by Chiah Wilder
Shadow, quickly but quietly, sprinted behind Warren’s parked car, crouching low so the asshole wouldn’t see him in the rearview mirror. Rock had scrambled the security cameras a few seconds before he, Helm, Axe, and Cruiser entered the garage. Four of the other brothers were lying in wait for Jonah at his apartment.
The jangle of keys hitting the pavement told Shadow that the asshole had opened the car door. A few cuss words echoed in the underground parking lot, then Warren bent down and picked up the keys, and staggered away from the car. Like a flash of lightning, Shadow intercepted him, and Warren bumped into his strong chest.
“What the fuck?” Warren slurred as he looked up.
The annoyed look on the jerk’s face was quickly replaced by fear.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, swaying in place.
Shadow could smell the alcohol on his breath. “We got a score to settle, motherfucker.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” All of a sudden Warren seemed to have sobered up.
“Yeah, you do. The more you bullshit me, the harder I punch.” Without warning, he sank his fist in Warren’s belly.
The man’s hands clutched his stomach as he bent over. “Is this about Scarlett?” he gasped, trying to catch his breath. “I’m over her. We’re good, bro.”
Anger flooded his veins. “I’m not your bro, asshole.” Shadow threw a quick punch that connected square with Warren’s jaw.
The asshole stumbled backward. “Fuck! What’s your problem?”
“Fuck … I don’t know.” Another punch to the man’s face. “I guess I don’t like shit thrown at me and my bike. I’m funny that way.” Several more quick, hard jabs to Warren’s face. Sizzling pain radiated from Shadow’s injured wrist, but he ignored it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever happened to you, I swear it wasn’t me.”
“Wrong, fucker. It was you!” He then delivered blow upon blow to Warren’s ribs, belly, and back up to his face. Satisfaction spread through him when he heard the crunch of bones shattering.
Warren’s hand flew to his nose. “Shit! You broke my nose.”
“That’s not all I’m gonna break,” Shadow growled.
“You’ve made a mistake. Really, I don’t—” The asshole stopped short and his eyes widened with fear as they landed on Axe, Helm, and Cruiser who came up behind Shadow then circled around Warren.
“Do you wanna rethink what you were saying?” Axe asked, his hands clenched.
“Okay, guys. Okay. Just don’t kill me. I have money in my wallet and you can have my car. Just—”
“We don’t want shit from you!” Rage filled Helm’s voice.
“What then?” Warren’s eyes darted around the parking lot as if trying to find a means of escape.
“The truth,” Shadow said calmly.
The other three bikers stepped closer to Warren.
“It was my dad’s idea. I didn’t want to do it. He was obsessed with Scarlett and me hooking up. I told him I didn’t want any part of his plan.”
“Who threw the tire iron?” Shadow asked.
“Jonah,” he said quickly.
Shadow shook his head. “Wrong fuckin’ answer.” He struck another blow.
“Fuck!” Warren rubbed his chest. “I’m telling you the truth.”
“That’s funny ’cause your pussy friend’s saying it was you,” Cruiser said.
“What?” Warren gasped.
“That’s right, asshole. Your buddy’s having the same conversation with some of our friends. It’s like we’re all just having a party.” Axe laughed.
“He’s lying. He did it.” Warren shook his head. “I wouldn’t have done something like that.”
“That’s exactly what a pussy like you would do.” Shadow looked at the other bikers. “Can you believe this fucker gave up his dad”—he snapped his fingers in front of Warren’s face—“just like that.”
“Loyalty isn’t something you’re good with, is it, asshole?” Helm smacked Warren in the back of the head.
“Since I don’t know for sure which one of you fuckers did it, I’ll hold you both responsible.” Shadow reached behind him and took the tire iron from the waistband of his jeans.
Sweat dotted Warren’s hairline. “No, please. I didn’t do it.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Cruiser yelled.
“Let’s get this shit over,” Shadow said, gripping the metal rod.
Axe, Helm, and Cruiser grabbed Warren and held him still while Shadow swung hard against Warren’s legs. The cracking of bones blended with Warren’s cries. The three bikers released their hold on him and he fell to the ground, groaning and writhing.
“Time to get the hell out of here,” Cruiser said.
Shadow bent down on his haunches next to the asshole. “Payback’s a fuckin’ bitch, isn’t it?” Then he stood up and tucked the weapon back in his waistband.
The men hurried out of the garage and blended into the night as they made their way to Helm’s SUV parked four blocks away. Axe sent a text to Rock so he could unscramble the security cameras, then the men settled into the vehicle and drove back to the clubhouse.
By the time the other bikers returned, Shadow was on his third shot of whiskey. The mission was a success: the two fuckers had broken legs, and the old man would sport a black eye and some bruises in the morning, and his car was primed for scrap metal.
Justice had been served. Outlaw bikers took the adage “An eye for an eye” literally. If someone messed with one of them, that person messed with the whole club. Retaliation was the answer to a wrong done to a brother.
It was their world and their rules.
Nothing else mattered.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Two weeks later
Scarlett sat in the family room waiting for Shadow to come over, fearing that he’d change his mind. A big part of her understood his reluctance, but if the two of them had any chance of a happy life together, Shadow had to talk to her dad about everything in the past.
Scarlett jumped when the doorbell rang. She hurried down the hall and yanked the door open. Shadow stood on the front porch in his tight blue jeans, white T-shirt, and black leather vest. He flicked his dark hair off his tanned face and lifted his chin.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” She let out a breath before throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his, her tongue darting into his mouth as she sank against him.
“Now that’s what I like,” he murmured, his hands gripping her behind. Then he crushed Scarlett to him, and their lips fused in a fierce and wild kiss.
She clung to Shadow as arousal surged through her senses, screaming for him to take it further. One of his hands moved from her bottom and skimmed past her hips and side, and then molded over her breast, his fingers flicking over her nipple through the soft cotton of her tank top. Each tug at her breast brought a moan to her lips.
“I need you so bad,” she softly said.
A hard pinch on her hard bud made her cry out in pain and desire, then he kissed her gently. A lazy smile flitted over his lips as his thumb stroked her cheekbone.
“You are my sweet woman,” he murmured.
He tweaked her nose then gave her a soft peck on the lips. Scarlett missed his warmth almost immediately as he took a step back from her.
“I gotta go in and talk to your old man, but I’d rather drag you down to the tennis house.”
Scarlett nodded, brushing the strands of hair sticking to her forehead. “Me too, but I don’t want my dad to come out there and catch us. God, I would totally feel like I was in high school if that happened.” She giggled.
Shadow swatted her behind, then stood to the side, gesturing her to go inside the house. They walked in silence down the hallway to her father’s den. When she knocked on the door, her dad’s deep voice boomed, “Come in.”
“Good luck,” she said to Shadow as she turned the knob.
“I want you with
me,” he said.
Her brows raised slightly. “Are you sure? I mean this is sort of private, right?”
While shaking his head, he grasped her hands. “We’re a team, baby, and you’re part of my life.”
Her heart fluttered and she leaned against him. “I’ll go in with you,” she whispered.
“Come in!” her dad bellowed.
“Showtime,” she said, opening the door.
Surprise flashed across George Mansfield’s face when she and Shadow walked in. He picked up a brandy snifter, took a sip, then motioned for them to sit down on the small leather couch across from him.
For a long moment silence filled the room, then Shadow broke it.
“So you were my mom’s sugar daddy,” he said. Bitterness dripped from his words, and she ached for him.
The facial muscles in her father’s face tightened, and his fingers whitened around the glass in his hand. “I was never her sugar daddy. I loved Carmen with all my heart.”
“Bullshit,” Shadow said.
“You don’t know shit. I knew your mother for a long time. I used to see her at the grocery store, the post office, and at the hardware store.” He chuckled, and his features softened with the memory of Shadow’s mother. “I helped her pick out a lot of items for do-it-yourself projects that never got done. We had a weekly meeting at the hardware store, and I’d help her figure out what she needed for the endless projects she wanted to do.”
“I never knew that. I always wondered why we had so many damn screws and tools around the house,” Shadow said, a hint of surprise lacing his voice.
“I think we both knew they were just excuses to meet up with each other. We graduated to having a cup of coffee every now and then, and each time we met up, I became more enthralled with Carmen. I loved hearing her laugh. She had the most wonderful way of creating sunlight wherever she went. I loved that about her.”
In that moment her father was back in the past, talking not to Shadow but to Carmen, to their memories—to their love.
“Then Bruce took me to this strip club—Satin Dolls, and I was shocked to see Carmen on stage. She never once mentioned to me that she was a dancer. I hated that she had to earn a living that way.” George then looked at Shadow. “She worked hard to give you the life she thought you deserved. She was a wonderful mother.”
“I know,” Shadow whispered, and Scarlett placed her hand on his and squeezed it lightly.
“Carmen talked about you all the time. You were her reason for living.” He took another sip of brandy. “So different from Pamela,” he muttered, the words barely audible.
Scarlett’s heart went out to her father. How terrible it must’ve been to be in a loveless marriage for all these years. I wonder if Mom ever loved any of us. Is she even capable of loving anyone but herself?
“That night at Satin Dolls, Carmen was so embarrassed to see me that she acted like she didn’t know me. Even had the sleazy manager threaten to throw me out if I kept bothering her. For several weeks, she didn’t show up to the hardware store, then I went back to the strip bar to find her. She cried when I told her I thought she was a wonderful and loving mother. I told her it didn’t matter what she did. And that’s when she agreed to go out with me on a proper date.” He chuckled softly.
“You shouldn’t have told my mom that you were in the process of getting a divorce when you had no fuckin’ intention of doing that.” Shadow glowered.
George nodded. “You’re right, but I was afraid she wouldn’t give us a chance, and by the time we went out on the date, I was already in love with her. But not telling her in the beginning was selfish. I take responsibility for that.”
“If you’d been honest, she’d be alive now.” Anger punctuated his words.
“Maybe, maybe not. Your mother loved me too.” Her dad’s gaze bored into each of them. “And as you know, love is pretty damn powerful. It makes people do all sorts of things they swore they would never do.”
Scarlett felt Shadow tense and she patted his hand gently.
“Even so, you owed her that,” he gritted out.
Her dad nodded. “In the beginning, yes, but after she admitted that she loved me, too, I told her the truth, and asked her to marry me. You see, by that time, I had decided to file for divorce.”
Shock vibrated through Scarlett, but she kept quiet. He was going to leave Mom and us?
“I don’t fuckin’ believe you.”
“It’s the way it was. Carmen was mad that I lied about my true marital situation when we first started going out, but she forgave me. We were in love. Anyway, Carmen told me she’d think about it, but I never got the answer …” her dad’s voice trailed away.
“You’ve known all along I was Carmen’s son,” Shadow said.
“I knew the day I came to your office. You bear a striking resemblance to her. She talked about you all the time, but she never wanted me to meet you until things were permanent between us.”
“You’re a fuckin’ hypocrite,” Shadow growled. “You tried to break up Scarlett and me, yet you lied and fucked my mom over big time.”
“I loved your mother! And you’re a member of an outlaw club. Do you think your mom would like that? I don’t.” George’s face was red, his anger visibly rising.
“She’d have supported me. Anyway, that’s not any of your fuckin’ business.” Shadow rose to his feet. “I’m done with this.”
Scarlett followed suit and stood up. “Dad, you and I can talk later. I just want you to know that I love Shadow and I’m not leaving him. You can accept it or not.”
Her dad looked at her over the rim of the snifter. “You’re grown up now, and you have to make your own decisions. I still don’t think this relationship is going to work, but you’ll have to find that out for yourself.”
“At least ours isn’t built on a pack of fuckin’ lies,” Shadow said as he walked toward the door.
“I’ll talk to you later.” She went over to her dad and rubbed her hand over his head. “Are you okay?”
He craned his neck and caught her gaze. “I’m fine.” He gripped her arm lightly. “Thanks for asking, honey.”
She smiled softly then walked out of the room, hurrying to catch up with Shadow who was barreling down the hallway to the front door. He jerked it open just as she came up behind him.
“Slow down,” she said, grabbing his arm.
He stopped in his tracks. “Your dad’s full of shit!”
“I know you’re angry, but I don’t think he was lying about how he felt about your mom.”
“She never would’ve broken up a family. She had values, principles. I know she would’ve turned him down.”
“I’m sure you’re right—you knew your mother better than anyone. It’s just that you should feel some comfort in knowing that your mother was happy and had a man who loved her very much,” she said.
“I guess,” he grumbled.
“Can you forgive him? It’s important to our relationship that you can do that because he’s my dad, and he’s not going anywhere. He’ll always be a part of my life.”
Shadow embraced her, and she pressed close to him, loving his scent and the warmth of his body as his arms held her tight.
“I know you love your dad, but I’m gonna be honest here. I can’t forgive him right now. It’ll take time—how much? Fuck, I don’t know. That’s all I can give you right now.”
Scarlett tipped her head back. “I’ll take it.” Then they kissed, and she knew deep in her heart that everything would be just fine.
* * *
A few days later, Scarlett sat at one of the picnic tables under a white canopy stretched over the yard and secured on each end of the chain-link fence. Several children ran around the area squealing as they tried to catch iridescent bubbles coming from a machine that sat on the corner of one of the tables.
“Here you go, babe,” Shadow said as he handed her a bottle of water and a glass of white wine. He’d explained that on family days at the club, wine
was on the bar menu, otherwise, it never graced its shelves during club parties.
“Thanks,” she said, scooting down a bit to give him some room to sit by her.
“Who do these kids belong to?” She took a sip of her drink.
“The dark-haired girl with the braids is Lucy—Animal and Olivia’s daughter. The blonde cohort is Paisley, and she’s Cheri and Jax’s daughter. Hope is the smaller girl with the yellow top, and she’s Addie and Chas’s girl, and the little one with the long wavy hair filled with bows is Isa—Cara and Hawk’s daughter.”
“That’s Cara’s little girl? She’s so cute. Where is Cara?”
“Inside helping Belle and the other old ladies with the food.”
“Should I be in there helping too? I feel rude by just sitting here doing nothing.”
Shadow wrapped his arm around her. “You’re doing something—you’re keeping me company.” He kissed her softly, his light scruff scratching again her cheek.
Then several boys ran into the yard, screaming and jumping on the picnic tables.
“Get the fuck off of those!” a deep voice boomed.
Scarlett turned her head and saw Hawk stalking toward three boys, his face glowering.
“Uh-oh, I wouldn’t want to be them,” she said, shivering slightly.
Shadow laughed. “Hawk’s bark is worse than his bite when it comes to the kids.”
The three boys immediately jumped off the tables and stood in a line, their small bodies shifting from one foot to another.
“Braxton, you know better than that! You want me to call your dad out here, Harley? What about you, James? You guys could split your damn heads open. Next time you pull that stupid shit, it’ll be the end of playing for a while. Got it?”
Each of the boys nodded, their eyes still cast downward.
“Okay. Don’t piss me off again.”
The boys raced away, and Hawk walked toward Scarlett and Shadow.
“Oh God. He’s coming over here and he’s mad as hell.”
Shadow chortled. “Relax, babe.”
“Hey,” Hawk said, lifting his chin at Shadow then at her.
“Hi,” she replied tentatively.
“Cara will be out in a minute. She’s looking forward to seeing you.” Hawk smiled, then brought the bottle of beer to his mouth.