Chapter Twenty
Grace
I ducked into the locker room and sat on the bench. King left me so confused. First, he told me nothing had changed, then he claimed me at the table in front of his brothers. I didn’t know where I stood anymore. At least before, I knew what to expect.
I took a shower and went upstairs to man the bar in yoga pants and a T-shirt.
I didn’t have much to choose from as I hadn’t been home since Johnny brought me here after the shooting at the bar.
I sent Joey off to find something else to do.
Tank and Keys should be coming home soon, which meant Johnny, Archie, and Jonah would be around to help shoulder the burden.
The front door opened, and the sheriff walked in. He went straight to King, and I watched as they began to argue. Ravage and Karlyn returned with Nav, Eros, Indigo, and Sypher. King and Declan’s voices rose with every point they each tried to make.
“She needs to be put in protective custody, King!” Declan yelled at King. “You did not see what that sick son of a bitch did! We still can’t find the rest of the body!”
King groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t disagree, Dec, but I’m telling you now, he won’t allow her out of his sight.”
“It’s not his choice!”
“Won’t allow what?” Ravage asked as he walked over to them, and Karlyn sat on a stool at the bar with Eros and Indigo. King and Declan lowered their voices, making it hard to hear what they were saying.
Ravage walked over to the bar as King walked down the hall. I imagined he was heading to his office. It was where he went when he wanted to hide, like the coward he was.
“Baby, I need to go help the sheriff with something. Stay with Indigo and Eros,” Ravage said quietly to Karlyn. I tried not to listen.
“Is everything okay?”
Quickly kissing her, he whispered, “No, but it will be soon.” He looked at Eros and Indigo and ordered, “She doesn’t leave your sight. If anything goes wrong, get her the fuck out of here and disappear. I’ll find you.”
Both men nodded but said nothing. I could see the wariness in Karlyn as she watched Ravage leave.
“He’ll be back.”
Looking down at her hands, she muttered, “I know.”
“You don’t enjoy being in the clubhouse, do you?”
She shook her head. “No. I rarely went to the Golden Skulls’ clubhouse. I preferred staying in my room at my brother’s house or camping with Jackson. I’m not good with people.”
“People or men in leather cuts?” I asked. When she didn’t answer, I walked around the bar and yelled, “Joey, man the bar.”
I took her hand and led her down the hallway to King’s office. When Eros and Indigo tried to follow, I stopped and turned.
“Stay,” I said firmly.
The two men looked at each other before turning back to me, and Eros said, “We aren’t fucking dogs.”
“Really? ’Cause you’re following her around like guard dogs. We’re not leaving the clubhouse.”
“We have our orders,” Indigo tried to reason.
“I don’t care.” I shrugged. “Apparently, I am now the president’s old lady. It’s my job to make my guest comfortable. You can stand in the hall if you must, but that is as far as you go.”
Without knocking, I opened the door. King slowly rose to his feet. “Grace?”
“Get out,” I ordered.
“This is my office.”
“And it’s the only room in this godforsaken place that isn’t wired with cameras and sound. So, leave. Girls only.”
King glared at me before his eyes softened as he looked at Karlyn, and he grumbled as he walked to the door. It had me wondering what he knew about her past.
“Oh, and tell the other girls they’re welcome to join if they want.”
“Woman,” King growled.
“What?” I challenged, raising an eyebrow at him. “Got something more to say?”
King hesitated, his eyes flickering between us for a moment before he finally relented and left, slamming the door behind him.
I scowled at the door for a moment before letting my anger go and turning to Karlyn. I sat in King’s chair behind his desk and motioned for Karlyn to sit.
“It’s not much, but it’s a dick-free zone.”
When she finally sat, she smirked. “Thank you.”
“Oh, don’t thank me. He’s on my shit list. Any chance to make him uncomfortable, I’m game.”
“So you are his old lady?” she asked, and I remembered the first day she was here.
“To be honest, I don’t fucking know what I am.”
Before I could say anymore, the door opened, and Beck and Sam walked in, followed by Haizley, Aspen, Kytten, and Indie.
“Why are we in here and not in church?” Beck asked. “And what’s with the guard dogs?”
“Because I don’t trust the SOB to turn the cameras off,” I clipped.
“Oooh, someone is in the doghouse,” Sam purred.
“When isn’t he?” Haizley asked. “What did he do now?”
“I don’t what to talk about it,” I snapped. “The guards are for Karlyn.”
“Hi, Karlyn, I’m Sam. And this is Beck, Haizley, Kytten, and Indie.”
Karlyn lifted her hand timidly.
“What, am I not good enough to guard you ladies?” Indie asked.
“Oh, stop it,” Kytten said, smacking Indie on the arm.
Karlyn shrunk down in her seat, and I glared at Indie. Diesel, Aspen’s dog, slowly walked over to Karlyn and put his head on her lap. She looked down at the dog, surprise marring her face.
“He’s friendly,” Aspen offered. “In fact, he’s a therapy dog.”
“A therapy dog?” Karlyn asked, still hesitant to touch the scary-looking beast.
The women all got quiet as we waited for Aspen to answer. It was her story to tell, and I wouldn’t let anyone push her to share. But my concern was unwarranted.
“I was raped a few months ago.”
Karlyn’s head snapped up, and her eyes focused on Aspen. She didn’t say anything, but I could see she wanted to know more.
“I don’t remember it. I was drugged at a bar.
But the man broke into my home and tried to rape me again.
Thankfully, Gunner and Haizley were there and stopped him.
” Haizley reached over and held Aspen’s hand.
“They brought me to the clubhouse, but despite not remembering being raped, I was very uncomfortable being here. Even though I knew some of the Silver Shadows from my brother’s club. ”
“Your brother has a club?”
I sat quietly as I watched Aspen and Karlyn talk.
“Yeah, Zeus is my brother.” I saw Karlyn start to shut down, and Diesel must have noticed it too, because he nudged her hand until she finally put it on his head.
“Anyway, Banshee saw how uncomfortable I was and brought me Diesel. He kept the brothers away until I was comfortable talking to them. He’s been amazing at making me feel safe.
Diesel seems to know exactly what I need, whether I’m scared or anxious, even when I’m angry.
” She chuckled. “I found out recently he’ll take my side over Banshee.
” She laughed. “Even though he’s the one who trained him. ”
The door opened again, and Maureen and her daughter walked in.
“Why are we stuffed in here like sardines?” she asked. Sam stood from her seat and gave it to Maureen. Karlyn looked down at the dog. It broke my heart to see her this way.
“Because your nephew is an asshole,” I said.
“Which one? I hear I have two now!” She grinned.
“Oh, Maureen. This is Karlyn. She’s Ravage’s old lady.”
Karlyn sat up. “Oh no, I’m not... I don’t have—”
“Karlyn, I don’t have a cut either. It doesn’t stop the pain in the ass out there from calling me his,” I said.
Maureen smiled at Karlyn. “Hello, I just found out Jackson is my nephew.”
“He is?” Karlyn asked.
Maureen nodded. “His mother was my sister-in-law.” She turned around and grabbed Colleen’s hand. “This is Colleen, Jackson’s cousin.”
“I’m sorry. You’ll have to forgive my mom.
She wasn’t able to have more babies after me until now, apparently.
” Colleen laughed as she pointed to Maureen’s belly.
“And she always wanted a bunch. I never knew my aunt Darcy because she left before I was born. And, well, we didn’t think Ducky would ever settle down.
So, she’s a little excited to be around all this family she now has. ”
Karlyn smiled softly; I could tell she was uncomfortable, so I threw myself on the sword, when Kytten asked, “I want to know what King did now.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I shared with them a little about my life before I came to Diamond Creek. I told them about my mom and the picture I found after she died.
“Steele is your father?” Beck asked.
“No, apparently not. He said he didn’t sleep with my mother until after she was pregnant. But he knew who my father was, but now...” I let my words trail off. I didn’t know how much the women knew, but looking at Beck and Sam, if they didn’t have the facts already, they’d figured it out.
“Now that Steele is no longer president, he thinks we can be together”—I snapped my fingers—“just like that.”
“That fucking idiot,” Maureen cursed. Karlyn’s eyes widened, and she smiled. “He learned that shit from Declan. He did the same shit with me.”
She struggled to stand up, and when she walked to the door, she opened it and said, “I’ll set him straight.”
“Maureen, no! He has to figure it out on his own.”
She placed a hand on her belly and looked at me with sympathy. “Grace, honey, he’ll never figure that shit out on his own. I had to beat it into Declan’s head.”
She left the office, and I slumped down into my seat. Eros stuck his head through the door and said, “Karlyn, Ravage is back.” Then he looked over at Aspen. “Kyllian is here.”
I sat forward. “Who’s Kyllian?” Sam asked.
“Banshee’s niece,” Aspen answered.
She looked at me, and I added, “And Steele’s actual daughter.”
We all stood and left King’s office. We walked down the hallway into the main room, and I saw her. She was all grown up now, but she looked just like her mom.
I walked Karlyn over to the table Ravage and King were sitting at, but my eyes never left Kyllian.
She was at the bar talking with Banshee and Angel.
I knew she wouldn’t remember me; she was only a toddler when they stopped coming to the clubhouse, and I wondered if my mother had something to do with that.
Did she know Steele was her father? Did she know he was dead? Would she mourn him? Would she miss him? Or did she know her father was a bastard and an asshole? Did she know what he had done to her grandparents? Did she know he cheated on her mother, and that my mother was the other woman?
I hadn’t remembered that until recently. I had forgotten that Steele had a wife and a family. My mother had more secrets than I’d realized, and I wondered what other secrets she took to her grave. Secrets I would never know.
“Grace.”
I turned at the sound of his voice. I’d been so caught up in looking at Kyllian, I hadn’t heard him approach.
“We need to talk this shit out,” he growled.
I could smell the whiskey on his breath. “Are you drunk?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Come upstairs with me,” he slurred, reaching for my hand.
“No!” I pulled my hand back, and he growled. I tried not to react. With everything inside me, I didn’t want to be aroused by this man, but everything he did, even when he was an asshole, even when he broke my heart over and over, he caused the butterflies to swarm inside me.
“Fuck this,” he growled, and before I knew it, I was off the ground and over his shoulder as he carried me out of the room to a chorus of shouts and whistles.