Jake’s Angel (King’s Of Fury MC #2)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

AVERY

I try to walk past Gabe and into the house, but his hand gripping my elbow halts my steps. I glance down to where he’s holding me and immediately he lets me go.

“I know you’ve been through a lot, and you don’t trust me right now. But I’m asking you to come with me and let me show you something. Can you do that?”

My mind is screaming at me to tell him to fuck off and walk away. After everything Jake told me today, how he let a boy feel guilty for so many years over his lies, plus what he did to me, I have every right to tell him off. There’s something in Gabe’s eyes, though, silently begging me to give him the benefit of the doubt.

At my hesitation, he continues, “I’ll bring you right back here, I promise. But I need you to come with me. It’s important you see this. We’ll go have dinner and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“You promise?”

“Yes. With the exception of …”

“ Club business.” I roll my eyes.

“Yes, and also because there are things I believe could put you in even more danger.”

My gut tells me I should go with him and hear him out. So that’s what I do. I follow him down the driveway to a waiting blacked out SUV. He opens my door, and I climb in. He comes around the front of the vehicle and gets in. He starts the engine and begins backing us out.

“Unmarked black SUV with tinted-out windows. Is it bullet proof too?” I ask.

“This one is, yeah.” He’s so blasé about it.

“I was joking.” Gabe shrugs. “Do you really get shot at enough to require you to own a bullet-proofed vehicle?”

“That’s club business, sweetheart.” I don’t bristle this time with his use of the endearment.

Awkward silence fills the cab of the SUV. I know something’s wrong. I can tell by the white of his knuckles as he continues to grip the steering wheel. I don’t know if I should ask him or if I should sit in silence and let him stew, because he’s obviously upset.

Did something happen? Is Sadie okay? Is it Gramps? Has Eleanor figured out where I am?

My mind races with question after question and possible scenarios. Maybe he thinks I slept with Jake? We were gone a long time, and it’s not uncommon for the guys to screw the girls at the club. Maybe he thinks I’m like them. I need to get ahold of myself.

Oh God.

“I didn’t sleep with Jake.” I blurt.

The SUV swerves a little on the road.

“What did you just say?” Gabe asks, his voice strained.

“I-I-I didn’t have sex with Jake. We only went for a ride on his motorcycle. He took me to see my mother’s grave. Our graves. But that’s all.”

Gabe scrubs his right hand down his beard. “Avery, why did you think I was worried you slept with Jake?”

“I didn’t.”

“Okay, but you thought I brought you along for a ride to discuss you and my Sergeant at Arms sleeping together. Why? Did he do something to make you uncomfortable?” He asks, his voice is calm, but cold.

Before I can stop the train wreck from happening, I word vomit everything I’m thinking in one long breath.

“No. No. I-I-we were gone for a while today. And then you were waiting on the porch and said we needed to talk, but you’re sitting here white-knuckled and silent, and I guess I thought maybe since it’s not uncommon for your guys to fuck anything with tits and ass, or at least that’s what Liz and Sadie tell me, I thought maybe you thought Jake took me somewhere so we could fuck and now you want to yell at me for it or offer me a position as a club whore. I don’t really know. But the answer’s no if that was your plan. I don’t want to be passed around by your men.”

“Jesus.” Gabe throws his head back with a laugh.

The realization of everything I’ve said hits me, and I’m quick to cover my face with my hands to hide what I know is a red face.

Way to get ahold of yourself, Aves.

“Oh, shit. I needed that,” he says, slowly working to calm himself. “Okay, let’s get a few things straight. First, you are not now, nor will you ever be considered a whore of any kind, nor will any of my men will pass you around unless they have a fucking death wish,” he nearly growls the words. “Second, I’m going to have a talk with Jake about this kiss.”

“He didn’t do anything wrong.” I’m pleading for Jake’s life, apparently.

“No, but there’s a protocol with the club, and he knows better. You’re my daughter, and he needs to come to me if he wants to date you properly.”

“Excuse me!” I screech. “You may be the guy who impregnated my mother, but you only took up the job of being a present parent this week. Don’t think for one second that gives you the right to tell me who I can and can’t date.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. I’m the President of the Kings and Jake is one of my officers. My men know the rules. And the fact is, you have no say. If I say you’re off limits, they’ll obey my orders.”

“Sadie’s right. You men and you’re fucking club bullshit.”

“Okay, this is not going the way I had planned. Can we please change the subject? I didn’t bring you all the way out here to argue with you.”

“Then why am I here, Gabe? And where is here, exactly?” I ask, turning my back to the window with my arms crossed over me. It’s the only armor I have at the moment.

“I wanted to show you something. I think you and I need to talk about a few things, not club-related, but about life. About your mom and me.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I didn’t want to do it around everyone else.” I can’t see his eyes clearly as he seems fixated on the road ahead, but there’s a slight shakiness to his voice.

Is he nervous? Surely not. What would he have to be nervous about?

“Yeah, sure, I guess.” I sit back against the headrest and watch the lines in the road as they pass under the wheels. We ride in silence for a short while until we come to a long gravel driveway leading up to a beautiful house.

There’s a three-car garage attached to a long, covered walkway leading to a wooden porch wrapping around the sides of the house.

“Where are we?”

“This is what I wanted to show you. This is our—or rather my—home.”

He parks and we get out. I follow Gabe up the stairs leading to the front door. The exterior of the house is a mix of deep cherry logs and dark gray brick. Inside the entryway is a long hallway. It leads into an open living space.

Gabe walks through the hallway into the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge, and pulls out a bottle of water.

“Would you like something to drink?” He calls from down the hall. I’m taking my time looking at the pictures lining the walls.

“Water is fine. This is your house? You and my mother lived here?” I glance around the hallway, brushing my finger along the edges of the frames as I walk by. There’s a picture of Liz and Caleb, his arms draped over her shoulders, kissing her temple while she holds onto his forearms with her eyes closed. I smile at the way they love each other.

There are other pictures of the club—Jake, Mack, Hawk, and the others—all on their bikes, laughing. I can’t help but think Hawk said something stupid, and that’s why they’re all laughing. Over the last few days, it seems to be the pattern of things around here.

“Uh, yeah. We all did for a little while. You hungry?” He asks as he continues adding to an array of food to the countertop, searching for something.

“I thought we lived at Liz and Caleb’s. Liz told me it was Maggie’s room. The one I’ve been sleeping in. It’s decorated with things Maggie liked and photos of the three of us.” I tell him, walking further into the house.

“Mom had a room made-up for nights when the club parties ran late. Maggie didn’t want to stay at the clubhouse with you, afraid the noise would keep you awake.”

“Or I would be traumatized by the things I might see.” I grumble to myself.

I round the corner heading to the kitchen to get the water I’d asked for, when something catches my eye.

Above the fireplace, in the middle of the wall, is a black-and-white picture of the three of us—my mother, Gabe, and me. I’m swaddled in a polka dot blanket in my mother’s arms. They’re looking down at me, both smiling, their faces so full of love. I forget about the water and make my way to the fireplace.

On the mantel, there are several pictures lined up in chronological order. Me in a pink princess dress with a tiara sitting atop a pony ride for my third birthday. My kindergarten performance, complete with the teacup costume I wore as I sang the ridiculous song. My first pageant photo at eight. Middle school promotion. Dance recitals. Sadie and I leaned up against Loretta in the school parking lot after she returned with the car from her sixteenth birthday party.

But the last one, the one on the very end, is a picture of me on my eighteenth birthday when Gramps gave me a pair of diamond earrings that used to be my mother’s. I reach up and feel the rough edges of the studs currently in my ears. I never take them off.

“You were watching me?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper. “How did you get these?”

“Mack. Sometimes Russ. They would take pictures on their phones and send them to me. I wanted to be a part of whatever you were doing, even if I couldn’t be there myself. Of course, I still missed quite a bit with their work schedule being what it is, but this seemed the best way to for me to be a part of your life where no one got hurt.” He grabs a knife, cutting board, and a large skillet and places them on the center island. “It wasn’t my intention, but I guess we both got hurt anyway.”

“Has anyone else seen these? The club? Jake?” I ask.

It would crush me to find out he’s been lying about knowing who I am.

No one could fake the pain I saw in his eyes. He couldn’t have known.

My chest tightens at the thought.

“I don’t invite people here. Ever,” Gabe says as he moves around the kitchen. I’m too invested in the photos to bother to see what he’s doing behind me.

“All our functions are held at the clubhouse or my parent’s place. I meet everyone there. The only people allowed up here are Mack and my parents. I don’t like having people in what was your mother’s place.” A part of me understands his position. If he really loved her, as everyone has said, I wouldn’t want anyone coming into a place full of her memories, either. I’d want to keep them to myself.

“If you wanted to be part of my life, why didn’t you just tell me?” I turn and move toward the kitchen, sitting on a stool watching as he continues collecting the things he needs.

Removing his cut, he moves over to the sink to wash his hands.

“I wanted to. You have to know I never wanted things to go the way they did, but I didn’t see any other choice.”

“You had a choice. You could’ve kept me. Raised me yourself.” A lone tear slips down my cheek. I turn away and swipe it with my finger. I look around at the furniture, the pictures, the accents, everything. I wonder what things did she pick out and what did he? Did he change it when she died so he wouldn’t have to remember the way it was?

“You could’ve asked Caleb and Liz to adopt me if you thought you would be a shitty father. Why Gramps and Eleanor?”

He chuckles. “Mom would’ve loved to raise you. The thing about it is, I was afraid if you knew about me, if others knew you belonged to me, that I’m your father, you wouldn’t be safe.”

He turns the faucet off, drying his hands on a dish towel, then grabs a strainer from under the cupboard, placing two tomatoes, and a couple of zucchinis inside to wash them.

“From what?” I nearly shout.

“Hey, no. I didn’t bring you here to talk about the bad shit. I brought you here to answer your questions about Maggie and me.” He drops the strainer, turning the water on, and pauses with his hands on the edge of the sink. “Why don’t you cut these tomatoes up for me, and I’ll tell you what I can.” I raise an eyebrow, not sure I’m going to get what I’m asking completely, but I do as he asks and take the knife, tomatoes, and cutting board from him and begin to dice them. Gabe turns the water off and removes the strainer with the vegetables.

“You know it’s not smart to give an angry female a knife, especially when said female is pissed at you.”

Gabe chuckles. “Noted. But I’ll take my chances.” He winks.

I grab one tomato and begin slicing it. “What was my mother like? Did she have any hobbies? How did you two meet?”

“Whoa. Okay. Slow down.” He raises his hands, but he’s smiling at me, obviously pleased I want to know so much. He grabs another cutting board and does the same with the zucchinis.

“Maggie was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. She grew up in a wealthy home, as you know, but she didn’t care if you had two dollars or two million. Maggie treated everyone with kindness.” He smiles fondly as he speaks of her. “She was also a feisty little spitfire when she wanted to be. Like someone else I know.” He looks pointedly at me.

I shrug. “Gramps says I do a lot of things that remind him of her.”

Gabe nods. “Yeah, you do have some of her personality traits.” He seems deep in thought. “When I met your mother, she was a beautiful, confident, well-spoken young woman. She was the epitome of elegance and grace. I didn’t know what I could ever offer her to make her want a man like me.”

“What’s wrong with you? Are you a murderer? A rapist? Do you hurt children?”

His shocked expression is almost laughable. But I’m not joking.

“Jesus. No.” He’s kind of cute when he scrunches his face. Less intimidating. “I’m not going to claim I’m a good man. We all have our demons. But I’ve never hurt women or children.”

“Then I don’t understand why you would think you weren’t good enough for my mother.”

Gabe’s eyes crinkle at the edges as he narrowly watches me. Pointing his knife, he says, “You are very much like my Maggie.” He starts chopping again, clearing his throat as he continues. “The point is—Maggie came from money and a society I could never hope to be a part of. Being a biker didn’t exactly fit your grandparent’s expectation of the man they hoped Maggie would marry.”

I scoff. “No shit. But then again, outside of Gramps, my grandmother’s choice in people leaves something to be desired.”

“Hmm.” Gabe grunts.

“So, how did you two get together then?”

He smirks, glancing up at me momentarily, then continues to chop the zucchini into small pieces. “Dad and Russell go way back. We were meeting with Russ to discuss the auto body shop and a couple of other business ventures we had in the works. Since they were old friends, Russell offered to look at the business plans and help us with our financial backing.”

I place the diced tomato in a bowl he’s placed on the counter for me, then reach across the counter, turning on the water and wash my hands from behind the sink.

“Maggie visited Russ while we were there. She didn’t have all the security measures like Russ has now. She could drive herself around and we both had those old crappy Razr phones everyone had back then.” He chuckles. “Dad asked me to walk Maggie to her car when she was ready to leave so he could talk to Russ privately. Maggie said she thought we were being set up. When I saw her 1970 Dodge Challenger in the parking garage, I knew she was made for me.”

“I’ve seen a picture of that car in Gramps’s office. He said she loved her car almost as much as Sadie loves hers.”

“I’d say Maggie runs a close second. No one loves their car as much as Sadie loves Loretta. At least Maggie never threatened to chop off my guys’ balls if they scratched the paint.” It’s my turn to laugh.

“Yeah, Sadie’s partial to maiming people over her car.”

“So, we talked about cars and the repair shop I was buying and by the end of the night we exchanged numbers, and I was a sucker driving down, pulling all night trips to see my girl as often as I could. When Eleanor found out, she lost her shit, of course. She wanted Maggie to marry some hotel mogul’s kid.”

Matthew Whittmore.

I gasp, but quickly recover and say, “Why would she have a say in who my mom married? It should be her choice.”

I watch as Gabe places the skillet on the open burner and pours olive oil into the bottom, letting it heat.

He nods. “Maggie felt the same way. It’s why she ran away and came here to be with me as soon as she turned eighteen.” He leans into the fridge, grabbing out fresh garlic cloves and begins peeling them.

“Same as me.” I whisper.

“What was that?”

“Um, you said Gramps knew about you two.” I’m confused. “He approved of you being together?”

I watch him continue to shuffle around mixing the garlic into the oil. He turns back to the fridge and grabs an onion, handing it to me. “Here, make yourself useful, would you?” He smirks over his shoulder at me as he pulls out a steak and begins unwrapping it.

“Russell loved Maggie and wanted her to be happy. He didn’t care who she married, and he wasn’t the least bit concerned about how much money I had or if I would fit in his social circles.”

“Bikers don’t care about money?” I raise a challenging brow.

“Of course, we like money. When it’s our own and no one can tell us what to spend it on. People in high societies like to play ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ and I’m a Jenkins. We want to live happy and ride free. It doesn’t take millions of dollars or long hours of kissing ass to do any of those things.”

I slide the chopping block with the freshly diced onion over to his side while wiping my eyes with a clean dish towel. He slides the onion into the pan along with cubed cut pieces of steak. He sprinkles some basil, parsley, and a few other seasonings that I can’t read from where I’m sitting, but the house smells amazing. It’s almost distracting enough to derail my thoughts.

“Gramps hates social circles. He avoids them at all costs,” I say, playing with the label on my water bottle.

Gabe smiles. “You’re right. Probably why he was okay with Maggie moving here and marrying me.” He winks. “My social circle couldn’t give a rat’s ass 'bout how many hotels or fancy cars some jerkoff in a big city owns. They didn’t even know Maggie came from money when she came here. Well, Dad did, but I never told anyone else.”

“She liked it here? In Oakridge with your family?”

Gabe smiles, adding tomato sauce and zucchini to the mixture on the stove, then grabs a pot and fills it halfway with water.

“Maggie loved it here. Mom and Dad fell in love with her from the first moment they met her. So did the club. Then, as the people of the town got to know her, and her generous heart, they all fell in love with her, too. The day we had to announce the two of you passing was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced.” His mood is somber, but he still has a soft smile as he speaks. “When I tell you the whole town turned out, I mean it. They closed the entire town for half a day so everyone could come and pay their respects. It wasn’t me they were there for …” He sighs deeply. “It was for my Magpie.”

He places the pot of water on the stove, turns the burner on, then adds salt. Then he stirs the tomato sauce mixture, covering it with a lid, and turning the burner down before taking a taste off the spoon for himself.

I finish my bottle of water and walk it over to the trash can and toss it in.

Gabe tears open a bag of spaghetti noodles. Breaking them in half, then setting them into the boiling water. Turning back to face me, he leans his back against the counter, arms crossed as he strokes his beard with one hand.

“Did she ever talk about my grandmother?” I don’t know why I ask. I guess I want to know if Eleanor truly hated my mother, or if it’s just me she treated like an indentured servant. Abusing me, using me, and blackmailing me into behaving like the perfect grandchild. I did as she said and gave the impression we were the happiest of families and I was ever so grateful for her taking me in and giving me a life my mother squandered away.

Bitch.

“As far as I knew, they got along fine up until a few months before Maggie was about to graduate. She turned eighteen and was planning on moving here with me, but we hadn’t told Eleanor. Maggie’s plan was to move out and get her degree in business. Eleanor damn near lost her fucking mind over it. I don’t know exactly what was said, only what Maggie would tell me.”

“I have an idea. Eleanor West is not a fan of the women in her bloodline going to college. When I told her my sophomore year that I was going to apply to college, she forbade it. Gave me some spiel about how she wouldn’t have me embarrassing the family name by giving my virtue away to the first beer guzzling frat boy I found.”

“What a bitch.”

Duh.

Gabe walks over to the stove and turns the fire off. Grabbing two potholders, he grabs the pot of noodles and empties it over the strainer in the sink. He lets the noodles cool for a minute while he goes about grabbing plates and forks, setting them on the counter. He plates the noodles, covering it in the meat sauce mixture he’s made. When I reach across to dip my fingers in the sauce, he smacks my finger away. “It needs cheese. You can’t taste it until it’s perfect.” He grins, grabbing the parmesan from the fridge and generously pouring the shredded goodness all over the top of the dishes.

“Grab the drinks, will you?” He gathers the plates, carrying them over to a small oak dining table, and sits them down. I follow him with drinks in hand and sit across from him.

“Anyway, the night Maggie left home, she did it without Eleanor knowing. Of course, Russell knew. He took her to some Gala or some other fancy ball thing. I don’t really know.” He pauses, nodding toward my plate. “I’m not telling you another thing until you try it.”

I take a bite of the food he’s prepared and am stunned by how good it is. “This is so good. Did Liz teach you how to make this?”

“Actually,” he says, wiping sauce from his beard. “This is Maggie’s recipe. It was her favorite thing to make. Well, it was the only thing she could make when she first came to live here. Apparently, she wasn’t taught to cook much where she grew up.”

“No, not if my grandmother had anything to say about it. We weren’t meant to cook and clean. We were meant to entertain and look pretty.” I huff and quickly shove another bite in my mouth when I realize the heated glare in Gabe’s eyes. He seems curious and angry all of the sudden but doesn’t say anything, causing me to sigh in relief. Instead, he twirls his fork and goes in for another bite.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, he says, “Anyway, the night of the Gala, Eleanor couldn’t go. She had some charity thing of her own happening at her country club, and she was hosting. She was livid when Russ told her he and Maggie wouldn’t be attending her charity function but the Gala instead. The Gala was in Atlanta.”

“So, he used the Gala as a cover and brought her here to you?” I ask, impressed by Gramps’s sneakiness.

“No. He took her to the Gala. They had their photo taken and plastered all over the papers. We still had those then.” He laughs around another bite. Gabe wipes his mouth and smiles at my confusion.

“Russell is smarter than his wife would like to think. He took Maggie to the Gala, had the pictures to prove it, then they went back to their hotel where they were going to stay the night. Mack met Russ at the hotel and escorted Russ to the airport, where his private jet waited to fly him to another business meeting in California. Maggie met me in the lobby wearing black jeans and a Guns N′ Roses hoodie. We hopped on my bike, and I brought her home to stay.”

“Wait!” I shout, shoving back from the table. “What did he tell Eleanor when Maggie didn’t come back to Baron’s Edge with him?”

“He told her he got called away to an emergency meeting and entrusted Maggie to one of the men in his security detail who was supposed to put her on a plane and bring her home. The story I heard was they assumed she ran off with the security guard.”

“No. My grandmother told me I’m the bastard daughter of a debutant and a stranger.” Gabe growls. “If she thought Maggie ran off with the guard, he wouldn’t have been a stranger.”

“She told you what now?”

I wave him off. “It’s nothing I haven’t heard my whole life.” I brush it off, which, apparently judging by the scowl on Gabe’s face, he can’t do the same. “I bet Eleanor told everyone it was a stranger to save her reputation. If someone under her employ seduced her daughter and swept her away, the town would’ve considered it Gramps and Eleanor’s fault for not having better control over their staff. But a stranger seducing an unsuspecting teenager isn’t unheard of, and it would then be the stranger’s fault and Maggie’s ignorance.”

“Hold on. Your grandmother said shit like that to you? On a regular basis?” Gabe’s still stuck on the whole bastard daughter thing.

“The people of Baron’s Edge believe my mother was a whore who ran off with a stranger, got herself knocked up, and was too ashamed to come home. The only reason they believe my grandparents took me in and adopted me is because Maggie died in a car accident and left me orphaned.”

“Jesus.” Gabe gets up, walks a few feet to me, and sits in the chair beside me. His hands cup my face. I allow his touch since it seems to be the only thing grounding him. “Avery, I never wanted to send you away. If I could’ve, I would’ve raised you here with my family, this club. Hell, Liz and Caleb would’ve had you over all the time with all the other kids. Though, I have to admit, after what I’ve seen you and Sadie pull off together so far, I’m a little relieved that you two didn’t grow up together.” His joke breaks the tension a little. “I don’t know what else that heinous bitch told you about your mother, but I can assure you, she wasn’t anything you’ve just described. Maggie was the sunshine to every cloudy moment in my life. She was the reason my heart kept beating in my chest, and there’s not a goddamn day I don’t miss her. But you are the reason my heart continues beating. I couldn’t leave you alone on this earth. I know I wasn’t present in your life, but I’ve always been here, watching, missing, and loving you.”

“But that’s the thing, Gabe.” I pull out of his grasp, tears spilling down my cheeks. “You’ve always been here —where watching, missing, and loving me only affected you. What I needed was for you to be present with me, where I could know and feel those things.”

“Avery.” He pleads.

“I’m ready to go back to Liz and Caleb’s now, please. Thank you for the meal. But I’d like to go back to my room and go get some rest. It’s been a long couple of days and I’m suddenly feeling exhausted.”