Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons MC #4)(67)

“Honey,” I whisper, caressing his rough cheek with my palm. “Does it bother you that she isn’t?”

“I feel like she is,” he says, looking me in the eye. “Even if I know she isn’t. Does that make sense?”

I nod. “I slept around a lot. After what happened. I was partying and drinking. I liked the attention I got from men. I wasn’t me, not really. I was hurt and lost. When I got pregnant with Cara, I changed again, but for the better. I stopped sleeping around and partying. I became a mother. She saved me, in a way. Wade was someone I’d been sleeping with for a week or two; he didn’t want anything to do with her, like I told you before. He wanted me to have an abortion, but I told him I wouldn’t. I also told him I wouldn’t ask him for anything, so he agreed.”

“Stupid f*ck,” Rake growls, arms tightening around me. “How did you manage by yourself?”

“It was rough,” I admit hesitantly. “I studied and worked in a bar. Tried to give Cara everything she needed, but yeah, there were some bad times. Luckily she’s too young to remember them.”

“Fuck, Bailey, you could have come to me. No matter what, I would have helped you.”

“I couldn’t come to you then, Rake. I’d left you behind, but I was still hurting over everything that happened.”

He cups my face and presses his nose against mine. “We didn’t have an easy road, but we’re both fighters, and we’re going to f*ckin’ get through this. My past isn’t going to touch us, and neither is yours, because we aren’t going to let it. Nothing is going to touch us. Nothing else matters anymore, baby. Nothing.”

“Ugh, stop being so cute,” I tell him, kissing his nose.

He flashes me a slow-spreading smile. “Don’t think anyone has called me cute other than you.”

“Probably because you haven’t been cute to anyone else,” I say, winking at him.

“True,” he agrees, hiding his face in my neck.

I yawn. “Can we nap for a bit and then take Cara out for dinner?”

“Sounds good,” he says, pulling my body closer against his, as close as it could possibly get.

“Feeling clingy are we?” I joke, kissing his jaw.

“I want to sleep with me inside you.”

“Why?” I ask, brows furrowing.

“Because it’s home.”

*

“Did I tell you what happened with Talon?” Anna asks me the next day, looking sadder than I’ve seen her in a long time. “Arrow broke his jaw.”

My eyes widen. “Can’t Talon fight?”

He’s the president of their club; surely he knows a thing or two.

“He didn’t fight back,” Anna tells me, looking down at her phone screen. “He just let Arrow punch him in the face a few times without doing anything.”

“Why?” I ask, wrinkling my nose.

“I have no idea. I don’t understand these men any more than you do.” She sighs, tucking her phone into her pocket and looking at me. “I really don’t know what to do here. Arrow and Rake both hate Talon. I don’t see why everyone can’t just get along. We’re all tied together in some way, whether it’s good or bad.”

“I think the only good tie is your friendship with Talon,” I say. “Everything else is kind of shit.”

And I think Anna is kind of na?ve about the whole situation, if I’m being honest. I can understand how she wants to fit Talon into her life, but her loyalty to Arrow and the club has to come first.

She opens her mouth to object but then closes it. “Yeah. That pretty much sums it up, actually.”

“Talon will be fine,” I assure her. “He’s a badass MC president.”

“That he is,” Anna says wryly. “I need to worry about fixing shit with Arrow, not Talon right now.”

“Is he still angry?”

“A little,” she says, wincing. “And I understand why. He’ll get over it.”

“Maybe you should be good until then,” I suggest.

Her lip twitches. “I think that might be for the best.”

Lana walks into the kitchen, where Anna and I are sitting, a bottle of champagne in her hand. “Just published a new book! You know the routine. Time to celebrate!”

“I’ll start being good tomorrow,” Anna jokes, making me laugh and Lana stare at us quizzically. We both congratulate her on her new release and decide to go out to dinner to celebrate.

Actual dinner this time.

*

“Adam,” Cara says, holding a book up to him. “Will you read this to me, please?”

Rake picks up the massive book and looks at my daughter. “The whole thing? I think we’ll be here for the next day.”

Cara giggles and shakes her head. “Just a little bit.”

“I’m sure I can do that,” he tells her gently. “Why don’t you get ready for bed first and then I’ll read to you until you fall asleep?”

“Okay,” she agrees. “But don’t leave, all right?”

My eyes widen at that.

“I’m going to be right here,” Rake tells her. “I don’t want to be anywhere else right now.”

“Sometimes you stay at your other house,” she says, shrugging. “I’ll go get ready for bed.”