The Triplet Bikers’ Dangerous Obsession

Episode 3

ARIA’S POV

3 YEARS LATER

I was standing in the middle of a house that was far from standard, holding a cardboard box against my hip while my three year old daughter sat on the floor surrounded by toys.

“Mama, where does this go?” she asked, holding up one of her stuffed animals.

I looked around the room, then at the box in my hands. “Anywhere for now. We’ll figure it out later.”

She nodded, and placed the stuffed animal beside the small pile she had already created.

I dropped my box beside the kitchen counter and rubbed my aching shoulder before looking around again.

The house was small. It was much smaller than the apartment we'd left behind, but alas, we had to come back here.

It has taken me so long to unpack our boxes and arrange them around the house. Anything to make it less depressing for Lucy, my daughter. Now, I was standing here staring at the remaining unopened boxes and I decided I was too tired to care.

My daughter crawled closer to me and looked around the room. “Is this where we're staying?”

I crouched in front of her and fixed the little bow in her hair that had come loose during the move. “Just for a while.”

“Do you like it, mommy?”

I glanced at the cracked corner of the wall. “No,” I admitted.

She giggled and I smiled despite myself and picked her up. “But we're going to make it nice.”

That was the plan, anyway.

I had spent three years making a life somewhere else. I worked, paid bills, took care of my daughter and kept my head down.

I didn't make friends easily anymore. I didn't tell people much about where I came from. I had done everything I could to make sure nobody from that town could find me.

Then I lost my job. This new position was the best offer I'd received in weeks, and I needed it badly enough that turning it down wasn't really an option. The pay was better, and honestly? I was willing to take anything I saw.

There was just one problem. The job was back at the town I ran away from three years ago.

So I came back, only after making sure Damon no longer lived here… even if he did, I doubt he’d be able to recognize me.

I had not only pulled on some weight but gone for mild facial reconstruction and changed my hair color from being as flashy as ginger to black.

I hadn't told Emily until I'd already made the decision. She had offered to let us stay with her again, but I'd already asked too much of her over the years, especially after everything that happened when my daughter was born.

I couldn't keep showing up whenever life became difficult and expecting her to fix it for me.

Besides, I needed my own place. The problem was that I couldn't afford anything decent in town, so I'd found this little house farther out, where the rent was low enough that I could actually manage it.

My phone buzzed on the kitchen counter and I ignored it.

It buzzed again and I closed my eyes. “Seriously?”

My daughter looked at me from the couch. “Mama?”

“Nothing, sweetheart.” I walked over and picked up my phone.

The message was from the same number that had been sending me increasingly unpleasant reminders for the past few months.

YOU HAVE UNTIL FRIDAY.

I stared at it as another message came through.

DON'T MAKE US COME LOOKING.

I locked my phone and shoved it into my pocket.

Perhaps I hadn't forgotten to mention that I was in debt. Something I thought I could handle at the start. When my daughter needed things I couldn't afford and I didn't want to keep asking Emily for help, I'd borrowed the money. The man who gave it to me had promised there wouldn't be a problem as long as I paid on time.

But I hadn't. The amount was ridiculous. Way more than I could afford.

There was no way I could pay it with the money I had saved, which was exactly why I needed this job so badly. I couldn't keep running from one problem to another. I needed a steady income, and I needed to get that debt under control before the people behind it decided to jump me.

I put my phone down and returned to unpacking.

My daughter helped by taking random things out of boxes and asking me where they belonged, even though she knew perfectly well that I had no idea. By the time the sun started going down, I'd done quite a decent job.

I was carrying another box toward the hallway when I heard the rev of an engine.

The sound came from outside, loud enough that my daughter immediately looked toward the window.

My stomach dropped and for a second, I couldn't move.

Who the hell was coming to this side of town?

The sound grew louder as the motorcycles approached the house, and something inside me immediately went into panic mode. I dropped the box and rushed toward my daughter. “Come here.”

She stared at me, confused, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me as I moved toward the front door. “Mama, what's wrong?”

“Run inside now!”

The motorcycles came into view through the window.

My heart started pounding. One, two, three— three bikes.

The men climbed off and I just gawked at the sight of them, my heart racing.

One of them took off his helmet slowly and my entire body went cold.

I knew that face.

Holy s**t.

He looked straight at the house, straight at me, and then laughed under his breath. “Well, well, well.” He pulled the helmet completely off and shook his head. “Isn't it Aria Vale?”

The other two men removed their helmets and I stared at them.

The three brothers I had slept with at the club. I remembered their names instantly — Rhett, Knox and Jace. No way. What the hell were they doing here? How had they found me?

Knox’s smirk widened. “Missed us?”