“Finn ‘Riggs’ James. A pleasure as always,” replies Reggie dryly.
Malia reaches for her dad and he takes her from me. I try to reign in the anxiety that I’m feeling right now. There’s nothing to stop Reggie from shooting me and Riggs right here in the street and taking Malia with him. “As lovely as the reunion is, I only have an hour to spend with my daughter.” He passes by us and heads inside with Malia.
I turn to Riggs. “Go. I’ll call you later.”
“He’s seen me now. You heard him say lovebirds. He already knew about us before we did. Stop looking so worried.” He shakes his head and leads me inside.
Riggs sits next to me as I take my usual seat outside of the room where Reggie and Malia always go. There’s a social worker who stays in the room with them. “He was responsible for the break-in at your house too,” he says.
“Don’t you think I fucking know that?” I growl. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“You need to stop burying your head in the sand. Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. You have to face it head-on.”
“And how do you suppose I do that?” I hiss. “You think I should stand up to Reggie? He’s at the top of the chain, just like you. He has so many people willing to do his dirty work. They’d do anything he asked them to. My time is running out and he’s stepping up the intimidation. I can’t escape him.”
“So what the fuck has this all been for? Why did you go to court and get the order out on him if you were just gonna give up? I don’t want you to stand up to Reggie on your own. I’m here to help you.”
“Fuck,” I laugh sarcastically. “You’ve no idea. He won’t stop until I’m dead. That’s his end goal. But before that day comes, he takes great pleasure in torturing me— chasing me down, mentally battering me, and physically draining me.”
“And you want to carry on like that until he kills you?” snaps Riggs.
“Before you got involved, I was doing okay. He left me alone. Now you’ve trampled into my life and thrown everything into chaos.”
“Let me remind you who put you on my radar! It was you who came into my bar. Fuck, you don’t think I’ve wanted to wipe you from my mind and get on with my life? Because trust me, darlin’, it was a lot less complicated before you came along. Cree wanted me to send you back to Reggie’s side of the tracks, and honestly, I thought about it.” He pauses and rubs his beard. “I’m gonna level with ya— I like you. I didn’t set out to, but then shit happens. I tasted your pussy yesterday and now it’s like I can’t leave you the fuck alone. But if you don’t want me near you like that, then that’s your choice, but it’d be a damn shame cos we got some fire going on between us. But whatever happens, you’re on my side of the tracks. My club will protect you against Reggie and that’s not your choice, Angel.”
We spend the rest of the visit in silence. I go over his words in my mind. I underestimated how far Riggs would go to let Reggie know what was going on. Then I think of Jamie and my heart hurts. He was so proud of his nephew and because of me, he’s lost him. What if Reggie takes someone that Riggs loves? I couldn’t live with myself.
When Reggie finally steps out of the room, he waits by the door for me to go to him. He doesn’t need any words because I know that warning look in his eyes. Malia will be another five minutes because the social worker always talks to her after a visit to check she’s okay.
“I’ll be right back,” I mutter. Riggs doesn’t reply. He’s letting me make my own choices and I gently squeeze his hand before going to Reggie.
“Sit,” he orders, and we go to the next set of chairs so we’re away from Riggs.
“Did you have Jamie’s nephew killed?” I whisper.
“If you think I won’t put a bullet in your fucking boyfriend because we’re here, you’re mistaken,” Reggie begins. “You went on a date last week and now you’re fucking a biker? Christ, Anna, your standards shock me. Is that why you wanted this break? To whore your ass around?”
“He was an innocent kid.” I begin to cry. “Why would you do that?”
“I’ve been patient. I’ve played your game and through everything, the courts, the police interviews, I’ve respected that you needed space. Now I see that you’ve taken our break apart as a chance to fuck anything that shows you a scrap of attention. Your time is up.” He turns to me and I’m aware that it’s so he can block my view of Riggs. “Do you really think the judge was on your side? I play golf with him every week. I’ve been in control of this from the beginning.” He grips my chin between his index finger and thumb and squeezes. “You were silly to get distracted by him. So, your choices are . . . come home or I’m gonna start picking off people one by one. Everyone you care about. Everyone you love. Our little break ends in less than a month. That’s how long you have to get back to where you belong. You fuck the biker and I’ll kill him first while you watch.” He stands gracefully, a look of calm on his face, and fastens the buttons on his designer jacket. He smirks at Riggs. “You’re not a very good guard dog. I could have slit her throat and you let her come to me.”
Riggs laughs and nods to where his hand rests in his jacket pocket. “You think I didn’t have a gun on
