Forging Blade (Charon MC Book 11)

by Khloe Wren

  “I had to meet with the lawyer for my parents’ estate. Somehow the lawyer managed to force my uncle into allowing me to see him alone. He wasn’t a man who danced to my uncle’s tune. He pretended to when necessary, but he went his own way in the end. My parents had told him about me, what my uncle was doing. They set up back-up plans in case sending me away to boarding school didn’t work. It was the lawyer who gave me the Veronica Jones identity. I was so young, he thought something close to my real name would help me get used to it. He set it all up. A way for me to escape, someone to drive me into Dallas. He’d wanted to send me to Oklahoma but I didn’t want to go that far from home. Texas was all I’d ever known. So he sorted it out that I got a place at a boarding school in Dallas, then he even managed to get me a scholarship to college when I needed it, to study nursing.”

  “Did your uncle figure out it was him?”

  “I don’t believe so. I keep my eye on the death notices for Greenswood and haven’t ever seen anything. He was having dinner with my uncle the night I slipped away and left. He told me he’d play the part and help him search for me. Hopefully it worked and he didn’t suffer like my parents did for helping me.”

  His hand was stroking my hair and it felt so nice. Being surrounded by his heat and safety was a slice of heaven. Something I wanted desperately to keep forever.

  “What brought you to Bridgewater?”

  “I was working in Dallas when I saw a couple of my uncle’s goons come into the ER. I managed to stay out of their way and line of sight, but knew then that I’d been lucky to not have been found yet. I handed in my notice that day and started looking for something in a less populated area. My uncle would never lower himself to be seen in a small town he didn’t control. Bridgewater’s hospital had a nursing position available, so here I am.”

  I pulled away to wipe the tears from my face. I had no idea how long they’d been flowing, had no clue when I’d started crying.

  “So, there you go. My whole horrific history is all yours now.”

  He’d told me whatever I said wouldn’t change how he felt, but how could it not? It had certainly changed how I felt about myself.

  “None of that was your fault. You know that, right? Your uncle fixating on you, him killing your parents, him abusing you… none of that is your fault. Please tell me you understand that?”

  I nodded as I stared into his striking blue eyes that were filled with such guilt.

  “I do. It took me a long time to realize it, but I know all his decisions were his alone. I was an innocent child. But why are you looking guilty? You didn’t know me back then.”

  He cupped my face and brought it to his, kissing me slowly with complete gentleness before pulling away and resting his forehead against mine.

  “Little dove, you are not the only one with secrets buried in your past. But I think we’ve had enough of past demons for one night—or morning. I’ll tell you all my secrets another day. I need time to process what you told me before we go delving into my own hell. Okay?”

  It didn’t seem entirely fair and I wanted to know his secrets like he knew mine, but I understood what he was saying. My story was horrific. I’d lived it, so I knew how hard it was to believe such evil existed in the world.

  “Come, let’s shower and wash all that shit away. Then we’ll catch a few hours of sleep.”

  “Okay.”

  I let him pull me from the bed and guide me over to my bathroom. I reached in and flipped the tap on while he stroked his large, warm hands over my body. I loved his touch, the way the calluses on his fingers were rough on my skin. Normally it got me wet and ready for him, but this morning it was simply comforting, grounding me back into the here and now after reliving my past.

  Chapter Seven

  Blade

  It was later that night after I’d finished my stint guarding the front door that I was in the clubhouse bar tossing back Maker’s Mark like it was water, trying to drown out Veronica’s words. It had been a busy day at the clubhouse, with Needles proposing to Bess and her saying yes, among other things. Even though it was now edging toward midnight, it was still busy. Most of the old ladies had headed out but the brothers were still partying it up. I’d had to shove three club whores away so far.

  I swallowed my next mouthful as someone came up beside me. I swore, if it was another of the whores, I was going to grab a fresh bottle and go drink in my room. I tensed up and turned ready to blast her when I stopped short. It was Keys sitting beside me, sipping a beer and watching me like I was a ticking time bomb.

  “What happened?”

  I shook my head and took another mouthful, the shit not even burning my throat anymore.

  “Veronica told me everything. Made me promise to not go after the son of a bitch before she’d tell me. Regretting that right about now.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Worse, Keys. Whatever you’re fucking thinking, double it— hell—triple that shit and you might get close.”

  He nodded slowly as he took another swig of his beer. “Anything we need to know about?”

  “Like you said, it’s been seven years and he hasn’t shown his face. I think she’s safe for now, but if we go poking around her past, we might bring him to us.”

  “Need you to at least give me the basics, Blade. Who we need to watch out for.”

  I glanced around us, seeing who was in earshot. Everyone was busy with their own shit and the prospect behind the bar had left the bottle of Maker’s with me long ago and had taken off to have some fun of his own.

  “Real name is Victoria Jovan. From Greenswood. Her parents are dead, thanks to her uncle, who, to say has an unhealthy obsession with his niece is an understatement. Allen Jovan is the mayor up there and as dirty as fuck.” I turned to look into the older man’s eyes. “Fucker started messing with her when she was a baby, Keys. A fucking baby. Then he killed her parents when they sent her to boarding school to get her away from him. He tattooed his fucking initial onto her when he got her back. Death is too good for this motherfucking piece of shit, but I promised my girl I wouldn’t go after him. I wouldn’t take the first step. So I gotta sit here with my thumb up my ass, waiting on him to find her so I can take him apart.”

  “Greenswood is Satan’s Cowboy’s territory.” I’d already met a few of the Cowboys when they’d stopped in at our clubhouse on their way through on a run. They were the biggest club in Texas and their original chapter was in Cutler, not far from Greenswood. “I’ll give their president, Viper a call and get him to quietly keep an eye on the bastard. Give us a heads up if he ever makes a move in this direction. It might take time, but we’ll get ‘em and keep your girl protected.”

  He finished his beer and stood to go get himself a glass, pouring himself some Maker’s and refilling mine.

  “Hate to have to tell you this after the day you’ve had, but I only just saw it. Been so fucking tied up with dealing with this shit over in Rocky Gully I hadn’t checked the news sites for a few days. Finally got a chance today.”

  I paused before taking another mouthful and put the glass down before looking back to his face as a cold shiver ran down my spine.

  “What did you find?”

  “Missing doctor and nurse in L.A. Same ones that treated your burns.”

  I glared at the man. “How the fuck do you know who treated me?”

  He gave me a big shit-eating grin. “Boy, I know everything, didn’t you know?” he paused for a moment but when I didn’t respond other than to keep glaring at him, he rolled his eyes and started explaining. “When Mac reported in after y’all got back, he included the hospital name along with Nurse Lilly and Dr. Maestro’s names. Mighty big coincidence that they’re the two kidnapped, dontcha think?”

  I closed my eyes and my heart sank. “It’s no coincidence. Whoever has taken over from Antonio Sabella is coming after me, taking out anyone who helped me. We need to keep an eye out around town for suits. Fuck.”

  “Already got pro
spects guarding the hospital. Didn’t put you on that roster because I didn’t want to scare the hell out of Veronica. She won’t ask the others, but if she saw you there, she’d ask questions and if she’s as flighty as you say she is, she’ll most likely bolt.”

  “I need to make some calls and probably go back, see what I can find out. Might as well pack up my shit while I’m there.”

  Keys gripped my shoulder. “You make those calls, but you won’t be alone in going to California. You’re a Charon now, Blade. You’ll never be alone again. Got me?”

  I heaved a sigh and blew out a breath. “I got you. Fuck…” I scrubbed my face as I tried to get my brain working through all the alcohol I’d thrown at it tonight.

  “You wanna crash here, or get to Veronica? Because, take it from a man who’s been married a long damn time, don’t leave her alone after what she’s revealed. She’ll take that shit as you rejecting her.”

  Seeing there was only quarter of an inch left in the bottle of Maker’s, I poured it all into my glass and took a large mouthful. Would she think that if I didn’t see her? I pulled my phone out and tried to unlock the fucking screen.

  “Dammit.”

  Keys lifted it from me with a laugh. “What you wanna tell her? I can take you over there, or I can let her know you’re gonna crash here.”

  I scrubbed a palm over my face. I knew I should probably just head upstairs, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave her alone tonight after what she’d told me this morning.

  “Take me to her, Keys. I need to be with her.”

  He tapped away at my phone before handing it back.

  “Done. C’mon, let’s get you to your woman so I can get home to mine. I’ll come pick you up in the morning and we can get started on planning this shit out. Tonight, you need to rest up and let your liver recover.”

  Smartass. My liver was just fucking fine. And to prove it, I tossed back the remainder of my drink, because there was no sense in wasting Maker’s, then I followed Keys outside to one of the club’s cars. The drive over to Veronica’s was silent until it occurred to me I’d never told Keys where she lived.

  “How’d you know where her house is?”

  “Because I looked it up so I could set up cameras to keep an eye on her after you first spoke to me about her.”

  His tone was all you even need to ask. The man really was paranoid about keeping everyone safe. Made me wonder what the fuck was in his history that made him the way he was, but I had enough shit on my plate between my demons and Veronica’s, I didn’t need to go delving into Keys’ for more.

  We pulled up and the light was already on. The door opened, revealing Veronica wrapped up in a bathrobe and looking worried. Felt like I was coming home to my wife and was about to be handed my ass for staying out too late and drinking too much.

  “Thanks, man. I’ve got it from here.”

  When it took me two goes to catch the door handle, Keys laughed. “You sure about that? I can help you up to the house. Damn, but that last drink really hit home, huh?”

  With another laugh, he got out of the car and came around to my side. Bastard. No way was I gonna need help to get out of a damn car. I pulled on the door release and stumbled out, but managed to stay upright. Clearing my throat, I glared at him while he continued to laugh at me as I made my way, weaving around a bit, to where Veronica stood waiting for me. I vaguely heard Keys pull away as I slipped past Veronica into her small house. We didn’t need to provide her neighbors with any more entertainment tonight.

  I left her to lock up and headed straight for her bedroom. I stopped in the doorway and looked at the bed. Perfectly made up on one side, while the other was turned down, as though she’d gotten up in a rush when she’d gotten the text from Keys. Hearing her soft footfalls in the hallway, I turned and watched her come slowly toward me.

  “Fuck, darlin’, I’m sorry for waking you up. I shoulda just crashed at the clubhouse but I wanted to see you. Sleep beside you.”

  Fuck, I needed to stop talking. Damn Maker’s. I clenched my jaw as she came to stand in front of me.

  “Were you trying to drown out what I told you?”

  I drank her in. Her soft golden irises, so similar to the color of the whiskey I’d been drinking, her dark curls that were coming to life. She must straighten it every morning to keep it that way, but now that I’d spent a few nights with her I knew it was naturally curly. Fuck, but I’d love to see it in its full glory. “Among other things.” I reached up and wrapped a curl around my finger. “Why do you get rid of them?”

  She shrugged. “To look different from how I was.”

  Part of her mask. “Would you leave it natural for me tomorrow? Let me see the real you.”

  Her expression softened as she ran her gaze over my face.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve let my hair do its own thing. I’m not working tomorrow, so I guess I can. But, Blade, you’ve seen more of the real me than anyone else on this earth. My hair isn’t that important.”

  I stared at the curl that had fought against her attempts to tame it. It was a tight curl, her hair was thick. My gaze took in all her hair, imagining what it would look like if all of it were curly.

  She shook her head. “You’re drunk and fixating. C’mon, let’s get into bed. I need to sleep, not worry about my damn hair.”

  Shrugging out of her robe, she stepped around to her side of the bed. She had a cute, lacy camisole and short set on. I couldn’t wait to get it off her, but not tonight. I wouldn’t give her a sloppy, drunken fuck. She deserved so much better than that. I tried to unbutton my shirt but growled when I couldn’t get the fucking buttons through the holes. I was about to simply rip the thing off when her hands gently pushed mine out of the way and did the job for me.

  In comfortable silence, I allowed her to care for me, to strip away my clothes until I was in nothing but my boxer briefs. Then she took my hand and led me to the bed. She pulled back the covers on my side and before she could stand back up, I gripped her hips and guided her onto the mattress. She shuffled over and I followed her. She reached over and turned out the light before returning to me. I gathered her close against me and my whole being settled when she pressed her palm over my heart and relaxed against me.

  I was right where I was meant to be. I pressed a kiss to temple before I closed my eyes and let myself follow her into sleep.

  Veronica

  I took in the man lying beside me. Still sound asleep, his hand rested on my stomach under my camisole. I loved the feel of his hands on me. He was so much bigger than I was, rougher. I ran my gaze up his arm, over the healing burns. He’d always bear the scars from whatever had happened that led to him being burned. I really wanted to ask him about it. He knew all my dirty secrets now, but he’d given me very little. The only deeply personal thing he’d told me was that he’d been sold to the mob as a teen. While that in itself was huge, it was the smaller details I wanted. What had he survived? I wanted to know the things that had forged Blade into the man that lay next to me.

  My mind ran over last night. I’d been lying in bed, unable to sleep because I’d been worried that I’d scared Blade off forever by telling him what I’d lived through when I’d received the text. I’d been so fucking scared to open that message, afraid it was him telling me he was done with me. But it hadn’t been him at all. It had come from his phone, but it had been Keys, Donna’s husband, texting to say he was bringing my drunk man to me.

  In moments, I’d been wrapped in a robe and waiting by the front door. Chewing my nails, I’d pondered why such a controlled man like Blade had gotten drunk. We’d known each other for less than a month, but I’d never seen him drink to excess before, and doubted it was in his nature to get drunk regularly. He liked being in control way too much to voluntarily lose it. It was just one more thing I didn’t know about him. It seemed there were a whole lot of things I didn’t know.

  Once he’d been dropped off and had made it inside, he’d asked me about
my hair of all things. I’d been straightening my hair every morning since I’d left my uncle’s home. It was an easy way to make myself look different. My curls were tight and my hair was thick. It would just about be an afro if I cut it short. But straight, it was long and hung down close to my face, and I was a new person that easily.

  I picked up a curl that had bounced back to life overnight and held it in front of my eyes. It had been seven years with no sign of him. Maybe I could let it go, leave my hair curly. Heaven knew it would give me more time in the mornings if I didn’t have to straighten the damn stuff every day.

  A deep groan had me looking back to Blade. His face scrunched up and he took the hand from my stomach to rub his eyes as he groaned again and I smiled. It was human nature to tease someone with a hangover.

  “Morning, sunshine.”

  That got me a grunt before he lifted his hand and glared at me. “Not funny, little dove.”

  I shrugged, and trying not to grin, leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I’ll go get you some Advil.”

  He gave another grunt as I rolled over and slipped from the bed then went to the kitchen to get the Advil and a glass of water for him. When I got back, he was flat on his back, his arm over his eyes, and the sheets down around his waist. A wave of arousal tingled through me, landing between my thighs as I took in his muscular chest and abs. Clearly the man spent a considerable amount of time in the gym to keep his body in such good shape.

  “Like what you see?”

  Heat raced over my cheeks. “It’s not bad.” I walked up to his side of the bed and placed the pills and water on the nightstand. “There you go.”

  I turned and went to head to the bathroom, but before I made it more than a step or two, his arm wrapped around my middle and he pulled me back. He’d shifted to sit on the edge of the mattress then moved me so I was standing between his thighs, facing him. His hands were wrapped around my hips and he pressed his face between my breasts, nuzzling a little against the lace that covered me, lighting me up when I didn’t think he was up for any fun and games this morning. I stroked my hands gently through his thick dark hair as he pulled back and dry swallowed a couple tablets before returning to press against me. His hands slid easily over the satin covering my hips, running his fingertips under the edge, but not trying to push them down.