talk the rest out in church.”
“Whatever you say, brother.”
“Thanks for bringin’ my bike. We’re gonna ride back on our own.”
“No problem. Make a little romantic trip of it, but get back in one piece.”
Once everyone left, there was only one bike left. Ryder’s eyes slid lovingly over the huge Harley. It was a real beauty, loaded with shiny chrome and distressed leather.
“You have a beautiful bike, baby.”
Looking up, he caught the admiring look on Tiffany’s face. She’d called him baby. His dick was instantly hard. “Wanna go for a short ride?”
“Are you safe to drive?”
Running his hand reverently over the chrome bumper, he whispered, “Always.”