Unchain My Heart(2)

Downing the rest of my beer, I pushed to my feet, ready to leave. “Nice meeting you.” I didn’t succeed in suppressing the sarcasm in my voice. Hell, I hadn't known what exactly to expect, but if my so-called sister didn't want to know me there was no point in dragging this awkwardness out any longer.

She grabbed hold of my arm. “No, wait.” She looked up at me from under her impossibly long lashes. “I'm sorry. I’m behaving like a brat. It’s just . . . I hate surprises. Daddy should know that by now.” She shot him a hard glance, her mouth turned downward for a moment. Glad I’m not on the other end of her disdain. “Sit down. Let’s have another drink and see if we can fix this bad start.”

Shit. Please not another fucking princess in my life.

As was normal for this kind of fancy restaurant, a waitress appeared out of nowhere. I was slowly getting used to it. We ordered another round of drinks and started chatting. At least, that’s what Eva did. She interrogated me about my childhood, my years in juvie, and the MC club. Everything. Until I’d had enough of answering her damn questions.

“OK. That’s enough about me now. Your turn. And don’t skip anything.” Fuck, if I could get her talking, maybe she’d quit asking me questions.

Bill sat back; his shoulders slouched. He was on to his third triple whiskey. “Shall we order some food?” he asked, glancing at the menu.

She nodded. “Why not? I’m starving. How about you, Ryder?”

Women never ceased to amaze me. Her hostility had completely melted and now she was acting as if we’d known one another our whole lives. Go figure.

“Yeah. I’ll have a steak. Medium rare.”

Eva laughed. “Oh, this is a five-star restaurant. I doubt they do steaks.”

Bill piped up. “If Ryder wants a steak, Ryder will have a steak.” He smiled at the waitress. “Please ask the chef for a special order?”

The waitress nodded, slightly taken aback by my coarse tastes. But fuck that, I wasn’t going to push some indescribable fancy food around my plate and leave here feeling hungry.





Chapter Two — Ryder


I’d been lucky. While I hadn’t known my real sibling until a few hours ago, life had given me a surrogate instead in the form of Mia. She’d cornered me as I got back to the compound. Although I loved her as if she were my sister, I wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.

“Ryder, we need to talk,” she said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the worn-out sofa in the clubroom. It was late, and aside from the two whores sitting by the bar, drunk and singing out of tune, it was only Mia and myself.

“Where’s Cobra?” Usually he wasn’t far from her, and right now he was the last person I wanted to see.

Mia’s eyes softened. “He’s fast asleep with the kids. I couldn’t sleep, so I came for a hot drink and bumped into you. Are you staying at the club tonight?”

“Yeah. I need a good sleep. And then to talk to Cobra in the morning.”

She settled onto the sofa, folding her long legs underneath her. She patted the soft leather, indicating for me to sit down. I sighed and plunked my ass down beside her.

“So Mama Mia, what you wanna talk about?” She smiled at the term of endearment. It was corny and cheesy, but it was exactly what Mia was: the mother hen that clucked over all her boys.

Lovingly, I wiped a strand of hair from her face; I noticed that she looked tired. Fine lines at the corners of her mouth and eyes gave her away.

“Um . . . It’s about you and Jade. And . . . Cobra and the club.” Her usually bright eyes went cloudy for a moment before she looked away, avoiding my gaze.

Shit. This conversation was long overdue. I knew she was gonna say stuff I didn’t want to hear. I rubbed at my temples—a motherfucker of a headache invaded my brain.

Mia was the one person on this planet I’d always listened too. When nobody else could get through to me, she always had the power to penetrate the wall I’d built around my heart.

I swallowed hard. What was she going to say? Was she going to tell me to give Jade up too? It would be the first time since I’d met Mia that I’d have to go against her. Usually we were so in sync that we could have been blood family. She always understood me when nobody else did.

My heart raced as I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. I’d never thought the day would come when I went head to head with Mia. Because there was no way in hell I was giving up Jade. No way.

“About Jade. I knew from the days at the Beverly Hills house that she got under your skin like no woman ever had. You were falling for her, even though you didn’t realize it at the time.” Her eyes danced with amusement. Mia enjoyed seeing me squirm.