Page 2 of The Secrets We Keep (Sovereign Sons MC: North Carolina #1)

GRAYSON

Bright blue eyes that have haunted me for the last seven years meet mine as I carry John Parker’s coffin down the aisle of onlookers. I grind my teeth as I pass Sophie Parker, tearing my eyes from her fear-soaked gaze. Sophie is back in town.

I narrow my eyes on the hearse and ignore the rest of my surroundings.

I can’t show any form of weakness as the Sovereign Sons’ new President.

Every member from every other charter is watching my every move today.

They want to see if I can handle the pressure of the club, like I wasn’t born into it.

The Sovereign Sons Motorcycle Club is my life.

My father was the Vice President to John Parker for twenty-eight years.

When my father stepped aside last year, I took his place as vice president, much to the chagrin of our older members who thought they were more deserving of the position.

John had other plans, though. My dad told me that John wanted me to take the position if my dad retired before John did, that he had spoken to my dad about it when I was still in high school.

John only had one kid. Sophie. He couldn’t pass the club down to her, not that he would have wanted to. Sophie bailed on us seven years ago and she hasn’t looked back, since.

When we reach the hearse, I nod toward my men to slide the coffin into the hearse and step back, bowing our heads in honor of our fallen man.

When I lift my head, my gaze locks with a small boy beside Sophie, who has her back to us.

The boy has the same piercing blue eyes that she does.

Bile rises in my throat when I realize that he’s clinging to her.

Sophie has a kid. The thought alone drives a knife through my chest. I always thought we had a future together, that we would get married after she went to culinary school and have a bunch of kids.

It seems that she went off and fulfilled that dream with someone else.

I grit my teeth as I shut down my emotions, leading my men back to their bikes.

I hop on and my men follow suit, putting on our helmets and sunglasses and start our engines.

I let the sound surround me like a coat of arms before pulling into the street and waiting for the hearse to pull in behind the Silver Springs club members, then we head to the club, where John will be laid to rest with the rest of our members.

*** *

The dancing women in front of me blur as I knock back the rest of my tequila on the rocks. We’re sending John out in true Sovereign Sons fashion, with a huge party. Every charter is in attendance and most of my men are trashed, including me.

The men all think that I’m mourning the passing of our president, my brother Rowan and best friend Axel, know better.

They saw Sophie at the funeral and haven’t left my side since.

Luckily, this won’t look strange to any club members because Rowan is my Vice President and Axel is my Seargent at Arms, meant to protect me with his life. Not that I would ever let him do that.

“How about Candy takes care of you?” Axel suggests with a smirk. “She can suck those thoughts right out of your head.”

He’s not lying. If what all the guys say is true, Candy knows how to suck a dick. She is a nice enough girl; she just has a problem with attaching herself to every brother who shows her the slightest attention. Right now, though, my Sophie-riddled brain needs the distraction. Fuck the consequences.

“Candy,” I shout, drawing her attention.

Her eyes are wide in shock as she turns to face me.

Who can blame her for being shocked? I’m known as the brother who doesn’t mess with club sluts.

No offense to my brothers, but I’m not trying to pick up any STDs, and most of them don’t wrap their shit.

“Come over here,” I slur with an uncoordinated wave in my direction.

Candy licks her lips and hops off the stool she was sitting on before striding over to where we’re sitting.

She’s a beautiful woman, I won’t deny that.

She has chocolate brown hair and eyes, a petite figure, with fake boobs that look a little too big for her frame.

Her real name is Alice, and her father was a member until he died five years ago.

Chris would probably hate to see his little girl like this.

Good thing he’s not around to watch her suck me off.

“Show your new president some appreciation, sweetheart,” Rowan murmurs, nudging Candy to the floor.

She slides to the space between my knees and looks up at me with hooded eyes. She’s excited for this, and all I see when she looks at me, are the icy blue eyes of the one woman I can’t have.

I shake my head and reach down, releasing my cock from my jeans and then reaching out to pull Candy’s eager mouth down to it.

The first touch of her mouth on my cock has me rocking my head back on my shoulders.

I know that to normal people, it would be weird to be getting your dick sucked in the middle of a party, but to our club; it’s normal.

I groan as Candy takes me to the back of her mouth before swirling her tongue around the tip of my cock.

I thrust my hand into her hair, grasping it hard and moving her up and down my length.

I open my eyes when I hear her gag, reveling in the tears that stream down her face as she tries to take me fully into her throat.

Her image flashes in and out, sharing the space with memories of Sophie doing the same thing.

With Sophie in my mind, I erupt, pouring down Candy’s throat.

I groan in frustration. When I open my eyes, Candy is licking her lips and moving to remove her top.

I hold my hand up to stop her and wince at the immediate look of disappointment on her face.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” I murmur. “I needed that,” I lie, trying to soften the blow.

Her face brightens with a smile. “No problem, pres. I’m here any time you need me,” she adds with a wink before striding back toward the heart of the party.

I tuck my cock back into my pants and push out of my chair, turning in the direction of the apartments.

Every member of our club is welcome to stay on club property.

Over the years, the club has become more like a compound than a hangout spot.

We have a commercial sized kitchen to feed everyone, ten apartments for the officers of our charter, and fifteen bedrooms available for our members and guests.

I climb the steps to the second level where all our apartments are.

My apartment is at the end of the hall now, having just moved into John’s vacated space.

It wasn’t a difficult move since the vice president’s suite is right next to mine, along with the sergeant at arms. The president’s suite is larger than all of them with an open concept kitchen and living area, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. I even have my own laundry room.

It’s nice to have a space to escape to when I need a little time away from the club.

I do have my own house just outside of town, but most of the time, I can’t be too far away from the club.

Even when I was vice president, I still needed to be readily available.

Who wants to stay in a house that you built in the hopes that the only woman you ever loved will come back to you, anyways?

I punch in the code to my door and slam it closed behind me, not bothering to turn on the lights as I walk directly to my room.

I stumble as I strip my clothes off and walk into the bathroom, hitting the light.

I catch sight of myself in the mirror and wince.

I’m way too drunk for this and I know I’ll regret Candy sucking my cock in the morning .

Hell, I regret it now. I swipe my hand over my face and turn the shower on, the water heats up instantly, so I step inside, eager to scrub the regret from my body.

After scrubbing myself raw, I brush my teeth and walk back into my bedroom, flopping onto the bed and closing my eyes, only to be met with dreams of Sophie.