CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It’s time for another club birthday party.
This one better be a lot tamer than the last one I attended with Rock.
It’s for Heidi’s seventeenth birthday. She’s been through a lot in the last few months, and everyone wants to make sure she has a nice afternoon. When her brother asked what she wanted, she said something simple with her two girlfriends, Axel, and her club family around her, so that’s what we’re doing.
Except we’re doing it at Rock’s house. More specifically his backyard, because he did not want a trio of underage girls up at the clubhouse. Teller and I both agreed that seemed best. For now, Teller is sharing custody of Heidi with their grandmother. Most days it doesn’t go well. He tried to set their differences aside and invited his grandmother here today for the party, but she turned him down. Eventually, this stuff will have to be addressed in family court again, but I’m not going to worry about it now.
Instead, I’m thinking about the beautiful cake Trinity brought with her. I’m thinking that it’s a perfect fall day for an outdoor party.
Z took charge of the massive stainless steel grill Rock has nestled into the stone patio out back. The guys wanted to do a pig roast today, but Heidi shrieked when they told her, so it’s hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken that Z is cooking up.
“You okay, baby doll?” Rock’s arms wrap around my waist, pulling me tight to his front. His lips move against my ear, sending a shiver through me.
“Yup.”
I turn so I’m looking up at him, and a thrill goes through me. He’s one big, sexy man, and he’s all mine.
“You’re sticking around, right?” he asks.
“Of course.”
He breathes a sigh of relief. “I’ll feel better with a female chaperon.”
A quick glance around the party, and I understand why. I trust these guys, but I can see how from the outside it might not look so good. Especially since the girls plan to have a slumber party here afterward. Especially after some of the nasty accusations Heidi’s grandmother made toward the end of the custody dispute.
“That seems prudent,” I say.
Rock quirks an eyebrow at me.
“It seems like the cautious thing to do,” I explain.
He takes his arms from around my waist, plants them at his side, and gives me a sharp glare. “I know what prudent means, Hope.”
I’m blushing furiously. Why do I do things like that?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Honey, just because I didn’t go on to college doesn’t mean I don’t know all sorts of five-cent words.” His mouth kicks up in a devilish grin, but I sense he’s still annoyed with me. “Had a very hot English teacher,” he elaborates.
I roll my eyes at him. Of course he did. “Seems like that would have detracted from your learning instead of enhancing it,” I tease.
“Oh, on the contrary, I aimed to impress, so maybe if I ran into her after graduation, I’d have a shot at her.”
“And how did that work out?”
He only smirks at me.
I pop him in the gut with my fist. “Jackass.” Not my smartest move. His abs are like punching a brick wall, and I shake off the sting.
“Can’t you two take it upstairs?” Wrath grumbles as he makes his way over on his crutches.
“You’re mistaken, bro. She’s fixing to kick my ass, not jump my bones.”
Wrath runs his gaze over me. “I don’t think so, brother.”
“Jerk,” I grumble.
“You know it.” He twists to observe the backyard. “Where’s the birthday girl?”
“Inside watching movies with her friends,” I answer.
Wrath rolls his eyes skyward. “It’s a beautiful day. They should be outside.”
Laughter bubbles out of me. “Okay, Dad. I’ll let them know.” I’m still giggling as I stroll up to the house, and I hear Wrath grumbling behind me.
Trinity is in the kitchen prepping trays of food to bring outside.
“Do you need help?”
She throws me a harried look but shakes her head. “I got it. Maybe, go hang with the girls?” Trinity says as she jerks her head toward the living room. Girlish giggles seep out into the kitchen.
“You sure you don’t want to hang with them? You’re closer to their age.”
Trinity seems stunned I would even suggest such a thing. “Heidi’s not a big fan of mine.”
This is news to me, but it’s not the time to go digging for information.
Feeling more than a little awkward, I creep into the living room. Mean Girls is on, but they seem more intent on gossip than the movie.
“Is your brother here yet? He’s sooo hot,” Skye giggles.
Heidi’s clearly not thrilled by her friend’s assessment of Teller. “Ewww, he’s a disgusting manwhore.”
A laugh escapes me, and the girls glance up, startled and guilty expressions all around. “Hi, Hope. Come to watch movies with us?” Heidi asks while making room for me on the couch.
Surprised by the invitation, I mumble, “Sure.”
Skye and Penny seem less thrilled by my presence, but they murmur polite hellos at me.
From the corner, Axel startles me with a greeting. He’s on the floor, between Heidi’s feet, while she’s running her hands through his hair. Together, they’re a cute picture of teenage romance.
“Hey, Axel.”
“Does prez need me?” he asks. I can’t tell if he’s looking for a way out or he’s really worried Rock might need him for something.
“He didn’t say so, but he’s right outside.”
Unfolding himself from the floor, he plants a kiss on Heidi’s cheek and steps out. His big, booted feet haven’t even cleared the room before the girls burst into giggles.
“You’re so lucky,” Penny sighs.
“Who’s prez that he’s so worried about?” Skye asks.
“My Uncle Rock,” Heidi answers with a whole lot of pride in her voice. “Hope’s his girlfriend,” she says while pointing at me.
The girls seem less than impressed.
“They’re all so old. Aren’t there any other guys in your brother’s club, like Axel’s age?” Penny asks.
I tamp down a giggle at that.
“Yeah, there’s two other prospects, but they’re older than Axel too.”
“High school boys not very interesting these days?” I ask.
Skye gives me a cool glance before answering. “We’re seniors now. We can’t date high school boys.”
Oh dear.
“Food will be ready soon, if you girls want to come out.”
Heidi nods. “We’ll be there.”
On my way back outside, I intercept Bricks. He gives me a quick hug. “Where’s the birthday girl?”
“Inside watching movies with her friends.”
He chuckles. “I brought Lisa and Deacon with me, but she’s probably not gonna wanna hang with them in front of her friends.”
I’m not so sure about that. Heidi seems to do whatever she wants.
“Winter brought Caleb too,” he continues.
“Cool. Rock set up some games in the backyard for the little guys.”
He’s tapping a big, pink envelope in his hands. When I glance at it, he shrugs. “For Heidi,” he explains while handing it to me.
“I’ll stick it on the table.”
He goes inside, and I drop the envelope in a box Trinity set up outside for people to deliver their cards and gifts to Heidi. It seems most people brought gift cards, although there is one big box wrapped in green and silver paper on the table. Idly, I flip over the card and see it’s from Murphy.
That should be interesting.
“Let’s eat!” Z shouts.
Trinity races out of the kitchen to find Wrath. I watch them for a minute, until Rock wraps an arm around my waist. “Hungry?”
“Actually, yes.”
His lips find my ear, and he gently sinks his teeth into me, sending shivers through my body.
“Not here,” I groan.
His deep, rumbling chuckle races right through me.
We’re interrupted by the girls flying out of the house. Z teases them, makes them say please and thank you about a hundred times before finally feeding them.
They’re not amused.
After everyone’s eaten, Heidi goes through her presents. She’s collected enough gift cards to fill the closets of three teenage girls. One by one, she reads the cards and thanks everyone. Only Wrath, Teller, Murphy, Axel, Rock and I are standing around when she gets to the last present.
“It’s from me, Heidi-bug,” Murphy says with a grin.
“I figured.” Heidi rips into it and beams at the helmet inside. “Oh, I love it! Thank you, Blake.”
It’s a big, shiny black one with a full face mask, decorated with pink skulls and butterflies. Very Heidi.
“We’ll take our ride in a few, okay?”
“Yeah.” She smiles shyly. “I didn’t know if we were still doing that.”
“Of course, Bug. It’s your birthday.”
She bounces on her toes a few more times, then races over to show her girlfriends and Axel the helmet.
I quirk an eyebrow at Murphy, which he doesn’t see, because he’s watching Heidi.
Teller’s got an uncertain look on his face, but he answers my unspoken question. “They’ve been doing that every year on her birthday since she was like eight.”
Wrath shifts and shakes his head.
We’re interrupted by Heidi racing back. “Can we go now? Please?”
Murphy sets his drink down. A corner of his mouth twists up. “Yeah.”
“We haven’t done cake yet,” Wrath advises.
Murphy slaps Wrath on the arm. “We won’t be gone long, bro.”
We watch them walk down the driveway for a second before Teller walks into the house.
Turning back to Wrath and Rock, I sigh. “Aw, that’s sweet that they have a birthday ritual.”
Wrath gives me his “are you nuts” face.
“What?”
“He needs to knock that shit off. It ain’t okay anymore.” He throws a glance at where Axel is hanging out with Skye and Penny.
Wow. Okay. “Wait, I thought you were team Murphy?”
Wrath shrugs his massive shoulders. “Axel’s a good kid. He cares about her.”
Now I’m utterly confused. “Murphy cares about her.”
Wrath looks at me like he’s surprised to find himself in the middle of this conversation. “It’s not about that. It ain’t cool to have another brother’s girl on the back of your bike.”
Rock taps Wrath on the shoulder. “We’ll worry about it another day. Axel’s fine. Teller’s fine with it. Let it go.”
“Yeah, okay.” All at once, the tension seems to drain out of him. “You seen Trin? She was ripping your kitchen apart looking for a lighter earlier,” he says with a smirk.
Rock chuckles. “Yeah, she found it.”
“Cool. The cake she made is pretty kick-ass. She’s real excited about it too. Those two better not be gone too long.” He throws a glare down the driveway as the sound of Murphy’s bike starting up fills the air.
A giggle bubbles out of me. “You’re so cute,” I say without thinking.
Wrath’s blue eyes flare in surprise. “Cute? Sugar, there’s absolutely nothing ‘cute’ about me.”
Rock’s staring at me like I just stood up and announced my intention to take up stock-car racing.
My mouth opens and closes a few times before I frame what I want to say. “Well, I think it’s cute you’re all worried about Trinity being disappointed if Heidi doesn’t get to see the cake she made for her.” I manage to babble out while sounding very much like a petulant child.
Rock and Wrath share a glance. Wrath settles back into a pose of indifference. “She spent a lot of time on it, that’s all, Hope.”
“Sure. Okay, Wrath.” I give Rock’s hand a squeeze and then head inside to see if I can help Trinity out.
As soon as Hope’s out of earshot, I burst out laughing. “She so has your number, brother.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Wrath loves his lethal image, so I enjoy poking at this one. “Aw, I think it’s nice. She thinks you’re cute. Like a fuzzy puppy or something.”
“Jealous?”
“Nope. She’s referred to me as sexy, sexual crack, big and scary, but never cute.”
“You want her to find me sexy? Cause I’ll charm the pants right off her if you want.”
This whole conversation just stopped being funny.
“Thought so,” Wrath says with a grin.
“Fuck you.”
I’m still watching Hope’s sexy ass swaying away from me. I wish I’d taken her in the garage when I’d had the chance. It might have helped ease some of the leftover tension from earlier. I realize I’d been a bit of a dick, but something about my girl thinking she needed to explain a two-syllable word to me rankled.
“Seriously, you think we need to have a talk with Murph?”
I can’t even deal with that situation right now. “Dude, she’s known him since she was a kid. It’s their thing. Let it go. If Axel has an issue, he can bring it up.”
“Whatever.”
We wander back and rejoin the party. The girls are busy teaching Bricks’s kids one of the games we set up outside. It’s a cute picture, and I take a second to appreciate my Lost Kings family all in one place. I’m not related to a single person here by blood, but it doesn’t matter. They’re family.
Familiar arms snake around my middle and squeeze. Her scent drifts to me, but I’d recognize her by feel alone.
“Hey, baby,” I rasp, placing my hand over hers. I tug her around until she’s facing me and slip my arms around her.
“Having fun yet?” she teases.
I’m not sure if I would call this afternoon “fun,” but I am content and I tell her so.
With everyone else occupied, I nudge Hope into the garage. “Got a project I want to show you.”
She rolls her eyes because she knows I’m full of shit. Can’t lie to my girl worth a damn.
“Rock,” she whines, “there’s children out—”
I cut her off with a kiss and behind her flip the lock on the door. “No windows, baby.” Well, there are windows, but they are high up enough to keep out prying eyes.
Warm breath skates over my neck as she lets out a husky laugh. “You’re so bad.”
“What? I just wanna show you my latest project.”
She smiles and kisses me back until we’re both frantic. Then she ducks to the right, out of my grasp.
I shift restlessly, aching from the loss of her body against mine.
“Show me your project,” she purrs in a teasing way that surprises me.
I look up and catch her watching me with a heavy-lidded, sexy gaze. She slides her tongue along the seam of her lips and I swear I feel it in my cock.
“You’re so fucking hot, Hope, but you’re begging for me to spank your ass right now.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Oh, game on.
The whoop, whoop of a police siren interrupts the filthy plans I have for my girl.
“What the fuck?” I grumble.
Hope’s posture straightens, and she grabs for the door.
“Christ, give me a second,” I grind out, pointing to the erection tenting my jeans.
She giggles.
“Thanks, babe. Laughing at it will definitely help.” Of course, that only makes her laugh harder. “That’s enough. Let’s go see what the problem is.”
Of course, Wrath is the one standing closest to the garage and doubles over laughing when he spots us walking out.
“Shut up, dick.”
Hope’s blushing ten shades of red as she stalks past us and down the driveway in the direction of the glowing red and blue lights.
“The fuck?”
Wrath shrugs. “Your house, was waiting for you to go deal with it.”
Of course.
Except it looks like Hope’s got it covered.
“Can I help you, officers?” I call out as I stride over the lawn.
“We’re looking for Marcel Whelan. He here?”
I whip around and find Rock almost right behind me. “Go find Teller.”
He nods and takes off.
“What’s the problem?”
“You a family member?”
“Sort of. I’m also Mr. Whelan’s attorney, so what’s the issue?”
He jerks his thumb toward the back of his car, and through the window I spot a tear-streaked, red-faced Heidi.
“Oh my God! Heidi?” My gaze shoots to the officer. “What’s going on?”
“Caught her out with—”
“With Blake? We know. So what? Where is he?” I ask. I need to calm down and compose myself. Put my lawyer game face on. Act like a professional.
The officer cocks his head at me and motions me closer. “We got a call about an underage girl out with Mr. O'Callaghan, spotted them, pulled them over. She told us her family was here, so we brought her here. Her brother is her guardian?”
“Yes. He shares custody with their grandmother.”
“Okay, so why’s she out with this older guy?”
I really don’t care for his tone. “He’s a family friend. You’re interrupting the birthday party we were having for Heidi. Mr. O'Callaghan has known her since she was a kid and takes her out for a ride every year on her birthday. Nothing more, officer.”
He nods and finally looks a little embarrassed. “That’s the same story she gave us.”
I finally spot Murphy sitting in the back of the car with Heidi.
“Then why are they in the back of your patrol car? I’m sure you’ve run Mr. O’Callaghan’s license by now and discovered his record is clean. They weren’t doing anything wrong, so this seems a bit…excessive, don’t you think?”
The officer frowns, and I tell myself to tone down the attitude. Except I’m seriously pissed. Who do these guys think they are, scaring the shit out of a seventeen-year-old girl?
He looks behind me, and I can tell that Rock and a bunch of other people are standing there now.
“Officer, what’s the problem?”
“And you are?”
“Rochlan North. This is my house. Heidi is my goddaughter. Why is she in the back of your car?”
“Heidi! What the fuck?” Teller shouts from behind me.
“Easy, brother,” Rock mumbles under his breath, and I sense he must be holding Teller back.
“You the brother?”
“Yes.”
Finally, the cop opens the door and lets Heidi out. Thankfully, they didn’t cuff her. She’s red-faced and sobbing. Ignoring all of us, she runs over the lawn into the house.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I eye the officer coolly. “Mr. O’Callaghan? You’ve got no reason to hold him. And I hope to God you didn’t cuff him.”
Rock’s gentle touch grazes my arm. Whether he’s telling me to calm down or encouraging me, I’m not sure. I just know that I’m livid right now.
Another officer who’d remained quiet this entire time lets Murphy out and uncuffs him. You’ve got to be kidding.
“Where’s his bike?” I ask in my sharpest courtroom tone.
“On its way to impound.”
“You can’t be serious,” I argue. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Murphy’s busy flexing his arms and rubbing his wrists. “It’s okay, Hope. I’ll take care of it.”
Never a dull moment around here. Not even for a seventeen-year-old’s birthday party.
Unreal.
Watching my woman get all fired up and take on two of Empire’s finest over the way they treated one of my brothers?
Un-fucking-real.
Christ, after all the shit we’ve gone through, that she’s ready to tear into two cops like that? I fucking love her.
What a night. And it’s not even over yet.
First, we need to go inside.
Hope finds Heidi and calms her down. After a lot of reassuring, she convinces Heidi to join us in the kitchen where we’re all waiting to sing happy birthday to her and cut into her birthday cake.
Poor Heidi bursts into tears when she gets a look at the giant pink and leopard spotted cake Trinity made for her. She gives Trinity a big, sloppy hug, which seems to shock Trin, but she handles it well.
Everyone applauds Heidi for handling her first ride in a cop car like a pro.
Axel and Heidi disappear into the backyard right after cake.
Trinity drives Murphy down to impound to pick up his bike. Wrath paces around the house like a gimpy, caged animal waiting for them to return.
Axel walks Heidi back inside and then takes off for the night. Hope sets the girls up in the living room with more cake, sodas, and the scary movie they picked out.
After she’s done with the girls, she pads into the kitchen. Her gaze darts around the room as if she’s trying to figure out what to do next. “Wow. What a night,” she says at last.
Wrath’s finally sitting down. He’s busy shredding the label off his beer. Hope settles her hand on his shoulder.
“Need anything, big guy?”
He glances up, and I see several asshole-ish answers flash across his face, but he just shakes his head. “I’m fine. Thanks, babe.”
She squeezes his arm and he captures her hand. “You did good tonight, Hope.”
Obvious surprise crosses her face. “What do you mean?”
“With the cops. Sticking up for Murphy. Taking care of Heidi.”
An uncertain smile curves her lips. “Thanks, Wrath,” she says before making her way to me.
Wrapping her up in my arms, I press a kiss against her ear.
“You done?”
She lets out a soft snort. “Hardly. I’m going to make them some popcorn. Then I’ll probably sit up with them for a while. You can head to bed if you want?”
Not likely.
I hold onto her for a minute longer, resting my chin on the crown of her head. My gaze lands on Wrath and he nods at me.
Hope pulls away and plants a kiss on my cheek. “Are you okay, Rock?”
“I’m good, baby.”
She rubs her hands over my back for a minute, then wriggles out of my embrace.
I sit with Wrath and watch Hope prep more snacks for the girls.
“Hey, did I ever get to tell you I had lunch with Lilly the other day?” she asks over her shoulder.
“No,” I answer honestly. She didn’t tell me, but I know because I had Hoot watching her. “How is she?”
“Well, it was weird seeing her in professional mode. But she brought a friend of hers along. He works for this lobbying firm and was telling us how all these tech firms are throwing a lot of money into marijuana reform in New York. Isn’t that crazy?”
Across from me, Wrath almost chokes on his beer. I shoot a glare at him before answering Hope.
“Yeah. It’s interesting.”
Hope hums an affirmative noise and continues working at the counter, giving me a chance to reflect on things.
A bunch of bullshit has gotten in the way of what’s important to me lately.
A handful of stupid secrets and lies almost threatened to blow us apart.
And yet, there’s still a few things I’m hiding.
One very major thing. After this conversation, I wonder if Hope already suspects the big, green elephant hiding in the clubhouse basement.
In time, it will all be out in the open and I’ll deal with the fallout then.
Until then, there’s the whole issue of getting Hope’s property patch. Can’t think of a woman who’s ever deserved it more.
I’m glad I finally explained the significance of the patch to her. Now, there’s nothing holding me back from bringing it to the table the next time we sit down for church.
As I’m sitting here watching Hope’s every move, she turns and flashes a sweet smile at me.
I love her so damn much.
The club needs to vote her in.
Now.
Yeah, we’ve got a lot of things to take care of.
Very soon.