Torn

Chapter 20

I slept for what seemed like days in that backseat. It was starting to rain and it was dark outside when I opened my eyes. I didn't bother to sit up at first because Nikki and my uncle were having a conversation about me.

"How do you think she held up being around those guys?" John asked. "She seemed a little shaken when I saw her back in Massachusetts."

Nikki glanced out of the window for a moment, "She was shaken. Being around a bunch of biker guys will do that to you."

"How did you handle it? I know it must have been tough for you since your brother is one of them."

I raised an eyebrow, questioning who could have been her brother. She gave me that answer just shortly after.

"It was tough at first...but Jeff basically had to kiss Taker's ass in order to keep me safe. I would have been his next bride if I wouldn't of moved away."

My uncle fell silent for a moment and then reached over and held her hand. "I'm glad you moved away...I wouldn't have seen you again."

She smiled at him, "True...but weren't you trying to get with your niece's coach?"

He laughed a little, "Yeah I was...but the bastard had her killed as soon as he ran off with my niece. I knew the man was crazy but why kill her?"

Nikki shrugged. "Maybe he's trying to get people to take him more seriously...although I don't know why anyone would cross him."

"I don't know either...he definitely seems obsessed with finding a wife." He said.

"He's not obsessed...he's lonely." She said in a tone that sort of sounded like she felt bad for him. "He's been all alone since he was ten years old."

John chuckled, "Alone? He's got a fucking army of friends!"

She shook her head, "Only some of those guys are his friends...some of them are constantly plotting to throw him overboard as the leader."

"And how do you know this?" he asked.

"Jeff of course. He's a loyal man in his crew but Taker has been betrayed so much he finds it hard to believe anyone."

"And that's where Kat would have come in."

She nodded, "Exactly. He wants a companion but he has no idea how to gain their trust or how to get them to respect him."

"Strange...I kind of feel bad for the guy but he has no right to steal an innocent girl away from her only family just to make himself happy." John snapped. "Besides...Katrina is too young for love."

Nikki looked over her shoulder at me for a moment. I shut my eyes so she wouldn't know I was awake. "No girl is too young to love...especially Kat."

"You know she probably doesn't trust you Nikki." John said before turning on the windshield wipers.

She sighed and glanced at him, "I know, and we'll straighten that out when she wakes up...I should have helped her escape when I saw her in that diner. I knew she was lying when she said Taker saved her from you."

John chuckled, "Well...in some ways she wasn't lying. I was fighting a lot of people and taking their money just to take care of her."