Chapter 1
Cassandra
Everyone in the dining room seemed to have lost their voice, except for me. “I’m not playing, Slay. You better answer me right the freak now!”
He looked at Jefe, then me. Back at Jefe, then me.
“What? Do you need his permission to tell me what’s happened to my brother?” I put my hands on my hips, feeling my face turn hot. Normally, I could keep my cool in stressful situations, but not this time. I sensed something really bad had happened to my younger brother.
“Actually, Cass, yes.” Jefe replied. “Slay does need my permission and at this moment, he doesn’t have it. I need to speak to him in private.” He put the baby in Silvia’s arms.
“You’re joking right? This is about my brother.” I narrowed my eyes at Slay, not hiding my anger. Of all people, he should help me. We have a history together. He was my friend… sort of. Maybe this was payback for avoiding him anytime we were around each other.
“Let me talk with Jefe first.” Slay left the room with his president and didn’t wait for my reply.
How rude!
“I’m sure everything is fine,” Silvia said. “Sit down with me and we’ll wait for them to return. Would you like something to drink?”
“No thanks.” I took the chair across from her. “I’m shocked. Completely shocked that he would disregard me so easily.” And it hurt a little, but I wouldn’t admit that to anyone.
“He didn’t disregard you. We aren’t members of the club, so we aren’t privy to club business.”
“I know how it works but Steve is my business, my family,” I said in an annoyed tone, which I didn’t mean to take my frustration out on her. “I’m sorry. None of this is your fault.”
“It’s okay. And until you know what’s happening, is it fair to blame Slay?”
Ouch.
Blame Slay?
She hit a nerve whether she knew it or not.
I blamed Slay for only one thing. A huge, life changing thing. But my knee-jerk reaction was to blame him for whatever was going on with Steve, whether Slay had a part in it or not. The mere fact that he’d taken my brother under his wing when I’d asked him not to had made him the enemy to me.
I exhaled a breath. “You’re right. I can’t jump to any conclusions. I’ll wait until they come back.” As long as Steve was alive, I could handle anything else.
“And while you wait, I made you a margarita.” Mama Virgie put a large glass in front of me. “It’ll help take the edge off.” She winked, kissed the top of Chance’s head, then made her way back to the kitchen.
“Thanks!” I marveled at the ginormous glass that could have been a lemonade slushie if I didn’t know better. Coffee was my go-to morning, noon and night. But feeling how I was feeling, a margarita would be great right about now.
“I would love a margarita, but Andy would flip his lid if he saw me drinking alcohol. Only the best, non-alcohol breast milk for his son.” Silvia laughed and rubbed her nose against the baby’s forehead. “I love how much he loves us.”
“He’s a keeper.” I sipped my drink slowly, so I didn’t freeze my brain.
“So is Slay.”
A gasp caught in my throat. The tart, limey liquid went down the wrong pipe, after hearing Slay was a keeper too. I coughed and patted my chest. My eyes teared up like I was about to cry.
How embarrassing. Now Silvia would know how much Slay affected me. This was why I rarely came to the clubhouse since she and I became friends. The farther away I stayed, the better for me.
“Your reaction to my statement is interesting.” Silvia eyed me with a glint of curiosity in her brown depths. “Are you okay? I’ll get you some water.”
“No.” I raised my hand, clearing my throat. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mhm.” I nodded, clearing my throat and trying to compose myself. I sensed Silvia wanted to know more about me and Slay. Honestly, there wasn’t much to say about us back when we were teenagers. Decades ago.
“Ever since we met last fall, the topic of Slay has never come up. It’s like an elephant in the room that we both don’t acknowledge.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Sorry, hon. I don’t believe you. I see the way he looks at you and how your cheeks turn pink. Andy told me you grew up together.”
“We did.” I twisted my lips, feeling put on the spot.
Clearly, it had been a bad idea to stop by the clubhouse. But I liked Silvia. She wasn’t like the club girls, and I didn’t have a lot of friends. Thought maybe she and I could hangout. And… I thought I was ready to put the past to rest with my brother, Josh.
But now something had happened with Steve and a flood of emotions rushed back, reminding me why I stayed away from the MC and Slay. Over a decade had passed since Josh’s fatal accident, and I still wasn’t over it.
“Was he your boyfriend?”
“Yes. But…” I snapped my mouth shut.
“But what? Did he cheat on you?”
“No. It’s just complicated.”
“It usually is. But the Slay I know seems like a real good catch. Did he snub you or something? I can’t imagine him every doing anything to hurt a girl’s feelings.” Silvia wasn’t wrong about Slay, and she seemed to know it by the way she watched me.
“There’s some painful stuff in my past and Slay is mixed in it.
” When I called him Slay, it felt weird.
It was his road name, not his birth name.
He’d told me to call him Chris like when we were in high school, but I refused.
I didn’t want to forget about his part in my brother’s death and warm back up to him.
I needed to keep the fact that he was in an MC at the forefront of my mind.
Otherwise, Slay might charm his way back into my life.
“I’m sorry to hear that. You don’t have to tell me. I just noticed the energy between both of you. Maybe it’s time you worked through whatever is between you.”
“You might be right.” I looked toward the direction Slay and Jefe went. “I wished they’d come back. I need to know what’s going on with my brother.”
She peered in the same direction. “Yeah, it is taking longer than I expected.”
A blonde entered the dining room, carrying a stack of clothes. “Hey, Silvia. Where did Slay go? I have his clothes and need to put them away, but don’t have his bedroom key.”
I arched my brow, checking out the young woman. She had the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen. Why did she have Slay’s clothes?
“He’s in a meeting with Jefe. You can set them on the table,” Silvia said.
“If he’d just give me a key.” The woman rolled her eyes and put the clothes down. “My life would be so much easier with a key. I could come and go as I please.”
“I get it, Suzy. I’ll let him know.” Silvia smiled and lifted her glass of water to her lips.
“Thanks,” Suzy replied and left. Her booty shorts were doing their job at showing off her butt cheeks.
A jealous fire ignited in me. Slay might pretend like I matter to him, but he wasn’t alone in his bed suffering by any means. He had Suzy.
“You know what?” I stood abruptly. “I’m gonna go.”
“But don’t you want to know what happened with your brother?” Silvia asked, seeming worried.
“Yes, but I can do my own research.” I gave her a half hug and gently touched the baby’s head. “Gimme a call if you ever want to do lunch or grab a coffee.”
“I will.” She smiled. “But I really think Slay would want you to stay.”
“He doesn’t control me. Please don’t tell him I left. Wouldn’t want him to come after me.” Or keep Suzy and her booty shorts waiting for him to unlock his bedroom door. It wasn’t easy trying not to imagine them together.
“I won’t.”
“Thanks.” I waved and rushed out of the clubhouse. The fresh summer air cleansed me of the MC germs I’d been exposed to.
Really, Cass? That’s a bit much don’t you think?
Probably.
I got into my sedan and drove off.
Why?
Why did I care if Slay had a woman? What he did in his private life wasn’t any of my business. After fifteen years, he was bound to have been with multiple women. Even I’d been with a guy or two.
I dialed my dad, on my Bluetooth and listened to it ring.
“Come on, Dad. Answer.” I hated being the one to alert him about Steve when I had no idea what he’d gotten mixed up in.
“I was just about to call you,” he said, and my heart plummeted. If he knew about Steve, it would have to be bad. My brother would never call our dad unless he needed help, which wasn’t often.
“Really? Why?”
“Seems your brother got himself in some trouble and needs his bail paid. I’ve got it covered, but I wanted to let you know I would be in town.”
“Why was he arrested?”
“Shoplifting, apparently. I don’t know what to do about him. He’s wandering around aimless and now stealing.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief. “He needs a mentor.” Shoplifting didn’t seem right. Why would Slay and Jefe need to discuss Steve if he’d only shoplifted?
“Yeah, I haven’t been the best dad, have I?”
“Stop that. You’re a terrific dad. Steve is just different.” I sometimes wondered how we had the same father because Steve was so different from my sister Makayla and me. But then, we had different mothers, which probably made the difference.
“I just can’t get through to him, sweet pea.” He sounded defeated and it made my heart hurt. “It’s got to be that damn biker club. He spends a lot of time with them.”
“Not that much time. Slay promised me a long time ago that he wouldn’t allow Steve into the club.”
“Who’s Slay?”
“Sorry. I mean, Chris. Slay is a road name,” I told him.
“Claiborne?”
“Yes, Chris Claiborne.” My dad hadn’t kept up on Chris after Josh’s death. Losing my brother had destroyed us all. So much so that my dad up and moved his new family out of the area. It hurt him to drive passed the road my brother had died on.
Guess I was a glutton for punishment because I’d stayed and built a life and business in San Diablo.
“He’s still around? Thought he would have left town after Josh’s accident.” His voice changed, growing thick with emotion.
“Nope, he’s still here. And a prominent member of the Kings of Anarchy MC.” I searched the corner of my mind trying to think of something to change the subject, but nothing came to me.