Undaunted (The Kings of Retribution MC)

Whereas Alba is five-feet-seven-inches, legs for miles, long blonde hair, and blue eyes.

She always has her nose buried in a book and is a bit of an introvert.

She is also very timid, shy, and would rather be reading about romance and adventures than to go out and find one of her own, but I’m not one to be preaching because, besides a couple of high school boyfriends, I haven’t done much living myself.

“Alba...Alba!” I say as I poke at the lump that is now mumbling some form of the English language.

“Time to get up. I’m taking you to school today on my way to work,” I inform her while making my way over to my dresser.

I rummage through my drawer until I find a pair of black lace panties and a matching bra and start to pull them on when Alba whines.

“Come on, Bella, just a few extra minutes. Please?” she says while curling tighter into the sky-blue comforter on her bed.

She is not a morning person, so I entice her a little bit.

“Alba, if you’re up and out this door with me in one hour, I’ll bring home that new release you saw at the bookstore last weekend.”

That gets her attention. She sticks her head out of her blanket burrito.

“You add a bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups and you have a deal.”

“Deal.”

She unwraps herself from the blanket and starts to get ready for the day. I walk over to the closet to find something to wear, grabbing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and slip on a green sleeveless blouse.

My phone chimes with a new text message, so I walk over to my nightstand, pick up my phone, and then sit on the bed pulling up the text. It’s from Mason.

I ran into him about a month ago at the coffee shop downtown while shopping with my sister. He asked if he could take me out sometime, so we exchanged numbers. We went out a few times. One Friday he called wanting to go to dinner and a movie, so I agreed. The whole night he was super handsy and the asshole also conveniently forgot his wallet, so I ended up paying for everything. I decided to give him another chance after he apologized but that was a huge mistake.

I throw my phone down not bothering to respond to his text. I reach down, picking up my favorite pair of brown boots, pull them on and walk over to the full-length mirror putting on some mascara and my favorite lipstick.

Fifteen minutes later I grab my phone shoving it into my back pocket.

“Grab your shoes and put them on in the car, Alba. We got to get going,” I shout as I walk into the kitchen, grabbing my keys and smock off the counter.

On our way to the front door, we’re stopped by Lee, who is blocking off the door leading to the garage.

Jesus, the man reeks. It smells like he bathes in beer.

“Lee, I don’t have time for any of your shit this morning. I need to get Alba to school, and still make it to work on time.”

He stands there, letting his eyes linger on the both of us, causing my skin to crawl, and Alba to shrink behind me before he speaks.

“Your mom needs some money to go to the store, I need to eat.”

What the fuck! I know I just spent most my last paycheck to get groceries and mom just got her check not long ago.

“What the hell, Lee! Where did all the food go that I just bought? Huh?”

The asshole just stands there with a smirk on his face. No way in hell he’s getting my hard-earned money.

“Look, I’m tapped out. And if I did have it, I sure as hell wouldn’t be giving it to you.”

That pisses him off.

“That smart mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one day, Bella,” he hisses as he goes to sit at the kitchen table, passing the fridge on the way for another beer.

Popping the top, he says, “One way or another, you two are going to earn your keep.”