It was a fair question, I supposed since he was the one I called. But I didn’t call him for me and that’s just what I told the men. “Because Falcon is doing the thing I need him to do, take care of TJ.” I wouldn’t learn to rely on Falcon or any of these men. I couldn’t. To do that would be a death sentence once Steel City was behind me. But that wasn’t a good enough answer for Diesel. “I don’t want to inconvenience anyone. I brought trouble to your door and that’s bad enough. All I want to know is if it’s okay for a strange vehicle to enter the property to pick me up. If not, I’ll have them pick me up a few blocks from here.”
Slate stood up beside me, his blue gaze boring into the side of my face. “I told you, I’ll take you.”
“Thank you,” I replied, never taking my gaze off Diesel. I knew if he refused, Slate would rescind his offer.
Finally, he nodded his approval. “Be safe and watch your backs.”
Relief rushed through my body and I nodded. “Thank you.” After a quick stop to kiss TJ and grab my keys and purse,Slate and I took off in a matte black muscle car. “I appreciate this Slate. Seriously.”
“No problem. You’re family. Sort of.” He flashed a teasing grin my way. “So,” he began slowly. “TJ.”
I nodded, knowing the question would come up a few times while we waited for the DNA test results. “TJ is great. He’s shy and quiet until he’s comfortable and then he’s a talkative, precocious, whirlwind of a little boy.” I knew that’s not what he was asking though. “Circumstances made it impossible to come back and I had no other way to reach Falcon.” That wasn’t the full truth, but it was close enough.
“I get it. My little girl, Ash, she was the result of a one night stand. Emma, her mom, only knew me by Asher. No last names so she had no clue how to let me know I had a daughter. We reconnected by a random quirk of chance but she’s my everything. She’s it for me.” He smiled one of those soft, lovey-dovey smiles that was such a rare find in a man, never mind a biker.
“I’m happy for you. Looks like you guys found your way back to each other.” I knew what he was doing but it wouldn’t work.
Slate smiled to himself as he navigated the streets of Steel City. “Okay, but you really plan on leaving TJ behind?”
I held my breath, waiting for his words of reproach or disgust, but they didn’t come. It was just a simple question, a simple loaded question that hurt my heart to answer. “It’s the only way,” I explained even though I knew he wouldn’t get it, not after hearing his story. “I’ve been here for two days and already your shop was bombed and several of your people were injured. Ihaveto do this. It is the only way to keep TJ safe.”
He didn’t agree but he also didn’t argue and soon we arrived at the parking garage. Slate silently maneuvered the car to the top floor where my car was safe and looked untouched.
“Looks good.”
I nodded and stepped out his vehicle. My car was exactly how I left it and there were no signs that anyone had tried to break in. Good. I grabbed a bag of clothes along with toiletries and things that would keep TJ occupied. Really, they were things that comforted him, things he would need when I was gone. “Okay, that’s everything,” I said, as I shut the door.
Slate studied the parking lot, his gaze swept everything in sight before he turned to me. “Let’s move the car. It’s less suspicious that way.”
I opened my mouth to argue but I realized he was right. It would look like the car belonged to a tourist or someone who worked in the area if we moved it. “Okay.”
“Hang on,” he grabbed a black laptop from his car, holding it with one hand and typing with another. “Okay, let’s go down to the third floor and park it beside the stairwell.”
I wanted to question his reasoning, but I just nodded. “Okay.” I slid behind the steering wheel and gripped it until my knuckles screamed in pain. I could start the engine and drive out of this garage, out of this city and head east until I ran out of gas.
But I couldn’t do that to TJ.
I would never do that to my son, so I turned over the engine and followed Slate’s car to the third floor. He pulled ahead and put his left blinker on, a sign I took to mean that’s where I should park. I did and killed the engine, allowing myself a few minutes to think about the last forty-eight hours. My lifehad been a little crazy the past few years, but a bombing and emergency surgery inside a bar was crazier than usual.
Slate knocked on my window. “You okay?”
I gripped the wheel tighter, nodding too quickly to be believable. “Perfect,” I said between clenched teeth.
“Your car will be safe here,” he explained, either ignoring my obvious freak out, or oblivious to it. “There’s a camera right here and another just over my shoulder, which means I can hack the feed and keep an eye on it.”
His words stunned me. “Really? That’s impressive.”
He displayed a proud grin. “I’m an impressive guy. Ask anyone.”
I laughed and locked my car. “I’ll take your word for it. The car won’t be here for long anyway.”
Slate’s smile dimmed, which made me feel like a jerk, but it was the truth, and I never sugarcoated the truth to anyone other than my patients. “Come on. Let’s grab a coffee and head back to the clubhouse.”
“Coffee sounds nice,” I agreed and slipped into the passenger seat and strapped my seatbelt into place.
***
After we left the coffee shop, we’d been driving for around fifteen minutes when Slate turned to me and said, “It’s not so bad having people around who have your back.”
