Chapter Forty-Four
King
Slyce told us her story, who the woman and child were, as Jack continued to stare.
He was suspiciously quiet through the whole thing.
We made a plan to protect the woman, and I made a decision that would likely throw me into a new category of controlling asshole where Grace was concerned. But it was currently the only option.
With the threat of the Death Dogs gone, she’d be able to go to her house, pack up her personal belongings, and bring them to the clubhouse. She’d agreed to be mine, and that meant living with me.
Jack and Blade escorted Slyce, the woman, and her daughter over to Grace’s house. Indie went with them so she could pack up more of Grace’s clothes and bring them back.
I was expecting visitors today. I didn’t know how many, or how long they planned to be here.
But one thing was certain: this shit wasn’t ending anytime soon.
Steele was gone, and Stone was in the wind.
But the Death Dogs had been wiped out, so whoever their rich-as-fuck backer was, they’d have to find someone else to do their bidding.
I could only pray it would take some time before they did.
I wanted to spend some time with Grace before the next round of bullshit started.
I stepped into the main room and searched for her.
I wasn’t expecting to find her behind the bar.
But fuck if she didn’t look sexy as hell wearing my cut.
I had to adjust myself and heard Colt chuckle as he walked passed me.
Walking up beside her, I wrapped my arms around her and whispered, “You look good wearing my name, baby.” I took a chance and kissed the side of her neck.
She’d flinched when my arms went around her, but as soon as she heard my voice, she relaxed against me.
“What are you doing back here? You’re the queen now; this is a prospect’s job. ”
“I’m comfortable here. This is something I can do without thinking. Let me do this.”
“Okay. We have some people coming in today. Keep that cut on.” I felt her stiffen and held her tighter. “I don’t know who all is coming, but you don’t need to be afraid. They’re old timers who’ll respect the cut on your back.”
“I don’t plan on moving out from behind this bar. Not without you,” she said.
“If you want to go upstairs and I’m not available, any one of my men will escort you. They love you, Grace.”
“I know.” She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I was just happy it didn’t look forced.
“I need to tell you something.” Her body stiffened again, and I tried to school my own reaction. I could only hope someday she would get back to where we were before. “Stocks and two of the other guys went out last night. They blew up the Death Dogs’ clubhouse and all the brothers in it.”
She spun around in my arms. “What?”
“I wasn’t going to let them live, Grace.”
“I thought you couldn’t tell me club business.”
“I shouldn’t. But this involves you, and I wanted you to know they weren’t coming after you again.”
“They’re all dead?” she whispered. I nodded.
“There was a hiccup though.” I waited for her to register the words. Her eyes closed, and she sighed.
“Please tell me no one else was hurt. I can’t take it, King. I can’t add another—”
I leaned forward and kissed her. I felt the tension drain from her limbs and smiled. My hand moved to hold the back of her head in place. I didn’t care who was watching; I needed her pliable when I told her the rest. What I didn’t need was another kick to the balls.
I pulled back, and she leaned toward me. “They came back with a woman and her daughter. The girl looks about twelve. They need a place to stay, baby. So I put them at your place.” I rushed through the words and took a step closer.
“My place? My house? You put a fucking stranger in my house?”
“Oh shit!” I heard someone say behind me. The brothers snickered, and I knew I was in deep shit.
“You didn’t see them, baby. They were terrified. They needed a place no one would connect to them.”
“What right do you have to put someone in my house?”
I bit my lip. I’d known she was going to be pissed, but I’d missed the fire she had in her eyes right now. I’d caught a glimpse of it upstairs when she was blaming herself for all the shit that happened.
“Well, technically, it’s my house.”
“WHAT?!”
She stepped back, and so did I. Then I took a few more steps to make sure I was out of the line of fire. “I own the house, Grace.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “No, you don’t. Mrs. Hoover owns my house. I signed a lease with her. I pay her rent.”
“You did. And then after we met, I bought the house. I made a deal with her to collect the rent so you wouldn’t know.”
“You controlling son of a bitch!” she shouted. She turned around, grabbed a lemon from the bar, and chucked it at me. She missed and grabbed another. She kept throwing fruit at me until the bowl was fucking empty.
“ENOUGH!” I shouted as I rubbed my head. “That fucking hurt.”
“Good! Get the fuck away from me before I start throwing bottles at you.”
“Grace—” I started when the front door opened and in walked James Doherty, big as life.
“Don’t piss off the bartender, King.” James laughed as he walked toward me. He turned to look at Grace and stumbled. “Fuck me.” James stared at Grace, and she glared back at him.
“Is there a problem?” she asked.
James didn’t speak; he just continued to stare at my woman until I stepped in front of him. “That’s my old lady you’re eye-fucking.”
A woman with dark hair walked up beside him and smiled. “He’s not eye-fucking her; he’s just stunned by how beautiful she is.” She smacked James on the chest. “Stop staring,” she hissed.
“Sorry.” James shook his head, then turned to look at Shane Keller. The two men had a silent conversation before Shane turned around and walked back outside.
“Something I should know?” I growled. I didn’t like the reaction James had toward Grace, but I was thankful I’d pissed her off before they walked in, because she was even angrier now. And an angry Grace was a hell of a lot easier to deal with than a scared Grace.
“Hi, I’m Donna. I apologize for my old man’s rudeness. You look a lot like someone we used to know. Are you from Nebraska?” Donna asked.
“Arkansas,” Grace answered. Donna smiled, and a throat cleared behind James.
I turned to look, and I felt the blood drain from my face.
I was staring at a fucking ghost. I took a cautious step forward, and when I was close enough, my fist shot out and clocked him in the nose. The crunch of bone echoed in the room.
“You motherfucker!” I growled as Chasm stumbled back into another man.
I heard Grace gasp out my name, but I turned on my heel and stormed into church.
I paced the room, my anger boiling inside me.
I knew he was alive. Banshee had seen him.
Aspen and Nav had both spoken to him. But until he was standing in front of me, I hadn’t realized how angry I’d be.
“King.” Grace’s voice cut through the haze clouding my vision.
She wrapped her arms around me from behind, and I covered her hands with mine.
She laid her head against my back. She didn’t say a word.
She didn’t need to. Just feeling of her body against mine was enough to calm the storm. She was my peace.
“I love you, Grace. Don’t ever fucking leave me.”
“I haven’t left yet, have I?”
I turned around and looked down at her face. “You tried,” I accused. “I know you want to run.”
“I do. That will probably never go away. And every time I get mad at you, I’ll think about it.
Because I’ll be thinking about how I probably did something to make you do whatever you did that pissed me off.
I’m always going to blame myself, King. It’s who I am.
It’s who my mother was. I realize that now,” she said as she laid her head against my chest. “It’s funny the things you remember when someone is gone.
The good things take front and center for years, and the bad things seem to fall away until you’re going through something big, and suddenly you start to remember things you’ve forgotten.
Like how my mother used to blame herself for everything.
I hadn’t realized I did the same thing until today. ”
The door opened, and Chasm walked in. He stood against the wall and waited. Grace looked over her shoulder and then back up at me. “You want me to kick him in the balls?”
I barked out a laugh and kissed the top of her head. “No, baby. Go back out there. I’ll be out soon.” She hesitated, and Chasm pushed the door open until Romeo stuck his head in.
“I’ve got you, Grace.” He held out his hand, and when she took it, he looked up at me, and I nodded. I knew he would stay with her until I went back out there.
“Look at you, the big bad president,” Chasm sneered.
“Look at you, the walking dead,” I scoffed. “Your wife know you’re alive?”
Chasm narrowed his eyes at me. Morgan had always been a source of contention for us. Probably more so than Steele.
“I tried to tell James this was a fucking mistake, but he wouldn’t listen. Seemed to think you have what it takes.”
“Fuck you,” I spat. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“Do you fucking care?”
I turned my back on my best friend and slammed my hand against the wall. We didn’t need any more holes for the prospects to fix. I spun on him, my eyes full of fire as I glared at him.
“Of course I fucking care! You have no idea what I went through when you fucking died!”
“Sure had fun at the funeral—oh wait.” He paused and took a step forward. “You didn’t fucking have one!”
“Because we didn’t think there was enough left of you to fucking bury!” I walked away from him as he took a step further. If I got close to him, I’d punch him in the face again. His eyes were already starting to bruise. “Patch is downstairs; he can set your nose,” I offered.
“Already took care of it.”
I studied him as he stood at the end of the table. “What the fuck happened?”
“Steele set me up. He and Stone killed Titan, and I’d finally found the proof.
We weren’t meeting buyers. I was meeting the man James had sent.
His name’s Hemlock. Big Irish fucker that looks like a damn Viking.
” I’d briefly seen someone out there who looked like the man Chasm had just described.
But once I’d seen my best friend standing in the room with a smug fucking grin on his face like he didn’t just come back from the fucking dead, everyone else disappeared.
“He’s a pain in the ass—he had the information I needed. I had a feeling Steele knew something was up and thought maybe he was setting a trap. When you got on the phone, I knew you were in on it.”
“I wasn’t fucking in on it, asshole. I told you to fucking wait for me.” I slammed my hand on the table. Chasm shrugged. “Why the fuck are you here now?” I asked.
“To give you a chance to redeem yourself. Show Steele and everyone else you aren’t the motherfucking traitor I think you are.”
Clenching my jaw, I ground out, “Steele’s dead.” I stood from my chair and walked around the table, stopping beside Chasm, and said, “I’m the King of the whole motherfucking kingdom now. So go fuck yourself.”