“I know,” she whispers, her face sad.
“What’s your story, Torrent?” I ask, knowing she has one.
“My brother. He had a brain tumor.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Yeah, it was bad,” she answers. Her voice catches and I see the cost of those memories on her face. I reach out and take her hand, needing to touch her. When she doesn’t pull away, I press my luck and gather her up and pull her into my lap. I hold her close. “It broke my father. He became someone I didn’t recognize for a while. Luke—my brother, got so bad there at the end. He couldn’t talk to say anything to us. He didn’t have control over his body. Even touching him brought him pain. The night before he died he would get so scared if we weren’t right beside him. He couldn’t talk, but his eyes followed Dad everywhere,” she whispers, tears rolling down her face.
“I’m sorry, Angel. I’m so sorry.”
“I never saw my dad cry until then, Logan. And he didn’t just cry… He emptied his soul out with tears as we said goodbye to my brother.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I continue to hold her, stroking my hand up and down her back, trying to bring her comfort. Inside I can’t help but think this is another sign that Torrent is meant to be mine.TorrentTwo Weeks Later“I want out of here,” I growl to my old man. I don’t get to see him often and the fact that I’m in a confessional at midnight talking to my father through a screen is a bad sign.
“There’s been a complication, Torrent.”
“No. There can’t be complications. When I agreed to this you said it would be a couple months at the most. You promised you would get this shit handled. I am not spending my life in a convent, Dad.”
“I need to keep you safe, Tor,” Dad says and his voice is laced with worry. A month ago I would have listened to that and backed off. But that was before Logan. Everything has changed now.
I need out of here.
“Then lock me down at the club. You’ve done that before. Just get me the hell out of here,” I hiss, so frustrated I want to scream.
“I can’t do that yet, Tor. I have to find out who the mole in my club is, and I can’t do that if you’re there.”
“Dad—”
“No, Tor. You know I always try to let you have your way, but not on this. You can hate me if you want, but I need to make sure you’re safe.”
“I don’t hate you. I’m just not really fucking happy.”
“Don’t say fuck, Tor,” he grumbles and it makes me snort with laughter. “You’re in a holy place.”
“You’re a freak, Dad.”
“Never claimed to be anything different.”
“If I stay you have to push to get this crap figured out. I need out of here.”
“You can’t see it, Tor. But I am pushing. I also need you to stop playing with fire.”
“What?” I ask, my heart beating harder in my chest. I don’t know how he knows, but intuitively, I’m sure he does.
“That fucking biker that’s been sniffing around you. End it, Tor.”
“Dad—”
“I want better for you, but even if you end up with a club member that’s fine. The Savage crew are—”
“Don’t. Most people talk about us like that.”
“That damn bunch deserves it. They’re a bunch of nomads, junkyard dogs that have set up shop and got adopted by a crew out of Kentucky. They’re worthless. I don’t want my baby girl mixing with them. Besides, you know Wolf would kill a motherfucker stupid enough to lay a hand on you.”
“I’m not Wolf’s property. I’ve never seen Wolf like that,” I sigh. I’m tired of this argument. It never seems to go away.
“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t claim you years ago. The only thing that’s stopped him is the fact you want a life outside of the club.”
“The only thing that’s stopped him is me, Dad.”
“We’ll talk about this later, but you need to cut loose the fucker sniffing at you. Do it today, Tor.”
“Dad—”
“If you don’t I will, and you won’t like how I do it. There are people looking for you, people in my own fucking circle. You have to keep your head down.”
He’s right. I know he is. But the past two weeks have been the best in my life. I haven’t been able to go away with him again, but we’ve been meeting at the park across from the convent. I do it while I’m supposed to be saying my devotionals and it’s been the only thing that has kept me sane.
Logan is a little cocky, but I like it. He’s kind of cute, if that can be said about a man who oozes testosterone out of every pore in his body. He’s dirty—deliciously so and I always leave him wanting more. Dad’s right. I am playing with fire. We almost kissed the other day. I can’t keep doing this. And Dad’s not lying. If he is the one to put a stop to it, I won’t like how he does it.