A Perfect Love (11 page)

Preston stood when Ella returned to the table and we then headed out to our cars.

As we said our goodbyes, the roar of a Harley hit my ears. Every bike had a unique sound, and a Harley’s was a deep, guttural growl. I looked in the direction of the headlight of the Harley as it travelled toward us and slowed. It was Mace. Ella and Preston paused from entering their car and made their way back to where Jo and I were standing. Pulling up behind us, Mace cut his engine, removed his helmet and dismounted.

Jo gripped my arm, drawing my attention to her face.

“Why’s Mace here?” She raised her brow in question. While Jo knew I’d been in contact with him over the last few weeks, she had no idea it was about our dad situation. Mace knew this, which begged the question about why the hell he was there just as we were leaving for home.

Mace dipped his head in greeting. “Jo.” His eyes were rooted firmly on hers, just as they always were whenever he first saw her. His guilt over her rape remained tangible, and he was never quite sure if, when they saw one another, this would be the time she decided to lash out and call him out on his inability to protect her.

On the contrary, I knew she never would. Jo was the epitome of fair and rational, despite her general day-to-day crazy. All blame lay at the feet of David, our dad. And while she knew Mace’s one job that night was to protect her, which he had unequivocally failed to do, not once had she blamed him. Mace admitted to me once he wished she would, because it would help stem some of his guilt. I’d laid him out in response. He took each hit without defence. He knew I needed to strike out to save myself from finding a way to kill David with my bare hands. That night, when Mace allowed me to kick his arse, did us both some good, if only for the ten minutes it lasted. It was the ten minutes afterward that I’d cried. Mace hadn’t said a word. He knew the pain I was dealing with. It was just after Jo and I had taken some time out from our relationship. I’d let her go knowing she needed the distance, but it pretty much destroyed me to let her leave without a fight.

I would have eventually fought for her and gone after her if I’d needed to. Thank Christ, she came back on her own, once she’d had the space she’d needed.

“Hi, Mace.” Jo gave him a tentative smile.

He indicated toward her stomach. “Looking good. Everything okay?”

Her free hand moved to her rounded belly and her smile relaxed, lighting up her face. “Bloody brilliant. Thanks, Simon.” Mace’s eye twitched at the use of his real name. I laughed inwardly, knowing Jo was the only one able to get away with it. “Not much longer before you’re an uncle.”

Mace’s eyes shot up from her stomach to her face, before he looked at me and swallowed what I assumed was a lump of emotion away. I got it. Every time I thought of being a father, I did a similar thing. A grin appeared. “Uncle Mace. I like the sound of that, darling.”

“So,” I interrupted. “Were you just riding by and saw us?”

His face shuttered at my words and his attention fixed firmly on me. “Yeah. I was just heading to Kid’s house and saw you guys, so thought I’d stop and say hi.” He looked toward Jo and smiled. “Thought I’d take a good look at your little lady here and her growing belly.” He leaned casually against his bike. “You heading home?”

“Yeah, that was the plan.” I eyed him warily, knowing there was no way he just happened to ride by. Kid’s place was on the other side of town.

He nodded. “Got any beer?”

“Of course we have. You going to stop by?” Jo interrupted, her voice light. Relief that she had no idea what Mace and I were up to filled me. She would blow a bleeding gasket if she knew. Mace needed to see me for a reason, so there was no way I’d be stopping him. He never acted without reason or thought. Well, not these days anyway.

“Is it okay if I give Kid a buzz, for him to come round, too?”

“Yeah, sure thing. We haven’t seen him for an age.” I glanced over to Jo. “That okay with you, babe?”

I noticed the deep breath she released. She was on the cusp of making some sort of decision. She’d been uncomfortable around Mace for so long, or at least she’d seemed to be. That was one of the reasons why I kept my distance from him. I wondered what decision was playing through her mind. “I’d love you to come by. You should stop by more regularly. You’re going to be an uncle soon, and this little one is going to need family around to spoil her.”

“Him,” I corrected.

Preston’s laughter drifted over. “Yep, you’re so screwed, man. When your daughter arrives, you’re not going to know what’s hit you.”

“Come on then. Let’s get this party started. We’re coming, too,” Ella added a little too loudly, still tipsy from the champagne. “There’s no way I can abandon you with all of that testosterone.” They headed back to their car. “See you in a few.”

Mace had climbed back on his bike and was making a phone call. I needed to find out why he wanted to see me, or, more specifically, come by. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what I heard.

I watched on as Mace finished his call, fastened his helmet and started his engine. He gave me a chin lift indicating he was waiting for me to get my arse into gear.

Once in the car and strapped in, we headed home, Mace on our tail. A few moments later, Kid joined him, overtook and rode a few metres ahead. The ball of anxiety sitting in my stomach grew as we drove home in convoy, with Jo and I protected between two men who had a reputation for kicking arse and taking no shit. Sometimes it paid off to have friends, or in this case family, who were badasses.

Chapter Nine

Jo

After giving the boys a beer each, I headed inside to throw on my pyjamas. Stuffed from my meal and the multitude of cookies I’d piled away, I needed to veg out. Even though we had company, they didn’t count. As family, they had to put up with my house and with me, minus the airs and graces.

Voices drifted through the open window from the veranda. Ella was drunk and giggling at something Kid was saying. He had a reputation for being a bit of a ladies’ man. I grinned, wondering how Preston was coping with Kid’s endless flirting.

The gentle whispers of Liam and Mace were too low for me to hear, but it was clear they were in deep conversation. Smiling, contentment washed through me. This was what family was about. I had my amazing parents, and friends; I recognised how lucky I was, but Liam’s family was a whole different ball game.

Since that night, the already strained relationship with his parents—which had been teetering on collapse, thanks to Liam having a drunk drug addict as a mum and a meth-head as a dad—collapsed irrevocably. I remember the first time I met his parents for a manic five-minute introduction before Liam dragged me out of there. I was left mortified and a little heartbroken knowing Liam never had what I had. A loving family was something I took for granted; I was naïve to the situation of many before I met Liam. That brief meeting was all it took to not only re-evaluate how fortunate I was for my own upbringing, but it also cemented my love for Liam.

I knew it was Liam’s hard work, perseverance, and the support of his brother, which had helped him turn out to be the man before me today. Yet, once faced with the reality of his home situation, a deeper respect for him blossomed. He was amazing. All the way through uni, we had heaps of fun and I fell for him hard, but despite the partying and make-out sessions, not once did he lose sight of his goal, his dream to become an architect.

It was after meeting his parents when Liam explained that Mace was the reason he was able to go to uni in the first place. When Mace left home at eighteen, he took Liam with him. Ensuring he attended school, Mace also instilled in Liam the need for him to be successful and happy. This was also the reason why I could never blame Mace for what happened with David.

Without Mace, Liam would have possibly been a very different man, but because of him, Liam was amazing, and mine.

As soon as Mace’s eyes landed on my bump, my decision was made. Despite my hesitancy, brought on by the guilt radiating from him every time we saw each other, I knew it was finally time to stop with the bullshit. I hated that Mace cowered from me. He was a big hulk of a man, plus I knew of his reputation in the area, but I knew him as nothing more than family I loved, who was also a bit of a softie at heart. It was definitely time to mend some bridges and welcome him back into the fold. I wanted him to love my child as fiercely as he loved Liam.

I just hoped he’d be able to leave the demons behind and let go of the past. I could be pretty stubborn when I wanted to be, and with my own family growing, there was no way Simon Mason was breaking free from our family any longer.

Tastefully clad in my
Little Mermaid
PJs, I headed out to join the others, glass of milk and cookies in my hands. When Liam saw me approaching, he smiled and leaned back in his seat, Mace mirroring him. After placing the cookies on the table, Ella looked at me sceptically.

“What?” I lifted a brow in confusion and snuggled next to Liam on the two-seater outside sofa.

“Just wondering if you were sharing.” She eyed the cookies.

I laughed. “Yep, I already ate four inside, so I’m all good.”

“Bloody hell, Jo, where are you putting all of that?” Liam said around a smirk.

I shrugged. “A woman’s gotta eat, you know.”

“But we’ve only just eaten,” Liam continued.

I pulled away from him and shifted in my seat so I could see his face better. “Are you seriously monitoring what I’m eating?” While I knew he was half-teasing, I was also aware my once-flat stomach was already taking shape and would never return to how I’d known it. That, plus my arse were taking a serious beating. Apparently, I only had to look at an ice cream and my backside grew a centimetre.

Mace scoffed and didn’t contain his laughter, despite my face being carefully controlled into a say-one-thing-outta-place-and-I’m-going-to-kick-your-arse expression. “Christ, Liam, do you have a death wish?”

Liam’s eyes balked, almost cartoon character-worthy, when he realised perhaps his teasing may earn him a night in the spare room. “Shut it, Mace.” He then refocused on me. “You can eat as many cookies as you want, babe. I’ll love you despite the extra bits.”

The whole group erupted into laughter while I found nothing funny about his statement and from the expression on Liam’s face, he quickly attempted to backtrack. “Shit, babe, that’s not what I meant. I just meant your body is changing. You have our baby growing inside of you, so it’s bound to change and that’s all right.”

I huffed. “Oh, that’s great then, as long as I have your ‘okay’,” I air-quoted. “I needed your seal of approval to get fat when I’m having
your
baby. I hadn’t realised, dickwad.” Halfway through my speech, it could have gone either way. I was half-serious and would have totally kicked his arse, if I so decided, but likewise I knew perhaps I was being somewhat oversensitive. So instead, I swallowed his thoughtlessness and played him instead. I was a firm believer of keeping Liam on his toes. It was good exercise for him.

Liam had a tendency to get growly alpha-like when he wanted to. At times, I let him get away with it. Sometimes it was hot, but usually it was infuriating. My theory was, in order to create harmony in our relationship, I would always wear the proverbial pants, allowing him to think he was in control every now and then. It seemed to have worked so far.

“Dickwad?” Liam lifted a brow. “Did you just call me a dickwad?” I quirked my lips at him in amusement. “You know you’re going to pay for that later, right?”

I did a little victory dance inside my head. I’d allow him his alpha moment, knowing I was going to benefit as soon as everyone left when he dragged me into the bedroom. Sometimes, alpha Liam was pretty hot.

I burst out laughing, leaned in and kissed him briefly on the mouth. Snuggling back against him, I caught Mace’s concerned gaze. His brows were furrowed and eyes were sad. As soon as his eyes connected with mine, his expression changed and a smile curved his mouth; it didn’t, however, reach his eyes. I stared at him in question until he winked and looked away. The look reinforced my need to bring him into the fold, and I knew the only way to do that was to talk to him. But it had to be done alone, not even with Liam.

I gave a tired wave goodbye to Preston, Ella and Kid. Liam and Mace were still drinking and talking. It was way past my bedtime, yet it was so awesome seeing the two of them together again, and I didn’t want to miss out. Things were still far from the old, relaxed normal, but the fact he was with us was a great start.