by Parker, Ali
Genevieve giggled. “Well, you’re a lot tougher now I’d say.”
“I hadn’t eaten,” I protested.
Quinn settled down on the couch beside Rhys and draped her legs over his lap. He rested his hands on her ankles and ran his thumbs in circles on her skin. Then he nodded in my direction. “Have you heard about the meeting on Thursday?”
I shook my head.
“Eight o’clock at Ryder’s. Mandatory. Every MC member is expected to be there.”
I felt my brows drawing together. “Mandatory?”
Rhys nodded.
“When was the last time he called a mandatory meeting?” I asked, looking between Rhys and Quinn.
Rhys ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s been a while. Since we were accepted, I’d say.”
“Has something happened?”
“Beats me,” Rhys said.
I caught Genevieve looking at me. “It’s probably nothing,” I said, offering her a smile I hoped was reassuring. But my stomach was already churning.
What if it wasn’t nothing? What if it was something serious? Something like Isaac Reed?
No, I couldn’t think like that. If someone like Isaac Reed was back in the picture, then things with me and Genevieve were going to come to a very abrupt halt. There was no way I’d bring her off the deep end with me and get her caught up in an ordeal like that. She deserved better. And, truth be told, I’d be too terrified of losing her to be of any help to my brothers.
And I had made an oath.
I watched my girl as Quinn started chatting with her. She cast worried glances in my direction every so often, and I loved her for caring.
Hell, I loved her for everything she was.
And that was why, if this meeting ended badly, I’d have to let her go and trust her uncle to look after her.
Chapter 28
Genevieve
“I wish I could come with you,” I said as I leaned up against the wall in my hallway.
Liam was standing in front of the door, shrugging into his leather jacket. He had a bruised jaw from his fight on Tuesday and a swollen brow from where the cut was still healing. He was missing hair that I had concluded probably wasn’t going to grow back because the gash was definitely deep enough to scar. Aside from that, he was in good shape. His ribs were a bit bruised, and I noticed he moved a little slower and more carefully than normal, and he had dark purple skin on his forearms.
I couldn’t deny that the roughed-up look suited him well.
He turned toward me as he flipped the collar of his jacket down. “I know. I wish you could come too. But I’ll be home before you know it, and we can put whatever this thing is to rest. No more worrying.”
“No more worrying,” I echoed.
This mandatory meeting had been looming over both our heads for two days now. Ever since Rhys had told Liam about it back at his house, it was all either of us could think about.
He’d warned me that the last time a mandatory meeting was called, things weren’t going so well for the MC.
I didn’t like the sound of that. It sounded dangerous. It sounded like blood.
Liam put his fingers under my chin to lift my face toward his. “It will all be okay, Genevieve. Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” I whispered.
His lips curled up in a smile. “Everything will go back to normal soon. We’ll focus on your shelter. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He turned to go, but I caught him by the back of his jacket and pulled him back for a kiss.
He chuckled, and I felt the vibration of his laughter under my palms as I pressed my hands to his chest. “Ride safe,” I said when we broke apart.
He cracked a grin. “Never.”
I stood in the doorway and watched him get his bike ready in the drive. He put his helmet on, started the bike, and waved before swinging one leg over the seat and peeling out of the driveway onto the street.
My poor neighbors probably hated me by now.
Once the sound of his roaring engine was far off in the distance, I locked the front door and padded into the kitchen, where I poured myself a glass of wine to try to calm the nerves.
This was my life now.
Worry. Relentless, agonizing, exhausting worry.
I wouldn’t trade any of it, though. Liam was the brightest light in my life by a landslide, and no amount of fear would ever make me give him up. Of course, I might lose him, not have to give him up, but that was a whole different beast entirely.
I lasted about fifteen minutes before I caved and called Marley.
“What’s up, babe?” she asked as she answered the phone. Her tone was chipper as always, and it made me smile.
“Are you free?”
“For you? Always. Is everything okay?”
I sipped my wine. “Yes. Well. Sort of. Liam is at that meeting I told you about, and I’m home alone, and it’s getting to me. I could use some company to wait out the hours.”
“Say no more. I’m on my way. Should I bring anything? Wine? Cheese?”
“I have it all. Just come over.”
“Give me twenty.”
After getting off the phone with Marley, I distracted myself by preparing a rather ambitious charcuterie board loaded with an assortment of crackers, vegan cheeses, and meats for Marley. I added grapes, dried apricots, and jalapeno jelly for good measure before topping off my wine glass and brooding as I stared at the clock on the stove.
As per usual, she was later than promised.
When she finally arrived with a hurried knock on the door, I was well past frazzled. I unlocked the door and let her in. She slipped inside and stepped out of her sparkly sandals. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bit mental.”
“Sure,” I said, noting how nice her makeup looked. “I hope you weren’t getting all glammed up just to come over here.”
“I wasn’t,” she said thinly.
Liar.
It didn’t matter. I poured her a glass of wine, and the two of us retreated to our favorite spot in my home: my enclosed solarium deck.
We took our usual seats and draped fleece blankets over our laps that I’d brought out last week when the nights started to get really chilly. Then we dug into the snacks.
“So this meeting,” Marley said, looking up at me while she smothered a cracker in cheese spread. “What do you think the deal is?”
“I have no idea. Liam says it’s probably nothing. But he seemed pretty caught off guard when Rhys told him it was mandatory. Apparently, mandatory meetings are rare and are only called when something serious is going down.”
Marley popped her cracker in her mouth and covered her lips with her hand as she chewed. After she swallowed, she washed her bite down with a sip of wine. “So he has no clue what it might be about?”
I shook my head. “He says it’s probably not as bad as our imaginations are making it out to be. If something bad was going down, he says they’d know about it by now. Last time, everyone knew about Isaac Reed before they took action and decided to, well, you know. Kill him.”
Marley scoffed. “I can’t believe this is the shit we talk about now.”
“Tell me about it.”
Marley leaned back in her chair to stretch her legs out in front of her. She crossed her ankles as she swirled her wine around in her glass. “I’m sure everything will be fine, Genie. And if it isn’t, we’ll figure it out. Okay?”
“We?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
She nodded. “Yes. We. Always we. We’re in this together. And I don’t want you to lose Liam because of whatever this meeting might be about. He’s good for you. Like, really good for you.”
I smiled as I stared down at my wine. “He is.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you two together.”
I giggled. “Thanks, Marley.”
“No sweat, boo. Now, let’s talk about something other than this ominous meeting tonight. How’s Uncle Tom handling things?”
Marley raised an eyebrow. “Really? That surprises me. Does he know you and Liam are basically living together?”
I shrugged. “More or less.”
“So, less?”
I snickered. “Yeah, I guess so. I know things are moving really fast, but it feels right, and Uncle Tom trusts me not to make any stupid choices. And he trusts Liam, too.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“I invited him over for dinner this weekend so he and Liam can get to know each other a bit better. Would you care to join us?”
Marley pursed her lips. “Will it be weird?”
“I hope not. Weird isn’t what I’m aiming for.”
She ran her finger along the stem of her wine glass. “Then count me in. But I have the right to bail if shit goes sideways.”
“Of course.”
“What are you cooking?”
“Do you ever think of anything besides food?” I laughed.
Marley sat up straighter and reached for more crackers and cheese, which she slathered in jalapeno jelly. “No. Come on. You know me better than that. Food is my main squeeze. Cheese is the Liam to my Genevieve.”
I snorted. “Oh my God.”
“It’s true. Cheese never betrays me. It’s always there when I need it. And a good listener, too.”
“Stop it.”
Marley cracked a wry smile. “You don’t get it. Vegan.”
“No, I don’t.”
We spent the next half hour devouring the food platter. When there were only a couple grapes and a few broken pieces of crackers left on the tray, we both slumped back in our chairs and moved on to our second glass of wine.
“I hope he’s not having a hard time,” I said quietly.
Marley looked over at me. “Why don’t you set something up for him to come home to? Something romantic?”
“Like what?”
Marley shrugged one shoulder and gazed up at the night sky through the solarium windows. “Like putting on a sexy outfit and lighting some candles or something. You can take his mind off of whatever goes down tonight. He’d love it. And let’s be real. You’ll need the release too.”
“Do you have any filter at all?”
She grinned. “Nope. But give me a little credit. It’s a good idea.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “It’s not bad.”
“Do you have something you would wear?”
What a silly question. Of course, I had something to wear. Hell, I had half a dozen outfits already coming to mind. There was the black lace one with the sexy garters and red ribbons. There was the pretty sheer pink baby-doll one. The all-red lace bodysuit. The two-piece bralette and panties with leather straps—very dominatrix style.
“I have a couple of things I could make work,” I said.
“Then that’s what you should do,” Marley said decisively. “You should have a nice hot bath with some essential oils, and when he gets home, you’ll be waiting for him in your sexy little outfit. Whatever troubles he has will be gone as soon as he looks at you. And then you guys can sort it all out after. When the endorphins are coursing through your bodies and—”
“I get it, Marley. Thanks.”
“All right. All right. I was just saying.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. A bath sounded lovely. So did essential oils. And candles.
And a night of passionate lovemaking to relieve the pent-up stress in both of our systems.
I smiled at my friend. “Thanks for coming over, Marley.”
She lifted her wine glass to mine. “Anything for my main bitch.”
Chapter 29
Liam
Ryder’s house was overflowing with MC members.
I found Sabian in the living room, draped up against the fireplace in his typical nonchalant way, studying the room with a blank expression.
“Hey,” I said, leaning against the wall beside him.
“Pipsqueak,” he said in greeting, tipping his chin toward me.
“Any clue what this is about?”
“Nope,” he said, dark eyes still scanning the room as men took up spots on the sofas. “I’m still trying to figure out how all these fuckers are gonna fit in here.”
“Have you seen Ryder yet?” I asked, ignoring his comment about the packed house.
“No. No one has.”
“What’s the deal?” I muttered more to myself than to him.
“If you figure it out, let me know because I haven’t been able to figure it out for the life of me. All I can think about is—”
“Reed,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Me too.”
“It’s a bitch,” Sabian growled. “Haven’t been able to eat all day.”
“Pussy.”
He arched an eyebrow and peered down at me. “The balls on you tonight, hey?”
I laughed nervously. “I’m just trying to pass the time, okay? Ryder has me on pins and needles.”
“You’re not alone. The whole room is tense. Look at Derek. He’s pale as a sheet.”
“Poor bastard.”
Sabian was right. There was definitely a thickening tension in Ryder’s living room.
None of us could be blamed for being on edge. I was sure every man was thinking of the worst-case scenario: we might be going to war again.
The casualties last time had been great. Nobody wanted round two of Isaac Reed. Ryder wouldn’t want that either. Not with his son in the picture now.
Owen sidled up on my other side and cracked open a can of soda. “I’ve got a bad feeling, boys.”
“Don’t get me started,” Sabian growled.
Owen gestured at my face. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“Fight.”
“No shit. With who?”
“Two assholes who harassed Genevieve on the sidewalk the other night. Pissed me off. Had to teach them a lesson.”
Owen chuckled. “Looks like they were the ones who taught you the lesson.”
I scowled at him. “They’re much worse off than this. Trust me.”
“I hope so. Otherwise, you’re gonna give our MC a bad name.” Owen winked at Sabian, but the other member was too absorbed in his anxiety to indulge our petty bickering. Owen nudged me in the ribs. “Have either of you seen Ryder yet? I couldn’t find him anywhere.”
“He hasn’t showed,” Sabian said.
“Weird.” Owen peered around the room.
Rhys walked in the front door, and I waved him over. He wove through the thickening crowd of men taking up every square inch of space in the place to reach us, then nodded in greeting. “Boys. What’s the word?”
“Nothing yet,” Owen sighed.
Rhys frowned. “Who’s missing?”
“Ryder,” Sabian said.
“Haven’t seen Axel yet either,” Owen said.
“And Aiden?” I asked.
“In the kitchen,” Owen said.
“Right.” I nodded.
As far as I could tell, it looked like every member had officially arrived. We were only missing Axel and Ryder himself, and it could probably be safely assumed that the two of them were together.
My skin itched. “Someone should give them shit for making us wait them out like this.”
“Go for it, pipsqueak.” Sabian grinned. “Let us know how that works out for you.”
Minutes passed. Nobody said much of anything. There was nothing to say. The room hummed with anticipation and nerves that seemed to become more and more obvious as the time ticked by.
The only word I could think to best describe it was “dread.”
I thought of Genevieve back home, waiting for me, and wondered how she was holding up. I knew she’d been nervous about this, and even though I tried to play it cool, I was fairly certain she saw right through me.
I couldn’t wait for this to be over so I could be back home with her.
Even if things went badly here tonight, I could at least steal one more eveni
ng with her before everything went sideways again.
The room fell into a hush.
I looked up and peered over the heads of taller men as Ryder emerged from down the hall where the bedrooms were. Axel was with him, and so was Dani, which surprised me a little. She hadn’t been at any meetings for a long time.
I swallowed and shared a look with Rhys, who closed a hand over my shoulder. “Steady,” he said under his breath.
Ryder and his companions moved into the living room. The crowd parted for them, and he stopped in front of the windows, putting his back to them so he could face us.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” he said, casting his cool, calm gaze around the room. Being the leader he was, he took his time, taking care to lock eyes with each man, acknowledging each of us and our presence at the meeting. When he looked at me, I felt a swell of pride to be one of his subjects.
Even if everything was about to go to Hell in a handbasket, I knew I’d follow him anywhere. To death, if I had to.
Ryder cleared his throat. “I know there have been rumors about this meeting. And I can’t blame you for wondering why I’ve called you all here. But it’s time to put the rumors to rest. Brothers, relax. We are still at peace.”
The whole room let out a shaky breath. Relief washed over me that was so overwhelming I felt lightheaded. Rhys’s hand was still on my shoulder, and his grip loosened. He probably didn’t even realize he’d done it.
Ryder smiled around at all of us. “I have good news, brothers. Dani, come.”
Dani moved to stand beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her in close to him, and she gazed up at him adoringly, her eyes tracing the line of his jaw as he addressed the room. “Dani and I are with child.”
The room shifted from tense to celebratory in a matter of seconds. Everyone cried out their joy for our president and his woman, and Dani beamed around at all of us as her cheeks turned bright pink. She laughed and so did Ryder, who watched her the whole time as the room shook with sentiments of congratulations.
