Death of Cupids (The Blood of Cupids MC) (2 page)

Ryan

“Mom?”

“Yes.”  She slowly nodded in answer to my question.

“Mom?”

“Ryan, it’s me.”

I had to sit.  I found the couch.  Nope.  I
had to stand.  That didn’t feel right either.  Maybe I needed to sit
somewhere else.  Or lean!  I needed to lean against the wall.

“So you’re… you’re… you’re.”  I couldn’t get the words
out.  It was as if I had forgotten the language.  I knew what I
wanted to say.  I had been preparing for this moment since she had walked
out on me twenty years earlier.  Every morning for years, I would wake up
and walk down the stairs expecting to see her happily making breakfast in the
kitchen.  I expected to run into her arms and for her to hold me close and
apologize, saying she had to go save the world, or some other lame
excuse.  Anything but that she had just woken up one day and decided to
abandon her only son.

But that never happened, and I stopped expecting.  One
morning I pulled myself out of bed, walked down the stairs, and I knew she
wouldn’t be there.  I truly knew it.  I didn’t even need to check the
kitchen.  That was the first day she didn’t disappoint me.

But now, here she was, standing in my living room, begging
me to come home, but only to save her other children.  It had nothing to
do with me.  Had she not found herself in this situation, I was sure she
never would have sought me out.  She would never be standing in my living
room, attempting to forge a relationship that she had given up on so long
ago.  So what did I owe her?  What loyalty did she deserve from
me?  Why would she ever think I would succumb to her plea?

“Why don’t you sit?”  Grace had decided to speak up; it
was obvious I wasn’t going to be the welcoming one.  “Ryan, can I speak
with you privately for a minute?”

Her tone was soft, soothing, exactly how one should present
themself when entertaining a guest in their house.  The purr of her voice
calmed me down for a brief moment, until her eyes met mine.  That’s when I
saw it: that look.  I knew that look.  She wasn’t happy.  But
neither was I, and I deserved to live in this moment of misery.

Grace closed the front door and led my mother to the
couch.  My mother.  That was weird to say, to even think.  I
felt like I would be sick.

“Just excuse us for a minute.”  Grace was so polite, so
proper.  I had never seen this side of her; I guess there never was a
reason to see it.  I involuntarily cocked my head to the side, as I found
it was very interesting how she could transform into a
lady,
for lack of
a better term.  My mother smiled, completely falling for it.  Or was
she just playing along herself? 

But I knew better.  Underneath that shroud of sincerity
and hospitality was still my Grace; the Grace I knew, the Grace that was about
to give me an earful.

I followed her into our bedroom where she grabbed my hand
and pulled me to the edge of the bed.  I sat next to her, still not sure
if my brain would allow me to form complete sentences.

She rested her hands on top of mine, letting her warmth ease
my body into a state of comfort.  That was much better.  I leaned
into her, hoping to get a whiff of the lavender shampoo that she had been using
since we had moved to California.  She smiled, knowing exactly what I was
doing, and allowed me to take in her sweet scent.  I felt my heart rate
begin to subside, and I took a deep breath, hoping to speed up the process.

“Grace, I’m sorry.”

She squeezed my hands under hers.  “No.  You have
absolutely nothing to be sorry about.  Do you hear me?”

I still could not wrap my head around everything that was
happening.  In the last hour I had seen my mother for the first time in
twenty years, I had learned that I was going to be a father, and I found out my
Uncle Sean was not only alive, but also continuing his vendetta against
me.  It was, to say the least, one hell of an afternoon.

“I can’t believe she’s here.”  I sputtered.

Grace wrapped her arms around me, letting me know that I was
not alone.  “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now Ryan, but
unfortunately, I’m going to need you to snap out of it soon.  We have a
responsibility now, and it requires us to act fast.  You know Sean; these
kids’ lives are in danger.  What do you need me to do?”

Again with her practicality.  She knew exactly what
needed to be done and by when it needed to be handled.  In that moment, I
knew I truly would’ve been lost without her.

“I’m okay… I’ll be okay… but what about the baby?”

“What about the baby, Ryan?  I got the baby right
here,” she playfully patted her belly, “it’s not going anywhere.”

“But, if we go back… if we fight him again… if he…” I
couldn’t say the words, but she knew exactly what I was thinking.  That
conversation with Sean while I was being tortured in that abandoned warehouse
would forever remind me of my inability to protect her.

“You know I’ve seen her rack, right?  While I was
slicing my knife down her chest, they were kind of hard to miss.  I’ve
grabbed them too.  I’ve grabbed all of her.  Did she tell you
that?  Did she tell you how I held her tits in my palms and squeezed them
so hard?  Did she tell you I sucked her tit until she screamed?”

How could I put her back in that position?  How could I
allow her to be anywhere near that psychopath?  Time and time again, I was
reminded of her strength.  I was reminded that she truly had the ability
to handle any situation that was thrown at her.  But now, things were
different.  She wasn’t only protecting herself; she was protecting my
child.  I couldn’t put my family in harm’s way.  I just couldn’t.

On the other hand, my family was Grace, and if I knew
anything about her, it was that she paved her own way.  Once she had
settled on something, I wouldn’t be able to hold her back.

I placed my hand on her chest, lightly rubbing my thumb over
the raise of her scar.  It killed me to be reminded of him every time I
saw her naked body, every time I felt her.  It was as if he had cut her for
the sole reason of torturing me for the rest of my life.  And now I had to
let her go back.  I had to give him the opportunity to mark her again.

I looked up at Grace, praying that she had already come up
with an alternative to my next statement.  I took in a deep breath and
slowly exhaled.  “I guess we’re going back home.”

There was no alternative, no plan, no solution.  Grace
just nodded.

We were going home.

Grace

I left Ryan alone in the bedroom; he needed some time to
gather his bearings, and I wanted time to get some answers out of Anne Marie
Carter.  Call it jealousy, call it a lack of trust in others, or call it a
woman’s intuition, but I really didn’t trust the woman.

I sauntered down the hall, turning into the kitchen
area.  The kitchen was small, just the necessary appliances, but it had an
island with a good amount of storage underneath and enough space for four
barstools.  The kitchen opened into a dining area, and just across the way
was our living room, where Ryan’s mother sat.

“Would you like a glass of water, Mrs. Carter?”

“That’s very kind of you, dear.  Thank you.”

I felt a shudder up my spine when she called me
dear. 
She didn’t even know me; why was she using pet names?  I already had a
bad taste in my mouth about her, but I tried to convince myself that it was
most likely due to her abandonment of the man I loved and not because she was a
bad person.  I didn’t know the situation.  Circumstances might have
been out of her control.  Just because she left, didn’t make her a bad
person.  Or did it?  I was having a hard time convincing myself that
those two things might not be one and the same.    

“Here you are.”  I said as I handed her the glass full
of ice water.

“Thank you.”  I could tell she wanted to ask a
question, so I waited before jumping in with any of mine.  I saw her eyes
dart down the hallway.  She stumbled over her words.  “Ryan… is he…
okay?”

A laughed a little.  “Would you be okay if your mother,
who abandoned you twenty years ago, just randomly showed up one day and asked
you to risk your life to rescue siblings who you never knew existed?”  It
was snarky and a bit rude, yes, but she asked for it with that ridiculous
question.

“No, no.  You’re right.  This was not the reunion
I imagined.”

Hold on.  She imagined a reunion of any kind? 
When was she planning on that one?  I wanted to jump back down her throat,
I protected my own, but I would have to save it for another time.  There
was a more pertinent question on the tip of my tongue.  That fight would
have to wait for another time.

“So where is he?”

“Who?”  Her eyes focused on mine.

“Don’t play coy.  Sean is here.  Why did he bother
sending you?”

“Why would you think he’s here?”

I had about enough of that.  “Okay lady, any more of
these kinds of answers and I’m going to have to assume you’re working with him
and the whole kidnapped children thing is a ruse.”

“He has my children.”  She snapped.  “I swear.”

Sean knew I was pregnant, which I had found out today. 
If he wrote that letter, he would’ve had to be following me around the grocery
store, or worse, he followed me home.  And he would’ve known putting his
little postscript tease in there meant I would have figured out he was
close.  He wanted me to know.  He wanted me to react.  Sean
Cassidy was hanging around my little town waiting for me to figure this out.

“Did you read this?”  I held the letter up to her.

“No.”

“And you don’t know what it says?”

“I don’t.”  For some strange reason, I believed her.

“It pretty much says he’s here, so choose your words
wisely.”

“He’s…” I watched as she calculated her answer.

“It’s a waste of time for you to lie to me.  I don’t
know how much you know, but I have a bit of history with Sean Cassidy.  He
knows me well enough to appreciate that I would figure this little riddle
out.  I’m also going to assume he wanted me to figure it out.”

“I swear to you: he didn’t tell me any of this.”  She
withered further into the couch.

I wanted to slap this woman across the face.  I knew
all about feeling defeated, I knew all about having the things you love most
taken away from you, but I also knew all about picking yourself up and not
allowing yourself to become a victim.  Anne Marie Carter was clearly a
victim.  Without Ryan and I, there would be no way she would ever see her
children again.  So why did Sean send her rather than coming himself?
 I rolled through a few scenarios in my head, trying to pinpoint Sean’s
plan of attack.  What was his angle now?

At that point, a strange thought clicked in my head. 
For so long, I had assumed Sean wouldn’t stop until we were both dead. 
All his threats insinuated just that.  But now, I was beginning to see how
wrong I might be.  Sean never wanted us dead; he wanted us to
suffer.  He wanted to laugh while everything was taken away from us. 

Only then would he be happy.

“So what’s the game plan?”  I still was unsure of her
role in all of this.

“Sean said that I need to accompany you two back to
Philadelphia, then Ryan is supposed to go to the
Cupids
clubhouse.”

“That’s it?  That’s all he said?”  It seemed a
little too humane for Sean Cassidy.

“Yes.  I swear to you: that’s it.  Once he gets
word that you guys are back, my children can come home.”

What game was he playing?  There was no way he was
going to release hostages that easily, especially now that Ryan was aware that
those hostages were his half siblings.  Angry or hurt as he may be, Ryan
still had a good heart.  He would never let anything happen to them, and I
was certain Sean was planning on exactly that.

I tallied up the things I had learned either directly from
our conversation or that I had deduced from reading between the lines.

Sean was still alive.

Sean knew where we lived.

Sean would give Anne Marie her children back once he got
word of our return.

“And he specifically said that Ryan had to go to the
clubhouse.”

“Yes, he made sure to stress that point.”

That could only mean one thing: there was a
Cupid
that
we could not trust.

Finding him would be our first mission.

“So that means Sean will not be traveling back with us?”

A deep voice rang behind me.  “Why would Sean be coming
with us?”  With how engaged I was with Anne Marie and how determined I was
to figure out Sean’s next move, I didn’t even hear Ryan come out of the
bedroom. 

We both just stared at him, unsure of how to respond.

“Do I need to ask again?”  I could hear the anger in
his voice.

His mother stood up.  “Sean brought me here.”

“Where is he?”  Ryan didn’t even look at us, just made
a B line toward the door.

“Ryan, stop.”  I followed closely behind.

“No, Grace.”  He turned around to me, placing his hands
on my shoulders.  “If Sean is here, then I will end this right now.”

Anne Marie made a small noise before she spoke.  “You
can’t.  Please.  If he doesn’t make it back, I don’t get my children;
he promised me that.”

Of course.  Sean had ensured his survival by making
himself a necessary piece of the puzzle.  He was smart; we couldn’t deny
that.

Ryan took his hand off the doorknob and turned to her. 
“Fine.”  His breath calmed him.  “Fine.  You have my word that
Grace and I will go to Philadelphia, as he has asked.  You can go home and
wait for your children.”

“I’m going to Philadelphia too.”  She quietly
countered.

“No.  You’ll just get in the way.  We don’t need
you.”  Ryan was putting his foot down.  He obviously wanted no
relationship with this woman.    

“But that’s where I live.  I never left Philadelphia.”

I saw the hurt spread across his face.  I saw clearly
the pain of his entire childhood.  His mother had been there the whole
time.   Twenty years in the same city as him, but never once had she
tried to reach out.  Never until now: now that her other children were in
danger.