Slay (Storm MC #4) (23 page)

The look on her face told me everything I needed to know.  Madison totally got where I was coming from.  She squeezed my arm.  “Yes, I know exactly what you mean.  I’ve met people like that before.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.  “Thank God.  I’ve never met anyone like that, so I thought perhaps I was going crazy.”

She grinned.  “Only the best of us go crazy, honey.  Welcome to the loony bin.  Besides, if you weren’t crazy, these guys would send you there soon enough with the crazy shit they get involved in.”

“She’s right, darlin’.  You should think twice about getting involved with any of us.”  I turned to find Nash standing in the hallway watching us, a cheeky look on his face. 

Madison rolled her eyes.  “Don’t listen to anything Nash says.  He mostly speaks shit.”  The affectionate look she gave him told me she liked him anyway. 

Nash moved to the side and let the woman standing behind him move next to him.  Putting his arm around her, he introduced us.  “Layla, this is Velvet.”

I smiled at her, and then said to Nash, “We’ve met.”

Velvet was stunning with her long dark hair, olive skin and trim body.  She wore a fitted dress that showed off her curves, and killer heels that drew attention to legs any woman would die for.  Probably any man, too.  But it was the smile she gave me, and her kind words that showed her true beauty.  “Hi Layla.  I’m so glad you could make it today.  I’ve been looking forward to spending time with the woman who has stolen Blade’s attention.  That man so needs a good woman.”

“I have to agree,” I murmured. 

I loved how his family and friends cared for him, and wondered if he realised the love they had for him.

Nash joined the guys outside, leaving us girls alone in the kitchen.

Velvet turned to me.  “I think we might have to organise a girls night out at your bar.”

“Absolutely!” Madison agreed.  “We should do it soon.  Harlow needs a night out with us.  Serena will be in, too.  She was disappointed she had to work today and couldn’t come.”

Velvet frowned.  “What’s going on with Harlow?  I’ve left a couple of messages and she hasn’t gotten back to me, and she cancelled her last hair appointment at the salon so I didn’t get to catch up with her then, either.”

“She and Scott are going through some stuff.  I’ll let her tell you in her own time, but she really does need us at the moment.  She’s trying to withdraw, I think, so I just keep pushing myself on her.”

“I haven’t been to Indigo for a while, either.  Is she still working there?”

Madison nodded.  “Yeah, but she’s had some time off over the last couple of weeks.  I think she’ll start back next week.”

“Okay, I will drop by and force myself on her, too,” Velvet promised.

“Indigo is the strip club the MC own.  Harlow works the bar there,” Madison informed me.

“And she’s Scott’s girlfriend,” Velvet added.

The pieces were all falling into place.  “Gotcha,” I said.

“Madison, the meat will be ready soon.  Do you want to bring everything else out?” J yelled to her from the yard.

“Sure, baby,” she replied, and we gathered everything up and headed outside.

***

During lunch, I sat back and watched everyone interacting and couldn’t help but think this was like a family.  Although they weren’t related, they seemed like one big family.

I loved that.

Madison caught my eye and smiled at me.  “I spoke to my Mum the other day and she said she loves working at your bar, Layla.  Thank you for giving her a job.  I can see a change in her since she started working there.”

I returned her smile before looking at Donovan.  “You should thank Donovan because he put me onto your Mum.  I had no idea who to hire until he suggested Sharon.  The customers love her which is great and she’s doing a wonderful job so I couldn’t ask for more than that.”

She smiled at Donovan but didn’t say anything further about Sharon.  I figured they’d already spoken about it. 

Velvet changed the subject.  “What’s everyone doing for Christmas?”

J groaned.  “Fuck, don’t get Madison started on that.”

Madison glared at him and smacked him lightly on the chest.  Looking at me, she said, “Just ignore, J, he gets grumpy around Christmas time.”

“Only because you go on and fucking on about Christmas for weeks, babe,” he muttered.

Nash grinned a cheeky grin.  “I vote we have a Christmas party here.”

The look J hit him with could have killed, but Madison’s face lit up with a huge smile.  “I love that idea, Nash.”

“Thought you might, babe,” he said, grinning at J.

“Fuck you, asshole,” J directed at Nash.

Velvet slid her arm across Nash’s shoulders and pulled him to her so she could say, “You’re a devious man, Nash Walker.  I like it.”

He turned his face to hers and kissed her.  “I know you do, sweet thing.  I keep that shit up just for you.”

As they continued bantering back and forth, I watched Scott.  He’d hardly engaged in the conversation today and sat staring into space.  It was pretty clear he wasn’t interested in what was being said and I wondered again what was troubling him.

“Will you come to the Christmas party, Layla?” Madison asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I dragged my attention from Scott to look at her.  “If I can get someone to work the bar, I will.”

“We could lend you some staff from Indigo if you need it,” Nash offered.

“Thanks,” I said.

J nodded.  “Yeah, we’ve got some good staff there who won’t let you down.”

I was amazed at their generosity.  They hardly knew me and yet they were offering to help me out and it wasn’t the first time they’d done that.  It wasn’t often I’d come across such giving people in my life.

Donovan whispered in my ear, “You okay?”

I turned to him.  “Yeah, I’m more than okay,” I said with a smile.

He nodded, and turned back to the conversation.  Looking at Madison, he asked, “So, what date are you doing this?”

J groaned again, and I had to laugh. 

Warmth spread throughout me.

This was what family was.

***

Donovan’s hand rested on my leg underneath the table, and while I did my best to keep up with the conversation, his touch distracted me, forcing my thoughts to wander off in his direction.  Thinking about his hands all over me was not the thing to be doing while sitting across from his sister, so I pushed his hand away.

He turned to me as he moved his hand back to my leg.  I glared at him and pushed him away again.  He shook his head slightly, slid his arm around my shoulders, and pulled me close so he could whisper in my ear, “Don’t fight me, baby.  You tell me no, the more I’ll push.”

Shit, his words shot straight to my core, and I squeezed my legs together as the desire moved through me.  “Not in front of your family, Donovan,” I whispered back.  The lunch had been going so well, and I’d felt completely welcomed by everyone.  I didn’t want to risk ruining that.

“It’s time to leave then.”  Without waiting for my response, he directed his attention to Madison and said, “We have to go.”

She nodded although she did seem disappointed.  Looking at me, she said, “Thank you for coming.  It was so good to meet you.  And we’ll definitely have to do the girls night out thing at your bar soon.”

“I’d love that,” I said, as Donovan stood, dragging me up with him.

He quickly said his goodbyes to everyone, and we left. 

“I really like your sister,” I said as he drove us back to my place.

“Yeah, she’s special.”

“Scott seems quite moody, or is it just because of his girlfriend problems?”

“He is a moody bastard.  For a long time, he wouldn’t have anything to do with me, but over the last few months we’ve been working together on something and it’s brought us closer.  I don’t think we’re going to suddenly be great friends or anything, but he has changed a lot.”

“That’s nice.  What’s Harlow like?”

He gave me a smile.  Interesting, he must like her.  “She’s the perfect woman for Scott.  Kind, caring, and she has a beautiful soul.  I have a lot of time for Harlow.”

“Well, I hope they can sort their stuff out because she sounds amazing.”

“Did you have a good time today?” he asked.

“I did.  Everyone was so welcoming and I was stunned when J and Nash offered to lend me staff for the bar so I could go to their Christmas party.”

“So you’ll come to the party?”

“Of course,” I answered.

“Good,” he murmured.

I turned to look at him.  “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

He kept staring ahead, watching where he was driving.  Giving me a quick glance, he said, “I wasn’t sure if today might have overwhelmed you.  Madison can be pretty full on, as can the guys when they all get together.”

“No, I loved it,” I said, softly.  “Coming from the shitty family I did, I craved that kind of get together because we never did that kind of thing.  And even when they were arguing, you could still see the affection they had for each other.”

“Yeah, I never had that growing up either.”  His voice said everything his words didn’t.  Donovan craved family as much as I did.

I reached across and ran my hand over his shoulders.  “I think you and Madison are lucky to have each other now.”

He gave me a quick smile before placing his hand on my leg and tracing a pattern.  His touch was gentle and soft.  We remained silent for a while before he finally said, “I’m lucky to have
you
, sweetheart.  I’ve never felt this kind of connection before.”

I stilled, unsure of what to say.  I was fairly sure I knew what he meant, but I struggled to believe it.  His fiancé had meant a lot to him, so I wasn’t convinced he actually meant he felt more with me.  Before I could question him, his phone rang and he gave me an apologetic look before answering it.

I’d question him another time.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Blade

I leant back in my chair, distracted from my work.

Layla.

It had been four days since the barbeque at Madison’s house.  Four days since I’d admitted to her I felt more for her than I’d ever felt for another woman.  Four days since she’d pulled away from me a little.  Nothing too noticeable, but I
felt
it.  It was in the way she didn’t say everything she was feeling, in the way she didn’t touch me quite as much as she had before, and in the way she fucked me.  Up until four days ago, she’d abandoned herself during sex.  She’d shut her mind off and gone with it.  Now, I could almost hear her mind ticking over.  It caused her to hold back, to not give herself to me completely. 

I need to fix that.

My phone rang, breaking into my thoughts.

Scott.

“What’s up?” I answered it.

“Just wanted to keep you up-to-date with the Ricky situation.  Griff’s advised me the drug shipment has been delayed.  Seems the cops in New South Wales busted them on the way, so now we have to wait for another lot to come through.  It could be a week or more, though, because they’ve got too much heat at the moment.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, brother, that’s one way to put it.”

“Okay, let me know when you know more so I can get the guys ready.”

“Will do,” he said before hanging up.

I stood up and walked to the window.  As I stared out at the river, I thought about how things had changed in my life over the last few months.  Between my relationship with Scott improving, and my new relationship with Layla, things had changed a lot.  For the better.  Even my relationship with my mother had shifted, and the changes she was making in her life were for the better.  Finishing off Marcus would be the end of a lot of things, as well as the beginning of so many more.

We need to make this happen soon.

“Donovan!”

I turned to find Layla stalking through my office door, followed by Merrick, with an angry look on her face.  She was wearing denim shorts and a fitted singlet that accentuated her breasts.  I was instantly hard, but when she began talking, that was quickly forgotten.

“I’ve just had an altercation with a man called Phil Deacon, and I’m fucked the way off.  He said that you know him, and I’m guessing, from what he said, you’re definitely
not
friends, but I want to know where to find the bastard so I can go and give him a piece of my fucking mind.”

Fuck.

“Calm down, sweetheart, and tell me what the hell happened.”

She took a deep breath.  “I was sitting in my car at the shopping centre when the asshole got in and sat in my passenger seat.  He introduced himself and said he was a buddy of yours in the construction industry, but that you’d pissed him off, and he wanted me to talk to you about it.  Said that he bet I had sway over you, and that I could convince you to walk away from some job he wanted.  And then the fucker ran his finger across my neck and said something about him hating it if you had to deal with two lost women in your life.”

“Fuck!” I thundered, anger bursting through my mind.

Merrick cut into the conversation.  “Fucking hell, Blade!  I knew we should have taken care of him when we had the chance.”

I flashed him a warning with my eyes.  “Leave it, Merrick.”

“No, you’ve gone soft, and it’s time you fixed that shit.”

We glared at each other until Layla interrupted.  “Well, I want a word with him before you fix shit,” she said, her angry eyes showing me how worked-up she was.

“No, you need to stay out of it,” I barked, a little more forcefully than I meant to.

Her eyes widened.  “You don’t get to decide that, Donovan.”

Fuck, I’d pissed her off even more, but my mind was closing in on me with worry over her safety, and I struggled to control my emotions.  “Yes, I do,” I dictated. 

As Layla and I stood locked in a battle over her actions, Merrick muttered something under his breath and left my office.  I waited for her reply, not confident she would back down.  I’d wanted a strong, independent woman, but, fuck, in situations like this, I wished my preferences lay with women who didn’t have that streak in them.