Death of Cupids (The Blood of Cupids MC) (6 page)

Grace

Finally. 

As Ryan had been the solo driver for the better part of twenty-eight
straight hours, I let him sleep through the last leg of the trip.  That
left me with eleven hours of awkward silence intermixed with comments that
ranged from completely passive aggressive to full on hateful.  Needless to
say, my husband’s mother and I were not becoming fast friends.

“Can I drop you off at your house?”

“No.”

Really?  That was all she was going to give me? 
“Okay, I don’t know what that means.  Do you want me to drop you off on a
corner somewhere?”

“I want to make sure you go to the clubhouse.”

Did she really think we had driven for forty hours just to
pretend
we’d talk to the
Cupids
?  This woman really had no faith in
me.  From where had this stemmed?  Sure, we had our obvious
differences, but what right did she have to full on hate me?

I wasn’t super keen on bringing Anne Marie Carter to my Old
City Philadelphia apartment, but she refused to leave our side until we made
our presence known at the
Blood of Cupids
clubhouse.  She even
argued with me about stopping at the apartment first, but I assured her it
would be a quick stop just to make sure everything was in order, and then we’d
get right on to finding her children.  Then she made some snide comment
about how she hoped for the sake of all the children in the world that I’d
never become a parent.  Well, the joke’s on her!

It was weird being back.  I felt an ache in my stomach
as I turned the corner onto the old brick street.  I rolled the car into
my old parking space and took a deep breath as I looked around.  The only
remnants of the explosion were a few singed cinder blocks on the wall in front
of me.  Everything else had been cleaned or replaced.  Unfortunately,
that wasn’t an option for my memory.  I remembered Ryan sneaking up on
me.  I remembered Aunt Kathryn catching us, and I remembered her face when
she saw his tattoo.  I remembered giving Ryan my keys so I could chase
after her.  I remembered the sound of the explosion and the way my chest
tightened when I thought I had just sent Ryan to his death.  I remembered
the sound, the smell, and the heat of the fire.  I remembered the feeling
of defeat.  I remembered that day like it was yesterday.  Hell, it
was only a few months ago… it might as well have been yesterday.

“Babe, you okay?”  Ryan’s eyes were blinking awake as
he stared at me.  I didn’t know how long I had been sitting there
motionless, but it was safe to say the look on my face might be cause enough
for alarm.

“Yeah, I’m fine… I was just thinking…”

“I know.”  He cut me off.  He knew what I was
thinking; he didn’t need me to explain myself to him.  “Let’s get inside.”

I smiled and nodded as the three of us stepped out of the
car.  We walked up the incline of the garage and soon found ourselves in
the warming sunlight.  I reached the steps, but stopped in front of my
apartment building.  My feet just didn’t want to move toward the door.

My father had paid the rent in cash for two years up
front.  It was his way of promising me that he would allow me to finish
grad school without making any excuses to pull me out.  What we didn’t
know at the time was that me not finishing grad school would be completely my
own fault.  Still, the apartment was there, and it was mine for another
year and a half; Ryan and I had decided it would be silly not to take advantage
of that.

From behind me, I felt Ryan’s arms wrap around my waist and
his body push up against mine.  I relaxed into his arms as he lowered his
mouth to my ear and whispered.  “I know this is not the most ideal of
circumstances, and I know all of the terrible memories that you must be
recalling right now, but in front of everything else, I still see this spot as
the place I fell in love with you.”  He squeezed me tighter as he
continued.  “Do you see that bush right there?  I hid behind it the
first time I saw you.  You were so beautiful that it actually embarrassed
me.”

I laughed, picturing him hiding in that funny, misshapen
patch of shrubbery.

“And that bar,” he turned me to face the other side of the
street, “I followed you in there, and you asked me for an IPA.  I have
never been on a date with a girl who ordered an IPA right out of the
gate.  I wanted so much to kiss you right then and there.”

That was advice well taken from my Aunt Kathryn.
The
first drink you order with a guy should be an IPA.  It tells him that
you’re easy going enough to drink a beer, but strong enough to handle any
“hops” he might throw your way.
 

Ryan turned me back around to face my apartment again. 
I started giggling.

“And that’s where… Well, I think you know what happened up
there.”

“Could you remind me?” I teased.

He grabbed my ear between his lips and cooed ever so
lightly.  “I’ll remind you.  I’ll remind you all night.”

I felt my body warm to his suggestion.  I leaned back
into him and closed my eyes.  He really was amazing.  I had been
dreading the return.  I had been thinking of the night my father showed
up, the night I was shot.  I was thinking about when I came home and Ryan
had ransacked the apartment because he was convinced I was hiding something
from him.  I was thinking about when Sean rigged my car so it would
explode when I unlocked the door. 

But I was thinking only about the terrible things. 
This place wasn’t so bad.  Had it not been for this place, I wouldn’t have
fallen in love.  I wouldn’t have met my husband.  I wouldn’t be
carrying his child.  I wouldn’t have a lifetime to share with him. 
With that thought, I stepped forward, fishing my key out of my pocket. 
The latch clicked, and I pushed in.  I was home.

The apartment looked the same as the day I left.  I
don’t know what I was expecting, but seeing it in the same condition was quite
a relief.  Most of the bags were still in the car, but I set the two I was
holding down next to the table in my little dining nook.  There was a
small layer of dust on the table which I swirled my finger through, signing my
name. 
Grace Cassidy. 
I smiled down at my new
signature.  I liked the look of it.

“Are we heading down to the clubhouse now?”

For a second I had forgotten she was still with us.  I
wanted to take a break, lie down for a few minutes.  I wanted to reenact
the first night Ryan and I met.  I didn’t want to start with the Sean
business just yet.

But her children were at risk; my needs would have to wait.

“Let me just grab my bag.”

“No.”  Ryan clasped my hand in his.  “You’re not
coming.”

“Ryan, that was the deal.”

“Absolutely not.  Let’s be honest.  Sean knows
we’re here, you know that’s true.  I’m just going to show my face down at
the club so that his contact can confirm it, but that doesn’t mean you two have
to follow.  I want you to stay right here.”

Anne Marie bellowed.  “He said you both need to be at
the clubhouse.”

“And I don’t want you to go down there alone.” I quickly
added.

“Right now I don’t care what Sean wants.  You’ll get
your children back.  I promise you that.”

Ryan then placed his hands on my shoulders, pulling me aside
and out of hearing range from his mother.  “Grace, I am not worried about
this at all.  He’s not going to do anything stupid at the club; too many
of those guys would back me up.  But I can’t bring her down there. 
She doesn’t belong among that group; they only know her as the woman who left
my father.  Can you please stay with her?  Make sure she doesn’t do
anything stupid?”

He was right. Plus, I really was exhausted.  “Okay.”

“Still love me?”

“I do.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise you that I still love.”  I rose to my toes
and kissed his waiting lips, which then opened into a smile.

“I’ll be back soon.”

He nodded to his mother and walked out of the door.

“So Grace, I guess it’s just you and me.”

Oh good.

Ryan

I was all too relieved that Grace didn’t argue with me when
I asked her to stay at the apartment.  I used my mother as the excuse, but
she wasn’t the only one.  Even if the guys accepted that we were together,
they wouldn’t love me bringing Bowie Brennan’s daughter back to their clubhouse,
especially considering the first time she was there, the clubhouse blew up, and
then the second, their president was killed.  There was only so far
loyalty would go.

Plus, I wasn’t going to the clubhouse.  I was going to
see Rocky.

I parked on the street in front of his house.  His bike
was out front, so I knew he was home, but what I didn’t know was if he was
expecting me.  I knew he wasn’t Sean’s contact.  If there was one
thing I was certain of, it was that Rocky would never offer his allegiance to
Sean.  But that didn’t mean he might not be aware of the
circumstances.  I really knew nothing of what had happened since Grace and
I left Pennsylvania.  No one made contact to tell us that Sean was still
alive, and no one had mentioned where Danny ended up.  No one even called
to check up on us.  When we left, it seemed we were forgotten.  We
were forgotten by everyone except Sean, of course.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

His voice startled me, as he had snuck up to my car window. 
“Rock.”  I opened the door and offered my hand to his. 

He pulled me into a hug.  “Can’t say I thought I’d ever
see you again.” 

“I’m with you there.  Man, what is going on?”

“Last I heard, you and Grace had gotten the fuck out of
here.  So I’ll ask again: what the hell are you doing here?”

Where should I start: my mother, Sean, the baby, the
wedding?  It was overwhelming just thinking about it all.

I smiled and offered a wave to Rocky’s wife, who was peeking
her head out of the window.  She had one kid standing in front of her, one
clinging to her leg, one on her hip, and at about seven months pregnant, she
was just starting to really show.  Still, she was just as gorgeous as the
first day I met her.  Funny though, the last time I had seen her, I was
filled with jealousy at her and Rocky’s relationship.  Looking at her now,
I didn’t feel even a hint of envy.  I was so happy for them, only hoping
that their love for each other was as strong as Grace and mine.

With four separate waves, the group left the window,
allowing me to get back to the task at hand.

“You guys didn’t get Sean.”

His face dropped as I said it.  “Yeah, I’m sorry,
Ry.  We scared him, but we didn’t get him.  Seeing as though we
haven’t heard from him since, I didn’t want to worry you with that.”

“Well, he found us.”

“Shit.  Are you okay?”  His eyes widened with
worry.  “Where’s Grace?  Is she okay?” 

“Yes.  She’s fine.  We’re both fine.  I just
wanted to see what you knew.”

“Man, I know nothing.  We haven’t talked about Sean
since the incident, and like I said, he hasn’t tried to make contact.”

Interesting.  So Sean was lying low, out of
sight.  What if he was working with the
Shadows? 
But then
wouldn’t he have told us to head to Alexandria?  There had to have been a
reason he wanted us back at my club.  I just wanted to be prepared before
I stepped back into the lion’s den.

“Any new members?”

“No.  Same guys as always.”

“Anyone acting weird?  Anything seem just not
right?”  I was searching for anything he could give me.

“Not much has changed in the last six weeks, and everyone
seems the same.”

“Business?”

“Business is still good.”

“Who’s running the game?”

“You’re looking at him.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.  “You?  I thought you
hated all that leadership shit.”

“I also hate blood, but you fuckers still made me sew you up
for years.”

“Good point.”

It’s a humbling moment when you learn that something you’ve
spent your life working at is able to run smoothly without you there.  It
kind of makes you wonder what you’ve been doing with your time.  How many
hours had I wasted in a group that wouldn’t have noticed if I had never been
there in the first place?

“Ryan,” Rock brought me back to the conversation, “what are
you doing here?”

I just blurted it out.  “Sean took my mom’s kids.”

It took a second.  It actually took a few seconds for
Rocky to realize what I was telling him.

“Shit.”

“Yah.  Pretty much my reaction too.”

He knew not to push the subject.  I’d talk when I was
ready, and right then I wasn’t ready.  That was the great thing about
Rocky.  I could always count on him to just let me figure shit out for
myself.

“So are we going to the club?”

“Yah.  One of the guys is working with Sean.  I
have to figure out who it is.”

“You’re sure?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Then let’s go figure out who the backstabbing bitch is.”

That was all I needed.  He was on my team.  Rocky
ran inside to let his ol’ lady know where we were heading, but then promptly
turned around and raced back to the car.  Without another word, he crawled
into the passenger seat.

We were off to find the traitor.