The Biker's Secret Torment: MC Romance: Talon (Rosesson Brothers) (4 page)

"What fucking now?" I muttered.

I read the message.
Account flagged. Please see bank specialist
.

"Good Goddamn," I swore, scaring a gasp out of the lady in the car next to me. I smiled real big at her, showing all my teeth, then cranked my throttle and shot through the drive-through. I pulled to the front of the building and parked. Someone was going to get their asshole reamed out. I didn't have the time or patience for this bullshit. I knew how much I had in that account. $802. It was all I had left from my one-time government disability payment. I was going to walk out with that much cash one way or another.

I parked my bike and strode through the front door, ignoring the
Please take off your hat and sunglasses
sign. I'd played the good boy for a long time. It didn't get me anywhere but in a hospital bed with people taking advantage of me. That wouldn't ever happen again.

Three women stood behind the counter, the one on the far left was with a customer and didn't look up at me. The one on the far right put her hands under the counter. She wouldn't be that fucking stupid, would she? I wasn't going to rob anyone. The cute blonde in the middle eyed me, then smiled and lowered her gaze, her expression saying she might take me in the bathroom and blow me if I said the word. I angled my stride to end up in front of her, my anger already leaking away a little. I was sure she hadn't had anything to do with my account being fucked, and getting sucked off would certainly help my demeanor.

I put my hands on her counter and leaned forward. "My account won't let me take my money out using the ATM. I'm in a hurry, so if you could work some magic for me, I'd appreciate it."

She looked at me under sooty eyelashes and smiled bigger. "Of course, Mr ...?"

"Covina. Thomas Covina."

Her fingers flew over the keyboard and then she clicked once with the mouse as she stared at her computer screen. Her bedroom eyes went wide and she glanced at me nervously, then licked her lips. I didn't even think she knew she was doing it.

What the fuck?
If I were wanted by the police I might have been worried at that moment, but as far as I knew I wasn't. Even if the prospect had gone whining to the cops, they wouldn't have contacted my bank.

"Uh, Mr. Covina, I need you to wait here for a second."

She walked to the woman next to her and they whispered together, then she disappeared in a back office.

I bit the inside of my lip hard enough to taste blood and stared at her computer. What was going on here? I pushed my hand forward and turned her computer screen enough that I could see it, but all the boxes and columns made no sense to me. While I was looking, Blondie came back down the hall with a man in tow.

He was wearing a business suit, tall, graying. Looked soft. He smiled at me and stuck out his hand. "Mr. Covina, it's so nice to meet you. I'm Lee Roberts, the branch manager. Would you like to come back to my office? Tessa has explained you are in a hurry so I'll make it quick."

I looked him over, suspicious, but pleased. I hadn't been treated with such genuine courtesy since I'd last worn the uniform. My cut usually inspired fear, and respect, but there was frequently an undercurrent of condemnation there too. Something about this man was different. I wanted to know what.

I made a
lead the way
gesture and he seemed to relax, then walked back down the hallway he'd come from. He stood at the door, closing it behind me, then pointed out a fancy leather chair for me to sit in.

He walked around his desk and sat down, then steepled his hands in front of him. "I'm sorry we flagged your account, Mr. Covina, but I'm sure you'll understand why as soon as you hear my explanation. You see, a Mr. Knox Rosesson came in two weeks ago and deposited a rather large sum into your account. He asked me to give you a note."

Roberts pulled an envelope out of a drawer on his desk and handed it to me. I looked at it, trying to decide how I felt about what he'd just said before I read the note. All I felt was relief so I slid the envelope open and unfolded the piece of paper.

Talon,

I didn't tell you about this in person because I didn't think you would accept it if I did. I hope you accept it. The Rosesson name comes with a lot of privilege and money, and you are just as much Rosesson as the rest of us. If you don't want it, give it to someone, or put it in a trust for your brothers when they are older. I won't take it back. That's how strongly I feel like you and your brothers deserve it. I've got a job for you too, if you ever feel like you want one.

Knox

I shook my head but felt my lips curve into a smile. Now I just needed to know what
a rather large sum
was.

"How much?" I asked Roberts.

"I have it right here," he said, pulling out a piece of paper from under a stack on his desk. "I hope you will continue to bank with us, Mr. Covina. We can help you manage this money."

I took the piece of paper, which was actually a deposit slip. All those fucking zeroes caught my eye in the best possible way. I counted them several times before I could look back up at Roberts.

"One million dollars," I said, a wild laugh building in my chest.

"Yes, sir," Roberts nodded.

No fucking wonder he had treated me like my shit didn't stink. I was a fucking millionaire. Well, at least for a few more minutes. I snorted to myself. That Knox Rosesson was something else. Damn right I wouldn't have taken his money in person, but damn fucking straight I was going to keep this. I would dream about what it could do for my brothers, for the club, for my friends later. Right now Crystal needed me.

"Don't worry, Roberts, you can keep my money. But I need some of it right now. Cash. Five thousand. And I
am
in a hurry."

Crystal

The white wall across from me was extremely uninteresting, but staring at it kept my eyes off the freshman babe two chairs down who was crying and muttering about something. I'd tried to talk to her but she'd only cried louder and waved me away. I checked my phone. It had been one hour and fifty-six minutes since I'd hung up with Talon. Any minute now ...

I'd been there for over eight hours. I'd had a good cry in the bathroom and even talked to a counselor they had on staff. I was feeling pretty good, considering what I had been through. I hated that Talon said maybe the guy had been looking specifically for me because of something he had against my dad, but I hated the thought of it being some random psycho even more. Neither would go in my diary under best revelations of the year.

A door to my left opened and one of the cops who had taken my report strolled out into the waiting room and smiled at me. He was young and handsome in a clean-cut, stick-up-the-ass kind of way, a look I'd never been interested in. I didn't want to be a club hanger-on, getting passed around and talked shit about, but I still liked my men more hard and rough than immaculate and creamy. There had to be a middle ground, right? A bad boy on the streets and between the sheets who still would never fuck your best friend and leave you crying in a puddle of your own mascara?

I returned the smile with a grin of my own, wondering only for a moment if he said words like please and thank you in the sack, then went back to making sure my wall didn't run away.

A second later, the cop dropped into the chair next to me. I sat up straighter and looked for his nametag out of the corner of my eye. Turner.

He leaned forward. "You sure you don't want a ride, Miss Santee?"

I twisted in my chair to face him. "I'm sure. I've got someone coming to get me. Thanks."

He smiled at me again, showing a mouth full of perfect teeth. Someone had paid big money for those braces. "Good. I just want you to know that you did exactly the right thing when that freak attacked you. We're going to find him, and he's going to answer for what he tried to do to you."

Um. Ok. I'd already heard this exact same speech a few hours ago. "How're you going to find him?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He hooked his fingers under his Sam Browne belt and pushed his lips out in some weird, guy version of fishlips. "We're running his blood through the database now. It won't let us identify him, but when we catch him, it will make sure we have the right guy, plus it may provide a lead if he's got anything strange going on like exotic diseases or rare blood types. There are two officers questioning people on the trail and in the area to see if anyone saw him. They've been there since you called us. And the crime scene guys are going over the entire area for clues, just like you see on TV. They are checking anything found on the ground or path, looking for footprints, monitoring cameras in the area. That kind of thing."

I nodded, glad I had asked. Before I could say a word, the door to the outside opened and both of us turned our heads to see who was coming in.

Six foot, two inches of badass biker strolled in and my heart did a funny little jig in my chest. Talon Covina had ruined me for any other man, and I'd never even kissed him. Well, except in a brother-sister way. My dad had let him come live with us when I was fourteen and he was sixteen, and I'd spent the next two years trying to get him to notice I wasn't just an annoying little kid. Then he'd joined the Army and I'd thought I would die. I'd written to him every Monday for three years, always wanting to spill my heart out, but mostly just telling him what Dad was doing, what Jaze was doing, what the club was doing, and how I was doing in school. He'd always encouraged me to study hard and never teased, well, except for the Gidget thing. I hated having straight brown hair, brown eyes, and a baby face.

Officer Turner stood up immediately and squared his shoulders, staring Talon down. "Help you," he barked out, making it sound more like fuck you than a simple question.

"Nah, brah," Talon said, flashing a wide smile I hadn't seen since before he left for the Army. "I got all the help I need." He held out a hand to me and I took it, thrilled he was finally there.

Then I remembered my promise to myself that I would tell him how I felt. My heart fluttered madly in my chest as a funny tilting sensation raced through me.
Uh uh. No way. I couldn't do it.

Talon pulled me to the door, ignoring Officer Turner's parting words, whatever they were. We went outside into the cool night air and down the steps, still holding hands. At the bottom of the steps he stopped for a minute and picked at a lock of my hair. My new blonde streak. "Pretty," he said, then dropped it and pulled me into the parking lot.

I thought my heart would stop in my chest. I would gladly be accosted by strange men every day of the week if it made Talon treat me like this.

Talon led me to his Harley and threw a leg over, then handed me a brain bucket, his dark hazel eyes staring into mine, entrancing me. I shook my head and tried to focus on his words, not the gorgeously-bearded mouth they were coming out of.

"Your dad said you—what in the hell is that?"

"What?" My hand rose to my face where he was looking. I hadn't seen any bruises and had cleaned all of the blood off of me already. I didn't know what he was upset about.

"You pierced your nose."

My hand touched the tiny stud and I smiled. "Yeah, do you like it?"

Three lines appeared between his eyebrows. "Doctors don't have pierced noses."

I almost laughed. Would have if he hadn't looked so pissed. "Lighten up, Talon. Some do these days. I can wear a retainer if it causes a problem."

"You've seen a doctor with a nose piercing?" he asked, his eyes hard.

"Well no, but some of the other students have them." I rubbed my tiny, diamond stud. "It's small. Most people don't even see it. Besides, I'm still only pre-med. Maybe I'll change my mind. Become a veterinarian instead." Now I was just fucking with him, but I couldn't help it. It made me feel more in control of myself.

"A veterinarian! What are you talking about? You've wanted to be a doctor since you were three years old!" The fire in his eyes threw me. He was really upset about this. But why?

Still I couldn't control my mouth. "A veterinarian
is
a doctor. For animals."

His jaw tightened and he shook his head. I could see the lecture building behind his lips and I wanted to head it off. He could be worse than Dad sometimes. Especially whenever I did anything even slightly illegal, like when I'd gotten drunk for the first time ever and spray-painted the underside of a bridge with my friends.

That was one thing that always pissed me off about Talon and my dad and even Jaze. Their double standards. Like they thought I didn't know what they were doing in the clubhouse and when they went on their runs. My dad made a show of changing, I knew he'd tried to change many times, but I also knew he had a deep streak inside him that shunned authority and control and always would. I just hoped Talon wasn't turning out the same way. For his sake, I told myself.

I held up my hands. "I'm kidding. I still want to be a doctor. I promise you the piercing won't get in the way, and if it does I'll let the hole close up."

Talon watched me for a moment, giving me just long enough to get lost in his eyes again, then he spoke. "Let's start over. Your dad said you have a final tomorrow."