5
5
Sadie
My mom squeezed the oxygen out of me, while my dad stared at me with a questioning eye. He didn’t buy my I missed you and the club.
Seconds after I drove through the iron gate of the compound, my dad and mom ran out of the clubhouse. There was no surprising anyone. The armed guard in the shack had announced my arrival to everyone.
Now the bar was in a joyful frenzy.
“I don’t understand, honey. What about the Nutcracker? Your practices?” my mom asked as she released me.
“Can we talk about it at home? I just want to see everyone.”
“Sadie!” Birdie screamed my name as she charged toward me. “Oh my God! Oh my God! When did you get home? Why are you home? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” The questions flew out of her mouth as she wrapped me in a bear hug.
Before I got to answer, Ember, Demi, and Dezi created a circle around us. I truly missed my girlfriends.
“You are so busted.” Ember slapped my butt. “No text or call, you bitch!”
“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if I let you know I was coming.”
“True. I forgive you.” Ember hugged me. “I call dibs on a private convo.”
“Oh, please. I get Sadie first, but not tonight.” Birdie took my hand and tugged me toward a table.
The girls followed without complaint. This was how it had always been with them. Birdie was the leader of her peers, and no one questioned her position or tried to knock her down a few pegs. It was like they were their own girls’ club, and I missed them terribly. They were more than my girlfriends; they were my family. We’d all grown up together and had the best times being raised in the club.
Along the way, Maddy, Emilee, and Tara gave me a quick hug. My dad watched me like a hawk from a table across the room. Some of my KLMC uncles were with him: Storm, Hero, and Dodge. I was confident they were discussing me and my surprise visit.
The prez, Maddox, was at the councils’ table with his VP, Raymond, and enforcer, Bjorn. There’d been a lot of changes since I went off to college in New York. New threats had entered Knight’s Legion territory, keeping Maddox and the club busy protecting everyone. Plus, the legacies were growing up, and many were following their own paths, which didn’t include the MC. Much like I had done, leaving Minnesota.
“All right, spill the tea.” Birdie leveled her gaze at me. The concern in her bright-blue eyes put a lump in my throat. “We all know how badly you wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy. Girl, you’d finally made it on Broadway. What gives?”
The girls nodded, their eyes on me.
“Why are you here, babe?” Ember asked. “While I love you and missed you like crazy, our star ballerina doesn’t belong here. Your show is in two months. Did something happen?”
I exhaled a heavy breath. Everybody was reacting the way I expected. Ember was right; I shouldn’t be home, but I had no choice after receiving the pictures of my mom.
“Sadie!” My baby sister, Lexi, ran toward me. Zane followed her. “I didn’t believe it when Mom told me you were at the clubhouse. Had to see for myself.” She dropped onto my lap and wrapped her arms around me. She was fifteen now, and every bit the spoiled baby in our family. She always sat on my or Mom’s lap.
“I’m so happy to see you. Life in the concrete jungle keeps me crazy busy, even to stay in touch with my family.”
“Is that why you’re home? You missed me… Er, I mean us.” Lexi flashed a million-dollar smile. She and Zane resembled our dad, both with blonde hair and hazel eyes. We didn’t have the same father. I’d grown up not knowing my biological dad, but I hadn’t cared. My dad, Zander Quinn, had loved me and filled the void.
“Yes. I missed all of you.”
Chase appeared and jerked his chin at me. “Good to see you, Sadie.”
“Thanks.”
“Are we jamming or what?” he asked Birdie.
“Sadie just got here,” she replied in an annoyed tone.
“So do I tell Ray no?”
She swooped her gaze at Raymond staring at us… At her. “You guys can play. I’m staying with Sadie.”
“But you’re the lead singer.”
“So?” She popped her shoulders. “Just play acoustics or Raymond can sing.”
“Okay, but the VP won’t like it.” Chase stalked away. He had the best strut I’d ever seen. He just turned eighteen and was a senior in high school. If he were older and not Storm’s son or had a girlfriend, who he was head over heels in love with, I’d be all over him.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
After what I had done tonight… or more like who I had done, a teenager even as hot as Chase Knight wouldn’t capture my attention anymore.
The handsome face of the stranger I’d hooked up with flashed behind my eyes. He was a mature man and an amazing kisser. I wished our time together could’ve been longer, but what good would that have done? I would’ve fallen for a man I would never see again… The sex had been that good, despite being in the front seat of his truck. A brief quickie had been a blessing.
“Sadie? Where’d you go?” Birdie’s voice cut through my thoughts.
“What? I’m here. Now it’s your turn to spill the tea.” I elbowed Birdie. “Did you have a falling out with Ray?”
“Nope. I just want to hang with you and the girls.” She seemed genuine, but I knew Birdie hid her feelings really well and could produce a stone-cold poker face in an instant. She got that from her dad, whereas her mom wore her heart on her sleeve.
I also knew Birdie had been crushing on Raymond since she was sixteen. He had been twenty-eight back then, twelve years older than her.
She was twenty now, and old enough to make her own choices. But it seemed weird to me because he had known her since she was born. Wouldn’t that be icky and wrong? I was sure her dad wouldn’t give his blessing. No man would ever be good enough for his Birdie.
A kitten, club girl, I hadn’t seen before set a tray of drinks in the middle of our table. “Courtesy of your folks,” she told me.
My gosh, she looked young, but I knew she had to be at least twenty-one to be a kitten. My mom had told me Maddox had hired a couple of new girls because the others had grown stale, and the single guys in the club wanted fresh pieces of ass. Such was the MC life.
The band started playing, and the attention in the room went to the stage. I grabbed a shot of whiskey and beer from the tray and settled in to enjoy the show.
I had dodged explaining why I was back, but I’d get cornered soon. I still had no idea what lie I’d tell.
Where was my dad taking me? All he’d said was “Let’s go for a drive.” I never refused to go on an outing with him, and I wouldn’t start now.
We’d had a wonderful family breakfast an hour ago. My mom had made my favorite, pumpkin-pecan waffles and I ate three. Once fall arrived and before I’d moved to New York, she’d make them every weekend.
I was so full, my stomach would surely burst.
After cheese curds and beer yesterday, and waffles this morning, loaded with butter and maple syrup, I’d have to starve myself for the rest of the month and work out at Uncle Boxer’s gym eight hours a day.
But sometimes a girl’s gotta indulge when her dreams of being the lead in a Broadway musical were stolen from her.
“It’s so peaceful out here.” I leaned my forehead on the passenger’s door window to admire the farmland and fall colors. It’d been dark when I got into Bastion Township, and I was far too nervous to pay attention to my surroundings.
“The complete opposite of Manhattan, aye?”
“Yeah. They’re night-and-day different.”
He grunted, saying nothing else. The questions would come soon enough.
We entered town, and not a thing had changed since I’d been home years ago. The Knight’s Legion MC owned a fair number of businesses. There was KL Guns, KL Autobody, Human Canvas Tattoo Shop, and KL Muscle, which Uncle Boxer and Uncle Ire managed. On the north end was The Bullet, the club’s bar and grill that my mom and dad managed.
Aunt Snow owned Sister Chic Boutique, the trendiest clothing store west of the Twin Cities. She’d given me my first job when I was fifteen. My mom and the old ladies had had to convince Maddox, the counsel, and Storm, the former president, to let me work. It’d been a battle worth fighting because it paved the way for the rest of the biker princesses in the club to have more freedom.
And it wasn’t like Snow or anyone else working in the boutique were left unprotected. A prospect worked as security, and members were in and out all day, and they patrolled town from sunup to sundown. Plus, there were security cameras everywhere in town, which sucked for teenagers. We could never get away with anything in Bastion Township or in Winters, which was also in the club’s territory.
Being raised in an MC was a bit like a cult. The leader, president, called the shots. There was a counsel, where each member had a specific job title—like my dad had been the treasurer for over twenty years, and Maddox hadn’t felt the need to replace him just because he was closing in on fifty.
The old ladies obeyed the club’s authority and their husbands. It was definitely old-school compared to modern society. But the men in KLMC adored and respected their wives, and they were fiercely protective… some more than others.
I’d had a great childhood, despite the periods of danger and lockdowns. I loved my club family more than anything else. Dad had called them our found family, our chosen family.
Many of the OG members had dark pasts. Some had suffered abuse. Others had lost loved ones because of evil people. Similar backgrounds had helped form an unbreakable bond and loyalty. Knights would take a bullet for each other and walk through the fires of hell to save one another.
Being part of a community like Knight’s Legion MC had been incredible, but I’d needed to chase my dreams in New York after high school. Become my own person outside of the club’s confines and just be me.
“Here we are.” Dad parked in an alley behind a brick building. I’d been so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed when we went to the edge of town.
“Where are we?”
“The Bullet is two blocks away.” He pointed north. “Just forty-five seconds away, when I’m hauling ass.”
“Okay. So why are we here?”
“Let’s go check it out.” He exited the truck, and I did the same. At the back door, he unlocked it. “I bought this place seven years ago.”
“How come you never mentioned it?” I entered the dimly lit building when he held the door open. A wall of windows brightened half of the room. The farther I went in, the brighter the space became. It was filthy. Cobwebs everywhere. An inch of dust on every flat surface, like the floors and windowsills.
“It was just never the right time. What do you think of it?”
I moved around, taking it all in. The heels of my boots clicked on the floor… They were made of wood. Vaulted ceilings and exposed ductwork. Brick walls. Could be nice, once it was cleaned up and fumigated.
“I mean… It’s huge. Sort of reminds me of penthouse lofts in Manhattan, before a major renovation, of course. What are you going to do with it?”
“Nothing.”
I whirled around to face him. “Nothing? But you just said you own it.”
“I said I bought it, but not for myself.”
“I’m confused.” And feeling weird flutters in my stomach.
“This building is yours, peanut.”
My heart stuttered at the nickname he’d given me when I was a child. “Dad, what are you talking about?” Was he tripping? Why would he buy this place for me?
“Is it just me, or can you see it being a dance school too?”
Okay. Now I knew where this was going. “Sure, but I don’t live in Bastion anymore. And I never said I wanted to own a dance school.”
“I know. Which was why I never mentioned it. It was meant to be your sweet-sixteen gift, but you’d announced wanting to apply to Juilliard, so I didn’t give it to you. Now seems to be the right time.”
“Now? Why now?” My heart raced, knowing what was coming. I’d be forced into telling him about the letter and pictures, then all hell would break loose.
He stalked toward me and cradled my face in his hands. His hazel-colored eyes bore into mine, love and compassion pouring out of them. “So you know you have options.”
“Well, I always have options.” I laughed nervously. “But a whole building is a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
“Peanut, I know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pulled away and moved about the room like I was checking it out. But really, I was avoiding his heavy scrutiny.
“We don’t have to discuss the whys. I’m sure you’re still processing. But I know you quit the show.”
I spun around aghast that he had somehow found out. “How do you know that?”
“I had Grizzly hack into the system the second you arrived at the compound.”
“Seriously, Dad?” I shouted in his face. “Invading my personal business is not okay. I’m your daughter, for Christ’s sake!”
“Calm down, peanut. I needed to know.” He slipped his thumbs into his jean pockets. For almost fifty, he hadn’t aged much. The laugh lines near his eyes were deeper, but he was still handsome as always, and he didn’t look a day over thirty-five.
“I would’ve told you when I was good and ready.”
“And are you good and ready?”
“No! Not anymore!”
“Sadie, I know you better than you think. You had no intention on telling me the truth, did you?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
“I still don’t know why. You wouldn’t just quit a show you’ve been dreaming of since you were a little girl.” He tugged me into his embrace and gave me a tight squeeze. “Did you mess up real bad? Did the choreographer embarrass you? Was it something else?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” My voice was full of emotion, a tear slipped down my face. “Can we please not do this now?”
“Okay, peanut. Let’s discuss this building.”
I groaned and buried my face in his chest. He smelled as I remembered, the fabric softener my mom used mixed with the cologne he wore when he’d first entered my life. I was barely four when he’d helped my mom and me at the airport. He’d taken us to McDonald’s and got us a hotel room when my mom’s friend had mysteriously died.
The rest was kind of a blur, but Zander Quinn, a.k.a. Lynx in the club, had changed our lives forever, and for the better. He and my mom fell in love and he adopted me, so I’d have his last name and belong to him.
“I know someone who can fix it up any way you want… if you’re sticking around.” His voice pulled me out of my head.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, Dad. I just got home last night. Give me a second to breathe.”
He chuckled. “I’ve always been a fast mover. How else would I have gotten your mom?”
“Stop. Fate brought you together the day you got her text by mistake.”
“Maybe. But she’s so gorgeous and sexy, another dude could’ve swept her off her feet before me.”
“Never. When it’s right, it’s right.”
“Would you be okay if I called Bryce to give me a bid?”
“How can he give you a bid when I don’t know what I want?”
“Well, the place needs a good cleaning before any work can be done. At least let me check if he can meet with us next week.”
He would not stop, stubborn mule. He wasn’t growly and bossy like Uncle Storm, but he was a persistent bugger.
“Whatever. But if this place is really mine, nothing can be done to it without my consent. And I don’t have any money.” No money. No way to hire a contractor. Problem solved, right?
“You have an investor.”
Wait. What? “Who?” I cocked my head.
“Me.” He flashed one of his charming smiles. “I have more than enough money to turn this place into a state-of-the-art dance school. Just imagine how many kids in town would be thrilled to attend.”
Oh heavens, he was laying it on thick. He had never wanted me to leave Minnesota. Now I feared he would do everything and anything to keep me here.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Dad.”
“So you’ll meet with Bryce?”
“Who?”
“The construction guy I know.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sure.”
“Awesome. I’ll set it up.”
Of course he would, and I’d attend the meeting to make my dad happy.
Although, I had no intention of opening a dance school. I still dreamed of performing on Broadway. I just didn’t know how to get back to Manhattan yet.