I frown. “Isn’t she like . . . his adopted daughter? He must be a great deal older than her, if she’s only twenty-one.”

He snorts. “She ain’t ever been like a daughter; she just gives Maddox a run for his money. He thinks he’s the boss of her because he saved her. And he ain’t all that much older, Maddox is only thirty.”

Fair enough.

“Well, at least she isn’t a club whore. I really don’t want to spend the next . . .” I scrunch my nose up. “. . . however long, with a group of girls who can’t keep their legs closed.”

He laughs. “Yeah, well, Santana is good value. You’ll like her. And as for the whores, you won’t see much of them.”

“They’ll be underneath a biker, no doubt.”

He leans in close. “Absolutely.”

“And that will include you?”

His eyes scan my face. “That depends?”

I smirk. “On what?”

“Are you going to be under me?”

I flush. “That depends.”

He gives me a full-throttle grin, causing his dimples to pop out. “On what?”

“Are you going to make it worth my while?”

He reaches up, wrapping his fingers around the back of my head. “Oh, absolutely.”

Now I can’t wipe my grin off my face.

The guys from the club arrive about five hours later.

I managed to get some sleep and a decent shower before they showed up. I heard the rumble of bikes for a fair while before I saw them pull into the lot. I am sitting on the chair out the front, watching them all get off their shiny rides. I see Maddox first, and watch in fascination as he pulls his helmet off and throws his leg over the bike.

He’s massive; the man is daunting. His eyes fall on me and he smirks, I throw him my own classy smirk back. I notice a girl behind him, and I train my eyes on her as she throws herself off the bike and pulls her helmet off. Wow, she’s gorgeous. She has long, black hair that falls in soft curls right down to her bottom. She’s only a tiny girl, no bigger than five foot. She has olive skin, and beautifully slanted eyes.

I focus my attention on the other bikers, and smile when I see the side-cart that holds Tyke. The biker riding gets off and helps him up, and Tyke supports himself on the bike while they unload a wheelchair. Maddox reaches the bottom of the stairs and I turn to stare at him. He’s still smirking at me.

“Nice to see you again, Maddox.”

From this angle, with him looming over me, he reminds me somewhat of Heathcliff from that remake of Wuthering Heights in 1992. He’s got that long, thick dark hair and the lightest blue eyes. He’s so broody, so scarily stunning. When he smiles, it’s like a lion baring its teeth before making a kill.

“I see you’re fittin’ in just fine. You got information for me?”

I ignore him, staring at his thick legs. “How are your balls?”

He snorts. “Workin’ just fine.”

“Shame.”

The girl, who I’m assuming is Santana, appears beside him. I look up at her, and wow, up close she’s absolutely gorgeous. Her eyes are so dark brown they almost look black. She’s like a new-age Pocahontas. Her eyes meet mine and she gives me a warm, welcoming smile that surprises me.

“Hi,” she says, and her voice is like melted honey or something. Jesus. No wonder Maddox is hung up on her. “I’m Santana.”

I stretch my hand out, taking hers. “Ash.”

“Ash is short for . . .”

“Just Ash.” I smile. “I know, it’s strange but my parents liked it.”

She flashes me a smile that brings up two dimples in her cheeks. “I like it, too.”

“Well, you girls can go ahead and get comfortable, because I got shit to do,” Maddox says, stepping past me. “San, we gotta talk about last night.”

He doesn’t look at her as he speaks, but she glares at his back as he passes. “No thanks.”

He stops and turns, glaring at her. “Do as you’re fuckin’ told.”

I turn and look up at Maddox. “Someone is broody today. Go sort your ‘shit’ out. We’re going to get to know each other.”

I stand and take Santana’s hand, dragging her off before he can say any more. We pass all the bikers as we walk down towards the back lot of trees. I notice some of the bikers have girls on their bikes. Some, I assume are old ladies, others I’m assuming are whores.

“Thanks for that,” Santana says as we reach the trees.

I wave a hand. “No problems. He’s a jerk-off.”

She laughs. “He can be hard to live with. Did Krypt tell you what happened with me?”

I nod. “I hope that’s okay? He just gave me a brief run-down.”

She shrugs, reaching up and tying her hair into a loose ponytail. “It’s no biggie. Most people hear the story. I don’t really have anything else, and getting a job is hard with no skill, so Maddox and the club is all I have.”

“Krypt says it gets tough with Maddox?” I ask, finding a rock and perching on it.

She nods, sighing. “He’s so controlling.”

“It sounds like he’s hard because he cares.”

She snorts. “I’ve seen Maddox with that many girls, it’s not even funny. He doesn’t care about me; he just likes the control that I allow him to have. My own stupid fault really.”

“You’re probably right.” I laugh. “I’m just glad to have another female here that isn’t pinned underneath a biker.”