Page 28 of Rage's Solace
Ven laughs, “You’re not wrong, I was on the sofa, which believe it or notisthe dog’s bed, so we were fighting for it all night.”
“Knowing that beast I bet he won,” I laugh, trying to imagine Ven squeezing himself onto the sofa with a hundred-pound Briard.
Within seconds we get directions to old man Whitmore’s place and we’re off. As my tires eat up the highway, I turn the information I learned over in my mind. My club brothers seem to believe that Priscilla’s parents are alive and living the high life abroad.
The thing is, venture capitalists are notoriously reluctant to give money away. If he’s the kind of man to cut the heads off animals and deliver them as threats, I can see him keeping the money and arranging a real accident for her parents. I guess we won’t know until my club brothers get back from their cursory investigation in Wilmington. Seven years is also a long time for Priscilla to go without talking to her own parents, I wonder if they’ve really gone this long without speaking?
I know she was really angry with her parents because she bowed to their pressure and maybe went no contact with them for a while, but undoubtedly, she started talking to them again when she had Mia. The girl didn’t have much in the way of family, so throwing her grandparents away did not make sense. But how could she not know they were dead for seven years? Realizing she doesn’t know, makes me circle back around to believing they really are alive. I’m running in circles in my mind, and I need to ask her if she has heard from them recently.
Eventually, Venom and I find ourselves on a ridgeline overlooking a posh neighborhood. It’s not the one Conrad and Priscilla lived in, but it was worlds nicer than my little country house. I take my binoculars out of the storage compartment of my bike and Venom pulls out a small drone with a camera attached.
I’m glad Ven is my friend. He gives good advice when I’m trying to find my way through a complex problem and his drones always get the job done. We work well together even if we squabble at times. I guess that’s how brothers are though. We settle down for a long day of surveillance.
Chapter 10
Priscilla
After being woken up by Rage’s call, I force myself to crawl out of bed and get into the shower. As the warm water cascades down onto my body, I think about last night. Rage has always been a badass, even when we were teens. He didn’t take shit from anyone, unlike me who just had to suck it up and do as I was told. I envied his bravery, his willingness to step up and protect me, and how he just went straight for what he wanted in life.
Now that I’ve put a little distance between me and the events of yesterday, I can see that if I want to be with Rage—and he seems to be offering some kind of short-term interlude—I’ve got to pull my mess together and prove that I’m strong enough to be his counterweight in life. If I can prove myself, maybe he’ll see me as worthy of a longer-term commitment. The more I think about my situation, the more convinced I am that proving I can hang in his world is the best course of action because it leads to the one thing I want in life, more time with Rage.
I get dressed in jeans, a warm sweater, and boots. After pulling back my hair into a tight twist at the nape of my neck, I feel like I’m ready for whatever the day decides to hit me with. The first order of business this fine Saturday morning is to pick up my daughter from Meli’s place. I get Rage’s truck keys from the key rack and step out the back door.
The first thing I see is a young prospect playing with Boots. He’s got the grumpy older cat cradled on his back in the crookof his arm and is using the other hand to rub his belly and tease him with the tips of his fingers.
I warn him as I walk past, “That’s a nice way to lose a finger, prospect.”
He jumps to attention when he hears my voice. If this is one of the men meant to guard our home, God help us. This kid looks like he might not even be of age and he’s obviously highly distractible.
“Wait up, Miss Priscilla. Where are you going?”
“Out,” I say curtly.
“You can’t go out on your own. It’s not safe.”
“Well, I’ve got to pick my daughter up so, I guess I’ll just have to be really careful, okay?”
He drops Boots out of his arms, pulls his cellphone out and starts texting. “No can do, ma’am,” he says firmly. “If you go anywhere, we all have to go with you.”
I turn and stare at the young man. “You all. Exactly how many of you are there?”
“Four of us right now.” His phone beeps and he glances at the screen for a second and begins backing up. “Two of us will be in front of you and two behind. Remember, where you go, we go.”
This all sounds like a bit much to me but then again, I’m about to have my vulnerable daughter with me and some asshole had sent us headless animals yesterday. So, I turn around and get into Rage’s truck while the prospect runs for his motorcycle.
Within five minutes or so I’m driving down the interstate surrounded by members of the Savage Legion MC. Well, from what I can see, only one of them is an actual member. The other three are prospects which Rage explained are bikers in training. I smile to myself. Maybe I’m not in a lot a danger and this is just busy work for the young men they’re training. That actually sounds about right.
I hit the button on Rage’s stereo system and listen to the country music he picked out for his vehicle. I truly feel like I’m living in a different world than when I was with Conrad. Rage is smoking hot, gives mind-blowing orgasms, and is nice as pie, totally the opposite of the rich boy my parents leveraged me into marrying. I’d give anything to have all those miserable years back so I could spend them with Rage. I wonder what would have happened if I’d not believed my parents when they’d shown me the gravestone. If I’d gone to Rage’s foster home to ask them what happened to him. Maybe he would have understood that I didn’t want to have sex with Ashton and maybe he would have been happy to raise another man’s child. I sighed, the past was the past and all we had was the present and the future. I just wonder if my future could ever include Rage.
When I pull into Meli’s restaurant, the place is rocking. There are several dozen cars out front and people coming and going. I don’t see my daughter anywhere and that starts to worry me. I jump out of the truck, ignore my escort, and walk into the restaurant to look for Mia.
The lady who served us before, motions to the back with one hand. “They’re in the kitchen.” I can see that mostly people are clearing out, like they’ve just had a breakfast rush.
I don’t ask if I’m allowed to go back there because this is the new and improved Priscilla. I boldly walk back and right through the saloon doors to find both Meli and Mia sitting at a table. They’re rolling out cookie dough. Meli has the biggest glass of wine I’ve ever seen in one hand as she instructs my daughter in cutting out pretty shapes. She looks up at me when she senses movement and smiles as though she can’t help herself. I’m relieved because I definitely wasn’t her favorite person the last time I walked into her restaurant. I wonder if Rage has spoken to her about what happened between us back then and told her that I didn’t leave him willingly and I’d thought he was dead.
I smile and keep my voice light and pleasant. “Good morning, Meli. Thank you for allowing Mia to spend the night.”
“It was my pleasure. Your daughter is delightful.”