Slowly getting to her feet, Arden didn’t immediately head for the door. Instead, she faced Wizard’s unforgiving expression. “Please don’t penalize any of them for helping Luc. None of us were aware of what he has been going through. I only found out today that they were making fun of him for not having a car. I have an appointment to speak to the headmaster to get him back in school. I’m sure once he’s aware of what bullying Luc has been dealing with, it’ll stop.”
Wizard didn’t respond, just stared pointedly at the door.
Turning, she left feeling two inches tall, without offering the apology she wanted to give. His attitude plainly showed he didn’t want to hear anything else she had to say, and she couldn’t blame him.
Starting her car, she blinked back furious tears as she drove away. Luc had planned to run away, and they had stopped him. Their dad would be home tonight, so she wouldn’t be able to talk to Luc without him overhearing. She would call into work in the morning and tell them she would be a couple of hours late. She would take Luc to school herself. Once he knew the headmaster would help, he would return to the fun, loving brother she was used to.
Worry about Luc had her wanting to go home and curl up in bed, pretending this day never happened, instead of driving to work the last few hours of the shift she was late for. This day sucked. At least tomorrow would be better.
CHAPTER 4
THE OFFER
“Nothing is going to change.”
“Yes, it will. You’ll see,” she promised a gloomy Luc, who was walking alongside of her with dragging footsteps.
Coming to a stop at the headmaster’s office, she reached out to touch him, but he shrugged away from her touch. She let her hand fall back to her side.
“We’ll talk after school. I’ll be outside waiting.”
“Yay.”
Arden watched until Luc was out of sight before entering the office.
She was still in the main office an hour later when the secretary finally told her the headmaster was ready for their appointment.
Twenty minutes later, Arden returned to her car dispiritedly.
Inside, she tiredly laid her head on the steering wheel. She had only managed a couple of hours sleep before having to get dressed. Making no attempt to start the car, she sucked in deep breaths to keep from bursting into tears.
What was she going to tell Luc after school? Was she supposed to admit he was right? The headmaster had been informed by the staff that Luc was being mistreated, chalking it up to boys being boys and they would grow out of their misbehavior. If she did, there would be no way Luc would continue going to Skyline.
The only concession the headmaster was willing to make was to let Luc return to keep his scholarship, if he made up the work he had missed. When she had argued about taking legal action, he had turned the table on her, asking when her father would return to work. She had fled his office after lying by saying he was waiting for his doctor’s approval.
Raising her head, Arden stared blankly ahead. What should she do? She couldn’t take off work to pick Luc up from school every day. Even if she could, it wouldn’t stop the bullying during school hours. She couldn’t transfer him to another school without one of their parents finding out how bad it was at Skyline. Both parents were in extremely frail health, and neither would keep a secret of this magnitude from the other.
No, this problem was all on her, and she had no clue to what to do.
Giving a startled scream at a rap on the window next to her head, she turned to see Doom sitting on a motorcycle. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t been aware he was there.
Starting the car, she rolled the window down.
Doom leaned his head closer to the window so she could hear him over the purr of his motor. “Wizard wants a talk.”
“Where is he?” she asked, glancing around.
“At the club.”
“I have to go to work,” she protested.
“It won’t take long. Go first.” He gave a curt nod of his head toward the road. “I’ll follow.” Then he straightened back on his motorcycle without giving her a chance to reply.
Arden debated whether to take the left to work or the right to The Last Riders’ club. She still owed them an apology. Coming to the decision, she took a right.
She found it hard to keep her eyes on the road and not on the rearview mirror. Doom on a motorcycle was a spectacular sight. He handled the bike with ease. She could understand Luc becoming so enthralled with the bikers at sixteen. At twenty-seven, she was having a hell of time with it herself.
They gave off an air of danger, confidence, and of being untamable; all of which would appeal to the teenager who was too young to have acquired those qualities yet. There wasn’t a woman alive who wasn’t attracted to a bad boy. It was hotwired into their DNA. They would fall for them every time.
You couldn’t live in Ohio without having heard of The Last Riders. She had seen them riding around the bustling city occasionally and had passed the club a few times on the way to Kentucky. If she wasn’t mistaken, one of the nurses on staff had even dated a Last Rider for a brief time.
Haven was a couple of years younger, outgoing, and had quickly made friends among the staff when she had been hired. Many of the staff, male and female, would often go with her after work, even have gatherings on the weekend. When Mondays would roll around, Arden was treated to listening to what a great time they all had and plans for their next get-together. Then, one Monday, the gossip mill was filled. Haven had met someone at a bar they had gone out to. It wasn’t long before the details had filtered down to her low-level job that the man she had met was a Last Rider. Those who had been with Haven all talked about how good-looking he was and how envious they were of her. The gossip began to shrink week by week about her new love interest when Haven stopped going out with their coworkers and spent more and more of her free time with The Last Riders. Then her friends in the office started complaining they never got to see her anymore, even begging her to bring him along when they invited her out. Invariably, she would make one excuse after another. Soon, they had quit asking. Haven hadn’t appeared to mind. She seemed to be walking on cloud nine.
A couple of months later, Arden had noticed a change in Haven when she would escort patients down to schedule their surgery. She was no longer walking on clouds. Her feet seemed to have landed with a thud.
Arden’s heart started beating faster when she arrived at the club. Nervous, she got out of her car and waited for Doom to park and get off his bike. She fell in step behind him as they strode toward the bar. The Last Rider then opened the door for them without a word.
Regretting coming here instead of going to work with every step she took, Arden promised herself she would listen to what Wizard had to say, give the apology she should have given yesterday, then get out as quickly as possible without making a fool of herself.
Entering the bar during the morning was much different than last night. It was nearly empty, with only three bikers sitting at a round table. They glanced toward them then resumed talking among themselves.
Assuming they were going to the office, Arden bumped into Doom when he turned in the direction where the bikers were sitting.
“Excuse me,” she apologized for bumping into him. “I thought we were going the other way.”