Billionaire Ransom (5 page)

“Really? Even when she hit her teens?” Katie figured Lisa would have figured it out by then, especially with Morgan to look up to.

“She wasn’t prepared for it never happening. She never learned how to accept that she had to make her own family if she really wanted one. When she got out, Craig went and picked her up in the car he’d been saving for years to get, and took her to the apartment we shared back then, and even then I knew… I knew she was still looking for that family, and Craig wasn’t what she wanted.”

“She couldn’t love him,” Katie said softly. “How could she? He reminded her of what she’d wanted so badly and never got. Every time she looked at you, or him.”

Morgan’s eyes met hers. “Yes, and yet he couldn’t let her go. He fell in love with her, with the idea that they were destined to be together because of similar circumstance.” He snorted. “He fell in love with what he saw when he looked at her – the one thing that made foster life bearable. And what she saw when she looked at him was someone who knew she’d never be wanted.”

Overcome with pity, all Katie could do was lie there in the shelter of his arms and be grateful that they had both made it out of their childhoods and into an adulthood that would still allow them to trust and love each other.

Morgan sighed, long and drawn-out. He too must have shared a lifetime of stuff he had shoved deep down. “It is what it is, Katie. Don’t feel too sorry for any of us. Lisa should have realized that she was doing the same thing as an adult that she’d done as a kid at those fairs. She ran to anybody she thought might want her and she did whatever it took to make sure someone picked her. She broke her own heart. And Craig broke his own heart, too.

“Sometimes life breaks us so hard, we don’t know how to stand up again.” Katie wondered about her mother. “Or it changes us so much that we become a shell of the person we’re meant to be.”

“And we need others to help us up when we can’t stand on our own?” The sarcasm in his remark hurt her, but Katie understood it wasn’t meant for her. “I do feel guilty. I feel guilty because I watched that toxic thing between them spiraling out of control and I never stepped in. I should have, years ago, and I didn’t. So that’s my bad. I should have made Craig see what was really happening before… before…” He shook his head. “But I didn’t because I couldn’t hurt him. I knew it would tear him apart and he’d blame me.”

“You’re his best friend, his brother. Of course you couldn’t.”

He sighed and rested a hand on her hip. He yawned, a huge and long yawn, and then he sighed again. “It just sucks sometimes,” he mumbled.”

They were talked out, their souls laid bare to each other. Katie lay beside him, feeling the rhythm of his breathing change as he drifted off to sleep.

As she started to slide into her own dreams, she had one fleeting thought: they were made for each other. They both knew loneliness and lack of love, and they both knew what it was like to want to be the best person they could be, for someone who would never be able to understand them.

She could love him.

Love him harder than any pain she’d ever felt.

The next morning over a leisurely breakfast of cheese and egg omelets and wheat toast, Katie said, “I think today would be a good day to go house-hunting.”

Morgan set his cup down. “If you want to move, but I really don’t think you should.”

Katie hadn’t expected Morgan to be so against her moving into her own place. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, “Why are you being so hostile over this?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Hostile? How am I being hostile?”

She sighed, “Maybe that was the wrong word. Maybe I meant adamant. I mean, why does my wanting my own place seem to be so…I mean why are you arguing against it?”

“Uh, ‘cause my ex-club brother kidnapped you yesterday?”

She stared at him, annoyed that he made her feel like it was her fault. Whatever soul- baring they had done last night was now wrapped up tightly and buried away. “The truth is, we’re …well, we haven’t been together that long. I want to be with you. I hope you want to be with me. But I need a little independence. It’s not anything against you. It’s just that…well, I’ve always lived where I was told to live. I’ve always done exactly what I was told to do. I never had the time or the opportunity to think about what I wanted.”

His mouth flattened into a thin line. “I see.”

He was angry, and she didn’t know why. She studied his face. “Okay, you’re mad, but why?”

Morgan set his coffee cup down on the table and said, “I’m not mad.”

“The hell you aren’t.”

Her words, uttered in a belligerent tone, made his eyebrow quirk up again. “Okay, I’m pissed. I mean…well, I sort of figured you’d want to be here with me. To tell you the truth, I’ve never let a woman come here, or stay the night, or anything at all.”

Should she be flattered he’d shared that with her? Well, she wasn’t. “What exactly do you want, Morgan?”

“I want you.” His words were blunt. “I know it makes me sound like I’m rushing things, but I want you with me.”

She wondered if his insecurities as a kid were the reason he was pushing her to stay now. “I would be with you. I just wouldn’t be staying in your house. And that’s the real issue for me. It’s
your
house. I want something that’s mine too.”

His eyes went to his cup and he stared down into the depths of his coffee. “Katie, I love you.”

Her breath caught. She could barely breathe when she said, “I love you too, Morgan. This isn’t about whether or not I love you. It’s about me trying to be an adult. Do you know I’ve never even paid rent? Like, in my life? I’ve never picked out drapes or bought little…stuff…for a house. I’ve never signed a lease, and I’m way past the age when I should have done all of those things.” She stood and pushed by her chair. “I’m Katie Wilkes. Everyone just handed me everything, and I never had to fight for anything. I never had to choose anything. Now I want to try living my life on my own terms. I want to get a job I like and am passionate about. I want to pay bills and deal with all the stupid little things that I never even knew existed. I know that sounds lame and weird, but that’s the best I can do to explain it.”

His eyes met hers. “I get it. I just don’t like it.”

“I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still be together, does it?” She brought her mug to the sink and turned to watch him.

Silence filled the room. Her stomach tied itself into knots. She waited, hoping he would give her an answer.

Finally, he said, “No, it doesn’t mean we can’t be together.”

She sat back down on her chair, watching him. His mood had been mercurial this morning, and she was on edge. He’d told her about his past, but there was something he wasn’t telling her about now. She took a long breath and said, “Morgan, what’s going on?”

He said nothing. Just when Katie was about to stand and walk out of the room, he said, “It’s club business; you wouldn’t understand.”

There it was again. That distance between them. Would he ever trust her with what he did, and, by extension—who he was? She doubted it, and that hurt her deeply. How could they have any kind of relationship if he held everything back and only gave her part of himself?

She’d fallen in love with him partly because he was a bad-ass biker guy. And she knew it. Except that part of him was often closed to her, and she didn’t know how to reach him.

“I have a lot to do today. I can’t take you to the club all day, but I don’t want to leave you on your own.”

“Craig’s not going to come back.” The words came out like static, like she was playing choppy notes on a piano. She was sure he wouldn’t. She started to clear the table, and he stood and began to help. Their hands bumped each other’s and she leaned into him, just a little.

His hand rested on the curve of her hip and she felt relief filling her. They were okay. They would be okay, anyway. Her heart lifted slightly and so did her mood. They were both exhausted, but there was stuff to get done. Pushing the strain of life on each other wasn’t fair. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be running around all day. I need to be busy. It’ll be fine.” She forced a smile. “I’ll see you tonight?”

He grinned, obviously relieved she wasn’t going to push him for information. “Yes; why don’t you come by the bar when you’re done? We can get a sloppy pizza and some beer, hang out and watch the craziness.”

“That sounds good.” She gave him a kiss and he kissed her back, making her feel even more assured. “I’m going to buy a car today! How’s that for starters?”

He burst out laughing. “I saved for four years before I could afford my first jalopy. Don’t be showing up in a Benz or a Mercedes at the club. The rims’ll be gone before our pizza even comes out of the oven.”

She chuckled. “I’ll find something safe, and boring-looking.”

He dug into the pocket of his jeans and separated a key from his fob. “Drive my jalopy today. Find a place today, do the car thing tomorrow.”

“You’ve got a car?” She hadn’t seen him drive it.

“It’s in the garage,” he chuckled, and headed outside while she went to grab her purse.

She stepped out and stopped in her tracks. Morgan’s car was vintage, fire-engine-red Mustang. “And you’re worried
my
rims will get stolen at the club?”

He waved his hand. “Everyone there knows this is mine. They wouldn’t touch it.”

He waited for her to get into the car and wave at him before he swung a leg over his bike and cranked it up.

Katie grinned as she watched him in the rearview. The man was so damn hot, and so gallant, too.

Things would be okay
, she told herself as she headed out to a real estate agent Morgan had suggested.

Things are going to be okay.
I hope.

**

Katie found that, despite having a large amount of money and a good credit score, the downtown condos were either all full, or they were too large, or too mind-bogglingly expensive for her to consider, given that she wasn’t currently working.

The agent had tendered the opinion that she would be better off buying rather than renting, and that had just flattened her spirits further. She didn’t want that kind of commitment just yet. She also wasn’t sure if Morgan would want to move into a condo; he seemed happy in the modest little home in the tiny suburb right near the outskirts of the business center.

It sort of annoyed her that she was considering what Morgan might want, when her whole reason for moving into her own place was to find out what it was that
she
wanted to do. But as she traipsed through place after place, it became ridiculously clear to her that she wasn’t really interested in moving into her own place. She wanted to take the next step, but just wasn’t ready for the leap. Maybe yesterday’s fiasco had frightened her more than she wanted to admit. Realistically, it was scary as hell. She should have some kind of PTSD from it. Craig had held a gun in her direction and, at one point, maybe more than once, she had believed he might actually shoot her. Now she knew he wouldn’t have, but still… she was more shaken than she wanted to admit. Years of keeping it cool on the outside—thanks to her father’s teaching—were helping keep her composed.

She sighed, and blew her bangs from her forehead.

The problem was that she wasn’t sure how long Morgan would want her at his place. She kept going back to the fact that they hadn’t been together very long, and she wasn’t sure if what they had would last. He had told her he wanted her to stay, but it might have been out of a sense of obligation.

She had never really been in love before, and the dizzying array of emotions that Morgan brought up in her was as frightening as it was exhilarating and thrilling.

With no success in finding a place, she headed toward Morgan’s bar.
You don’t buy a house in a day. It times time,
she told herself. She waited for oncoming traffic to clear, and the last vehicle was a bike turning into the bar. She recognized Morgan’s outline and grinned. Man, he was sexy on a bike.

She pulled into the parking lot of the bar, right behind him. She got out, a smile on her face, and walked toward him.

He slid off his bike, his hand up in what she thought was a wave, but it turned instantly frantic as he suddenly shouted, “Down, get down!”

Katie hesitated, the corners of her mouth dropping.

He raced toward her, still yelling.

Katie, frozen by the weirdness of his behavior, stood where she was. Then she heard tires squealing and a low, ominous rattle.

Gunfire!

Morgan’s body hit hers. They went tumbling down beside the car. The rough concrete met the silk blouse she wore and ripped it slightly near one shoulder. Her thin slacks were no protection against the concrete either; she felt every inch of the stuff as it met the backs of her legs.

His body pressed against hers, checking to see she wasn’t hit. He instantly rolled off and grabbed her hand. “Stay down,” he ordered and began to do a duck walk, tugging her along. She got to her feet in a low squat, following him in the same silly position he was in.

Glass shattered above their heads. She covered her head with her free hand as splinters of it rained down on them. A low and terrified cry escaped her lips. A day with Morgan was guaranteed not to be boring. What the hell was she doing here?

He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled as he panted, “The dumpster!”

The dumpster? He wanted her to hide in a dumpster? He yanked her forward as the car cruised along the lot, bullets spilling from the back window.

She caught a glimpse of the face of the man in the backseat, the one holding the gun, and she threw an arm up to protect herself as more gunfire belched from the barrel of the gun.

The hiss and whine of the bullets hitting the cars and the concrete made her move. They ducked behind the dumpster, Morgan pushing her as far back into one smelly corner as he could.

The shots against the dumpster rang out and echoed horribly against the metal of the dumpster. A silent scream escaped as she gulped air, another bullet whizzing by her head, cutting off her ability to scream or breathe. She struggled to straighten up so her lungs could clear and she could breathe again.

Morgan hissed, “Stay down, damn it!”

She stared at him, unable to reply, so shocked by the sudden bout of violence that she had no idea what to say or do other than obey him. She dropped down and covered her head with her arms as she pushed her face between her knees. She plugged her ears, trying to make the noises stop.

Tires squealed angrily and suddenly there was silence. Dead silence.

Katie lifted her head slightly and watched as Morgan cautiously peeked around the side of the dumpster.

“They’re gone. For now, anyway.” He pulled her up as she struggled to her feet. “You okay?” His hands roamed over her body, checking for wounds.

She nodded her head. “I think I’m okay,” she managed through chattering teeth.

“We need to get inside and fast. Don’t want those assholes coming back for round two.”

Round two?

He put his arm around her and, staying pressed close to the stinking dumpster, made his way around. The door to the club opened and Clive and Billy tumbled out, both of them carrying guns. A few of the more sedate customers came out too, their mouths hanging open, startled expressions on their faces.

Clive shouted, “Thought we heard gunfire!” He glanced at the parking lot. “Holy shit!”

Morgan waved them over. Clive and Billy sidled up, looking side to side as they sought out the source of the gunfire. Morgan spoke, his voice low and deadly, “Get her inside and safe. Get those yahoos taking pictures either back in the bar or out of here. Tell them it was some kids playing a joke on the old biker farts. Tell ‘em it was BB guns. Whatever, I don’t give a fuck! Tell them anything, but get them quieted down now.”

“On it,” Clive said, and reached for Katie.

Katie pulled her arms out of Clive’s reach and turned to Morgan. “Where are you going?”

His mouth was a hard line and there were red patches on both his cheeks. “To see Craig and find out what the fuck he did now.”