Whether it was the hard lifestyle or living life on the go, Dice appeared more than ten years older than Romeo, though he couldn't be much more than five or six years older. Dice was still earning his freedom when Romeo patched in years ago.
At the mention of his age, Romeo rubbed the back of his neck. He had no business looking at Timber, imagining his cock in her pussy when he was old enough to be her dad.
"Who put a mark on your back?" He grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and straddled the seat backward, resting his elbows on the back.
"Sparrows in Seattle. I barely rode into their fucking territory, and they surrounded me. I can't remember most of it."
"WAKOM Motorcycle Club found you in Moses Lake and contacted us."
Dice nodded. "That's what Prez told me. I owe them. I don't know how in the hell I ended up in Moses Lake. Last place I remember being was in Seattle."
"What were you doing in Seattle?"
"I wanted to check on my daughter. She's an adult now, but I swing by and drop off some money with Ronna every so often to make sure they stay in their apartment. My ex has a way of running off and forgetting to pay the rent, so I usually ride over there every couple of months and see if Timber's got a roof over her head." Dice wrapped his arm around his ribs and leaned to the side, bracing his elbow on the dresser. "I never made it, and those fuckers took everything off me. I need to get back on the road and go back to check on her."
Romeo studied his MC brother. He'd taken an oath always to stay loyal to another Killere member.
But Dice wasn't the same as Bow or Shrader or Rager. Timber's dad blew in like a bad cold. Killere never knew when to expect him, which meant they couldn't count on him when it came to keeping Killere floating.
"Timber's safe," said Romeo.
Dice struggled to open his eyes wider, and he tilted his head to look at Romeo. "How do you know?"
"She's staying at my house. I'm watching over her."
"Fuck." Dice pushed to his feet, groaning at the effort mixed with the obvious pain. "Did Sparrows get to her?"
He shook his head. "Not that I know. She showed up at the truck stop last week and wanted a job. She tossed your name out, and Willow hired her."
"Willow?"
"Prez's old lady." Romeo forgot Dice hadn't been around lately to know Onyx got himself hitched, adopted three kids, and had a baby with Willow. "They live in the new house behind the clubhouse."
Dice stepped over to the window and peered outside. "I'll be damned. I never thought Onyx had it in him to settle down. What did you say her name was?"
"Willow."
Dice went back to his chair. "Tell me more about my daughter."
"She's working at the diner and needed a place to stay. I owed you, so I'm paying my debt."
Dice wrapped his arm around his middle and exhaled heavily. Romeo waited for him to blow up or attack him. If he had a daughter, he wouldn't let her stay with any of the members—loyal or not.
But Romeo wouldn't take advantage of Timber or let his brothers at her. At one time, Dice gave him money when the power company had shut down all the electricity at the house. He was barely wet behind the ears, still a prospect for Killere, trying to raise teenage brothers on his own and not doing a good job.
Dice stepped up and paid for six months of electricity and let Romeo get his feet under him again. That was more than his aunt had done, who'd given up on raising them.
"We're even," muttered Dice.
He no longer owed Dice. That debt was paid.
"Where's Ronna?"
"Who?"
"My old lady. My ex-old lady."
"Timber never mentioned her mom," he said.
"Yeah, she doesn't talk much." Dice grimaced. "Never has, really."
He'd noticed the same thing. Though at the diner, when she wasn't aware of him watching, she had no problem dealing with the customers. She came across as an outgoing, friendly, and personable young woman.
"If you bring her to me, is Onyx going to let her come inside the clubhouse?" Dice shifted on the seat as if testing his body. "I should be good to go by the end of the week, and I'd like to see her with my own eyes before I leave."
"Just like that?" Romeo frowned. "You don't want to know what she's doing here or why she's working at the diner?"
Dice's gaze narrowed. "Any questions I have, I'll ask my daughter."
"I brought her here the first night WACOM hauled your ass back to Spokane. Timber didn't want to see you." Romeo shook his head and walked to the door. "My debts paid. If you want to talk to your daughter, go see her yourself. I'm not bringing her to you."
He left the room and strolled out of the clubhouse without stopping and catching up with the other members loitering around. Dice's intentions were right, but something bigger was going on between him and Timber. He wasn't going to help Dice cause Timber any more pain.
And it was pain that was behind her eyes.
At first, he thought she was shy. But the more time he spent with her, he could see something had hurt her and still caused her pain. As long as she stayed under his roof, he'd make sure nobody could cause her more grief—even if that meant making things hard for Dice to see his daughter.
Like Dice had said, Timber was an adult. She could decide whether she wanted to meet with her dad. He wasn't going to force her to see Dice.
Chapter Eleven
Turner planted Timber in the living room corner and stood in front of her, blocking her view of Sander and Axel. She crossed her arms, not letting them bully her into staying.
"I paid for the nights I stayed here," she said.
"I see that." Turner cocked his head. "Why do you want to leave?"
"That's none of your business." Her insides quaked. "Legally, not letting me leave is holding me hostage. It's against the law."
"Do I look like I care about the law?" Turner grinned that famous Muel smile with the dimples they'd all inherited. "Can we sit and stop arguing?"
"I wasn't arguing." She flicked her gaze, trying to see around him. "They were."
The twins believed they were to hold her hostage in the house until Romeo arrived. When Turner came home, he was the only one who could stop Sander and Axel from arguing with her. Though, Turner wasn't letting her leave either.
Brody was no help because he took off after getting a phone call.
Turner's gaze softened, and he stepped back, motioning her to sit on the couch. She sidestepped around him and sat down.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'm leaving."
"Why?"
"It's none of your business." She gawked at Turner. "This is a nightmare. None of you have a right to keep me here. You're unbelievable."
"How so?"
"It's not normal for you to act like that with me." She clamped her lips together, feeling her heart race out of control. "You know what? Call Romeo and let me talk to him. I'll be out of here as soon as I tell him thank you for letting me stay, but I'm leaving, and you can go back to doing whatever you normally do when I'm not here."