Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Landon
Fear is an emotion I conquered a long time ago. In the Middle East, there’s no time for fear. That’s how you die. So, you swallow it down and just do whatever is necessary to survive. It’s ingrained in me now so it takes a lot to scare me.
This is a totally different kind of fear.
Can they kick my ass?
All of them together? Sure.
One at a time? Not a chance in hell.
But that wouldn’t help Silver stay in his daughter’s good graces.
So, I’m not afraid, per se, but it’s more a matter of having no fucking idea what’s coming. An ass kicking just because it’s how they feel powerful? I really dislike being at a disadvantage.
“Okay, so my daughter made me promise I wouldn’t ask you your intentions,” Silver says as we walk through the clubhouse. “If we could frame this conversation so I don’t actually have to ask, and neither of us have to lie to her, that would mean a lot to me.”
I laugh. That’s not what I was expecting. I see Metal chuckle while Tex just grunts, like he’s annoyed.
That’s okay, buddy, you annoy me too.
“Look, it’s been just over a month,” I say reasonably. “She’s looking for a therapist to deal with what happened to her. We’re spending this time that we can’t do much getting to know each other. Is it serious? Absolutely. Am I ready to buy a ring? Not yet.”
Tex mutters something under his breath, but Metal elbows him and I ignore it.
“That’s fair,” Silver says, leading me into what has to be where the club meets. Long wooden table. Lots of comfortable-looking chairs that tell me they spend a lot of time in here. A sideboard with water and a variety of bottles of whisky.
“I’d like to get to know you,” Silver says. He takes his place at the head of the table and motions for me to sit next to him.
I note how irritated Tex seems as he sits on Silver’s other side.
“The table is only for brothers,” he says in a steely voice.
“This isn’t official club business, and I’m trying to welcome someone who may become my family,” Silver replies evenly.
“They’ve only been hooking up for a month,” one of the other guys, who goes by Thunder, speaks up. “Why are we even here?”
“Because I said so.” Silver eyes him, and the guy backs down.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “You want to know my intentions? I want to see where this goes. Once this lockdown—for lack of a better word—is over, we have to see where it takes us. I can’t promise more than that.”
“Cool.” Silver nods. “Tell me something about you that the background check didn’t turn up.”
Background check.
That must’ve been fun.
I’m clean. No debt, no assets beyond my investments and retirement, no legal troubles, no ex-wives or kids. I hope they paid a lot of money to find nothing.
“I like fast cars and motorcycles,” I reply. “I had a ’65 Mustang when I was in college and it was my pride and joy.”
“A Fastback?” Metal’s eyes widen when I nod. “That’s what I drive.”
Our eyes lock and he immediately starts to get up. “Want to see her?”
“Okay, give us a minute,” Silver interrupts gruffly, but he’s chuckling. “I see you boys may have something in common.”
“Oh, please.” Tex folds his arms and sits back.
“You always like this?” I ask him.
One on one, I’m not afraid of him or any of them, and I’m pretty sure no one is going to pull out a gun and shoot me. Not if Silver wants his daughter to continue being in his life.
“Like what? Not welcoming to some jarhead who’s fucking my girl?”
“Tex.” Silver says it firmly, but I can see a tic of impatience in his expression.
“What? She was always supposed to be mine. You gave your blessing and—”
“I gave my blessing for you to try. She’s not interested. It’s been a decade. Time to let go.”
“Give it a rest, bro,” Metal says. “She’s beautiful. I get it. I had a crush on her in high school too, but you got there first. I moved on.”
“Like you ever had a shot,” Tex shoots back.
Metal lifts his middle finger, and I’m no longer in the hot seat but that’s not my concern.
Tex’s continued fascination with Allora makes me uncomfortable.
I don’t know what it is. It’s not competition—she’s definitely not interested—but he could make trouble for me with Silver.
I get the feeling their loyalty runs deep, even when they disagree.
My fists will only get me so far in a case like this.
“Allora isn’t a piece of property for me to gift to you,” Silver says quietly.
“She’s chosen Grim, whether we like it or not.
He hurts her, I’ll break his fucking legs, but beyond that, it’s none of my business who my twenty-eight-year-old daughter chooses to date.
You hear me, son? We can’t keep having this conversation. ”
If looks could kill, Silver would be a goner.
“Look what happened to her,” he says defiantly. “That would never have happened if—”
Silver slams his hand down on the table. “Enough. Jesus fucking Christ. You don’t know that. You don’t know anything because we can’t find these fuckers. If you’d put your energy into that, instead of pissing me off every damn day, maybe we’d know more.”
There’s a tense silence and it’s obvious the guys in the room are uncomfortable.
Because this isn’t the norm.
Their President and Treasurer don’t usually go at it like this.
And I’m the reason for it even though Allora is the catalyst.
The good news is that it’s not everybody. Metal just seems tired of the whole thing. Thunder is pensive, like he can’t quite figure out whose side to be on.
“If you want to know more about me, just ask,” I say finally.
“I’m a simple guy with a special skill set.
If you did a background check, you know I was Special Forces.
If you think it’s bullshit when someone in a movie says they can kill someone twenty-five ways with just two fingers—it’s not.
Because I can. Anyone want to try me, I dare you.
” I turn to Silver. “I will protect your daughter with my life. If she breaks things off with me tomorrow, I’ll still die to keep her safe. It’s who I am and the job I’ve chosen.
“On the personal side, I’ll be good to her.
We both make good money. We have a lot in common but enough separate interests to keep life interesting.
I’ve never been married but I’m willing if that’s what she wants.
She said kids are a possibility and I’m down with that too.
I can’t give you more than that because it’s only been a month. ”
Everyone except Tex seems to take my words at face value. He’s just doing the growly biker version of pouting—the only thing missing is the jutted lower lip.
After a few minutes, Metal gets up. “Come on, let’s go look at the car.”
I catch the barely perceptible nod Silver gives him—permission to get me out of the room—and that’s fine with me because short of pounding his face in, I don’t know what else to say to Tex or the others.
He’s obviously harboring a lot of lingering feelings for Allora and it’s not my job to make him feel better about the fact that she chose me. He wasn’t even in the running.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into him,” Metal says as we walk out the front and toward a large detached garage. “I mean, he sulked when she left for college, but what the fuck?”
“I understand he may still have feelings for her but she doesn’t return them and while I’ll be respectful here on your turf, that will change if he pulls anything anywhere else.”
Metal nods. “I’m happy she has you in her corner. She and I were good friends, though I’ve kept my distance since I patched in. I’m just glad she has someone like you to protect her. That whole trafficking ring makes me uncomfortable as fuck.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You know what’s sketchy?” He unlocks a door and we step inside a huge five-car garage.
“What?” I ask absently, zeroing in on the Mustang. It’s bright blue and gorgeous.
“Between us and Shadow Security, we can’t find anything.”
My gaze snaps back to him and I frown, all thoughts of the car forgotten. “What?”
He shifts. “It’s just, we have feelers everywhere, and we usually get results. Your people are supposedly one of the most elite in the world. The cops are involved. The FBI. And nothing? Not a single lead other than finding a pattern of the women they take? How’s that possible?”
Neither of us says a word for what feels like a long time.
“This is some kind of inside job.”
He nods slowly.
“You don’t think Silver—”
“No! God, no.” He shakes his head. “But…”
“Someone from the club?”
He looks away almost guiltily. “I just…it doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t. I’ve had some of these feelings too, but it’s hard to separate those feelings with how I feel about her. Like, am I too invested to look at things objectively?”
He shakes his head. “No. I feel the same way.”
“I have to think about this.”
“Yeah.” He pulls out some keys. “But there’s no reason we can’t think while we drive. Want to take her out?”
I look at him like he’s nuts. “Is that a serious question?”
He laughs and tosses me the keys.