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The tension in the air is so thick, it could be cut through by a knife, and I can tell the two men had not expected this. Perhaps they figured they’d need only whatever support they could get from the wealthiest donors and the connections they’d forged in their careers. But they have to see now that those won’t be enough, not with corruption rampant in the city.
“You’ll be good to her?” Sasha’s father asks, surprising me. I didn’t doubt that he loves his daughter, but hadn’t expected genuine concern for her wellbeing to factor into our conversation, assuming he’d be primarily concerned with his son’s campaign for governorship.
“I love her. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I’m as much hers as she is mine,” I tell him, my eyes locked with his so he can read the sincerity in my gaze.
He nods once before saying, “Go on then.”
I glance at Sasha’s brother, who stares back at me with an unreadable expression, but his shoulders have lost some of their tension, and I take that to mean he is agreement with his father. I shoot up to my feet and head for the door, tempted to make a snarky remark, but for once, I rein myself in.
I leave the office and head back the way I came, unsurprised to find a worried Sasha pacing at the foot of the stairs.
Her gaze shoots to me, and I read the worry in those beautiful eyes. She rushes to me and stops, running her eyes all over me, perhaps looking for visible marks. “Are you hurt?” she whispers, running her hands all over my body and petting me in a way that sends blood rushing to my cock. “No, of course not. My father would never hurt you. Not physically at least. What did he say? Did he threaten you? The club?”
“He did,” I tell her with a smile. “Your brother was there too.”
“You mean David?”
“Is he the one running for governor?” She nods. “Then yes, he was there too.”
“Oh God, David is just as bad as father. What did they do?”
“They offered me money to go away,” I tell her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her flush against me. “How much do you think they’d be willing to give me?”
Her eyes fill with hurt as she stares at me, but she doesn’t try to break the embrace. “A lot. Probably a million at least.” I whistle, breaking into a laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. “You should take the money, Riot.”
“Sasha . . .”
“I won’t hate you if you do, I promise,” she whispers softly.
I drop my forehead to hers, soaking in her sweet floral scent that always sends my heart racing. “Baby, do you really believe I would let someone bribe me to stay away from you?”
“Riot . . .”
“I won’t go down without a fight, Sasha. I can always make more money, but there is only one you,” I say, brushing my lips gently over hers. “I will do anything to keep you by my side. I will earn the right to be with you, forever. I love you.”
Chapter Eight
Sasha
I have so many questions.
As we ride away from the home I grew up in, I rack my brain for what could have happened between Riot, David, and my father. Riot was gone for so long that I was half convinced my father had done something to him. My attempts to barge into the office were stopped by Ben and my mother, who’d approached me moments after Riot had left to speak to my father.
A part of me thought my mother would yell at me and perhaps point out how much of a disappointment I was to her, but instead, she greeted me with a smile, hugging me like she rarely did.
“A biker?” she drawled in that smooth, accented voice of hers. “My innocent little lamb dating a biker. I have to say, I am impressed, Sasha.”
Her words had taken me by surprise and rendered me almost speechless. “Y-you’re not angry?”
“Angry? Oh no. Quite the contrary. I’m proud of you. I am impressed that you managed to hook someone like that. I always thought you would end up married to some boring, stuck-up suit handpicked by your father.” She laughed, brushing her long blond hair off her shoulder. “I mean, the Steel Order MC is not an organization to be taken lightly. I’d have loved for you to have snagged the club president, but I hear he’s already engaged. Oh well, I’m told your Riot is a senior member at least. I suppose he’ll have to do.”
She left me speechless with her words. Laughing to herself, she floated away, leaving behind her familiar sweet scent, proving once again that my mother is a dangerous predator in sheep’s clothing. Growing up, she intimidated me far more than my father ever did. She’s often underestimated because of her beauty, but she is as dangerous as my father, if not more so. That fact that she is even familiar enough with Riot’s club to know that the president is recently engaged proves how well-connected she really is.
But proud? She didn’t even tell me she was proud when I graduated from high school at the top of my class.
Her being proud of me makes no sense at all. I thought she’d be livid that I hadn’t found someone of higher social standing, but then again, my mother never really cared for status. She was born poor and fought her way to the top before marrying into my father’s wealthy family. My grandmother had never let her forget where she came from, and my mother wears her origins like a badge of honor. It’s power she values, not money or accolades.
“We’re here, baby.”
