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“I’m hardly ever alone except for when I’m at my place after work.”

“I’m not one to interfere in your personal life. I try really hard to remember you’re all grown and living your own lives. But it would be nice to know that you’re not alone at night.”

“I wasn’t last night,” she confessed without details. “I hope I won’t be for long, but things are complicated right now, so I have to rely on myself and friends.”

“Does he know what’s going on?”

She knew he wasn’t talking about Rick, but M. “Yes. But he’s got his thing, and I’ve got mine. Overlapping our lives isn’t going to happen until he finishes whatever he’s working on. But I know the future he wants is with me. That’s enough right now. It’s something to build on when he’s free to live his life the way he wants to live it. Finishing his thing is important to him, but it is also something he knows he has to do so that he can be with me. He’s concerned about Rick, just like I am, but he trusts me to take care of myself and ask for help when I need it. He also made sure he can find me if I get into trouble.”

Her dad’s eyes lit with interest. “How so?”

“He put a tracking app on my phone.”

His eyes narrowed. “What happens if you don’t have it on you?”

She sighed. “Yeah, it’s not foolproof, but it’s something.”

“I appreciate that he’s trying to take care of you. What can I do?”

“Same thing you always do. Have my back. You taught me to be careful and do the right thing. Rickcame all this way for a song. I’m going to give it to him. After that, if he can’t accept that I don’t want a personal relationship with him, then I’ll have to be aggressive about keeping him away.”

“But first, you want to be nice.”

It was her nature. “I have to live with my choices, and being mean just because I don’t like this guy feels wrong to me. If he can’t accept my honesty, then he leaves me no choice but to be more forceful.”

Her dad stroked his hand over the horse’s long neck. “You could just tell him you’re seeing someone else.”

She’d thought about it. “I think that might escalate things.”

Her dad nodded. “You may be right.” He came out of the stall. “I’ll help you with the horses today.” He notched his chin toward her wrapped wrist.

She knew he meant to stick close to her while she was here because of Rick. He’d rely on her siblings while she was at the bar. She appreciated her family so much. She was lucky to have all of them both on and by her side.

She wished M could be with her, too, and wondered what he was doing today.

Chapter Seventeen

Someone knocked on Viper’s door. He hoped like hell it was Lyric but knew she wouldn’t return, not unless he asked her to come. He felt like a dick about it—she should be able to come and go as she pleased—but for now it was the way it had to be. He’d love it if she was in his bed every night.

He checked his place for anything of hers, his gut souring at the fact he had to do so to keep her safe. He wished she’d left more than her fading scent on the sheets and an indelible memory of their night together.

But thank God she didn’t, because the second he opened the door to his surprise guest, he wanted to be sure Lyric wasn’t linked to him. “What’s up?”

“That’s how you say hello to me?” Maria touched her fingertips to her chest and brushed her hair back in what was intended to be a sexy move but did nothing for him.

He didn’t respond to her question and waited to see what she was doing here. He had no idea she knew where he lived and wondered which one of his MC brothers gave her his location. Few had ever come here. Spike was in lockup, and Bleaker was dead. Which left only Lobo, her brother. He didn’t think she’d asked him. Scratch or Cueball were always atthe club playing pool and flirting with Maria, so it was probably one of them.

“How’d your bid go last night?”

“What do you care?” He’d nearly forgotten about the cover story about him doing a bid on a renovation job. He didn’t have to wonder if his brother had taken care of covering his ass.

“Have you heard from Spike since you left yesterday?” She studied him closely.

“No.”

“Are you going to invite me in?”

He stood his ground. “Why?” He didn’t want her in his place. But he also couldn’t get rid of her, because he had a feeling she was behind the murder-for-hire business.