Death of Cupids (The Blood of Cupids MC) (5 page)

Grace

“I’m going to put some clothes on.  Then I am going to
talk.  You will listen.”

I didn’t allow her to respond; only crossed the hallway and
snuck into the master bedroom.  I could hear her and Ryan mumbling outside
the door, but I chose not to discern the conversation.  He was most likely
telling her how I have a tendency to take charge and not let anyone push me
around.  I didn’t mind.  She should know that.

I slipped on a pair of black yoga pants and a fitted
t-shirt.  Just because I was about to show Ryan’s mother who was boss
didn’t mean I couldn’t be comfortable.  I ran my comb a few times through
my towel-dried hair, stepped into a pair of small slippers, and made my way
back out to the living room.

They were both sitting on the couch, silent, waiting for my
return.

“Now, I’m going to assume that you didn’t specifically tell
Sean to murder my mother.”

“I didn’t.  I swear to you.”  She jumped in
quickly.

“I’m not finished.”  I snapped right back, but
continued on.  “And because I am choosing to believe that, we will still
help you get your children back.  In order to do that, we’re going to need
you to be completely honest with us.  Can you do that?”

She nodded.

“Then I think we’re going to get along just fine.”  I
smiled at her.  It wasn’t sincere, but I didn’t care.  I was risking
my life for her; she didn’t deserve my sincerity.

“How did you get here?”  I escaped to the kitchen,
rifling through a few drawers until I found my notepad and pen.

“We drove.”

“All the way from Philly?”

She nodded again as I set the notepad in front of her. 
On it, I had written:

Are you wearing some sort of recording device?

Her eyes widened, but she shook her head.  I very
casually sat down and wrote something else.

Does he have eyes on the house?

That’s when she gave me a quick nod.  Okay, so we were
being watched, but not heard.  I could deal with that.  Judging by
her silent answers, I could only assume we were being watched very
closely.  I continued with the notepad.

Is there anyone other than Sean here? 
I quickly
scribbled.

She hesitated, but ultimately shook her head, so I
continued.

Was he working with anyone else while still in Philly?

She looked down at her hand where she had lifted only her
pointer finger.  One other person.  So it wasn’t just Sean.  I
imagined we were probably going to be dealing with Danny too.  We never
did figure out what exactly happened to him after we left him doubled over on
the gravel at the warehouse.  Part of me assumed Sean just killed him for
letting us get away, but apparently their relationship was stronger than I had
anticipated.

Still, if Sean had expected Anne Marie to accompany Ryan and
I back to Philadelphia, it meant he never planned to make his presence
known.  We would not have to take on Sean while on the west coast. 
He would save everything for Pennsylvania, for the families.  But how
involved were the families?  There were so many unanswered questions.

“Okay.  I think that takes care of what I need to know
right now.”  I stood, addressing more of the room than just her. 
“The guest room is made up.  Feel free to make yourself at home. 
We’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”  She looked to the two of us as
we stood from the couch.

Ryan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me
in.  “We have some celebrating to do.”

He kissed my nose before dropping his hand to his
side.  He knelt down and pulled the notepad to him.

Grace and I are getting married.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling.  Today
would be our last day in our little dream cottage.  Today we would be
traveling back to Pennsylvania.  But first, today we were getting
married.  I couldn’t help but smile as I pulled my hand from beneath the covers
to examine my new piece of jewelry.  At just over a carat, the diamond fit
beautifully on my delicate hand.  The sun shining through the window
bounced off the face of the stone, making it sparkle magnificently. 

Well done, Ryan.

I turned to show him, but he was gone.  I was alone in
our bed.  Lying instead in his place was a single flower, an orchid, and a
note.

My dearest Grace,

Good morning, beautiful.  I woke up with the biggest
smile on my face.  No matter what happens from this day forth, it’s you
and me forever.  I wanted to go for one final run on the beach, but I
couldn’t wake you; you looked so peaceful lying there.  I’ll be back
soon.  Until then, you might as well put on something nice, because we’re
getting married today.

I’ll be seeing you today, tomorrow, and past the light.

Your loving fiancé,

Ryan

How cute was he?  How freaking adorable was my
fiancé?  Even though I would only get to say that word for a few more
hours, I loved it: fiancé.  I hopped in the shower, twisted my hair up,
letting the loose curls fall around my face, and opened my closet. 
Hanging there was a beautiful cream-colored lace dress that I had picked out
the night before.  The lace wrapped close to my neck, as I was still
self-conscious of my scar, and fell just below my knees.  I slipped into a
pair of tan boots and completed the ensemble with a tan cropped light jacket.

Just as I finished pinning the orchid into my curls, there
was a knock on my bedroom door.  Fully expecting to see Ryan’s mother coming
to ask what time we were beginning our road trip, I flung the door open.

It was Ryan.  He stood there in his pressed khakis and
bright white shirt, leaning against the doorframe.  His smile took my
breath away.

“Good morning.”  I giggled.

His arm shot out, wrapping around my waist.  “Hey
pretty lady.  You want to get married today?”

“Mmmm…” I teased, winking at him.  “Okay, let’s do it.”

I angled my face up, accepting his kiss.  In that kiss
was all the passion we had shared up until that moment.  All the
excitement, fear, doubts, and love that surrounded our entire relationship was
in that very touch of our lips. 

It was the same kiss we shared after the judge pronounced us
husband and wife. 

We held hands until I climbed into the passenger side of the
car.  Our little vacation was over.  It was time to face the real
world again.

We were silent as we drove back to our cottage, but it was a
comforting, happy silence.  It was the kind of silence only two people who
are absolutely in love could share.  I took a deep breath and twisted my
wedding band off my finger.  We had picked up the matching pair the night
before.  I lifted my ring into the sun and smiled as I read the engraving.

Today, tomorrow, and past the light

It had been a perfect morning.

To my little one,

I feel like I know you already, even though we’ve never
met.  I can picture what you’ll look like, the books you’ll want to read,
and the games you’ll insist we play.  I can picture your father pushing
you on the tire swing, and I can hear your laughter filling the air.

I pray I get to experience all those things.  We’re
about to enter into something scary, something I thought we had finished. 
Now, because of you, we have a reason to finish it once and for all.  I
don’t know how long it will take, but I promise you, we’re doing it all for
you.  We’re doing it so that we can give you a better life than the ones
we were given.  We’re doing it because we love you.

If something happens to us along the way, please know
that you were brought into this world by two people who were desperately in love. 
Your mother and father came from two different worlds, but we found each other,
and we fought our fate until our stars changed.  It was because of that
love that you were born.

You are special, you are loved, and you will never be
alone.

Today, tomorrow, and past the
light,                              

Your mother

Ryan

As one could imagine, the ride from southern California to
southeast Pennsylvania with my wife and mother wasn’t all sunshine and
happiness.  I would actually equate it to multiple hurricanes coming in
one after the other: treacherous, growing storms followed by that all too
misleading
eye
.  As the ride went on, those eyes grew smaller and
smaller.  The storms surrounding their distaste and distrust for one
another were wicked, to put it mildly.  Having grown up around mostly men,
I wasn’t fully aware of the cruelty women can inflict on the other members of
their own sex.  Grace and Anne Marie gave me my first lesson. 

At least we started off the drive in the beautiful calm of
the eye of that first storm.

“Grace, that is a lovely dress.”  I knew my mother was
laying it on thick.  Grace had every reason to hate her, but at least they
were both trying to be civil.

“Thank you, Mrs. Carter.”  Her voice was sweet, too
sweet. 

“Call me Anne Marie.”

“I will, thank you.”

Silence.  Had I known what I was in for, I would have
instead referred to that silence as
peace and quiet.  
It didn’t
seem like much, but it was the start of something.  It had both the time
and energy to build into something terrible.  The drive from our dream
cottage to the city where Grace and I met was thirty-nine hours and forty-two
minutes.  I know that, because I counted.  The first bout of silence
lasted only fifty-eight minutes.

Then came Arizona
.

“I would love to know how you two met.”

“It was at a bar.”  I jumped in.  She didn’t need
to know anything more.

Grace had a different thought.  “You know, had you been
there, you would already know this story.”

More silence.  This silence was deafening.  Grace
took that first punch.  Now there was no stepping back from the
fight.  The two women in my life had started something that they were sure
to see through to the end. 

I believe I learned the most about my mother when we hit New
Mexico.

“I’m surprised at you, Ryan.”

“For what?”  My attention was on the road.

“I just thought, with everything that happened between me
and your father, you wouldn’t have been the type of guy to rush into marriage.”

She said it so nonchalant, but the intention was
clear.  As soon as the word
marriage
escaped her lips, I felt all
the air suck out of the car.  Grace’s head whipped to the backseat.

“There has never been a question for me when it comes to
Grace.”

My quick thinking should have saved the moment, but Grace
had already started talking.

“I’m sorry.  For a second, I thought you were this
random woman who skipped out on her son twenty years ago and therefore gave up
her right to comment on the way he lives his life.  Oh… wait… no, that is
you.”

What was I supposed to do?  Obviously, if I were to
take a side, it would be my wife’s, but I still was unsure how I felt about my
mother’s return.  I wasn’t ready to burn a bridge that I had spent so long
wishing I could cross.  There was nothing I could do, so I decided to keep
quiet and stay away from the water.

“I’m sorry.  I thought you were the daughter of the man
who made it his life’s mission to ruin my ex-husband’s life.  Oh no, I was
right.  That is most certainly you.”

“I’m sorry.  I thought---“

I couldn’t allow it to escalate.  “Enough of your
passive aggressive apologizing.  This trip is way too long to listen to
the two of you.  Just sit there and fucking be quiet.”

The look I got from Grace after cutting her off could have
made my eyes bleed.  She was anything but happy, and after making sure I
knew she was pissed at me, she turned her face to the window and crossed her
arms over her chest. 

We stopped in Texas for a quick bite to eat.  The
eating took five minutes.  Grace throwing it all up took another twenty.

“Is this going to be the whole trip?”

We had decided against telling my mother about the
pregnancy, but if Grace was going to keep reacting this way to food, we might
not be able to hold off on the news.

“I mean, my children are being held hostage by a psychopath,
and your little wife is too worried about her figure to keep anything down.”

Of course, Grace walked up behind her at that exact
moment.  Her face was bright red.  I wasn’t sure if it was from
losing her lunch, or from anger.

“Listen, Anne Marie.”  There was such distain in her voice. 
“As far as I’m concerned, you are the bad guy here.  You admittedly ruined
my childhood, and now you’re trying to take away the one good thing left in my
life.  So, and I mean this with all my heart, back away bitch.”

“You, child, have no right to talk to me like that.”

“Don’t I?  Don’t I?”  She was repeating her
question; that’s never a good sign.  “You don’t actually believe you
deserve my deference, do you?  Just because you’re older than me doesn’t
mean you’re automatically worthy of respect.”

“Just because you were raised by a pack of wolves doesn’t
mean you deserve mine.”

And it was back to the car.

Grace slept through Oklahoma.

“How much further?”

“Probably another twenty-two hours.”  God, I didn’t
know if I could handle another twenty-two hours of their catfight.  I
don’t even think either of them knew what they were fighting about.  They
just pulled out their claws and refused to put them back in before the other
did.

“Ryan, please tell me you know what you’re getting yourself
into.”

“I’ve known Sean my entire life, and I’ve been dealing with
him in this light for… almost six months.”

Six months.  Had that really been all?  This thing
with Sean felt like a lifetime, a lifetime that I was ready to put to bed.

“I didn’t mean with Sean… I meant with Grace.”

I peeked over at my sleeping wife, praying that my mother’s
jab wouldn’t stir her.  She stayed in her curled position.  Thank
God.

“I know Grace.”

“How well?”

“Better than I know you.”  I heard her quietly
gasp.  It was mean, but I wanted to see to what degree my poke would pain
her.  It was enough to make her react audibly.  I felt my cheeks lift
as I reveled in my shot.

“I deserved that.”

“You did.”

“Ryan, believe me, I want to see you happy.  I wouldn’t
wish anything less for you.  But just like you, Grace was raised to hate
her enemy.  One day that hatred is going to come out: maybe from you,
maybe from her, but either way, it’s bound to happen.”

“You’re wrong.”

“You see how she’s been reacting to me.  And I’m your
mother, your blood.  The slightest bit of provocation sends her over the
edge.  There’s something innate about that.”

“She’s reacting in an effort to protect me.”

“She’s protecting herself.  She’s afraid you’re going
to pick me instead of her.”

“I already picked her!”  I was getting annoyed.  I
didn’t understand the point of this conversation.

“And now you’re becoming defensive.  Wow, you two do
not trust each other.”

“What are you talking about?”

I could feel my heart begin to race.  Why was she
questioning Grace and my relationship?  What gave her the right to do so?
 Why wouldn’t she stop pestering me?

“Ryan, I’m not trying to get in the way of your love life,
but I’m your mother.  I can see things that you don’t.”

You’re not my mother! 
I wanted to scream at
her, but there was no point.  Me acting like a child would not change the
last twenty years, and it certainly wouldn’t change the next twenty.  I
loved Grace and Grace loved me.  I didn’t need anyone to tell me anything
about us, especially this woman who had no idea what we went through just to be
together.

The long haul though Missouri
put my mother to sleep,
but woke Grace up.

“I heard your entire conversation.  I wasn’t asleep.”

Never mind: Grace wasn’t asleep.

“You see what she did, right?  She played us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ryan, she purposely got me worked up so that I would
explode and she could point out how unhinged I was.  She’s trying to pin
you against me.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know.  I really hope it’s stemming from a
twisted way of caring about you.  But I don’t know that for sure.  We
should be careful.”

“No.  You’re just being paranoid.”

“And it’s already started!  Ryan,” she placed her hand
on mine, “please promise me that you won’t give up on me.  It’s you and
me, okay?  It’s you and me.  She has nothing to do with us.”

I spent Illinois wrapped up in a vortex of my own mess of
insecurities.  Grace was right.  Maybe I had wanted this woman to
come in and be the mother I had been missing for so long.  I was still
waiting for her excuse.  I was still waiting for the apple pie and
milkshakes.  But facts are facts.  She left me and only showed back
up when her other family was in trouble.  She was no mother of mine.

But something she said hit home.

“And now you’re becoming defensive.  Wow, you two do
not trust each other.”

We had no reason not to trust each other.  With
everything we had been through, we only had trust.  Why then, we were so
defensive about our relationship?  Why did we let it bother us when this
woman who meant nothing to us came along and tried to rattle our beliefs?

We had both been raised in a war zone.  Grace’s mother
was murdered, and her father was the president of the most feared motorcycle
club on the east coast.  My mother ran out on me, and my father was the
president of a smaller club, but still one that felt as though they needed to
prove their worth.  Fighting was in our blood.  We didn’t know how to
walk away, as proved by the road trip we were currently taking.  We were
taught to judge, to not trust, and to always be on alert.  We were taught
to hate, to battle, and to conquer.  Grace and I found love, but now we
didn’t know what to do with it.  We feared that this gift would be taken
away from us.

I feared that it would be too strong.  I feared our
love for each other would be the thing that ultimately killed us.

The highways of Indiana and Ohio
blurred in my
memory.  Grace was kind enough to take over the driving responsibilities
so I could sleep… or at least try to sleep amid their bickering.

“I don’t quite know what you’re doing, but I’m going to
figure it out.”

“I can’t reason over this hold you have on my son, but
one day, he’ll see right through it.”

“You don’t get to be part of his life.  You gave up
that right too long ago.”

“Just wait until you have children.  You’ll see
exactly what I see when I look at you.”

When we hit Pennsylvania, I breathed a huge sigh of relief;
the close quarter fighting was almost over.  Grace and I could try to find
some normalcy amidst the chaos.  I was looking forward to quickly ending
this once and for all and moving on with our lives.  Little did I know, it
was just the beginning; nothing would be ending quickly.