“This is awkward, Ariana,” Vince complained as they walked hand in hand down the hospital corridor. The last time he’d seen her here, he’d taken her out to an ambulance and ridden her like a wild horse. This time, she’d insisted that, to meet her father, he wear his Iron Claws jacket and motorcycle boots with a handkerchief tied around his head. The only reason he’d gotten away with the ragged pair of jeans he wore was because he’d sworn on his own father’s grave that he didn’t own a pair of leather pants.
Ariana still hadn’t believed him. She’d searched his closet.
Why he’d let her into his house he couldn’t fathom, and even worse, he didn’t know why he’d agreed to this little farce. He was on edge, worried about the club and the fight that was certainly on the horizon, and he hadn’t wanted to be away from the clubhouse. But she’d called after one in the morning and asked if he’d come with her, early. He’d told her she’d have to pick him up, and she’d been more than willing.
“It’ll be fine,” she told him, but the sharpness in her voice told Vince she was nervous. “Look, the idea is to give my father his dying wish to see me dating someone. I appreciate you doing this more than you can imagine.” She stopped outside a cracked door and turned to look at him. She nodded in approval. “And I also appreciate you looking like a biker.”
He gave her a withering look. “I am a biker.”
She sighed. “I just… I don’t know if I want to shock my mother and sister, or if I want to show them how stupid they can be. I mean, Lorraine’s husband is a cheating, abusive son of a bitch who sits in an office and talks numbers all day. When they see that you’re so much more admirable than that, they’re going to shit their pants.”
Vince couldn’t think of a time in his life when anyone had referred to him as “admirable,” and he stared down at Ariana in wonder. She gazed back, her expression filled with confusion. Instead of answering her, he pulled her against him and kissed her, long and hard. When he pulled away, she stared at him with wide eyes, and he just stared into them. “Let’s do this.”
She nodded and pushed the door open. Vince’s ears were instantly assaulted by the voices two women who obviously disagreed about something, though he couldn’t tell what, since they were speaking in shrill voices on top of each other. Ariana stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. It pierced Vince’s ears, but it stopped the bickering and drew three pairs of eyes in their direction.
He instantly saw the family resemblance. While not nearly as petite, Ariana had her mother’s curves and, if the man in the bed didn’t look like a vampire victim freshly drained of blood, her face would mirror his. The younger woman, presumably Ariana’s sister, Lorraine, could have been Ariana’s twin, though her face was rounder and she was short like her mother.
He could feel Ariana draw in a deep breath, her side pressed to his. “Vince, meet my family. Family, this is Vince.” She walked forward and drew Vince along. She pushed past her mother, who looked like she might faint any moment, to get next to her father and kiss his forehead. She smiled down at him. “How are you feeling this morning?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I finally got some rest, until a few minutes ago.” He looked straight at Vince. “Hello, young man.”
He held out a weathered hand, and Vince took it. “It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Powell.”
He blew a raspberry. “It’s just Cedric now. And the pleasure’s mine.” He made turning a motion with his hand. “You mind showing me the back of your jacket?”
Vince wasn’t sure why, but he turned to show the talons tearing into the American flag. He caught sight of Ariana’s mother’s expression and wanted to laugh at the thin line she’d pressed her lips into and the hatred that poured from her eyes. He heard Cedric clear his throat and turned back around to see a broad grin on his emaciated face. “You know, back in my day, the leather wasn’t as nice, and the image wasn’t as well-embroidered. The Iron Claws. God, I wish I’d made the cut.” He had a far-off look in his eyes, and Vince glanced back and forth between him and Ariana, curious. But Ariana’s expression told him she had no idea what he was talking about, either.
“I don’t think we need to cozy up about all this,” Ariana’s mother said as she drew up to the other side of the bed beside her younger daughter, standing over her husband almost protectively.
Cedric rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Arlene. I’ve kept quiet long enough.” He turned back to Ariana and Vince. “I prospected right out of high school, but I was young and dumb and didn’t make it. I’d still have the ‘prospect’ patch, if someone hadn’t burned it, along with the rest of my memories, years ago.”
Vince was floored. He would never have figured the man for a biker, and his wife’s eyes flashed hot as the corners of her mouth turned down in an ugly expression.
It was Lorraine who spoke to Vince next, her voice dripping with disgust. “How did you happen to meet my self-righteous sister?”
He felt Ariana tense beside him, and he rushed to answer before things went south. Turning on the charm, he said, “This beautiful woman saved my life. Well, actually, at first, she just saved my leg. I crashed my bike on a wet road. But in the ambulance I looked into her eyes, and I knew she was everything I wanted. I haven’t been able to let her go since.”
Lorraine rolled her eyes. In a sing-song tone, she said, “She looked at him, and he looked at her, and they knew it was love.” She made a gagging sound. “I don’t believe in love at first sight. You probably just wanted to bang her, and now, you’ve developed a gratitude complex.”
Vince couldn’t get words out before Ariana spit venom. “Don’t project your issues onto me, Lorraine. I’m not the one who feels like she deserves to be mistreated.”
Wrapping an arm around Ariana’s shoulders, Vince drew her tighter against him. “I don’t think we should be fighting right now. I really wanted to meet all of you, even if you all have your differences. It was important to me to know the people who influenced such a tender, giving, selfless woman. And I also wanted to see where she got her looks.” He addressed Ariana’s mother. “Now, it’s obvious you passed them on to both your girls.”
The older woman flushed, but she puffed up as if offended. Lorraine rolled her eyes and huffed like a petulant child. “I’m going to the cafeteria to get some coffee. I’ll be back after you’re gone.”
Ariana’s mother cleared her throat and patted her chest. “I apologize for our behavior. I guess we just expected Ariana to bring in someone more… ” She trailed off as she assessed Vince from top to bottom.
“Clean?” he suggested playfully. “I assure you, I’ve showered, and these clothes are fresh from the wash.”
Cedric coughed several times, and Vince worried a lung was going to pop out of his mouth at any moment. Finally, the sound calmed, and the man spoke.
“I admit, you smell better than this damn hospital.” He chuckled, and Vince smiled down at him with a wink. Cedric said, “Well, Vince, I don’t really know you, but I see that you’re protective of my daughter, and I watch the way you look at her. I also see the shine in her eyes and the glow on her face as she talks about you and as she looks up at you. Thank you for making her happy. And please, do everything you can to take care of her when I’m gone. She’s going to need you to get through this.”
“She has me,” Ariana’s mother muttered.
Ignoring her remark, Vince said, “Yes, sir, I plan to be around for a long time to come. I—I am deeply sorry for what’s happened to you, and I can’t really say anything else except that I wish you peace.” Vince had never spoken to someone who was dying, and he only hoped he said the right thing.
As he left the room with Ariana, he gazed down at her. From the tears in her eyes and the shadow of a smile on her lips, it seemed he’d done well. “Are you alright?” he asked.
She nodded. “Better than alright. I’m sorry about my mother and Lorraine.”
He shrugged. “They’re jealous. I am quite a catch, you know.”
She leaned into him as they walked. “It appears so. And I had no idea about my father.”
“That’s pretty cool. And I have something I can give you for him, too.” She frowned up at him, but he shook his head. “No, I’m not telling. I’ll give it to you tomorrow.” If he’s still alive, he thought.
He’d made a commitment to a dying man that he was going to be around for a long time. If someone else broke that vow for him, was it still a sin on his part? He hoped not.