Page 18 of Mile High With the Bikers (Screaming Eagles MC #10)

RORY

Someone knocks on the door while our stuff is drying in the shared laundry down the hall.

All I'm wearing is one of Shrapnel's T-shirts.

It's big enough that I can wear it for a dress, but with nothing underneath, I feel a little exposed, so I dash into the bedroom. With just him here, I don’t mind, but I'm not exactly ready for company.

“Who is it?” Shrapnel stalks over to the door in sweatpants, still bare-chested and barefoot. It's a good look for him.

“Open up.” It's Bull.

“Just you?”

“Just us ,” Diesel yells through the door. “We're not gonna see anything we haven't.”

I slip back out into the living area, making sure the shirt hem is tucked a little in between my legs to preserve what little modesty I've got left. Their eyes go right to me, and neither looks overly shocked to see me like this.

“Looks like he’s taking good care of you,” Bull says with a laugh.

“When he should be answering his phone.” Diesel comes over to drop into the couch next to me. He pinches the hem of the shirt in his fingers and starts to lift.

“Hey!” I shoo his curious fingers away.

“Anything under that?”

“None of your business,” I say with a huff that earns me a laugh.

“Guess that's our answer.” Bull takes the chair across from me. Probably hoping he'll get a peek. “You know this is exactly the type of shit Prez was warning us about.”

“He should be used to it by now,” Shrapnel says with a shrug. He looks completely unapologetic. “Her clothes should be out of the dryer soon. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Unless her daddy rides in here with a shotgun.”

Bull shakes his head. “This is why you need to keep your phone on. Whittaker is ready to talk.”

“What has he said? Do I have to leave?”

It’s a good thing, I tell myself. Not for me exactly, but it’s my fault their friends are in trouble. If I could stay here forever and forget about everything happening outside the clubhouse, I would. It’s been so easy to distract myself from Hermes and my father’s plans, but that’s not reality.

“Eager to get back to your penthouse?” Diesel asks. He’s smiling, but it doesn’t reach his blue eyes.

“I—I don’t have one. No, really,” I insist when they look at me skeptically. “I live in a suite attached to my father’s apartment.”

Bull reaches out and pats my knee. “Poor baby.”

I stick out my tongue.

He narrows his eyes. “Don’t show it if you don’t want to use it.”

I stick it out again and blow a raspberry.

“You little brat!” Bull grabs me and throws me over his lap while the others watch, laughing. He pulls up the bottom of Shrapnel’s shirt and swats my butt. For a second, everyone is quiet and the mood starts to shift.

Diesel’s phone chirps. He groans. “It’s King. No time for fun. Whittaker is waiting for us to call.”

“Oh.” I climb off Bull’s lap and pull the shirt back in place. I’m not ready for it to happen this fast.

Shrapnel leaves to check the dryer.

“You’re a grown woman, you know. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.” Diesel leans back on the couch, watching me like his eyes can give my shirt another lift.

“It’s not that easy.”

“Why not? Does he hurt you?” Diesel’s voice darkens, like he doesn’t give a shit how important my father is.

Bulls nods. “Say the word and we’ll tell him to fuck off. Prez would blow his fucking stack, but he’d back us.”

I don't doubt for a moment that they’re speaking the truth, but this is bigger than my feelings. “No, please. It’s not like that. I’m not his prisoner or anything. He’s just a very important person, and some of our projects are very time sensitive. He needs me back at work.”

“You’re his daughter. Do you really think he’s worried about you missing work more than if you’re safe?” Diesel asks.

“Honestly? Yeah.” I shrug. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

Bull doesn’t look convinced. “What about your mom?”

“My mother? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think she’s worried about you?”

I can tell they’re expecting something from me, but I don’t know what.

The looks on their faces remind me of my boarding school teachers when I told them nobody was coming for whatever event the school was having and I don’t like it.

“She probably hasn’t heard anything yet.

” The instant Shrapnel comes in with my slightly damp clothes, I run for the bathroom to change.

Let them talk about my sad little privileged life, but I don’t need to sit around and hear their pity.

A couple of minutes later, we walk into the common room, the mood there quiet, but relaxed. I spot Cherry and Opal playing pool with a couple of guys. They look up and I send them a little wave.

The stairs up to Eagle-eye's office feel heavier this time. If Dad’s calmed down enough to see reason, it probably means he’s ready to make the trade.

He's stubborn, but he’s too smart to spend too long on the wrong conclusion.

I think dipping his toes into the dark side is making him paranoid.

A year ago he would never have had people snatched off the street.

I don’t even know who he called to make that happen, but I suspect some of his other billionaire cronies are whispering in his ear about missed opportunities.

It might not’ve been The Screaming Eagles who were behind the attack, but someone started it, and they were on the plane with us.

Eagle-eye looks up as we come in. “Took you fucking long enough.”

“Can't rush a lady.” Shrapnel pulls out a chair for me, then drops into the one next to it. Bull takes position by the door, leaning his back against the wall, while Diesel sits down on the edge of Eagle-eye's massive desk.

With an annoyed grunt, Eagle-eye pops open his laptop and gets up to come around the desk so we can all see. He starts a call and a moment later, Dad appears, looking unhappy. “We agreed on four.”

“Shit came up. Are you ready to talk sense?” Eagle-eye folds his thick arms over his barrel chest.

Dad leans back in his chair. I can tell from the background that he’s in his home office.

“I’ve reviewed the footage we were able to retrieve, and spoken to Luca Giordano.

I’m not happy with your men removing my daughter from the scene, but I’m willing to concede that they were likely unaware of her identity at the time. ”

“I didn’t know where the danger was and I thought it was best to get away first and contact you later. Obviously, I didn’t think it was smart to advertise that I’m your daughter,” I explain, fudging the truth in a way that Dad will appreciate.

He nods. The only thing he likes better than people thinking he’s smart, is people admiring him for having such a smart child.

It was what finally attracted him to the idea of having me around in the first place.

“You understand, of course, why the initial evidence wasn’t in your favor, and I wanted to act first on what we had rather than delay my response. ”

Eagle-eye looks unimpressed, but he nods. “So my men?”

“Are in a car waiting for my order to send them to you. But I would like to ask a favor.”

“Okay? Talk.”

“What would it cost me for you to protect Florence while my people track down who was responsible for the hijacking? For the moment, very few people outside of those on this call are aware of her identity and location. As much as I would love to have my darling girl back at my side, she might be safer where she is. Luca assured me that while your tactics might be unpleasantly brutal, your loyalty has been proven. I don’t often take advice from the Mafia, but in this case I will defer to his judgement. ”

“Are you sure?” I ask, not wanting to seem too eager to stay. “The project?—”

“Will continue.”

“We aren’t a fucking babysitting service.” Eagle-eye shakes his head, sounding a little insulted.

“I will make it very worth your while,” Dad assures him.

Their president seems to think about that for a moment. Having the weight of billions of dollars behind a statement like that isn’t something most people would turn away without a damn good reason.

“We can watch her.” Bull pushes off the wall and moves into view of the camera. “Our contract with Giordano is done and we’ve already shown we're capable of protecting her. If securing her in a firefight and pulling her off a burning plane isn’t enough, I don't know where you're gonna find better.”

Dad looks between Bull and me, clearly a little suspicious.

He might question my taste if he found out I was messing around with them, but he generally keeps his opinions about my love life to himself.

Not that I have much of one to comment on.

His main concern is that my attention isn’t divided and that I’m achieving results at work.

He's protective, but it’s never easy to predict if something will amuse him or make him furious.

I try to look innocent and professional.

Eagle-eye rolls his eyes, though I'm not sure Dad catches it. “Fine. Nobody listens to me around here anyway. If you have the capacity, I'll allow it.”

“What do you mean?” Dad asks curiously.

“Nothing. Far be it from me to stand in the way of fate. Do you have anything you want to say to your daughter before we discuss the details?”

Dad fixes me with his CEO glare. “Rory?”

“Yes?”

“I expect you to do everything in your power to keep yourself safe, but as this might take some time, I’ll have your work equipment and a suitcase packed and sent with our guests.

You might not be able to keep standard working hours, but don’t assume this is a vacation.

The project must and will continue as scheduled. Do you understand me?”

A chill settles in the pit of my stomach, but I nod. “I understand.”

“I also expect you to obey your current guards and to not cause trouble for your host. I’ll be in touch to let you know when you may return. Is that clear?”

I pretend not to see Diesel's smirk when Dad tells me to obey them. “Clear.”

Dad pauses. “You do have internet, right?”

“What’s that?” Shrapnel asks, face blank.

A horrified look crosses Dad’s face. I nod before he realizes he’s being teased and gets annoyed. “Yes. I'll log in starting tomorrow.”

“Good.”

And then we're dismissed while Dad and Eagle-eye discuss the terms. I take a deep breath when we are out of the office, not entirely happy, but very relieved that I still have time to figure out how I’m going to keep Hermes from being turned into a weapon.

How is this going to go? I’ve been having fun with Bull, Shrapnel and Diesel, partly because I knew our time was limited.

Fooling around with them didn’t seem like that big a deal when I thought I was going to either leave on my own or get taken back by my father.

If this takes days or even weeks to resolve, it’s going to be hard to keep my emotions from getting mixed up in everything.

“Hear that?” Shrapnel asks as we get to the bottom of the stairs. “You gotta do exactly what we tell you to, Florence .”

Bull nods. “Daddy's orders.”