Chapter Fifteen

SHAY

Backroad was reasonably tame as Kadey and I walked through the doors.

Missy spotted us immediately, waving us toward the empty bar with a bright smile. We wandered over and climbed onto a barstool.

"Hey, you two," she greeted happily, leaning over to tug on one of Kadey's pigtails. "You want a milkshake, squirt?"

The young girl rolled her eyes and swatted her mom's hand away, acting like she was too old to show that kind of affection in public, but she couldn't hide the flash of a smile that appeared a second later. "Yes, please."

Watching them together made my heart hurt for just a moment.

I'd spent a lot more time thinking about my mom the past few days.

She was so beautiful. And smart. A lot like Missy, actually.

She made sacrifices so Ali and I could have some kind of a normal childhood, risking her own life so we could go to school or sign up for certain classes and sports. She worked her ass off every day while living in constant fear.

How?

That'd been my main question. How did she manage to make it look so easy? How did she keep everything from crumbling? Truth was, she didn't.

She was fighting a battle she was always going to lose.

"You were right," I said as I leaned into the bar and looked around. "It is pretty quiet."

"It's the calm before the storm," Missy joked and lifted a glass. "You want a beer?"

"Yes. Please."

Missy had asked me to pick up Kadey from baseball practice and hang out with her for an hour or so while Hawk was doing some club stuff and she was finishing a shift. I had my suspicions about it, though, almost positive they were conspiring with Bishop to keep me busy and close by because when Kadey and I had pulled into Backroad's parking lot, I noticed Hawk and Bishop's motorcycles parked right by the front doors.

Meaning they were here, too, probably out back in the office, making my job somewhat irrelevant.

Though, I wasn't mad about it.

I was thankful for the distraction from my thoughts because they were getting pretty fucking brutal, and I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to fake a smile and pretend like the world wasn't crashing down around me.

Especially given I still hadn't properly slept yet and was running on the little bit of shut-eye I had gotten here and there over the past couple of days—that day, it had been the hour I slept on a couch at the clubhouse while Bishop was in church.

"Here you go," Missy placed the beer in front of me and shifted her attention to my left. "Hey there, what can I get you?"

"I'll have what she's having." That voice. I'd been playing it over and over in my mind all weekend, the sound of it making every muscle in my body tighten like it was preparing for an attack. Missy turned to me with a raised eyebrow as if expecting me to greet this person she didn't recognize. With one shake of my head, her demeanor suddenly changed.

"Sir, I'm going to have to get you to take a seat somewhere else," she tried, with one hand on her hip and the other strategically placed on the bar, thumb on top, fingers underneath, most likely wrapped around a gun.

He paid her no attention, continuing to focus on me to get my attention. "Shay, isn't it?"

"Sir," Missy warned again.

But then he turned his attention to Kadey sitting on the other side of me. "Hey, sweetheart," he said with a smile, leaning around me. "Could you tell your frie—"

I spun, slamming my hand on the bar and leaning with him so he couldn't see past me. "You don't speak to her," I snapped, finally meeting those dark, emotionless eyes, more sunken and bloodshot than I remembered.

I reached back and pressed my hand against Kadey's shoulder, gently pushing her away. "Kadey, go and find Hawk," I murmured, trying to direct the order toward her without taking my eyes off him.

The thud of her feet hitting the floor untwisted at least one knot in my stomach, although there were still several more that needed working through before I would feel everyone around me was safe.

Missy watched Kadey go, her body still and stoic while her eyes followed her daughter until she was out of sight, hopefully going straight to Bishop's office for help.

"Cute kid," the asshole commented, and I narrowed my eyes at him. "She's going to be stunning in a few yea—"

"Can I help you?" I cut in before he could finish a sentence that I was sure would have Missy going full mama bear and putting a bullet through his head within seconds. And that was only if I didn't get to him first with my hands around his throat.

He grinned, flashing me a set of perfect teeth and tugging on his lapels. "Actually, I came to offer you an apology." I leaned back, trying to put some space between the two of us and glancing at Missy out of the corner of my eye. The look we shared made this asshole absolutely cackle with joy. "Ladies. Ladies. Don't be so nervous. Look, I'm man enough to admit when I've made a mistake, which is why I've come to rectify that with a peace offering."

I didn't trust him.

The overzealous energy was uncomfortable, to say the least, and would have put me on edge instantly, even if he hadn't threatened to kill me just a few days ago.

"Vince."

Bishop's deep rumble practically shook the building, and with Vince's attention finally diverted, I quickly slipped off the barstool and backed away, only making it a few steps before my back hit something hard.

A body.

Bishop's body.

There was no mistaking his height and build. But it was his smell that had begun to torment me in the most delicious way possible since I'd been living in his house. It was well-worn leather and a hint of tobacco, which I suspected was from a secret cigar stash given how the rich, sweet scent lingered for just a moment, unlike the suffocating smell of cigarettes.

I moved to get out of his way so he could deal with the situation in front of us, but instead, his hand fell to my hip, his finger hooking through a loophole on my jeans. I was about to turn and question him, but instead, his lips brushed close to my ear, and my entire body stilled.

"You need to follow my lead," he murmured, his breath tickling across my skin. "Don't freak out."

Don't freak out?

What the hell does that even mean?

"Such a cute couple," Vince gushed, clapping his hands together. "You know, when my dad said you'd come by and let him know you'd settled down, I was skeptical. But now that I see it with my own eyes, I'd glad I came down here to give you this."

Couple? Settled down? What the hell?

Vince nodded, and suddenly, another young guy in a suit hurried forward, an envelope stretched out in front of him.

Bishop tightened his grip on me, and I grabbed his hand to let him know I was okay before reaching out and plucking the envelope from the guy's grasp. He backed away, and Vince stood silently, watching me like a hawk as I tore it open and pulled out a small black card with gold foil writing.

"An invitation to Frank Martelli's birthday celebrations," I read aloud, skimming over the details to find Bishop's and my name handwritten across the line in the middle. "This weekend."

Bishop scoffed. "Not a fu—"

"You should hold that thought," Vince interrupted, cutting off what I was sure was going to be a very colorful rejection on Bishop's part. "My father has insisted that you and Shay attend. Not only to apologize for my actions but as a show of good faith between our families, to make sure there are no more misunderstandings."

Vince knew.

He might be a complete psycho, but he wasn't stupid.

He was well aware that the story of Bishop and me being together was a straight-out lie. But Bishop had said it for a reason. And I needed to trust that he knew what he was doing.

So I sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile on my face. "Wow, this very kind of your dad," I said, holding up the invite. "We would be honored. Thank you."

Vince's smug grin only grew, and his eyes shifted from Bishop to me and then back to Bishop again, waiting excitedly for his response. "Fantastic," he exclaimed, practically bouncing on his toes. "I'm so excited to see you there."

"Great," Bishop hissed, sweeping his hand around my waist and directing me to the back of the bar. "Now get out of my fucking bar."

Vince and his buddies backed away, slipping out the front door just as silently as they'd come in, like snakes slithering back to their holes.

Bishop grabbed my hand, and I said nothing, following his lead as we headed toward his office. Kadey was sitting in the chair behind his desk when we stepped inside. "Hey, kid, you can head out now," Bishop told her, his tone softening. It always did with Kadey. The girl had a way of making these rough-and-ready bikers turn into pussy cats real quick.

"Who was that guy?" she questioned, rounding the desk to stand beside me. "He was so weird. It was creepy."

I forced a smile and brushed her hair back from her face, hoping neither she nor Bishop noticed my shaking hand. "Just some guy who thinks he's hot shit," I told her. "Can you get your mom to order me a burger?"

She nodded. "Okay, I'm pretty hungry too."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll come out and eat with you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay!" she sang, bouncing out of the room.

I released a heavy sigh, my shoulders slumping. "You want to tell me what just happened?"

Bishop scratched his hand over his beard. "Frank Martelli is head of the Martelli Family. They've been running Detroit City for longer than I've been alive. Vince out there is Frank's kid, though I'm pretty sure not exactly a loved one. Frank knows he's crazy."

I pinched my eyes shut and shook my head, wondering if the lack of sleep was actually starting to make me imagine things. "And you told Frank we were dating?"

"No." Yup, I was losing it. Hearing things. "I told Frank you were my Old Lady."

My eyes shot open. I knew what that meant. Bishop had told him we were practically married.

"Why?"

"Because that was the only way to keep Vince from killing you." Jesus fucking Christ. "You took something of his, and in his mind, someone had to pay for that. It was going to be you, so I did the only thing I knew I could do to protect you. Vince might be fucking unstable, but Frank won't let him touch you if it means risking a war with me."

"And what if they find out it's not real?" I whispered, suddenly feeling very hot.

"They won't."

"But what if they do?" I repeated through clenched teeth.

He met my hard stare head-on. No backing down. No shying away.

"Then we go to war."

"No," I shook my head, back and forth, back and forth. "No. Hell no. No."

He stood tall, pushing his shoulders back. "You think I would just stand back and let them fucking kill you?"

I backed away, out through his office door and into the hallway. "You think I want you to risk yourself and your brothers because I chose to step in and save that girl? I made that decision. Not you. No. There won't be a war, Bishop."

"You're right," he growled, slamming his palms against the doorframe. "Because we're gonna go to that party and be the perfect couple, and they will be none the fucking wiser. Right?"

Right.

Go to a mob boss's party and pretend to be in love with the man you're currently trying not to be in love with so that the mob boss's son doesn't try to murder you… again.

"Right. Easy."

I'm fucked.