Page 107 of Blade

“You rememberConnie?She’s Willow’s daughter, and Beck’smother,” he told King, who looked at me, his eyes so wide they seemed to take over his face.

He looked at my mother, then back at the sheriff before landing on me again. My mother, who could never read the room and keep her mouth shut, made things worse.

“Why am I not surprised you would be in a motorcycle gang? I always knew you wouldn’t amount to anything; you or him,” she claimed, pointing at Micah.

“Fuck,” King muttered and yelled for Johnny, the prospect. “Take my brother to the clubhouse.”

The sheriff balked at that.

“I’m not going anywhere, King.”

King turned and walked his brother back a few steps.

“She’s been through enough the last few days. She doesn’t need this shit right now. Go back to the clubhouse, have a drink, and let me handle this.”

The sheriff glared at my mother again and walked away, followed by Johnny.

“Grace!” King called, “Get Rachel and the girls, all of them, including the club girls, and take Beck back to the house. No one,” he said, glaring at my mother, “comes in. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“I can take her home,” Blade offered, and King walked to him, bumping his chest.

“You stay the fuck away from her. You’re lucky I don’t take your fucking patch after what I just learned. Go back to the clubhouse and watch my brother. He’s a powder keg and I can’t have him going off.”

“What the fuck is going on, King?” Blade asked, confused as I was.

“That is my house. My mother left it to me. You can’t keep me out of it.” My mother huffed.

“That’s what you think, bitch. What the fuck did you think you were doing?” King asked, having a conversation with my mother that only the two of them understood.

“Protecting her from a dirty cop, apparently.”

“The only thing dirty here is your fucking cunt.”

“King.” I stepped in, tears still streaming down my face. Trying to diffuse the situation before it got worse. “What the hell is going on? This is Grams’ funeral.”

He gathered me in his arms.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I will explain everything soon. Go back to the house with Grace and the girls and staythere until I come get you. Ghost and Jingles will be outside watching over everything.”

Grace took my arm and led me out of the cemetery when I heard King tell everyone.

“I’m sorry, folks, there has been a slight change in plans. Please head to The Diner, order whatever you like and share your favorite memories of Willow. Joellen, The Silver Shadows will take care of the bill. Just send it over to Colt.”

Back at the house, I looked at my friends. Yes, I counted the club girls as friends, and asked, “Does anyone know what the hell just happened?”

Rachel grasped me in a tight hug. “We know as much as you do, honey.”

“How does my mother know the sheriff? Clearly there’s history there, but she grew up here and she met Chris not long after we left. They got married rather quickly. Other than Chris, she had two other brief husbands, but neither of them was the sheriff.”

“My parents and I moved here when the club did. We kind of followed Ace, and Declan moved here then too. I’ve never seen your mother here in all that time, so they would have had to meet before you left,” Lily added.

“But when?”

I wondered about their interaction while I waited for King to come get me and explain everything.

Chapter Twenty-Four

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