Running from the Bad Boys

WALKER

“Hey, Bro!” I called out.

Hayden didn’t respond, just kept washing his hands.

“What’s up?” I asked.

He shrugged and turned off the faucet.

He grabbed a towel, turned his back to me, and dried his hands.

“Hayden!” I said, my voice firm.

Silence.

“Damn it, man!” I exclaimed, my temper flaring.

He turned slowly, his face blank.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I just want to know what you’ve been up to?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

He started for his room, but I reached out, touched his shoulder, stopped him.

“Don’t be like this,” I said, my voice soft.

He turned and looked at me, his face still blank.

“You’ve got some nerve. You kept Tayla’s safety from me. You stopped me from beating Dominic to death when he lost her. And now what? You expect me to be all brotherly?”

“I’ll get her back,” I promised.

“You think? She’s scared of us. She’s not coming back. I’ve lost the only thing that ever made sense to me. The only thing I’ve ever loved.”

“It’s not just you this affects! Damn it, man, I was going to ask her to marry me!” I said, my voice rising.

He looked down, and I saw tears in his eyes.

“She doesn’t belong in our world, Walker. She’s a good person, and we’re messed up. She deserves better than us,” he said, a tear sliding down his cheek.

Hayden never cried!

Not even when we were kids!

I stepped forward and grabbed his face in my hands.

“I promise you. I’ll get her back. I’ll make her stay with us,” I vowed.

Hayden stepped back, pulling away from me.

“She won’t come back,” he said, shaking his head, then walked away.

I turned and went to my room.

I hadn’t slept well since Tayla left. My body ached, and I had a constant headache.

Maybe it was because all I could think about was getting Tayla back?

I took a long, hot shower, then dried off and climbed into bed.

My stomach growled, but I was too tired to eat.

I just wanted Tayla.

Memories of her smile, the feel of her skin under my hands, haunted me.

I smiled, remembering making love to her during a thunderstorm.

I got out of bed and pulled a pillowcase from my hoodie pocket, then brought it to bed with me.

I held it to my nose, breathed in her scent, and closed my eyes.

Where are you, little one?

I held the pillowcase close, laid back down, and kept it near my face so I could smell her.

I woke late the next morning to my phone ringing.

It was Dominic.

“You found her!” I said.

“No. I went to her mom’s. She said Tayla was going to find her dad.”

“How’d you get her to tell you that?” I asked, suspicious.

“I played the helpless, shirtless guy with a broken-down car. She was happy to give me a glass of lemonade and chat about her daughter while I pretended to fix my car.”

Dominic could charm anyone!

He’d always had a way with people, even our teachers in school.

“Tayla’s dad is a chef, right? Pretty famous, I think,” Dominic said.

“Yeah. His name is…Raymond…Richard…”

“Ryan!” Hayden’s voice came from the doorway.

“Ryan Goodman,” I told Dominic.

“Want me to find him, see if he knows where Tayla is?”

“I’m not paying you to have tea with him,” I said, my voice firm.

“Okay. I’m on it.”

The call ended, and I watched Hayden cross his arms over his chest.

“You going to fill me in, or keep it a secret with your real brother?” he asked.

“Dominic said her mom told him she was going to look for her dad. He’s on his way to find him,” I told him.

“Good.”

He left the room, closing the door behind him.

I still needed to know what he’d been up to last night, why he’d had blood on his hands.

I got dressed and went to the kitchen. Hayden was there, drinking coffee.

“Where were you last night?” I asked.

“Nowhere,” he said.

I made myself a coffee and watched him finish his.

He clearly didn’t want to be around me.

“I’ve got some collections to make today. Want to come?” I asked.

Hayden liked collecting payments. Sometimes it meant roughing someone up if they couldn’t pay.

“No.”

He turned and headed for the door. I noticed the bulge of his gun in the back of his pants.

Damn!

I went to the living room, turned on my laptop, typed Ryan Goodman into the search engine.

A list of basic information came up, along with some videos of his cooking shows.

His birthday, his wife Maria, a son named Jason.

Nothing about a daughter named Tayla. That made me hate him even more.

How could he abandon Tayla?

She abandoned you, a voice in my head said.

I frowned and kept searching.

I found the location of his five-star restaurant and texted it to Dominic.

Tayla would probably go there first, looking for the father she’d never known.

Once Dominic found her, I’d go get her.

Once I convinced her we’d never hurt her.

She had no choice but to let Dominic sleep with her. Otherwise, she could have ended up dead at the hands of the Black Skulls.

I wanted to kill every one of those bastards, but right now, I had to get Tayla home.

Then I’d declare war!

But what if she didn’t want to come home?

Then I’d do whatever it took to change her mind.

Hayden and I needed her.

Damn it, we loved her. We’d do anything to keep her with us!

She was ours.

Our girl.

My little one.

My stomach growled, so I went to the kitchen to make some pasta salad. I left some for Hayden.

Where had he gone?

I hoped he wasn’t being reckless.

Once I’d eaten, I went out on the deck and looked out at the sea.

I didn’t know what to think or do anymore!

I felt lost!

I remembered I had collections to make in town, went back inside to get my Jeep keys. They were gone.

Hayden must have taken the jeep.

I clenched my teeth, got my bike keys, and grabbed my leather jacket from my room.

I remembered how Tayla had looked in it, and I groaned.

I’d promised to make love to her in it one day. I made a mental note to do that if I got the chance.

I went to the garage, saw my jeep was gone, went to my bike.

I got on, started it up, revved the engine a few times.

I closed my eyes, remembering how Tayla had clung to me when I’d taken her for a ride.

The feel of her arms around me, the way she pressed against me.

I was obsessed with her.

When I obsessed over something, I usually got it out of my system one way or another. The only way to get Tayla out of my system was to get her back.

I rode out of my driveway and headed into town.

I was starting to feel like Hayden. I hoped not everyone had their payments. I wanted to take out my frustration on someone.

I always did like to see fresh blood.

But what I really wanted was Tayla beneath me, crying out as I made love to her after I’d given her a spanking she wouldn’t forget.