“Hell.I’m forty-five.Not dead.”
“You won’t tell my brothers, will you?You know they’ll want to come too, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, much less the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.You might scare him off.”
Shadow snorted.“Sounds like you scared him off already.Otherwise, I’d have met him when I came to pick you up.Arealman would have met me face to face and admitted to having claimed you, would have fought for you if need be.”
“Are you calling my mate a wuss?”
Shadow shrugged.
“I don’t think he was worried so much about what you’d do to him.I think he worried that you would take it out on his club and they would exile him.They’re all he has.He told me he grew up without a father and with an alcoholic mother.He started prospecting for the Steel Riders when he was just fifteen.Can you imagine?”
“So your boy’s had a hard life.It means he’ll appreciate the things he has—like you.I can understand him worrying about losing the only family he has, but now that he’s mated my baby girl, he has a whole new family.The moment he put his mark on you, he became an honorary Silver Skull.”
“Can you be in two clubs at once?”
“I said honorary.He doesn’t have voting rights, and I would only call on him in an emergency.He is family after all.Boy might not see it that way, but he will soon enough.”
Mina frowned at her father.“What are you plotting?”
“Don’t you worry about it.Just follow my lead when we get there, and remember, I have your best interests at heart.”
Mina wasn’t sure how she felt about that.She knew her dad could be wily, and a bit of a hard ass when it came to his kids.Spark had run from her to save his place within his club, and the last thing she wanted was for him to feel like he was going to lose his family, even if her father was just playing.She’d seen him make grown men cry, and a blubbering Spark was not something she ever cared to see.
She followed her father into the house and went to her room.The closet was so full the doors wouldn’t shut, and her dresser was full to bursting as well.Then there were the mementos and pictures she would want to take to her new home.As she looked around the room she’d called home all her life, she realized that she had no idea if Spark even had a home or if he lived at the clubhouse.Maybe she should just take one suitcase and have her father bring the rest of her things at another time.
It didn’t take her long to pack and she found her father waiting by the front door.Since she planned to start a new life with Spark, she took her car and followed behind Shadow’s motorcycle.It was nightfall by the time they reached the clubhouse of the Steel Riders, and Mina knew her father would prefer that she not enter the building.He’d sheltered her as much as possible from the MC life, but if she was going to make changes, she might as well start now.She left her bag in her car, brushed past her father, and pushed through the doors.
Music pulsed through the room.Nearly naked women plastered themselves to the shifters in the room, while alcohol flowed freely.Mina waved her hand trying to dispel the smoke in the room.She knew it wasn’t good for a pregnant woman to be around cigarette smoke, and she was fairly certain she detected the scent of marijuana.Her gaze skimmed the crowd as she searched for Spark.She wasn’t certain what she’d do if one of those skanks had her tongue down his throat.
Mina finally found him in the back corner, a slut on his lap, her bare breasts bobbing in his face.Her temper sparked, despite the bored look on his face.Mina pushed her way through the crowd, not stopping until she reached her mate.The girl in his lap looked her up and down, but Mina didn’t give her a chance to say anything.She reached out, grabbed a handful of overly teased hair, yanked her off Spark’s lap then shoved her in the floor.
“You bitch!”the woman shrieked.
“Shut it, Jeanine,” Spark said, his gaze locked on Mina.
“Who the hell is she to throw me in the floor like trash?”Jeanine demanded.
Mina snorted.“You are trash, you over-dyed, under-educated slattern.”
“What did you call me?”The woman looked truly baffled.
“She’s my mate,” Spark said.“Make yourself scarce, Jeanine.”
She didn’t look happy about it, but she wandered off.Probably looking for someone else to fuck for the night.It made Mina wonder just how far Spark had been willing to go.Would he have slept with her?Or was she merely a decoration so everyone in the club would think all was right in his world?He looked haunted.There were shadows under his eyes and he looked thinner than he had last time she’d seen him.It had only been a few weeks, but the days without her had obviously taken their toll.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, standing to pull a chair out for her.“Why don’t you sit down?”
“Can we go somewhere less smoky?Maybe outside?”Her father was outside, but Spark didn’t have to know that.Granted, there was a chance he’d turn tail and run once he saw Shadow was with her, but it was a chance she was willing to take.
He shoved his hands into his pockets.“I don’t know that I trust myself to be alone with you.The past few weeks…” He sighed.“It’s been hell without you, Mina.You’re constantly on my mind and I wake several times a night, reaching for you.My beast knows you’re supposed to be there, lying beside us, and I think he’s pissed at me for not making it happen.”
She reached out and lightly gripped his arm, giving him a slight tug.“Come on.Let’s go talk.”
He seemed to meekly follow her and she wondered what happened to her badass biker while she was gone.Spark looked like a shell compared to the man she’d left behind.Surely her leaving hadn’t bothered him that much.Maybe he was kicking his own ass over letting her slip away?She’d never know if he didn’t talk to her.
They stepped out onto the porch and let the doors close behind them.
“What made you come back, Mina?If your father knew where you were…” He let the words trail off and she studied him in the moonlight.
