CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Matt
His arms slackened around Grace as her question robbed him of oxygen. She turned in his arms, leaning back to stare up at him.
“I guess that’s a probability?”
“I’m having an agency physician look at you,” Matt announced, recovering from his initial shock and more determined to move forward with the plans that had been forming in his head on the way back from the hospital.
“CIA physician?” Grace verified in alarm. She escaped his hold and backed away from him. “No way am I letting any agency touch my baby.”
“Grace, ordinary doctors don’t have the information we have.” Matt wanted to pull her back into his arms, but noticed the rising hysteria in her eyes. Instead, he raked his fingers through his hair, which was probably not a great gesture to inspire calm, but he was far from feeling calm himself. When Grace’s eyes darted around the room, he gave a short nod to Lucas, who slowly walked to the foyer clearly prepared to block her if she attempted to leave.
“I don’t need another checkup until six weeks,” Grace’s chin lifted in defiance.
“I’m not taking any chances with my kid,” Matt growled.
“We’re not even sure it’s yours!” she yelled and then clapped a hand over her mouth and sank to the couch. She buried her head in her hands as a single sob escaped her.
Frustration gnawed at his gut as he stared at her. “I don’t care if it’s mine or not. Get that through your damned head.”
“Matt!” Cassie exclaimed. “Stop being an asshole.”
His jaw snapped shut as he glared at his sister. Grace looked up and started chuckling. “Oh, my God,” Grace laughed and all of them looked at her as if she’d gone mad. “Even your sister thinks you’re an ass.” She wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. “What makes you think I want a jerk like you as my kid’s father?” She rose from the couch, seemingly calm—too calm—it worried Matt. “I’m tired and I’m going to my room. I’d appreciate it if you all left me alone.”
Three pairs of eyes followed Grace to the bedroom. When her door closed, Matt pivoted furiously on his sister.
“Thanks for nothing, sis,” Matt snapped. “You’ve just set me back to square one.”
“I hardly think you’ve made any progress winning Grace’s heart and mind,” Cassie retorted, putting air quotes around the last three words. “I wasn’t the only one witnessing you leaving with Kyra today.”
“She wanted help with her car.” Matt was getting tired of defending his actions. “It’s not as if Grace is showing that she needs me anyway.”
“See!” Cassie chortled. “That last statement right there is why you’re stuck in a cesspool concerning Grace.”
“Oh, so now that you’re married you’ve become a relationship expert?”
Cassie let out a breath of irritation, looking at Lucas. “It’s times like this I’m glad you’re my twin and not him.”
Lucas chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, and leaned against the door.
“Is there a point to all this?” Matt asked.
Cassie sobered, walking up to him to punch him lightly on the shoulder. “I’m the last one to give you advice,” she said softly. “But it’s more than you and Grace now. There’s going to be a baby in the near future. Grace has enough on her plate without you adding to her complications. You have to think really hard what you want, brother mine.” In a rare show of affection, Cassie gave Matt a peck on the cheek before returning to the seat in front of the laptop to resume work on the surveillance video.
Matt stood there, digesting Cassie’s words. He glanced at Lucas. “I’m going out for a bit. Can you stay for another hour?”
“Where are you going?” Cassie rose from her chair.
“Figuring out what I really want.”
“By leaving?”
“Trust me, sister mine.” Matt smiled faintly as he pulled the door open and left.
Exactly ten minutes later, he was being led inside the biker compound’s club house.
Troy sat at the bar with a bottle of Jameson beside him. The biker boss tracked his approach with unfriendly eyes, the bruise Matt gave him forming on his jaw.
“You have lot of balls showing up here alone,” Troy said, taking a sip from a high ball glass. “What’s stopping me from killing you and burying you in some dump somewhere?”
Matt shrugged. “I’d like to see you try.”
Troy shook his head in disbelief. “Knowing you, you didn’t tell anyone you’d be here.”
Matt didn’t say anything, but took the stool beside Troy instead.
“I don’t know whether to admire you for your nerve showing up here or be offended that you think you can walk out of here unscathed,” Troy griped. “I have a rep to protect, you know.”
“Not my problem.”
“I can’t tell you anything about my business with Grace.”
“I’m not here for that and I wouldn’t ask you for that information without Grace beside me.”
“Then we both have a problem if Millie decides to keep her sequestered away from us,” Troy replied. “I’m sure you’re aware by now this whole mess is causing me problems. Cartel on my back and the sheriff on the other side …”
“Maybe you should drop the cartel.”
“Easy for you to say.” Troy tossed back his drink and slammed the glass on the counter. “The Reaper has already killed two of my men.”
This was news to Matt. “When?”
“Two days after the airport bombing.”
“You’ve been gone these past three weeks. Where were you?”
Troy’s eyes dropped to the bottle of whiskey. “Can’t tell you.”
“If this has anything to do with why The Reaper is after her…”
“I thought you didn’t want info—”
“The hell, Troy,” Matt growled. “If it concerns Grace’s safety, I need to know.”
“That’s Millie’s problem at the moment,” Troy reminded him. “Although I’m letting you know I’m coming up with a strong suit for having Grace stay with me at the compound.” The biker’s gaze challenged Matt, sending his temper flaring. “Just saying.”
“Good luck with that,” Matt said tightly, getting off the bar stool before he gave in and clocked Troy another one.
“Leaving?” the biker asked, clearly baffled.
“Grace is not with Millie,” Matt told the other man. “I took her home with me this evening.”
Troy rose slowly from his seat. “I should have known better than to trust a bunch of ex-assassins,” the biker grated harshly. “I have as much right to her as you, Foster, and you know it.”
“Do I?” Matt scoffed. “I’m going with my gut, and my gut tells me Grace is not the type of woman to hop beds. I was stone-cold sober when I left her in the motel room. I didn’t hallucinate being with her, so that only means you’re lying.”
“Watch it, Foster,” Troy warned, eyes narrowing. “You’re walking a very thin line right now.”
Unconcerned about the gathering biker crew behind him, Matt stepped into the other man’s personal space.
“Back off,” Troy bit out.
“I think you should direct that order to your men behind me,” Matt advised softly, but with a hint of menace. He knew he was inviting physical confrontation with every single biker in this room.
Troy shoved him against the bar and used his massive forearm to subdue Matt right below the neck. The biker boss brought his furious face close to his, while he returned Troy’s glare with lazy amusement. “You’ve got a death wish, Foster?” the biker snarled, baring his teeth. “What the hell are you trying to prove?”
They locked eyes in a stare down for long tense seconds. Finally, Troy backed away and muttered, “Crazy fuck.”
Straightening from the bar, Matt addressed the entire biker crew. “Grace is mine. I’m fucking serious about keeping her as mine, and I don’t give a shit if I have to fight every single one of you to prove it.”
“This is not over, Foster,” Troy said coldly.
Matt shrugged. “I didn’t think it was. Thought I’d be honest with my intentions so we could cut through all this shit.”
The biker grinned, his eyes gleaming. “You know, if you weren’t such a pain in the ass, I might actually like you.”
“Same here, Troy,” Matt muttered as he turned to leave. “Same here.”
After Lucas and Cassie had left, Matt sat at his kitchen table, contemplating his whisky. Actually, he was thinking about his next move with Grace. To say that these past three weeks had been an exercise in frustration was an understatement. He tried his best to get through to her after Holden left, but there was only so much rejection a man could take. A twinge of guilt tweaked his chest. It had been his pride. He’d already been kicked out of his bedroom and she’d been finding excuses not to be alone with him, refusing his lunch invitations, and preferring to hang out at Millie’s under the guise of research. In the evenings, she’d find an excuse to stay at the diner. Matt would sometimes join her, but Kyra’s sudden neediness limited his venture into Millie’s restaurant. He didn’t know what gave Kyra the idea that he’d like to hook up again. Like he told Grace, he hadn’t been with another woman since she arrived in Misty Grove.
And now Grace was pregnant.
A flutter of joy started in the pit of his stomach, and Matt could feel the corners of his mouth kicking up. Sure, he’d panicked at first, but it was because he was worried about Grace, and second, he had no idea how to be a father. Even if there was a possibility that the baby was Troy’s, Matt was prepared to face the consequences if it meant Grace would be his. It was his own damned fault she turned to the biker anyway. He swallowed the rest of the whisky, enjoying the burn of the alcohol down his throat. His gaze drifted to his closed bedroom door. Tomorrow night Matt would be in that bed with Grace. He had no idea how to accomplish this yet, but it was going to happen.