Flame

by Chelle Bliss

  Gigi ticks her head toward her grandmother, widening her eyes when I don’t move right away. I take a few steps, closing the space between us as the woman stares up at me like she’s trying to see something that isn’t there.

  “Quite handsome,” she says, and she takes me by surprise when she wraps her arms around me, embracing me like she did Gigi. “Strong too.”

  I laugh, biting my lip to stop myself from saying something inappropriate. “Thank you.” Again, the words come out like a question as the woman’s hands splay across my back.

  “Hush, child. Let an old woman enjoy herself for a minute.”

  Gigi shrugs, throwing her hands upward as she giggles silently behind her grandmother.

  “Oh boy.” Suzy walks by us with her two daughters in tow, taking in the hug. “Welcome to the lion’s den, Pike. I hope you’re ready for what you’re about to walk into,” she calls out, not bothering to look back at us.

  My body stiffens at her words. I’ve never met anyone’s family. Especially not all at once. I knew half the people inside, already working with them for a few days or riding with them back and forth from the Disciples’ compound. But there were a few who were still a mystery to me. I’ve had the Gallos in small doses, but this is going to be supersized and in my face.

  “Don’t listen to her. We’re as good as they come. Now, wrap your arms around me, and give Grandma a hug.”

  All the worry I have vanishes, and it’s replaced by the goodness of the woman wrapped around me and her granddaughter, who is beaming at me like I walk on water. I do as I’m told, holding the woman tightly in my arms.

  “Much better. Now,” the woman whispers near my ear. “I’ll give my blessing because I see depth in those eyes, but if you hurt my granddaughter, you won’t have to worry about her father, Pike. I’ll find you first and make you wish you’d never been born.”

  There’s the fierceness I’d been warned about. The toughness I’d been told to expect. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Grandma,” she tells me like I’m already one of the family.

  “Grandma,” I repeat, glancing down and taking in her beauty, wondering what she looked like when she was younger. Is Gigi the spitting image of the hellion in my arms?

  “Now, my sauce needs stirring, and there are more than a few curious women inside looking forward to laying eyes on you.” She takes a step back and puts her hands on my chest, groping me through my T-shirt. “They’re excited, while their husbands are not.”

  I tip my head back, drawing in a breath. “You’re really selling me on walking through that door.”

  The woman laughs. “What lies on the other side of that door is all the goodness I brought into my life. I created it—not alone, mind you—and there’s no better group of people on this earth. Once you’re in, you’re in forever. See this chip?” She touches my shoulder, drawing my attention downward. “Don’t let it falter, but keep that shit in check and mind your elders.”

  “I know my place, ma’am.” Her eyes narrow, and I immediately know my mistake. “Grandma.”

  “Not such a quick learner, but you’ll get there,” she teases and takes a step back. “I heard you almost took a bullet for my granddaughter.”

  “He was willing to die for me, Nonna.” Gigi steps forward and tucks herself under my arm.

  “I was only doing what was right, darlin’.”

  Her grandmother smiles at her, eyes moving between us, taking us in as a couple. “My granddaughter needs someone who’s strong both in mind and body. She’s not a weakling and will never be controlled, but if a man’s willing to take a bullet for her, just like her daddy would under the same circumstances, she’s not going to let that pass without snapping up the goodness and keeping it close.”

  “It’s not like that, Grandma. I liked Pike before this all happened.”

  I glance down, eyes wide because I don’t want to talk to her grandmother about our time in Daytona. I didn’t want anyone to know, but it seems there are very few secrets in this family.

  “I’ve heard all about spring break. I remember your aunt Izzy causing some chaos there a while back. Trouble seems to run in our blood along with our affinity for badass, bossy men.”

  Well, there it is. Grandma knows all about everything and everyone.

  “Now, if we don’t get our asses inside, the sauce will burn, and you know how much Grandpa hates when his meal is shot to hell. We wouldn’t want your aunt Fran fixin’ the meal in my absence, would we?”

  Gigi looks up at me. “Aunt Fran is Bear’s wife, and she’s not the best cook.”

  Grandma starts toward the door, and we follow. “You’re being nice. She’s the world’s worst cook, but she has a good heart and a nosy spirit about her.”

  When the front door opens, there are so many eyes on me, I almost trip over the top step. There’s not a man in the bunch. Four women I’ve never seen before are gawking at me like I’m an exotic animal on display and only there for their amusement. The grandmother laughs, shaking her head as she walks past them, disappearing into the back of the house.

  Gigi grips my side, still tucked under my arm. “Pike, this is my aunt Max,” she points at a very beautiful, tall, and lanky black woman. “She’s Uncle Anthony’s wife.”

  “Girl, get it straight. He’s my husband,” Max corrects her and takes a step toward us, staring up at me. “You’re causing a lot of trouble around here.”

  “I never meant to…”

  Max waves me off. “Don’t say it. It’s been far too quiet around here for far too long. We needed a little excitement.” Then she turns her eyes toward her niece. “You did well with this one.” She angles her head at me, talking like I’m not standing right in front of them. “I can’t wait to see your dad lose his shit.”

  Great. Not only am I here to be gawked at, but they’re all banking on me pissing off her father for nothing more than sheer entertainment. The last thing I want to do is make Joe mad. It doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere, but I don’t want the man gunning for me my entire life.

  “He already lost it, Auntie.”

  The two women laugh.

  My gaze moves to the three ladies still staring at me, covering their mouths and whispering to one another. I catch a few words here and there. The only words I can make out are fresh meat.

  “Your daddy was the biggest badass I knew, sweetheart, but his heart is even bigger. Give him time. He’ll come around.”

  Gigi rolls her eyes. “I don’t think you understand the depths of his…”

  “Love?” Max finishes her statement. “He’s not angry, Gigi. He’s mourning the loss of his baby. I can understand how he feels. Every day, I see the misery in Anthony’s eyes as Tamara grows up and pulls away.”

  Gigi gasps. “Oh my God. Where’s Tam? I haven’t talked to her since before all hell broke loose.”

  So, this is Tamara’s mother. The cousin Gigi had gone to Daytona with after lying to their parents, and the same Tamara Gigi had a conversation with on the phone about my cock.

  “She’s in hiding.” Max laughs. “Anthony knows about Daytona.”

  Gigi’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry we lied.”

  “Eh.” Max shrugs. “You two were just blowing off steam, but I wish you’d been honest about where you were going and what you were doing.”

  “Dad and Uncle Anthony wouldn’t have let us go.”

  “You’re a grown-ass woman, Giovanna. Your fathers can’t tell you how to live your lives forever.”

  “Then why’s Tamara hiding from her dad?”

  Max laughs. “I didn’t raise a stupid child. A strong one, for sure, but not stupid.”

  “Enough chitchat,” a small, older woman says, pushing by Max and getting the evil eye. “I need to get my hands on this boy.”

  “Auntie Fran, go easy on him,” Gigi says as the woman plasters her body against me, resting her head on my chest.

  “Shh. Don’t ruin this for me, girl. When you’re my age, there’re very
few thrills left in life.”

  I stare down at the woman, staying still as she feels me up like she’s blind and trying to figure out the dips and curves, memorizing my body.

  “Bear’s wife.” Gigi shrugs because Fran isn’t stopping the attention she’s giving to my muscles.

  “Don’t ruin this for me,” Fran says again, her fingers digging into my pecs. “God, to be young again.”

  I laugh because what the fuck else am I supposed to do with this small, older woman hanging on my body? Talk about awkward. But then, there’s been no real normal around me in days. This is just another experience with this family, and I can’t say it’s a bad one either.

  “If I were ten years younger…”

  “He’d break you, Fran,” a redhead says from behind her, and all the women giggle.

  Fran’s hands move to my arms, holding tight and squeezing until her fingernails practically dig into my skin. “No, he wouldn’t. I have the biggest baddie of them all, and I’d say I broke him.” She nuzzles her face deeper into my chest. “I think I could handle this kid.”

  “Um.” I hold out my arms. I’m not going to hug the woman draped across me like I’m a blanket and she’s in need of heat. I’m already treading in deep water, and any movement, even if it’s innocent, could send me spiraling to the depths on my ass.

  When Fran doesn’t unstick herself, Gigi starts talking, ignoring my new body ornament. She points toward the pretty redhead. “This is my aunt Angel. She’s Thomas’s wife.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” she says with a friendly smile.

  “You too.” I smile back, wishing I could at least shake her hand, but there’s Fran.

  She moves her hand toward a woman with long wavy brown hair and big, beautiful eyes. “This is Mia.” Gigi steps closer, looming over Fran but having zero effect. “She’s a doctor and my uncle Mike’s wife.”

  I’m impressed. Mike doesn’t seem like the type of guy who’d marry a doctor. I’d read all about him, knew about his career as a fighter before giving it all up for love. Looking at her, I can understand why he walked away from the ring.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I tip my head because it’s all I can do with Fran still twisted around me like I’m her new favorite accessory.

  Gigi’s grandmother appears in the hallway, shaking her head as soon as she sees Fran. “Give the boy some space, ladies. He’s not here for your entertainment. Especially you, Fran.”

  “I’m not moving,” Fran says, latching on tighter, and I wonder if I’m going to have to pry the woman off my body.

  “Fran?”

  My gaze moves across the room to Bear, who’s staring at Fran, arms crossed over his chest and jaw set tight. “You have thirty seconds to let that boy go, or…”

  Fran doesn’t budge, and she doesn’t even look in his direction. “Or you’ll what?” She looks up at me with a playful smirk and a quick wink, looking like she’s loving every minute of hanging on me and antagonizing the big guy.

  “You’re not going to be able to sit comfortably for a week.”

  “You promise?” she teases, finally turning her head away from my body.

  “Woman, you have ten seconds to let go of that boy and get your ass over here…”

  “He’s such a big talker,” she says, looking up at me and not paying any more attention to her husband. “He’s all bark and no bite.”

  “You want teeth, baby?”

  She continues to ignore him. “I should really trade him in for a newer model.”

  She barely gets the words out before his arm is around her waist and then her body’s in the air, landing on his shoulder. “Woman, I think you need me to remind you of who this fine ass,” he says with a smack right on her behind for everyone to see, “belongs to.”

  The move reminds me of the way I hauled Gigi out of the bar area at the compound in front of all the guys. I gave zero fucks if I pissed her off, but I had a hell of a time doing it. Just like Bear is having while Fran grabs at his ass like a woman starved for cock.

  “Sorry about that,” Gigi says, “Fran can be a…”

  “No worries. I think she’s great. Everyone is so far.”

  “Well, you know my uncles, but let’s see how they are after all the shit that went down. You ready to face them?”

  I nod, but I want to say hell to the fucking no, I’m not ready. The ladies are always easier. The men, not so much. This group of moody and broody guys knows all about my past, the last week, and that I slept with their niece. “I’m ready.”

  26

  Gigi

  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I ask Pike as we walk toward the line of trees in the backyard.

  “Compared to what?” He looks over his shoulder like he’s checking to see if anyone is following us.

  “It could’ve been worse.” I shrug, gazing up and into his beautiful blue-green eyes.

  “There’s still time.”

  I wave him off because if they were going to cause a scene, they would’ve done it already. “They like to put on a big show, but they’re all pussycats.”

  Ten years ago, they maybe would’ve chased Pike out of here, but they’ve become more chill with age. Plus, they know the harder they try to drive him away, the more I’ll run toward him.

  “Why don’t you say that to their faces?”

  I curl my fingers around his hand as he brushes some hair away from my shoulder. “Do you like them, at least?”

  “Who? Your family?”

  I nod.

  “They’re like a small army, but yeah. You were a lucky kid to have so many people surrounding you as you grew up. I never had anyone except my grandmother who I could count on and who gave a shit about me.”

  “I care about you now.” I curl into his side as we stand in the shade and out of view of all the nosy Gallos who are probably plastered to the back windows, trying to keep an eye on us.

  He pulls our hands in front of us as his face grows serious. “Now that everything’s over, I wouldn’t blame you if you want to go back to the way things were.”

  “The way things were?” I ask, confused and a little dumbfounded.

  “Yeah,” he says like we’re talking about the weather and not about us. “We went through some scary, heavy shit together. We didn’t know if we were going to make it another day, and sometimes that affects how we think. Now that we’re alive and no one’s coming after us, maybe we should take a step back and make sure this is what we both want.”

  I jerk my head like he physically struck me. “You want to break up?” I take a step back, tearing my hands from his. “You’re saying that shit now? You’ve met my family, saved my life, and were willing to take a bullet for me, and now you’re saying you want to break up and not be together anymore?”

  Pike steps forward, reaching for me, but I move quickly, evading his touch. “I didn’t mean it that way. Be reasonable, Gigi. Think about it.”

  My eyes widen. “Be reasonable?”

  “Um, yeah.”

  “I can’t believe after everything we’ve been through, you’re saying this shit to me now.”

  “I don’t regret anything. I would still take a bullet for you or do anything necessary to keep you safe.”

  I fold my arms in front of me, cocking one shoulder upward, and raise an eyebrow. “But now that the bad shit has passed, you don’t want to date me?”

  “I don’t want you to have any regrets,” he says softly, closing the space between us, but I don’t allow him near enough to touch me. “You’re young. You have your whole life ahead of you. You have a perfect family who wants only good shit for you. What the hell do you want with an older guy who has baggage and commitment issues?”

  “You have commitment issues?”

  “Darlin’, I never stay in one place longer than a few years. My parents fucked me up. I’m always searching for something bigger and better. Looking for that place I can call home and find out where I belong. I’ve been traveling aro
und for almost ten years, and I still haven’t found it.”

  I wave my arms around, trying my best not to sock him straight in the jaw. “What the fuck was this last week?” My hand flies toward the house. “You just spent an hour charming my family, building the foundation that’s necessary to be welcomed into the fold. Now, you’re saying you don’t have a place, and you want to up and run away like a pussy.”

  “I’m not being a pussy, Gigi. I’m giving you a chance to think about if this is what you want. The shit we went through the last few days can fuck with your head and make it hard to think. We were living in the moment, hoping to have more, but now it’s over. Shit’s gonna settle, and I don’t want you to look back and regret the time you spent with me before you up and marry some guy worthy of you.”

  I scrunch my nose because compared to any pile of horseshit I’ve ever smelled before, this was far worse. “You’ve got to be shitting me right now! Why the fuck did you come here if you felt this way?”

  “It’s not like I had any choice in this,” he yells back, throwing his hand toward my grandmother’s house. “But I like you, Gigi. Hell, I love you. I’m truly, madly, deeply in fucking love with you, and I don’t want to be another mistake in your life. You deserve more than a guy who’s good at ink, with a fucked-up family, and not much to offer other than how I feel.”

  I inhale and slowly exhale, letting all his words seep in. I know this man loves me. He’s said those words before. Sure, we were probably about to die, but the possibility of not taking another breath doesn’t make a man say shit he isn’t feeling.

  “Have I ever asked you for anything?”

  “No,” he says.

  “Have I ever forced you to do anything you didn’t want to do?”

  “No.”

  “Ever asked you about your bank account and what you could bring to our relationship besides yourself?”

  “No.”

  “You’re right, Pike. I’m a lucky girl to be surrounded by all this.” I tick my head toward my grandparents’ house. “But I could give two shits about money or anything else. My parents taught me about the real important things in life. They taught me about loyalty, love, and most of all, family. I don’t care if I’m piss-poor as long as I have someone with me who’ll love me and do everything in his power to keep on loving me.”