Broadrick tugged me close with a rough hug. "That will never happen. You're his mother. You rescued him from the streets."

I nodded. "The mean streets." He'd still be out there roaming around, rolling in the mud, and causing trouble if not for me domesticating him.

"Exactly," Broadrick said, and I laid my head on his shoulder, enjoying his cologne.

Sidney ruffled NB's hair and continued to call him a special boy. I used the opportunity to quiz Broadrick on important concerns.

"What if she wants to make a coat from him?"

Broadrick laughed. "NB is tiny. Look at him," he said and jerked his chin toward them in their chair. "She'd barely get a pair of gloves."

"Not funny," I said and poked him in the chest.

Broadrick laughed.

My phone chimed and vibrated in my back pocket. Broadrick slipped it from my pocket and handed it over to me.

I used my face to unlock it and read the text.

KATY: The bike is wayward.

"What does that mean?" he asked, reading over my shoulder.

NB gave a little bark, and I shoved the phone back in my pocket. "It means I have to leave you here with Pinkalicious and follow up on something important."

After my last visit to Dominick's house on the compound, I put Katy on watch to alert me for an opening. Who knew when the next chance might happen? I couldn't waste this one.

I glanced at Sidney and sighed. Now I'd have to leave Broadrick and NB alone with her.

Duty called.

"If you really trust her, fine. Hire her, but no looking at her. She's too cute."

Broadrick laughed harder, drawing the attention of Sidney as she cradled NB like a baby. Like the traitor he was, he lapped it up. "It's all good, babe. Turns out I have this thing for a spicy blonde."

"You better."

I made quick goodbyes and then raced to Dominick's place to find Gina, his hostage. I had to learn more of her story and decide if she needed a rescue. If she did, I'd alert the other bakery girls and we'd stage an escape. To keep eyes off me, I parked two blocks away and circled into the woods behind Dominick's house.

The back window was still unlocked, the big ones never learned. It also meant Gina probably hadn't tattled on me which increased her cool factor. I jerked it open and climbed into the quiet home.

"Gina," I whispered, just to be safe. I'd made sure no bikes were parked near the house, but that didn't mean one biker in Dom's gang hadn't wandered over for a visit. I did not want to be caught sneaking into his place.

The air beside my head flickered, and I ducked with the disturbance.

"Gina!" I cried as she readied for another swing.

She dropped the bat and leaned over with her hands on her knees. "Vonnie, what the hell?"

"I came for a visit," I said, leaning against the rough surface of the door frame.

She shook her head and turned around, leaving me behind. "You could have just knocked."

"No, I don't want Dom to see me." I followed her into the kitchen, where she dumped a microwave bag of popcorn into a big red and white plastic square bin.

The coloring had faded in some sections, but popcorn was clearly written across one side. She shook her head as the last few kernels fell into the bowl. "They headed out for the night. On some errand. He didn't give me the details."

Yeah, I bet he didn't. Probably because it included mayhem and maybe murder. You never knew with biker types. I always expected the worst.

"What are you doing?" I asked as she dumped a pile of salt on the popcorn and then shook it.

Popcorn rattled against the sides of the bucket. "I'm finishing up my Buffy marathon. You're free to watch with me."

"What episode are you on?" I followed her to the couch and took a spot beside her, stealing a few pieces of popcorn.

"They just blew up the school at the end of season three."

I popped the piece of popcorn in my mouth and crunched it while Gina searched for remotes. The popcorn had extra butter and made the room smell delicious. "Good, season six gets weird."

She grunted in agreement. "Yeah, I always stop at five."

"Smart thinking." Even though I liked Buffy with Spike, the last two seasons went to weird places.

It almost killed me, but I still made it an entire episode before I asked Gina about her living situation. The credits rolled, and I waited until the fourteen second countdown to ask. Hopefully she answered quickly because I wanted to watch the next episode.

"So, what's up with you and Dom?" I asked and then tossed in a piece of popcorn.

Gina sucked in a deep breath and tucked her hair behind her ear. "What makes you think something's up with us?"

"Really? You're in his living room, eating his popcorn, and not dead. Something is definitely up with you two."

She flicked the remote between her hands and then paused the television when the episode started. "Dominick rescued me."

"How?" Biker gangs weren't really in the habit of rescuing people. It's possible she had Stockholm syndrome and confused kidnapping with rescuing. It happened in romance books all the time.

Gina repositioned herself on the couch to face me with her legs tucked under her. "We both grew up in the life, but not a good gang like Dom has here in Pelican Bay-a one percent organization."

I nodded like that meant something to me and made a mental note to research it later. "Got it."

Gina nodded. "When I was sixteen, my dad sold me to a rival gang to open up a new drug trade route on the West Coast out of Colorado."

My mouth fell open. She just said it so... casually. Like it wasn't the craziest thing anyone had ever said to me. And I'd spent my entire life here. "He sold you?"

"They really wanted those supply lines opened and I think a part of him hoped my future husband might treat me well."

"Did he?" I had imaginary fingers crossed for her.

"No," she deadpanned. "I remembered Dominick when he came to the clubhouse to talk to his dad, who was visiting with his men. He found me high on drugs with two black eyes. Later that night he snuck me out with him when he left."

"Wow." What else did you say to something like that?

Gina shrugged. "I've been here ever since. In limbo. Dominick says it's not safe for me in Colorado, and I have no desire to return to that, so I'm here on his generosity."

"And something else?" I asked with a raised brow. I shoved a handful of popcorn and into my mouth.

She smiled and glanced downward with pink cheeks. "Maybe."

"You soooo like him," I cooed. She had it written all over her face.

She shrugged and tossed a piece of popcorn toward the bucket but missed. It rolled to the floor. "Dominick acts weird around me."

I bet he did. What did a biker know about love? I'd have to have a talk with him and give him some pointers.

Or her.

"What's your plan to win him over?" I asked with another handful of popcorn. This was better than Buffy, and that said something, considering season four was a Spike season. "Are you just never going to go outside?"

She'd never been in town. I'd definitely have heard about it. Someone would have posted the pictures in our Facebook gossip group.

Gina let out a breath. "I don't know. Dom doesn't want me around the bikers right now, and he says the people in this town are weird."

"Who? We aren't weird." How dare Dominick say something like that. We were a normal small town on the coast. If anyone made it weird, it was the motorcycle gang taking up residence on our streets. And the former SEALs. And the small mafia connection.

Gina laughed. "He may have mentioned you by name."

"Dom loves me. I don't know why he'd say those things. Or why he'd keep you locked up here?"

Gina fiddled with the remote some more. "He's not really boyfriend material. It's not like I can force him to do anything."

I snorted. She might be onto something.

"Sometimes you have to make a declaration to the world and then follow through on it," I said, getting an amazing idea regarding my current life's predicaments. It's exactly what I needed to move this case forward.

Anderson would kill me.

Ridge would kill me.

Broadrick would definitely kill me.

Let's hope they didn't find out.