Page 29 of Fallen Dove (Fallen Lords MC 2nd Gen #1)

Mason

It was just past noon, and the clubhouse was alive with noise. Carnie was banging around in the kitchen, shouting at anyone who came near her pans. The smell of bacon grease and roasted garlic drifted into the common room, mixing with the faint bite of motor oil and leather that never left this place.

I was parked in one of the big chairs, legs stretched out, nursing a coffee that had gone cold an hour ago. Around me, every damn seat was full.

Wrecker leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but stuck inside waiting for Alice and Nikki to arrive. Brinks and Cora were in the corner, him muttering about how much he hated the cameras while she tried to soothe him with a hand on his leg. Thorn was behind the bar, rag in hand, polishing glasses that were already spotless.

And then there were the younger guys.

Cole sat on the arm of the couch, Nickel and Karmen’s kid, tall and lean with his mom’s sharp eyes. He was twenty-three and still had that hungry energy, the kind that made me feel every one of my forty-three years. Arlo was next to him, quieter, slouched with his hood pulled low, but every time someone cracked a joke, he fired back with a one-liner that had us all laughing. Oliver sprawled beside him, Pipe’s oldest, grinning like he owned the damn room. He had that cocky charm that came with being twenty-five and thinking the world bent around you.

Jude, Kingston, Fox, Ender, and Basil were crowded around the pool table, chalking cues and talking shit like it was a competitive sport.

I sat back, watched all of them, and it hit me that it wasn’t often we had every man under this roof at the same time. Between the original members, and the younger generation, it was a full house.

“Hell,”

I muttered, and tipped my cup toward Wrecker.

“We oughta just throw Eden’s damn graduation party today. Everyone’s already here.”

Oliver barked a laugh.

“Yeah, let’s do it. Save ourselves the work.”

“Tell that to Alice and Nikki,”

Wrecker said dryly.

“They’ll have all of our balls if this party doesn’t go off without a hitch. As soon as they get here we’ll be decorating whatever the hell they tell us to.”

Cole smirked.

“You mean they’ll be decorating. We’ll just be moving tables and pretending we know how to hang lights.”

The guys laughed, and I shook my head. They were good kids, men now, but still kids to me. And no matter how loud they got, no matter how much energy they had, there was an unspoken line in the room.

The original generation, the Brinks, the Wreckers, the Slayers, we were still in charge. Always would be.

I’d just leaned back, ready to tune out their noise and let my thoughts drift to Adley, Christ, I was already picturing her walking through the doors later, jeans hugging her hips, that smile that made my chest ache, when the slam of a door cracked through the noise.

The whole room stilled.

Heavy boots pounded down the hallway, fast and furious.

My stomach dropped before I even saw him.

Slayer.

His eyes locked on me like a bullet, and my blood iced over.

“Shit,”

I muttered, but I was too slow.

He stormed across the common room, ripped me out of my chair by the front of my cut, and slammed me back against the wall. His face was red, his breath hot, and his grip tight enough to cut off air.

“My daughter?!”

Slayer roared.

The room exploded in noise with chairs scraping, voices shouting, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

Fuck.

He knew.

Somehow, some way, he knew.

“I don’t-”

I started, but the fire in his eyes cut me dead.

“I should kill you right here!”

he spat.

“Sneaking around, behind my back? Behind the club’s back?”

Mac and Star came running down the hallway. Star was pale as a ghost with her hands out like she was trying to ward off a hurricane.

“I’m sorry!”

Star shouted.

“I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t know?!”

Slayer barked, his face twisting. He jerked me forward and shoved me back again. My shoulder cracked against the wall.

“None of us fucking knew! And you-”

His finger jabbed hard into my chest.

“-you thought you could hide it? Sneak around with my daughter like some goddamn coward?”

The room was in chaos. Brinks was on his feet with Cora clinging to his arm. Thorn dropped the glass he’d been polishing, and the crash was sharp in the silence that followed Slayer’s words.

“What the hell’s going on?”

Jude demanded, as his eyes darted between us.

“Yeah,”

Kingston added, his cue stick lowering.

“What’s he talking about?”

Slayer didn’t even glance at them. His fury was locked on me.

“He’s been sneaking around with Adley,”

Slayer snarled.

“For years!”

The words hit me like a steel-toed boot to the gut.

“For years?”

I growled, shoving back against him.

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Slayer. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

His fist tightened in my cut.

“I know enough. I know you couldn’t keep your filthy hands off her.”

Rage flared hot in my chest.

“She’s not filthy.”

That got me a shove so hard my back cracked against the wall again. Pain shot down my spine, but I stood my ground, jaw clenched, fists curling at my sides.

“Whoa, whoa.”

Wrecker’s voice cut sharp through the noise as he pushed forward.

“Everyone calm the fuck down.”

“Easy for you to say,”

Slayer snarled without looking at him.

“This asshole isn’t dirtying your daughter.”

“You watch your mouth,”

I snapped, and shoved him back just enough to get space between us. My vision tunneled, every nerve lit up. I wanted to hit him. God help me, I wanted to knock him flat. But this was Adley’s father.

Around us, the younger guys were muttering, confused, but I barely heard them.

Slayer’s arm flexed, his fist drawing back, and I knew what was coming.

I braced, and gritted my teeth.

And then-

“STOP!”

Adley’s voice cut through the room like a blade.

Every head turned.

I froze, Slayer froze, the whole damn room froze.

And my heart lodged in my throat.