Chapter 6
Blade watched Michelle leave and sighed heavily. It had been hard to see her so disappointed, but the last thing he wanted to do was go shopping for clothes when he had so much work to do. The dues were being collected that day and it was his job to make sure that every member of the MC paid and contributed their paperwork. It was just easier that way.
The work was tedious but it gave his mind a good escape from the haunting thoughts of Zeke and the frustrating attraction he felt toward his best friend’s daughter. It was probably just his grief creeping up on him. It was probably some sick game his mind was playing. He missed his buddy, and was trying to get close to him in any way he could. It would make sense why he would have such agonizing dreams about the girl. It didn’t have to mean anything.
Blade shook his head and sighed. He wasn’t going to let it get to him. There were more important things to worry about. He submerged himself in his work until Jackal poked his head into Blade’s office, gritting his teeth apologetically.
“Blade man, there’s someone on the phone. Says he’s looking for Michelle. I thought I’d ask you what the fuck to do about that.”
Blade groaned. “Send the call to me. I’ll take care of it.”
“Right,” Jackal said with a nod. When the office phone rang, Blade picked it up.
“Is this Alan?” he asked tersely.
“Yes, actually, it is Alan Waters, chief of the Glendale police department. To whom am I speaking, please?”
Blade grinned. “That doesn’t matter too much, little buddy.”
Alan laughed, an unpleasant, on-the-brink-of-insanity kind of sound, and Blade raised his eyebrow. He was dealing with a nutter.
“This is concerning my wife, so I think I have the right to know who I’m speaking to!”
“Actually, no woman, whether your wife or not, belongs to you. Your rights in this case are pretty limited, I would say.”
“If you don’t want to deal with the legal repercussions of withholding information from a police officer, by god, I’ll- “
“You’re not going to do anything, slick. You and your little sideshow aren’t going to step foot on Python turf, and you and I both know it.”
“Where the hell is Michelle?!” Alan demanded. “I have a right to know where my wife is at all times! She’s -”
“Listen boy,” Blade said. He’d had just about enough of listening to the piece of shit speaking. “All you need to know is that Michelle is safe and sound right where she belongs. Much safer than she would ever be with someone like you. They ought to lock you up and throw away the key.”
“If you don’t tell me where she is, you piece of shit, I’m coming over there myself!” Alan cried, his voice on the verge of hysteria.
“Whoo, I’d like to see you try. You’d be doing me a favor. See, I promised the little lady I’d go easy on you. Maybe delay justice a little bit longer and hope that karma does its job with you since she’d feel too upset if I did anything to get myself in harm’s way. But damn, you just solved both of our problems! When can I expect you?”
“Grah!” Alan growled. The phone slammed down and Blade chuckled. Some men just didn’t have it in them to fight and that was the sad truth. Those were the kinds of men who took their power in other ways. Like hitting innocent women and acting like the world wasn’t fair simply because they weren’t able to suck on their mama’s tit anymore.
Real men didn’t need coddling, and if Alan was telling the truth and he was going to try to come up to the MC to claim what he thought was his, then he was going to have another thing coming. And Blade would have the time of his life giving it to him.
***
“Blade!”
Michelle’s voice tore Blade out of the drab accounting booklets on his desk and he raised an eyebrow at her.
“What do you think?” Jo asked, following in the office behind Michelle. Jo held her arms out like a girl from a gameshow and presented Michelle in one of her new outfits. Michelle twirled and laughed, the most care-free he had seen her act since she’d arrived. He’d known sending her out with Jo would be a good idea. The old girl may have been about Blade’s age, but she knew how to have fun.
“It looks nice,” Blade said, smiling at Michelle. He looked back down at his papers quickly, practically able to feel the disappointment rolling from Michelle’s direction. He was nothing but a big let-down that day. But if he stared too long at her, then everybody in the room would know exactly what he was thinking. Michelle looked fucking incredible. The shirt she’d chosen was clinging to the lean muscles of her young body, awakening desires in him he’d thought had been long gone, dead and buried in fact. So why were they coming back now, of all times?
“Did you have fun?” Blade asked, before either of the women had a chance to confront him about his opinion.
Michelle’s face brightened again.
“Yeah, it was great! I haven’t had a day like that in a long time. No men, no rules…it was really amazing. Thank you, Jo!”
Michelle turned to Jo, who beamed and embraced her tightly.
“It’s no problem at all, honey. Any time you want to hang out with me, you just give me a call. It was great to finally meet you. Zeke talked about you like you were heaven on Earth.”
Michelle smiled sadly and left the room, carrying two huge shopping bags of clothes to put away.
“What the hell was that about?” Jo demanded.
Blade sighed.
“Here we go,” he mumbled.
“Damn right, here we go! That girl looked incredible! And here you are, all fatherly and polite, like, ‘that looks nice.’ The hell has gotten into you?”
Blade glared at Jo and her face suddenly broke out into a big smile.
“I get it!” She exclaimed. “I see what’s going on here! God, it’s so obvious!”
“Jo,” Blade warned. But the woman was already on the scent and he knew there was no way he would be able to get her off it again.
“You like her,” she said in a hushed whisper. Blade cringed and shook his head emphatically.
“She’s my best friend’s kid! That’s wicked wrong!” he growled.
“Blade, it’s perfectly normal! Nothing to be ashamed of. Human nature, after all. Your protective instincts kicking in, a sexy young woman all up in your business. Don’t be embarrassed!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Blade snapped. He was holding onto his temper by a thread. The only reason he didn’t tear her a new one was because if he did, there was a chance Michelle might overhear.
“Whatever you say, man,” Jo said, chuckling to herself. “I’ll keep your secret. For now. But you mark my words, there will come a time for you to be honest with yourself. And when that day comes, you should know now that you have my blessing. She’s a sweet girl.”
Blade’s hands trembled with rage. He could have strangled Jo, speaking of things that weren’t her business to speak of.
“I don’t need your blessing!” Blade spat. “If I needed anybody’s blessing, it would be Zeke’s. I’m not going to be some creepy old man running after a younger woman like that! She’s my best friend’s daughter, Jo. Don’t be gross.”
“Right,” Jo said, backing out of the room. “Well you’re 45, not an old man. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“Get out of here! Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Jo grinned and closed the door, leaving Blade feeling more riled than he had been since the phone call with Alan earlier that day. Why wouldn’t anybody let him have some peace?!
He got back to work, muttering under his breath about how nosy Jo was. But in a way, it did make him feel a little bit better. She had said that his feelings were natural. He didn’t know how other people might feel about the situation but it was nice to have an opinion on the table besides his own. Maybe it wasn’t the end of the world if he was attracted to Michelle. The worst thing in the world, he decided, would be to act on it.