Blazing Hot Bad Boys Boxed Set - A MC Romance Bundle (59 page)

Chapter Eight

Richard was expecting much more progress in the week that had gone by than what had been achieved. Chad was taking a ridiculously laidback method to this nonsense. Couldn’t he just put her in a car and drive her home? It would be that simple.

James was expecting a marriage between Sierra and himself. And Richard needed that marriage. The Northorp Company had a lot of power behind it and the Hall Company had a lot of money. The two together would be the most powerful force on the entire West Coast and that was what he wanted above everything else. Of course, it would be great to have his daughter back, but she was a bit of a bitch and he didn’t really like being around her so much. She took everything for granted and wasn’t even the least bit grateful for anything he had done for her. He had given her a home and everything she had ever wanted. He had only wanted one thing from her: that she do what he asked from her. Was that really so much?

Being the ungrateful wench that she was, she didn’t see it that way at all. She saw it as some personal offense to her that she didn’t get everything her way. What more she could possibly want, he didn’t know. He gave her every gadget, every pair of shoes, every car, every everything. What could she possibly still want from him? Yet, she still insisted on being the rebellious daughter who ran away from home because she had this obnoxious victim complex.

Oh well. Soon she would be back and then she would have to do whatever he said. He would make sure of it. James would get his bride and Richard would get his empire. It would have to be soon, though. The window of opportunity on this deal was narrow and he had to take hold of it as soon as possible. Surely Sierra would see that.

It would be a happy marriage. She would have everything anyone could want. Her father and husband would be two of the richest men in California. She could live anywhere, go anywhere, do anything, and have anything. She could give thousands of dollars to help starving children in every country in the world and have money left over to buy her own island. She could populate her damn island with castles and shirtless Spaniards and orphans. He didn’t care what she did. As long as she was married to James, he didn’t give a damn.

Chapter Nine

Sierra stared at the text message on her phone, unsure of what to do. Weren’t they just together? Didn’t he have a chance to tell her everything then? What would suddenly be so different? She turned off her phone and opened a book. She didn’t have time for these stupid games. If Chad wasn’t going to give her the answers she needed, he could just go screw himself. Let him crawl back to her father. Let Chad get married off and be forced to live in their stupid world of money and backstabbing. She would have none of it and no one could force her to go back. She couldn’t think of a single reason why she would go back…

…so listening to Chad wouldn’t do anyone any harm, least of all her. She could just hear what he had to say and then go on with her life, maybe with a little more closure. Maybe not, but if she didn’t have any more closure what difference would that make? None at all.

She picked up her phone and texted Chad back:
Fine. Come over. This is your last chance.

He was at her doorstep in about twenty minutes. There was no more dress or makeup or carefully crafted locks. She was wearing a pair yoga pants and a tank top, her hair in a ponytail, makeup washed off her face. She was curled up on her couch, watching TV. Well the TV was on; she was waiting anxiously for him to show up.

She dashed across the room to answer the door, but paused, not wanting to seem too anxious. Then she calmly opened the door, “Are you going to talk or keep shying away from telling me the truth?”

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. You’re the one withholding all the information about everything.”

He grinned, “That was vague. May I come in?”

She smiled despite herself. “Yeah. Sure. Want a beer?”

“That’d be nice.”

She walked into the kitchen, her heart beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. He looked so innocent and hurt when he grinned like that. She grabbed two beers and popped the tops off. “Here you go,” she said, handing him one and sitting down on the couch. “All right, so, can we try this again?”

He nodded, taking a sip. “You deserve to know what happened to your brother. You know it, I know it. I know that’s what you want.” He took another drink. “This isn’t necessarily an easy story to tell because, in some ways, I blame myself for what…what happened that night.”

Sierra didn’t respond, watching him, waiting for whatever he was going to say next.

“It was a rainy night, not super rainy, but enough to make the roads a little slick. We had both had a few beers – not super drunk or anything, but a little tipsy. We probably shouldn’t have been driving. I will accept that.”

Sierra frowned. She didn’t know her brother had been drinking. That changed things. A little. Not a lot.  “So then what happened?”

“Well, we were goofing off a little, yeah, but then this trucker came out of nowhere. Suddenly appearing and drifting into our lane. I guess he must’ve been tired or asleep or something, because he kept swerving all over the road and, because we were kind of drunk, we didn’t really pay much attention to what was going on.  Before we knew it…” He glanced down at his hands. “I’m sorry.”

Sierra put her hand on his knee, “That doesn’t like any of it was your fault.”

He looked up. “I guess, but it’s hard not to blame myself when I was the only one there. I was the only one there. I was the only one who could’ve saved him…”

“Your desire to feel responsible for him is admirable, but don’t blame yourself for things you couldn’t have done anything about.”

They sat in a comfortable silence, letting their grief fill the empty space between them, bringing them closer together and letting them feel each other’s emotions. In that silence, they were one, sharing feelings and thoughts. Sierra didn’t know she could be so close to one person…not since her brother died, anyway.

“There is…there is one question I have for you, though. Well two, sort of,” Sierra said quietly, breaking the silence.

“What is it?” Chad asked, looking back down at his hands.

“Why are you here?”

“The truth?”

“Well, that would be nice.”

“Your father sent me.”

She glared at him, “I knew it. I knew you were just here to get me to go back to my father. I don’t want anything to do with him! Ever!” She stood up and stormed to the door, “Get out.” 

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on.”

She crossed her arms, waiting.

“Yes, your father sent me and I don’t necessarily trust him, but I wanted to do something as a sort of penance for my involvement in Scott’s death and you were gone – completely gone and no one knew where you were, so I only had your father. Do you really think he’s going to force you to marry someone? I mean, isn’t this the 21
st
century?”

Sierra just laughed and sat back down. “Throughout my whole life, Scott and I have just been tools in his game to become as rich and powerful as humanly possible. It doesn’t matter what any of us actually want. Those are the rules and we have to play with them…or everything goes to hell really quickly.”

She pushed her bangs out of her face. “So yeah, he probably will do that. He was never a father. He’s confused about why Scott and I were so ‘hateful’ and ‘ungrateful.’ We didn’t want all his bribes and presents; we wanted a father. We wanted a parent to care about us and love and us treat us with respect, instead of just another aspect of his company.” She felt tears starting to come to his eyes and tried to push them away, but they started falling fast. “I can’t go back. I just can’t. It will be hell back there. There is nothing for me there, just being a pawn in my father’s games again.” She felt like a fool, crying about her daddy issues in front of this practical stranger, but then she felt a strong arm around her and a body close to hers, warm and comforting. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Sorry about this. I’m just an idiot.”

“Hey, hey. It isn’t a problem. Don’t worry about it at all. I promise.”

She cried in earnest then. Weeping for the brother she lost, for the father she never had, for the life that could’ve been. What was her life? A stripper in Vegas, running away from a past and a family she could never truly escape. What was she trying to prove? And to whom?

As her tears started to dry up, Chad put a finger under her chin and lifted her face until they were staring into each other’s eyes. Very close. Surprisingly close. “I will do whatever I can to help you. No one deserves to live like this. Ever.” 

Chapter Ten

Chad took his hand away from Sierra’s face, suddenly self-conscious and awkward about the contact between the two. There was an almost electric spark on his fingertips as he touched her face, something dynamic and alive. The softness of her face was like silk and he wanted to keep touching it, but knew he was definitely stepping outside of his bounds. What was he doing? “Ah, I’m sorry. Really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she muttered. “I appreciate it. I don’t understand why you are going to do that, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have a responsibility to me…or to anyone else.”

“I know that. Call it my chivalrous nature, but I don’t think I could live with myself if I left you alone in your distress.”

She chuckled, “My distress?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t want this to appear as a ‘damsel in distress’ kind of thing, but you are in distress. You are completely isolated from everyone and everything you have ever known. Your father is trying to make you do all sorts of things you don’t want to, so there is a little hint of that at least.”

“I guess so.”

“Hey?”

“What?”

“What do you want me to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, now I’ve pledged my support to you – your knight in shining armor. What do you expect me to do with my new responsibilities?” He grinned at her.

She grinned back. “I don’t know. Does it really matter right this second, though?”

“I guess not. I just like to have a plan, to know how things are going to work out.”

Sierra rolled her eyes. “Of course you do, just like my brother. He hated leaving things to chance, but that’s the fun part of life. That’s the part you can’t miss out on.” She scooted closer to him and put a hand on his chest. He was sure she could feel his heart beating, racing, under her warm palm. She brought his face closer to his, “Don’t you feel like you are missing out on things?”

Her eyes were soft and playful, seductive without being sleazy. Suddenly he felt the desire to kiss her, stronger than he had ever wanted to kiss anyone. He felt his face turning red and he pulled away from her suddenly self-conscious and aware of every flaw on his face.

She smiled and pressed closer, “Do you want to kiss me?”

“I don’t think that would be appropriate…”

“But do you want to?”

“Well, um, yeah, yes, I do, but I won’t.”

Sierra sat back, her face confused, a few strands of blond hair curling over her face, “Why not?”

“Because I’m not here for that. Do you think you need to kiss me – sleep with me – to keep me around here, to get me to help you?”

She opened her mouth and closed it again, then looked away, her bangs shielding her expression.

“Did you really think that? Did you really believe that?” He felt his heart breaking. What happened to her that she thought this was the only way she could get anything? To get something, give everything. “Sierra, if we are going to be friends – because I hope that is what we will become – you need to know you don’t owe me anything. You will never owe me anything. Nothing from your body, nothing you own, nothing.” He paused. “No, you do owe me one thing: to treat me like a normal, rational human being.” He wasn’t going to let another Hall walk all over him and tell him what to do and how to do it.

She smiled, “I think I can do that.”

“Good. Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“That sounds good.”

Their gazes met and something changed in both of them, something beautiful.