There’s something freeing about letting down your defenses and allowing yourself to feel. That’s something I’ve struggled with over the years. I’ve always loved my sister, and I fell head over heels when my nephew was born, but family is different. Even the bond I share with Rage is different than what I feel for Allora. Obviously, I’m not in love with him, but we’re closer than anyone I share blood with other than Courtney and Micah.
But Allora gives me new purpose.
Which makes me that much more determined to find these guys who want to hurt her.
The reality is, we’ve made no progress. Not really. We know more than we knew a month ago but nothing that can help us find them or shut them down.
I know Daniil is frustrated but his frustration is professional.
Mine is personal.
Allora’s right that we can’t really start living our lives—together or individually—until this is resolved and I don’t likethat any more than she does. I’m getting paid and I have no doubt Silver has plenty of money, but eventually this will get costly. Shadow Security’s rates are high. My personal services can be exorbitant, depending on the job. Not that I care about money in this instance, because I’d protect Allora for free, but for how long? I have to work too.
It’s been six weeks since I rescued Allora and the last ten days or so have been nice. Peaceful. So much so I’m almost bored. Almost. The only people we see are from Shadow Security and occasionally her father. Beyond that, it’s just us.
If things were different, I’d be enjoying this time together. We’ve been able to talk, get to know each other on a deeper level than any other relationship I’ve had with a woman, and the sex is off the charts. But I know she’s getting bored and frustrated—I feel it too.
My phone rings on Friday morning.
“Hey.” It’s Luna. “I got the information you wanted.”
“Okay.”
“So, Peter Liam Cavanaugh is twenty-nine years old. Born in Luckenbach, Texas and?—”
“That’s a real place?” I interrupt. “I thought it was made up for the song.”
She laughs. “Nope. It’s real, about fifty miles north of San Antonio.”
“Okay. Sorry I interrupted.”
“His father was a rodeo champion. Bull rider. Trampled to death when Pete was twelve. Lived with a grandmother who died under mysterious circumstances. From there, he was sent to live with an aunt in California. She died when he was fifteen and he went into the foster system. And apparently, he bounced from place to place. Like, he was moved every six months.”
“Was there a reason?”
She hesitates. “I found a statement from one of his foster parents, saying that while he’s usually smart, funny, and helpful, his temper is unpredictable and when he snaps, he’s violent. Based on what I read, he could usually keep it in check for about six months and then he’d lose it and they would ask him to be moved.”
“A biker with a temper. Imagine that.” I glance at the bathroom where Allora is in the shower and hope she stays in there for a while. I won’t lie to her but I don’t necessarily want her to know I’ve been looking into Pete and the rest of the club.
“Well, he also has a record. He got arrested for shoplifting at seventeen and one Theodore ‘Silver’ Sterling bailed him out and hired a lawyer to get his record expunged.”
“Protecting his daughter’s boyfriend, the kid who saved her from an attack at the clubhouse.”
“Really?”
“Long story. What else?”
“He did eighteen months for assault in a bar fight when he was twenty-one.”
“So, he’s still violent.”
“Well, he’s been arrested six times, but all the other times the charges were dropped. From what I gather, the club bribed his way out of trouble. On the surprising side, he got his Bachelor’s degree in accounting via an online school.”
“That’s why he’s the treasurer,” I muse.
“Yup. He has about twenty thousand dollars in various bank accounts, doesn’t own real estate, has never been married, and no social media presence.”
“That’s it?” I ask, somewhat disappointed.
