Blade (Silver Shadows MC #1)

Chapter Twenty- Eight

Beck

I’d been back home in Diamond Creek for a month now and things had changed so much. I had Micah in my life. We were living together in Grams’ house. Well, I guess it was our house now. My father was in my life. He started stopping by on his way to the station most mornings for coffee.

After a few days of entering unannounced, he quickly understood the importance of knocking first. Walking in on your daughter spread out on the kitchen table while her boyfriend was between her legs had a way of making the point for you.

I hadn’t heard from my mother since the reading of the will. Michael stuck around town for a while so we could catch up. I missed him terribly. I needed to talk him into moving here. He would always be a part of my growing family.

Tonight, I was going out with the girls. Grace was a bartender in town, so we were going to hang out with her while she worked. She didn’t get to come to the clubhouse as much because she was always working on the weekends.

I gave Micah strict instructions to stay out of the bar. Ignoring that decree would leave him sleeping at the club.

Alone.

He wasn’t thrilled, but he knew the prospects would be there watching over us.

Yup, I relented.

It was either a prospect or a patrol car following me around.

I opted for the one that would blend in more.

“Baby, Rachel’s here,” Micah called from downstairs.

“Be right down.”

He was going to have a love/hate relationship with my outfit tonight. He would love seeing me in it, but hate that other men would, too. It was pretty tame by biker standards, though.

I looked in the mirror one more time. My skinny jeans molded over my ass, my black boots laced up to my knees, and my red corset top pushed the girls up just enough to show them off. I grabbed my black leather jacket and slid it over my shoulders as I jogged down the stairs.

“Damn, girl, you look hot.”

“Shh, Rach, don’t make a big deal. He hasn’t seen me yet and—”

“Fuck no!”

Damn it.

“Hey, baby,” I purred, sidling up to Micah.

“No, go back upstairs and change. You aren’t wearing that out anywhere that I’m not with you,” he complained, pointing up the stairs to where our bedroom was.

“Blade, please, she has her cut on. No one is even going to look at her.”

Rachel knew she was full of shit. She made a valiant effort. The look on his face let her know he also knew she was full of shit.

“Micah, baby, this is what I’m wearing. We have been over this enough this week. You don’t get to choose what I wear, where I go or who I talk to because you trust me one hundred percent. Just like I trust you when you’re at the clubhouse without me.”

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I gave up ten years of my life when I thought you were dead. Why would I give up more when I have you back?”

And in three… two… one.

He growled.

So predictable.

He knew I was right.

“I love you, and I will see you later.” With a peck on his lips, I turned to walk out the door with Rachel.

Micah grabbed my wrist, pulling me back to him. Grabbing my chin, he kissed me, hard. Reminding me just what was waiting for me when I got home tonight.

One of the best things about living in a small town was that it never took long to get where I needed to go. The Diamond Queen bar was loud when we walked in. We clocked Lily and Samantha sitting at the bar. Lily wasn’t twenty-one yet, but the bar let in anyone over eighteen. She just couldn’t drink here like she did at the clubhouse.

“Hey, girls,” I greeted them both as I slid up onto an empty stool. The girls had secured the spots on the corner of the bar so we could still talk to each other in between orders Grace had to fill.

I took off my jacket and hung it on the back of my chair, thankful these stools had chair backs.

“Damn. Does Blade know you left the house like that?” Lily asked.

I chuckled in response.

“He does. We discussed it before I left,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“So, you and Blade are together now?” Grace asked, dropping a martini in front of me. She remembered what I had at the clubhouse.

“We are,” I confirmed, smiling, as I took a sip of my drink.

“I heard you were on the back of King’s bike the other day,” she remarked, with her eyebrow raised like she caught me doing something wrong.

She was going to make a great mom one day with that look.

“Yea, he took me for an ice cream date.” I giggled, remembering our little date .

Grace looked at the others, her brows furrowing.

“Have you not explained the rules to her?”

I looked at Rachel, questioning, “What rules?”

Had I done something wrong?

“Once you’re an old lady, you can’t just ride another brother’s bike, especially the Prez’s bike,” Grace admonished.

“Oh my God, you don’t know.” Lily squealed.

“I can’t believe no one told you.”

Grace shook her head at my new friends.

I wasn’t sure what was going on. King said it was ok, and Micah let it go as well.

“No, Grace, you don’t know. You’ve been so busy, we haven’t seen you since the funeral,” Rachel said.

“Know what?” Grace asked.

Rachel looked at me for permission.

I nodded. Not sure what I was giving permission for, but Rachel wouldn’t put me on the spot with something private.

“Beck found out the day of the funeral that Sheriff O’Rourke is her father. Which makes King her uncle.”

Grace’s eyes widened, and her eyebrows got lost in her hair.

“Well, I guess that explains how the sheriff knew your mom. I feel so out of the loop,” Grace complained.

We spent the next several minutes telling Grace everything that transpired. I told the girls about my ice cream date with my uncle, swearing them to secrecy. Excusing myself to use the ladies’ room, I walked toward the back of the bar. When I stopped and looked around, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It felt like someone was watching me. Every woman knew to listen to that instinct. When I didn’t see anyone watching me, I turned back toward the restrooms.

“Everything ok?”

I screamed and jumped before I realized Johnny was standing next to me.

“I’m sorry, Beck, I saw you stop and look around and wanted to check on you. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Placing my hand on my chest, I took a deep breath.

“I’m ok. It felt like I had eyes on me, but it must have just been you. I haven’t gotten used to always having someone watching over me yet. Thank you.” He nodded and made his way back to the bar.

After returning from the restroom, we spent the rest of the evening laughing and telling stories. Rachel and I shared stories about Micah and Ryder. Lily spilled secrets about Ace. Grace and Samantha had a few stories about the club they shared as well.

When Rachel and I made it into the parking lot, we found a prospect waiting by her car.

“Hello, ladies, I’m your chauffeur this evening. It’s my job to make sure you both get home safely.”

“Picked the short straw tonight, Archie?” Rachel asked.

“This is one of the better jobs I get tasked with. You two are a joy. I would hate to be Johnny. Grace scares the crap out of me.” He suddenly realized what he said, and he quickly added, “Please don’t tell her I said that.”

We both laughed and assured him his secret was safe with us.

Archie opened the door for Rachel and me.

I stopped to look around the parking lot.

“Everything ok?”

“Hmm?” I looked at Archie. “Yea, just getting used to having eyes on me all the time.”

“It won’t take long before you don’t even notice anymore,” Rachel said, sliding into the back seat.

One more cursory glance around, and I slid in right next to her so Archie could take us home.

Things seemed to fall into a lull over the next few days. I spent most of my days at home, reorganizing and going through Grams’ things, deciding what to keep and what to donate. Blade and I often spent evenings at the clubhouse, so I could get to know my uncle and the rest of the brothers.

Today, Micah was at the clubhouse without me. He had church this morning and a few meetings to get through. The officers didn’t hold regular jobs. It made them available when they needed to fill in somewhere or if the club had business they needed to take care of.

Mostly, I didn’t ask about club business. If it didn’t affect my life, I didn’t need the stress of knowing what they were dealing with.

So I was home, blessedly alone for a change, when I heard the screen door slam from upstairs, where I was putting away clothes. Laundry was one of those domestic chores that was a necessary evil.

I assumed Micah must have forgotten something. When I didn’t hear him call out, I went downstairs to see what he needed help with. Lord knew he wouldn’t find his head if it didn’t sit between his shoulders.

“Micah? Baby, did you forget something?” I rounded the corner into the living room and my mouth dropped open at the man standing in my home.

Grant Nicholson.

“Hey, Beck. How ya been?” he asked, trudging toward me. “Wanna know how I’ve been? In. Fucking. Pain. After you kicked me in the balls and the head, your boyfriend came over with his friends and kicked my ass. I ended up in the hospital.” He snarled.

I stood there frozen, not sure what to do.

Micah was across the street. I knew the prospect at the gate would have seen Grant coming up to the house. Even if he didn’t recognize him, he would have immediately told Micah someone was here.

I took a step back toward the stairs.

“What are you doing here, Grant?”

My phone was in my back pocket. If I could just get it without him noticing, I could call someone.

“What am I doing here? You still owe me. I came to collect what should have been mine.”

I stopped when my back hit the stairs. Slowly reaching my hands back, I slid my phone out of my pocket. Thank God for speed dialing. Placing my finger on what I knew was the number two, I held it there, knowing it would dial Micah’s phone.

Yes, Micah is the number one man in my life, much to my father’s dismay, but the number one button was for my voicemail, which made my dad number three and my uncle number four.

King had Nav hack into my phone frequently to change it.

I wasn’t sure who I was calling, but I knew that whoever it was, they would come when I called.

Grant stepped up, so we were toe to toe. He leaned down into me.

I had nowhere to pull back, so I turned my head to the side.

“She told me I could have you. We had it all planned out.”

“Who?” I asked, remembering him saying the same thing the night he attacked me. I thought he was rambling, now I wasn’t so sure.

“She said we would get married. We would have babies. That would connect us forever. And there was nothing that asshole could do.”

“Grant—”

“SHE LIED TO ME!” he yelled, spitting on me in his anger. “Not only did she lie, but she took you away.”

Took me away? What is he talking about?

“Grant, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please let’s just talk. I’m sure we can fix whatever it is.”

He grabbed my arms and shook me against the stairs. My head hit the spindle, and I saw stars. I didn’t know why it was called seeing stars. It was more like seeing fireflies.

“FIX? He had you! She promised me I could have you. She called me when you came back here. Told me you were still a virgin. Told me I could still have you if I hurried. If I got to you before he did.”

“You’re not making any sense, Grant.”

He wasn’t listening to me as he continued to ramble on.

“She told me once the old bat died, we could get the land back. We could sell it and everything else she had would be ours. We could leave this place, get away from him for good.”

The old bat? Grams? What land?

I didn’t get to ask him again before the kitchen door slammed again and I heard boots stomping toward us.

“BECCA!” I heard Micah yell.

Relief settled in, knowing Micah was here.

I closed my eyes, as everything faded away.