Five
Grayson
The chief’s irate brown eyes held nothing but disdain for me as he scowled in my direction.
“It’s Chief Wolfe.
We aren’t on a first name basis, biker.”
He snarled, spitting out the last word like it tasted foul.
Then he shifted his attention back to his daughter.
“How does this MC trash know where you live and your name?”
Anger stirred deep in my chest, but I bit back my irritation.
This was Brooke’s dad and I had to play nice.
She shoved out of his embrace and tossed her hands onto her hips.
“That was uncalled for.
I met him when I was out with Dani and we’ve been getting to know one another.”
Her dad’s eyes narrowed and he examined her face.
“Where did you get the bruises? Did he fucking hit you?”
He roared.
“Don’t you dare.”
She hissed between clenched teeth before walking over to stand beside me.
“Grayson saved me from being dragged away by some asshole from the bar.
I don’t know what would have happened had he not intervened.
I was lucky he bothered to help out a complete stranger.”
“I don’t like you going out to bars.
They aren’t safe and you meet trash like this.”
He gestured an angry finger in my direction.
“I’m twenty five and you don’t dictate what I do.
And stop calling him that.
You’re being a jerk.”
To my surprise, she snaked her arm around my waist and leaned into my side.
Then she peeked at the phone still clasped in her hand.
“I’m so sorry, Grayson.
I must have accidentally hung up when I hugged my dad.”
“I’m being truthful.
It was probably a club member banging down your door just now.”
“And how can you be sure it wasn’t just some everyday thug you need to get off of the streets?”
“Thugs make up his MC.”
His expression swirled with growing fury as his daughter refused to back down from her defense of me.
“Guys who help get violent criminals off of the street make up his MC.”
“An MC member killed your mom, Brooke.
Is that the type of people you want to associate with?”
She jolted at his declaration, but quickly pulled herself together.
“It was a gang member.
I saw the news reports and heard all the hushed chatterings.
And so far I haven’t witnessed anything that gives me a negative view of him or his friends.”
“You’ve met his friends?”
He practically roared in fury.
“How long have you been seeing him behind my back?”
The vein in his neck throbbed dangerously close to exploding.
“Enough to get a feel for what kind of person he is to determine if I wanted a relationship with him or not.
Because I wasn’t going to do battle with you if he was someone who wasn’t worth it.
But he is.
So let’s just agree to disagree.
Until you can give me something concrete other than your biased prejudice; I’m dating Grayson.
We can still have our weekend brunch dates and I’ll meet up with you for dinner one night this week, but Grayson will be a part of my life as well.
So we’ll still have our time, but Grayson gets my time as well.”
I was embarrassed to admit I was a little surprised to observe her shamelessly coming to my defense against her father.
Her faith in me unwavering.
I hoped I never made her come to regret her decision.
His partner circled around the front of the house and stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
“I didn’t find anything amiss.
He’s long gone.
He must have taken off as soon as he heard sirens or something.”
He ran his hand through his brown hair and fixed his brown eyes on Brooke.
“Did you catch a glimpse of him? Something we can go on to help in the search.
His build? His eye or hair color? What he was wearing? Did you look outside at all during the incident?”
“No.
I was on the phone while taking a break from cleaning when he started pounding on my door and yelling.
I stayed away from the door and windows.”
“Smart girl.
But makes it harder to get a description.
I’ll check with the neighbors.
I just wanted to give you an update.
I can get someone to fix her door. He can probably be out here in the next few hours.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.
That would be great.
It looks like the hinges are bent so I’m not sure if it would lock correctly how it is right now.”
Her dad stepped closer to the door to peer at the way it was hanging at an odd angle.
Then he pivoted back to face Brooke.
“Do you want to go grab something to eat while we wait for your door to be fixed? I can take a dinner break now before returning to work.”
“Thanks but I’ll be okay here.
I’ll have Grayson hang out until Dani comes home so I’m not alone.
I want to finish my laundry and cleaning.”
His expression twisted in renewed anger briefly before his lips pulled into a forced smile and I wondered if he was going to try other tactics to drive a wedge between us since he had struck out on the hurling insults front.
“Okay.
Do you at least have your gun on you?”
“Not at the moment.”
“You had someone trying to break into your house and you didn’t have your gun?”
He closed his eyes briefly, pinched the bridge of his nose, and took in a deep breath.
“I was too busy sucking the hamster up into the vacuum.”
Her lips pulled into a frown.
A chuckle almost slipped from mine.
“You what?”
His eyes shot open and his baffled reaction was quite comical.
But if I hadn’t been privy to the details of the incident, I would have been perplexed as well.
I couldn’t imagine this was a common occurrence.
“Never mind, Dad.
That was resolved and I’m sure this will be as well.
Do you need anything else on my end about this incident? I’d like to finish up in the house.”
“I’ll follow up with Jimmy and if you think of anything else, let me know.
But you will need to stop down at the station to file a report and sign it; tomorrow at the latest.”
He tugged her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
“Call me if you need anything, okay?”
Over his daughter’s shoulder, he shot me a look full of animosity.
I kept my expression emotionless.
I refused to cower or egg him on.
I had my work cut out for me on this one.
It figured.
The first time I found myself wanting a relationship with someone, her dad had to be the police chief and one who had a hatred of MC members that ran so deep I wasn’t sure could ever be remedied.
“I will.
And text me about dinner this week.”
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead before stepping away to walk down to his vehicle.
After he pulled away from the curb, she padded over to me, wrapped her arms around my waist, and snuggled into my chest.
“Wow.
I’m not sure that could’ve gone any worse.”
My arms instinctively tightened around her.
“I wanted to take you in my arms as soon as I got here, but I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.
He could have had me arrested for trespassing.
For as much as he hates bikers, I’m sure he could’ve slapped me with some sort of charge.
I was surprised he only tossed out fury filled remarks. It wouldn’t have even shocked me if he would have thrown a punch or two.”
“And I would have punched him right in the face because I know you wouldn’t have.”
Curling my fingers under her chin, I tipped her head up to face me.
“You know what; I don’t think I would’ve either.
Only because he’s your dad.
I wouldn’t do that to you.”
She stretched up on her toes and gave me a sweet kiss.
When she pulled back, her lips pulled into a beautiful smile.
But after a moment, her cheerfulness dimmed.
“What’s the matter, Princess?”
I cupped her cheeks in my hands and soothingly rubbed my thumbs along her soft skin.
“Do you think everyone got it wrong and it wasn’t a gang member?”
Her eyes filled with tears before a couple slid down her cheeks.
“If they never caught the guy, it’s hard to say.”
I swiped the wetness from her face.
“And I would never lie to you.
An MC member could’ve been responsible for it.
I don’t know.
I don’t remember hearing about the incident.
But I will tell you this: it wasn’t one of ours.
We don’t rob places and we definitely don’t kill innocents.
Ever.
And I doubt it was a Pyro Devils member either. We have a weird alliance with them. They are more annoying than cruel.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t others out there who would. I told you a little about the situation with Sage.
And then you had the confrontation with one of their members yesterday.
So while my club is good hearted, there is enough bad shit going on to give club members a bad rap, whether we deserve it or not.”
Dipping down, I joined our mouths in a slow gentle kiss.
“But know this.
I will protect you.
You’re mine.”
“And my dad needs to realize there are good and bad cops too.
And good and bad people from all walks of life.”
She blew out a frustrated breath.
“But anyway, I like being yours.”
Her face lit back up with her smile.
“Let’s go inside.
I was serious about wanting to finish cleaning.
It wasn’t just an excuse not to go with my dad.
Although I really don’t want to spend any time with him right now because he pissed me off.”
She grabbed my hand and tugged me inside.
After I stepped into her living room, I carefully closed the door, well aware it wasn’t secure.
“How about after you finish cleaning you come back home with me? As long as Dani has somewhere safe to stay as well.
I’d feel better having you with me until they figure out who the asshole was and find him.”
She stared at me for a beat.
“I’ll call her and let her know what’s going on.
How long are we talking?”
“As long as you want, but at least until they find the guy.”
An odd expression crossed her features.
“Are you sure you want this with me? I knew my dad was going to be a problem.
I just wasn’t ready for that kind of animosity.”
“His reaction was a bit much.
I mean he never really did like us, but it’s worse since he knows you and me are together.
That has to chaff his ass.
But, yes, I want this with you.
You are worth it.”
I repeated her earlier words about me.
“No matter what he throws at me.”
For a long moment, she merely stood there as if she were caught in her own thoughts.
And I was incredibly curious as to what was bouncing around in there, but I didn’t ask, just hoped if they revolved around me, I was portrayed as worth all the detriment our involvement inflicted on her relationship with her dad.
“Go chill out on the couch with some television while I call Dani, finish cleaning, and pack a bag.
I want to take my car though.
I don’t want you to have to cart me around everywhere.
And I will have a dinner date with my dad sometime this week.”
“Fair enough.”
I’d have her in my bed and could wake up to her every morning for now and would work on making that permanent.
So that was something I could work with while we ironed out the other issues surrounding us.
While Brooke walked back her hallway to make her call or pack or both, I plopped down on the couch and clicked on the television, settling on a rerun of Last Man Standing.
About ten minutes later, she buzzed into the kitchen, but paused at the bar to glance over at me.
“Do you want something to drink? Damn, I never made any dinner either.
And now that I have a chance to think about it; I’m starving.
Did you get to eat? Although it hasn’t been that long since I left your house. Or has it? Hell, I don’t even know what time it is.”
“Take a deep breath there, Princess.
And no, I don’t need anything to drink.
Get your chores done so we can go to my place and you can relax.
You play your cards right, I might give you a naked massage later.”
I winked at her.
“I’m assuming you got a hold of Dani and she’ll be okay with you not staying here for a bit.”
“A naked massage sounds amazing.”
Brooke released a huge sigh and then grinned mischievously.
“She actually met someone when she went out on Saturday night and was hoping to stay at his place again so was relieved I wasn’t going to be staying here.
So that was the first surprise cuz she is even less likely to go home with someone than me.
But she sent me a picture of him.”
Her grin turned into a devilish smirk.
“Yes, I remember being flashed Friday night and not in a good way.”
I shot her a wolfish smile.
“And she is actually stopping by after they are done at the restaurant to grab her hamster.
Hopefully he doesn’t smell up his place or the guy will be kicking her to the curb.
So that’s taken care of.
Let me toss my clothes into the dryer, run the vacuum, and clean up the bathroom and then we can go.
But are you sure you don’t want something to snack on? I’m sure we have chips.”
I planned to snack on something much later and it wasn’t going to be junk food.
”I’m good.
I’ll text Ryder and let him know everything is okay and not to wait on us to eat.”
“I shouldn’t be too much longer.
And let them know we can clean up the dinner after we eat.
To leave it all out for us to take care of.
They should relax, especially Sage.”
Her comment made me like her even more.
She barely knew Sage yet treated her like a best friend.
While Brooke shifted her focus back to her chores, I split my attention between the show and the crazy hamster.
Although when she stepped into the living room to run the vacuum over the carpet, my gaze centered on how sweet her ass looked in her cut off shorts as she pushed the machine.
When she was finished, she strolled back into the living room with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder.
She smiled at me but when her gaze drifted to the front door, she frowned.
“I don’t know if I feel good about leaving while that door is like that.
I’m famished and I know you have to be starving too, but shouldn’t we wait for him to get here?”
“I can text one of our Prospects to watch the house until he comes to fix it.”
“Maybe.
I hate to bother one of them though.”
A knock sounded at her door.
And she jumped.
Standing from the couch, I walked over to her and gathered her into my arms.
“You’re safe now.
But I’m thinking that’s your repair man.
The other guy wouldn’t knock so politely.”
Kissing her on the forehead, I strolled over to the door and swung it open.
A guy with blond hair and in a uniform nodded to me.
“Is Brooke home? Jimmy asked me to come repair her door.
By the way, I’m Frank.”
His blue eyes studied me for a moment as he held out his hand.
But I didn’t catch any judgement in his stare.
I shook it.
“Thank you.
I’m Grayson.
Come on in.
We were heading back to my place. Is that okay?”
Brooke sidled up to me, wrapping her arm around my waist.
“Hey, Frank.
Thank you for doing this, especially on short notice.
Could you lock up before you go? And then I can get the keys tomorrow when I stop at the station after work to file a report.”
“Yup.
I’ll leave them with Evalyne.
She’ll be working at the front counter tomorrow.”
“That makes it easier than trying to track down one of you guys.”
Twisting, she gazed up at me.
“I’m ready to go then.
Frank will get this fixed and I won’t have to worry about it.”
Taking Brooke’s hand in mine, I led her out of the house and down to her black Civic.
“So your last name is Wolfe?”
“Yeah.
I thought you would have known that since you knew my dad before you met me.”
“I did.
But I didn’t give it much thought until he said it earlier.”
I smirked.
“Save it.
I’ve heard all of the jokes.
And they’re all bad.”
“Oh, I won’t bore you with jokes.
Because this is no joke.
I find it fitting that my last name is Moone considering I make you howl.”
I waggled my eyebrows at her.
“I don’t howl.”
“You sure do.
You’re too wrapped up in the pleasure to realize it.
So maybe I should record us next time so you can hear it.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“No, Princess.
Not without your knowledge and permission.
But you might change your mind.
Porn is hot to watch but when it’s you and a gorgeous sensual girl, it’s a million times hotter.
But I do still plan on making you howl again.”
Caging her in against the driver’s side door, I kissed her pouty lips.
“Do you remember how to get to my place? I want to follow you so I can keep a better eye on you.
Angel dropped off shrimp Alfredo.
You’re not allergic to seafood are you? Because if so; we can stop and grab you something on the way.”
Her stomach released a huge growl so she dropped her hands to rest on it.
“Not allergic to seafood, thank goodness because I love it.
And I should be mortified but I’m not.
I had a wild night last night and an eventful day today, so I’ve earned my need for some more calories.”
“You have no need to be embarrassed.
You have a beautiful body and I’m glad you are a girl who recognizes that.”
After she hit unlock on her key fob, I opened the door for her.
Once she slid inside, I walked over to my discarded bike and shook my head.
The guys would give me shit if they would have seen me lay my bike in the grass.
Although I didn’t drop it to the ground so it wouldn’t need any repairs, just the grass and mud clumps wiped off.
But I hadn’t cared about anything besides getting to Brooke.
Even though she had been standing on her front porch when I had arrived at her house.
Lifting my bike from the ground, I straddled the seat, started the engine, and then followed Brooke to my place.
About ten minutes later, we pulled up at my house.
Walking my bike inside the garage, I instructed Brooke to park right in front of the big door.
Then after she stepped inside, I closed the door and then the two of us walked through the side entrance and on into the kitchen.
I spotted Ryder and Sage in the living room, sprawled on the couch.
Sage smiled over at us.
“We decided to wait for you to eat.
Dinner is staying warm in the oven.
Thank you so much for offering to clean up then.
So everything turned out okay at Brooke’s place?”
They rose from the couch and wandered into the kitchen.
After grabbing some pot holders, I pulled the pan out while Ryder grabbed plates and utensils.
“The cops scoped the area and didn’t find anything and a friend is fixing her door.
But for now, she’s staying with me until they catch the bastard.
Or longer if she wants.
But for now I want her safe with me.”
Sage’s eyes lit up.
“Yay! Another girl here.
I love when Angel and Misti come to visit, but Brooke will be living here.”
Moseying around to the stools, she sat down at the bar.
“I don’t mean to be pushy; but let’s eat before Jade wakes up.”
The three of us joined Sage at the bar and dug into our food.
“I have the clothes I borrowed from you in my bag.
They’re clean.”
Brooke poked a shrimp with her fork.
“I’ll put them back next time Jade isn’t sleeping in her room.”
“You didn’t have to get them back to me so quickly, but thank you.
And she’s sleeping in a bassinet in our room for a couple months.
So you can put them back whenever you get a chance.”
Sage downed a couple of swallows of her flavored water.
Ryder popped four shrimp into his mouth.
“Do you think it was the same guy who cornered her here yesterday?”
“She didn’t see him.
She stayed away from the windows.”
I twirled some noodles around my fork before facing Brooke.
“Did he sound like the guy from yesterday?”
She slurped her own forkful of noodles into her mouth – which made my dick twitch, although everything about her affected him – before answering.
“I don’t know.
Today he was yelling through a door; yesterday he was growling low in my face.
It’s too hard to say.”
“That’s okay, Princess.
I’m going to do some digging tomorrow after I finish those two cars that were dropped off late on Friday.
Whether the police want our help or not, I’ll be looking into this because you’re mine now to protect.”
“I’m going to have one of our Prospects watching our house when one of us isn’t home.
I don’t want the girls left here alone.
Not until this bullshit is over.
I filled Sage in on what happened yesterday.
I didn’t want to scare her, but I want her to be in the know so she can be even more alert to her surroundings.
I’m taking a half day tomorrow.
Gage already said he’d be there from open to close.
Sage and I have a new schedule to get used to.
She’ll be off from work until after the wedding. But I can get Misti or Angel to hang out over here if you want me to go scoping out places with you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Bro, but you spend time with your little family.
Brooke will be at work during the day so I’m going to work on my projects and then handle the club business.
We need to snuff out Brutal Demons before they turn into more of a problem.”
Just as we finished eating, the baby monitor setting on the counter signaled that Jade was stirring as her quiet whimpers morphed into loud cries.
“At least I got the chance to eat first.”
Sage slid off of her stool and padded back the hall.