Page 24 of Rodeo (Marked Skulls MC 2)
“She is Fred’s daughter?” he asked, in a deep guttural growl.
Lila squealed and went rushing towards Jordan, throwing her arms around her neck and pulling her close in for a hug.
“Oh my God, Jordan…I’m so happy that we’ve met!” Lila was gasping as the two women hugged.
“I still don’t fucking understand,” Lewis mumbled.
“Jordan didn’t know. Fred was missing from her life. He didn’t want Sarah or Jordan to get tangled up in his debt with the Hell’s Drifters. If they found out that he had a wife, and a daughter…” I said, but Abe had cut me off.
“They’d use the two of them as leverage against Fred,” he said, in a ghostly quiet voice. I nodded my head.
“He gave up his family because he didn’t want to put their lives in danger,” I added.
“What was he doing outside Jordan’s apartment building?” Lewis asked.
It was Lila who had connected the dots now. She pulled herself away from Jordan and smiled at the woman I was falling for.
“He was coming to see her. He wanted to meet his daughter before the Hell’s Drifters got to him. He knew that the end was near and he didn’t want to die without seeing his daughter. Maybe he wasn’t even going to go to her door. Maybe he just wanted to see where she lived,” Lila said, in a breaking shaky voice and then she broke down again.
Girth came up to them and pulled his girl into his arms. Lila was sobbing, she couldn’t get over how sad Fred’s last moments on this Earth were. That he had died with the knowledge that his long-lost daughter had seen him getting shot.
Lewis had been silent all this while. I heard him taking in a deep breath, before he stepped in Jordan’s direction.
“I want you to know that you will always have the Marked Skulls’ protection. I will use every man in my Club if that is what it takes to keep you safe. Fred was like a brother to me, and I’m going to protect his daughter,” Lewis said, and Jordan stared back at him firmly and then nodded her head.
“Thank you, that is the next best thing to getting to know my father,” she replied, and I felt relieved as I watched Lewis hug her tight.
Chapter 20
Jordan
Girth had dropped Lila and me over to my apartment, and then he left to join Rodeo and Abe.
“What do you think is going to happen today?” I asked Lila, as I made mugs of coffee for us. Lila rubbed her thighs with her hands as she sat on the couch. She looked a little nervous even though she was putting up a brave front.
“I’m not sure. The boys aren’t telling me much about their plan, which means that it’s something that I won’t like,” she said, as I brought the mugs over to her. I sat down beside her on the couch, and I had a sudden vision of the way Rodeo had held me that morning—with his tongue between my legs, making me come violently. My pussy throbbed just from the memory of that moment when my orgasm took over my body.
“What do you think that means?” I asked, sipping some of the coffee. I noticed that Lila was refusing to meet my eyes. I could sense that she was worried, and I had never seen her worried before.
“It basically means that they’re going to do whatever it takes to get that man,” she replied, and our eyes finally met, and she looked away from me. I forcibly gulped the coffee down my throat. I didn’t want to imagine what ‘whatever it takes’ meant. As much as I wanted my father’s killer dead, I also didn’t want Rodeo to be hurt.
“Do you think they’ll be safe?” I asked in a weak voice. Lila looked up from her coffee mug and then forced a smile on her face. She reached for my hand and clasped it tightly.
“Whatever happens, I’ve learnt not to worry. I’ve spent most of my life worrying for my father’s safety, but I don’t want to do that with Girth. I trust him to be safe, to do the right thing. No matter what happens, I will always be proud of him and I won’t ever fall in love with any other man. Nobody will even come close,” Lila replied.
My throat had gone dry. I couldn’t imagine living a life like that, where the man you were in love with; lived on the edge. When you could never be sure if he would return home to you. It was exactly the life that my father had tried to shield my mother and me from. But what had that done to mom? Now I knew exactly why mom had been depressed…she was always in love with Fred. She couldn’t lead a life by herself. No matter how dangerous her life might have been if she stayed with him, it would have made her happy if they were together.
I smiled weakly at Lila. I understood her better now. I understood what it took to be in love with a man like Girth…or Rodeo.
“I can see that you’re worried for him,” she broke the silence and Lila had a twinkle in her eye. My cheeks flushed and I dragged my gaze away from her.
I nodded my head, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
“I can’t help it. I can’t help how I feel anymore…I know it sounds silly. We don’t even know each other…” I was fumbling with my words. The concept was still completely complicated in my head. Lila squeezed my hand again, she was smiling.
“It isn’t silly. I told you; that’s what happened with Girth and me. One minute I was happy with my life, I couldn’t wait to leave home and move to New York and build a new life for myself, and the next minute—I couldn’t imagine living my life without Girth. He had completely rocked my world and I’m so glad that he did,” Lila’s words were a relief. It was like she understood me, and didn’t judge me for my sudden feelings for Rodeo. She knew what it was like to fall for a man like him.
“And you are Fred’s daughter. Do you have any idea what that means to Rodeo, to me—to all of us?” Lila was smiling again.
“I know they were very close. Rodeo was telling me stories about him, and I enjoyed listening to them. I would have loved to get to know him,” I said, and I could feel the tip of my nose beginning to turn red.
“I wish that too, but I’m glad that you found your way into our lives anyway. You have no idea how happy it makes me that Fred’s daughter is my friend now,” Lila said. I felt pinpricks on the back of my neck. I felt happy that she thought of me as a friend, because I loved having her around.
We were smiling at each other again.
I bit down on my lip when I remembered what I’d said to Rodeo earlier.
“I told Rodeo that I wanted the killer dead. I’m worried that he’s out there, putting his own life and Girth and Abe’s at risk because of what I said,” I told Lila and she shook her head.
“He was going to do it anyway. I saw the look in his eyes when he first found out that Fred had been shot. He was going to get the man whether he met you or not. Maybe now he’s more determined but nothing was going to stop him anyway,” Lila said and I gulped.
“I can’t believe that I ordered him to kill the man,” I said squeakily and Lila pursed her lips together.
“He was going to kill you. If Rodeo doesn’t get to him first, he’s going to find an opportunity to get to you. He’s not just going to let you live because Rodeo saved you from him once,” Lila said and I could feel a cry rising up my throat. How could I forget that I had nearly died the previous night?
“But how is killing the shooter going to solve that? Aren’t they still going to come after me?” I asked and Lila had a soft smile on her face, like she knew something that I didn’t.
“The Hell’s Drifters won’t care about you as a witness once the shooter is dead. He is the one you can lawfully identify to the cops. There is no way to prove that he had anything to do with the MC, that Fred’s death was connected to the Hell’s Drifters. They’re only trying to get to you now because the shooter is still alive,” Lila said. She knew what she was talking about. She had spent her entire life around Motorcycle Clubs and I nodded my head. I understood what she was saying. Killing the shooter would serve two purposes—it would avenge the death of my father, and also eliminate the reason for Hell’s Drifters to come after me.
“I just want them to be safe,” I told her and Lila smiled.
r /> “Rodeo is going to come back to you, just like I know Girth is going to come back to me tonight,” she said, but I couldn’t stop worrying. I wanted to see him again. I needed to feel his arms around me. There was no other way I could feel safe unless Rodeo was there with me. I knew that Lila could see that in my eyes.
“Go on, Jordan, say it…you need to say it out loud,” she urged me. Her friendly face and her comforting presence; pushed me towards the inevitable. I needed to first admit it to myself, before I could admit it to him. If he even wanted to hear it, if this was something he even wanted.
With my cheeks flushed and my neck hot, I looked Lila in the eye and parted my lips to speak.
“I have feelings for Rodeo. I’m falling for him,” I said and Lila squealed with excitement and clapped her hands.
Within seconds, we were hugging again.
“I don’t care how hard Rodeo fights this, I know the truth. I know he feels exactly the same for you!” she exclaimed excitably.
I laughed as I hugged her back.
“It’s going to take more than just your seal of approval!” I retorted and Lila laughed.
“He’s going to come around. It’s not going to take him long to realize that he’d be a fool to allow a woman like you to escape. He’s learnt his lesson from Fred,” she said, tilting her head to the side. There was warmth and confidence in Lila’s eyes which made me hopeful for my future with Rodeo.
All I could do now was hope for his safe return, hope that he accomplished his mission and that we could move on with our lives, together. I couldn’t wait.
Chapter 21
Rodeo
Abe and Girth joined me outside the Hell’s Drifters bar again. I had been staking out the place for the past hour when they arrived.
This wasn’t the ideal situation—it was going to be the three of us against every Hell’s Drifters member who was inside the bar. I hadn’t seen the killer yet, but my gut told me that he would turn up.
It was getting dark now, and the three of us stood at a distance from the bar, where we had a direct view of the parking lot and the door.
