“She’s just full of surprises.”
He beams, actually beams. I didn’t think it was possible for my surly brother to crack such a big smile, but it’s there, on his face, and it softens everything about his usually hard features. He looks so different, so carefree. It actually brings a lump to my throat. Clearly, Paige is good for him.
“You have no idea. She’s the most amazing woman.”
I swallow the enormous clogging feeling and trail after him as he starts towards the car. Paige waves frantically through the window at me, her smile wide. Considering I’ve only met her once before at Weed’s birthday, her greeting takes me by surprise. I don’t expect her to come at me like we’re best friends. She opens the door and climbs out. I barely reach her before I’m pulled into her arms and swallowed in a hug that nearly crushes my ribs into my lungs.
“Breathing is a prerequisite for living, Paige,” I grunt out.
She giggles and releases her grip on me. “Sorry. I got carried away. It’s so good to see you again, girl. You look great.”
This statement warms me in ways I didn’t realise I could be warmed. The only person who has ever truly cared about me is Cami, but now, I have Josh, Paige, and Jem. Then there’s the other women in the Club. It feels good to have this wider network and for the first time I understand why Josh is drawn to it.
“It’s good to see you both.”
“Okay, before this starts getting mushy, do you girls want to get in the car?”
Paige pushes Josh’s bicep. “Don’t ruin our moment, Wade.”
He brushes his lips over hers. “I wouldn’t dare.”
A pang of jealousy goes through me as his hand goes to the back of her neck possessively, pulling her close. They haven’t been together long, but already it’s as if every breath he takes is for her. Their love is raw, deep and unapologetic desire.
It makes me miss Jem. I can’t wait to see him, and I hope I’ll have the chance over the weekend, although given he’s going to be with his brother for his stag party, the chances may be few and far between.
I move to the back door of the car, and climb in while they finish plundering each other’s mouths, and when Paige gets in, she turns in the front seat, wincing.
“Sorry. Your brother’s an animal.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to apologise. I’m invading your personal space.”
“Not at all. And you don’t need to be subjected to a porno show every time you visit.”
I snort at this description. I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to get some revenge once Jem and I go public.
“Thank you for that image.”
She laughs. “Anyway, you don’t have to worry about him and me.” She says this as the driver’s door opens and Josh climbs in. “We’ll be mostly with the girls all weekend, so it’ll be a man-free zone.”
Josh reaches for his seatbelt, his eyes seeking mine in the rear-view mirror. His huge frame seems to suck all the space out of the vehicle and I understand why he prefers his bike. He seems so ill-fitted to a car—or cage, as he calls them. It is a good description, because it seems to strangle him.
“Yeah, apparently we’re banned from Lace while you girls are having the hen do.”
“You’re out on Logan’s stag do anyway,” Paige says. “Why would you want to be at Lace?”
Josh scowls. “There better be no strippers.”
“Will you be having strippers?”
He doesn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought. So, you boys don’t get to tell us we can’t have strippers if you’re having them.”
“I didn’t say we were.”
“Your silence said it for you, handsome.”
“I’m not going to watch them.”
She snorts a laugh. “You’re not going to watch? Well, neither am I.”
Josh growls. “Fucking hell. Whose idea was this fucking shit?”
Paige leans over the middle console and squeezes his thigh. “Wade, I love you.”
This seems to soothe my brother and his anger seeps out of him. Hmm, interesting. Paige might be a good person to get onside when it comes to spilling the beans about me and Jem.
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
“So, what’ve you been up to, Piper?” Paige catches me off guard by suddenly turning in her seat and addressing me.
Bugger.
Mostly, I’ve been shagging Jem.
“You know, working, the pub, going to the gym…”
The last is a lie. I don’t think I’ve ever set foot in the gym. I’m using Cami’s life to round out my own here.
“I need to join the gym.” I can barely see her around the passenger seat, but her hand goes to her stomach. “I’m getting flabby since I came off the poles and started working behind a desk.”
My brother’s gaze snaps in her direction. “The fuck you are.”
“Handsome, my bum has its own postcode.”
He growls a curse. “You’re fucking perfect. Don’t talk that shit.”
The vehemence in his tone is both a little scary, but also warming. Hearing my brother reject Paige’s insecurities so intensely is unique. I can’t imagine Grant doing that for Mum.
She waves him off. “You’re biased. You don’t have a vote. I could just lose a little off my hips.”
“I fucking like your hips as they are, Paige.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t, and since they’re my hips, I get the final say.”
Josh lets out a frustrated breath. “Fuck my life, woman.”
“It’s easy for you, Wade, you’re sitting there looking like… well, a sex god. I don’t want to be on your arm looking flabby.”
He turns the steering wheel a little sharp to the left and I have to hang on to the handle above the door to keep from sliding across the back seat. I see her point, though. Josh does have a good physique. I also wish I was anywhere but in the back of this car right now. I’m really wondering if they’ve forgotten they have a passenger.
“Number one, you’re not flabby. Number two, I don’t give a shit if you weigh a hundred pounds or six hundred pounds, you’ll always be beautiful to me. Number three, I’m not exactly perfect either, sweetheart, so you don’t get to look at me and ignore my imperfections and highlight what you perceive to be your own.”
“Wade… you don’t have imperfections,” she says quietly.
“Sweetheart, I’m missing half my fucking ear. My nose is crooked as fuck and I have a scar under my lip. We all have our battle wounds.”
I swallow hard and glance out the window. We all have our battle wounds. It’s true. Some are visible, some are not. Externally, I look okay, internally is a different matter. The scars inside me are ugly and irreparable. Does Jem see my imperfections? Does he look past them? Are we still in that phase were everything is shiny and the bad things are not noticeable?
I watch as Paige reaches across the central console of the car and grabs my brother’s hand.
“I love you, handsome,” she says quietly. “Just as you are.”
He squeezes her hand. “I love you, too, Paige.”
The bachelorette party is exactly how I imagine it. There are penis-related things everywhere—the cake is the main attraction and there are tiny metallic cut out penises scattered over the top of the table. The rest of the room is decorated with banners and balloons. I feel both part of the group, but also slightly on the peripheral. I’m not quite an outsider, but I’m not yet in the inner circle either. The girls are rowdy, but there’s a reassurance about their banter. I can tell they are worried about this situation with Dylan.
I wish Cami was here. She’d like them.
I’m struggling to keep up with their chatter when Sofia, Jem’s youngest sister, suddenly chirps up, “Kenzie said you were visited by a P.I.”
Beth freezes, her eyes sliding around the table.
A P.I.
It takes my brain a moment to realise what it means—a private investigator.
> The other women are all looking at the brunette woman, with a mixture of intrigue and concern. I’m wondering why in the heck a P.I. would be talking to her in the first place.
Mackenzie, Jem’s other sister, lifts her hands and signs something. I have no idea what, but I need to learn British Sign Language if I’m going to be in her brother’s life—and probably stat. I know his sister is unable to speak, but can hear, but I’m not sure what caused her inability to vocalise. I should talk to Jem, find out more about his family.
Jamie snags a chip, digging it into the dip, saying, “What the hell did a P.I. want?”
“Can we not do this now?” Beth says, her eyes skittering towards Liv, who simply responds with, “He’s looking for Simon.”
“What?” Clara demands at the same time Sammy asks, “Your nutty ex?”
Jem’s mother, Mary, who I’m not going to lie, scares me half to death, decides to step in at this point. “Girls, I’m not sure we should be talking about this at Beth’s hen do.”
No one pays her the slightest bit of attention, and I don’t blame them. I also want to know more, even though I have no idea what any of this is about.
“He accosted me outside the supermarket this afternoon,” Liv admits. I don’t miss the way her hand goes to rest on the top of her baby bump, a protective move, almost.
Beth sits back in her seat, her face rippling with guilt and a hint of panic. I don’t blame her for this. Liv isn’t small height wise, she’s taller than Beth, probably just a little shorter than me, but she is pregnant.
“Fuck, does Dean know?”
I watch as Liv bites her lip. I’m guessing from that look, she hasn’t told him. I don’t know Dean well, but I would hazard a guess that it is not going to go down well.
“He’d lock me in the house if he knew,” Liv mutters, trying to justify her reasons for holding back. “I didn’t want to miss tonight,” she adds, then says quietly. “I’ll tell him, though. I don’t like to keep things from him.”
“Why were you alone in the first place?” Sofia asks.
“I nipped out for five minutes to grab some milk. It seemed crazy to bother a prospect or a brother to come over for that. I know it was stupid, but things have been quiet lately. I thought it would be okay. I didn’t expect to get accosted.”
“Why’d Brosen come to you?” Beth asks after a moment. “You weren’t the last person to see Wilson. I was.”
“The P.I. is working for Simon’s parents.” She winces, colour staining her cheeks pink. “I don’t think he’s interested in me. I filed for divorce months ago and had to disclose my address on the paperwork. He’s just looking for Simon. Reading between the lines, the police investigation has stuttered. He’s poking around for any information he can find.”
“Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “I was in a public place.”
“What a piece of shit,” Sofia mutters. “It’s not enough you had to go through all that crap with your ex, now you have this arsehole harassing you.”
I have no idea what to make of this, other than trouble seems to follow the Club like a lost puppy, only this puppy has teeth. Not that my life back home is any less trouble free. I still have no idea what misfortune Grant has brought to my doorstep—if at all. Maybe it was just posturing, designed to scare me into submission. Although he hasn’t tried to push me into doing what he wants since he wiped his hands clean of me, and that was weeks ago.
Mary reaches over and takes Liv’s hand, squeezing it gently.
“You need to tell the boys. They need to be able to look after you, sweetheart.”
“I will,” Liv promises. “Believe me, I’m not taking any chances. The man wasn’t aggressive anyway, just forceful. I don’t really know what I can tell him. The last time I saw Simon was weeks before everything happened in the colliery.”
“We all just need to be vigilant,” Beth says, dragging her gaze from her to address the others. “This guy is like a dog with a bone and he’s not scared of the Club. Logan practically smashed his teeth in, and he barely batted an eyelid.”
Paige glances around the table, “Okay, someone is going to have to fill me in on all of this.”
“Liv’s ex is a nut who went on a two-week rampage that concluded with him beating the shit out of Liv before shooting up the clubhouse, injuring Logan, then abducting Beth and Dean and putting a bullet in your man,” Sammy explains like she’s talking about the weather. “That’s the short version.”
Paige’s brows arch before she whispers, “Holy shit.”
“That about sums it up.”
“Tap and Dylan used that situation to create chaos to further their own agenda to destabilise the Club, but you know about that part, since you were involved in that bit,” Sofia adds.
Sammy reaches for a chip, dipping it in the salsa. “You know, just another day in the life of the Lost Saxons.”
“Well, at least it’s never boring,” Jamie leans back in her chair with a wiggle of her brows.
“I’m fine with boring.” Beth says. “In fact, roll on boring.”
“You’d die with boring.”
“I would not.”
“Girl, ten minutes of boring and you’d be throwing yourself into the trajectory of something dramatic. You can’t even walk ten paces without something happening to you.”
Beth’s eyes roll. “I don’t go looking for drama. It just… happens.”
“Yeah, yeah. At least you have Mr Tall, Dark and Brooding to save you from the drama,” Jamie says. “Me? I’m out there alone facing it. Shark food, that’s what I am. While you’re being stalked around town by the hotness that is Logan Harlow, I’m being followed by Rabbit or Charlie. Hell, yesterday, I had Lucas on my arse all day. He’s a little weasel. I couldn’t get Jem or Weed or even King. Fucking Lucas. The guy is a miserable bastard with the personality of a damp sock. Jem on the other hand—close your ears Harlows—is sex on legs.”
I’m fairly certain my entire body goes wired at her words. I’ve never felt possessive before, but hearing her talking about Jem like that does something, unlocks something. I don’t like hearing him being discussed like this and the need to stake my claim on him is overwhelming. I have to bite my tongue to keep the words behind my teeth. I had no idea she even liked him.
Does she like him?
Does he like her?
Insecurity washes over me as I peer at her. She’s pretty. Very pretty. She has soft red hair that bounces around her shoulders and freckles that sweep over her nose. She’s confident, brash, not afraid to take what she wants, fun. I’m none of these things. She’s more like Jem than I am.
Would he be better with her?
“Oh my God,” Mary mutters looking like she would like the ground to swallow her whole.
“Is it time to cut the cake yet?” Sofia demands briskly, getting to her feet, glaring at Jamie.
“Absolutely,” Mary replies, following just as fast.
“Can we not discuss my future brother-in-law like that?” Beth chastises.
Kenzie’s hands flash.
“What? You have hot brothers, Kenz,” Jamie replies to whatever she signs. “I can’t help that. Jem is like a walking sex god. All that blond hair and muscles. And Adam…”
Oh my God…
I need to lay claim to Jem as soon as this wedding is done. I get some cake and settle in the corner, sliding the cake back on the table. Then I pull out my phone.
ME: Do you think Jamie is attractive?
I don’t expect a response back, but to my surprise it pings back almost immediately.
JEM: Angel, how many wines have you had?
ME: Not nearly enough. There are penis shaped things everywhere that I can’t unsee.
JEM: As long as none of them are the real deal.
ME: You haven’t answered my question.
JEM: Piper, why are you asking this?
ME: She fancies you.
JEM: Well, she is only human.
/> ME: Everyone fancies you.
JEM: I don’t care about everyone else. I only want you.
ME: Smooth talker.
JEM: Absolutely. I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours right now, but hear me when I say I don’t give a shit about anybody else. When are you going to understand this? Angel, you’re mine. I don’t give a shit about Jamie or any other women. I’ve only got eyes for you.
Yes, I’m his. Completely and irrevocably. He’s under my skin, buried deep in my soul and embedded in my heart.
But that makes you mine too, Jem Harlow, and Jamie and everyone else can keep their mitts off.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I take the Wednesday off after the hen do, so I can actually spend some time with Jem. He comes up to Manchester to see me, and we spend the day in the city centre, doing nothing but wandering around, window shopping and chatting. It’s cold, and the last week in November, so although the official Christmas markets are not yet set up, there are lots of Christmas gifts around. I mentally pick out things I can buy for Jem as we walk, wondering whether he likes everyday things or if he’s more about the outrageous gift. In the time I’ve got to know him, we haven’t delved that deeply into each other’s likes and dislikes, so I’m not sure what would pass as the perfect present for him, but I’m getting antsy, the nearer the holiday is getting.
I push out thoughts of presents as we manoeuvre around the mid-week shopping crowd. Walking around Manchester with Jem feels so normal, so pedestrian, I can’t help but relax. He isn’t wearing his kutte, opting for just his leather jacket and shirt below. There’s another Club that operates in the city—the Devil’s Dogs—and while Jem told me the Lost Saxons and Devils are allies, he doesn’t wear his colours while we’re out in town. I haven’t asked why, but I suspect it’s a respect thing. Frankly, it’s nice to be civilians for a little while. Walking hand in hand, we look like any normal couple. There’s no Club, no Grant and no expectations. There’s just him and me. It’s wonderful.
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