"It hasn't been by choice."

He looked at Brandy, who was bending over by the glasses and re-stocking them. "You're really not tapping that?"

Grunting, I shoved my phone back into my jacket. "Fuck no. Been there. Done that. Won't go back."

He turned back to me. "Better go find Adriana then and set her right. If you've been keeping your dick clean for the past couple of weeks, it must be love."

"I'm going to head out right now and try to talk to her. You need anything from me?"

"No," he answered, lowering his voice. "Chopper is checking the Old Man's office for wiretaps and I'm going to keep an eye on Misty. Go do what you got to do, brother."

"Thanks," I said, grabbing my jacket. As I threw it on, I noticed the guy with the suit eyeballing me, a sneer on his face. I walked over to him. "You gotta problem?"

He grunted. "I think you've already proved who has the problem."

I shook my head and sneered. "Why don't you go and mind your own fucking business?"

"I was trying to until you started hassling Brandy. Someone had to say something."

Even though I was pissed off, I couldn't really blame him for wanting to stand up for her. From an outsider's perspective, I probably looked like an asshole picking on a beautiful girl. It was just unfortunate that she was also a lying, deceitful whore. "You know nothing about Brandy and as far as hassling her, she fucking deserves it. If you knew anything about her, you'd understand."

He picked up his drink. "Oh, I think I know her better than you think."

"I doubt it. You wouldn't be defending her if you did."

He didn't say anything.

"Look, do yourself a favor and stay away from her. You have no idea what kind of a woman she is or the trouble that she brings."

"Thanks, but from where I'm sitting, your advice seems pretty biased."

I looked at Brandy who was staring at us, an unreadable expression on her face. "So is yours, and that's only because you don't know her like I do. Hell, I take that back, nobody knows Brandy. Not even Brandy."

"I doubt that. She seemed pretty stable to me," he said, staring at her appreciatively.

"You said you were a lawyer, huh?"

"I'm a Defense Attorney."

I grunted. "Waste of my fucking time," I said, walking away. Not only did he obviously want to fuck Brandy, he was paid to argue away the facts and defend the guilty. Talking to him was like talking to a wall.

Chapter Thirteen.

I drove over to Adriana's place but nobody was home. I tried calling her phone again, but she continued to ignore me. Frustrated, I decided to try her at work, so I headed over to Dazzle. When I stepped inside, Adriana's mother, Vanda, looked startled.

"Mrs. Nikolas," I said, forcing a smile on my face.

She excused herself from the customer she was talking to and approached me.

"Do you know where Adriana is?"

"No. I haven't spoken to her since this morning." Her face darkened. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She stared into my face and frowned. "Your eyes say different. Are you two fighting?"

Not wanting to get into it with her, I ignored her question. "Could you have her call me? I really need to speak to her."

"Have you left her a message on her phone?"

I nodded.

"Then, she'll call you back when she wants."

"Everything okay here?" asked the security guard, who'd been watching us from a stool near the front of the store.

"Everything's fine. I was looking for Adriana. You're Jim, aren't you?" I asked, remembering that Adriana had mentioned him. Apparently he was dating her mother.

"Yes. You must be Trevor?" he said, his face relaxing. He held out his hand. "I don't think we've been formerly introduced."

I shook it. "No, we haven't. Nice meeting you."

"You as well. So, you're looking for Adriana?"

"Yeah." I turned to Vanda. "I'll swing back over to your place and try to catch her. I stopped there first before driving out here. We may have just missed each other."

"Maybe."

"Well, see you around," I said, turning to leave. As usual, Vanda made me feel like an outsider. It was obvious that she would never accept me or my world.

"Wait, Trevor," said Vanda.

I turned back around.

She sighed. "Adriana wasn't feeling well this morning. I thought that maybe she had the flu."

"Really? I spoke to her earlier but she didn't mention anything about being sick," I replied.

"She was. I'm not even sure why she went to school today. She's stubborn, that one."

Jim laughed. "What do you expect, she's your daughter, Vanda."

She smiled weakly. "This is true."

"Thanks," I replied. "I'll leave her alone and let her sleep then."

"That is probably the wisest thing to do."

Nodding, I left the store, hoping that maybe Vanda was finally warming up to me. Now, I just needed to find Adriana and find out what was causing her to be so fucking cold.

Chapter Fourteen.

After Trevor left Griffin's, Jake tried flirting with me again, but this time I ignored his advances. The quickie in the back had helped with my need to get laid, but I decided that I just wasn't interested in hooking up with him again, especially now that Adriana believed that Trevor had cheated on her. It wouldn't be long until I had him back in my arms and Adriana would be another bump in the road for the both of us. I believed that we were meant to be together and that this part in our lives would only make us stronger in the future.

"So, what was that all about with you and Raptor?" whispered Misty, when Tank left us to go into the back room. "He was flipping out."

"Just a misunderstanding."

"Seemed more than that to me. He was so pissed off that he almost broke his hand punching the wall."

"I know. He has a temper. In fact, he's still angry at me for cheating on him with Danny."

"The guy you used to work for?"

I nodded. "It was a mistake, but hell, you know these bikers," I said, lowering my voice. "I mean, it's okay for them to have sex with other women anytime they want. But God forbid if one of us reciprocates. They're a bunch of Neanderthals, if you ask me."

"I hear you," said Misty, chuckling. "Sometimes I wonder if they have more respect for their bikes than they do us."

"Oh, they definitely do. So, are you dating any of them?" I asked.

"Not really. I mean, I've had sex with a couple of the guys, for shits and giggles, you know? But, I'm not really seeing any of them seriously."

"Did you ever have sex with Tank?"

"Hell yeah. Not Raptor, though. Just so you know."

I chuckled. "I didn't think so but even if you did, I'm not worried about it," I replied, although, truthfully, I would have been really pissed.

"He must have really flipped out when you cheated on him. I can only imagine how that went, especially after his little tizzy here."

"He went ape-shit. Kicked me out of the house. I had to move in with Danny for a while, but now I'm back home with him. Where I should be. Things are going to work out, too."

"Really? Aren't you worried about him and Adriana?"

"He's just using her to get back at me," I said confidently. "Once our baby is born "

Misty sucked in her breath. "Baby? What baby?"

I covered my mouth and laughed. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say anything. I'm pregnant."

"Trevor's?"

I nodded.

"And he knows about it?"

"That's why he let me move back in. Well, that and the fact that deep down, I know he still really loves me."

"Wow. That's just crazy."

"Crazy is right. Crazy love," I answered, sighing. "I just wish he'd forget about that bitch, Adriana, and realize that we're meant to be together."

"From the way he was talking earlier, he might not have a choice but to say 'baa-bye'," said Misty, waving her hand.

I giggled. "Exactly."

The front door opened and Slammer walked into the bar.

Misty straightened up. "Wonder what's up with him," she mumbled, noticing his stony expression.

"He always looks like he's pissed off about something," I whispered as he approached the bar. When our eyes met, I smiled at him. "Hi, Slammer."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "How's it going, ladies? You keeping my customers happy?"

"Not as happy as the strippers," said Misty, nodding toward the stage where one of them was pretending to ride a bull, naked but wearing tassels.

Slammer turned to look at the stripper. "Nadine's got a new act, huh? Where'd they get the mechanical bull?"

"Not sure. It doesn't work, though. She just uses it as a prop," replied Misty.

He nodded and then looked at me. "How's it going? Catching onto things here?"

"Yes. Thanks so much for giving me a job. I don't know what I'd have done without you giving me this chance. Trevor "

"Raptor, you mean," said Slammer, grabbing a toothpick. He stuck it between his teeth. "Use their Road Names in here."

"Oh, sure. Anyway, I'm just so grateful that you gave me a job." I leaned forward and lowered my voice. "I just wish I could repay you properly."

"What do you mean?" he asked, as Misty rushed over to the other side of the bar to refill a couple of beers.

I threw my hair over my shoulder and smiled. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about," I whispered, staring up at him through my lashes. The truth was that I'd always secretly fantasized about giving the Gold Viper's president, Slammer oral. The thought of watching him lose control for a few seconds and to know that I was responsible for it was a real turn on.

"Darlin', if I wasn't happily engaged I might have taken you up on that offer," he replied, chuckling. "But, you know how it is."

"Too bad. If you ever change your mind..."