Page 10

Piper

The rest of the trip was good. No calls from Drake. No ambushes. No surprises. Right now, surprises weren’t something I looked forward to.

We rode hard, only stopping for food and sleep, and we made it to Georgia a couple of days later. Beast slowed the bike and pulled up to a set of wide metal gates just outside a small town. The two guys guarding the gates saw us coming and waved us through.

The driveway was long and swung in a wide arc past a row of trees that had blocked the view of the house from the road. Did I say house? It was huge, one of those old plantation type buildings from a long-ago era. Beast pulled his bike up alongside a row of motorcycles and killed the engine.

I slid off the back and undid my helmet, staring at the structure in awe. “This is your home?”

“Yes, sort of, but it’s not just mine. It’s the Riptide clubhouse.” He pulled off his helmet and hung it on the handlebar. Reaching for mine, he placed it beside his and grabbed the saddlebags. “Come on in and meet the gang. We can let your father know you made it here safely.”

He held out his hand. Apparently, we were still doing that. We climbed the front steps together and onto a wide porch that spanned the entire front of the house.

“So you live here with your kids and a bunch of other people? Like a commune or something?” I was having trouble wrapping my head around it. I hadn’t given his living arrangements much thought. I guess I assumed he lived in a house, like every other normal person would.

“Yeah.” He looked amused. “It’s a big place, and it works out great with the twins. If I have to be away on club business, there’s always someone here to keep an eye on them.” He looked up at the sound of a commotion.

“Dad!” The front door flew open, and two girls came barreling out, throwing themselves at Beast.

He dropped my hand to catch them both against him.

After listening to their excited chatter for a couple of minutes, he turned to me.

“These are my girls, Jasmine and Jewel. Girls, this is Piper. She’s from San Diego and her dad works for the Bureau.

She needed a ride to this side of the country, and he asked if I’d mind bringing her with me since I was already coming back. ”

The shorter of the two smiled. “I’m Jewel. So, are you like, dating our dad? He never lets anyone except me and my sister ride on his bike.”

I looked helplessly at Beast. How was I supposed to answer that? We weren’t dating but I wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell them.

“She’s on my bike because I was out West when the call came in to go get her. You know I’d never leave my bike behind, so she didn’t have much choice.” He grinned at me. “She either rode with me or found someone else to bring her back here.”

The other sister nodded. “Makes sense. Have you ever ridden on a bike before? Did you like it? Are you going to stay here or is your father coming to get you?”

Beast held up his hand. “Whoa, slow down. One question at a time and remember what we said about boundaries when we had that talk last month. You don’t ask personal questions to people you’ve just met.”

I tried not to laugh at the sight of the big bad biker trying to instill manners in a couple of teenage girls.

The man had his job cut out for him. “No, I’d never been on a bike before and yes, I did like it once I got used to it.

It feels different than being in a car. I’m not sure where I’m staying.

This was kind of a last-minute trip, but I think my dad made arrangements for me.

I don’t know him that well so I’m not sure if he has room for me at his place. ”

Jewel shot me a sympathetic look. “Did your parents get divorced when you were young? Some kids at school never get to see their other parent.” She glanced up at Beast. “We get to see our mom lots. We just don’t like the guy she’s with, so we live with Dad.”

“And that is a personal question.” Beast made shooing motions with his hands. “Let’s get inside. Piper and I need to get out of this leather. There will be lots of time for questions later.”

I shot him an amused look. He made the parent thing look easy.

“Hey, about time you got back here.”

I looked up to see a man with both arms covered in tattoos coming toward us.

“Ace called church for this afternoon, and he wants to see you two first.” He looked over at me. “Your father should be here soon, too. Ace let him know you made it here safely.”

“And this is Shadow, our tech guy.” Beast slapped the other man on the back. “He can help you get that phone set up once you’ve had time to catch your breath.”

Shadow looked young. If he was thirty, I’d be surprised. Then again, I’d never been all that good at judging ages.

“Right, good to meet you.” Shadow nodded at Beast. “Sometimes my social skills aren’t great. I knew who you were since you showed up with the big idiot here, but you wouldn’t have any idea who I was.”

I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Shadow, and thanks for the help with the phone stuff.”

“It’s what I do.” He grinned and turned aside to say something to the twins.

“Let’s get in before anyone else ambushes us.” Beast led the way, and the girls trailed close behind with Shadow bringing up the rear.

I looked around as Beast led me through the main room and into the kitchen. An older couple looked up as we entered. “Beast. You’re home! And this must be little Piper. Ace said you were bringing her back with you.”

Beast grinned. “Not all that little, Mom, but yes, this is Piper.” He turned to me. “This is Mom and that grumpy looking guy over there is her sidekick, Jake.”

One of the twins spoke up. “She’s not really his mom. Everyone just calls her that.”

“Nice to meet you, Piper. I’m sure you two want to freshen up after spending a few days on the road. I sent clean towels and whatnot up with the twins earlier. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Beast led me deeper into the clubhouse. The place was huge, although it would have to be if there was a whole passel of guys living there. I was surprised at how clean and tidy everything was.

“There’s a cleaning crew that comes in a couple times a week,” Beast explained. “And Mom is good at nagging the guys to pick their crap up, at least in the public rooms.”

We went upstairs and down a long hallway.

The twins skipped ahead and opened the door for us.

Beast’s room was more of a suite than a room.

There were three bedrooms, the largest of which had an ensuite, as well as a main bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room.

“This is nice!” I’d pictured something a lot less family oriented when I thought about a motorcycle clubhouse.

“Jasmine and I have our own rooms, but we can bunk together if you want to stay with us.” Jewel gave her dad a sideways glance. “Unless you and Dad are sharing a room.”

Beast frowned. “If she’s staying here, Ace will assign her a room.” He tossed the saddlebags onto a side table and looked at me. “You probably have time for a quick shower and change of clothes if you want. You can use my room for now.”

One of the twins giggled, and he threw them a quelling glance.

“Thanks.” I could feel my face flushing red as I crossed to the saddlebags and pulled out a change of clothes and my toiletries. “I’ll be quick.”

* * *

Beast

I sent Ace a quick text to let him know we would be down shortly.

Piper’s father needed to be here for the meeting as well, so that worked out.

I intended to push the idea of letting her go ahead with the singing tour, and I had a few ideas about how to make it work.

I remembered the look on her face at the karaoke bar.

I wanted to see her face light up with joy like it had back there.

I let the twins tell me everything I’d missed while I was gone. Mom and Jake filled in for me when I had to be away on business and all the Riptide MC bikers looked out for them. They were probably better protected than someone in the witness protection program.

Piper was fast. I barely had time to rinse the road dust off my face and arms with a washcloth before she was ready. We left the twins in the room with strict instructions to behave themselves and headed down to Ace’s office.

“You really think they’re going to behave?” She looked up at me.

I shook my head. “Not a chance. I’m betting they’re trying to come up with a way to eavesdrop on this meeting.”

Ace stood up when we entered the room. He nodded his head politely. “Nice to meet you, Piper. Hope Beast has been treating you well.” He gestured at a couple of chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat. Your father should be here in a minute or two. We’ll wait for him before we get started.”

Piper sat down, and I opted to stay standing, one hand resting on the back of her chair.

I cleared my throat. “Something I should probably mention, Prez. Remember me telling you I was going back to look up a woman I’d met on a prior trip to Las Vegas?”

“Yeah.” He narrowed his eyes, looking from me to Piper. “What about it?”

“Turns out the woman was Piper.”

“I thought you said the woman you were looking for was in Las Vegas. Stripper by the name of Sparkles or some ridiculous thing.”

“That was me, and it was a onetime thing to get some quick cash. I wanted to leave town ASAP.” Piper let out an exasperated sigh.

“Sparkles is the stage name I use when I don’t want to be identified.

I never told Beast my legal name, and I moved to San Diego two days later.

It didn’t occur to me to tell him my life story.

It was supposed to be quick hook up, a one-night stand.

I never asked what his name was either, so when my father said a guy named Beast was going to come get me, I didn’t clue in. ”

Ace raised his brows and addressed me. “You must have known. I sent you her picture.”