Surviving The Biker (Motorcyle Club Romance) (21 page)

The rest of the day flew by because we were so busy. Around six, my mother ordered pizza, under Jim’s orders, and each of us took breaks to eat when time allowed.

“Trevor is here,” informed my mother, around nine-thirty. I’d just finished with a customer and was in the back, nibbling on the last few slices of pizza.

“Oh. Okay,” I replied, wiping my mouth

“At least one of us has a big appetite,” she said, smiling.

“I’m definitely not lacking there,” I replied, turning the sink on to wash my hands.

“He’s looking at rings.”

I turned to look at her. “Oh yeah?”

She nodded.

I grinned.

Vanda looked uneasy. “Things are getting serious between you?”

I turned off the water and grabbed a paper towel. “Yes, Mom. I told you before – we’re in love.”

“Love. You barely know each other.”

I dried my hands. “I don’t know about that. We’ve been spending a lot of time together. I think we know each other pretty well, especially after Hawaii. He’s a good man, despite what you think of him. You just need to get to know Trevor better.”

She didn’t reply.

I walked around her and stepped into the shop, happy that my shift was almost over. When I spotted him, he was looking at engagement rings with Tim. He had on the leather jacket his grandmother had given him, and his hair was pulled into a ponytail.

“Hi,” I said, approaching them.

Trevor gave me one of his sexy smiles and the light blue shirt he wore under his jacket made his eyes pop. “Hello, beautiful. Am I glad to see you…”

“Bad day” I asked, as Tim smiled at me and quietly walked away.

“Not really. I just missed you,” he said, leaning forward to kiss me.

“I missed you, too,” I said, when we pulled away.

“Hello, Trevor,” said my mother, approaching us.

“Hello,” he said, his expression more guarded.

“You look very nice,” she replied, smiling at him with real warmth this time.

He grinned. “Well, thank you, Vanda.” He looked down at his jacket. “Glad you approve.”

“You clean up nice. Tell me, did you ride your motorcycle tonight?”

He laughed. “No. Believe it or not, I have a truck. I’d prefer the bike, but it doesn’t travel well this time of the year.”

“No, I’m sure it doesn’t.” She looked down at the rings under the glass. “Are you shopping for something? Or just waiting for Adriana?”

Without answering directly, he looked down and pointed at one of the diamond rings – a one-and-a-half carat princess-cut solitaire. “I was looking at that. It’s gorgeous,” he said and then looked at me. “Do you like it?”

I knew that particular ring was over twelve grand. “It’s beautiful, but –”

“But, nothing,” said Vanda. “I thought I trained you better, Adriana. Never say something like that to a potential customer. Would you like to see the ring?”

“Sure,” he replied, winking at me.

Vanda opened up the case and took the ring out. She held it up to the light. “This one is almost completely flawless and do you see the color? There is none. It’s very rare.”

“It’s also very expensive,” I said. “There are others that are also beautiful and you don’t have to take out a second mortgage to make a purchase.”

“We have financing,” said Vanda, smiling. “If you’d like to see if you qualify?”

“I can’t see why I wouldn’t. My credit is kick ass,” he said. “Try it on, Kitten.”

Mom turned to me, her eyebrow raise. “Kitten?”

“Pet name, obviously,” I said, wishing she’d go away.

“I see. Why don’t you try it on,
Kitten
?” she asked with a smile.

I’d already tried it on before. Many times. It was the nicest one we carried, outside of the vault. The pricier rings weren’t even in the showroom. This particular diamond was gorgeous but as far as I was concerned, not necessary. Even with a family discount, it would still be thousands of dollars.

“No, that’s okay,” I said.

“Oh for Heaven’s sake, try it on. You know you want to,” she said, handing it to me.

“Fine,” I said, taking it. I slid it over my finger and noticed that it was very snug.

“No problem. We can always get it resized,” said Vanda. “Or, you can cut back on your sodium intake.”

I grunted. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I think the ring is beautiful,” said Trevor, examining the ring on my finger. Our eyes met. “Do you like it?”

“Of course I do,” I said. “But, it’s too expensive.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said. “How much is it, anyway?”

She told him and he didn’t even flinch.

“I figured it was something like that. How many carats?”

“One-and-a-half.”

“Is that big enough?” he asked. “Maybe we should look at two carats.”

I laughed nervously, wondering what he was thinking. We hadn’t even told my mother about moving in together, and here he was looking at engagement rings with her. It felt a little surreal. “No, I don’t think we need to look at two carats. This one is more than I need anyway.”

He smiled. “You’re worth every penny.”

“She is,” said my mother as I handed her back the ring. “So, is there something that you two wanted to tell me?”

Trevor and I looked at each other and then he cleared his throat.

“Actually, yes. We’re thinking about getting married,” he said.

“Thinking about getting married,” she repeated. “I’d say that if you’re looking at engagement rings, you’ve been thinking about it pretty hard.”

“We both have,” I said, grateful that there were only a couple of other customers in the store and they weren’t nearby. I didn’t want anyone to hear the lecture that I knew was coming.

“Why do you want to marry my daughter?” she asked him.

“Because I love Adriana with all my heart and couldn’t imagine living my life without her,” he said softly.

My eyes misted up and I smiled at him.

Mom looked at me, her expression unreadable. “And why do you want to marry Trevor?”

“Because I feel the same way. We’re in love.”

“You’re so young,” she said, now looking at me sadly. “Can’t you wait?”

“We could, but why?” I asked.

“You have so much living to do,” she replied. “And then there’s school. Don’t jump into something you might not be ready for.”

“Mom, didn’t you tell me that your parents tried talking you out of getting married, because they didn’t think you were ready?”

“I was older and they were wrong. I was ready.”

“I’m ready, too.”

She looked at Trevor, who’d been quiet. “And what do you have to say about all of this?”

“I’m willing to wait until she’s ready. It’s totally up to her. I just want her in my life and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make her happy.”

“Even marriage?” asked Vanda.

“Especially marriage.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled. “I see. Well, you’re both adults and I know you’re going to do what you want.”

“We’d like your blessing, though,” said Trevor.

She nodded slowly. “If you promise to honor, love, and protect my daughter, I will give that to you.”

“Really?” I squealed, shocked that she’d relented so easily.

“I promise, Vanda. I will. Thank you,” he replied, just as surprised as me.

“I want you to know, though,” she said, her eyes narrow, “if you hurt her or she gets involved in something illegal, because of your gang or lifestyle, I will hunt you down and shoot you myself.”

“I understand,” he said, smiling. “And I take your threat very seriously. She’s safe with me.”

“She’d better be,” said Vanda, her shoulders relaxing. She smiled. “Now, do you like that ring? I know the owner of this joint and I think if we play our cards right, we can talk her down in price.”

Trevor and I both laughed.

Although my mother took the news of us getting married surprisingly well, we didn’t tell her about the pregnancy. I didn’t want her to think that we were getting married just because I was pregnant, especially after the talk we had with her in the shop.

“We forgot to tell her that you were moving in with me, too,” he said afterward, when we were getting into our vehicles.

“About that,” I said. “I think we should wait a few weeks.”

“Why?”

I told him how she’d fainted in the shop. “She said she’d seen a doctor, too, about her headaches.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“I’m not sure. She brushed it off.”

He sighed. “You’re going to stay the night though, right?”

“Of course,” I said. “We’ll break the news of us moving in together on Christmas Eve. She’s making dinner. You’re invited, by the way. Unless, you have other plans?”

“This year, my plans are with you,” he said, pulling me into his arms.

“What about your grandmother?” I still hadn’t met her yet. All I knew was that she lived in Florida with her “Old Man” and that they traveled a lot on their bikes.

“She’s on a cruise right now,” he said. “But, I spoke to her about two weeks ago and told her about you. She wants us to visit her soon. Maybe after the holidays?”

“Sure. I’d love to meet her. That’s your mom’s mother, right?”

“Yeah.”  He told me about his mother showing up at his doorstep, earlier in the day.

“What did she want?”

He went over their conversation. When he got to the part about the Devil’s Rangers, I gasped in horror. “There’s a ‘hit’ on you?”

“From what I hear, it’s been canceled,” he said, smirking.

“Canceled?”

He told me about Bastard and April.

“Do you think she sought him out on purpose?” I asked, surprised.

“Oh yeah,” he replied, smiling. “But, he knows and doesn’t seem to care.”

“I guess that worked out in everyone’s favor then,” I replied, relieved that the Mother Chapter was finally stepping in. “Does that mean we don’t have to worry about the Devil’s Rangers anymore?”

“For the time being. At least that Chapter.”

“They have a Mother Chapter, too, don’t they?” I replied.

“Yes.”

“What will they do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could they retaliate?”

“Probably.”

“This is nuts,” I said, frustrated. “I feel like there is always going to be some kind of threat for us.”

“Don’t think that way. It’s not going to be like that. We’re going to get married, have this baby, and live to see our grandkids do the same thing. Hell, I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. The Devil’s Rangers aren’t worth stressing over.”

I knew that he was saying it so I wouldn’t worry, but I wasn’t naïve. Our lives were still in danger and it would always be the case, as long as long as there were Devil’s Rangers. 

“I promised your mother that I’d protect you, and I will,” he said, pulling me back into his arms. “Just don’t ever shut me out, Kitten.”

“I won’t, Trevor.” I closed my eyes and let him hold me. As worried as I was, I loved him and would never walk away. This was now my life and there really was no turning back.