“God, never! I hated him. But he was always listening in on our conversations. I hated that the two of you blamed me for being sent away, but I didn’t want you to worry about me.”
“Fuck, we were idiots,” Baron muttered.
“You don’t have to stress anymore, Ma. We’re here. We’ll protect you from him,” Royal told her fiercely.
“I wish you hadn’t run from Matthieu. Did he not tell you that I’m free of Forrest now?”
“Yeah, but now you’re mixed up with some gang. That big fucker by the crash site, he’s this Ink? He’s part of the gang?”
“What did Matthieu tell you?” she asked.
“Nothing much. Just that he owed a biker called Ink a favor, that he was taking us to you and him but we couldn’t talk to you.”
No wonder they’d freaked.
“Guys, Ink isn’t part of a gang. The Iron Shadows is an MC. And they’re good guys. He rescued me from Forrest, even though he didn’t have to. And he rescued the two of you. I, umm, I’m living with him. He’s my boyfriend.”
It didn’t encompass fully what he meant to her. But it was the best word she could come up with.
Royal and Baron were quiet.
“Really, he’s a good guy. Although, he’s not going to be too happy about this. I really think we need to turn around and go back before he loses his shit.”
Suddenly, light flooded the truck from behind. She hadn’t noticed the rumble of bikes until then.
“Shit,” Royal cursed, looking out the back window. “How many of those bastards are out there?”
She clasped both of their hands. “Brace yourselves, boys. We’re about to get the scolding of a lifetime.”
If only he’d be satisfied with just scolding her.
30
“You’re mad,” she whispered. She didn’t want to wake the boys. Which was silly, since they were sound asleep in the spare bedroom. Ink only had one spare bed, so they had to share. Not that they’d been worried.
Turned out it had been just three bikes with Reyes, Spike and Razor riding them. Ink had caught a lift on the back of Reyes’ bike. Apparently, they’d arrived at the crash scene shortly after Ink discovered her missing. After making certain the three of them were okay, he’d gotten in the driver’s seat. Only instead of taking them home, he’d returned to the accident.
The boys were in trouble for leaving the scene of an accident and for driving on a learner license. Matthieu had been contacted by the cops and said he wasn’t pressing charges as the boys were family friends who were welcome to take his car anytime. She wondered if he’d choked on those words.
The cops had finally let them go and Ink had driven them home. Silently.
But he’d obviously spent that time thinking about what he was going to say, because after giving the three of them the chance to ex
plain themselves, he’d spent an hour thoroughly scolding them all, before sending the boys to bed.
Shockingly, they’d gone without argument.
Which made her hugely suspicious.
After they were in bed, Ink had clasped her hand and led into their room. In silence, he’d gotten her ready for bed. Now she was sitting on the bed, watching him pace up and down the room.
“I’m so sorry the boys took your truck. They’re impetuous. And that they crashed Matthieu’s car. They’ll pay for it.”
“Damn right they will. They’re coming to work for me every day after school. Once we find them a suitable school, that is.”
She blinked. She hadn’t really thought about how it would all work with the boys here. But now that they were here and safe…she realized they would need to find them a school. And a proper place to live.
“Is it safe? For them to go to school?”