Page 2 of Rough Return

He’d been Daddy when she was a little girl. And despite the tough-guy tattoos and dirt under his fingernails, he’d attended every tea party and teddy bear wedding. When she was a teenager, he became Dad—the father who taught her how to ride and fix cars, who’d scared away every guy she’d ever been interested in and had made Grier her official babysitter. Most recently, he’d become Max, the man whose empire would become hers if she could keep Bruce, Frank or Nate from claiming it for himself, if she took everything Max taught her and put it to use.

He’d sent her to Belize to bring back the traitors—Kye and Grier—and the bitch who’d turned Kye, Eliana something. They’d bought an island. Tried to hide from Screaming Demons motorcycle club, her club. Well, her father’s club. And it was time for their restitution to be paid.

But being in Belize, chatting with the locals, she’d heard one name over and over—Grier. Grier learned to surf. And build things. Bring smiles and kindness to the little kiddies who worked the markets and played in the streets. Grier. Grier. Grier. Something inside of her snapped, stabbed her inside. Grier fucking Owen. Made her weak. Made her want. Thinking back over all the years she’d tried to seduce him and failed made her blood boil. She was also annoyed with herself when she thought about how she’d almost begged him to take her to bed that stormy night when they finally came face to face again in Belize. Well, not anymore. She didn’t want to let him see how weak he made her.

Of course, she wanted him, but that wasn’t the reason she’d brought him back. She brought him back because she needed him. And, okay, she might have had a little revenge on her mind. Not a concrete plan. But a desire to form one.

He opened one eye and looked at her. “See anything you like?”

“No.” Of course, he’d catch her staring at him. Damn the karma. After being so adamant that he wouldn’t have sex with her in Belize, she wasn’t sure what made him change his tone like this, but she wasn’t going to let it weaken her resolve - she needed to keep focused on the bigger picture.

“Well, you’ve changed your tune. You couldn’t wait to get your hands on me the other night.” He smiled a knowing smile and Fiona started feeling weak again.

“I have a job that I need to get done - that’s all.”

After a shrug, he shifted in his seat, closer, and Fiona caught a big whiff of him - sunshine and ocean. A couple of days in Pine Hill would cure that. And not that she’d admit it, but she might miss it. She leaned in and breathed deep.

“Did you just sniff me?”

Her skin heated. “No.” But oh, God.

“Yes, you did.”

“Don’t be an idiot.” And she might have been talking to herself. What his smile did to her - sweaty palms, racing heart, a dampness in places that should have been dry - meant nothing. A lot of men had that effect on her. None she could think of with Grier so close. “I didn’t sniff you. I sniffed the air. Something in your vicinity stinks. I thought maybe you forgot how to shower while you were away.”

He chuckled. Deep. Low. Straight to her panties. “On the contrary. Kye and I built an outdoor shower at my bungalow.” He shook his head and more of his scent wafted her way. “God, I’m gonna miss that thing.”

Picturing him naked didn’t help her pulse slow. And the voice did… things. Made her mouth go dry and everything else break into a sweat. She fanned herself with a sky-shopping brochure from the pouch in the back of the seat in front of her. “Your fun in the sun days are over.”

He moved away and sighed. “Max part out my bike?”

Normally the guys would have burned it or stripped it out leaving nothing but a frame, but she’d asked for the bike. She had one of her own, but more often than not, she drove her car. Two bikes, one car and only one ass. The math equaled overkill. Actually, keeping his bike made her the kind of pathetic she didn’t want to think about. Or acknowledge. Or accept.

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “I figured.” And his wistful tone absolutely didn’t affect her.

“It’s what happens when you betray your club.” She narrowed her eyes, hanging onto the anger, to the loyalty to the club. Grier had chosen Kye over everything he’d vowed to protect, over every guy who’d had his back, every brother who would have given their life for his, and over the woman, Fiona, who would have given him everything.

For Kye. A “friend” who hadn’t lifted one damned finger to stop her from dragging Grier back to face Max. And considering what Max could order done to him, Kye wasn’t a very good friend.

“He put a hit on Kye and Eliana.”

Not a secret or an excuse. “On another traitor and his girl. That’s how things work. You knew it going in. Club before anything. Kye forgot that because of his woman. I don’t know what made you forget it.”

Grier scoffed. “My loyalty was to the club. Not your dad.”

“My dad is the club.”

“And he’s dying.”

Her heart thudded to her stomach. She didn’t need this bastard to read the future. She was the one holding Max’s hand every night, praying he would get through just one more day, not knowing how to let go. She turned toward the window. “Fuck you, Grier.”

Maybe, just maybe, when she was in charge, she’d make Grier eat those words and every other he’d ever spoken. Along with a few of his teeth.

“I’m sorry about your dad.”

She didn’t answer. In truth, she couldn’t. The lump in her throat—the one for the little girl losing her daddy—wouldn’t let her.