Chapter 25

Maverick

We'd been sitting at the bar for just over an hour, Sophie was still happily playing with Leo and Chopper. I'd gotten Grace a glass of wine to steady her nerves. It had kicked in slightly and she was finally starting to relax after her frightening ordeal.

"You and your girl can come in now," Slate interrupted with a smirk on his face. "I've got more than I did an hour ago."

Grace stiffened under my hand, but only for a moment. "You found the driver?"

He smiled over his shoulder. "Did you ever have any doubt?"

Grace laughed. "I'll reserve judgment until I've seen the goods."

Slate dropped down behind his row of computer monitors and grinned at her. Diesel was there along with Rocky, Hawk, and Rebel, gazes full of a mixture of humor and worry as each of them noticed my hand on Grace's back. "I like you, Grace. You're a great cook and sassy, so if you get tired of this guy, you know where to find me," he said jokingly.

Her face flamed red, but she rolled her eyes with a smile. "Um, thanks?"

"Watch out, Mav. You've got competition." He laughed to himself, the asshole, and turned our attention to the big screen that hung on the wall. "This is video from our parking lot, and you can see the windows are too dark to see anything. But I got into some of the traffic cameras around here." He wiggled his eyebrows, so pleased with himself.

"Is it even a man?" Grace asked, her brows knitted into a frown.

"He loves to leave you hanging. It's a whole presentation with Slate," I whispered in her ear, loud enough for Slate to hear.

"It's probably a man," he said with a teasing smile. "But let's see what the traffic cameras have for us. This is the path he took when he hauled ass out of here, and he goes more than a mile before he rolled down the window."

There he was. The asshole had brown hair and a few days' worth of growth on his jaw. His face was twisted in rage, and I could practically feel his anger through the monitor.

Grace gasped and then her skin paled as tears welled in her eyes. One hand flew to her mouth and her legs wobbled. "Trent." The word left her mouth on a shaky whisper.

I hooked an arm around her waist and let her lean on me. "Grace."

"It's okay. I'm okay." She pushed away from me and tested her shaking legs before she left the room.

I felt useless as tits on a fucking fish. The sight of her tears and her fear over that asshole? Good, now I was angry too. When I found him, I was going to end him.

"You should go after her," Diesel said in his low voice, full of unshakeable calm. "Make sure she's okay."

"Yeah, but she's not okay, is she?"

"Fuck no," Slate growled. "Would you be?" He'd spent one afternoon with her and already he was protective as hell because that's what Grace inspired in people.

So how the fuck did the man who got to marry her, who got to call her his, end up being the one person she needed protection from? "Fuck."

"It's too dangerous for her to leave now. You need to make her see that." Diesel's gaze was steady on mine. "He had to have followed her from somewhere."

Mabel's home. That means it was definitely Trent who tried to break into my grandma's house, maybe he'd been waiting for his chance to strike. "You sure? Because I recall none of you were too thrilled with the idea of her staying around."

"Yeah, well, now it's different. She's here and it's clear she means something to you," Rocky answered. "The girl too."

"You eased into fatherhood well," Rebel said, with a teasing smile on his face. I guessed it was his way of apologizing for being an asshole before. "Like you were born to do it."

I flipped him off to let him know I accepted his apology and then I went after my woman. She knelt on the floor in front of Sophie, arms wrapped tight as she hugged her like it was the last chance she would ever get.

"Mommy, it's too tight," Sophie groaned.

"I'm sorry, baby. It's just that I love you so much."

Sophie put a hand to her mother's cheek. "I love you too, Mommy."

"Okay," she whispered, and pushed to her feet and ruffled Sophie's blond hair, watching as the little girl loved on Chopper, who ate it up like cheeseburgers, which were his favorite.

"Hug Chopper, Mommy. He loves it and you can't hug him too tight." The way the little girl smiled up at her mom brought even more tears to Grace's eyes, and I was at her side.

"Come on, let's get some fresh air." I took her arm and whispered in her ear, guiding her out the back of the clubhouse where we could have some privacy and were far away from the road just in case there were any curious eyes on us. "Talk to me, Grace."

She shook her head, arms wrapped around her waist as she hugged herself tight. Every inch of her body was tense, and I could see the guilt mixed in with the fear as she looked up at the cloudy sky. "I should have left when I said I would. If I had, Trent would have been too late. He would've gotten here, and he wouldn't have found us." She smacked her forehead a few times. "So, so stupid, Grace."

I grabbed her wrists and yanked her hands away from her face. "Don't. Don't you dare revert back to the scared little rabbit you were when I found you. Don't let him do that to you, goddammit."

"Maybe he wasn't completely wrong about everything, Maverick."

"Or maybe you think this because he beat it into you."

She winced at my words. It was the first time either of us acknowledged what we both knew she was running from.

"Sorry, but the woman I've gotten to know is stubborn and sexy and sometimes funny. She is never stupid. Got it?"

Grace stepped away from me, instinctively rejecting my words. "Or maybe you just don't know her that well."

I laughed. "Maybe it's because she's worried that all men aren't like her asshole husband."

She swiped at her tears, a small smile on her lips. "He's here, Maverick."

I nodded, the anguish in her voice like a damn machete to the heart. "Is your plan still to leave?"

Her brows crinkled into a frown. "Of course." Her tone begged me to understand, but after seeing the fear on her face and the tears that lingered, I wasn't in an understanding mood.

"Okay, your plan is to leave. You and Sophie are headed for parts unknown. What happens if, or more likely when, he catches up with you and it's just you and her? What's the plan, then?"

Her arms tightened around her. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"No, but you should be scared." The man had tracked her for months, there was no way this ended well for any of them.

"I am," she snapped. "You don't think I'm scared? I know what happens if he catches up to us because I lived it for years." She shook her head. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, Grace. I just want to keep you and Sophie safe. I want you to stay." I wrapped my arms around her and let my hands glide up and down her back. "Please."

She stiffened at first, but after a few moments, she relaxed and looked up at me. "Stay?"

I nodded. "Yes. Stay. Not just because I want more amazing sex, but it is a bonus." I laughed and so did Grace. "Also because you're better off here where we can all protect you and Sophie."

She shook her head, at least one argument at the ready. "But I can't stay here and take care of Mabel. What if…oh my god, he followed me from there didn't he?"

There was a part of me that wanted to lie to Grace, to tell her that he could have spotted her anywhere. But I couldn't. "Probably."

"Shit. I need to call her. We have to go get her, Maverick!" Her hands gripped my arms tight. "I didn't even think of that. I'm sorry." Her shoulders sagged, heavy with defeat. "This is why I need to leave. Look at what my presence is doing here."

"Rebel is already on his way to Mabel's house and Scooter is already there. She's going to be fine."

"You guys are very efficient for bikers."

I laughed. "We are a well-oiled machine and we're tough, that's why I need you to trust us, to trust me to keep you safe."

She nibbled on one corner of her bottom lip, something I learned she did when she was nervous and trying to talk away her nerves.

"Now that he knows you're not completely alone, maybe he'll think twice about fucking with you."

She shook her head. "If anything, that's only going to make him angrier. We're still married, Maverick. To Trent that means I belong to him. He always used to tell me that I was his and he could do whatever he wanted to me."

"He's a fucking bully, and you know what bullies can't stand? Someone who can actually kick his ass, Grace. Let me kick his ass for you." I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her face up to mine. "Say yes."

I knew I had her when her arms circled my waist and she buried her face in my chest, sighing heavily. "I have no choice but to trust you and your club. But please, just promise me that whatever happens, you will make sure Sophie is safe. No matter what."

It was what Grace needed to hear, that I would sacrifice her or let her sacrifice herself to save her daughter. "I have no plans on letting it get to that point." Because I would kill Trent the moment I got my chance. "But I promise." It was the one and only lie I would ever tell her.

I hoped.