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  I pointed to her bare legs. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any other clothes stuffed in your purse?”

  She glanced down. “No. All my stuff is at Ally’s. Why?”

  “Because it takes over an hour to reach Tempe and you’ll be pretty damn uncomfortable. We’ll swing by the Dorias’ so you can grab your shit.”

  “You think that’s a good idea?”

  I laughed. “You afraid of your would-be suitor? Fuck him. His balls will crawl up his bladder the second he hears my engine.”

  Her mouth twitched. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words, Deck?”

  “Once or twice. Let’s get moving.”

  I remembered where the Dorias’ house was because I’d been inside of it before, years ago, when I was an Emblem High hellraiser and Kate Doria was still worth looking at. Old man Doria was still an insurance agent in town but a while back he’d found something younger to keep him company.

  “I’ll just be a minute,” Jenny said apologetically as I kept my eyes on the two front windows of the house. She hopped off the bike and hurried to the front door. After a moment Kate’s trashy daughter opened up, looking like she’d just finished rolling with the nearest frat house. She and Jenny exchanged unheard words and then Jenny bypassed her, disappearing into the house. The front blinds were open and Kate Doria’s woeful face peered out at me. She hadn’t been pleased when I ended our nasty affair more than a decade ago. She looked even less pleased now. Jenny came bounding out of the house a few seconds later with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She had also hastily pulled a pair of jeans on under her skirt.

  “Jenny!” shouted Kate’s daughter in a shocked voice.

  Jenny ignored her friend and hopped on the back of my bike. “Let’s get out of here,” she grumbled, shoving her helmet back on and holding me firmly around the waist.

  “Out of here sounds fucking great,” I said, gunning the engine.

  The drive to Tempe was easy. Lingering cloud cover was enough to prevent road glare and traffic was nonexistent, just like I’d figured. I liked being on the open road with a girl clutching my back and my ears full of cold wind. Given how many loved ones I’d lost in bloody fashion to the open road you might think I’d hate riding around but that wasn’t the case at all. The ghostly specters of the Superstition Mountains hovered beneath the clouds as we approached the valley and then they fell behind us when I turned west to the university.

  The campus was still littered with festive holiday shit. I waited for a traffic light before I shouted a question back to Jenny. She answered and pointed. Less than a minute later I was pulling up to the foot of an ugly building with a thousand triangle windows staring blankly down at us.

  “Looks empty,” I commented, noting that there was not a soul in sight, not anywhere.

  “It probably is,” Jenny said and climbed off the bike. She looked up at the building and sighed.

  Leaving her here alone was depressing the hell out of me. Jenny offered a little smile and stuck out her hand, as if we were business associates parting after a pleasant meeting.

  “Thank you, Deck. For everything from saving my ass to driving me up here.”

  I didn’t shake on it. “You know, it wouldn’t be a big deal for me to drive a few hours more.”

  Jenny lowered her hand. “Huh?”

  “You think that sister of yours in Quartzsite would be happy to see you?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you really offering to drive me to all the way out to Quartzsite?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Now hop on before I have second thoughts.”

  She hesitated. “You don’t need to do that, Deck. I’ll be just fine.”

  “Rattling around in a big building by yourself until the new year? Jesus, look around. I feel like we’ve stumbled into the zombie apocalypse.”

  Jenny chewed her lip and glanced around. There was nothing quite so forlorn as the sight of an empty university. “You really in the mood to haul me across the entire state?”

  “I can’t think of any better way to spend my day. Now get on. We’ll stop for food and then head out.”

  She hesitated, kicking at a rock. And then suddenly she nodded. “Okay. But I’m paying for breakfast.”

  No, she wasn’t. The only female I’d ever allowed to pay for my meals was my mother. There was nothing to be gained from arguing about it out here though.

  “Fine,” I said agreeably. “Let’s get moving then.”

  Jenny pouted for a split second when I bypassed her at breakfast and tossed her money back in her lap. She didn’t argue with me any further though and by the time we were ready to hit the road again I was looking forward to the ride. It was a straight westbound shot on the Interstate to Quartzsite. Once we were beyond the sprawling Phoenix metro area, the landscape was sparse, unyielding. You could see for miles in any direction and distant mountains were topped prettily with snow. I could have happily ridden this way until the end of all asphalt. I wouldn’t even mind if Jenny rode with me the whole time. Eventually though the road dipped into a valley and the sleepy town of Quartzsite - the last stop before the California border - beckoned below.

  I coasted into town, pulling into the parking lot of a new age crystal shop to ask Jenny where to go next. She shifted in the seat as she gave me brief directions.

  “I should have called first,” she muttered.

  “Maybe,” I agreed but drove on because it was too late for that now. Following Jenny’s directions, I reached a tidy, block-construction home beyond downtown. It was a decent neighborhood and I squinted down the street, realizing I was only a few hundred yards from a bar I remembered having drinks in once. A gleaming black Harley was sitting out front and I recalled Jenny’s claim that her brother-in-law was a biker. Hell, I might even know him, although that might just as easily be a bad thing as a good one.

  I hadn’t noticed the man since he’d been kneeling beside the bike but I saw him real good when he stood up. He was a tough-looking son of a bitch, wearing a worn cut and watching us with some confusion. Then he did a double take in Jenny’s direction as she hopped off the bike.

  “Hey, Grayson,” she said sheepishly.

  “Jenny,” he boomed like a pissed off father. “What the hell is with your hair and what the fuck were you doin’ on that bike?” He had a thick New York accent.

  She crossed her arms. “I dyed it and this is Deck Gentry. He was kind enough to give me a ride all the way out here so please don’t be a jerk to him.” She stood in front of me like she intended to protect me from the wrath of Grayson The Biker. She was a funny girl, this Jenny.

  Grayson slowly shifted his gaze in my direction. He hated me on sight. I could tell. He was headed this way.

  “Where’s Promise?” Jenny asked.

  “She’s having lunch with Rachel, brought Ash along. Baby’s inside asleep. You know, your sister’s going to be shocked as shit to see you showing up here like this.”

  Jenny lowered her head. “Sorry. I should have asked first.”

  “Don’t be like that,” Grayson scolded and wrapped Jenny in a warm hug. “You know you’re welcome here anytime, honey.”

  Suddenly the plaintive wail of an infant arose. It was coming from the house.

  Jenny was already halfway to the door. “Gray, let me get her, please? You be nice to Deck while I’m gone.”

  Gray didn’t answer. He turned and watched Jenny disappear into the house. A few seconds later the crying stopped. But I had already seen the red lettering on the back of Gray’s cut; DEFIANT MC. I knew what he was about and I was relieved. He wouldn’t be giving me any trouble.

  He didn’t seem to know that yet though. He leaned on the handlebars of my bike and glared at me hard.

  “So what’s your deal, Deck?”

  “No deal,” I shrugged. “Just doing a girl a favor.”

  “Oh yeah? What’d that cost her?”

  I was getting tired of this guy. “Fuck you. If she ain’t intact, t
hen it’s not my doing. Why don’t you follow her inside and check for yourself?”

  I figured he might swing at me for that and maybe I would deserve it. Gray kept himself under control though.

  “She’s a nice girl,” he said quietly.

  “I know.”

  “Not a club whore.”

  “I’m not in any damn ‘club’ anyway.”

  He scowled. “Look, Jenny’s my wife’s little sister. She’s family and the boys around here know she’s off limits. Now I get that you’re not local so as long as she’s not hurt I’ll let you ride out of here without trouble.”

  LET me?? Oh, fuck him!

  I crossed my arms and glared. “Why don’t you grab Orion so we can all sit down and have a nice chat?”

  The mention of his fearsome club president took Grayson down a notch. “You know Orion?”

  “I know Orion. And Orion knows me.” All true. Orion Jackson was a monster to look at but he was fair when it came to business. A few years back I’d worked with him on a deal running guns down south. I’d backed away after a few runs but not because of Orion or his club; just because it was risky shit and there were easier ways to stack up cheddar.

  Gray glanced toward the house and then in the direction of the bar. “Orion’s around,” he admitted, “but let’s leave him out of this.”

  I grinned. Yeah, it was a safe bet that Orion Jackson wouldn’t care to be bothered over the problem of some pussy. No matter whose sister-in-law she might be, Jenny was legally an adult and she could fuck whoever she wanted to fuck. I started the engine and began easing the bike out. Gray had to let go of the handlebars or else fall over into the dust.

  “That’s it?” he asked. “You taking off?”

  “Looks like it,” I told him.

  Maybe I’d just keep going west. I would run into the Pacific Ocean by the afternoon, maybe find a soft beach bunny to hang onto just for a few hours, until I stopped thinking about pounding some nineteen year old girl who didn’t know whether to suck or blow.

  Gray shrugged. “What the hell do you want me to tell her?”

  I wanted to get out of there before Jenny came back outside. “Look, I’m not her man, okay? You can tell her you scared me off for all I fucking care.”

  He seemed to find that amusing. It was, really. If I wanted Jenny, I wouldn’t have been talked out of it by some housebroken family man, no matter whose club jacket he was wearing.

  I sped back to the Interstate and decided not to keep going west after all. The ride out here had been nice with Jenny holding onto me. Now I was alone and Jenny was with her family, where she belonged. It was better that way, better that I hadn’t stuck around to say an awkward goodbye because I could see that she might be interested in getting closer, and that I might want to let her. She shouldn’t be close to me. She shouldn’t ever want to see me again. I jumped on the I-10 at twenty miles above the speed limit and kept up that breakneck speed until I hit Phoenix.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  JENNY

  “He didn’t say anything? He just left?”

  Gray shrugged. He’d come through the front door seconds after I heard Deck’s bike take off. Grayson watched me rocking his tiny daughter in my arms and the anger in his face receded. His expression grew almost apologetic. “He just said he had shit he needed to get back to.”

  “Oh. Is that all?”

  Gray looked uneasy. He didn’t have it in him to lie. “He also said he wasn’t your man.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  “He isn’t.”

  I decided not to add the fact that I’d only just met Deck Gentry last night. The last twelve hours – ever since Adam had tried to molest me in the parking lot of the Dirty Cactus – felt mildly surreal. Baby Elena was pressing her face into my chest, instinctively searching for her mother’s breast. I breathed in the scent of my baby niece. This was only the second time I had seen her since she was born three months earlier.

  “Look at this girl. She’s gotten so big.”

  “Babies tend to grow quickly,” Grayson said. He seemed about to say something else, maybe a reproach for my failure to visit for the holidays in the first place. But then he merely sighed and pulled out his phone. “I’ll call your sister. She’ll be glad you’re here.”

  I didn’t hear what Gray said to Promise but their conversation was short. I had moved Elena to my shoulder and was patting her back, remembering the young siblings I had cared for back in Jericho Valley. Promise and I were the only children born to our mother¸ but our father’s other wives had large broods of their own. I’d grown used to the feel of a baby in my arms from the time I was very small.

  Grayson flashed me a grin when he returned to the nursery. The love story he and my sister shared was breathtaking. There was an ugly start to it though. Promise’s marriage had been arranged when she was very young. She was granted a temporary reprieve to attend school in order to become a midwife, but it was expected that upon her return she would become one of Winston Allred’s wives. Had she refused, I would have been dragged to the unholy alter in her place. After all the ugliness was past, after Promise and I were reunited, she was frank about her horrific days with Winston, days of violence and torment. She told me about how she had approached a strange, fearsome-looking man in a public place and begged for help. He had looked at the abused, nearly broken young woman before him and understood. Having endured his own anguished past of an unjust imprisonment and the loss of everything he held dear, Grayson Mercado had retreated to the Arizona desert and joined a ragtag motorcycle club. He might have been an unlikely hero to everyone else on earth except Promise.

  The baby was dozing in my arms so I returned her to her crib. I followed Gray to the kitchen where he poured me a glass of orange juice and asked me cheerful questions about school. He was apparently choosing to overlook my odd appearance and the fact that I had arrived unceremoniously on the back of some dude’s bike.

  “Yes, my classes are fine,” I told him. “Yes, I have plenty of friends.”

  Gray kept one eye on the front window and broke into a happy smile when Promise drove up.

  The exuberant howling of my two-year-old nephew, Ash, drowned out everything else for a few confused seconds. He bounded into my arms full of hugs and toddler chatter. He had Promise’s green eyes, but other than that he was the spitting image of his father. I held him tightly and felt a surge of gratitude toward Deck for driving me out here, to the place I should have gone in the first place.

  My sister’s face was clearly concerned when she took in my dyed hair and strange outfit. I was still wearing my skirt over my jeans and my jacket was open enough to glimpse just how provocative my shirt was. Promise and Gray exchanged a look and I swung my nephew to the floor so I could embrace my sister.

  “Missed you,” I whispered into her red hair, the same natural shade as my own, the same as our mother’s.

  She pulled back a few inches and brushed a strand of black hair out of my face.

  “Missed you too, Jenny girl.”

  “A mistake,” I admitted, ruefully touching my head.

  Promise smiled kindly. “One that’s easily fixable.” She wrapped an arm around my waist and started leading me to the small living room, where Ash was already bouncing around on the couch and babbling a mile a minute as Grayson listened patiently. There was a vibrantly decorated Christmas tree in the corner, complete with a bevy of child artwork and a handful of newly unwrapped toys still lingering beneath the tree. Ash jumped off the couch and grabbed my hand, demanding that I join him on the floor and look at what Santa had brought the day before. My own forlorn self-doubts disappeared and I relished being in the warm circle of my sister’s family. My family.

  Promise was quietly feeding the baby on the careworn sofa while Gray tried to coax little Ash into taking a nap. My sister patted the couch beside her and I dutifully sat.

  “You look beautiful,” I told her, and it was true. Never had motherhood come mor
e gracefully to any woman than it had to my sister. Promise was downright serene with a baby at her breast and the love of her life nearby. I wondered if I could ever be that strong, tough enough for pure honesty in order to find my way out of the cobwebs of my past.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she said and stopped herself from saying more.

  I knew there were things Promise wanted to press me about but she held back. She knew me well enough to realize when I wasn’t up to talking. Our lovely cousin Rachel came by in the afternoon and fussed over me. I was glad to see her. Rachel was another Faithful escapee. When she was just seventeen she had run like hell out of Jericho Valley on the eve of her wedding. I had been a mere child and barely remembered her from that time and place. Her very name was a blasphemy after she fled and a long time passed before I saw her again. Today it seemed like she had always been right here, in the arms of a self-made family of desert castoffs and with Casper, the man who gazed at her as if she were a goddess.

  “So what about this guy?” Rachel asked when she managed to corner me in private.

  “What guy?” I asked innocently as I kept an ear out for Promise and Gray as they bustled about the kitchen preparing a quick dinner. Little Ash looked up from the floor where he’d been coloring in a large book with no less than three crayons at once.

  Rachel nudged me. “Don’t be coy, baby girl. Gray already gave Casper the rundown. What was his name again? Decker?”

  “Deck,” I sighed. “Declan Antonio Gentry.”

  “Oh boy,” Rachel laughed. “I know what a sigh like that means to a girl.”

  Ash apparently found our conversation uninteresting and returned to coloring with bold strokes from one side of the page to the other.