by Franca Storm
She bounced along, so excited and proud to be showing me her home.
She was sharing it with me, opening up a part of her life to me that’d been closed off for a long time.
Her walls had come crashing down.
She was wide open.
We both were.
17
~Spartan~
“DAD, THIS IS A LITTLE OVERKILL.”
I looked up from my clipboard at the sound of Ash’s voice. She rolled her eyes and pointed at the guys walking around the place, doing the work I was paying them good money to do. She was smiling at me, looking more amused than annoyed.
First time for everything.
We’d had a real antagonistic father-daughter relationship for a long time, until Finn had come into the picture. Having a guy like him with her had finally convinced me that I could pull back my protection and suffocating inference in her life.
“Ash, this place is old, it’s right on the lake and it’s been vacant for months.”
She shrugged. “And?”
I smiled at her naivety. Ash was good at a lot of things, informed and independent in many ways. She’d even inherited a lot of my street smarts. But when it came to this stuff, she had no clue.
I’d been taking charge of this kind of thing with the bars, restaurants, and all the club’s businesses for a long time now. And even before all of that, I’d learned a lot from my old man who’d worked as a foreman for twenty odd years.
It was clear that legacy had stopped with me. Well, unless Ash's kids picked it up.
Kids? Shit, that was an intense thought that’d come out of nowhere. I couldn’t imagine ever being blessed with grandkids, given the way I knew Finn to be. It’d taken him a lot to accept Ash as being his, because he was so worried about his old life putting her in danger. But he’d recognized that Ash was far from helpless. She was tough and on the ball. Kids, though, especially an innocent baby, wouldn’t have that. And, as much as Finn was trying to relax more, I doubted he’d ever get to a place where he could allow that to happen.
Knowing what I knew about the active threat out there right now, I couldn’t blame him.
“Dad?”
I snapped outta my thoughts.
I shifted my weight. “Right, yeah. We gotta make sure there ain’t no moisture or mold issues. That’s what Frank’s here for. Then we got Bo making sure the structure’s sound and all that. I don’t want you facing any costly surprises early on. Gotta make sure the plumbing and electrical is in good shape and up to code. We’re checking for proper insulation, because we don’t want any asbestos. It’s a killer and costs a ton to fix.”
She beamed up at me. “Then I was wrong, it’s not overkill. It’s just enough kill.”
“Funny.”
She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight to her. “Thank you, Dad.”
“Ain’t no problem, Ash.”
“It is,” she said, pulling back and fixing me with that sweet smile of hers, the one she got from her mom. “I know how busy you are. You went out of your way for me. You always have. You’ve always made sure I’ve had the best of everything. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time over the protection stuff. I know you were just trying to keep me safe, no matter what.”
I stared at her, real surprised by all this. We’d made peace a few months back after the Rogues takedown, but here she was now going outta her way to tell me how great a dad I was. It seemed like it was coming from nowhere. But that weren’t Ash. She didn’t just randomly bring intense stuff up like that.
“Everything all right?”
“Yeah, of course. The tattoo parlor is doing really well, Finn and I are about to buy a house together. It’s all… perfect.” She looked me over, a worried expression coming over her face. “Are you all right?”
“Sure, yeah.”
“Dad, I know something’s up with you. You’ve been down and more quiet than usual. Is it Dani? You guys seemed together at the barbecue, but I haven’t seen you anywhere near each other since. You’ve even stopped going into Legacies for your evening drink.”
Another thing that seemed hereditary was my perceptiveness.
It’d been hard enough as it was to act like Dani and me weren’t nothing to each other in front of everybody else.
“It ain’t the right time with her,” I told her, knowing she wouldn’t drop it until I gave her something. Sure, it was technically a lie, but it was also close enough to the truth. The reason Dani and me were keeping things a secret was because the time weren’t right with the threat hanging over my head.
Ash looked crestfallen. “Dad, you deserve to be happy. Don’t push her away. Please. She’s good for you.”
“We’re dropping this,” I told her.
“But—”
“Spartan?”
I turned to see that Frank had come down from the second floor and was motioning me over.
I broke from Ash, grateful for the interruption, and headed over to him. “You got something?”
“It’s not too big an issue right now, but it needs seeing to or it’ll become one.”
“All right, let me see.”
He nodded and turned back upstairs, leading the way.
***
All sorted.
The inspection had gone well.
There weren’t no major issues that Ash and Finn would have to worry about. A couple of minor things did need fixing up, but I’d already got my guys scheduled to take care of it, and when the offer was made on the house, the cost of the work would be deducted. I knew how much Ash loved the house, but I weren’t gonna let her overpay outta excitement.
Shit like that was exactly why I’d insisted on coming by and doing this today.
It woulda been good to have Finn here as well, but he was finishing up installing a top-of-the-line security system with Anarchy at Ash’s tattoo parlor. He’d figured he could do both, but he’d failed to realize how complicated Anarchy’s devices were. It would be worth it, because the kid left nothing to chance and he produced high quality stuff like nothing out there on the market. Besides, Finn knew I had the inspection handled. It was more my forte than his. I had a feeling there was also some lingering bitterness on his end after our clash up at the barbecue. He wasn’t exactly into being around me right now.
I rolled my eyes. It was the least of my problems. I’d smooth it over once I’d taken care of everything else coming at me.
I walked back into the living room, searching for Ash.
A few minutes ago, as I’d been explaining some stuff about the house to Ash with Frank and Bo, Ash had bailed to continue looking around. She’d already looked twice since we’d been here, but she was so excited, that she just couldn’t get enough of the place.
I spotted her through the patio doors, standing on the dock and looking out at the lake.
Pushing through the doors, I joined her outside. “We’re all done here, baby girl.”
She turned, smiling widely. “It’s so beautiful out here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
Walking to me, she asked, “Do you ever think about moving to a place like this, instead of living at the clubhouse?”
“There ain’t no need. Things work well as they are.”
“I doubt Dani will see it that way. It would be weird having your Old Lady living at the clubhouse with you. It’s a place for single men.”
There she was, pushing the issue again.
A lot of it was my fault. I never shoulda walked around with Dani at the club barbecue. It’d sent a message I weren’t ready to have out there, that neither of us were. Finn had been wrong. I couldn’t just go with the flow and let my feelings drag me along by my dick. Whenever I failed to analyze a situation in the obsessive way I was known for doing, shit hit the fan in a major fucking way.
“Good thing she ain’t my Old Lady then, yeah? We’re friends, Ash. That’s it.”
She grinned. “Sure, you are, Dad.”
Pi
cking up on a presence coming our way, I turned to see Finn walking into the house.
He spotted us quickly and came out to the patio.
“Did I make it on time?” he asked Ash, ignoring me.
I answered anyway, “Just finished up, but you got some time to look around.”
Ash bounded over to him and took his hand. “Let’s go. I’ll show you around,” she said, all giddy and excitable about it.
Finn grinned at her, avoided my gaze, then let her tug him inside the house.
Fine with me.
My work was done here anyway.
I made my way outta the house.
As I strode to my bike in the driveway, my phone buzzed in my back pocket.
I pulled it out and saw a new email had come in.
One I had been waiting on.
My contact had come through.
There, laid out in great detail, was everything I needed to know about the threat against Dani.
I leaned against my bike as I opened it and started reading.
Dani had given me a lot of information herself, but I’d had one of my contacts broaden the research even more, beyond her business with Don and his corrupt brother. Accessing the big picture usually made for more opportunities of leverage.
And, fuck, had I been right about that.
Jesus Christ.
The Wakefield brothers were some major pieces of work.
I could see exactly why Dani had made the devastating decision to leave her entire life and everything she’d worked for behind and go into hiding for two whole years. She was up against a lot. It was pretty much a David versus Goliath deal.
And no wonder she had a whole hang-up about power issues and all that. Those assholes had been pulling that kind of shit on her for over two years to keep her down in a bid to keep Don safe from the consequences of his many fucked-up actions.
There was a load of shit that they’d pulled, loads of victims.
It was a major abuse of power.
They needed to be stopped ASAP.
Good thing I had the means to deal with fuckers like them.
I just had to call in a favor first.
18
~Daniella~
“THAT WAS AMAZING.”
Pulling off the helmet, I breathed in the crisp, fresh air of the surrounding countryside, relishing the amazing experience I’d just had.
Smiling wildly, Scott took the spare helmet and hung it off the handlebars, then gave me a hand down off his motorcycle. “You get it now, huh? Why I’m into it?”
“Yeah. I mean, I have ridden on the back of your bike before, the day my car broke down and we went to the restaurant. But that was so different. We were just coasting slowly through town then and I was nervous about everything, closed off to everything… you and new experiences. Today you were pushing the envelope and we were hurtling down the backroads… it was a rush. I’ve never felt so free.” I couldn’t believe I’d actually let myself go and taken my hands off him for a while, holding them out to the sides and whooping excitedly.
“Good, love,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and bringing me into him for a kiss.
He took my mouth in that overpowering, all-consuming way of his that had the ability to make me wet in seconds. God, he was good.
He was also insatiable.
It seemed that the other day at my old house had opened the floodgates for him. For the last couple of weeks, we’d been hot and heavy. All the secrecy and hiding our relationship from the outside world had put us in close quarters whenever we’d snuck around to see each other. It’d kept us in our own little bubble, amplifying the intensity and the need between us. It made the time we had together all the more special, the both of us intent on making the most of it.
It had actually been reassuring keeping things to ourselves. There’d been no pressure. Our relationship had been able to progress at its own natural pace. It had been safe. Although, because we’d known each other for two years and we were already good friends, there hadn’t been that fragile stage to navigate. By the time we’d actually slept together for the first time, things had already been solid between us. Airing our secrets and bearing our souls had really aided with that. We knew each other so deeply already. It really wasn’t like starting at the beginning.
But, because of who Scott was, there was another stage that our relationship had to go through. Public scrutiny. He was an infamous figure around town. Plus, there was Iron Kings, a tight brotherhood of men intent on protecting one another and wanting the best for each other. As soon as they became aware of Scott and me, there would be eyes on us constantly.
I knew the members well, but in a friend-of-the-club capacity. Being seen as Scott’s woman was a whole other level, a very different thing.
And it had me a little nervous.
It was largely why I’d been fine with keeping things on the down low.
But I had a feeling all of that was about to come to an end and we’d have to face the music and leave our comfortable bubble.
Today Scott had insisted that we venture outside for the first time. Sure, we hadn’t ridden through town, keeping to the backroads, but I suspected he was just easing me into it, that today was the calm before the storm of craziness that was sure to hit us once we went public.
He pulled away and kissed the top of my head. “Go have a seat on that bench over there. I’ll be right over.”
The next thing I knew, he was walking to his bike and rummaging around in the saddlebags.
I hesitated for a moment, not sure what on earth was happening. But I trusted Scott, so I strolled over to the bench situated perfectly underneath the shade of a majestic old oak tree.
As I sat down, I took in the lake just a few feet away from the grassy embankment off the little lot we’d pulled in to. It was all part of a picturesque, peaceful parkway that surrounded the outskirts of Ridgefield.
The crunch of footsteps behind me had me turning my head to see Scott striding over. I cocked an eyebrow in surprise at the items he was carrying. He grinned at my reaction and crossed to the other side of the bench and started setting them down.
“Prosecco,” he told me as he set the bottle of sparkling white wine down in the center of the picnic table. Two glasses followed. “Plastic. I couldn’t risk it on the bike. The bottle’s a little sturdier than champagne glasses.”
Then he placed two wrapped packages down, one in front of me, then as he settled opposite me, one in front of him. “Italian sandwiches from Rizzo’s.”
“Mmm, I love their sandwiches!”
“I know,” he said with a wink.
I looked at the spread he’d prepared and realization set in. “This is a picnic.”
“Is it?” he responded coyly.
“Yes,” I said, reaching out and stroking his hand. “The big, bad president of a notorious motorcycle club has prepared a picnic. You are the sweetest. I love it. Thank you, Scott.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, you just decided on this, on us having a date?” I asked, as I unwrapped my sandwich, then took a bite. God, it was so good.
“Well, we ain’t been on a real one since that time at Rizzo’s. I know I’ve been kinda intense with the physical side of things. You’re goddamn addictive, woman. But I don’t wanna neglect the other stuff. I want this thing with us to work.”
Smiling, I told him, “I do too.”
“Good. Glad we’re on the same page.” He tucked into his own sandwich, swallowing a couple of big bites, before continuing, “Plus, you know, we got stuff to celebrate today.”
“Ah, hence the Prosecco?”
“Yeah.”
We sat together eating our delicious sandwiches for a while, just enjoying one another’s company and being in such a beautiful, serene setting.
I couldn’t believe it. The more time I spent with Scott, the stronger the need to be with him for every moment possible was. It was soothing being with him. Comfortable, yet freeing at the
same time. I felt safe with him, but he also challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone from time to time. He had a special way of easing me into it, though, so there was no shellshock involved and the things I’d been afraid of or hesitant about became things I wanted to try. Just like riding on his Harley. Once upon a time, I’d been so nervous about it, about not being the one controlling the situation. But now I enjoyed the lack of control. It was a hell of an adrenaline rush.
Finished with my sandwich, I sat back and asked, “So, what are we celebrating?”
There was an excited glint in his eye as he picked up the Prosecco. “First thing’s first.”
He took off the foil, unscrewed the metal cap and jimmied the cork loose. With a sharp pop, it was free. Was there anything he couldn’t do so smoothly and sexily?
He poured two glasses, then raised his one. “To us, love.” I followed suit and raised mine to his. “The future we’re gonna have together.”
“Perfect,” I said, as we clinked, sealing our toast. “To us.”
I’d just put my glass back down when he reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket and withdrew a small black velvet bag. “Hope you like it,” he said, sliding it across the table to me.
“Like what? What is it?” I asked, confused.
“Open it and find out,” he said, with a chuckle.
I shot a look at him, then untied the strings sealing the bag. I delved inside to find something shiny and metal. Frowning in question, I pulled it out to find a beautiful white-gold necklace. I gently grasped the pendant and gasped as I took in the sight of the stunning tulip made up of shimmering diamonds and… deep-blue sapphires? My gaze shot to Scott. “Are these… uh…?”
“Sapphires and diamonds,” he said, grinning at my stunned reaction. “The real deal.”
“But—this is—oh my God, Scott! How did you—why did you—?”
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “You deserve it. I wanted you to have something to hold onto during the times when we ain’t together. Something special.”
“This is definitely special. Holy crap.”
