Chapter 7
Legacy
I took her home, despite wanting to take her to the clubhouse. She dug her heels in and refused. I could have taken her there and ignored her wishes, and I probably should have, but she was shaken up enough as it was. Home was her safe space. At least it should have been. I wasn’t so sure anymore. Tristan Hunter had a boner for her. That was crystal clear. The polite way of describing it would have been an infatuation, but there was nothing polite about the Hunters.
And there was nothing polite about what I would do to Tristan if he went near Kate or Conner again.
Although I had warned him both with my words and my fists, I knew deep down that it wasn’t over yet. I couldn’t understand how Kate had even caught his eye. I suspected she didn’t either, but the whole thing felt like a set-up. Like they had threatened Conner, knowing she would go rushing to his defence. It sounded like something Tristan would do based on his reputation. But how had Kate even ended up on his radar? It’s not like she ran in the same circles.
One thing was for certain: she hadn’t seen the last of Tristan Hunter.
He wouldn’t give up.
That meant I had to make sure she was safe. She and Conner.
I wouldn’t forgive myself if I let anything happen to either of them.
“Is that one of yours?” Kate”s voice broke through my melancholy thoughts. I had been so busy trying to work out what to do to keep them safe that I hadn’t even paid attention to the roar of a bike approaching.
Reinforcements.
Pocket had come through for me.
Raising my eyes to her back, I took her in again. She hadn’t changed her clothes, but the wedged heels she had been wearing had been kicked off. Taking in her slim back and flaring hips, I fought back the urge to groan.
Has she always been that beautiful? But I already knew the answer to that. Yeah, she had. I just hadn’t allowed myself to think about it. She had been Paul’s woman. She would always be Paul’s woman. I shouldn’t ever look at her like I was.
But it was like my eyes couldn’t keep from looking.
Letting the curtains fall back into place, she turned to me. Her eyebrow was raised in a silent question.
Heaving myself up, I went to stand behind her. Reaching past her to twitch back the curtains, I took stock of the company. “Yeah.” I didn’t move as I watched not one, but two bikes, pull up to the curb. Pocket had come through alright and he had brought Duke with him. I recognised their bikes instantly. Duke’s was especially unique thanks to the ultra realistic mural painted on it.
“Yeah, they are Sons. You can trust them.” I let the curtain fall. But I didn’t move. I liked the feeling of warmth radiating from her body. It was comforting. What would it feel like if I pulled her into me? If I wrapped her in a vice-like embrace so her ass was pressed against me? Would she let her head fall back against my shoulder, or would she stiffen? I knew I would stiffen. Already I could feel myself twitching against the denim that covered me.
“You invited the Savage Sons to my house?” She didn’t turn to me.
“Yeah. They aren’t uncivilised savages, you know, and I don’t want you to be alone when I go to collect Conner.”
That made her turn. “You’re going to get Conner?” She sounded confused.
“Yep. If you won’t come to the clubhouse, then me or one of my friends will be shadowing you pretty closely until this is all over. Tristan will get bored sooner or later,” I lied. There was no way he would get bored, not now that I was on the scene. Me getting involved might have just made things worse.
“Is that necessary?”
“Yes.” Hands on her shoulders, I turned her, my fingers flexing against her skin as I squeezed. “Look at me, Kate.”
She did what I asked. Her chin and bottom lip trembled. She didn’t look like she was going to cry, but that wobbling bottom lip told me she was struggling.
“It’s going to be okay,” I promised, trying my best to keep my smile as authentic as I could. She knew me well enough to know when I was lying, but I wanted to at least try to put her at ease. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to look after you and make sure you are both okay. Even if that means I don’t leave your side.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean you’re going to stay? Here?” Wildly, her eyes moved around the room, like a trapped and cornered animal that was looking for an escape route. “With me? Like in the night? Sleepover and…and…”
She was freaking out, and I didn’t understand why.
“I can take the couch. It’s not like I expect you to offer for me to bunk in with you.” I laughed, and she squeaked even more.
Her throat worked, her eyes fluttering.
“It was a joke, Kate.”
“You can’t stay here, Legacy. I don’t have men staying in my house, ever.”
Cocking my head to the side, I grinned at her. “Scared you won’t be able to keep your hands off me?” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Kate”s mouth fell open and her cheeks flamed.
Fuck.
I took a step away.
That was exactly what she was worried about. And that meant she was feeling the totally inappropriate chemistry between us as well. That was dangerous.
It was almost as dangerous as the mess she had gotten herself into with the Hunters.
Before I could say anything to her, there was a sharp knock on the door. She jumped even though she knew they were friends.
“Relax.” My hands slid down her upper arms. “It’s just Pocket and Duke.”
This close to her, it would be easy to kiss her. And I wanted to.
I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t and wouldn’t make a move on my best friend”s wife. Even if he was dead. I wouldn’t betray his memory. It would be the ultimate betrayal, and I knew she thought so too.
Stepping away, I let my hands drop to my sides. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
I moved towards the door before my resolve failed and I kissed her, betrayal be damned.
“Let’s step outside for a second,” I said by way of a greeting after I swung open the front door. I closed it behind me before either one of them could say a word.
“What’s going on?” Duke kept glancing up at one of the wide bay windows and you didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know why. Kate was back at it, twitching back the curtains.
“Need some help watching Kate and the boy.” There was no sugarcoating it. I did need help.
“I can definitely help with her.” Duke”s chin jerked in the direction of the window and the curtain quickly fell back into place. “If you’re not up to the job.” He laughed.
Gritting my teeth, I stepped in front of him, blocking his view even though I was pretty sure she was no longer in sight. I didn’t want to turn around and see. That would give the asshole more ammunition.
“More than up for the job,” I muttered. “I just can’t watch over them both twenty-four hours a day. I can’t be in two places at once, and I don’t want to bring the club into it.”
“Something happen between you and Kate?” Under his beard, Pocket smirked. “I knew it was all bullshit when you said you didn’t like her.”
Duke spoke up. “Club already knows. Your name was being thrown around like grenades when I was leaving. Prez isn’t too happy.”
My eyes darted between them. Not knowing which one to answer first. I went with Duke. My father being pissed at me was something I could handle. Dealing with the attraction I was feeling for Kate wasn’t. I would rather face bullets than that.
“How the hell did he find out so quickly?” Shrugging, I tried to put it to the back of my mind. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter what my dad thought or even ordered. He could kick me out of the Sons for all I cared. For ten years, I had let Kate and Conner down and I wouldn’t do it again.
“What I do on my own time isn’t Sons” business, or my father”s for that matter,” I added it as an afterthought.
“Well, the Hunters seem to think it is, and they want compensation for what you did to the younger one”s face.” Duke”s eyes met mine. “They would prefer to take it out of your flesh, but your dad wasn’t down for that. He’s mad though. If he wasn’t heading out, then I’m pretty sure he would have come here himself.”
“Prez is on a run?” That was a lucky break for me. If he was gone, that meant Domino was in charge and he was more likely to listen. Out of the two, he was a hell of a lot more reasonable.
“Prez is out,” Duke said. There was absolutely no emotion in his voice. “No idea where.” He shrugged. “You know what he’s like.”
Yeah, I did know what he was like. He had always been a bit of a loose cannon. But the last few months had been worse than that. He had been disappearing, and no one knew where he went. Not that anyone asked. Most suspected he had a woman somewhere and if that was the case, I didn’t want to know. Not because I didn’t want him to move on. Mum had died a long time ago. But I just didn’t want to have to think about him in a relationship at all.
“But Domino wants to see you. He doesn’t want things to escalate.”
“I can handle the Hunters. They are small fish in a very large pond.”
“Even small fish can make waves, Legacy.” Ever the diplomat, Pocket”s voice was low and calm. “Do what you need to do and then speak with Domino. You explain it to him and he will understand. You know what he’s like.”
Yeah, I did. Domino was a good man. Old school, but he had always been a surrogate uncle to me, my brother and my sister growing up. He especially stepped up for Elodie when she needed someone. When I couldn’t.
I sure had a habit of letting the women in my life down.
“You guys will watch out for her?” I glanced at the window, and sure enough, she was there, her nose practically pressed up against the glass.
I smiled before I could stop myself.
“I’m staying,” Pocket said. “Duke can go with you.”
“Why?” I turned to him. “Why just you?”
“Do you really want him anywhere near your woman?” Pocket nodded his head and Duke grinned from ear to ear. “He will be all over her and you know it.”
Duke nodded. “I will,” he admitted.
“Then you come with me.” I pointed towards his lavishly custom painted bike. Trotting after him, I paused to lift my hand to wave goodbye to Kate before turning my eyes back to Pocket. “And she’s not my woman.”
“Stay in there for a minute.” I pointed into the common room, which was luckily empty. In the main area, one of the nomads was drinking in the corner and one of the bunnies was wiping down the bar. Catching her eye, I pointed down at my young quarry. “Keep an eye on him, okay?”
For a second, she looked confused. It wasn’t unheard of that some of the older members brought their old ladies and kids around, but the bunnies were never asked to babysit. I wasn’t sure if they even knew how. Sucking dick was more their style.
Slipping her way from behind the bar, she grinned at me. There was lipstick on her teeth.
“Anything for you, Legacy,” she purred.
“Oh, fuck.” Conner’s eyes bugged out of his head.
“Don’t swear,” I admonished before I could help myself. Not that I blamed the lad. Carly was a pretty girl, and she was dressed to show off every asset she had.
“Maybe I’ll take the lad outside and show him my bike. That way, his hormones won’t make his dick explode.” Duke laughed. Clapping both hands on Conner”s shoulders, he turned him away from us and pushed him towards the door.
“Thanks.” I must have lost a few too many brains trying to keep my luck under control around Kate that I hadn’t thought about what a beautiful, scantily clad woman would do to a poor teenage boy. “I won’t be long,” I told Conner.
“I don’t mind waiting.” He didn’t look at me at all.
“Of course you don’t. Come on, you Casanova.” Duke pushed him away.
“Anything I can help you with, Legacy?” Carly sashayed towards me. All hips and tits.
“I’m just here to talk to Domino.”
“Maybe I can help both of you?” She pushed her hair behind her ear. It made her look softer. More vulnerable. What wrong path in life had she taken to bring her here, sucking a brother”s dick so she felt safe?
I shook the thought away. I couldn’t save her. I already had a woman to protect.
“Maybe later, love. Is Domino in the office?”
She shrugged her narrow shoulders, but the rejection on her face kind of hurt.
“You’re worth more than this, Carly.”
Her eyes flamed. “Never asked your opinion, Legacy. And Domino’s out front. I’m surprised you didn’t see him when you came in.”
Not saying another word, I backtracked my way outside.
Blinking in the sunlight, I raised a hand to shield my eyes.
“Legacy,” Domino’s voice boomed. And I turned to find him sitting on the bench to the left of me, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his fingers.
“You wanted to talk to me?” My boots crunched gravel as I made my way to him.
“Yeah, take a seat.” He didn’t look at me. His eyes were on Duke and Conner. Conner was kneeling, dusting up the knees of his school trousers as he ran his hands over the amazing artwork of Duke”s bike.
“Had a little visitor today, Legacy. You did a number on Tristan’s face. The Hunters are after blood.” He side eyed me, taking a long drag of his cigarette before crushing it under the toe of his boot. “Does he deserve it?”
“He deserved more,” I ground out. “Should have put him in the ground.”
“He did something to the kid?”
“No. Not like that. It’s Tony who liked them younger. If I thought for a second…” I shook my head.
“Yeah, I know. So if not the boy, who?” His eyes went back to watching. “His mother?”
“Kate is not his mum, but she raised him. That asshole Tristan…” I blew out a breath, clenching my hands in my lap.
“He got rough with her? Try it on with your woman? Explain it to me, Legacy, make me understand.”
“Kate’s not my woman.”
Domino”s eyebrows shot up. “You want her to be, though.”
“I haven’t really spoken to her for ten years. She’s the wife of my best friend.”
Turning in his seat, Domino put the full weight of his grey eyes on me. “She’s your best friend”s widow, Legacy. And from everything you’ve told me about Paul, he would want you both to be happy. Didn’t he always say he wanted you to look after her?”
I closed my eyes. “I think he meant to be there for her, not fuck her.”
“So you do want her?”
“Yeah.” It felt good to admit it to someone, even when I felt like the world”s biggest asshole for wanting her. “Guess I’m a pretty crappy friend. I’ve been failing him for the last ten years.”
“You haven’t failed anyone. Not Emmet and not Paul. You gotta let that shit go. You are allowed to be happy, Legacy. And I think that girl could make you happy.” He pulled another smoke from a pack he fished from his pocket.
“The people I love die.”
“Your mum was sick, Legacy, and the others were tragedies. That’s three people. Not everyone. Your sister is alive and kicking. She’s happy.”
I nodded. He was right, of course. Elodie was happy. I missed her. Probably more now than the years we had spent hardly speaking. But she was off living her life with her rockstar and soon to be having a baby. Life had turned out wonderfully for El.
“Kate got hurt badly?”
Shaking myself, I turned back to him. “Bruised up, but that’s not the point.”
“He rape her?” Domino”s temper was level, but I knew how he felt about rapists.
“She said it didn’t go that far.” Every word out of my mouth felt like poison. “Then we saw him and he mentioned tasting her on his fingers.” I fell silent.
Domino fell silent as well. I didn’t need to elaborate. Domino understood.
“Go,” he said finally. “Watch over them. The club will make it known that they are under our protection now. Any problems? Tell them to come here.”
“Thanks, Domino.” I stood.
“Do me a favour though and take some advice. Don’t let her go another ten years before you tell her how you feel. You won’t be so lucky next time.”