Chapter 2 Arranged Marriage
Taryn’s POV
“You marry him when we get home.”
I stared at my father long enough that somebody fired up a bike behind us, pulled away, and disappeared into the crowd before I managed to say anything.
Then I laughed.
Dad’s face didn’t change.
“Oh, you’re serious.”
“Taryn.”
“No. Hang on.” I held up a hand. “I need a second, because I could’ve sworn you just said I’m marrying Kellan Stroud.”
“That’s what I said.”
Cal was still standing several feet away holding my metal scorpion against his chest like he had suddenly developed a deep interest in welded motorcycle parts.
I looked at him. “You knew.”
Cal shifted the scorpion under one arm. “Taryn—”
“You knew.”
Dad stepped between us. “This is between you and me.”
“Then why did your vice president know before I did?”
“Because he’s my vice president.”
I looked back at Dad. “And I’m your daughter.”
“I’m aware.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Dad glanced toward the bikes around us. “We’re not doing this here.”
“You picked here.”
“I told you what you needed to know. Now we’re going back to camp.”
“No, you dropped a fucking arranged marriage on me between two motorcycles and now you want to walk away.”
“I’m not walking away.”
“Great. Start explaining.”
Dad looked past me toward the vendor rows. People were moving around us in both directions, and at least three of them had already slowed down enough to make it obvious they were listening.
He pointed toward camp. “We talk there.”
I didn’t move.
“Taryn.”
“You can say it again if you want. Maybe the second time it’ll sound less insane.”
Cal muttered, “Probably not.”
Dad looked over my shoulder. “Cal.”
“I’m shutting up.”
He wasn’t, but at least somebody was making sense.
Dad started walking.
I stayed exactly where I was.
He made it five steps before turning around.
“I said come on.”
“And I said explain it.”
“You want to do this in front of half of Sturgis?”
“You apparently made the decision without me, so I don’t see why privacy suddenly matters.”
His jaw worked once.
That usually meant I had about thirty seconds before he stopped pretending I wasn’t getting on his last nerve.
Too bad.
“How long?”
“What?”
“How long have you known I’m supposedly marrying him?”
Dad didn’t answer right away.
I looked at Cal.
He looked at Dad.
That was answer enough.
“Oh, fuck both of you.”
“Taryn.”
“How long?”
“A few weeks.”
I laughed again. “A few weeks.”
“The terms weren’t final.”
“But my part was?”
Dad rubbed a hand over his beard. “Come back to camp.”
I stepped around him and started walking before he could grab my arm, mostly because if I stayed there much longer I was going to make sure everyone from here to Rapid City knew exactly what Shane Rourke had been negotiating behind my back.
Cal fell in beside us with my scorpion.
I pointed at it. “Don’t break that.”
He looked down at it. “Good to know we still have priorities.”
“I paid for it.”
Dad kept walking.
I looked at the back of his cut. “Did Mom know?”
“No.”
That came fast enough that I believed him.
“Does anyone besides Cal know?”
“A few officers.”
“So everyone who matters.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It kind of is.”
We crossed back toward the Renegades’ RVs, and suddenly every weird thing from the last two days looked different.
The meetings.
The way conversations stopped when I walked up.
The two Renegades following me through the vendor rows.
Kellan being around our camp more than his own.
Dad acting like every question out of my mouth was an inconvenience.
I looked at him. “Those guys following me earlier. That was because of this.”
Dad didn’t bother denying it.
“You had people watching me because Kellan was here.”
“I had people watching you because Sturgis is crowded.”
“This is my first year here, and you weren’t doing that yesterday morning.”
“This year is different.”
“Because you sold me.”
Dad stopped walking so abruptly Cal almost ran into him.
“I did not sell you.”
I stopped too. “What would you call it?”
“You don’t know the situation.”
“Then tell me.”
“Camp.”
I threw both hands up. “Fine. Camp.”
By the time we reached our RVs, the two guys who had been sitting outside earlier were gone. Somebody had turned the music down. I couldn’t tell if that was coincidence or if word had already spread that Rook’s daughter was about to burn the place down.
Dad opened the RV door.
I walked in first.
Cal started after us.
Dad looked back. “Give us a minute.”
Cal held my scorpion out toward me.
I took it.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
“You still suck.”
Cal snorted. “I know.”
Dad shut the door in his face.
I carried the scorpion over to the booth seat and set it down carefully.
Dad stared at it. “You spent money on that?”
“This is not the time.”
“It has seven legs.”
“Bobby got me twenty bucks off.”
Dad’s eyes came up. “The Sons of Doom kid?”
“His name is Bobby.”
“I know who he is.”
“Good for you.”
Dad dropped onto the opposite booth seat. “Sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“Taryn.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“You’re pacing.”
“I’m deciding whether homicide would complicate your treaty.”
“It would.”
“Good to know.”
He leaned back against the seat. “You wanted an explanation. Listen.”
I crossed my arms. “Go ahead.”
“Lost Coast has been moving through Arizona for years. Weapons, cash, parts, whatever needs to get from one place to another without going through normal channels.”
“You told me most of that already growing up.”
“I told you enough.”
“You told me enough to know Iron Mesa controls territory you need.”
“They control a corridor we use.”
“And Kellan decided the toll was me.”
“That isn’t how it happened.”
“Then how did it happen?”
Dad rested both forearms on the table. “Things have changed in Arizona. There are other clubs trying to take pieces of Iron Mesa territory. Routes are getting hit. Shipments are getting stopped. Men are getting questioned by people who normally know better.”
“So you needed a stronger agreement.”
“Yes.”
“And Kellan asked for marriage.”
“Yes.”
“Into your family.”
Dad nodded once.
I stared at him. “You have one daughter.”
“I know how many children I have.”
“Then stop talking like this was some vague alliance proposal that just happened to involve me.”
“It was an alliance proposal.”
“With me attached.”
“Taryn—”
“No. Say it right.”
Dad sat back.
I stepped closer to the table. “He wanted safe business between Iron Mesa and Lost Coast. You wanted access through Arizona. He wanted your family tied to his, and you agreed to give him your daughter.”
“I didn’t give him anything.”
“You signed a treaty saying I would marry him.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
I stared at him. “Please explain the difference.”
Dad opened his mouth, then shut it again.
“Exactly.”
“You’re twenty years old.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re not a child.”
“Which means I should get to decide who I marry.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“Apparently not.”
“The club has almost eighty men depending on that route staying open.”
“And?”
“And those men have families. They have businesses tied into ours. There are people depending on me to keep this club moving.”
“So marry one of them to Kellan.”
Dad’s mouth twitched before he stopped it.
“I’m serious. Go find one of your officers and tell him congratulations, he’s Mrs. Iron Mesa.”
“Taryn.”
“What? Family tie is a family tie.”
“That isn’t what Kellan wanted.”
“No shit.”
Dad shoved a hand through his hair.
I leaned against the counter across from him. “Why me?”
“Because you’re my daughter.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the answer.”
“Kellan could’ve asked for a dozen things. Money. Guns. A bigger cut. Access to California. He asked for me.”
“He asked for marriage into my family.”
“Which means me.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t think that was fucking strange?”
“Not in our world.”
“Our world?”
I laughed. “I grew up in the same club you did. Don’t start acting like arranged marriages are suddenly normal because some Arizona president decided he wants one.”
“It happens.”
“Not to me.”
Dad’s stare stayed on mine.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Taryn—”
“No. I’m not marrying him.”
“The agreement is already signed.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
“I did.”
“Then you marry him.”
He exhaled through his nose.
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
“Call him and tell him you changed your mind.”
“That isn’t happening.”
“Why?”
“Because I gave my word.”
I laughed. “Your word.”
“Yes.”
“What about mine?”
“You never gave yours.”
“That should’ve been your first clue.”
Dad leaned forward. “You think I wanted to do this without talking to you?”
“You did do it without talking to me.”
“Because I knew exactly what you would say.”
“Then you knew the answer.”
“I knew you’d say no before you understood what was at stake.”
“Nothing you say is going to make me understand why you think you get to decide who I sleep beside for the rest of my life because you need a highway through Arizona.”
“It isn’t just a highway.”
“Then use whatever club word you want.”
“That route keeps Lost Coast connected to three states.”
“Still not my problem.”
“It becomes everybody’s problem when it closes.”
“Not enough to make it my marriage.”
Dad pushed out of the booth and stood.
“Taryn, there are bigger things happening than what you want right now.”
I stared at him.
He must have heard it after it came out because his mouth tightened.
I nodded slowly. “There it is.”
“That came out wrong.”
“No. That came out exactly right.”
“I didn’t mean your life doesn’t matter.”
“You mean it matters less.”
“That is not what I said.”
“You just told me there are bigger things than what I want while explaining why I have to marry a stranger.”
“He isn’t a stranger to me.”
“I’m not the one marrying you.”
“I know Kellan.”
“You know him as a president.”
“I know him well enough.”
“That’s comforting.”
“Taryn.”
“Does he beat women?”
“No.”
“Cheat on them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kill people?”
Dad gave me a look.
I pointed at his cut. “Right. Stupid question.”
“He isn’t some psychopath.”
“He’s a thirty-year-old man who asked another man for his twenty-year-old daughter as part of a club treaty.”
“That isn’t all he is.”
“It’s plenty for me.”
Dad stepped around the table. “You haven’t even spoken to him.”
“I’ve seen him.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“I’ve seen him hanging around our camp for two days while everybody but me apparently knew I was part of the fucking agenda.”
“He wanted to meet you before anything happened.”
I stopped.
“What?”
Dad looked toward the little window beside the booth.
“No. Say that again.”
“He wanted to meet you.”
“Before anything happened?”
“Yes.”
“But you signed it anyway.”
“The treaty was being finalized here.”
“And now it’s final.”
“Yes.”
“So what exactly is left for me to do?”
“You meet him.”
I stared at my father.
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. If the treaty is already signed and the marriage is already agreed to, why does he need to meet me?”
Dad didn’t answer.
I took one step toward him. “Why?”
“Because you’re going to be his wife.”
I laughed. “You’re unbelievable.”
“You asked.”
“And you somehow made it worse.”
I walked toward the door.
Dad caught the handle before I reached it.
“We’re not finished.”
“I am.”
“You’re not walking out of here and disappearing.”
“I wasn’t planning to disappear.”
“You’ve been alone half the day.”
“With two of your guys following me.”
“They weren’t bothering you.”
“That’s not the point.”
“You’re staying close to camp.”
I looked at his hand on the door handle. “Move.”
“Taryn.”
“Move.”
He did.
I opened the door and stepped outside.
Cal was sitting in a camp chair about ten feet away drinking a beer. He looked at me, then at Dad behind me.
“Still alive?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Which one of you?”
“Undecided.”
Dad came down the steps. “Not helping.”
Cal took another drink. “Wasn’t trying to.”
I walked past him.
“Taryn,” Dad called.
I kept going.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from you.”
“Stay in camp.”
“No.”
I heard Dad swear.
Cal said something too low for me to catch.
I made it almost to the end of the row before Dad caught up.
He stepped in front of me.
“What now?”
“You need to know one more thing.”
I looked at him. “I’m running out of room for worse things.”
“Kellan’s here.”
I blinked.
Then I pointed back toward the RVs. “I know he’s here. I watched him walk into your meeting three times.”
“I mean he stayed for this.”
I stared at him.
Dad kept going. “He didn’t come to Sturgis just for the treaty.”
“Of course he didn’t.”
“Taryn.”
“What?”
“He came because you’re here.”
I looked toward the Iron Mesa side of the campground even though I couldn’t see it from where we stood.
The black touring rig.
The six bikes.
Kellan Stroud walking through our camp like he belonged there.
Three meetings in less than two days.
Everybody shutting up when I came around.
The guys Dad had shadowing me through the vendor rows.
“Has he been watching me?”
Dad took too long.
“Oh, fuck you.”
“Not like that.”
“What does that even mean?”
“He’s seen you around.”
“Because you brought me here.”
“You wanted to come to Sturgis.”
“You knew he was coming.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he wanted to meet me.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“No.”
I laughed under my breath. “Was the scorpion purchase approved, or do I need to check the treaty?”
“Taryn.”
“What? Maybe Kellan has opinions.”
Dad rubbed a hand down his face. “You’re going to make this harder than it needs to be.”
“I hope so.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
He looked at his watch.
I immediately knew I wasn’t going to like whatever came next.
“What?”
“Dinner’s at seven.”
I stared at him. “Good for you.”
“With Kellan.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“You, me, Cal, Kellan and two of his officers.”
“No.”
“You’re going.”
“I’m absolutely not.”
“It’s dinner.”
“With the man you just sold me to.”
“I told you not to call it that.”
“Then stop doing things that sound exactly like selling me.”
Dad lowered his voice. “You can hate me tonight. You can sit there and refuse to say two words to him if that’s what you want. But you are going to meet him.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s going to be your husband.”
I stepped closer. “You keep saying that like eventually I’m going to forget you never asked me.”
“I know I didn’t ask.”
“Good. At least we’re clear.”
“Taryn—”
“No. You want me at dinner? Fine. I’ll go.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed because he knew me too well to hear that and think the argument was over.
I smiled at him.
“But if you think I’m going to sit there smiling while the two of you discuss what happens to me like I’m not in the room, you should probably warn Kellan first.”
Dad stared at me for a second.
Then he pointed toward the RV.
“Go get dressed.”
“I am dressed.”
“You’ve got powdered sugar on your shirt.”
I looked down.
There was still a white smear from the funnel cake near my hip.
I brushed at it.
Dad turned toward camp.
I called after him, “I’m wearing this.”
He kept walking.
“Dad.”
Nothing.
“I’m bringing the scorpion.”
That made him stop.
He turned around.
I smiled.
He pointed at me. “Seven o’clock.”
Then he started walking again.
I waited until he was far enough away before I muttered, “Can’t wait to meet my buyer.”
