Chapter 2
Blade grinned privately to himself as young blonde mothers with small blonde children, all dressed in ugly pastel colors and golden jewelry, eyed him with suspicion. He had loosened the muffler on his bike, a tradition at his MC that made funerals a festive occasion. It was a little like the way soldiers got a salute with guns. Warriors of the MC got sent off with the pure sound of their bikes. It was beautiful, in a way.
But these suburban housewives clearly thought that it was rude for a dirty biker to be coming out this way and he wound through the obnoxious streets of the little stuck-up neighborhood, sensing the women’s eyes glued upon him. They were either waiting to see where he was going so they could file an official complaint against the neighbor who was bringing in such a trashy element, or they were drinking him in, their repressed little housewife hearts atwitter with the freedom a man like Blade represented.
He laughed out loud to himself as he finally found the driveway of Michie’s house. He dismounted the motorcycle and strutted to the front porch, scowling at the ugly welcome mat and the golden trim of the doorbell. Who would have thought the daughter of the most sensible man he’d ever known would grow up to have such bad taste?
“Blade!”
All of the thoughts were driven out of his head when she opened the door. He was shocked by the beautiful woman standing before him. He hadn’t seen Michie since she was a young girl, before she went off to live with her mother and apparently became brainwashed by this yuppie suburbia. He had to tear his thoughts away and fight hard against the attraction he felt when Michelle threw her arms around him and began crying against his chest.
“Hey, it’s going to be fine, kid,” he said, suddenly remembering what he was there for. Zeke had died, leaving his daughter practically an orphan. As far as he’d heard, Bernice had taken off with a man halfway across the world and never contacted Michie. It was a rough break for the girl. Always had been.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Michelle said, pulling away and beaming up at him. Blade’s heart hammered unwelcomely. She was fucking flawless. He’d never seen a woman so captivating. Everything about her was perfect, except…
“What the hell happened to your face?” Blade growled, his eyes homing in on the deep gash that was healing above her eyebrow.
Michelle suddenly looked ashamed or scared, maybe, and shook her head.
“Nothing,” she laughed. “I’m fine.”
“Like hell! It looks like somebody beat the hell out of you!”
Michelle laughed unconvincingly. “You’ve always been so dramatic. Really, it’s nothing to be overprotective about.”
“Whatever,” Blade grumbled. It was going to be a long ride. He would have time to get the truth out of her.
“We should probably get going,” Michelle said, clearly anxious to change the subject.
If she thought that he was going to give up so easily though, she had another thing coming. Still, the girl was right. It was time to get out of there. The last thing he wanted was to be the cause of delay in the celebration of his best friend’s life.
“Yep,” Blade said, looking around at the over-the-top neighborhood and its small collection of nosey housewives with a nod. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
***
The funeral was just as hard as Blade had expected it would be, but he was shocked by Michelle’s strength. It wasn’t that she was hiding her emotions; she cried as much as anybody. But she had proud eyes, and the tears that fell from them were justified and didn’t change the expression on her serious, beautiful face.
Still, Blade couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering back to the worrisome gash over her eyes. Something was going on and he knew already that he didn’t like what it was. Zeke had told him that the man his daughter married was a pig and a controlling one at that. Blade knew from experience that some men wearing the uniform allowed it to corrupt them and from what he’d heard, Michie’s husband didn’t like her associating with her family. He called Zeke a delinquent and swore that if he found out Michelle had been associating with them, he would want nothing to do with her.
At the reception, Blade decided it was time to confront Michelle about her injury again. She was laughing with the president of the MC about some of her father’s crazy antics, when Blade butted into the conversation.
“You see Michie’s shiner, there, Snake?” he asked, pointing at the gash on Michelle’s head. Since Blade had pointed it out, she had done her best to cover it up with makeup. Now Blade wondered what else she could possibly be hiding. Bruises? Come to think of it her cheek was a little swollen...or had she just been crying a lot?
“Shit, kid! What happened to you?!” Snake exclaimed.
“It’s a mystery, boss,” Blade said, staring at Michelle, who quickly clamped her mouth shut and looked away from the two older men staring her down.
Snake was about 60 but just as rough as ever. He caught Blade’s eye and Blade felt better immediately. He knew that Snake was going to help him get the truth out of her, no matter what it took.
“It’s really nothing. I’m just such a klutz.”
Nothing out of her mouth sounded true. In fact, Blade had seen Michelle as a child. She was one of the most graceful and athletic kids he’d ever met.
“Bullshit, Michie. Come on. Tell us what really happened. We’re here for you!”
Suddenly, the composure that Michelle seemed to have been holding for the funeral cracked and she dropped her head into her hands, her delicate shoulders quaking.
“Ah, hell,” Blade grumbled, grabbing Michelle into a warm bear hug. “Just let it all out, kid. I’ve got you.”
Snake shifted uncomfortably – it was rare that the MC was faced with the tears of a young damsel, after all – while Blade caressed her hair and looked at Snake over Michelle’s head. Whatever was going on was bad. He knew it in the pit of his stomach. And as Zeke’s best friend and successor as VP of the club, it was his job to prevent her from being hurt. By anyone.
Finally, Michelle took a deep, shuddering breath and pulled away from Blade’s arms, wiping her face with a handkerchief. Her tears helped to smudge away some of the makeup and Blade cringed.
“Shit!” Snake exclaimed. Her face was black and blue. Michelle sighed deeply.
“All right,” she said quietly. “I’ll talk. But not here.”
Blade nodded. As long as Michelle was going to tell him what was really going on, he’d have gone to the moon. He waited impatiently for the reception to finish. Whatever was happening with her, he was going to fix it. For Zeke.