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Diesel stroked his beard some more. “Hmmm… angry, you say.”
My boots were ready to run, swoop up my girl, then run some more. “You’re killing me over here.”
“I bet. All right, all right, let’s think. Her brothers… Protective or assholes?”
I snarled, “Assholes of late.” But then I got to thinking. “Yet … the first time I met them, before she started traveling with them, they adored her…” Wait. I watched Rya close the trailer door again. “That makes no sense. What changed?”
“Now you’re feeling me, pup. In the beginning, Bert didn’t try to stop their dad from taking her on the road. But then he’s suddenly working with the feds? What did he see ‘on the road?’ ”
Perspective. Perspective… Why did the other brother’s change, too?
I asked Diesel, “Any ideas?”
“Yeah…” he replied with regret. Then he winced. “Promise to keep your cool?”
Walking away from the trailer, Rya happily waved and announced, “Have ta tinkle.” When we didn’t say anything because we were deep in thought trenches, she took off in a jog, as if not wanting us to have to wait for her. “I won’t be long. Promise.”
Break my fucking heart! “Rya.” She waited when seeing me run to her. She sucked in air when I grabbed her face. “My little goddess, you do whatever the fuck you want, anytime, anywhere.” I slammed my lips to hers, loving her like mad. “Do you understand?”
Out of breath, she studied me for a minute. Finally, she said, “I’ll try.”
“Okay.” I kissed her forehead. “Now go ‘tinkle.’ ”
As she walked away, still reading me from over her shoulder, I waved. “No rush, babe.”
As soon as she was inside and out of sight, I faced Diesel, grabbed my hair and pulled. “I can’t promise to stay calm!”
Men smoking cigarettes by their bikes looked to Diesel for orders.
He held up a hand, claiming to have me under control. “Don’t blame ya. That little pixie is as cute as they come.”
“Diesel,” I groaned, dragging my hands down my face.
“Not helpin’?” he teased.
“No.” I inhaled through my nostrils. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
He crossed his arms and faced me with a wide stance. “I think the dad blamed her for his actions. I think he blamed her for his twisted ways and her mother’s death. I think he punished her. Made her do all the dirty, shit-scoopin’ work. I think the brothers, living on their own or traveling with the dad before Rya joined them, hadn’t seen what she was going through. I think once on the road with her, Bert was smart and started snoopin’. I think the younger brothers, their money hungry way yesterday as example, are more like their daddy and blame her, too.”
Diesel, the president of the Redemption Ryders, my father, was one of the smartest men I would ever have the privilege of knowing.
???
It was around 5 PM when we arrived at the Redemption Ryder compound. It was on the outskirts of a small Georgia town about two hours south of Atlanta.
Rolling down the passenger window for fresh air, Rya sighed. “No big city buildings. I’m so thankful for that.”
The woods surrounding this place were comforting, having me roll down my window, too.
Driving down a long dirt road, there were many trees to our right. To the left were some open fields. I suspected that was preferred because this was the only entrance to the dead-end road, and after the fields was the clubhouse. Ryders wanted to see anything or anyone coming.
Getting closer to the clubhouse, it was easy to see that it was more like a fortress. Two impressive lookout posts were on the roof, a man in each one. The building under them was a soft beige, but that was the only soft part of it. The huge bunker was made of concrete.
Rya nibbled on a nail while taking it all in. “No windows?”
Leaning forward in the driver’s seat, I was anxious. “None that I can see.”
Heavily barbed-wire fencing and moving cameras also spoke of security being taken very seriously. Diesel hadn’t made a deal with the devil like Onus, so he had to protect himself and his club the old-fashioned way, but with new technology.
