Grace was quiet. Her green eyes never left me as I talked about the past.
“When Titan died, we all believed Steele and Stone. That he and his wife had been killed by a rival club. Except Chasm. He started digging. Looking for the proof that Steele was behind it. As far as I knew, Steele had no idea.
“We were on a run; there was a warehouse we were supposed to meet buyers at. Chasm and I were supposed to go in together, but Steele called. I’d told him to wait, but Steele wouldn’t let me go. Chasm was concerned the buyers would balk, so he went in alone. The warehouse exploded, and I thought I’d lost my best friend.
“When I returned to the club, Steele acted as though nothing had happened. As though all we’d lost was a deal. He’d had pretty words for the club, talk about getting justice and all that shit, but there was something in his words that didn’t feel right. That was when my faith in him really started to wane.Cash already didn’t like Steele, and he shared various reasons why. I couldn’t ignore Cash’s concerns anymore, not after what happened to Chasm.”
“But he’s alive.”
“He’s alive. I don’t know how and I don’t know why he hasn’t come looking for me sooner. I think he blames me.”
“Why would he blame you?” she asked, sitting up and pulling the sheet with her. I stared at the arm covering her chest and holding the sheet in place, wanting desperately for it to drop so I could distract her from this conversation I didn’t want to have.
I rolled onto my back and looked at the ceiling. “Chasm and I fought about Steele. A lot. I’d refused to believe he had anything to do with his father’s death.”
“Even though his father didn’t trust him?”
“Even though his father didn’t trust him. Steele and Titan didn’t see things eye to eye, almost ever. When Titan died, I was a twenty-six-year-old punk who looked up to Steele. For most of my life, I’d only had Declan, and we constantly butted heads. Especially when I joined the club. I just thought Titan didn’t want to hand the club over to him because they disagreed on how things should be run.”
“Titan wanted to bypass Steele for you to be president, but you didn’t trust his judgment when it came to his son?”
“Twenty-six-year-old punk, Grace. I didn’t care.” I shrugged. “I heard president, and everything else was just noise.” I sat up and pulled her against my chest. “I know I’m not fucking good enough for you. But I love you, Grace.”
“But not enough to go against the man you thought was my father.”
“Are we still having the same fucking argument? He’s dead, Grace. He wasn’t your father, after all. Why is he still fucking between us?”
She pulled away and climbed out of the bed, taking the sheet with her. “Because you still don’t fucking get it!” she shouted. “Nothing has changed.”
“Every-fucking-thing has changed!” I argued. Grace closed her eyes, and a tear slipped down her cheek. I got up and went to her, trying to hold her, but she pushed me back.
“The circumstances may have changed, King. But your feelings, your sense of right and wrong when it comes to the club, will always be between us. I thought I could do this. I thought I could be happy with whatever you were willing to give me, for however long it lasted, but I can’t. I can’t be my mother. I can’t live my life according to the whims of an MC president who says one thing and does another.”
She slipped past me into the bathroom as someone knocked on the door.
“FUCK!”
I walked over to the door and yanked it open. I stood there, my junk hanging out, Maureen on the other side, her eyes wide and blinking.
“Shit!” I slammed the door closed and grabbed my jeans. Once they were on, I opened the door again. Maureen glared at me.
“You and I need to have a come-to-Jesus moment.”
“Maureen—” I started, but was cut off by Blade, who was coming up the stairs.
“Ravage is back.” He took one look at the way Maureen was scowling at me and turned around and rushed back downstairs.
“Maureen—”
“Go. I’ll talk to you later.” She waved me off, and I slipped on my boots but left my cut and shirt in Grace’s room. We weren’t done talking, and I’d grab it all when I came back. Right now, I needed to have a come-to-Jesus moment of my own, with my fucking little brother.
I made it to the main room in record time. I didn’t pause. I walked up to the five men who were pissing me off and clocked Ravage in the cheek. He stumbled back against Firestride, then came back swinging.
I’d gotten to know him well enough over the last few days to expect him to fight back, so I dropped down, hitting him in the gut. Thewhooshof air told me he hadn’t expected it.
Nav got in front of me and pushed me back, while Eros corralled Ravage.
“What the fuck?!” he screamed.
