Page 10

Eight

A Magical Night

Blade

T he garage is as busy as ever, and by the time I finish with the first car, there are two others waiting to be serviced.

I left Emryn to get ready for the day. She had a long list of things she wanted to get done before heading out to the lake for the photo shoot, including making a call to the moving company to make sure her furniture is going to be delivered as planned tomorrow.

With all the noise in the shop, it’s easy to miss a call, so every so often, I check my phone. I see that I have a missed call from Emryn, and there’s a voicemail. I call my girl first.

No hello. Emryn jumps in with “They’re jerking me around.

I told them I won’t stand for it. They made all kinds of excuses, and when I told them that I’ve been rescheduled twice, they insisted there was nothing they could do about it and hung up on me.

I repeat, they hung up on me.” Her voice is shaking with fury.

“Babe, I understand you want to handle this yourself, but it’s gone beyond talking. Text me their number and I’ll give them a call,” I insist.

“What can you do? They have my stuff. Or I think they do.” She gasps, “Oh my God, what if they sold my things, and that’s why they’re putting me off. Now what am I going to do?”

“Emmy, calm down. One way or another, you’re getting your stuff,” I state firmly. “Text. Me. The number,” I repeat, emphasizing the need to get this done.

“All right. I’m just so furious. I have half a mind to drive over there myself?—”

“You go and you won’t make it back in time for your appointment tonight.” That gets her attention, as I thought it would. “You take care of your business, and let me take care of the rest. Okay?”

“You’re my own knight in shining armor. Always helping a damsel in distress, my hero,” she says, then adds, “For effect, imagine I’m fluttering my lashes and swooning.”

Damn, she makes me laugh.

As soon as I hang up with Emryn, I get her text. I move to the compound and out of the noisy garage to make the call. Demon and Orion are coming out of Guard’s office, with the big man himself right behind them.

“You look like you want to murder someone,” Demon says jokingly.

“Close,” I respond. “The movers Emmy hired to bring her shit are screwing her over. Time to make a call.”

“Before you do that, let me look up that number,” Orion intervenes with that strange expression he gets every now and again.

I learned a long time ago that when Orion gets that look, you have to let him ride it out. He leads us back to Guard’s office, and Orion takes his place at the computer. I rattle off the phone number and wait for Orion to do his thing.

“Hmmm,” he says. It doesn’t take long for him to get lost in what he’s doing.

“Bud, you want to give me a clue as to what you’re doing?” I ask.

“The company is real, but the owners are in debt up to their necks. Something shady is going on. Get ’em on the phone, not about Emryn, but to see if they’re willing to do a job for the club.

If they do, we know they’re blowing with your girl, and then we’ll have a totally different conversation with them,” Orion says.

O rion was dead on the money with the moving company.

As soon as I wanted to schedule their truck for a big load for the same date as Emryn’s delivery, they accommodated us.

This means that besides Emryn, they’re bumping someone else’s delivery.

Dan and Steve Emond are brothers and owners of the moving company. And they’re clearly scammers.

With their address in hand, suffice to say that they’ll be getting a visitor.

Correction, several visitors. Demon and Ghost have decided they’re coming along for the ride.

I call War to let him know what’s going down.

I’m prepared to work well into the evening to get caught up with the cars I have on my roster, and since I’m not meeting with Emryn until nine tonight, it’ll give me plenty of time to do what I have to do.

“I’ll get a couple done myself,” War says. He’s a great mechanic, but his real strength is numbers. He does all the accounting for the shop and oversees the books for the parts and services side of the business.

“I owe you,” I reply gratefully.

It’s a good day for a motorcycle ride. It’s a great time to take advantage of the warm fall weather, because soon, the snow will fall. I want to take Emryn out on a ride before it gets too cold. Maybe tonight, we’ll head over to the diner for a burger, and she’ll have her first ride with me.

Ghost is riding up front with Demon and me following. We’re just arriving at our destination, which happens to be an old, run-down barn with a couple of moving vans sitting out front. The second they hear the roar of pipes coming from our bikes, two men come out to greet us.

We get off our bikes and move toward the two men, “Dan and Steve, I presume?” I say.

“Yeah, I’m Dan. This is my brother, Steve.” Dan jerks his thumb at his brother, then stretches his hand out for me to shake.

I take his hand, but instead of shaking it, I pull him to me, throwing him off-balance. When we’re nose to nose, I growl in his face, “I’m Emryn’s man. The woman you’ve been fucking over. That stops now, asshole.”

I feel his whole body start to shake.

“Fuck! Shit! Sorry! I can explain,” Dan stutters. His brother backs up but doesn’t get far because Ghost reaches out and grabs him by the collar of his shirt.

“I’m a reasonable man,” I begin with a sneer. “I’ll hear you out, then beat the shit out of you. And when all is said and done, Emryn’s load will get delivered on time tomorrow, and without a dish being broken.”

Dan spews lame excuses, none of which are believable. I proceed to knock him around, enough for him to feel the aftereffects. Ghost was less gentle with Steve, but then again, Steve has a big mouth, and Ghost wasn’t having any of it. Demon had to intervene before Ghost got carried away.

With the two men lying on the ground, I say, “Tomorrow, at two o’clock as promised, Emryn’s shit better be there. If not, there won’t be a place you’ll be able to hide where I won’t find you. You get me?”

“Got you,” Dan answers raspily, clutching his ribs.

As we walk back to our bikes, Demon says, “Well, that was fun.”

Ghost finally cracks a smile, shaking his head, and I slap my hands on the backs of my brothers.

“Thanks for this,” I tell them.

I wait until I’m back at the compound before calling Emryn to tell her the news and to expect the truck tomorrow.

“How did you get them to agree?” Emryn asks.

“I’m very persuasive when I want to be.” Ghost snorts when he hears me, and Demon rolls his eyes. I change the subject and ask, “When are you leaving for the lake?”

“Not until four or so. It’ll give me plenty of time to get there and set up. They’ve booked a solid hour, but I’m sure I’ll be back in time for our date,” she says. “How’s work?”

“It’s been a busy day.” It has been. Riding out, beating up a couple of assholes, and still having a ton of cars to get to makes for a busy day. So, I’m not lying. “Burgers at Millie’s tonight. How does that sound?”

“Wonderful. I can meet you there.”

“Nah, I want to give you a ride over. It’ll be a short ride, but I still want you on the back of my bike,” I tell her.

“Never been on a bike.”

“Then it’s a must,” I kid. She giggles adorably. “Got to go, baby. See you tonight.”

Emryn

T he shots I took were fantastic. The young couple were amazing to work with, and I promised to get them some preliminary shots in the next day or so. A day that started off shitty with what was going to be another delay of my furniture turns into a wonderful day.

I’m not sure what Blade said to the movers, and I honestly don’t care, because I was about to lose my mind. I’ve already paid them to do the job, and I can’t afford to pay someone else without dipping into my savings.

I’m glad Blade suggested burgers at Millie’s. It means that I can relax in my jeans and cozy emerald-green sweater. I add my thick brown leather belt and boots and big hoop earrings, brush out my hair, put it into a sideswept ponytail, and I’m good to go.

Blade picks me up right on time, and after we make out at the door, I’m forced to reapply my lip gloss before leaving. I’m not complaining! We haven’t even left my house, and I’m already having the best date of my life.

I sit across from Blade and enjoy the best burger I’ve had in ages.

Even better than the ones Mom’s gourmet chef made for us when it was my tenth birthday and I wanted to go to McDonald’s.

Mom’s compromise was burgers from Rene, the French chef.

They were delicious, but it wasn’t the food I was going for.

I wanted to be a regular kid and eat greasy fries, like I saw on TV.

“Hey, babe. I lost you there for a minute. Where did you go?” Blade asks as he reaches across the table, his fingers gliding over the back of my hand.

“Sorry, I was just thinking of the last time I had burgers with my parents,” I murmur.

“You miss them?”

It takes effort to meet his gaze and be honest about how I feel about my parents. “As terrible as it sounds, not really.” His brows rise in surprise. “I’m not what they wanted in a daughter, and after years and years of trying to measure up”—I shrug—“I gave up.”

“I’m sure they love you,” he says, taking my hand in his to console me.

“They do in their own way. But not in a way where they accept me as I am. I’m not drop-dead gorgeous like my mother.

She was a model, and I will never be a model.

” I run my hand with a flair over my very petite frame.

“My brother took after Mom and has a fabulous career in modeling. Dad is a prominent businessman, and when the modeling thing didn’t work out for me, he expected me to work in a business of his choosing.

I didn’t want that either. So, when push came to shove, I left and decided to make my own way.

They don’t like it because it makes them look bad with their elitist country club friends.

As a matter of fact, according to my parents, I’m in Europe traveling the world. ”

Blade laughs. Loudly! Not the reaction I was expecting.

“My father is having a hard time with my choices too. The Pride wasn’t what he wanted for me. Although, my parents respect the work I do and know I have plans for my future. They just wish I’d stayed in my hometown to do it. But never would they try to make me into something I’m not,” he responds.

“You’re lucky.” I sigh. “I’m not the golden child, and the price to pay is too high to try.

” It’s taken me years to come to terms with the fact that I deserve to be happy.

“We talk once a week. It’s short and sweet and very civil.

I pick one holiday, either Thanksgiving or Christmas, to visit.

So far, it’s been working. I see my brother whenever he chooses to make an appearance.

He prefers to fly around the world with the jet set, and he has amazing stories to tell.

I like the quiet life, and what I do works for me. ”

“No regrets?”

I smile. “Not a one. Not even upset at a flat tire on the side of the road, because it means I get to be here with you right now.”

“You keep being cute and we’re going to end up making out at Millie’s and give her the shock of her life,” he teases.

“Right. I’m eating my burger and not mentioning how hot you look in your leather jacket.” I take a huge bite of my burger, and Blade chuckles. It’s his turn to tell me about his family. Despite his father’s disapproval of his joining the club, he loves his son, and Blade is close to his family.

We share our experiences, our hopes and dreams. I tell him all about the great shots I took tonight for the couple who are getting married and promise to show him when we get back to my place.

“And what’s even more amazing is that the owner of the moving company, Dan, called to confirm that he’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. I know you called him, and I don’t even care what you said to him, but I get a bed tomorrow. Thank you, again,” I tell him.

“I’m staying the night, Emmy. Are you good with that?”

“Yes.” That one word comes out in a husky breath.

After dinner, Blade helps me back onto his bike, and this time, we take a tour of the town before going home.

I’m pressed up to his back, the cool fall breeze feels good, and the hum of the engine is soothing.

I feel free, riding out on the road, with the moon bright overhead. This is a magical night.