Blade (Silver Shadows MC #1)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Declan

That fucking bitch lied to me!

I pleaded with her. Begged her not to do it. I would have married her. Would have taken care of her and our baby.

Pacing around the clubhouse, I fumed. Johnny, the prospect, handed me a glass of amber liquid and I downed it in one gulp. He quickly handed me another, and that followed the first.

Blade walked in, searching the room. His eyes landed on me, and he immediately moved in my direction.

I didn’t know what this fucker did to piss off my daughter, but I might just lay him out if he said the wrong thing.

My daughter.

Fuck.

Twenty-five years. I missed twenty-five fucking years of her life because that bitch told me she had an abortion.

Who fucking did that?

“Hey, Declan, you ok?”

I glared at him.

No, I’m not fucking ok.

“What the fuck happened between you and Beck? Why is she so pissed at you?”

He flinched at my words. “Becca and I have history. It’s a long story, and one I need to share with her before I tell anyone else.”

“You will fucking tell me what you did.” I growled, getting in his face.

“Not now, brother,” King cautioned as he walked through the front door past both of us and stood at the double doors on the other side of the room.

“One issue at a time. Let’s go into church, both of you.”

I looked from my brother to Blade.

“This doesn’t involve him,” I said, pointing at his road captain patch.

“It sure as fuck does, whether you want it to or not. This is a clusterfuck, and we need to talk before I bring her over here.”

My baby brother disappeared into the room, leaving me with no choice but to follow him. Blade followed behind me, closing the door.

Sighing, King looked at both of us.

“I want you both to listen to me and listen real fucking good. Rebecca knows nothing. She’s as confused as you are, maybe more so. She has had a shit few days and I imagine a shit childhood, living with that woman.”

“Becca didn’t have a shit childhood. She had a great fucking childhood. I made sure of it,” Blade claimed, slapping his hand on his chest.

I looked over at Blade, “What the fuck are you talking about? You’re from Arkansas.”

“No, I’m not. I grew up here in Diamond Creek with Becca.”

“What the fuck am I missing, King?” I glared at my brother, waiting for answers.

Rubbing his hand over his chin, King stared at me.

“I’m not telling you anything yet. I only came here to make sure you had calmed down enough to talk to her without you losing your shit.”

“What the hell is going on? Why does he need to talk to my woman?” Blade asked.

“Your what?” I yelled, leaping from my seat.

“Did I stutter?” Blade retorted, also getting to his feet.

“Both of you sit your asses down,” King ordered. “I need both of you to get your tempers under control. Fuck, how did I become the calm one here?” He leaned his elbows on the table, his attention on Blade. “Tell us about growing up with Beck.”

Still standing, Blade asked, “Why?”

“Are you questioning your president, fucker?” King challenged him with narrowed eyes focused on Blade.

“Yes, I fucking am.”

King walked over and stood toe to toe with Blade.

“You will tell me what I want to hear, or I will take your fucking patch.”

Blade took a step back. He removed the cut from his shoulders and laid it on the table. Crossing his arms, he glared at King.

“Put that fucking cut back on before I beat your fucking ass.”

“Tell me what the fuck is going on!” Blade demanded.

King groaned before saying, “You’re lucky the only one here is my fucking brother. If you pulled this shit in front of a member, your ass would be in the ring.”

Blade pointed at the camera we all knew hid in the room and challenged, “Nav is watching.”

“No, he isn’t. I told him to shut the fucking camera off. This isn’t club business, this is personal. Put that fucking cut back on and don’t take it off again,” King demanded, turning his back on Blade, knowing he would do as he was told.

Letting out a slow breath, Blade grabbed his cut, sliding it back into place, and began. He told us about how he met my daughter for the first time and her childhood with him, her grandmother, and her bitch mother. Listening to how her mother treated her had me heated.

She didn’t fucking want her, that was clear by her treatment of her. Thank God she had Willow. Connie thought so little of me she kept me from my daughter all these years. I knew she thought a simple beat cop was beneath her. I was good enough to fuck her, just not good enough to build a life with her.

Standing from my seat, I paced once again.

I could feel King’s eyes on me. Watching me to make sure I didn’t leap over this table and pound this fucker into the ground for hurting my baby girl.

Christ, I have a daughter.

“Enough!” I turned to my little brother.

He would have been thirteen when Beck was born.

“Go get her. I need to talk to her.”

“I need to know you won’t kill my road captain while I’m gone,” King said, grinning.

“Not without finding out why he needs to die first.”

King pointed his finger at Blade. “Keep your mouth shut until I get back, brother.”

“What the fuck is going on, King? I promised her grandfather I would take care of her.”

“Great fucking job you did, huh? Where the fuck were you for half her life?” I sneered.

“Why do you fucking care? What does any of this have to do with you?”

Leaning my hands on the table, I leaned toward the little shit. “She’s my fucking daughter, asshole!”

Blade’s eyes widened as fear crossed over his features.

“Shit,” he murmured, closing his eyes.

“Yea, shit. So keep your damn mouth shut until I get back, Blade.”

King walked out the door and I glared across the table at the man sitting across from me. The man that hurt my daughter. I just didn’t know how yet. When I found out how, he’d better fucking run.

The silence in the room was deafening as we sat and waited for King to return. He wasn’t gone long. I assumed she was across the street at her house. When he returned, he wasn’t alone. Rachel, Cash’s old lady, walked in first, cautiously looking at Blade, then me.

Then my daughter walked in just before King.

I stared at her. I couldn’t help myself. She looked so much like my mother. I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it before.

She was beautiful.

She walked over hesitantly and sat between Rachel and Blade. He held out his hand to her and it surprised me when she placed her hand in his. Her knuckles turned white with the force of her grasp.

“It’s ok, baby, I’ve got you now,” he whispered to her.

Asshole.

Rachel looked up, breaking the silence.

“King what’s going on?”

“I don’t even know how to start,” King said.

“I’ll start.”

I waited until my daughter looked in my direction.

“Let me start by apologizing for my actions at your grandmother’s graveside. I met Willow right after moving here, and I had nothing but respect for her. Seeing your mother was a tremendous shock. And learning she was your mother, well, let’s just say I lost my mind.”

“How do you know my mother?” she asked quietly, never taking her eyes from mine.

“I met your mother twenty-six years ago when she was attending U of A at Little Rock. She was nineteen, and I was twenty-three. I was a beat cop, barely out of the academy. She’d been out with her friends and was being harassed by some dumb college kid. I stepped in to rescue her. We started talking and before either of us realized what had happened, we were spending every spare minute we had together.”

Running my hand through my hair, I stalled, searching for the right words.

“I want you to know I loved your mother. I thought we were on the same page. Building something that would stand the test of time. Little did I know, she was in a completely different book.”

I stood up again, not able to stay still any longer.

“About three months in, she told me she was pregnant.”

Beck gasped, holding her hand over her mouth. Blade pulled her chair over, wrapping his arm around her.

I let him have that. She needed someone right now and I couldn’t be it for her. I needed to get through this.

“I want you to know, Rebecca. I never questioned if you were mine. From the first moment I knew of your existence, I wanted you,” I told her, hoping she could hear the sincerity of my words.

“When I asked your mother to marry me, she laughed. Told me I was just a cop, and she had bigger expectations for her life. She told me that also did not include a baby.”

Seeing the tears spill from my daughter’s eyes broke my heart into pieces.

“I begged her. Pleaded with her not to do it. It meant nothing to her. A few days later, she called and told me she’d had an abortion and that she was leaving school.” I stood there, my heart pounding. “I grieved you, Beck. For years, I dreamed about the baby I would never meet. Never knowing if I would have had a son or a daughter.”

I walked around the table, turning her chair and crouched down in front of her.

“When I saw Connie, I was stunned, and when you said she was your mother, I knew immediately she had lied to me. I don’t know why she lied to me, but I am so fucking glad she did. I wish I had been a part of your life from the beginning, but if not having me there meant she kept you, raised you and you are here before me today, I would give up those twenty-five years so I could have the rest of my life with you in it.”

She sat there in silence, tears streaming down her cheeks. Never taking her eyes from me, she whispered, “How do you know it’s me? How can you be sure?”

There was hope shining in her eyes, and I smiled.

“You look like a carbon copy of my mom at your age,” I told her.

“She confirmed it at the cemetery,” King added.

I had forgotten there was anyone else here when he continued.

“When I asked her what she thought she was doing, her response was protecting her from a dirty cop .”

I looked up at my brother, shaking my head before turning back to my girl.

“I’m not a dirty cop, baby girl. I don’t know why she kept you from me. It doesn’t matter anymore. Just tell me I can have you in my life now?”

“I always wanted a dad,” she cried, just before launching herself into my arms, almost knocking us both to the ground.

I held her tight, not wanting to let her go.

Suddenly she sat up, turning around to King with a mischievous grin she asked, “So that makes you my uncle, King.”

I laughed when my brother groaned.

“Yea, sweetheart, but I’m not buying you a fucking pony.”

She laughed at him and turned back to me. “Are you really my dad?”

“I’m really your dad,” I confirmed, and all those broken pieces caused by her tears slid right back into place with the smile she gave me.

She then looked over at Blade.

“I have a dad, Micah,” she said, as another tear slipped down her face.

“Yea, you do, baby.”

He smiled softly at her and reached up to wipe the tear away with his thumb. It killed me to admit it, but I could see they loved each other.

When I found out what happened, maybe I’d let him live with just beating his ass.

I just found my daughter.

I didn’t want to lose her for killing the man she loved.

“Well, this has been a week. Shit, I still have to deal with my mother.” She looked over at Blade and glared. “How long has she known?”

Her love switched so quickly into anger. She got that from me.

A little of that Irish temper.

“I will tell you everything if you just give me a chance,” he pleaded.

“Baby girl, I want you to tell me what this fucker did to hurt you so much?”

Looking over at Blade, she shocked me when she said, “He died.”