He laughs as he walks away. I follow behind him lugging a bag in each arm. The sounds of a motorcycle pulling into the driveway hits my ears as I step on to the porch. Looking over my shoulder, I see Bowie’s father parking his bike behind my truck. Bowie’s warning runs through my head, causing fear to fill my body. Instinctively, I try to force Tag into the house. “Get inside.”
“I’m not leaving you out here alone with that man.”
I shake my head. “Let’s just get inside and lock the door.”
He looks into my eyes and grabs my arm then leans down to whisper in my ear. “That man is a mean son of a bitch. You can’t let him know you’re scared; he’ll enjoy it too damn much. If you run from him, he’ll come after you.”
My voice sounds weak as I say, “Bowie said to stay away from him.”
Tags eyes go hard. “Bowie’s right, but he’s not here now. If you disrespect the President of the Savage Outlaw’s without Bowie around to watch your back, you’ll pay in ways you can’t even imagine.”
His words cause my fear to ratchet up a notch. I look over my shoulder to see Cash moving towards us with a leer on his face, and my skin prickles with disgust. When I turn my eyes back to Tag, his body is taut as if preparing for a fight. My fear of Bowie’s father changes into worry for the young man I’ve grown to care about.
Reaching out, I place my hand on his arm. “Please don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I won’t, but I’m not gonna let him hurt you either,” His face is still hard but he tries to crack a smile as he goes on. “If I did, who would make me dinner?”
I know he’s trying to calm my fears, but it’s not working. I step in front of him and look to the man stalking towards us and say, “Hello.”
“Well, I see you’re wearing Bowie’s colors now,” Cash says as he steps onto the porch, nodding to the ink on my arm. “Guess I won’t get a chance to have you in my bed after all.”
I stay quiet and simply nod, afraid anything I say would come out wrong. I know this man is powerful and he is also dangerous. Not in the way Marcus is, but something even more sinister.
Bowie’s father’s eyes move to Tag, he stares at him for a second before a cruel smile spreads across his face. “Took me a minute, but I remember you. You’re Domino’s little brat.”
I can feel Tag’s already tense body turn into stone next to mine. Anger is pouring off of him, clogging the air around us. I squeeze his arm, attempting to calm him, and draw in a breath for courage. “Is there something I can do for you?”
Cash’s smile never leaves his face as he says, “Nah, baby. I was hoping you could, but now I see you can’t.”
Again, he is looking at my arm. Thank God I followed my gut and didn’t fight Bowie about the tattoo. I can tell that without his name on my arm, this man wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. I tug the bag in my arm against my chest. “If there’s nothing I can help you with, I have to get my groceries in the fridge.”
He raises a brow, letting me know that he knows I’m running scared.
“I’ve got ice-cream,” I explain, lamely.
He stares at me a moment, his smile turning into a sneer. Finally, he nods and turns away. He walks back to his bike without another word. I stand still, waiting for him to pull out of the driveway. When he disappears down the road, Tag speaks. “You need to let Bowie know about this.”
I nod, agreeing completely. “I’ll call him tonight.”
Tag shakes his head. “No, you’ll call him right now.”
“Okay,” I whisper out as I unlock the door and go inside.
Sitting the groceries on the kitchen table, I pull my phone from my purse. He answers after the first ring. “I don’t have time to talk right now, Shay.”
I can hear loud music in the background, and voices shouting. I’m not sure where he is, but I know he’s not on the back of his bike. “Uhm… It’s important.”
“Babe, I told you I don’t have time for this shit. If you got something to say, say it.”
I close my eyes, saying a silent prayer for patience. Why I want to be with a man that is such a jerk, I’ll never know, and I sure in the world don’t know why I’m trying to spare his feelings. I am attempting to think of the right words to tell him what happened, but how do you tell someone that their father is an asshole that scares the crap out of you?
“What’s wrong?” I can hear the tension in his voice, and I’m about to make it worse.