Chapter 31

Maverick

"What are your plans with Grace?" Diesel asked the question quietly so that Sophie and Leo, who walked right ahead of us, couldn't hear.

I shrugged, honestly surprised by my president's question. He didn't often bother with our personal lives unless it somehow impacted on the club, which meant he thought Grace might. "My plan is to make her mine. Plain and simple. Both of them."

"Are you ready for that? Trust me when I tell you that kids aren't easy."

I laughed. "You trying to talk me out of it?"

"Not at all, just making sure you understand what you're signing up for. Leo is great, he's the piece of me I didn't know was missing. But he's inquisitive as fuck, talkative as hell, and the boy has never met a stranger. It's exhausting, but at least I know what's coming up with the twins and I wouldn't miss a single minute."

I smiled at the kids as we walked towards the park. They were talking using their hands, smiling and laughing. "Sophie is the same, and with each day she's coming out of her shell more and more." I shook my head thinking about what kind of asshole would dim that little girl's light. "From what little Grace has told me, she's spent a lot of time at home on her own or just with Grace. She deserves a life out in the open."

"You're expecting me to disagree?"

"No," I sighed. "But I got the impression you'd prefer it if they both went far, far away."

"Stay where we can see you," he called out to the kids before turning to me with a serious expression on his face. "It's not that I want them gone, it's just another fucking thing for the MC to deal with, feel me?"

"Of course. I would love to have a moment to fucking breathe, but I couldn't walk away."

"And if you could, you wouldn't be the man I know you to be." I could see the sincerity in his eyes. We didn't often talk about our emotions, but his words were exactly what I needed to hear.

"I just wish that fucker would show his face again." It didn't make any fucking sense, and I didn't for one second think he'd given up on reclaiming what was his.

"He's around," Diesel said, his words holding an ominous ring to them. "Has to be. He wouldn't have traveled all this way to give up just because she's protected by a bunch of bikers."

"Not just that," I added with a heavy sigh as my gaze lingered on Sophie, who was laughing at something Leo was saying. "He thinks he has leverage over Grace."

Diesel arched a brown and turned to face me, but his gaze wandered to the kids every few seconds. "What kind of leverage?"

I didn't want to tell Grace's secret, but Diesel needed to know what else we were up against. I just hoped she would forgive me when she found out. "He claims to have killed a man who made the mistake of showing Grace some attention. She confirmed that the man has been missing since that night, but that's not all."

"What the fuck?" He dropped down on the wooden bench facing the playground where Leo and Sophie were poised to go down the slide. "Okay, what's the rest of it?"

"He told Grace he framed her for it, so if she ever thought about leaving or turning him in, she'd go down too. That son of a bitch," I said through gritted teeth as my hands bunched into fists. "I don't believe it, but Grace does and she's worried about him getting his hands on Sophie."

"Sounds like she should be more worried about herself."

"I agree," I said easily, keeping to myself the fact that she only cared about Sophie's well-being. "But you know how mothers can be."

Diesel let out an undignified grunt that was at odds with the slow smile on his face. "I remember. Ellie was so goddamn fierce. It was part of why I fell so hard."

"If Trent gets close enough, he'll use her love for their daughter against her." It was my biggest fear at the moment, that Trent would happen upon them when they were unprotected and make his move. "I hate keeping them locked up, but until I know where that asshole is, it has to be done."

Diesel's brows arched. "Is she unhappy?"

I shrugged. "I don't think so, not that she'd say anyway because she's so fucking used to suffering in silence. But I hate that I'm no different than her ex right now, even if it is for different reasons. I don't want to be another man locking her away from the world."

He laughed and squeezed my shoulder. "Hardly the same thing, and Grace is smart enough to recognize that. Remember she escaped. She fled to the unknown rather than continue to endure his torture."

"I know," I bit out, hating to even think about what she went through that led her to flee in the night with just a few thousand dollars.

"Then you should remember that she's stronger than she seems. We're men and we want to protect our women, but at the end of the day, they don't need us to protect them. They let us."

"Dad, come push me, please!" Leo shouted to Diesel with a wide grin.

"He's too old to call me Daddy anymore. Can you believe that?" With a laugh he stood and made his way over to the demanding little boy. I stood too, figuring Sophie might want help too. "Did you forget how to pump your legs?"

"No, but I wanna show Sophie how high I can go."

"I can go high too," she insisted with an impish smile. "My mommy showed me how to go really high. Watch." She gripped the chains on either side of her head, her feet barely touched the ground as she took a few steps backwards and ran forward before she jumped down on the leather strap seat and pumped her little legs, going higher and higher. "See. Come on, Leo!"

"Help me, Dad."

"Just do what she did. Or are you gonna cheat?"

Leo opened his mouth to argue, but the look on Diesel's face stopped him. "It's not cheating, just a little help."

I laughed at his pout. "Better get going before she takes off into the sky."

That spurred the boy into action, and we stepped back while they laughed and talked loudly about who was going faster and how to go higher.

"We can hire a private investigator to find out more about the dead guy."

"You don't think Slate can find out?"

"Sure, but maybe not everything. Lots of police stations still use paper for every-fucking-thing."

"Let's see what he can find first. For all we know Trent lied about all of it after the news reported the man missing." Which I wouldn't put past the fucker at all.

"All right, let's start there. And let's hope he's not smart enough to recruit any of our enemies to help him out."

"If he does, at least we'll know where he is. Kill two birds with one goddamn bullet."

Diesel laughed. "I like that optimism. Keep that shit up."

We laughed and watched the kids play, and even though Sophie wasn't mine biologically, it felt like she was mine, like I had the right to love and protect her.

I wanted that so fucking bad I could taste it.