Page 32 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

My mouth snapped shut as soon as I realized what I’d said. Shit, I’d just showed my crazy in a big way.

But Elias only groaned as he turned to carry me back up to my apartment. “You need me, baby girl?”

Heart racing, I nodded, blinking back tears of relief that he hadn’t shoved me away in disgust and run in the other direction. “So bad, Daddy.”

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

elias

“Boy!”

Tossing my pencil on the drafting table, I leaned back in my chair and waited for my door to be flung open. Moments later, my dad walked in, a scowl on his face. “Haven’t seen you in fuck knows how long.”

“I saw you last night at Church,” I reminded him patiently.

“That was Church. We need to bond more.”

What he meant was he wanted to watch me shark the frat boys who came into Hannigans’. He never let on, but I knew his arthritis was getting worse. It got harder and harder for him to swing a hammer, so it was a chore to work a pool stick with the efficiency he once had. When the frat boys pissed him off, which tended to be most Friday nights, he liked to watch Reid or me shark them. Sometimes Uncle Matt helped, but mostly, he just sat back with my dad and watched us scam money out of the stupid college kids.

“I have plans,” I dismissed.

He snorted. “These plans have anything to do with the lethal Russian princess I just passed?”

“Yup.”

“No wonder your mom has been all giddy about coming to work all week. Damn, I was about to go kick Eugene’s ass for flirting with my wife.” We shared a look and both laughed. Eugene would piss himself after one menacing glance from Tanner Reid.

“Bring her with you,” Dad suggested. “Teach her to play. It will make for a good con to lure in this one group of cocky little bastards that have been stinking up the place all week.”

“Get Reid to deal with them.”

Dad grunted in annoyance. “That boy is in a mood. Your mom said something about him having to get a tooth looked at because it was loose.”

I popped my knuckles. “Sucks for him.”

Blue eyes glittered knowingly at me. “Sure does. Boy must have been running his mouth. Don’t know where he gets shit like that from. Must be the Barker side of the family.”

“That’s why I never let you change his last name,” Mom shot out as she walked by my open office door, not even bothering to look inside as she passed.

“Fine.” I gave in, just so I could get him out of my office faster and I could get back to work. “If Sammy wants to stop by the bar, we’ll come in for a little while.”

“Perfect. See you tonight.” He smirked. “Gonna take your mom to lunch. Don’t be surprised if she comes back late. Or not at all.”

“Gross, but have fun.” As he walked away, I saw the way his fingers were curled into claws. He was definitely having a bad pain day. The scar—from where he’d had surgery to repair the broken arm he’d gotten while being tortured by one of the MC’s enemies for weeks while everyone thought he was dead—only reminded me just how much he’d been through in his lifetime.

He’d nearly died. All the stories I’d heard since I was a kid were gruesome. How badly he’d stunk of rotting flesh and death when they’d found him in a basement was the tale that had been told the most frequently.

But no matter what story Dad or anyone else recounted from that horrific time, they always ended the same. Thinking of my mom kept him fighting. It was her face he saw when he nearly met the angel of death.

“Hey, boss man.” I lifted my head at the first sound of Samara’s sultry voice. “Your parents just left for lunch. At home.” She waggled her brows and grinned at my look of disgust.

Dad wasn’t necessarily the most affectionate man, but he wasn’t shy about showing Mom how much he loved her.

“Tanner said I was getting pool lessons,” she commented as she walked around my desk to study the layout of the building I was working on. “From the best, apparently.”

“Since you’ll be getting the lessons from me, baby girl, I can assure you that you will be getting an Ivy League education in the fine art of pool.” Catching her around the waist, I pulled her between my legs. “But only if you want to go out tonight. I was thinking we could have dinner at Aggie’s and then stop by for a little while.”

Her mouth fell open on a soft gasp as she looked down at me with emotions clouding her blue gems. “Like…a date?”

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