The Biker's Fate Chapter 9

Danielle

Danielle

I couldn't breathe. No one had ever made me feel the way he did and I'd known him for a little over twenty-four hours. "Wow," I rasped. He grinned, leaning down to kiss me, but I laid my fingers over his mouth before he reached me. "What did you mean by you were going to deal with that?"

"See?" he said against my hand. "Quick."

I lowered my hand and leaned back to meet his eyes. "Are you going to tell me?"

"I'm not."

"Seriously?"

He cocked his head. "I thought you wanted to know about my genius status and why I joined my 'gang.'"

"First, why do you wear a vest and a jacket?"

"This is a cut, babe. It tells the world who I am. The jacket's for warmth or for when I ride."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I sound stupid when I ask these questions, don't I?"

He frowned. "Not at all. You sound curious. I love that you want to know about me."

I smiled. I liked that answer. "Okay, you can tell me about your genius status now."

Austin chuckled and tugged me back to the sofa, pulling me down beside him. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back against his chest as he leaned back and settled his feet on the coffee table again. I liked this position almost as much as I did his lap. Almost.

"I have the typical rough childhood sob story," he began. "Mom died of an OD when I was six, Dad was an abusive alcoholic, so me and my sister came to live with an aunt out here..."

"Where are you from?"

"Originally? Tennessee."

I smiled. "I thought I detected a southern accent."

"Yeah, I'm surprised I haven't lost it considering how long I've been here," he said.

"I like it. It's kind of sexy."

He grinned. "Not stupid, baby. Take that in, yeah?"

"I'm not stupid because I think you're sexy?"

"Damn straight."

"Good to know," I said. "So, what happened after you went to live with your aunt?"

"All hell broke loose. My aunt was a bitch and she broke my sister's arm, so we were put into the system."

I craned my neck to look up at him again. "You have a sister?"

He nodded. "She's two years younger than me."

"Did you stay together?"

"No. She was sent to live with a couple who adopted her. They felt I was a bad influence, so they wouldn't let her see me."

"They did?" I linked my fingers with his and squeezed his hand. "Austin, I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault, baby," he said.

"I know, but still, that must have been really hard."

"Not gonna lie. It sucked."

I looked up at him and smiled. "I bet it did."

He kissed me quickly and then pulled me close again. "Over the next ten years or so, I was shuffled around from one shithole to another and then when I was eighteen, I aged out."

"That's awful."

He shrugged. "It is what it is."

"Where's your sister now?"

"She married a doctor I think."

"You don't keep in touch?" I asked.

"No."

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

He kissed my temple and gave me another gentle squeeze. "When I was nineteen, my foster sister Annie called me... she'd been in the last place before I aged out and she was in trouble. She was drunk and some guy was smackin' her around, so I got her out and took her home. What I found out later was that our foster father had been molesting her and child protective services did nothing about it."

I gasped and turned to face him. "What do you mean? Did she report it?"

Austin nodded.

"Officially?" I pressed.

"Yeah, babe. Officially. They buried it." He frowned. "Or they tried to. I found it."

"You found it? How?"

He scowled. "I hacked into their system and found the report. It landed me in jail."

I gasped again. "You went to jail because you hacked CPS's system?"

"No, I went to jail because I beat the shit out of our foster dad. Put him in the hospital and wasn't street smart enough yet not to get caught. Jail is where I met Crow and he's the one who gave me a purpose."

"Crow?"

"He's our Prez."

I shook my head. "I'm assuming that's not his real name?"

"It's his legal name. Crow Butler."

"Shut up."

He grinned.

"So, Crow gave you purpose. How?"

"He bailed me out, gave me a family," he said. "Became the father I never had. I owe him everything. And he needed a little help protecting the club from an ex-member who had computer skills as good as mine. Better, even. But in answer to your original question, I don't speak like a thug because I have to work with highly educated people on a regular basis, so Crow made sure that I could converse with them properly. I'm "Booker" because, not only did I used to have my nose in a book most of the time, I do the club's books."

"Wow." I dragged my legs in front of me, criss-cross style, and leaned forward to study him. "What happened to your foster dad?"

"He was arrested once the evidence was released and several other girls came forward. He was an asshole, but I could deal with that, I was sixteen when I went to live with him, and other than verbal abuse, he never touched me. He probably knew I'd kill him if he did. But I wish I'd known about Annie before I left. I could have protected her."

"Where is she now?"

"She's an old lady to one of our California charter's members. She's protected."

I settled my chin in my hand. "How does the old lady thing work?"

"Lookin' to be one?"

"Ah, no, I don't think so." I wrinkled my nose and sat up a bit. "It's a horrible title."

Austin dropped his head back and laughed. "It's a title of honor, babe."

"How is calling a woman 'old' a title of honor?"

He tugged on my hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing my palm. "It just is."

I shrugged. "If you say so."

He released my hand and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "Yo," he said as he answered it.

So much for my "doesn't talk like a thug" theory.

"Yeah I'm here." Austin glanced at me and then frowned. "Shit, are you serious? Tell the little fucker it's not gonna happen. No, Mack, it's not a fuckin' option." He rose to his feet and stepped outside. I was left sitting on my couch in the same position I'd been in for the last fifteen minutes and wondering what the heck was going on.