Chapter 10
Mason
For a second, I just stare.
At the bikes.
At Demon.
At my daughters half-crawling, half-wobbling across the grass toward what are very clearly two tiny pink death traps with handlebars. My brain flatlines.
Where the hell did Demon even find little motorcycles like that?
Why the fuck didn’t I think of getting them first?
Fuck. Now that I know these things exist, I’m gonna have to find Johnny one for his birthday or he’s gonna spend the next year stealing his sisters’ bikes and crying about favoritism.
Jesus Fuckin’ Christ, Kelly’s going to kill Demon. And then she’s probably gonna kill me too just because he’s my Prez.
Fuck. I am definitely not getting lucky tonight.
I drag a hand down my face and turn slowly toward Demon. He’s still standing there with that smug, self-satisfied grin like he just delivered world peace instead of a pair of battery-powered toddler motorcycles to two one-year-olds who still trip over their own feet.
I send him a glare sharp enough to skin a man alive. Demon’s grin falters. Just a little.
Good.
Then I turn to Kelly fast, grab both of her hands, and try to get ahead of the execution that’s clearly coming.
“Baby,” I say quickly. “I had nothin’ to do with this. This was all Demon. I would never get our one-year-old daughters motorcycles.”
Nothing.
Not even a blink.
Kelly doesn’t so much as glance at me. Her entire body has gone rigid beside me, hands tense in mine, eyes locked on Demon like she’s already planning where to hide the body. That bright smile she’d been wearing all day?
Gone.
Completely gone.
In its place is a deep frown and a pair of narrowed eyes that could strip paint off a wall. And then I follow her line of sight. Maddy and Madison have seen the bikes.
Of course they have. Those little gremlins can sniff out trouble from a mile away.
They’re making their way across the lawn with the kind of unsteady determination only toddlers and drunk bikers possess—half crawling, half walking, both of them squealing with excitement while Johnny bounces around them like a cracked-out tour guide.
“Look! Look! Uncle Demon got you motorcycles!” Johnny yells, like that’s a completely normal sentence. “They’re pink! And they got wheels! And handlebars! And—”
“Johnny,” I bark.
He doesn’t hear me. Or pretends not to.
Maddy reaches the nearest bike first and slaps both sticky little hands on the side of it like she’s claiming property. Madison lets out an excited shriek and tries to pull herself up using the seat.
That’s it. That’s the moment all hell breaks loose. Kelly jerks her hands free from mine and takes off across the yard.
“MADDY! MADISON! NO!”
Her voice cracks across the backyard like a whip. Every conversation dies instantly. Every head turns. Even the girls freeze for half a second, startled by the sheer force of their mother’s panic.
Kelly gets there in seconds, scooping Madison up before she can face-plant under the front wheel while using her other arm to yank Maddy back from the handlebars.
Then she whirls. And God help Demon, because I sure as hell won’t.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she shrieks, clutching Madison to one hip while Maddy fusses against the other side of her body. “Are you trying to kill my girls?”
Demon physically recoils.
The entire yard goes dead silent except for the girls starting to whine because their fun just got interrupted.
“They’re one, Demon!” Kelly snaps, voice rising with every word. “One! They can barely walk without falling over their own feet and you brought them motorcycles?”
Demon raises both hands.
“They’ve got training wheels—”
“I don’t give a damn if they’ve got seat belts and a guardian angel attached to them!”
I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek. Justice turns his face away, shoulders shaking. Ghost looks like he’s fighting for his life not to laugh. Kelly takes a step toward Demon.
Then another.
“I swear to God, if one of my daughters even breathes too hard near one of those things, I am going to strangle you with your own cut.”
All the color drains right out of Demon’s face.
Gone.
Just gone.
The smug bastard who strutted around here five minutes ago looking proud of himself now looks like a man realizing he’s made a catastrophic life choice. His eyes flick to Kelly. Then to me. Like I’m somehow going to save him.
I just stare back at him with all the sympathy of a brick wall. Demon’s expression shifts instantly. He knows. He knows damn well he’s not getting help from me. Not with my woman looking one bad second away from turning his skull into a decorative centerpiece.
He pushes out of his chair so fast it nearly tips over behind him and yanks his phone from his pocket, staring at the blank screen like it just lit up with an emergency call from God himself.
“Oh, shit,” he says, voice way too loud and fake. “Thanks for the invite, Kells. Bruiser. But somethin’ just came up and I gotta go. Bye.”
He starts backing away from Kelly with his hands up.
Kelly hands the girls off to Sarah and Bella. Then starts stalking after him without breaking eye contact.
“You get back here.”
“Nope.”
“Demon.”
“Love the party. Great cake. Cute kids. I gotta—”
“DEMON!”
He nearly trips over one of the folding chairs in his hurry to get away. The rest of the brothers have gone completely useless. Stryker is laughing so hard he has to brace a hand on the table.
Justice is wheezing.
Ghost has both hands over his mouth and somehow looks proud and terrified at the same time.
Bella is sitting there with one hand over her pregnant stomach, laughing hard enough I’m already mentally preparing to make sure she doesn’t throw herself into labor.
Johnny is standing beside one of the little bikes with his mouth hanging open, eyes moving between his mom and Demon like this is the greatest show he’s ever seen.
“Dad,” he whispers, awe in his voice. “Mom’s gonna kill Uncle Demon.”
“Maybe,” I mutter.
“Can I still ride the bike if he dies?”
“Not now, Johnny.”
Demon reaches the gate just as Ghost and Justice step forward. For one stupid second, I think maybe they’re actually gonna stop him. Then I hear Ghost mutter under his breath as he slips a set of keys into Demon’s hand.
“See? Told you not to get those bikes and that Kelly was gonna kill you. Here’s your truck keys. Truck’s already unlocked and pointed toward the road for an easy getaway.”
Justice nods like he’s offering sound tactical support in the middle of a war.
“Real smart move, man.”
Demon snatches the keys out of the air and looks one step away from running.
“You’re both my favorite people.”
Then Kelly lunges.
Demon bolts through the gate.
Ghost and Justice immediately step in front of it like they’re going to block her. It is the dumbest decision they’ve made all day. Because my woman is a brown belt and fully capable of dropping grown men without breaking a sweat.
Ghost barely gets a hand up when Kelly moves.
Fast.
One second Ghost and Justice are standing there trying to play bodyguards. The next—Ghost yelps. Justice curses. And both of them are on the ground in the grass in a tangle of limbs and wounded pride while Kelly slips past them and through the gate like a damn missile.
The entire backyard goes silent again. Then—
“Holy shit,” Stryker breathes.
From somewhere beyond the fence comes the sound of Kelly shouting.
“GET BACK HERE, YOU ASSHOLE!”
Demon yells something I can’t make out. And a second later tires squeal loud enough to echo through the backyard.
Then more shouting.
Then another squeal of tires.
And every single person in my backyard just… stares. I drag both hands down my face and blow out a breath.
“Well,” I mutter.
Beside me, Bella is still holding Madison while Sarah clutches Maddy, both girls looking delighted by the chaos. Johnny turns to me with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on his face.
“That was awesome.”
I point at him. “Not a word to your mother.”
He nods solemnly. Then pauses.
“…Can I still ask for a motorcycle for my birthday?”
I close my eyes.
Of course.
Of fucking course.
Behind me, Justice groans from where he’s still sprawled in the grass.
“I think she dislocated my shoulder.”
Ghost glares up at him. “She stepped on my hand.”
“That’s because you tried to stop her.”
“You tried to stop her too!”
“I panicked!”
Stryker starts laughing again.
Demon’s truck peels away down the road with one last squeal of tires. And somewhere in the distance, I can still hear Kelly screaming his name.
Yeah.
I’m definitely not getting lucky tonight.
For a few seconds after Demon and Kelly disappear, nobody in the backyard moves. Not a damn soul. It’s like the entire party collectively forgot how to function.
Ghost and Justice are still on the ground near the gate, both of them looking personally victimized by my wife.
Sarah is holding Maddy, Bella’s got Madison on her hip, and Johnny is standing near the little pink motorcycles with his mouth hanging open like he just watched the greatest action movie ending of all time.
The only sound is the faint echo of Demon's tires peeling out onto the road. Then Stryker lets out a low whistle.
“Well,” he says, dragging the word out. “That went better than I expected.”
Justice pushes himself up off the grass with a groan. “She damn near took my knee out.”
Ghost flexes one hand and winces. “I told him she was gonna kill him.”
“You still handed him his truck keys,” I point out.
Ghost shrugs, looking entirely unapologetic. “Self-preservation.”
Bella snorts.
I rub a hand over my jaw and stare out through the open gate, my eyes narrowing on the empty stretch of grass.
Kelly hasn’t come back yet. I know she’s fine.
If Demon had been stupid enough to stop the truck, he’d be the one in trouble, not her.
Still... She’s mad enough right now that I’m not stupid enough to leave her out there by herself without checking.
“Hold this,” I tell Bella, passing her my beer even though I don’t remember picking it up in the first place.