Firefight: The Soul Scorchers MC (The Scorched Souls Serial-series Book 2) by C.L. Riley Read Free Book Online Page B

atmosphere, Grinch turned right back around and headed for the porch, where I knew he would light up his nightly cigar, leaving me to deal with the latest family crisis.
    “How’d the coloring go?” I decided the kids would be easier to deal with than Olympia. “Can I take a look?”
    Joey glanced at JV, but neither moved. “Okay…did you guys get into trouble? Something you want to tell me?”
    Olympia answered for them. “I think maybe the question should be is there something you, Bryce Richards, want to tell me? Then I will decide how much trouble you’re in.”
    Holy fuck. This was not good. She was using my given name, never a good sign.
    “Joey, take your brother to the spare bedroom and watch TV. I’ll get you when it’s time to go.”
    I knew things were really bad when the kids hurried to obey me without complaint.
    “You want a drink?” I headed to the kitchen. There was no way we were having this conversation, whatever it was about, without a glass of Jack. I poured one for us both.
    She accepted it and gulped it down, before moving to the couch, where she perched on the edge, flipping through the photos Bones had provided. The photos I thought would give her the peace of mind she’d been lacking. They’d somehow done the opposite.
    When I joined her, she scooted away, making sure our legs didn’t touch. Fuck. This was even worse than I’d first imagined.
    Handing me a picture, she finally leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, a smug look distorting her features.
    At first, when I saw her in her hot little cheerleading number, I grinned. I remembered the outfit and that day at her house well. It had been the first and only time I’d seen her in her cheer gear. I wasn’t sure why this particular image had her so fired up. I also wasn’t sure why it was in our couples only shots. It took me a minute to figure out why she was upset.
    Shit. Shit. Fuck . She was supposed to have been a white trash whore with multiple boyfriends, pregnant at fifteen. Girls like that typically weren’t stars of their schools’ cheerleading squads. Still, there had to be more than the photograph alone causing this reaction.
    At last I met her gaze. “I’m not sure I understand. You wanted to do a photo shoot. Pretend you were a cheerleader, babe. Having dropped out of school in ninth grade, you never got a chance. It was your dream, you know.” I tried to seem sympathetic without looking like I pitied her.
    Her smug look morphed into an ugly sneer. If silence could slap someone across the face, her silent stare qualified as the face-slapping kind. I waited for an actual crack against my cheek. She never raised her hand. Instead, her lower lip started to tremble and her eyes reddened and filled.
    “I had more memories tonight. One that clearly showed we weren’t romantically involved when I was fifteen. I also remembered another fire, where my mom…” she choked down a sob.
    “Fuck, babe. I’m so sorry about your mom.” I didn’t know what to say. I had no clue how much or what exactly she’d remembered, but things were unraveling fast.
    She surprised me and continued, “I asked the boys a couple of related questions. You should have seen their faces. They were oozing guilt, if that’s even possible. Whatever lies you’ve told, you have involved them. That’s unacceptable and unforgiveable.”
    I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “What do you want me to do?”
    “You could start by telling me the truth.”
    Olympia
    Before Boone had a chance to explain, his father returned with Doc, insisting we all pack up and head to the clubhouse compound. He’d told the ATF that Boone was on a road trip to Seattle but had returned and was ready to talk. More lies. On top of that, they were expecting visitors from the enemy bike club. As VP, Boone’s presence was required at this meeting. In addition, it seemed my supposed father-in-law now deemed the underground fortress safe enough for me to