Two

I’M GONNA FIX THIS

RED FLAGS OF COLOR STREAKED ACROSS the sky, chasing away the ghosts that seemed to strangle me with their invisible hands. I took a deep breath to pull air into my lungs, hoping to clear my head while Cali and Sienna stood close by watching me.

“What happens now?” Sienna asked. I glanced at her and saw a line of uncertainty and concern masking her features.

“I don’t have a clue,” I admitted. “My whole life is a lie. Where do I even start?”

“One minute at a time,” Cali said with authority. “You take each day from here on out, one minute at a time until you’re on firmer footin’.” I considered her advice, nodding in agreement. She, of course, knew better than anyone how to get through heartbreak. She’d lost both her parents and her brother in a car accident when she was only a little girl.

Sienna wrapped an arm around me, and it hit me again that I had a sister. One I already loved and trusted. The knot in my chest, the one that seemed to choke me with each breath, eased briefly. I wasn’t alone in the world anymore.

“One minute at a time,” I repeated.

“You sure you’re okay to drive in your—” Cali began, but her voice trailed off, looking at something over my shoulder. I turned to make sure my father wasn’t trying to follow me. Thankfully he wasn’t, but Nate was heading straight for us. For me, it seemed, if the determination in his eyes was anything to go by.

My heart tripped a beat at all that alpha male manliness bearing down on me. His size never ceased to give me pause. Taller than Devin and Bo, he easily stood six and a half feet tall. His muscles were well-defined, but not overly bulky like a bodybuilder, and coupled with his shoulder-length dark hair and dark eyes, the whole package screamed sex. Sex and strength. Everything about him said he could protect himself. Could defend anyone he cared about, and a secret part of me wanted to be the woman all that focus was directed at. But my practical side knew I was too emotionally screwed up for any man, especially one like Nate. Someone who’d overcome a life of poverty to make something of himself. A man who was confident, secure in himself—unlike me. I was too scarred from my childhood to maintain any type of relationship with a man. He’d see the real me if he got too close. Know I wasn’t worth the trouble. I was insecure on a good day and just this side of crazy on a bad day. And men didn’t like crazy. He’d figure out what a pain in the patootie I was. That I was an Ice Princess just like Blake had said. Then he’d head straight for the hills, leaving me broken once again.

My head tilted back when he stopped in front of me. He was more than a foot taller than me in my bare feet. Just another reason I should let go of any fantasy where he was concerned. I’d get a crick in my neck, looking up at him all the time. He needed an Amazon woman who could stand eye to chin with him, instead of eye to sternum. Talk about an odd couple.

“Baby . . .” That name. The tone of his deep voice, whispering it like I meant something to him, would be my undoing.

“What?” The question came out breathless, announcing how much his closeness and that endearment affected me. My shields were down from all the garbage swirling around me. I needed time alone to sort through my life so I could build my walls back up. As it stood now, he’d see right inside me to the very depths of my soul.

Quick as lightning, Nate raised both hands to my face and leaned his forehead against mine. I was so stunned—I didn’t move. Didn’t dare breathe out of fear all my secrets would spill from my mouth.

“I’m gonna fix this.” His vow was angry, resolute.

I blinked. “Fix what?”

He stroked the apple of my cheek, his attention following his thumb as it slid across my skin, then his eyes came back to mine and they softened. I tried to swallow my reaction. Having Nate this close was deadly.

“Fix what your father broke,” he whispered, his focus dropping to my mouth.

Unconsciously my hands came up and wrapped around his wrists, steadying me where I stood. Tears began to pool in my eyes. I hadn’t hidden quickly enough. He could see my soul; knew I was shattered into a million pieces.

“Why?” I finally found my voice, though it trembled with the loss of control my life had taken. “Why do you need to fix it?”

I had no time to react. No time to prepare for his answer, to build up walls to protect myself before his mouth slammed over mine.

Instinct kicked in when faced with the unimaginable, so instead of pushing Nate away to guard my heart, I opened automatically to the assault on my mouth and drank in his strength. Nate kissed like he lived each day of his life. Possessively. Dominantly. Thoroughly in control. And the scared child who lived inside me, who’d cowered in the dark when she heard the dragon approach her bedroom door, welcomed handing over the reins.

When he fisted my hair and tugged my head to the side, so he could deepen the kiss, I let him. When his steel-like arm wrapped around my back and held me close to his hard body, I melted into it and drowned in the feeling of being safe for once. If I could have burrowed under his skin so he’d always protect me, I would have done so. I was exhausted. Tired of putting on a brave face. Defeated by my circumstances.

As quickly as he’d kissed me, Nate ripped his mouth away and placed his forehead back on mine. “Now do you get why? Because you’re mine, and I take care of what’s mine.”

My head shook rapidly in response. I couldn’t let him in. Couldn’t risk having him in my life, only to lose him when he found out how messed up I was. “I’m not yours.”

His eyes flashed with anger, the brown deepening to almost black with his mood. “You’re mine, and you fuckin’ know it. If you try fightin’ this, I’ll just wear you down until I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”

I couldn’t help myself; curiosity killed the cat and all. “And where’s that exactly?”

Straight-faced and bold as you please, he stated, “Watchin’ my cock fill this luscious body, all while makin’ sure you feel cherished and protected,” before running his hand to my ass and squeezing once to make his point.

Cali and Sienna both gasped in unison, then one of them whispered, “That’s so stinkin’ hot.”

“Oh, yeah, very Feral Sins by Suzanne Wright,” the other replied.

Leave it to a Wallflower to come up with a book reference when my life was falling apart. God, I loved those women.

“You’ve obviously confused me with someone who cares what you want,” was all my stupefied brain could come up with on short notice, such was my reaction to his lust-inducing words. How many times had I read the same thing in a romance novel? Then drooled over the wicked-tongued hero, wishing a man would sweep me off my feet and utter those same naughty, dirty words to me. Make me feel warm between my legs instead of cold as ice?

The hand at my ass cupped me harder, bringing my attention back to the matter at hand. “Knowin’ exactly what I’ve wanted, exactly what you’ve wanted since you stuck your finger in my face and slurred dilligaf, is not confusion. It’s a fuckin’ fact.”

“Again, you’re wrong, Nate. I was drunk. Hence, you don’t affect me at all.”

I tried to wipe my face clean of the lust that surely shined through. I went for indifference. Boredom. But it ended up making him smile. Gah, I had to work on my resting b-face!

“You know I’m right.” Nate smiled, and it hit me directly in the chest. The dang man was potent with charm when he put his mind to it. Or when he entered a room. Or, say, sneezed.

“Kitten?” Nate gave me a tiny squeeze to capture my wandering attention.

That was the third time he’d called me Kitten. I couldn’t handle that endearment any more than I could handle baby. It felt like we had a future together when I knew better.

“Stop callin’ me Kitten.” He pulled me closer and cupped my cheek, running his thumb across my skin again. It felt nice, dang him!

“Fiery attitude. Hisses at anyone who dares come too close. Skin so soft I want to run my hands all over your body until you’re moanin’ my name . . . You’re my Kitten.”

Oh. My. God.

How do I protect myself from a full-frontal attack like this? Kick him? Declare myself insane and spend the rest of my days in a mental asylum? Tempting, but no! The easiest way to protect myself was to disappear until all my problems went away! A few years should work. I could disguise myself. Buy one of those huge U-Haul boxes and set up house near the river with the vagrants. Maybe learn how to panhandle! I wonder if they have a big enough box for my books?

His hand curled around my throat, just under my chin, and he tipped my head back as I was deciding which books I couldn’t live without. “You keep fightin’ me, it’ll just delay the inevitable.”

I recognized the determination in his jaw. Knew he wouldn’t let this drop until I gave in, and I needed time to come up with a plan, because I wasn’t sure I could live on the streets without all my books.

“Fine, you win,” I mumbled, hoping he’d let it drop so I could sneak away. A few days without me in his presence might give him time to realize the error of his ways. He was feeling protective because of what happened with my father. I didn’t need a box just yet, all I needed to do was pull myself together and prove I was fine. He’d let me walk away without a fight, once he realized I didn’t need rescuing.

Nate smiled down at me, pleased with my acquiescence. It was a devilish, body-shivering smile. A smile that could melt your bones and chase away any lingering doubts you had about a man’s intention.

After a full-body shiver, the first I ever remember having, Nate leaned down the foot it took to reach my mouth and capture my lips again. “Good girl,” he praised, rewarding me for not fighting him. “Give me a minute, then we’ll leave. I have a few things to say to your father.”

I nodded instead of arguing with him about speaking with my father. I didn’t want Nate anywhere near him, didn’t want him to see how screwed up my family was, but it was only a matter of time before he figured that out, so I let him. At least with him inside the house I could escape.

He kissed my forehead, lingering there a beat longer than was necessary, before turning on his heel and walking back inside the house. It was the sweetest kiss I’d ever had. A kiss that spoke of tenderness and comfort. The type of kiss that would be my undoing if I didn’t get the hell out of there immediately.

The minute he closed the door behind him, I spun around and ran to my car, tears flowing freely for yet another loss. My fantasies about Nate were just that: dreams that weren’t supposed to come true, only keep the loneliness at bay. Yet, for the first time in my life, after being wrapped in Nate’s arms, I knew for a fact that reality beat out any dream. And I desperately wanted it. Wanted it more than the air I breathed, but he’d see all my broken parts, see how messed up I was, and figure out I wasn’t salvageable.

“Wait,” Sienna called out. “Where are you goin’?”

I climbed into my car and tried to start it, but my hand shook too much. “I can’t do this. I can’t do any of this,” I cried out through the open window. “I’ve got three days of vacation left, and I’m takin’ them away from here.”

My door opened with a jerk, and Cali started shoving at me to scoot over into the passenger seat. “Rule number one, Poppy. Never leave a Wallflower behind,” she stated. “So move over, we’re comin’ with you, whether you want us to or not.”

Sienna jumped into the back of my car, slamming the door shut. It was like déjà vu. It had only been a week since our fast and furious chase from a criminal through Savannah. Except for this time, Nate was the bad guy trying to steal my heart, and I couldn’t let him have it.

“Go, go, go,” I begged. “Before Nate figures out I’m leavin’.”

Cali shot me a strange look. “Why are you runnin’ from Nate? I doubt he’d hurt you like that jerk Blake did.”

No, he wouldn’t hurt me, he’d destroy me when he tried to leave.

“I can’t think about that right now. I need time alone to sort out my life,” I whined like a twelve-year-old who’d been grounded from her phone. “Just drop me off someplace I can’t be found. Like the library or somethin’.”

Sienna snorted as she sent a text, no doubt to Bo. “That’d be the first place I’d look. Besides, you need to have it out with Nate, not run away. Let’s just head to the bar. A couple of drinks will calm your nerves.”

“Explain why you want to be alone?” Cali questioned, driving like a mad woman with a purpose, God bless her. “I learned the hard way that the worst thing you can do is bottle up everything you’re feelin’.”

The list was so long my head began to hurt. I couldn’t pin down a single thought to explain how messed up I was, so it all came rushing out in a wail of sound that would horrify any self-respecting Wallflower. “My mother’s dead. My grandfather killed her. The woman who raised me is my aunt. My father chose revenge over me, leavin’ me alone to fend off creepy old guys. And Nate will walk away the moment he realizes what a complete flake I am. So just drive, all right? I need time to figure out how to handle all the shite swirlin’ around me before I lose my mind and do somethin’ stupid like jump into bed with him.”

Cali glanced at me with an odd look. “Did you just say shite?”

“It sounds less offensive than the other, and I’m in no mood to watch my language.”

Sienna’s phone buzzed in her hand. I looked between them, begging with my eyes for them to understand. To not turn me over to Nate before I had time to pull myself together. Sienna pulled her wide, shell-shocked eyes from mine to look at the screen. “It’s Bo. I told him we’re goin’ to the bar.”

“I’m not goin’ to the bar where Nate will be, are you nuts?”

My constant and irritating companion—called anxiety and in some cases panic—was my only excuse for what I did next. I knew I’d have a full-blown panic attack if I didn’t gain some semblance of control, so I reached over the seat and grabbed her phone. Then I threw it out the window. Into the Savannah River.

Cali gasped, her eyes widening at my open window. We both looked at her phone sitting on the seat and lunged for it. I was quicker than she was and threw it out the window before she could pull off the road and stop me. It landed with a splash along with Sienna’s in the marsh waters near the river’s edge.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sienna asked very cautiously.

“You’re both mated to Neanderthal lawmen who can trace a phone with their eyes closed. They’ll find us.” My phone buzzed in my back pocket, so I pulled it out. It was Nate. Just like the other two phones, I threw it in the water. It hit with a satisfying plop.

Cali’s face softened in response. “You’re that freaked out about Nate findin’ you?”

I shook my head, but tears began to fall again, evidence of my unspoken lie. “I just need a minute to catch my breath.”

Cali looked over her shoulder at Sienna. “Are you okay with radio silence?”

Sienna didn’t hesitate to answer. “If Poppy needs us, then they’ll just have to deal. Besides, I wouldn’t want a man who can’t understand your friends and family sometimes need you more than they do for a short time.”

A knot formed in my throat then burned its way into my chest, warming me from the inside out. Once again it hit me; I wasn’t alone in the world anymore. I had a sister.

I looked at Cali and saw love and acceptance shining in her eyes as well. I had two sisters, if truth be told.

“Then I guess we’re headed to Tybee Island for a few days of fun, sun, and no men,” Cali announced. “Family means everything to me, and you’re both an honorary Armstrong now. Devin will just have to understand.”

I reached out both my hands, grabbing one of Cali’s and one Sienna’s over the seat. These women meant the world to me.

“You’re sisters of my heart, and my blood,” I announced. “I love you more than words can express.”

Cali’s lips trembled slightly. “Wallflowers forever.”

“’Til death do us part,” Sienna finished, holding up a bottle of green magic fairy potion.

My eyes widened. “Do you carry that with you everywhere?”

“For medicinal purposes, of course,” Cali snorted, then put the car in drive.

“We should call the guys from that gas station up ahead and let them know they won’t be able to reach us,” Sienna said, pointing up the road at a Quick Stop.

Cali nodded and hooked a right at the next corner, pulling in. “We need gas anyway.”

“What about clothes?” Sienna asked.

“I have a full closet at the cottage. We’re all set, except food.”

Climbing out of the car, I popped the lid on my gas tank and grabbed a hose. Cali swiped her card at the pump, and it hit me there were more ways than one to track someone. “We can’t use our cards once we leave town or they’ll find us.”

Cali looked at her card and nodded. “Good catch, I’d never have thought of that.”

“Karen Rose novels are a wealth of information.”

“I love her,” Sienna threw out. “She definitely does her research before writing a book. I just finished the Phoenix Pack Series by Suzanne Wright, if knowin’ about wolf shifters helps us in any way.”

Now I knew who’d whispered about Nate sounding like Trey from Feral Sins.

“You know,” she went on, “Nate reminds me a lot of the shifters in those books. Once they made their minds up about a mate, there was no stoppin’ them.”

“Good thing books aren’t based in reality then,” I mumbled, trying to ignore the spark of excitement her words caused, then turned to hit the gas station for provisions. It was only a twenty-minute drive to Tybee Island without traffic, but no self-respecting road trip was complete without beef jerky. Or gummy bears. Oh! Pork rinds.

As I exited the store with my provisions, I heard the rumble of familiar pipes heading our direction and dashed to the car. “Get in, Nate’s comin’ this way.”

The girls climbed in quickly, and Cali started the car. “How do you know it’s Nate?”

“His bike makes a distinctive noise when he guns it. I heard him drive down the street early this morning. And one time in the middle of the night.”

A car pulled up to the pump across from us, blocking our view of the street and us from Nate. A few seconds later, just as I knew he would, Nate blew past on his Harley, followed by Devin and Bo in his truck. A moment after that, my father drove by on his Harley. None of them looked our direction as they cruised by, so I released my breath in a whoosh.

“Drive to the other side of town before callin’ Bo or Devin. That way if they trace the call, they’ll think we’re headed up to Charleston or somethin’.”

Cali snorted in amusement, then put the car in drive. “You should work for Devin. You’re as paranoid as he is.”

“I’m desperate, not paranoid.”

“Poppy?” Sienna called out. I turned in my seat and looked at her. Her brows were pulled low in a frown, and she was working her lips between her teeth. “What did you mean by fending off creepy old guys?”

I jerked around to hide my reaction. I hadn’t meant to say that when I’d lost control. Didn’t want anyone to know about the dragon in the dark. “Nothin’. I don’t remember what I said.”

I caught the look Cali threw my direction, but I ignored her. “Go to that gas station a few blocks from the SCAD dormitory on Oglethorpe. That’s far enough away from where we’re headed and close to the on-ramp for the Talmadge Memorial Bridge. That should throw them off our trail.”

Cali did as I asked, then went inside the station to phone Devin when we arrived. I nibbled at my thumbnail as I waited. The sooner we got the heck out of Dodge, the sooner I’d be able to relax. All my problems lay within Savannah’s city limits. I needed distance so I could breathe again.

“Poppy?” I jumped. I’d forgotten about Sienna.

“Yeah?”

“Bein’ sisters means we can tell each other anything.”

I turned my head slightly but didn’t look at her. “I know.”

“I hope you do,” she whispered. “’Cause I loved you before today, but learnin’ who we are to each other makes that love deeper than before. Bein’ your older sister, I want you to know if I’d been there growin’ up, there wouldn’t have been any creepy old guys botherin’ you. I would have kicked their behinds for you.”

My eyes closed, as did my throat, then I reached behind my seat and opened my hand. She grabbed it, and I squeezed until I could speak. “I’m glad you weren’t there.” Her hand jerked, no doubt assuming I was rejecting her. “I’m glad you weren’t there so they couldn’t find you.”

Sienna’s breath hitched. “Poppy . . .”

I needed to distract her from the current topic. I also needed to take her pulse on the whole Dad situation. I wasn’t the only one who was thrown for a loop today. Maybe if I focused on someone besides myself, we could both come out of this with our heads still intact. “How are you holdin’ up? Findin’ out about Knox must have thrown you as well.”

There was a long pause, then she sighed. “I won’t lie and say findin’ out he’d known about me for a year, and failed to reach out, didn’t sting a little. But what should I have expected after what he did to you? I guess, like you, I need time to sort out my feelin’s before I sit down with him and move forward.”

“So, you’re plannin’ to talk to him?” I wasn’t exactly shocked by that.

I received another pregnant pause. “Aren’t you?”

I pulled my hand from hers, looked down at my fingers, and began to pick at a cuticle. I shouldn’t be jealous that she intended to speak to our father. I couldn’t talk to him yet, because every time I looked at him, the pain came racing back. I needed a break from the heartache before I even considered speaking with him. “I haven’t decided. But if I do, it’s only to find out more about my mother. I’m finished with him as my father.”

“We could do it together. Maybe have lunch or dinner with him.”

I pressed my lips tightly together to keep from answering. Right now, all I could focus on was leaving town. I needed a vacation away from my vacation, one that was turning into Poppy’s Not So Excellent Adventures. The whole week had been ridonculous. Eff’d up. Craptastically bad. Wallflowers tried to avoid swearing, if at all possible. Especially the big guns. But I had a bad feeling I’d be breaking that code soon if I didn’t get a handle on my life.

I leaned my head back and sighed, ignoring her question. “It’s probably a good thing we took my car,” I stated. “I have a feelin’ Devin’s probably hooked one of those GPS doohickeys to Cali’s car, so he can find her.”

Sienna giggled. “Cali said he’s got tons of equipment. Even listenin’ devices that look like earbuds, so it wouldn’t surprise me. He still hasn’t recovered from her bein’ kidnapped. I bet anyone she’s close to probably . . .”

Both our eyes grew round, and we jumped out of the car. I dropped to my knees and looked underneath the passenger side. “You see anything?”

“Not on this side.”

We both looked at the hood. Sienna opened the driver’s door and popped the hatch. Together we lifted the hood and peered inside at the engine.

“If we had a phone we could Google what they look like,” Sienna said a little sarcastically.

A motorcycle pulled up to one of the pumps, carrying a guy who looked way out of place on the machine. I pegged him for a biker wannabe, some accountant who thought if you put on a leather jacket and straddled a Harley it made you a one-percenter like the Sons of Anarchy. “I bet he’s got a phone we could use.”

Sienna turned her head and sized him up. “Piece of cake,” she mumbled, then straightened her shoulders and sauntered over to him like any proper Southern belle knew how to do. When the man looked up at her, she flipped her hair and tilted her head, smiling the dang smile that reminded me of my father. The man’s eyes instantly grew warm while she spoke. Two seconds later, she had his phone in her hand and she was walking toward me.

“You’re good,” I whispered.

“You don’t have a former beauty queen for a mother and not learn a thing or two.”

She pulled up his Internet and Googled tracking devices. We scanned through the pictures then looked at the engine again. Nothing.

“What about the wheel wells?” Sienna questioned. “Seems like that’s an easy place to hide one without it bein’ seen.”

I shrugged and began searching each well. On the third one, my hand grazed over something small and hard. I yanked, and it dislodged. A small, gray square of plastic with sticky tape attached to the back, lay in my hand when I looked down.

Devin had to be stopped or taught a lesson.

Cali exited the gas station, breaking off my inspection of the apparent tracking device. I observed her carefully, trying to read her expression. She looked pissed, which surprised me. Where Devin was concerned, she usually glowed.

“What?” I asked when she walked up.

She stopped and raised a single brow. “Did you know it’s a miracle I survived twenty-seven long years without anyone needin’ to save me from myself?”

“He said that?” Sienna asked.

“He said, and I quote, ‘You need to come home right effin’ now, or we’ll be draggin’ the Savannah River by the mornin’ for your bodies.’”

I snorted. “You chose to hook up with a macho man-slash-former cop-slash-PI.”

I held up the GPS tracker to prove my point, and she narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”

“GPS tracker I found on my car.”

“He wouldn’t,” she whispered, then she closed her eyes and shook her head. “He would. That man needs to be taught a lesson.”

I snickered. “I had the same thought.” I looked over my shoulder at the man waiting patiently for his phone. “Oh, Sister . . . think you can swing your hips well enough to plant this GPS on his bike?”

Sienna’s face turned speculative, then brightened as she held out her hand. “Does a creek rise?”

I handed her the tracking device. “Make me proud.”

She flashed me a grin then turned on her flip-flop and sauntered, yet again, toward the motorcycle man. The sway of her hips was a thing of beauty.

“She’s good,” Cali chuckled.

“Oh yeah, it’ll be easier than takin’ candy from a baby.”

We both cringed when she dropped his phone on purpose. Lordy, I hopped the screen didn’t crack. When the man bent to retrieve it, Sienna slid her hand along his back fender and pressed hard, so the sticky tape would grab hold. Except she pressed too hard and the bike started to tilt off its kickstand. She pulled it back as the man stood, narrowly avoiding a whopping lawsuit in the pursuit of teaching Devin a lesson in trust.

Sienna waved at the man as she walked away. His eyes turned soft again before he climbed on his bike and awkwardly started it. I held my breath as he eased into traffic, smiling with satisfaction when he jumped onto the on-ramp for the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, which would take him across state lines and into South Carolina.

“If we’re lucky, he’ll keep on goin’ all the way to New York instead of Hilton Head,” Cali bit out, clearly still pissed at Devin.

“Devin said we’d be dead by mornin’, huh?”

“Yep. Arrogant man that he is.”

“What was your reply?” Sienna asked.

“I told him I’d take that bet and raise him three days on our own without nary a scratch.”

“What’d he say then?” I inquired.

She shrugged. “I hung up when I heard him bellow my name.”

Oh boy. Bellowing wasn’t good.

“I guess I’ll go call Bo,” Sienna sighed, then slid around us and headed inside the gas station.

I watched her enter, then turned to Cali, feeling a tad guilty about all the fuss I was causing. “I don’t want you riskin’ your relationship if you’re uneasy about leavin’ with me. I’ll be fine on my own.”

Cali pulled out her sunglasses and began cleaning them, her face still a mask of irritation. “You know Bernice says that men need to be put in their place from time to time. That if you don’t, they’ll ride roughshod over you and think they can dictate to you all your life. I think this is the perfect opportunity to train Devin before he gets too cocky, thinkin’ he can dictate to me our whole lives. Besides that, there is nothin’ dangerous about spendin’ a few days on Tybee Island, catchin’ some rays and drinkin’ beer.”

I raised a hand to stop her before she got on a roll. “In his defense, we don’t exactly have the best record for stayin’ out of trouble the past few weeks.”

She slid her sunglasses onto her face and sniffed. “Wallflowers have each other’s backs with either friend or foe. That means if you can’t agree with me, then you must be supportive in my anger. It’s Wallflower code.”

I rolled my eyes. Somebody needed to give me this codebook already. “You’re absolutely right. He shouldn’t have implied we can’t take care of ourselves,” I conceded. “Bless his arrogant heart.”

She pushed down her glasses and looked at me over the top of them, raising a brow as she studied me for a moment. “Quite right,” she finally agreed, then leaned in through the driver’s window and laid on the horn, hollering, “Daylight’s burnin’, Sienna, get the lead out or we’ll miss the sun settin’ on the water.” It was then I realized, Cali was quite scary when she wanted to be.

_______________

Nate pulled three beers from a cooler at Jacobs’ Ladder, the bar he’d built from the ground up with his own blood, sweat, and ambition. He had the beginning of a headache, caused in part by lack of sleep, and in part by his missing Wallflower. He should have known better than to believe Poppy would give up the ghost that easily. She’d been avoiding him since day one, an avoidance that hadn’t set well, but one he’d allowed since he’d feared what would happen if he gave in to his desires. But he was done avoiding what he wanted. He planned to bury his past with a woman who made his skin burn with need and his cock hard when she turned her smile his direction.

Poppy had fascinated him from word one when her eyes had sparked with anger at the very sight of him. She’d called him ‘one of those men who promised forever but didn’t mean it.’ Now he knew where the hatred came from. He would prove to her, in no uncertain terms, there were still men who were as good as their word. Men who committed to a woman so fully, she’d never be left wanting. Or have a desire to look elsewhere. Nate was one of those men. A man of his word. One who’d never back down from a fight, once he made his mind up. And he’d fight dirty if he needed to. Fight until Poppy was precisely where she belonged: by his side and in his bed where he could heal her scars, until her past was a distant memory.

Nate watched Devin escape into his office with his cell plastered to his ear and fire in his eyes. Calla had finally called, and Devin was fighting mad. They all were. They needed to find the wayward women and lock them down before they did something stupid.

Placing the beers on the table in front of Strawn, Nate turned to watch Poppy’s father across the bar while he waited for Devin to get off the phone. Knox had followed Nate when they’d realized the Wallflowers had flown the coop, still wanting to smooth things over with his daughters. He would have refused Knox entrance to his bar, if Poppy and Sienna had come back like said they would. Since they’d pulled a disappearing act, he didn’t have to worry. He’d only allowed Knox inside for one reason: to pry information out of him like he’d intended before the girls took flight.

Knox had spent the last twenty-four years hiding Poppy to keep her safe, and Nate needed to know if the threat had been neutralized once and for all, or if he needed to stay vigilant with his woman. Which was another reason they needed to hit the road and wrangle the Wallflowers up quickly. Whenever their emotions ran high, trouble seemed to find them. Chaos, catastrophe, whatever the fuck you wanted to call it seemed to have a hard-on for all three of the women when they were in that state. After that scene today, their emotions were off the charts.

His Aunt Martine finished taking Knox’s order, while Nate scrutinized the man. Nate rolled his eyes as she threw back her head and laughed at something Knox had said. His aunt could flirt better than a cheerleader in a locker room full of football players, but thankfully, she was hell on wheels when it came to Jacobs’ Ladder. His aunt had waltzed in from Glasgow, Scotland, less than a week ago, and taken over as his general manager after leaving a bad marriage. For the first time since he’d opened his doors, Nate finally had time to breathe and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Once Martine had left Knox’s table, Nate headed his direction and pulled up a chair, sinking into it before crossing his arms.

“You said you stayed clear of Poppy to keep her safe,” Nate growled. “I’m assumin’ since you’re here now, the threat has been neutralized?”

Knox stared blankly at Nate, assessing him before leaning into his forearm resting on the table. “You think I’d give up bein’ in my daughter’s life all these years, just to bring the threat to her front door?”

Nate cocked his head to the side. “You think I’m gonna take the word of a man who abandoned his own kid where my woman is concerned?”

Knox’s faced hardened, and he leaned in farther. “I don’t want you anywhere near my daughter.”

Nate returned the favor until they were eye to eye. “Here in the South, a man’s only as good as his word. From where I’m sittin’, yours means dick. So, I’ll ask you again. Is the threat to Poppy dead? Because that’s the only way, she’s truly safe.”

Knox sat back and studied Nate, his jaw twitching with anger. He kept quiet, an indication he had no intention of sharing.

“I can get the information from Strawn if need be, but I’d rather get it from you, so I can run damage control. Like me or not, I’m your only hope of gettin’ through to Poppy, if that’s what you really want.”

Knox’s face turned scarlet at the implication he’d need Nate’s help “He’s dead and buried as of fifteen years ago. He got shanked through the heart in lockup after he was arrested on an unrelated charge.”

Nate’s brows shot to his hairline. “Then why the fuck didn’t you come after Poppy before now?”

“Because his son was involved with Chrissy’s death. I had to bring them both down, so Christiana would be safe.”

“Christiana?”

“Poppy,” Knox clarified. “In order to hide her, we changed her name. But she’ll always be Christiana to me.”

Nate rolled the named around in his head. Poppy suited her better. “And the son? Is he still a threat?”

Knox rubbed his jaw, considering his answer. “He’s in San Quentin. I never could pin my wife’s murder on either, so I bided my time until he screwed up. He went down for premeditated murder six months ago. He got life without parole, so Poppy is finally safe.”

“You couldn’t pin her murder on her father and brother?” Nate asked skeptically.

Pain flowed across Knox’s face. “No. Not a scrap of evidence. Chrissy’s father had a source on the inside and found out I was a plant with the ATF. After confronting Chrissy about the fact she’d married a federal agent sent to investigate their MC, Charlie “Dog” Wilkes and his son were caught on video after leaving my house. They didn’t have a lick of blood on them or their shoes. We had probable cause, but no evidence on either to charge them. They denied having any involvement with her murder, then tried to turn the tables on me. Dog accused me of doing the deed, then threatened to take Poppy away from me like I’d taken Chrissy from him. The rest you know. I love my daughter, Jacobs, and I’ll do anything to keep her safe. Even,” he leaned forward, and his voice dropped to a threatening level, “if it means staying away from her or making sure she doesn’t hook up with some asshole, who uses his fists just like his old man.”

Nate blanked his face, taking a deep breath to control his sudden rage. He clenched his fist twice to release the tension rolling through his body, then he stood slowly, towering over Knox. “Keep clear of Poppy unless she reaches out…” Nate let his warning seep into his eyes, “and you and I won’t have a problem. You don’t…” He let his threat hang in the air a moment before he finished, “and you’ll find out exactly what kind of man I am.”

Without another word, he turned and walked away, ignoring the hard stare Knox threw his direction. He didn’t give a fuck what her father thought of him. He could hate Nate for the rest of his natural life, for all he cared. His sole focus wasn’t to win favor with a man who’d lost sight of his priorities, but to heal the damage he’d caused. And he’d get started on that just as soon as he found Poppy and hog-tied her to his bed.

As he made his way across the bar, he caught Strawn’s eyes watching him as he spoke on the phone. They darted once behind Nate’s back, no doubt taking in the man who also fathered Sienna. Strawn’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he mumbled something to Devin and waved Nate over.

“You find them?” Nate asked both men as he walked up.

Strawn punched his phone OFF in agitation, mumbling, “Fuckin’ headache.” When he raised his eyes to Nate, the anger rolling off Strawn made him brace for another bombshell.

“Sienna just called me to say they won’t be back until Sunday.” His eyes darted across the bar then back at Devin, and his jaw tensed. “She also asked me to look into Poppy’s aunt while they were gone.”

When he’d been a kid and his father had lost control, there’d been a forewarning, a thickness to the air that soured his stomach before his old man’s fists began to fly. The same feeling began to curl around his gut. “What?” Nate ground out, fisting his hands, yet again, to brace for more bad news. The whole day had been one long clusterfuck.

Strawn glanced at Devin then back at Nate. “Sienna thinks Poppy may have fended off men who were visitin’ her aunt growin’ up.”

A beer bottle exploded on the brick wall before Nate could stop himself. Half the bar paused at the commotion, waiting to see what happened next. With a swipe of his arm, Nate warded off a busboy who’d tried to approach. Drawing air into his lungs twice before he was able to speak, Nate gritted out, “Point me in a fuckin’ direction before I do somethin’ Strawn has to arrest me for.”

Devin held his eyes, gauging Nate’s anger, then looked down at his phone. “GPS tracker says they’re headin’ toward Hilton Head.” With that, Nate pulled out the key to his Harley and headed for the back door, averting his eyes from Knox. The darkness that had settled on his soul when he was sixteen begged to come out, and he knew if he looked at the man, he’d land in jail.