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WHEN THE TWO detectives left, Vanda turned to me. “This is your fault,” she said, angrily. “If it wasn’t for you, none of this would have happened.”
Before I could respond, Adriana got between us. “Mom! It’s not his fault. He had nothing to do with this.”
“They’re both in gangs,” she said, waving her hand at my cut. “Obviously, they hung around each other. Didn’t I tell you if you hung around biker scum that you’re just looking for trouble?”
“Wait a second,” I said, now glaring back at her. “You have no right to judge me or any of my crew for that matter, and I think you owe me an apology.”
She snorted. “An apology? Right. What are you even doing in my house?” she said and then looked at Adriana. “Adriana, what’s he doing here? Didn’t we talk about this earlier? You promised you weren’t going to see him again.”
Clenching my jaw, I found myself hoping for the first time ever that a woman I was interested would grow a set of balls.
“I never said that,” she replied. “And he had nothing to do with this. I met him through Krystal...”
“Who’s been kidnapped, God forbid,” she said, making the sign of the cross. “How does Krystal even know any of these people?”
“She’s seeing Tank,” replied Adriana. “Who is in their club. The Gold Vipers.”
Her lips tightened. “And you wonder why this happened? Didn’t I tell you how dangerous these people were?”
“Ma’am, I wouldn’t let anything happen to your daughter. You have my word,” I tried again, hoping she’d give me a break for Adriana’s sake. I could tell how much she loved her mother and I respected that. I didn’t like the shit spewing out of her mouth, but I wasn’t about to make a scene.
Her eyes burned into mine. “I don’t care about your word. It’s the word of the people you hang out with that I have a problem with.”
I clenched my jaw. “My brothers respect women. Most of them.”
“And was this guy, Breaker, one of your brothers?”
“Fuck no. He wasn’t part of our crew.”
“Charming vocabulary you have,” she scoffed.
“I never claimed to be a saint, Mrs. Nikolas.”
“Believe me, no one would never mistake you for one,” she answered.
I grunted.
“Look, we don’t have time to argue about this right now, Mom. We need to get down to the precinct.”
“I’m coming with you,” she replied, picking up her purse.
Adriana raised her hand in the air. “No, actually, I prefer that you stayed home.”
Vanda’s face fell. “Why?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “Because I don’t need to listen to you rail me about Trevor on the ride out there.”
Vanda looked at me, her eyes full of venom. She turned back to Adriana and raised her chin. “Fine. I will drive separately.”
“You don’t need to come,” said Adriana.
“Of course I do. Someone needs to be there for support,” said Vanda.
“That someone is already going. Me,” I replied.
“If you want to look out for my daughter, you’ll stay out of her life,” she said firmly.
“Mom!”
“I’m sorry, Adriana, but you know how I feel about bikers. I’m not going to pretend I’m happy to find the both of you together in my house.”
“I thought this was my house, too,” said Adriana, now looking almost as angry as me.
“Of course it is. But, you are my daughter and I am just trying to protect you.”
I sighed. “I’m going upstairs to get my jacket,” I said, heading for the steps.
“What is his jacket doing in your bedroom?” said Vanda shrilly.
Shaking my head, I went into her bedroom and grabbed my jacket. As I was turning around, Adriana stepped into the room.
“I’m sorry about my mother,” she said, walking over to the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair. “She can be a real pain in the ass.”
I walked up behind her. “Yeah, well she’s not afraid to speak her mind. I’ll give that to her.”
“She doesn’t know you, though. So, don’t let it get to you.”
I grabbed her around the waist and smiled at her in the mirror. “The only thing that gets to me, Kitten, is you.”
She smiled.
I kissed the side of her head. “What a nightmare, huh?” I whispered.
Adriana nodded.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I let her go.
“I wish I would have waited for her to pull out of the parking lot,” she said, looking teary-eyed again. “I feel like it’s my fault.”
“It’s definitely not your fault, babe. Don’t even go there.” I reached inside my jacket for my phone. “And, don’t worry, I’m sure Slammer and Tank will get her back.”
She wiped a tear from under her lash. “What do you think happened?”
I couldn’t tell her about The Judge. She wouldn’t understand. But, I wasn’t going to lie to her either. “Personally? I think it was retaliation. I think the Devil’s Rangers believe we had something to do with Breaker’s murder and took her.”
“Did you?” she whispered.
I looked her in the eye. “I can honestly say that none of us killed him.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.”
“Are you two coming?” asked Vanda, standing in the doorway. She was glaring at me again.
“Yes,” said Adriana, grabbing a pair of socks from her dresser.
I looked down and saw Adriana’s dress still lying on the floor next to her bra. When I raised my eyes, I saw that Vanda had noticed it too, and was not happy.
I couldn’t help but to dig into her. “Looks like a bomb went off in here,” I said, grinning.
Vanda’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll wait for you outside,” she said, walking away from the bedroom.
I walked over to the doorway and leaned out. “Since you’re not riding with Adriana, you can certainly ride with me.” I smiled evilly. I just couldn’t help myself. “I don’t bite.”
She grunted. “Hah. I’d rather walk.”
Man, she was brutal. “You sure? Riding on the back of a Harley might just put a smile on your face.”
“Nothing you could do for me would ever put a smile on my face,” she answered, heading down the stairs. “Unless it has to do with leaving my daughter alone.”
I sighed.