Dual Desires (Dueling Devils 1)

“Ardy.” Her father shook his head. Shame filled his eyes. Family above all had been drilled in her head from the minute she’d been old enough to comprehend it. She wouldn’t let him back out now when they could solve this issue peaceably.

“Looks like I’m getting that overdue vacation, huh, Da?”

He shook his head.

Demon cleared his throat. “My kids are here. I expect you to spend time getting to know them, making sure they’re comfortable before we get back home. I’m a busy man, away more than I’m home. I want to know things in my house are as they should be.” The steely determination in his dark eyes turned her blood cold. They promised pain if she did wrong by his kids.

“I—I understand,” Ardy said.

“Good, I’ll be back around this evening with them. Be ready to go back to the hotel with us.”

“I—okay?” She glanced at her dad, who issued a curt nod. If he lost it now, things would get ugly fast. You didn’t mess with the Dueling Devils. People who mouthed off, or double crossed them, had a way of disappearing, or wishing they could. Nerves made her bounce her leg.

“I think you should get home and get your things together. It’s time Demon and I speak alone.”

Uncertain of who trumped who in this situation, she turned to glance at Demon, who nodded. “Oh yeah, I think we’ll get along just fine,” Demon said with a sly smile.

Heat filled her cheeks, and she looked away, embarrassed by the spark of excitement that rose in her chest. She’d never been out of town other than away games during basketball season in high school. There was freedom in leaving behind everything she knew, and the mile-high pile of responsibilities that tied her to the bar. She loved her family, but she often dreamed of more. In a town where couples had known one another since the womb and been married off right out of high school, she’d always felt like the odd man out.

Hindered by the responsibility of playing surrogate mother while her parents scrimped together every penny they made to get the bar up and running, she’d never really had a chance to connect to anyone on that level. Guilt made her lower her head as she stood. I should be terrified. What kind of a person wants to leave behind their home? Ashamed, she slunk out of the office and took the back exit.

She sat inside her car, gathering her thoughts as she ran over what she’d tell her mother. There’d be hell in the Larkin home. Her mother had been against dealing with the Devils in the first place. Having her firstborn whisked away like some fairytale gone wrong would only exasperate the rift her father’s decision made.

Her thoughts wandered back to Demon. He ran the Dueling Devils with an iron fist, made men twice his size quake in fear, but cared enough to hire a nanny for his kids? Hell, him having kids had come as a shock. What happened to the mother? Full of questions with no answers, she started up the reliable sedan and pulled out of the parking lot.

****

Demon watched Ardy leave the room. Faded blue jeans clung to her round ass and thick thighs. He hadn’t lied to Paddy when he said he wanted her for a nanny, but he wasn’t blind either. Her large breasts filled out the Larkin’s Pub t-shirt and highlighted her nipped in waist and full hips. Always partial to a woman with meat on her bones, he questioned his decision to have her live under his roof. The girl still had the look of an innocent about her. Paddy cleared his throat, and Demon looked way from the doorframe Ardy exited.

“Speak your peace, Paddy.”

“She’s my daughter, for Christ’s sake. What kind of man would I be to just let her go off with you and your biker club?”

“A smart one.” With Ardy gone, the kid gloves came off. He didn’t want to piss off his kids’ caregiver. It’d make things awkward for everyone, and he’d always wonder in the back of his mind if she’d be stupid enough to take her anger out on them. This way was much better. “This is the price, unless you want to pay in blood and still owe us the money.” Paddy paled. “Your choice—the easy way out, or the hard way? You’re lucky I had a need for Ardy at all. I don’t need to buy my pussy, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“She’s young and impressionable.”

“Not my problem.” Demon snickered. “Fuck, man, we’re not arranging a marriage here. She’s watching my kids. That means she’ll be under my protection.”

Paddy nodded. Demon could see the strain in the man’s face. He understood it. If someone were trying to take away Harley, he’d bury their ass. Difference was, he’d never let himself get into that position in the first place. You didn’t write checks your ass couldn’t handle. The poor fuck was in over his head and drowning as he sank like a stone. At least this would wipe the slate clean. “I won’t keep her from you. She’s not my prisoner. You ask me, you got off easy.” Demon stood. “We’re done here. I’ll leave my information for you, address, phone number, all the crap. After this, I’ll consider us square, but I won’t do business with you again.”

“I understand,” Paddy said.

“Good. I really don’t like repeating myself.” Confident Paddy got the picture, he made his way out of the bar where his council sat.

“You good?” Lefty said. His vice president had thought his idea was crazy, but as always, he voiced his opinion and went along for the ride. Crazy bastard would ride to hell beside me.

“Yeah, Ardy’s getting her shit together now. We’ll pick her up, and she’ll stay with us in the hotel room. She’ll get the feel of the kids and the club before we head back home. I want the word spread she’s not to be fucked with. She’s not a house mouse, or a biker bunny.” The men nodded, and Demon relaxed. “I don’t want anything fucking this up.”

When Demon’s old lady had started whoring around and jumped ship to another M.C, it was all he could do not to kill her. Instead, he excommunicated her. One day, his kids might hate him for it, but he couldn’t risk inside information leaking and getting his boys killed. He had his doubts about why she’d hooked up with him in the first place now. There’d been shit that didn’t match up. Times his deals had soured, and close calls with other crews. Why she’d procreate with him

if she’d been a plant, he couldn’t say. Maybe she thought playing both sides would save her once he figured it out. Stupid bitch. He rolled his neck in an attempt to relieve the stress that always engulfed him when he thought of her.

“Let’s get out of here. I need a beer and some bullshitting with our brothers,” Demon said, itching to leave the bar and its depressing situation behind. He wasn’t as unfeeling as he let on. He just didn’t let emotions fuck with his business. As president, he had everyone watching him, waiting for a sign of weakness or an opening. Most empires were destroyed from within. It was a lesson his father taught him at a young age. He took it to heart and never forgot it.

Outside, the day’s heat burned away the lingering unpleasantness as he boarded his bike. The rumble of the engine between his legs acted as a balm, the universal soothe—all that kept the demons at bay like some sort of grown man’s lullaby. He had a lot of blood on his hands. Nightmares occasionally kept him up at night. Booze and drugs became his medicine when his brain felt ready to break. The edge of a cliff had been a daily tight rope walk until Harley and Rocket came along. Those tiny beings saved his life, and what was left of his soul. The excess drinking and drugs dried up.

Slumming became a thing of the past, and he slapped old lady status on Natasha. There’d been no love lost between them, but he tried to do right by her, give her the respect due to the mother of his child. Look how that backfired. He tightened his hands around the handle bars and revved the engine as he took off. The wind blew away his over—thinking, and he lost himself in the ride.