Chapter 23
I ain’t too good at fractions, but I still know you’re a whole ass bitch.
— Text from Cutter to Chevy
CUTTER
I was knee deep in sawdust, had my arms high above my head holding a shelving unit in place, and my phone was ringing.
“ Go !” I called out to Milena .
She came in from the front, her eyebrows raised. “ You rang.”
I grinned at her, then shifted my hips to indicate what I wanted. “ My phone’s ringing.”
She eyed my hips. “ Could you do that again?”
I shot her a look, which she returned with a smirk.
“ It’s my granddad’s number, or I wouldn’t answer it,” I informed her.
“ How do you know it’s your granddad’s number?” she asked.
“ Because Keely thought it would be hilarious to assign everyone their own vibration on everyone’s phone,” he answered. “ Granddad’s is the Jaws theme. I can feel the vibrations going, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun.”
She gifted me with a smile that would’ve knocked me off my feet had I not had a couple hundred pounds over my head.
“ Got it,” she said as she came over.
She stuck her hand in the pocket without the phone, and I didn’t bother telling her it wasn’t in that pocket when her fingers brushed against the line of my cock.
“ Whoops .” She giggled and went for the other pocket.
Pulling it out, she answered it while on speakerphone.
“ Hey , Granddad ,” she cooed.
Granddad and Milena hadn’t officially met yet, but only because Granddad’s schedule was very busy. As in, Mondays he played Bingo at the Bingo Hall with his crew. Tuesdays he went out of town to a shopping mall in Sunnyvale where he ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Wednesdays he played pickleball. Thursdays he played pickleball. Fridays he ‘recovered’ and played Bunko . When he wasn’t doing that, he was at my shop putzing around, building things out of my wood without asking. Saturdays and Sundays he did his various activities at the old folks’ home that we were able to sneak him into by the skin of our teeth.
And , seeing as Granddad wasn’t willing to miss much of any of his activities, not even to meet his grandson’s wife, he’d yet to meet her.
Though , we had plans to join him at pickleball tomorrow, according to Keely and Milena —who’d become fast friends a couple of days ago after meeting.
I’d decided that it was their common history.
They both had bonded over their overprotective brothers, how their lives had changed, and how much they wished that their family could see them as people, and not as victims.
Truthfully , it’d taken Milena explaining things to me to understand.
She wasn’t hung up on anything anymore.
She’d figured out how to navigate life after the unthinkable had happened to her, and she wanted to be able to live. And we— Chevy , Copper , Shasha , Dima , and I —hadn’t been giving them the freedom they needed to live their lives.
We’d been holding on so tightly with both hands that we hadn’t realized that they’d overcome and persevered.
But now, I was giving that freedom to Keely , and I would work hard to try to convince my brothers—and Milena’s —to do the same.
“ Oh , hey, darlin’,” Granddad said. “ How are you?”
Milena grinned at me and said, “ I’m doing really good. Trying out my new coffee machine today. Would you like some coffee?”
“ Oh , I’d love some dear.” He paused. “ Hey , can you tell my grandson I might need some help for a bit?”
I screwed in the shelf, then fastened it to the other wall with more screws, before I said, “ What did you do, Granddad ?”
There was a pause and then, “ Oh , nothing, nothing,” he declared. “ I just need you here to clear up a few things.”
“ Where is here?” I asked.
“ Oh , I’m at Sunny’s ,” he said. “ The place just down the road from your wife’s coffee shop.”
I looked at Milena and raised a brow.
She held up her finger and said, “ Granddad , we’ll be right there.”
I sighed and walked out with Milena to the bike.
“ Come on,” I said. “ I get in your car, and I’m gonna get it disgusting.”
“ But what if your granddad needs a ride back here?” she asked.
“ Then we’ll figure it out,” I pointed out.
She hopped onto the back of my bike, and I handed her the helmet that I’d purchased just for her only a day ago.
She pulled it onto her head, and I adjusted my own helmet, before we took off.
Granddad was right. It was only a bit down the road.
Milena pointed over my shoulder at the small diner, and I pulled into the parking lot, unsurprised to find a crowd.
“ What is going on?” Milena asked.
“ I need you to go inside,” I said. “ Stand in the windows so I can see you.”
She bit her lip but didn’t argue, which I was happy for.
She didn’t go all the way inside, though. Instead , she went into the small vestibule area that had another set of doors that would lead you inside.
She stayed in that small glass room and stared, but kept the door cracked so she could hear what was happening.
I walked up to the crowd of people, unsurprised to find my granddad and his cronies—three older men that were also Vietnam vets—at his side.
“ You the ‘dolphin trainer’?” one man asked.
I eyed his cut, seeing it said ‘ Crazy Motherfuckers ’ on it.
Original .
I looked at my grandfather and said, “ Again ? Really ?”
He shrugged.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes, uncaring that I’d semi-turned my back on the men that were obviously a problem.
Even now, I heard the bikes arriving.
I didn’t go anywhere without backup, and as we were leaving, I sent a mass text to the club, asking for a little backup if they were in the area.
I wasn’t sure who’d responded, but it didn’t matter. All of them could handle themselves. And I trusted all of them with my life.
“ Granddad , what the fuck did I tell you about calling me a dolphin trainer?”
“ Well , aren’t you?” he asked.
“ I was…” I let go of the bridge of my nose. “ Training SEALS . Not dolphins.”
“ Oh , yeah.” He giggled, shrugging. “ It’s not like these men would really understand, anyway. It’s not like they have any brain cells to rub together.”
He knew damn well what I used to do.
There was a shuffle of feet behind me, and I just knew one of the men that’d been at my back had lost their patience.
I shifted, putting my back to the brick pillar behind me, but didn’t have to make a move because there was an angry cop there blocking the path.
“ I think not.”
Auden Carter , Milena’s sister’s old man.
Fuck , I hated having a cop in the family.
Cops were such buzzkills.
The bikes were so close now that I knew they were parking in the middle of the parking lot, ready to leap off at any possible signs of distress.
“ And who the fuck do you think you are?” the first man to address me asked Auden . “ You’re one lone cop in a sea of bikers.”
I shifted, crossing my arms over my chest.
I looked out of the corner of my eye and spotted Webber and Doc , both watching but not making a move to intervene.
“ I think if you want to act all big and tough, you might not want to do it with a whole fuckin’ diner full of cops,” Auden pointed out.
Sure enough, when I looked behind me, what looked like the entire Carter Clan was in the diner behind me, staring out the plate glass windows.
One of the elder Carters , which likely was Auden’s dad, was standing protectively next to Milena . Which made me feel a sense of relief, even if he was another cop.
I hadn’t wanted her in this sort of situation, but the worse thought was leaving her behind with no protection where she expected to be safe.
Next to the group of Carters was a couple of familiar faces from another MC watching but not intervening.
I didn’t have to look at the name patch to know that gator skeleton.
Gator Bait MC .
Fuck , but these fuckwit bikers really chose the wrong fuckin’ diner.
If they only knew…
The Truth Tellers MC and the Gator Bait MC were friendly. There’d been many times that we’d had each other’s backs in the past.
But having the Carters here, who had a kinship to my wife…
Granddad did know how to start a party.
“ You don’t fuckin’ scare me with your cop badges,” the biker, whose name patch said ‘ Sniff ’ on it, said.
Ol ’ Sniff had no clue.
Sniff’s friends shifted restlessly, likely seeing the error in their friend’s ways.
Sniff didn’t care, obviously, because his next words were short and sweet.
“ I’m going to fuckin’ kill you.”
Then he launched himself at my granddad.
And let me tell you something, folks.
My granddad was a vet.
He had done things, seen things, and experienced things that not even I , as a SEAL , had experienced.
He’d been in the trenches of Vietnam .
He’d turned into a man that not even I would fuck with.
Not even at eighty-eight years old.
Sniff launched himself at Granddad , and Granddad slapped him across the face like a bitch, dropping him to his knees.
Auden moved then, cuffing Sniff before he could recover from the slap.
Granddad’s friends were snickering, and Sniff’s friends were shifting from foot to foot.
“ Now’s the time to take a hike,” I suggested to them.
They looked like they wanted to argue but chose not to.
The crowd of them dissipated, heading toward the back of the lot where the bikes were lined up.
Auden walked toward a cruiser I had noticed in the corner of the lot and deposited a bleeding Sniff into the back of the cruiser.
I turned just in time to have Milena come up to my back and wrap her arms around my side.
“ So , you’re a dolphin trainer?” she teased.
I looked down at Milena and narrowed my eyes. “ Not anymore.”
“ Why not?” she pushed.
“ Because it was exhausting,” I admitted. “ And it was time to find a new path in life.”
“ Now he’s just a pain in our ass.” Webber came up after parking his bike. “ It’s nice to see you again.”
Milena offered Webber her hand and said, “ It’s great to see you again, too.”
The lines at the corners of Webber’s eyes creased as he practically beamed at her.
The most dangerous man I knew, smiling like a fuckin’ loon.
“ When’s your man going to bring you around again so we can get to know you better?” Doc walked up and offered his hand as well. “ I feel like he’s been hogging your attention.”
Milena flushed.
I narrowed my eyes at Doc .
Always the fuckin’ charmer.
It was part of his persona.
Charm them. Make them think that he wasn’t as dangerous as he was.
But sometimes he was genuine.
Like right now.
“ Circumstances .” She shrugged, not offering an explanation, which I approved of.
I loved my club brothers. Most of them I loved like my real brothers.
However , the less people that knew about why I married her, the better.
Because , the more people that knew, the more likely that Milena would know, and I didn’t ever want her to find out the real reason.
She might hate me for it, and I didn’t think I could handle her hating me.
“ Well , now that we’re here,” Webber drawled, rubbing his belly. “ I’m a bit peckish.”
I waited until Auden got back and offered him my hand, which he surprisingly took.
“ Thanks for having my granddad’s back,” I offered.
“ He didn’t have my back. I had my own damn back!” Granddad cried.
My lips twitched as I turned to the man that’d finished raising me—who was pretty much the only positive male influence I had growing up—and said, “ Granddad , since you’re now unbusy, maybe you could finally meet my wife.”
Granddad’s sharp eyes turned to Milena and held. He stared at her for a long moment before saying, “ You’re a looker. You do realize that he’s way beneath your level, right?”
I shook my head, a smile forming on my mouth despite my granddad’s words.
“ Oh ?” Milena turned to stare at me, the two of them giving me very different appraisals. “ I think he’s mighty sexy, though. He has all these abs underneath that shirt, and he has the stamina of a racehorse. And the co?—”
I placed my hand over her mouth and said, “ Don’t you dare.”
Her hand came to my wrist, and she pulled pitifully hard.
I gave her the play and dropped my hand from her mouth. But she curled my hand underneath her chin and said to my granddad, “ You can sit by me as we have breakfast.”
“ I’ve already eaten,” Granddad said. “ But I guess it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to sit there for a few minutes. That’s all I can spare, though. Tiny and Big Head want to head to Whataburger to sit after this. We have a pretty good routine.”
I rolled my eyes, causing Auden to chuckle and say, “ Pop , when will you turn into an old man like that?”
Auden’s ‘ Pop ’ chuckled as he held the door open for us.
We all went inside and were greeted by a very full house.
Luckily , it looked like the Carter family was finished and were cleaning up and heading out.
They all offered chin lifts, but didn’t stay to talk, leaving the entire place breathing a collective sigh of relief once they were gone.
The Carters were good people, but they were cops after all.
Cops were such Debbie Downers .
“ Coastguard .”
I looked up to find Etienne , one of the members of Gator Bait MC , standing there with his hand out.
I took it with a grin and said, “ Etienne . What are you doing in Dallas ?”
“ Poker Run for Easter ,” he said.
“ Ahh .” I nodded. “ I actually heard about that.”
“ You’re not doing it?” he asked. “ There’s a big to-do going on in Mansfield .”
“ Not this time,” I said as I curled my hand around the back of Milena’s thigh and pulled her closer to me when Etienne’s club brother, Bain , came closer.
His eyes weren’t exactly on Milena in a way that I thought he was finding her attractive, but in a calculating way.
I grumbled something under my breath, causing Bain to look at me.
He didn’t look apologetic in the least as he said, “ Coastie .”
My club name was Coastguard , but sometimes it was too long to say in a satisfying way, so lots of times it got shortened to Coastie .
Normally I wouldn’t care, but Bain had just sized my woman up, and I wasn’t feeling all nice and tingly about that.
“ I don’t know if you remember me,” Bain said, ignoring me. “ But one time I came into your sister’s bakery. About two years or so ago. And you were there helping. You gave my daughter a cheese Danish when she fell and busted her lip.”
Milena’s head tilted sideways a bit before saying, “ The one that bled all over the floor and it looked like a murder scene?”
“ That’s the one.” Bain laughed.
I let up on Milena’s thigh, but instead of pulling away, she leaned into me more.
“ The cops came in because a dad was complaining about the noise, and I threw a freakin’ fit.” Milena snickered. “ How’s she doing?”
“ Growing like a weed,” he said, his eyes flicking to me.
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. I read the look in his eyes.
If I ever hurt her, he’d kick my ass.
But he needn’t have worried.
Milena had a long line of male protectors that would kick my ass if I fucked this up.
“ Come sit with us and catch up,” Etienne said. “ Webber , how ya doing? Your ol’ lady still doing good?”
“ My ol’ lady isn’t my ol’ lady anymore,” Webber grumbled as he took the seat next to Etienne .
I waited until everyone was seated, even my grandfather, before I turned Milena to face me. “ You okay with eating with them?”
She raised her hand and smoothed my beard down before saying, “ As long as you don’t leave me there alone, I’m perfectly fine.”
I pulled her to me and stared directly into her eyes when I said, “ I’d have to be dragged away dead before I left you.”