“Don’t get upset and hurt yourself because of me,” Sloane said. The concern in her voice had me closing my mouth and settling back into my seat. “I’m not upset,” I clarified. “I’m pissed.”
“Shut it, Pink Diva, I’m not finished.”
I glared at Tatum. She knew how much I hated those fucking nicknames. “One day, you’ll lose, and it’s going to be glorious.”
She rolled her eyes and completely ignored my threat. “Seriously, I have to know. What was the idea you rejected?”
Sloane’s cheeks flushed while her eyes darted wildly around the room. “Uh, I’ll have to fill you in on that one later.”
Frankie, who’d been surprisingly silent, answered for her. “No, you won’t. It’s because her suggestions started with things like incorporating ice cubes or strawberries in foreplay, but her suggestion to start using vegetables for penetration was where Sloane drew the line.”
Sloane slapped her palm over her face and groaned while Tatum threw her head back and laughed hysterically. “Oh, shit,” she said and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I just got it. Dill Doe,” she barely managed to say before cracking up again. “A cucumber dildo,” she wheezed.
Frankie gasped and grabbed her phone. “Has anyone in here read Dill’s books?”
Almost in unison, everyone answered with, “No.”
Moments later, Frankie held her phone out to show us the screen. “This is one of her books. Corn Porn, featuring a married couple living on a farm and spicing up their marriage with their new harvest of corn.”
Sloane groaned, in a way that had me instantly by her side. “You have to stop! It hurts when I laugh.”
“If that happens again, I’m making everyone leave,” I announced and made eye contact with each person in the room.
“Yeah, yeah, we got it. What did she say about the stalking part?”
Tatum glanced to Jennifer and Ginger, and I could tell by the look on her face that something was up.
“What’s going on, Tatum?” I asked suspiciously.
A sudden movement from the side caught my attention right as Jennifer leaned over and cradled her side with a loud, “Oomph!”
“She has something she needs to tell you,” Ginger announced and crossed her arms over her chest.
Jennifer rubbed her side, presumably where Ginger had elbowed her, and faced Sloane, looking very much like a child about to confess to a parent. “I'm responsible for your birthday present, the publishing anniversary present, the surprise breakfast at the event, a few other small surprises, and I'm the one who sent the bottle of wine to you in Devil Springs," Jennifer confessed.
“What? How?" Sloane asked.
“Tatum!” I shouted. “You let her fucking stalker in here?”
Tatum glared at me. “No, I didn’t. Shut up and listen.
“You okay with this?” I asked Sloane. Because if she wasn’t, I was ushering them the fuck out of there.
“I want to hear what she has to say,” Sloane said quietly.
“Well, your birthday and your hometown are listed on social media. So, I searched for your name and hometown to find your address to send you a present. Since I already had your address when you mentioned your publishing anniversary on social media, I thought it would be nice to send you another present. As for the bottle of wine, you took a picture of your workspace and posted it in your reader group. When I zoomed in to see what you were working on, I saw the name of the hotel on a notepad beside your computer.”
“What about the breakfast? How did you know about Brat?" Frankie demanded.
Jennifer laughed. “Look at the picture you posted of you two sorting the orders the night before the signing. The key card with your room number on it is in the left corner, and a very visible pig hoof is in the right corner. I just got lucky on the tray placement.”
“What about Bronze?”
“That was also a coincidence. I passed him in the hallway when he surprised you. I was only walking by to see where the rooms were so I would know where they were when I delivered the breakfast trays.”
Her laughter died down, and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Sloane. I didn't mean to scare you, but I was too shy to sign my name on the gifts. And, I guess I got too excited and didn't realize I was overstepping boundaries. I understand if you want to remove me from your groups and block me from your social media.”
“Uh, Jennifer, you saved my life today. Pretty sure that negates any possible misunderstanding we may have previously had," Sloane said vehemently. “And for future reference, please sign your name to any gifts you send. A lot of people like to reciprocate, or at the very least send a thank you note.”
“Really?” Jennifer gasped in disbelief.
“Really. I know how hard it is to put yourself out there. So what if you did it and came out looking like a stalker? It ended well, and it’ll make a great line for a story,” Sloane assured her and yawned, followed by a small grimace of pain.
“All right, time for everyone to clear out,” I said and turned to start herding people out the door.
“Step aside, Alpha-hole. I’m not leaving until I hug her,” Frankie declared and barged her way past me.
“And I’m not leaving until I’ve had a great big hug from you.” Tatum stood and gave me the quickest hug in history before she jumped back with mock disgust. “I was wrong! Ew! Feelings!”
26
After the room cleared out, I closed my eyes and relished in the quiet. Unfortunately, when I woke the next morning, my peace and quiet vanished before I’d even had coffee.
“Sloaney Bologna!” Tiernan called out as he barreled through the door to my hospital room followed by Declan and Kian.
“Crap,” I grumbled. "I thought I'd have more time before having to introduce you. Declan, I believe you've already met Bronze Black. Tiernan, you probably know him as well. Kian, I'm in love with Bronze Black. He’s a biker, and I don’t care what any of you think. a biker. Now, keep your shenanigans outside of my room, because it’s time for my nap.”
“Dad will be here soon,” Tiernan said.
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“He was in the air within minutes of me telling him about the shooting.”
“Well, that’s certainly not what I expected.”
Right on cue, Lorcan O’Shea and his two personal bodyguards entered the room. “Sloane! I’ve been worried sick. Are you okay? How bad is it?” he blurted.
“Dad!" I groaned. "You didn't have to come,” I said and did nothing to hide the fact that I did not want him there.
“You were shot by a crazed fan, nearly bled to death, and had to have surgery. Where else would I be?"
Bronze rose to his feet. "Let's step out and give them some privacy." I glared at him and each of my traitorous brothers as they left me alone with my father—who I decidedly did not want to speak to.
Once the room was cleared, my dad pulled a chair next to my bed and took a seat. "What's going on? I get the feeling you're upset with me."
I crossed my arms over my chest and tried my hardest to keep myself from bursting into tears. Because they were going to be angry tears, and I hated it when I cried angry tears.
“Come on, Sloane. Nothing ever gets resolved without proper communication. Now, out with it, lass. Tell me what's wrong so I can take care of whoever was stupid enough to attempt to take the life of a member of my family."
“That shit right there!” I exploded and jabbed my finger in his direction, surprising myself by my outburst. “You can't just kill everyone who crosses you or your family."
He brushed non-existent lint from his suit and used the lapels to readjust his jacket. "I can if I don’t get caught."
“Dad!” I groaned and flopped back against the scratchy, crinkly pillows.
“If you would start talking to me, you wouldn't be forced to listen to my dad jokes."
“Fine!” I huffed and exhaled slowly. “Damn it,” I whispered when I felt tears
fill my eyes.
My dad moved closer as his face morphed into one of grave concern. “Whatever it is, honey, tell me so I can fix it,” he insisted.
“You can't fix it!" I screamed. "You cheated on Mom and had a child with another woman, and now she's dead! Not even you can fix that!"
“What on earth are you talking about?" he demanded and got to his feet.
Exhaling in resignation, I said, "Sit down, Dad, and I'll tell you everything." After taking in a deep breath, I did just that, as quickly and robotically as I could, but my emotions eventually got the best of me.
“Don't tell me you didn't know about her! I remember when her mother came to the house and asked you for money when she was pregnant. You told her to leave and never come back, or you would kill her and the child.”
“Sloane, you’re mistaken,” he started.
“No I’m not! I remember her!”
“Stop and think about it for just a minute. You said you didn't recognize Adelaide when you saw pictures of her. That's because the woman who came to the door wasn’t Adelaide.”
“Then who was it?”
“Phyllis Banner.”
“What?” I asked, thoroughly confused. “But I thought Paige wasn't my sister. Are you telling me she is?”
“No, Paige isn’t your sister. There's absolutely no way for that to be possible because I never slept with Phyllis.”
“But, you admit to sleeping with Adelaide?”
He sighed. “Sloane, now isn’t the time, but you and I need to sit down and have a discussion about your mother and I. For now, I’m going to stick to the facts, and we can discuss the details later.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Adelaide and Phyllis were best friends who were hired as summer interns at my company. Within a few weeks, I began having an affair with Adelaide. Phyllis was also interested in carrying on with me, but I declined her offer. Apparently, that started, or continued, an ongoing rivalry between the two.”
“If you never slept with Phyllis, why did she come to the house and say she was pregnant with your child?”
“I don’t know. I always assumed she was trying to cause trouble between your mother and me because she never got what she wanted from me,” he said, trailing off at the end.
“Are you thinking it might be something else?”
“Now, I’m wondering if Phyllis knew Adelaide was pregnant.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Neither do crazy bitches, and that’s what they both were. Honestly, I wish you would’ve asked me about all this. I could’ve told you Paige wasn’t your sister.”
“But what about Heidi? You really didn’t know about her?”
His eyes softened, and he cupped my cheeks like he used to do when I got hurt as a child. “No, Sloane. I didn’t know a thing about her. It brings me great pain to know I fathered a child I’ll never meet in person,” he confessed, and I could tell his words were sincere.
I tilted my head toward the ceiling and closed my eyes, knowing he would eventually find out but thinking it could wait a bit longer. There was no need to rush things.
“I know that look. What is it?”
I pulled the blanket over my head to hide my face. “Nothing.”
“Have you not learned anything from the last fifteen minutes? Talk to me, child of mine!”
“Heidi had a baby. Congratulations, Grandpa, it’s a girl. And I’m in love with the baby’s father,” I blabbed as great big tears streamed down my face. “And I don’t care what you or anybody else thinks about it.”
“That’s my girl,” he said as a proud smile took over his face. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “For the record, I know you’re in love with Bronze Black, and while little Blue’s relation to our family is news to me, I still don’t have a problem with it as long as he makes you happy.”
“Who are you? Where’s my father? No, wait. I know. It’s got to be the pain meds.”
He chuckled. “You shouldn’t be surprised by my approval. He understands this lifestyle. Though, I’m sure you know, we have to come to an agreement about his boxing.”
I held my hands up to stop him from saying any more. “That involves him, not me.”
“Yes, that’s why I plan to discuss it with him. Telling you was a courtesy.”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “There’s the dad I know.”
“Are you hungry? I can send one of my guards to get something to eat.”
“I’m allowed to be cranky or mad without being hungry!” I shouted.
“Yes, I know, but I was simply asking if you’d like something to eat. I haven’t had breakfast yet, and I’m starving.”
“Oh,” I said sheepishly. “In that case, I want a biscuit and gravy with an extra biscuit. No, wait, make it two orders of biscuits and gravy, an order of their version of hash brown, and a coffee. I want them to put a medium-sized coffee in a large cup and fill the rest with cream and sugar.”
After typing something into his phone, he glanced up at me with a smile. “Sean’s leaving now to pick up our breakfast.”
“Dad! I didn’t ask Bronze if he wanted anything! And what about the boys?”
He chuckled. “Sloane, they’re all out in the hall. I told Sean to get their orders before he left. I’m going to have to work on my image. I didn’t realize everyone thought I was such an asshole,” he teased.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I’ve been given a lot to process in the last twenty-four hours,” I explained.
“It’s all right, lass. You’re okay, and that’s all that matters,” he said and gently squeezed my hand. “Now, shall we invite your man in by himself before Sean gets back with our food?”
“Why?” I asked suspiciously.
“Have a little faith, child,” he said and tapped out another text on his phone.
Moments later, Bronze returned and resumed his seat in the recliner. “You wanted to see me?”
“I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced,” my father said and rose to his feet, extending his hand to Bronze. “I’m Sloane’s father, Lorcan O’Shea.”
“Bronze Black, but you already know that,” he returned and shook my dad’s hand.
“You fought one of my sons, and you’re dating my daughter. Of course, I already knew that. You’ll do the same when Blue starts dating.”
Bronze’s entire body stiffened while a look of horror, mixed with surprise, washed over his face. Confused by his reaction, I leaned toward him and whispered, “You okay?”
“Yep,” he replied, keeping his eyes on my dad.
“Bronze,” I said, trying to get him to look at me.
“What does he know about Blue?” he asked, and I knew exactly what he meant by the tone of his voice.
My father answered before I could. “I know she’s my granddaughter. I give you my word that I have no intention of trying to disrupt your life. However, I would like the chance to get to know her.”
“I don’t have a problem with that as long as we don’t have any trouble,” Bronze said like the protective father he was.
“We won’t,” he assured. “Well, there is one thing we need to discuss, but I’m certain we can come to an agreement that suits us both.”
“What is it?” Bronze asked. When my dad’s eyes flicked to me, Bronze snorted. “I don’t keep shit from her, so go ahead.”
My dad smiled at his words before his face returned to business mode. “Now that your relationship with my daughter is known to the public, it’s a conflict of interest for you to continue boxing in my club.”
“Your club?”
“You thought it was Luca’s?” I wasn’t sure who he was asking, but Bronze and I both nodded. “Good, that’s what you’re supposed to think.”
“So, you want me to quit?” Bronze summarized.
“What? Dad! You can’t do that!” I yelled, pissed at his high-handedness.
“What?” he asked incredulously. “I can’t let him knock out my son in thirty-eight seconds
and allow him to continue to fight in my club. That’s bad for business, Sloane.”
“Dad,” I groaned.
“It’s also for the safety and well-being of my daughter and granddaughter,” he added and held up one finger. “Yes, I do want you to stop fighting at the club, but I’d like to talk to you and your brother about having some of my fighters train at your gym, particularly with you and your trainers.”
Bronze nodded. “I’ll let Copper know, and we’ll be in touch if he wants to discuss it further.”
“His brother’s an asshole, Dad,” I whispered loudly.
“What’re you telling me for, lass? He’s a fighter with an undefeated record,” he joked and pointed to Bronze.
Two sharp knocks sounded, followed by, “Food’s here!”
“Come in!” I shouted much louder than I meant to. “Sorry,” I shrugged. “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”
It was close to dinner time before I had an opportunity to speak to my father alone. Thankfully, my annoying brothers had “business to attend to” and left not long after they arrived.
Before I could open my mouth to begin, my dad turned to me and asked, "What is it?"
"I want to talk to you about Adelaide and Phyllis."
“Sloane, it's better for you if we don't discuss either one of them,” he countered.
“That’s not what I meant.” I swallowed thickly and repositioned myself in the bed so that I could see his face while I spoke—or rather, so he could see mine. “Dad, please let the police handle Adelaide and Phyllis.”
“Is that really what you want, Sloane? The police haven’t been able to locate them in over three months. Do you want them to get away without any consequences for their actions?”
“It’s not up to us to decide what the consequences should be. And frankly, each one of the lost their only child. That’s more than enough.”
Dad cupped my cheek and smiled proudly. “It’d kill me if anything happened to you, or any of my children,” he said and turned away from me to get his emotions under control.
“I’m sorry for assuming the worst instead of talking to you about it when I found Mom’s folder about you possibly fathering a child with another woman.”
Bronze (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 5) Page 24