Chapter 26 Gracie Mae
Gracie Mae
“Happiness looks good on you, cupcake,” Sasha comments with a smile on her face on the other side of the bar. She’s about to go on in twenty minutes, her being the main event for the night.
I smile back at Sasha as I think of all the reasons why I have been idiotically wearing a smile upon my face. Why there’s this glow that not even the greatest highlighter can achieve.
“So,” she asks, jutting her hip and placing her hand on it, “will he be making another appearance tonight?”
Over the past week Oak has been coming to Fantasy and staying for the hour before I get off my shift. He’ll take place at the end of the bar and sit there, scorching me with his gaze, making my body hum with anticipation, and intimidate any of the men who come too close.
“I’m sure he will,” I tell her, my smile becoming ridiculously wider as the butterflies he evokes flutter in my stomach.
“Grace?” She says my name tentatively and as I look at her I can see that she’s nervous.
“Yeah?”
She leans across the bar and clasps both of my hands in hers. With her eyes boring into mine she says, “I was wrong about Oak and I want to say that I’m sorry.”
It takes me a moment before I remember what she’s apologizing about. All those weeks ago when Oak came in with Snake and she warned me of his black heart.
I shake it off. “Your intentions weren’t out of malice, Sasha. You were only trying to protect me.”
“I know,” she says on a breath. “But you were the one who was right about him and I’m sorry I judged him so harshly. He doesn’t have a black heart. He just needed someone to remind him how to love again.”
My own heart starts beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings. Neither of us have said I love you to one another yet, but that doesn’t mean we both don’t feel it.
“He’s the best man that I know, Sasha.” My voice is choked with emotion and tears burn behind my eyes.
“You’re in love,” she comments on a dreamy sigh.
I nod my head, my face turning five shades of bashful red. “He’s the one, Sasha. I can’t imagine my life without him.”
“As long as he keeps you happy then he will never have a problem with me.” She winks. Releasing my hands she then points at me with her eyes narrowed. “But if he ever causes you pain I will gladly break his face.”
“Sasha,” I warn but the smile remains on my face.
“No one fucks with my best girl. The minute he changes your red to blue, cupcake, is the minute he’ll no longer have his dick.”
“You know I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she says warmly.
She then saunters away, naturally swaying her hips as she does.
Soon after she leaves the lights go off on the main stage and the music playlist that Sasha dances to begins. The lights hit the stage in a soft red glow and you can see the silhouette of her body move sensually on time to the music.
The men in the club automatically stop paying attention to the floor waitresses and give all of it to Sasha.
Catcalls and whistles echo throughout the strip club and as Sasha provocatively crawls towards the edge of the stage the men begin to throw their money at her.
The chime of the door opening causes me to look at the entrance with eager anticipation. I glance behind me at the clock and notice I still have about two hours left of work. Oak’s probably coming in earlier tonight and the thought causes my heart to race.
Bouncing on the ball of my feet, unable to contain my excitement, I wait patiently for him to enter.
But who enters through the door has my feet coming to a halt and the excitement leaving my body only to be replaced with mild curiosity.
A woman and a man walk in and they look like they absolutely do not belong here. Both of them are wearing suits and the female has her dark hair up in a tight sleek ponytail. The man has a short cropped cut, nice and tidy by the ears, and not much to mess up with your fingers.
They both study their surroundings before both of their eyes land on me.
And a sense of foreboding fills me as they stalk towards me with purposeful strides.
Mustering up a smile I don’t quite feel I greet them on the opposite side of the bar. “What can I get for the both of you tonight?”
The woman ignores me, intentionally, I can tell. She keeps her eyes unnervingly on mine and I stare right back at her. If we’re going to be kids and do a fucking staring contest I’m not only joining in on her childish game, but I’ll also win.
The man next to her clears his throat but my eyes don’t break from hers.
I have had to stand up to people my entire life for not only myself but for those I love and care for. If she wants to keep this up all night I can last longer.
I place my hand on my hip and arch a cool brow at her.
Only then, after what feels like a century, she nods her head, in what appears as a sign of respect, and breaks the stare.
“We came in hopes to ask you a couple of questions,” the man, who has a surprisingly gentle voice, says to me with his hands clasped on the counter.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as I regard this duo a bit more closely.
The only people who ask questions either work with law enforcement, are a private investigator, or deal in crime.
And living in Hollows Point all my life I can guarantee that the duo before me is neither P.I. nor the type to work with crime.
“Well,” I begin, the sass in my tone evident, “can’t really give you an answer if you don’t ask first.” One day I know my mouth is going to get me in a world of trouble but it’s something I can’t help.
The man smiles, showcasing his pearly white teeth that aren’t perfectly straight.
“We know you worked for a club called Hell’s Gates that was under rule by The Crowned Devils MC.
” At the mere mention of that despicable and dishonorable club my insides can’t help but crawl, nor can I hide the disgust on my face.
“What about them?” Yeah, I can’t hide the disgust in my voice either. They were fucking animals.
“They used to rule this town, if I can remember correctly.” He’s not asking, rather stating.
I narrow my eyes at the both of them as I try to figure out their endgame.
“Your memory serves you correct,” I tell him, my voice giving nothing away this time.
“And now they’re all dead. Hollows Point no longer under their rule.”
I sigh dramatically. “Such a tragedy,” I say sarcastically. The man snorts while the woman looks on at me with hard brown eyes that mean absolute business.
“I’m sure,” the woman says dryly.
“You haven’t asked your question yet,” I point out to the man who has stated nothing but facts that needed no confirmation.
“No, I haven’t,” he agrees.
“Are you going to ask it because once Sasha’s show is over I’ll be busy.”
The woman goes for her back pocket and produces a black leather wallet. She then lets it fall open before me and my breath catches in my throat.
Agent Astrid Liu.
Federal Bureau of Investigations.
She taps on the badge with her clear nail polished finger.
“It doesn’t matter how busy you are, Ms. Vale.
You’ll take the time to answer our questions.
” She places the wallet on the bar counter facing me.
As if I need to see any more clearly that the FBI is questioning me.
“Starting with Ethan Barrington, road name Oak.”
All the air evaporates and my heart beats wildly in the cavity of my chest. I can hear the blood rushing in my ears and my tongue feels like lead.
I try to remain indifferent, to copy the stoic expression Oak wears so effortlessly, but I feel as if I’m failing.
I just got him.
And I’m not going to let them, FBI or not, take him away from me.
I swallow, composing myself the best that I can. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Agent Liu raises her perfectly defined brow at me. “Don’t act stupid, Ms. Vale, I know for a fact that you’re not. You know Oak intimately.”
I blink from her bluntness. “You’re rather blunt, aren’t you?”
She smirks. “I don’t have time for bullshit.”
“Well, neither do I,” I say bravely. Her partner next to her regards me with impressed eyes, hers however, manage to narrow further. “So you either get to the point or leave me the hell alone.”
Tilting her head to the side her eyes assess me in a new light. If she wants answers about Oak I’m not going to give them to her. I’ll never do anything to put his life or his brother’s lives in jeopardy. I’m no snitch.
“Do you really know the man you’re romantically involved with?”
Her question is supposed to make me doubtful and falter, yet it has the opposite reaction.
“I do,” I answer confidently.
“You sure about that? Because I wouldn’t want my little brother around a known killer.”
The mention of my brother has me ready to erupt. “You leave Connor out of this,” I spit.
Her eyes flash with victory and I realize I’ve made a grave mistake.
“He’s still under custody of your mother, am I correct?” The question is rhetorical, her face smug. What a fucking bitch. “You keep men like that in your life you’ll never gain custody of him.” The fact that she sounds exactly like Steven infuriates me.
They know nothing of Oak’s character.
They don’t know the pure heart of gold that he has and his undying loyalty.
They don’t know that he’s a man worth the entire world.
Through clenched teeth I ask her, “What exactly are you getting at?”
“We need a confession, Ms. Vale. A solid coherent confession from Ethan Barrington that he killed Chris Townsend.”
And I know in my heart that Oak had very good fucking reason to kill that man.
I’m a woman who believes in forgiveness, this is true, but I also believe that some acts are unforgivable.
I already know the answer but I need to actually hear it to believe it’s true. “And what does that have to do with me?”
She glances over at her partner and gives a subtle nod of her head.
He then takes over. “If you get him to confess we can help you gain custody of Connor.”
There it is.