“What the hell!”
Casey found herself dumped unceremoniously back on her feet. Wincing at the pain, she managed to keep her balance. Ginger stared at them angrily while Casey stared back, guiltily aware it was her purse, books, and clothes Ginger was holding in her arms.
“Ginger, it was nothing. Poor kid’s never had a kiss … just doing her a favor. She don’t exactly have a line waiting.”
Casey hid her flinch at Max’s words.
“Her shy, little, school girl routine seemed to be working just fine when I came in the door. She’s had both you and Brock trying to get in her panties tonight.”
“There’s a big fucking difference between me and Brock.”
Ginger’s lips tightened. “Jackal’s waiting for you. Ice has something he needs you two to check on.”
Max took advantage of the opportunity to escape, leaving without a backward glance. The second the door snapped closed, Ginger threw the clothes and books at Casey.
“You little bitch! He’s mine. I’m getting your shit while you’re trying to steal my man? Renee said you were a slut, and I took up for you!”
Humiliated, Casey gathered her clothes, tugging on her jeans. With the rest of her things, she went toward the door. She had no idea where she was going or how she was going to get to school, but she couldn’t face Ginger’s accusing look any longer.
“Casey, I’m warning you. Stay away from him.”
“I will,” Casey said faintly.
Mercifully, no one was outside so early, and Casey finished dressing, wincing with pain as she forced her feet into her tennis shoes. Throwing her night clothes into the dumpster, she began walking toward the direction she remembered Max had brought her. She was about to drop when she saw a bus.
She was late for school, but the teacher arranged for her to take the part she missed during her lunch hour. It was a difficult day to get through, and that night wasn’t much better, listening to Renee’s recriminations despite Casey repeatedly telling her that Brock had attempted to rape her.
As soon as she had graduated, she had moved out into the same cheap apartment she lived in now.
Fortunately, Casey didn’t see Max again for several years, but by chance, she ran into Ginger at Renee’s home, and she had her son with her in the carrier. Max’s son lay wiggling with his fist crammed into his mouth. Casey made the effort to carry on a conversation but was rebuffed.
Once she was no longer living with Renee, she didn’t see Max until the day of Mugg’s and her mother’s wedding at the local courthouse. The marriage had intertwined her life once again with the Predators.
After the ceremony, they celebrated at a local restaurant. Sitting at the end of the table and feeling self- conscious, Casey avoided eye contact with Max as he sat with his now four children. He acted friendly, his nonchalant attitude displaying he had forgotten their kiss. However, despite herself, she had compared every man to him thereafter.
Now, as then, Max managed to make her feel self-conscious and nervous, addressing her with the same affable “sweet thing” which he addressed every woman who came into contact with him, though she successfully kept him at arm’s length over the next few years, despite his gestures of friendship.
The Predators’ reputation worsened over the time she grew up and began working in Queen City. The bikers became feared by many of the residents, each shrewdly aware as Casey was that the law wasn’t able to touch them. Little did they know, their day of reckoning was going to be achieved by her amateur skills, using the one thing Max was incapable of resisting—a willing woman.
Chapter 3
Max walked across the parking lot to his bike, where the club members were standing together, waiting for him.
“Find out what you wanted to know?” Ice asked, his arm around Grace’s shoulders.
“Fuck, no.” Max sat down on his bike, frustrated at Casey’s refusal to confide in him. She was the complete opposite of her mother who would tell you what color panties she had on if you asked. With Renee, what you saw was what you got. She was feisty and spunky, dressing more like a woman half her age than a woman in her fifties. She had been married three times before she had married his father. Max liked Renee and wished Casey had taken a few traits from her mother. She hadn’t, though. She was as closed off and snooty as Renee was friendly and outgoing.
“What are you going to do?” Jackal asked.
“Ask Dad and see if he knows what’s going on.”
“Why does it matter? It’s not like she’s your sister.” Ice climbed on his bike with Grace getting on behind him.
“Because Casey is an uptight bitch who watches every dime she spends. If she needs cash, I’m thinking it’s not for her.”