Page 26 of Rough Road

He had to make this better. “Every time I sit or move, I’m gonna remember this day.” The whole thing. The smiles, the touching, the talking and loving. “I love you, Fiona.” He tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged until their breaths mingled and she leaned her forehead against his chest.

“I love you, too.”

It had been weeks since he’d heard her say it. Months maybe. And his heart did a little dance behind his ribcage.

Leaving her to make sure they were safe made sense on every level except the one where his heart lived. And that was another thing Tyler Sedotal would pay for. From here on, Grier would keep track of every minute he was away from Fiona and London and add them to Sedotal’s tab. And by the time he was finished killing him, there wouldn’t be anything left to be found.

OceanofPDF.com

Fiona slept alone. Woke alone. Drank her coffee alone. This wasn’t what she had signed up for. Not at all. Over the last few months, everything had gone to hell, and she was tired of not having control of her own destiny. From the minute that gang of scummy miscreants took her, she hadn’t had control of anything. And it was time she changed that.

She stared at the burner phone. Okay. So, she’d promised Grier she wouldn’t call, she would wait for him to make sure it was secure. And she’d sworn to him she wouldn’t hop on the next plane out and show up at the clubhouse. But she hadn’t said a damned thing about shooting a text to Hamilton, her friend, who she missed. Nothing wrong with talking to a friend she missed.

She picked up the phone, tapped his number into the keypad, then took the next ten minutes trying to remember how to send a text on a phone that flipped open and closed. Grier would be pissed if he found out she was communicating with Hamilton. Phones could be tracked. Even burner phones. But she couldn’t just sit here on her hands. If he knew her at all, he would understand. Still, her stomach rolled.

She typed in the message, then looked at it for a minute before she slapped the phone closed and threw it on the bed. “Shit.”

The baby cooed next to her, and Fiona closed her eyes, trying to imagine how things back home would go. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get past the fact that Tyler Sedotal was ruthless. And determined. And cocky enough to be dangerous.

There was some comfort in knowing the guys trusted Grier now, but dammit, it should have been her back there with Hamilton and Jim and Sage. It should have been her forming the plan to take that bastard down. This was her club, her birthright, handed down to her by her father who’d built the damned thing into what it was. Yet, she was three-thousand miles away, holed up behind an iron gate, hiding like a coward.

Eli knocked on the open door and stood just outside the frame. She didn’t move, as if she was waiting to be asked into a room in her own house. “You want to go to the market? They have… all kinds of…” She twitched her mouth to one side. “Stuff.”

Their relationship hadn’t progressed much past awkward and without Kye and Grier there to keep things going, no way could Fiona see how this would transform to anything more than stilted conversation and uncomfortable silences. But if Eli was willing to try, maybe Fiona could too. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about… everything. Since she didn’t have Hamilton and Grier had gone home to take care of her business, this was her only choice.

She smiled at Eli, although it probably looked more like she was constipated, and nodded. “That sounds great.” Who didn’t like spending time with a former enemy? With someone she’d been taught to hate?

Still, she picked up the baby and walked out into the hallway. And shopped. Tasted. Sampled. Pretended she cared about the wares and products she’d purchased. Even made small talk, but Pine Hill was never further than a thought and a blink away.

The baby, neither impressed nor interested, fell asleep halfway through the market and stayed asleep until right around bedtime. The was the time that Grier would have taken over for a while, reading to her from motorcycle magazines or an old dog-eared western he’d apparently had for years, then giving her a bath and even singing to her before he handed her back for Fiona to feed.

This went on for the first few days and made Fiona miss Grier even more. He hadn’t called or sent a text. If not for Kye talking to Eliana the first night, Fiona wouldn’t have known anything. Not about the influx of bikers in town. Not about the slowdown of street sales. All of which Grier should have told her himself. But he didn’t. He didn’t say a damned word about anything because he never called.

At three a.m. on the third day, she’d had enough. That was her husband, her club, and her fight. And by God, she was done hiding behind a gate letting Grier handle her business. The baby on the other hand…

London would have to stay with Eliana. That was all there was to it. Eli was like wonder mom. She could handle two babies. And Fiona could afford a nanny to help. What she couldn’t help was the need to go back home and make those sons of bitches pay for putting her in hiding. It was time they learned the cold hard fact of life. Fiona Strong-Owen didn’t hide. Not anymore.

By sun-up she was packed and ready. And she’d made a big pot of bribery coffee and a giant plate of persuasion pastries, cut some fruit and laid out a spread of eggs, bacon, and sausage.

Eliana walked into the kitchen and stared at the counter full of food. Without speaking, she poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table across from Fiona.

“I’m going home.” No need for beating around the burning bush. If Eli put up a fight, there was always money, and she would pay dearly to ensure London’s safety.

Eliana nodded. “I know.” She frowned. “Are you sure you can’t wait until next week?”

What would waiting until next week do to help the situation? Fiona shook her head. “I need to go now.”

“Of course.” Eli shrugged. “But just so you know, you are solely responsible for a very ugly French maid uniform I have to prance around in when Kye gets back.” She sighed. “I bet you’d last at least two weeks. He said you wouldn’t make it one.”

They had an easy kind of relationship Fiona envied. Light-hearted. She and Grier hadn’t managed to get there yet. They’d had moments, but their relationship had suffered so much from all the club stuff and the kidnapping and hiding out that drove them both crazy.

“I suppose London is staying here?”

And it was killing Fiona, but she couldn’t take her baby into what would only be able to be described as a war zone. “Yeah, please.”

“Damn!” Uh-oh. Eli’s reply didn’t bode well. “I told him there was no way you’d leave the baby with me. He said you wouldn’t risk her safety no matter what the past said about us.” She clicked her tongue.

Fiona cocked an eyebrow. “Sorry. But I can’t take her back with me. It’s too…” And there was no one else she could trust to care for London.