by Nicola Jane
I think over her words as we head back to the club. If only it was that easy. Too much has been said and done.
Mae
I freeze with my fork midway to my mouth and stare at my mom. We’re having dinner together after she’d promised me steak and locked off the kitchen to everyone in the club for the next hour. “You said what?” I almost screech.
She tops up my wine glass. “Don’t look so surprised. You know I can’t stay out of people’s business, especially when it comes to my own daughter.”
I bury my face in my hands and groan. “You are so embarrassing. Why couldn’t you come to me first, so I could fill you in?”
“I just wanted to see what had happened to make you both suddenly stop talking to each other. You went from happy and flirty to nothing.”
“It’s none of your business and again, you should have asked me!”
“Oh, like you’d tell me anything. I can’t believe you kept it from me in the first place. This is huge, and you completely hid it from me.”
“Oh my god. I’m never leaving my room again.” Finding out about the conversation she had with Ace earlier is mortifying.
A knock at the door brings a smile to her face. She places the bottle in the middle of the table and straightens her apron. “I love you, baby girl. I just want the best for you,” she says while heading for the kitchen door. She unlocks it and pulls it open. Ace steps in looking freshly showered with his hair damp. His black T-shirt clings to his muscles and hangs out casually over his jeans.
“Oh my god, mom, tell me you haven’t set me up!” I cry, standing up. Ace looks between us, confusion on his face. I’m not sure if I feel better or worse knowing he was also in the dark about this. Now, I’ll never know if he wanted dinner with me or if he’s planning on escaping at the first opportunity.
My mom gives an apologetic wave before darting out the door and pulling it closed. “Ace, I’m so sorry. She’s crazy.” I pick up the empty plates from the table, deciding to clear them away and give myself a distraction from the awkwardness of this situation.
“What are you doing?” he asks. I look down at the plates in my hand and to the table that is laid beautifully. Two silver domes sit on the table untouched.
“I just thought you’d want to get out of here,” I say. “You don’t have to make excuses, it's fine.”
“Bernie promised me a steak. I want my steak.” He smiles and sits at the table. I bite my lower lip to hide the smile as I place the plates back.
“Yeah, I was kinda looking forward to a steak tonight,” I say.
“Then let’s eat. I’m famished.” Ace lifts the lid on the first silver dome. Two steaks lay resting. They’re cooked to perfection. Under the second lid is a tray of potatoes and vegetables. “Sit, I’ll serve,” he says eagerly and I realize that I’ve missed his bossy tone. “Bernie surprised me today,” he begins. I remain quiet as he spoons vegetables onto my plate. “She knew that we’d had something between us.”
“Well, she didn’t hear it from me and did we really have something?” I ask, “Can it be classified as something?”
“Sex is something,” he shrugs.
“Well, my mother is bat shit so just ignore her.”
“She said she always thought we’d get married. That we’d eventually end up together because we have a connection.” He gives me an intense stare and I almost choke on my own saliva.
Coughing, I pat my chest. “Told you, bat shit,” I croak.
“She said she wanted what was best for you.”
I laugh sarcastically. “And she thinks that’s you? Maybe if I told her everything. About Angel and the way you treated me, then she’d soon change her mind.”
Ace nods. “It’s a shame we never talked about what went down between us. Not properly. I’ve always been able to open up to you, but I couldn’t work out how to talk to you about us. It was probably the one time when we needed to talk, and we couldn’t.”
“Angel told me about your night together.” It tumbles out of my mouth before I can stop it. Ace looks confused for a second and so I clarify it for him. “The night you never came up to bed. You said that you’d been busy with club business, but she told me you’d been with her for the night.” Ace laughs and I instantly get mad. “I’m glad it amuses you.”
“I didn’t spend the night with her. I had a tip off about someone we were looking for and I went to check it out.” He shakes his head and then fixes me with a steely look. “So, let me get this straight. You stopped talking to me because Angel lied.”
“Why would she lie about it?” I ask feebly.
“It’s not so shocking, is it? Club whore wants the President. She sees his attention is on a club princess and boom, she lies.” He presses his lips together in a firm line and I suddenly feel stupid. It never crossed my mind that she’d lie about it because she seemed so matter of fact when she said it.
“But you two hooked up all the time. You never used the other club girls. How the hell was I supposed to know?” I snap. I feel silly knowing that I’ve taken Angel’s word for it, which means that all of this has been for nothing.
“I slept with her after we argued. It was a stupid mistake, but I needed to get you out of my system and she’s always been my go to.” He shakes his head sadly. “I’m not proud of it.”
I roll my eyes at the thought of those two together and it makes me feel sick to the stomach. “Well, I hope she was worth it.”
“Worth losing you?” His expression turns sad. “I’m mad as hell you took her word over mine. I’m pissed you’d not just come and ask me straight. This could have all been avoided. Now, we’ll never know what we could have had.”
I use my fork to push the vegetables around my plate. “I was upset. I assumed the worst.”
“And now I’m upset. How can we ever have a relationship when you listen to girls like Angel instead of just asking me? If you’re my girl and I’m your old man then you should trust me. Above all else, trust is the most important thing and if we don’t have that, we’ll never work.”
“I’ve been around men that cheat my whole life, Ace. I watch these guys cheat all the time with the club girls. It was easy to believe her.” I push the food away from me. It’s gone cold and I’ve lost my appetite.
“It’s nice to know you have faith in me, Mae. I thought we could have something special. For the first time, I was willing to see where we could go. All this,” he says, waving his fork between us. “Reminds me of how old you are.”
I’m instantly mad. I’m so tired of him pointing out the age difference. “My age seems to bother you terribly. It never would have worked for that reason.” I stand. “I should have trusted you and I got it wrong. I didn’t make that mistake because I’m younger than you, I made it because I don’t trust men. That’s something I can work on, but I can’t change my age and I can’t live with second guessing everything I do and say in case you see me for what I am, a twenty-five-year old woman. I’m not a kid, Ace. Stop treating me like one. If you want a mature woman that doesn’t ever question you, then go and be with Angel. I want a man that accepts me for who I am, and that includes my age and insecurities.” I leave him staring after me. Fuck him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ace
The days pass and it’s business as usual. Things around the club are getting back to normal and we’re all starting to relax again. Tag’s father may have come back into the United Kingdom, but he hasn’t shown his face around here still. Tag thinks that he’s setting up his own organization somewhere else away from London.
I take my usual seat at the bar just as the door opens and Anton enters. We shake hands. He always looks so official in his expensive suits around here where we all wear jeans and T-shirts. He glances around. “I was looking for Piper,” he says, and I raise a brow.
“What for?”
He pauses, clearly not wanting to tell me the reason. “Just business.”
“Piper has business with the Maf
ia?” I query. “Well, now I’m worried, Anton.” I spot Bear across the room with a pool cue in his hand. He’s staring intently at the colored balls on the table. Working out his next shot. I whistle, and he looks up. “Bear, come on over here.”
“Really, Ace,” snaps Anton. “It’s not a big deal.”
Bear joins us and looks back and forth between us, waiting for an explanation. “Anton here has business with Piper,” I say and Bear’s stance changes. His shoulders lift slightly and his grip on the snooker cue tightens.
“Oh yeah, what sort of business?”
“He doesn’t want to tell me,” I shrug.
“It’s really not a big deal,” repeats Anton.
“You said that already,” I point out and he narrows his eyes at me.
Bear whistles and Hulk looks over. “Seriously, stop doing that. Is she here or not?” growls Anton.
Hulk wanders over. “S’up?”
“Piper has business with the Mafia,” explains Bear.
Hulk’s stare turns murderous. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“Jesus Christ,” yells Anton. “Someone around here, get me the girl.”
“Piper’s part of my club Anton,” I say. “Meaning you can’t have business with her that we don’t know about.”
Relief floods Anton’s face when Piper rushes towards us with Mae hot on her heels. “What’s going on? Mom told me you were giving Anton a hard time?”
“It’s not your mother’s business. In fact, does she know you have business with the Mafia?” growls Bear.
“It’s not business,” she huffs. “Who said it was business?”
We all look to Anton, who shifts uncomfortably. “Can you call off your pit bulls?” he asks her like she’s the one in charge.
She reaches past us all and takes Anton by the hand. “Come on,” she sighs, pulling him to follow her.
We all stare, open-mouthed. Bear growls and goes to follow, but a firm voice stops him in his tracks. “Don’t take another step unless you want to be sleeping on that uncomfortable couch for the next month!” We all turn to Queenie, who looks pissed. “That girl is handling her own shit. She doesn’t need you boys to wade in there.”
“What the hell does that mean?” asks Hulk. He’s clearly infuriated that he’s being stopped by Queenie.
“That means, boy, you should have claimed my girl when you had the chance. I told you that you’d regret it. Now, you get to sit back and watch her love story play out with a mafia boss and I know that’s gotta hurt your stone cold heart.”
“You mean they’re…” begins Bear.
“Hell yeah, and ain’t none of you boys gonna intervene or you’ll have me to deal with.”
I catch the smirk on Mae’s face as she saunters past us towards the exit. “Are you sneaking out to meet a cop just to top our day off?” asks Bear. I know he’s kidding but I still feel my chest tighten at the thought of Mae with someone else, cop or otherwise.
“I’m going to work. I’ve had so long off that I bet the office is a mess.”
“You want a lift?” I ask. One of the guys would usually take her, so it’s not unusual for me to offer.
“No. I’m all good.” She leaves the clubhouse without looking back. It’s how she’s been with me for days now. So cold and blunt. I hate it.
“These women are taking over,” sighs Hulk. “Maybe we should make the club a woman-free zone?”
“Then you two would be banned ‘cause the fear in your eyes screamed pussy when Queenie came out here.” I laugh and they both scowl.
“I didn’t see you yelling back, Pres,” says Bear.
I shrug. “I like Anton. I was just letting him know who the boss was.”
“Great, so now he thinks Queenie’s in charge,” says Hulk. I roll my eyes. Most of the time, she actually is. That lady can get crazy but she’s also the one that keeps us calm. She looks after everyone under this roof and makes sure we do each other right. A true old lady to the club.
Bear goes back to his game, but Hulk takes a seat. “Things still cold between you and Mae?”
“She’s history. I’d like us to go back to being friends, but I can’t see that happening for a long time.” It’s something I've thought a lot about over these last few days. Too much has happened between us and I can’t deny my attraction to her. Being a close friend to her again would be too hard for both of us.
“Let’s hope she doesn’t go off with the Mafia, too. Before you know, it they’ll both be moving out to Anton’s huge place.”
I ponder this for the rest of the day and I have to stop myself from driving to Truckers garage several times just to check she’s there working and not with someone else. It’s crazy to think that I’ve blown it with her, but I still can’t get her out of my head. I crave her sweet taste and her hot body against my own. I try to list scenarios in my head of why we could never work long term.
First is kids. I don’t want any more. I’m too old but, she’s still in her prime; of course she will want a family someday. Then there’s the trust issue she has around men. I spend a lot of time on the road. Will she always accuse me of being with other women?
Lucy, she’s another reason. I’ve only just got her back in my life and if she disapproves, she might decide to go back to her mom’s or cut me out of her life. I can’t have that happen again.
As if conjuring my girl up, she enters the clubhouse looking tired and stressed. When she sees me, she smiles. “Pops.” She kisses me on my cheek and shifts Abel onto her hip. “Is Mae or Piper around?”
“Well, Mae went to work and Piper is off with Anton. Hey, did you know those two were a thing?”
Lucy scowls; her hatred of Anton is clear for everyone to see. When he faked Tag’s death last year, she was more than a little pissed. Since then, she tolerates Anton because of who he is, but she dislikes him. “I need someone to watch Abe,” she sighs.
“Well, I can take him.” She eyes me for a second, I’ve never watched the baby on my own before. I’m the first to admit I’m not great with small kids. Give me them when they’re walking and talking and it’s not a problem, but a one year old is a whole other story.
“You sure?” she asks, and I nod.
“How hard can it be? Where are you going anyway?”
“I have some errands to run. I can ask Queenie or Bernie,” she suggests, but I take little Abel from her.
“I can take care of my own grandchild, Lucy. We’ll be fine and if I struggle, I’ll ask Queenie.”
Lucy hands me over a bag reluctantly. “Well, if you’re sure. If he gets cranky, his stroller is out front. Take him for a walk. He’ll sleep in that thing for hours. It's like a magic cure.”
I follow her out. “We’ll be fine. Take your time.”
Mae
I file the last invoice away in the metal cabinet. I was right, the office was a complete mess when I got here earlier, and it’s taken me hours to straighten it out. I look from the office window down into the workshop. Most of the guys have finished for the night, but Trucker is still tinkering away with a motorcycle. I lock up the office and head down the metal steps. Trucker looks up as I approach. “You done for the day, girl?”
Nodding, I hand over the office keys. “I’ll be in tomorrow. I need to get back to normal, and that starts with routine.”
“Foxy said you’d been a bit weird lately. She’s worried about you.”
“I’m all good, Trucker. Got my first real look at heartbreak. It wasn’t pretty.”
He laughs. “That’s not your first heartbreak. I still remember you crying over that little guy that pulled your hair many years ago when you were in school.”
“That was Thomas Shunt, and he doesn’t count because I was eight years old!”
“It was your first heartbreak, nonetheless. You announced to the whole club you were gonna marry that kid.”
“Huh, maybe I should look him up and see if he’s still single.”
I leave the garage and decide t
o walk back to the clubhouse. It’s a warm evening and it’s a short walk but as I cut through the park, I can’t help but feel like I’m being watched. Occasionally, I glance around but nothing stands out. There’s a few groups of teenagers hanging about but they’re paying no attention to me. I’ll let Hulk know, just in case, but it’s not big enough for me to bother Ace with it. I definitely don’t want to have to speak with him. I’m proud of myself for the way I’ve acted around him since our set-up date. I’ve been civil, but I’ve kept a coolness that’s had Ace watching me from afar with longing in his eyes. I feel like I've got the power back between us and my heart doesn’t ache as badly.
As I get into the club, I stop in my tracks. Ace is pacing up and down with a screaming Abel in his arms. He looks stressed and Dodge is following every step and whimpering. I consider marching past him, but Abel looks distressed and it wouldn't be kind on him. “You okay?” I ask, dumping my bag on the couch.
“Not really. Bernie and Queenie won’t help me.”
I snicker, knowing full well that they’re both backing me and completely blaming Ace for my broken heart. “Oh, sweetie,” I croon, taking Abel from him and sitting him on my hip. “Did that nasty Ace upset you?”
“Hey, can we not do that? I’m his Gramps, not a monster.”
“Gramps?” I repeat, raising a brow in his direction.
“Yeah. It sounds less old than Grandad.” I shake my head and slowly walk around with Abel. His cries slow down and eventually, he rests his head against my shoulder.
“Have you taken him for a walk? He likes to go out in his stroller.”
“Oh crap, Lucy told me that. I forgot.”
“Well, let’s try it.” We head out and I fasten Abel into the stroller and lay his cuddle toy next to him. He snuggles it and rests his head back like he’s tired.
I push the stroller and head back to the park. Ace follows us with Dodge by his side. We remain silent for the first few minutes. Things feel awkward and it makes me sad. We are so far past friends now that it’s too hard to go back there. After all, I’ve seen him naked. “We look like the perfect family,” he says with a smirk.
