“Sweet ride, but I prefer my truck. It’s yours when you’re cleared to drive.”
The drive to Upton’s is only ten minutes, all of which Jonas and I spent in comfortable silence. To say I’m worried about his reaction to what I tell him tonight is a vast understatement. I’m terrified.
Throughout Bella and my shopping expedition, the trip home, and the hour and a half I was getting ready, I fretted, fought back the urge to throw up, and fretted some more. By the time I heard Jonas open the front door, I was close to hyperventilating.
A very attractive redhead greets us at the hostess station eyeing Jonas like he's a cut of prime rib, making the hair on the back of my neck bristle.
“Good evening and welcome to Upton’s. Do you have a reservation?” She purrs, not sparing me a glance.
“Yeah. Williams table for two,” Jonas replies curtly.
The hostess, appropriately named Candy, scores her red-tipped fingernail down the list until she finds Jonas’ name directing us to follow her. With an overly pronounced swing to her hips, Candy seats us at a two person table close to the back of the restaurant.
Upton’s has been a family owned and operated restaurant since it was opened in 1978. Bill and Margret Upton have since retired, their son, Denny since taking over running it in his parents stead. Not a lot has changed, the menu, layout, and service exactly as it was, but the décor has been updated what looks to be relatively recently.
Before tonight, I’ve only had the occasion to come here twice. Once for my parents wedding anniversary, and the second time for Avery’s twenty-fifth birthday. Then the tables were covered with dark red table cloths, the walls painted a muted shade of gray, and the artwork depicting the Colorado landscape.
Now, all the walls are cream, a feature wall at the far side of the restaurant behind the bar painted a dark plum color. The table cloths are the same shade of plum to match, and small bowls with glass crystals to half way from the top are positioned in the center of the table, a tea light candle lit and nestled inside.
The chairs, which were simple wood before, have been replaced with plush, high-back, cream leather ones. Offset by the inlaid timber flooring, Upton’s has an entirely different feel to what it once had. There’s no mistaking this is an upscale restaurant now.
“Your waitress tonight will be, Dominique. She will be with you shortly to take your drinks order,” Candy addresses Jonas. “But in the meantime, if there is absolutely anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Candy saunters away when she doesn’t get a response from Jonas, leaving a stifling cloud of perfume in her wake.
“I don’t think she could have been more obvious she wanted you if she tried,” I huff indignantly.
Reaching across the table taking hold of my hand, Jonas grins.
“Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight, baby? You always look gorgeous, but tonight you’re fucking stunning,” he rasps.
Blushing furiously, I mumble my thanks hating I have to do what I’m about to do next.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~ Jonas ~
“I love you more than I love my Harley. And that’s saying something, because I really, really, fucking love my bike.”
- Text from Jonas to Blaine
I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d be lucky enough to be sitting across from Blaine wearing a tight, sexy as sin dress, sharing a meal, her pregnant with my baby. Actually, baby aside, I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to have any of that.
With her going back to work, I knew I was going to have to step up my game. While she was at home in my apartment, I had all the time in the world to spend with her. Between working and managing the daily running of the shop, I was home before dinner every night and didn’t need to leave until ten in the morning. Anything I didn’t get done before five, I took home and finished in my office after Blaine fell asleep.
The few times I left her alone to meet with Boss, Fury, Cash, and Gage, I made sure Blaine had someone with her. Most of the time it was Avery or Bella, Beth coming over as often as hers and Boss’ schedule allowed.
It wasn’t that I thought Blaine would hatch an escape plan while I was gone, it’s just that with the fuckers who shot her still out there, I didn’t feel comfortable with her being alone and pretty much immobile.
Our drinks arrive a few minutes after we ordered them, giving us a chance to look over the menu. Blaine is quiet the whole time, only speaking to place her order when Dominique come back.
I don’t ask if she’s okay; she hates it when people do that. Instead, I wait for her to tell me whatever’s eating at her. I don’t have to wait long.
Clearing her throat, Blaine timidly raises her head until she’s staring directly into my eyes.
“I have something I need to talk to you about, but I want you to promise me you’ll hear me out.”
“Sure, baby,” I agree quickly.
“You know I’m so very grateful for everything you’ve done for me since I came home from the hospital. While I was in it too,” she tacks on the end. “And honestly, I don’t think I would have recovered as quickly if it weren’t for you stopping me from overdoing it.”
She’s not wrong. Left up to Blaine, she would have torn her stitches within the first few days due to her immense dislike of being sedentary.
“My honor, baby,” I tell her, meaning it.
The fact that Blaine didn’t fight me on being the one to take care of her was unexpected but appreciated. I needed to know she was okay, and having her with me meant I could see it with my own eyes whenever the mood struck me, which was often.
I don’t know what I would have done if she’d said no. Probably kidnapped her and taken her home with me anyway if I'm entirely honest with myself. Thankfully, if didn’t come to that because I’m not sure Tank would have been down with me absconding with his recently injured daughter and locking her up in my lair.
“For whatever reason you did it, it doesn’t matter. Just know that I don’t know how I can ever repay you, but I’ll do my best to try,” she murmurs.
I know exactly how she can repay me, and shockingly it’s not in sexual favors. I’d take those too, but what I want from her is far more important than access to her sweet body.
For a few weeks now, I’ve been working with a real estate agent to secure a piece of property not far from Avery and Fury’s pad. Boss joked about building a fence around all three places, turning it into a glorified compound of sorts, and I have to admit, all kidding aside, the idea has merit.
With an acre of land between my house and the border of Fury’s, we’d be neighbors but not living in each other’s pockets. Still, the girls would have an easy walk back and forth, and the limited traffic on the road leading to both driveways means being alerted to visitors long before they have the chance to make it to either house.
Unbeknownst to me, the property backing onto the one I’ve been negotiating to buy is owned by none other than my old buddy, Knight Parker.
Knight and I were in the same unit as each other from the time we graduated boot camp until I put in my discharge papers. Neither of us intended to make the Army a career, but fate has a strange way of fucking with people.
Getting married not long before he left for boot camp, Knight had a wife, Dad, and brother to go home to, but that wasn’t in the cards for him. Knight’s family needed the money the Army paid to keep them afloat when his Dad’s business was at risk of going under. Lena his extremely young, beautiful wife was studying to become a nurse, and Knight, who would do anything to make her happy, decided to re-enlist as a way to make her dreams reality.
Knight stuck it out as long as he could, be in the long run, being away from his wife for months at a time just wasn’t worth it anymore. He got out a couple of months after I did, contacting me as soon as he made it home to U.S. soil.
Not long after, his Dad, Graham was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. He went downhill fast, leaving Knight to t
ake over the gym his Dad had been running since his father turned it over to him forty years earlier. Being a business owner wasn’t in Knight’s grand plan, and it sure a fuck wasn’t in his brother, Nate’s.
An adrenaline junkie at heart, Nate likes the freedom to travel, bed-hop, jump off cliffs, deep sea dives, and whatever else peaks his interest. What he isn’t interested in is being responsible for anyone but himself, and owning a business means you’ve got any number of people depending on you. Something Nate actively avoids.
But when Knight’s wife took off one day without a trace, Nate didn’t have a choice but to step up and help his brother out. He didn’t like it, but Nate showed up to work every day, closing for Knight most evenings. Or, I should say, he did until five weeks ago he took off and is refusing to answer Knight’s calls.
Lena is Knight’s reason for breathing, much like Blaine is mine. When he got home to find a note saying she’d left and wasn’t coming back, Knight lost it. He tore apart their house, destroyed everything in his path, and set out to track her down.
From the little he’s told me, he and Lena found out six months before she left that they couldn’t have kids. As a nurse in a maternity ward, Lena was desperate to have her own family, and finding out she couldn’t, Lena made the decision to free Knight so that he could have what she couldn’t give him with someone else. What Lena hadn’t counted on was Knight not wanting to be freed.
Tens of thousands of dollars in investigators, months of searching, and endless sleepless nights later, Knight’s no closer to finding her. Honestly, after he spanks her ass for leaving him, Knight should give the woman a medal for her evasion techniques.
The only lead Knight has got came to him by way of, Brookes, Liam, a Vengeance members older brother. A shit hot private investigator, Brookes is regularly contracted by the FBI and local police force in Dallas because of his ability to find the untraceable.
A little over a month ago, Brookes called Knight to tell him a woman matching his wife’s description was spotted coming out of a drug store two counties over in Hope Springs. There’s been nothing since, but Knight stakes out the town every opportunity he has.
“Jonas,” Blaine prompts. “Are you okay? You spaced out there for a minute or ten.”
“All good, baby. Just thinking about a buddy of mine and his wife,” I offer in the way of explanation.
Blaine doesn’t push me to expound. Further, she merely sits and waits to see if I choose to share, I don’t. We’ve got more important things to talk about right now. Things like me wanting her to move in with me. Permanently.
“Now you’re back, I want to finish what I need to talk to you about before we get interrupted again,” she whispers, referring to the waitress who served us our meals while I wasn’t paying attention.
“Have at it,” I say, digging into my steak.
Blaine doesn’t hesitate, ceasing the opportunity like it was going to disappear. And it’s no wonder why she does when she says,
“I think it’s time I move out.”
Swallowing the now tasteless piece of meat, I growl,
“Repeat that.”
“This was never a permanent arrangement, Jonas. Or not that I knew of. I’m almost entirely healed and back at work now. There was always going to come a time when I was well enough to move back to the apartment Bella and I share, and that time is now. I don’t want you to think I’m not…”
Her sentence trails off when I bark,
“Stop. Don’t say another fucking word.” Shaking my head, I glare at her. “Just so I’ve got it straight, you came out tonight because you wanted to tell me you’re moving back in with my sister. That sound about right?”
“Yes,” she whispers carefully.
It’s good she’s apt at reading my moods because she was right to be careful. Remember what I said earlier about the fates fucking with people? Well, this is a classic example of that. What are the odds that on the same night I wanted to ask Blaine to move in with me, she’d tell me she was moving out? Fucking slim.
Making the decision to approach this gently, I ask,
“Did I do anything to make you think I want you to move out? Say anything? Drop fucking hints I didn’t want you exactly where you were?”
“No, not at all,” she confirms.
“Did I make you feel uncomfortable?”
“Of course not.”
“I give you any reason to change what’s been working so well for over month now?” I push.
“Not exactly,” she hedges.
“Explain that, Blaine, because I’m fucking lost here,” I admit gruffly. “We get along, you’ve got your own space, and I like that I’ve got someone to come home to at the end of the day, so I’m not seeing why you’d want to fuck with a system that’s working.”
“But what about the baby, Jonas?” She asks tentatively.
“What about the baby? You and I might not be together like normal parents, but we make a damn good team. But if that isn’t going to cut it for you, then you give me a shot at making us more than that.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Blaine says looking adorably confused.
It’s time. I’ve been putting it off, hoping that I’d be able to show her the house I bought for us and tell her how I feel about her when I’ve got her where I want her for the rest of her life. But since Blaine’s tipping my hand, I don’t have a choice but to go all in here and fucking pray she feels something similar for me.
“If you don’t know then I’ve been doing a better job of hiding it than I thought,” I start by saying. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, baby, but not taking care of you properly after we were together was the worst of them. Sorry doesn’t begin to cover it, but it’s all I’ve got.”
“Please don’t,” she begs. “Nothing good is going to come from rehashing it.”
“This has been a long time coming, baby. We can’t put this behind us if we don’t talk about it. I’m not going to lie I wish you’d told me but that wouldn’t have changed the outcome. I still would have gone there with you; I just would have done it differently,” I admit, the memories of how badly I hurt her flooding in. “Do you know what kills me, though? It was realizing when we made our boy he was conceived while I caused you pain. It’s the fucking fear that every time you look at him, you’ll remember how he came to be.”
“No,” Blaine denies resolutely. “Oh no, Jonas. You don’t honestly believe that do you?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely, I do.”
“Cash was right you know,” she interjects cryptically. “Grownups face their problems they don’t run away from them.”
She’s talking about the scene in the diner before everything went to shit, I know that much. But what I don’t know is what that has to do with where we’re at now.
“Clue me in, baby because you’re losing me again.”
“I should have stayed and talked to you. Instead, I left and in doing so didn’t give you the chance to absolve yourself of the guilt you’ve been carrying around. I’m sorry, Jonas. So terribly sorry. Do you know why I left, though because I doubt it’s for the reasons you think it is?”
“You said in front of your Dad and the boys you were worried about how I was going to react, so I figure that’s a big part of it,” I assume.
“I left because I felt ashamed. Not of what we did or that we made a baby, but because I felt ashamed for not being strong enough to stay knowing nothing would ever come of it. I basically propositioned you, Jonas. Actually, no basically about it; I did proposition you. You can’t respect a woman who does that type of thing, and because I did, I knew I would just become another one of the countless women who throw themselves at you on a daily basis.”
At her confession, I throw my head back and roar with laughter. This woman is fucking insane if she thinks anything she could do would mean she’d lose my respect.
“Why the hell are you laughing?” She hisses. “Nothing about this conversation is remotely humo
rous.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Blaine,” I choke out. “You might not be trying to be funny, but you’re fucking hilarious, baby.”
Straightening in my seat, I get my shit together before going on.
“I won’t lie to you; I’ve had women, a lot of them, but I’ve only been in two relationships. You know about Bec, and Alysia, Liam’s sister, was the other. We weren’t exclusive, and we only got together when she and I were both on leave. She was Army too. Not the same unit seeing as our skillsets were entirely different, but Alysia knew what it was like to live that life, and through that we found comfort in each other.”
“Um, just to say; women don’t usually like hearing about men they’ve slept with previous conquests,” Blaine offers, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
“I get that, baby, and I promise this has a point, or I wouldn’t bother.” Continuing, I try to put Blaine’s mind at ease. “Met her when she walked into the shop I was working at in L.A. The same shop I was still working at when I met Beth, that’s how long ago it was. We talked while I inked her, she told me about what it was like to grow up with seven brothers, and I shared what it was like living with three sisters. Alysia and I had shit in common, but it was never going to go anywhere. With good reason too. She was hung up on a guy she went to school with who up and left without a trace, and I was in love with someone else.”
Vengeance MC Box Set - Volume 1: Call Me...Vengeance ~ Fury ~ Jonas Page 78