The Biker's Fate Chapter 153

Darien

THREE DAYS LATER, it was the last day of the month, and I was checking my bank balance to see what my book had yielded as far as royalties. For the most part, my royalties were paid monthly, although, occasionally they were paid quarterly.

"Pauley!" I screamed as I stared at the screen.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked, rushing to me.

"Royalty deposit."

"Ohmigod, Darien, I thought you were hurt."

I waved my hand toward the screen and took a deep breath. "Look."

Pauley leaned down. "Holy shit."

"I'm reading it wrong, right?"

"If fifty-six thousand, four hundred two dollars and ninety-two cents is not what you read, then yeah."

"Omigod, Pauley, that's more than my yearly salary."

"And that's just one month." She looked again. "NY Times bestseller, Dare. This will only get bigger."

"You think?"

"I know." Pauley smiled. "So, you gonna quit?"

"Um, yeah, I'm gonna quit." I grabbed my cell phone. "After I call Logan."

Pauley giggled. "Dinner on you Friday night."

"Sounds good." I headed to my bedroom and dialed Mack.

He answered on the first ring. "Hey, baby, I'm in the middle of something, can I call you back?"

"I just wanted to let you know, I can quit my job."

"That's great, Dare."

He sounded distracted which was unlike him. "Call me later," I said.

"I will."

"I love you."

"Me too," he said, and he was gone.

Mack

I hung up and scowled as I paced my office.

"What the fuck are they tryin' to do?" Knight asked.

"Set us up, I'd guess," Booker answered.

"Fuck!" I snapped. "What does Jax say?"

Knight shook his head. "Haven't brought him in yet. Want me to?"

I glanced at Booker who nodded.

"Yeah, brother," I said. "Bring him in. This just got bigger than us."

Darien

Wednesday morning, I arrived at work to chaos. An orderly was out sick and we'd lost one of our patients (the one who'd puked on me not so long ago), so the coroner was there to assist with removing the body.

"Oh, Darien, thank you for being early. Have a seat." Eleanor, our director, smiled up at me from her desk. "Would you mind taking on a tour for me?"

"Now?" I asked, and sat in one of the chairs facing her desk. Eleanor always canceled tours if there was a death... it never looked good for a potential client to check out the facility after losing a patient.

She shook her head. "In about an hour. The coroner's just finishing up."

"Of course. Not a problem." I grimaced. "I actually have something to speak with you about."

"What's up?"

"I'm leaving." I set my resignation letter in front of her. "Here's my two week notice."

She sighed. "Please tell me it's because of something fabulous."

I smiled. I adored my boss, but not quite enough to stay. "I wrote a book and it's kind of taking off."

"Shut up. You did?" She sat back. "Please tell me it's something sexy."

I laughed. "Um, yeah, it is actually, but I honestly didn't expect you'd read that."

"Oh, honey, I love a good romance. Did you write it under your name?"

I shook my head. "No, I wanted a little anonymity. I wrote it under D.W. Foxblood."

"Forbidden Pleasures?" she whispered.

I gasped. "Yes. Did you read it?"

"Hell, yeah I did. I loved it. That's you?"

I giggled. "Yes, it's me."

"Are you going to write another one?" she asked. "Please tell me you're going to write Miller's book."

"I hope to. I've kind of started the second in the series, but haven't had a whole lot of time lately. And yes, it's Miller's book."

"Well, honey, you get right on that! I'll buy whatever you write."

"Thanks, Eleanor. I appreciate it. Do you think I could still come back, maybe once a week? I don't think I can go cold turkey on my checkers game with Mr. Akerman."

"You're welcome anytime and you know how much we love our volunteers."

I smiled. "That's very true."

A knock came at the open door and I craned my head to see Mike, one of the orderlies. "Coroner's done. Just needs you to sign."

"Thanks, Mike." Eleanor rose to her feet. "Don't change until after the tour, if you don't mind, Darien. You know the drill."

I smiled. "No problem."

Eleanor followed Mike down the hall and I pulled out my phone. I had a reprieve of sorts, so fired off a quick text to Mack. He'd called me back the night before, but I was so tired, we'd barely gotten to talk for ten minutes before I had to sleep. I missed him and I wouldn't see him tonight because it was "Church," the club's weekly meeting.

I was surprised when my phone rang just as I pressed send on my text. I smiled. "Hi, honey."

"Hey," Mack said.

"I'm surprised you're awake."

He chuckled. "Had no one to keep me up all night."

"Oh, you're funny," I retorted.

"Feel like stayin' at my place tonight? I'll drop you into work tomorrow."

"That sounds amazing. You don't mind?"

"No. Miss you, baby."

I smiled again. "Miss you too. Want me to come down right after work, or meet you after church?"

"Church got pushed back an hour, so come here after work and we can eat, then I'll go."

"Perfect. Just have to drop by home and grab the dog and then I'll be there."

"Sounds good, honey. I'll see you then."

"Love you," I said.

"Love you too." Mack hung up and I slipped my phone into my pocket.

I headed out to the front and let the receptionist know I'd be in the day room and that I was expecting a potential client.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Mr. Akerman in the day room and he waved me over to the Checkers board. "Let me beat you, honeygirl."

He'd been so sick lately and we'd all been sure it wouldn't be long before he passed away, but today he appeared to be rallying.

I giggled and sat across from him. "You think you can?"

"I'm sure gonna try."

"You're on."

We managed four games (three of which he "won") before I was called up for the tour. "I'll try and come back in a bit, Mr. Akerman."

"Okay, honeygirl. I'll be waitin'."

I smiled and made my way to the lobby. A very good looking and tall, blond man with longish hair, dressed in a suit that had obviously been made for him, turned to me with a sexy smile.

"Mr. Kozlov?" I asked, and reached a hand out to him.

"Hello." He took my hand with both of his.

"I'm Darien Aherne. I understand you're looking at our facility for your grandfather?"

"Yes. I understand you have good reputation," he said in a thick Russian accent.

"We have a first class facility and we do everything we can to keep our residents healthy and happy."

"So I heard."

"Right." I forced a smile. There was something a little disconcerting about him. "Shall we?"

"Da."

For the next hour, I walked the man around the facility, showing him a typical suite, the day room, cafeteria, and so forth. Not once did he speak in full sentences. Just hummed in a tone that could neither be considered positive nor negative. By the time I bid him farewell, I had no idea if he liked or disliked what he saw. But I'd done everything I could, so I changed into scrubs and went about my day.

Eleanor called me into her office just after lunch. "I don't know what you said to Mr. Kozlov, but he's bringing his grandfather here tomorrow. We've never had someone commit that quickly."

"Really? That's great," I said.

"I think he was quite taken with you."

"What? Seriously?"

Eleanor giggled. "Yes. He was asking if you had a boyfriend. I informed him we don't discuss our employees' personal lives, but I won't be surprised if he seeks you out over the next couple of weeks."

I shook my head. "You're crazy. But thanks for the heads up."

"No problem, hon."

"I'll see you later. I have to check on Mr. Akerman."

"Sounds good. Thanks again."

"You're welcome," I said, and went back to work.