Obsession (A Bad Boy's Secret Baby)(99)

“Should I blame you for teaching her how to steal my bike?”

Claudine chuckled, covering her mouth. “I only taught her how to ride. Everything else is all her.” We sat in quiet for a long while until she added, “Why do all this? You don't owe us anything.”

“You're not the only one worth blaming.” I shook my head lightly and gazed off into the distance. “First, it was because I had to, then... I don't know what happened.” Finally, as if magnetized, my eyes found their way back to Flora. She was filthy and bloody, but still perfect in so many ways. “She clawed her way into my head, and I haven't stopped thinking about her yet.”

Claudine studied me.“Is that a first for you?”

“Hopefully first and last. Violence and danger are one thing, but I think my heart would give out if I ever tried something like this again.”

Flora stirred, but stayed asleep.

I looked at Claudine, the concern for her sister was honest and apparent. “Flora needs you. The real you, whoever that is, not some junkie.” That made her flinch. “The way I see it, you've got two paths in front of you right now. You can run, chasing a high that'll never be as good as the first time, or you can get clean and be there for your sister. As tough as she is, she'll never be able to save someone who doesn't want to be saved. That's gotta be your decision to make.”

“She's a lot tougher than I am,” Claudine whispered. “What about you? You're obviously one of them.” She waved her hand at the other Steel Veins. “Where does an outlaw biker go from here?”

I couldn’t focus on anything past Flora. It looked like her color was returning, but I'd bring Doc over just to be sure. “Hey, Doc!” I saw him put a hand up, telling me to wait a minute. Sighing, I turned back to Claudine. “Hard to say, haven't quite figured out my place in the world yet.” My only concern was getting Flora better. “For now, I'm going to take her to a motel in the area and let her rest. She needs it.”

Doc finally came over, checking her vitals. He handed me some vicodin, to help with her pain when she woke up.

I gently scooped Flora up, then spoke to Claudine one last time. “She'll be feeling a lot better tomorrow, and I'm sure she'll want to see you—if you haven't disappeared by then.”

She kept quiet and looked down slightly. It was only when I turned away that she called out to me. “Wherever you do end up, I hope it's by her side. I see the way you look at her, and how she looks at you. I've never seen her look at anyone like that.” Claudine smiled, a genuine thing that lit up her face. “It's something really special.”

I didn't know what to say.

Flora spared me the challenge. “Claudine?” she asked, weakly reaching out for her sister.

“I'm here.” Claudine clutched her hand.

Flora smiled faintly. “Good.”

Comforted that she hadn't been abandoned, she fell back asleep.





Chapter Fourteen


Ronin

The mattress stirred, blankets rustling. “Where are we?” Flora asked, slowly sitting up in the bed.

It was good to hear her voice.

“Just outside of Miami at the lavish two-star Motel Flamingo.” I put down the crossword puzzle, that I was failing miserably at, and got up from the chair to bring Flora a bottle of water and some pain medicine. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Ugh... Being alive sucks. Everything hurts.” She rubbed her eyes and took the pills, then drained the bottle all in one go. “Guess I was thirsty. Thanks.” She looked to the window, but I had the shades drawn. I didn't think there'd be a retaliatory attack from the Knights, but in the off chance... It was best not to advertise. “What time is it?”

“It's either extremely early or extremely late, depending on your perspective.” I only knew that it was still dark outside, because the alarm clock, despite being plugged in, was off. Not surprising for this type of place, but I couldn't complain. After all, they didn't stop me when I carried a bloody, unconscious woman to my room.

We'd been at the motel for several hours, but I was way too amped up to sleep. After something as intense as the fight earlier, I needed a long time to decompress. “How's the leg?”

“Okay, I guess. Hurts like— Ronin, your face!” She blinked a few times, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes.

I smiled, trying to diffuse the worry that was plastered all over her face. “It looks worse than it is. I'm pretty sure Lucky was really a bear in a man costume.”

“That would explain how he was such a fucking animal.” Flora peeled back the covers so she could sit up easier, revealing her silky thighs and panties in the process. Her wound had been cleaned, then dressed, but the rest of her leg was stained with blood and dirt.