she would.
Chapter Five
Two hours later, she found herself packed and on the road to Charleston, South Carolina, in Dimitri’s new Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was a fourteen-hour drive. Why the hell hadn’t she at least attempted the airport? Because her anxiety rose to almost epic heights at the mere thought of a crowded airport. Not happening today.
When he said he needed to make a pit stop, she assumed he meant to get snacks for the road, but no. His pit stop was the dealership. He decided he needed something more comfortable than his rental. Plus, he couldn’t take the rental all the way to South Carolina and back anyway. So, he bought himself a new car.
Crazy man. Who went out and bought a new car on the spur of the moment? She knew his books sold well, but she had no idea they sold that well.
“If you turn the radio channel one more time, I swear by all that’s holy, I will tie your hands behind your back the rest of the trip!”
She snatched her hand back. They’d been fighting over the radio since they got into the car. She usually won simply because she ignored him, but he sounded testy. What put a bee in his bonnet?
Dimitri knew he was being a little bitch, but being this close to her was slowly driving him insane. His patience was at an end. Her scent kept wafting over to him. He’d even rolled down the fucking window, and it still wasn’t helping. This was a mistake, a very big mistake. There was no way he was keeping his hands off her if she was in close proximity to him for weeks. Weeks!
His babushka once told him God would send a temptation he must resist. Damned if she wasn’t right. His temptation sat looking at him, slightly vexed and more than a little hurt. The very last thing he wanted, but every time she leaned forward and her scent hit him, it was all he could do to keep from hauling her across the seat.
Damn, damn, and double damn.
He needed a distraction. “Why didn’t you ever tell me your dad was a biker?”
“It never came up.”
“Details, Rebecca, I want details. There’s a whole side of you I know nothing about. We’re stuck in here for the next fourteen hours, so why not talk?”
“I left all that behind when I moved out after graduation.” She shifted, and he almost groaned. Why couldn’t she sit still? “I don’t like talking about my family.”
“Why?” Come to think of it, he knew next to nothing about her family. He didn’t even know if she had any brothers or sisters.
“My mom was a junkie, and my dad was a criminal who served time. Would you want to talk about them?”
Hostility rolled off her in waves, but he ignored it. Something nagged at him, but he couldn’t say what. “Your parents were shits. I get that, but was it all bad? I mean, it sounded like your dad looked out for you, at least?”
She laughed, the sound bitter. “My dad only paid attention when he needed something, like his dinner or patching him or his boys up. I was never important to him. Not like my brother.”
“Your brother?”
She nodded, staring out the window. “His name’s Jackson. He’s older than me by a few years. Dad groomed him from birth to be in that damned club of his.”
“Jackson ignore you too?” His poor girl. If he’d only known. Why hadn’t he taken the time to ask these questions before? Because he was an ass.
“No. Jackson always looked out for me. Made sure I got fed and bathed when I was little. Took the brunt of our mom’s abuse. Which pissed my dad off. He never hit either of us. Said his old man beat the shit out of him on a daily basis, and he wouldn’t put his kids through that. Mom more than made up for it, though. Especially when it came to Jackson. I think she was jealous of how much time Dad spent with him.”
He stayed quiet and let her have her space. She’d continue when she was ready. Getting anything out of her was hard, but he’d learned how to do it over the years. Patience was the key with Becca.
They rode in silence for a good hour before she started to speak again. “Things got bad right before I moved out. Dad and Jackson were arrested for running drugs. My dad’s MC, it was