Chapter 6

6

PHANTOM

B efore leaving the Iron Rogues compound, I put Tessa on the phone with Grey and had her answer all of his questions so he could work on keeping her money out of her dad’s hands now that I’d gotten her away from him.

Once she was done, I stowed my phone in one of my saddle bags and put my helmet on her head. The corners of my mouth curved up because she looked so damn cute. I’d have to get her one of her own as soon as possible.

“Where are we going now?” she asked softly. “And why did you ask Blade if I could handle a two-hour ride? It sounds like fun, but I need to figure out what I’m going to do next because I’m scared to go back home.”

Apparently, I hadn’t been very clear about what was happening. “You’re not going back to your dad’s house, sweet girl. There is no fucking way I will ever let him harm you again.”

She frowned, and her forehead creased with her confusion. “I have nowhere else to go, Kian. School doesn’t start for?—”

“You’re coming with me,” I informed her. “We can figure out school later. Right now, I just need you safe and with me.” If she wanted to finish school, I had no problem with that, but she’d have to transfer to somewhere closer to home because she wasn’t going to live anywhere but with me.

I was prepared to argue with her, but she looked up at me through her long auburn lashes, and her plump lips curved into a small smile. “Okay.”

Pleased with her response, I returned her smile and gave her waist a gentle squeeze before lifting her onto my bike. Since she was so tiny, I was grateful that I’d added higher foot pegs so I could take some of the older kids on rides. Our motorcycles were practically sacred, so other than a few of my brothers’ tween spawn, Tessa would be the first female to ever ride on mine. It had always bothered me to think of a woman taking up space while I was riding, but I’d loved every second of the ride to the Iron Rogues’ doc, other than the painful situation in my jeans.

“I don’t have much with me,” Tessa reminded me with a worried expression. “My stuff…”

“We’ll get all your shit later, baby. We’ll figure out the rest when we get home.”

Once we were both situated, we hit the road. Tessa was a natural. She held me firmly, but the longer we rode, the more I felt the tension ease out of her. Although, I was sure that some of that was also due to the distance we were putting between her and her father.

He’d never be able to get to her on the SS compound, which was the only reason I was glad to be taking her there. After spending so many years as a spy, a lot of people preferred solitude. But for me, I had enough of the loneliness, so when I retired, I moved into the clubhouse.

I’d kept my shit there anyway because I was rarely home, so why pay for an apartment? However, as we neared home, it was the first time I wished I had a place of my own. Somewhere Tessa and I could truly be alone. Although, until we knew the extent of her situation—including whether her dad’s bookie would come after her when he didn’t get his money—she was safest at the clubhouse.

But I’d start looking for places for Tessa to choose from immediately. After moving up in the ranks and having very little expenses for the past seventeen years, I’d built up a hefty nest egg, so we didn’t need her money to live very comfortably.

It was midafternoon when I parked my bike in the lot by the entrance to Silver Ink, a tattoo parlor—one of the many businesses owned by the club—on the compound, along with our garage, Silver Auto and Restoration. These were the only two buildings on the property that could be accessed by people who weren’t members, old ladies, or invited guests. The customers used a separate public entrance, but right next to them, inside the compound, was a parking lot for motorcycles.

I helped Tessa down and stowed my helmet before taking her hand and leading her around the corner to the main entrance of the clubhouse. The driveway, and a smaller lot on the other side, were where we generally parked any other vehicles.

Considering the packed state of both lots, something was clearly going on, but I couldn’t remember anything being planned. Then again, my mind had basically emptied of everything that didn’t have to do with my woman over the past two days.

“Fanta!”

I heard the name shouted as I opened the door and instantly dropped down, bracing myself as a blur of limbs and dark-blond hair barreled at me. “Hey, Opie,” I grunted as the adorable two-year-old threw herself into my arms.

Opal was the daughter of our VP, Scout, and Cat, his old lady. I wasn’t sure how it happened, but she’d had me wrapped around her tiny fingers since the moment the couple brought her to the clubhouse for the first time.

“Miss you,” she said as she looked up at my face with a pout that would make every actress in Hollywood jealous.

“I missed you too, Opie.”

“Stop calling my daughter Opie,” Cat snapped as she exited the kitchen into the lounge. I grinned, and Scout, who was sitting on the couch drinking a beer, rolled his eyes.

“He does that just to piss you off, babe,” he said to his wife as she dropped into his lap. “Why do you rise to the bait?”

Cat snatched his drink and took a long pull, then glared at me. “I don’t want her to think that’s her actual name just because her favorite person calls her that.” When she referred to me as Opal’s “favorite person,” Cat’s pout rivaled her toddler’s.

“I let her call me the name of a soda brand,” I argued…because picking at her was so much fun. Cat was cool as a cucumber most of the time, the only exception was when it came to her kids or her man.

“Because she hasn’t learned how to say Phantom, jackass,” Cat muttered.

“Ack ass!” Opal screamed, making me burst into laughter. “Ass ass ass!”

“That’s on you, kitty cat,” Scout told her with a grin before tipping back his bottle and draining it.

“Says the man who taught our five-year-old son to say mudderfucker,” Cat grumped.

That had been fucking hysterical. It had taken Scout and Cat a week to get Griffin to stop shouting it everywhere they went.

“Fuck!” Opal shouted, and Cat dropped her face into her hands while Scout and I roared with laughter.

“At least she removes the semi-permanent scowl from your face,” Cat sighed, winking at me.

I grinned and kissed a wiggly Opal on the cheek, then let her run off to play.

“I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of those smiles,” Scout drawled as his eyes shifted to the woman at my side, lingering on her chest before meeting my eyes and raising one brow. A stranger might have assumed he was checking out my woman, but I knew his attention had been caught by the fact that Tessa was still wearing my cut.

I nodded, and he grinned before giving Cat a quick kiss and moving her off his lap. Then he stood and meandered toward the long bar that ran the length of one side of the room. “’Bout damn time,” he muttered.

Cat’s gaze quickly followed where Scout’s had been, and she lit up like a Christmas tree…or something a little more evil. “You fell, huh?”

“What?” a female voice shrieked, and I cringed when I spotted Knight’s old lady, Kiara, walking into the room, rubbing her very large stomach. “Phantom?” Her smile was also wicked. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Yeah, they were gonna be a pain in my ass. But I kind of deserved it after giving my brothers shit for being pussy-whipped and swearing it would never happen to me.

I slipped my arm around Tessa’s waist, careful of her ribs, and tucked her into my side. “This is Tessa,” I introduced her. Then I pointed at each one and told my girl their names as well.

Bridget had come into the room with Mac by the time I finished, but rather than just telling her their names, I walked her over to meet them.

“Tessa, this is the president of the MC, Mac, and his old lady, Bridget.”

“Welcome,” Bridget said warmly. “Don’t worry, there is no test. You can ask us our names as many times as you need to.” She winked, and Tessa giggled. The sound made warmth flood my chest, and I decided I wanted to hear that sweet laugh every day for the rest of my life.

“Grey able to do it?” I asked Mac.

He nodded. “He’s got all the account info for you.” Then he looked down at Tessa. “Welcome to the Silver Saints, Tessa. You need anything at all, you can come to me or Bridget. Especially if you need someone to kick Phantom’s ass for any reason.”

She giggled again, and I huffed. “Good luck with that, old man.”

Mac stared at me stonily, and I finally shrugged, making a corner of his mouth twitch. Mac was in his mid-fifties, but he was still a tough, strong, deadly motherfucker. Even with all my training, and being over sixteen years his junior, if we went head-to-head, I honestly couldn’t have told you who would win.

“Party out back,” he grunted, then he smirked. “Molly is watching the kids.” Molly was their fifteen-year-old daughter and the oldest of their four kids. Grabbing his wife’s hand, he yanked her to him and tossed her over his shoulder before heading toward the stairs that went up to the rooms. “See you…later.”

“Mac!” Bridget gasped, her face turning bright red, but then she laughed the rest of the way up the stairs.

“It can get a little crazy here,” I mumbled as I peeked down to see how Tessa was handling all of this.

She smiled brightly, soothing my worry. “It’s always so quiet at home, and I tend to spend most of my time at school in my single dorm room, so this is…awesome.”

“Come on out to the barbecue,” Cat invited us, gesturing to the kitchen door since we had to go through it to get to the back door.

Tessa nodded when I gave her a questioning look, and I kissed her forehead before guiding her toward the party. As we walked past Cat, she winked at me and whispered, “I like her.”

Tessa was easy to like, and the SS old ladies were all friendly and accepting, but I was still relieved that she had Bridget and Cat in her corner. Especially because those two were scary as fuck when they went into mama bear mode, and I knew they’d already taken Tessa under their wings.

Behind the clubhouse kitchen was about an acre of cleared land with all kinds of outdoor activities for the kids, rows of picnic tables, half a dozen grills, and a couple of areas with firepits and lounging furniture surrounding them.

The party was in full swing, filling the air with delicious smells, music, adult laughter, and children screaming in delight.

“This is amazing,” Tessa breathed.

My heart thumped hard, and I fell for her just a little bit more.

My woman was perfect. Perfect for me.