Page 84 of Connor's Claim
“He tried. The asshole’s handy with a blade, but that isn’t the point. He laughed at me then said great, he didn’t need to offer me a roof over my head anymore. Then he collected an armful of my clothes and threw them out the window onto the street.”
My heart hurt. “He kicked ye out?”
He went quiet for a minute, his eyes darkening at whatever was going through his head. “Whenever Adam, that’s Gen’s dad, behaved like a prick, I used to wish my mother had been mistaken about my birth father knowing about me. That he wasn’t such a terrible person and one day we could even be friends. I know that sounds insane. She couldn’t have been wrong.”
My breathing came soft. Rejection hurt. Or worse—it could damage people permanently. My heart swelled for Riordan all the more. “Everyone wants to be wanted.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a fantasy. The father I did know delighted in chucking out everything I owned, which wasn’t much because Inever had a bedroom in that place. I loaded it into my car piece by piece as it fell, moved my car so he couldn’t trash that, too, and then biked back here.”
“I’m sorry. Ye didn’t deserve that. Any of it.”
“Maybe I did for hurting Moniqua. Either way, it’s the chance of a new start I wasn’t expecting.”
He was resilient. Lesser men would crumble. Something uncomfortable registered in my thoughts. “Will ye leave Deadwater?”
“I’ll go wherever I can find work. I can come back if my sister needs to see me. Sisters,” he corrected.
No, no. I needed him to stay here. One glance at the brutally beautiful man who’d fought his way through the club to protect Genevieve and an arrow had pierced my heart. Dramatic but true. Ever since, I’d wanted him. I didn’t know how to ask. I’d never even touched my lips to a boy’s, but I was certain I wanted his to be the first and last.
He was mine.
His gaze landed on me and pinned me down in a way I wished his long body would.
“Now we switch again. Explain why, when I checked my bike over earlier, I found a mysterious little disc stuck to it. Either Moniqua’s tracking me or it’s someone else.”
Heat painted my cheeks. Moniqua had been tracking him, if I assigned ownership of the tracker I’d removed to her. But more…he’d known about the tracker, and suspected me, yet he’d still talked to me. Opened up. We both had.
I couldn’t stop the truth from spilling out. “I am.”
“On behalf of another?”
“I told ye I mean no harm. I operate all on my lonesome.”
Curiosity replaced some of his intensity. “Because…?”
A low vibration sounded.
Riordan shifted to pull his phone from his pocket. He squinted at the screen then held it up for me to see. “Arran. Gen gave me his number. I wondered how long it would take until someone spotted me on a camera then ordered me out.”
He answered the call, close enough that I could hear every word over the background of increasingly loud moans from next door.
“Riordan, I’ll keep this short but sweet. As soon as she’ll have me, I plan to marry your sister, so that makes us family. I want to offer you a job.”
The knowing smirk on Riordan’s lips faded. “You want to what?”
I could kiss Arran. Ew, no, gross.
A job would keep Riordan here. Working for the skeleton crew would mean he’d be around, even if I only got to see him from a distance. I’d learn to control my loose tongue.
Arran’s clear voice continued. “You have a choice, make a statement of joining my crew or take a less public role.”
“Which would involve what?”
“To be discussed. Think it over. Oh, and say hi to Cassie.”
Chapter 27
Everly