Free Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC by Kiki Leach

to come by out here. And the White Plains school is pretty top notch, which means it’ll be hard as hell trying to find one to top it on such short notice--"
    “ Shit ,” he interjected.
    “What?”
    He grinded his teeth. "Look, you don’t need to go makin’ this shit a goddamn color thing about the schools, alright?"
    I tilted my head and made a face, confused. "What--?"
    "Don't accuse me of bein' some kinda goddamn racist over this shit – me wantin’ to keep your kid outta school.”
    "I wasn't accusing you of anything, actually. But to be perfectly honest, given your entire attitude about it, I just might start to wonder."
    "I wasn't makin' a mark about you and your kid bein'..." He waved his hand, gesturing toward me. "What you are."
    " Black . It's okay, all the 'cool' kids are still saying it," I shot back.
    "LOOK!" he roared, and I would swear the sound of his voice shook the walls around us. "The point I was makin' was that if you keep her in school no matter where the fuck it’s located, that crazy son of a bitch or someone on his payroll will find her. It's no different than if you tried findin' another goddamn place to live out here, even in my name. Ricky's a ruthless motherfucker. You should know better than a lot what kind of goddamn savage he can be, to the point where he doesn't give a fuck about anybody but his goddamn self. His own fuckin' family'll probably be no safer than you once he gets out for good. You turn your back once and that asshole will snatch your kid right outta class beneath your goddamn nose without you bein' the wiser of it."
    I hated to even admit it given how hateful he sounded toward me, but the truth was that he had an unfortunate point. Tailing me from the moment he finally learned he was the father of my child proved just how many people Ricky had in his corner. Hell, even his people had people. And those people had even more important people sitting high up in gold framed chairs behind bullet proof walls from Dubai to New Mexico. I was probably stupid as all get out to believe that just a man and his motorcycle club could even manage to protect me from all of that, but with no one of any real authority or importance willing to help me, what the hell choice did I have?
    And I knew that if I wanted to keep my daughter completely safe from him and those around him, there was no way in hell that I could continue to allow her to be out of my sight for even a second. At least not until Ricky and maybe even the more important members of his crew were rightfully eliminated from the equation.
    I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot against the floor, defiantly agitated but determined as hell. "If I choose to stay here," I said, " which I'm not agreeing to just yet, what exactly am I supposed to tell people?"
    "The ones you know?"
    "The other members of your club. I can't imagine that any of them would be too happy about an eight year old kid running around during the times they'd rather be reclined with whatever hoochie-mama comes prancing through here."
    "You let me handle my own goddamn club, alright? In the meantime, you take care of whatever the fuck it is that you need to deal with and bring your ass back here no later than midnight tonight so that I can make sure both you and your kid are accounted for."
    "You mean you want me to drive back to Tampa, pack up my stuff, and then come back here to you in the same night?!" I laughed, though there wasn't a single thing about this that I found remotely funny. "You must be out of your entire mind! It'll be days before I can get everything out of there, and what I can't get out, I'll have to try and sell. It's bad enough that you're not giving me any time to inform my child of her new living arrangements but--"
    "What the fuck were you expectin'? You said that crazy piece of shit gets out soon."
    "I know that, but in the meantime, I still have furniture that needs to be stored and bills that need to be paid! I have to give