And still… I can’t help but think about what it means—those eyes, so like mine.
Lena’s got some explaining to do.
Chapter 7
Lena
The last person I wanted to see or accept help from was Rex. But with Zeke still out there looking for me, I had no choice. I’d do anything to keep Mia safe. I can’t believe that he’s still hunting me after all this time. Surely it can’t be just because I left three years ago? I look over at Mia, and an awful thought occurs to me. Did he only just start looking for me again because he somehow found out about her? Does he suspect that she might be his? Is it not me at all that he’s after but her?
Apart from those first gruff words, Rex hasn’t spoken to me. When he looks at me, he can barely hide his anger and hatred. It only makes me madder at him. How can he play victim when he’s the one who lied to me? How did he think I would react to finding out he had a wife? Did he think I’d be happy to be his mistress, that he could have his cake and eat it too?
Cole, the Soaring Eagles president, has been kind. He’s a handsome man. He appears to be in his early forties, with short salt-and-pepper hair and a neat, graying beard. He’s taller than Rex, and even more muscular, all bulk compared to Rex’s lean physique. He insisted on driving the car, so he got the driver to take his bike instead. As we drive, he explains that we’re going to stay in a safehouse for a few days until they have more information. He’s worried that if we go to the clubhouse, Zeke may attack it. He explains how they discovered the kidnapping plot and assures me again that Big Joe is being well cared for.
I’m grateful that he doesn’t ask me anything about Rex. I’m not ready to think about him, let alone talk about what happened.
“There will be four of us staying with you at the safehouse. Me, Doc, Judge, and Rex,” Cole explains.
“Not Rex.”
He looks at me in the rearview mirror, his blue eyes piercing mine knowingly. “I don’t know what went down between you two, and I don’t care. Rex is my VP and one of my best friends. I trust him and no one else for this job. He stays.”
I can tell from his tone that he won’t budge on this, so I don’t press the matter further.
I’m not sure how being forced to live under house arrest with the man who broke my heart is any better than being kidnapped, I think dryly.
I think I’m still in shock over everything that’s happened. It feels more like the plot of an action movie than my life. I hold Mia close, breathing in the smell of her and feeling grateful that her sobs have subsided and she’s fallen into the deep sleep all children do to protect themselves through trauma. No matter what happened with Rex, I have to be grateful that he and the Soaring Eagles came to our rescue. I owe them my life. More importantly, my little girl is safe.
If Rex saw any of himself in Mia, he didn’t say. Perhaps he could tell that she was his, and he didn’t care. I don’t suppose it’s something he’d want to have to share with his life. He’s probably just hoping it will all go away. Or maybe he doesn’t see the resemblance that I see as clear as day. Either way, I won’t tell him that Mia is his. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
As always, I push down that niggling little voice in my head that wonders if rather than Rex’s, she’s actually Zeke’s.
My daughter is nothing like that monster.
We drive for what feels like hours, deeper into the countryside, until we reach an old farmstead. There are no neighbors around for miles. It’s just going to be me and four bikers. What could possibly go wrong?
Rex dismounts his bike and storms inside without a backward glance. Another motorcycle pulls up, and a tall, wiry man steps off. He removes his helmet, revealing shoulder-length gray hair and a stubbled chin. He’s attractive in a dangerous sort of way, the classic movie bad guy look, and there’s a destructive energy that radiates from him.
“Lena, this is Judge,” Cole says, introducing us.
Judge nods at me, silently sizing me up. I decide that I wouldn’t want to be on Judge’s bad side. So I guess I should be grateful that he’s here to protect us.
“Come on inside,” Cole says, leading the way. “Doc will be here later on tonight. He’s still at the hospital with your friend,” he explains, answering my unspoken question.
The house is cozy, if a little outdated. It reminds me of the kind of place you’d expect an elderly couple who’ve lived here all their lives to reside. It certainly doesn’t look like somewhere that belongs to a motorcycle club. “The Soaring Eagles own this place?” I ask skeptically.
“No. I do. It belonged to my grandparents; they raised me here. When they died, they left it to me,” Judge says, surprising me. He’s more softly spoken than I would have expected.
“Oh, well, thank you for letting us stay here.”
He inclines his head in acceptance and then stalks off, checking every nook and cranny as if expecting the boogeyman to jump out of his airing cupboard.
“Let me show you to your room, and you can put the kid to bed,” Cole says.
I agree, though honestly, I want to hold onto Mia and never let go. It still terrifies me to know how much danger she was in tonight. How close I came to losing her.
Cole shows me to a bedroom with a double bed and two sturdy wooden bedside tables beside it, in the corner stands a matching wardrobe. There’s a floral bedspread and floral wallpaper. Beneath the window is a dresser, filled with bottles of perfume and lotions, as well as a jewelry box. It almost feels as if the room is lived in, but by all accounts, it’s not. I wonder who the items belong to, and I hope the answer isn’t Rex’s wife.
“There’s some clothing in the closet, it used to belong to my mother. My gran kept all her stuff when she died,” Judge says, making me jump. I didn’t even hear him coming, let alone notice him walking into the room.
