Page 14 of Next Level (Royal Bastards MC: Oakland Chapter #1)

THE RIDE HOME

“P ops. You like this one, don’t you?” Sam says, smiling as we both watch Cherry walk into the airport.

“Yes, Punkin, I think I do,” I reply softly.

My heart aches at seeing her leave. I don’t even know where in San Francisco she lives.

When I feel Sam’s eyes on me, I glance at her and ask, “Do you like her?”

“I like her better than Tamara,” she says truthfully.

“What about Tink?” I question, wondering what she thinks of Tink.

Sam shrugs. “Tink is family. I don’t see a future there.” She points to the airport. “Now her. I see the way you look at her. It’s different.”

A car behind us honks, pulling me from my thoughts. Okay, back to reality.

I pull out of the drop-off lane and head toward the exit.

Sam and I fall into silence, giving me time to switch from thinking about Cherry and how I fucked her really good before Sam woke up. I wanted to make sure she was nice and sore, so every time she moved, she’d remember me all the way home.

I called Zoom before we left the hotel too. I planned to call him after Sam fell asleep but got distracted. I needed to give him the information I had and the name of the guy. He told me that when he comes up with something, he’ll give me a call.

When we’re finally on the highway headed home, not wanting to push too much, but letting her know we need to talk.

“Punkin, when you’re ready, we need to talk.

I want to know what you didn’t tell the police.

They called me this morning and told me the boy’s biological dad was there trying to get information on them. ”

When I mentioned their father, she snapped her head toward me.

Fear etched across her face.

“What?”

“Will he try to take me?” she says, panicked.

“No.” I look over, giving her my eyes so she can see I mean it. “No. No one will be taking you again. I’ll make sure of it.”

She looks straight ahead at the traffic.

Changing my voice, I say softly, “Why don’t you tell me what happened again, but this time don’t leave anything out.”

Sam takes a few deep breaths, and I train my focus on driving, not looking at her, giving her the time and some privacy to revisit what happened to her.

She begins telling me the story, and it matches the one she gave the cops. I keep quiet, giving her a head nod here and there, letting her know I’m listening, but keeping my eyes straight ahead, watching the road.

When she got to the part about her thinking it had to do with their biological parents, she turned in her seat, facing me.

“It did have to do with their parents. But I guess it had to do with either you or Grandpa. I don’t know about what, but they kept saying, ‘The Amato men and an eye for an eye.’” She pauses for a minute, but when I don’t say anything, she continues, “I really don’t think it had to do with the Royal Bastards because they just kept saying the Amato men and didn’t mention anything about the club. ”

This has me looking over at her.

I ask, “Did they mention the mother’s name?”

She shakes her head.

“No, that’s all I heard. Jared was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he had a brother that he never even knew he had.”

I can hear the concern in her voice.

“Do you care for this guy Jared?” I try to ask without any anger or judgment. I genuinely do want to know.

She shrugs. “I did. I mean, I kind of still do, just in a different way. I feel sorry for Jared. He’s had a rough life. We talked a lot about his life before he met Garrett.”

Christ, she likes the fucker.

She continues, “I think if Garrett didn’t get into his head, he wouldn’t have taken me.”

Needing to know the answer, I ask, “Do you think Jared would have known who you were without Garrett targeting you?”

She just looks at me, so I clarify, “Meaning did Jared know who you were before Garrett came into his life?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. I think he started talking to me because of Garrett.”

Taking my eyes off the traffic to look at my girl, I say, “But you think he really did like you.” I say it more like a statement than a question.

She doesn’t answer but sits there thinking about it.

“It’s okay. You’re young, so you don’t really understand love yet. I’m just glad they didn’t touch you.”

I feel her tense up and look over to see her face tighten.

Oh hell fucking no .

“They didn’t touch you, did they?”

She shakes her head. “No, but I did kiss Jared.”

I keep my eyes on the road ahead, taking deep breaths.

Stay calm.

Stay calm.

Stay calm.

“Dad.” Hearing her call me Dad has me looking over at her.

“I’m sorry. He was just so sweet and nice to me. I really thought he cared about me,” she says with a sigh.

I clear my throat, hoping my words don’t come out harshly. “I understand. But people who care about each other don’t hold them hostage or tie them up.”

She turns in her seat and focuses on the road.

I need a break from this conversation, so I look ahead and let us both sit in our thoughts for a bit.

Taking out my phone, I send a text to Zoom.

LEVEL: Find out who George Casso was married to.

ZOOM: Already on it.

I turn the music up a bit and let us ride in silence for a while.

We have all day today and tomorrow to hash out this situation.

She’s young, and I don’t want to overload her or let myself become so enraged with her that she stops talking.

This could be my fault, too, since I do shelter her.

I’m very controlling and scary to deal with at times.

Two hours later, we’re pulling into Portland Old Town. We both need to eat, and I want to give her the new phone I got for her, so I’ll surprise her by pulling into one of her favorite places, Voodoo Doughnut. We never get it unless we’re down in L.A., so this is a treat.

Sam squeals with excitement.

There’s my Sammie girl.

We get our doughnuts and sit at a table. When Sam’s across from me, I reach into my sweatshirt and pull out her new phone.

Sam’s eyes go wide.

“Pops. You got me a new phone?” She practically shouts.

“Yeah, they found your other one at Garrett’s house, but I thought you needed a new one.”

She smiles as tears well in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Punkin. It’s just a phone,” I say softly. “But you’re still grounded.”

She huffs.

“I was waiting for that talk to come,” she says in a low voice.

I shrug. “Well, it’s going to come sooner than you like, and things are definitely going to change.”

She agrees before taking a bite of her doughnut.

We sit and eat our doughnuts, talking about her phone and other random things. When she mentions Cherry’s name again, my heart constricts.

I rub my chest.

“Pops. You okay?” Sam asks, concerned.

“Yeah, just feel weird about this new thing with Cherry,” I tell her honestly.

“It’s about time, Pops. You need a good woman.”

“How do you know she’s a good woman?”

“Pops, she flew a state over to meet you to help you find your kid. For someone she didn’t even know.”

“Anyone with a good heart would do that. And it was her brother.”

Sam tilts her head, looking at me strangely.

“Um, no. Any good person would provide you with the information or contact the local police. No one would actually go on a chase with you.”

“She came for her brother,” I interjected.

“No, she could have sent her parents. She didn’t have to come, and you heard her. She doesn’t even talk to him.”

I sit back in my chair and think about it. Sam’s right. If I were a woman, I wouldn’t fly to another state to meet someone I didn’t know.

“Pops. She said so herself. After seeing the video of you, she came to you. Hello. She liked you before even coming here. Luckily, both of you are single.” She takes a drink of soda. “She’s so into you.”

I beam at my kid, hoping she’s right.