Page 36 of Demon's Angel

I’d had no intentions to approach it at all until I blurted it out. Now I’m wondering what the fuck had made me say it. Now that I have, I have to follow through; take a woman into my life who has no desire to come into my bed. A woman I’ll need to treat like a sister.

I try to create some sense of the words coming out of my mouth. “It works, though. That fuckin’ custody case is next week. Of course Vi isn’t going to go, but as Angel knows where she is, he would have the law on his side to come drag her there. I need to have good grounds to get it legally kicked back. Now I’ve made plain his paternity’s in question.” I shade my eyes from the sun and turn around to look at them. “Which brings us back to, how the fuck does he know where she is?”

Thunder makes a VP-type comment again, “You knew it was a risk Angel had a man on her. Could have followed her to the compound. May not be a leak at all. Or can track her with technology.”

“She’s replaced her phone. Not sure the piece of crap she’s got even has GPS.”

“Thunder’s made a good point, Demon. Talk to Cad, for fuck’s sake, before you piss everyone off. You go in all guns blazing accusin’ people, even look at them odd, you’re risking your president’s patch. Brothers earned trust the hard way, we’ve all been there and done that.” He’s right. Even I, his son, had spent twelve months doing shit to get patched in, days I’d prefer to forget than remember. “You give them one inkling they’ve lost that trust, you might lose it yourself.”

Again, he’s not wrong. Brothers, God help them, look up to me. If I start viewing everyone with suspicion, they’ll be casting their eyes around, too. Best way to break a club or lose a good member, if twos and twos are added with the wrong result. We’d all but killed Skull for circumstantial evidence which pointed the wrong way.

“I’ll speak to Cad. The question we need to ask is how he knows. Not to come out directly and demand to know who told him.”

“You’re focusing on the wrong problem.” Hell gets my attention again. “Whatever, however, he has that information, you’ve claimed a woman who probably has no desire for a claimin’. That’s what your head should be working on. She refuses? You don’t follow through? You’ve just made things ten times worse.”

“You basically told him she’s a whore, Demon.”

Fuck. Have I? Jesus, he’s right. I told him, given her supposed immoral background, it wasn’t unlikely she’d jump into my bed after leaving him. He wants to prove she’s an unfit mother?Maybe I’ve just handed him more ammunition. Shit.

Hell’s hand lands on my shoulder. “Let’s get back.”

I’m not ready. But this plan I’ve set in motion has to be kicked off. One last deep breath and I follow the others back to the bikes. Slipping into the lead, I ride on autopilot, thoughts whirring around my head.Why the fuck did I publicly claim her? How could I not?Something had to happen to put doubts in Angel’s mind and get him to back off. I couldn’t have said anything else, could I? I needed him to worry his wasn’t the only dick near her. Christ, the idea of that slimy bastard laying his hands on her is abhorrent. The thought I’d been inside her, the fiction I’m going to need to get people to believe, is disappointing, I admit, only because I have not.

Now I’ve claimed her, maybe there’s a chance I’ll be able to rectify that frustration.What would she feel like? Is she tight, inexperienced? What does she like in bed? Are there things I could teach her?For fuck’s sake! She’s like my little sister. I would not be having these thoughts about Kennedy, so why am I about her?

Because I’m a man. She’s a woman. And I’m having problems getting my head around that I’ve just sentenced myself to being faithful to someone I’ll have to live with platonically. If I want to save Theo, I can’t go back.

“My office.” I barely wait for the engines to be switched off.

“Try and keep me a-fuckin’-way,” Hellfire mutters as he swings his leg over the saddle.

Heads turn as we storm through the clubroom, but I hold up my hand to stop questions being thrown my way. I do notice Cad’s not in his usual corner. “Prospect. Find Cad. I need him.” I don’t bother to ask which of them will respond, content one of them will.

“So,” Hell asks, as he sits on the visitor side of the desk, “you had any further thoughts on the way back?”

As Thunder kicks out the other chair, turns it around and straddles it, I sit, pinching my nose, then meet his stare.

“Whether it was wise or not, I’ve said Violet and the kid are mine. If I back down, Angel will smell a rat and come after her harder. No doubt about it, I’ve no option other than to carry this through.”

There’s a quirk to his lips when Hell says, “You’re going to make your mother very happy.”

Ain’t that the fucking truth. A grandkid for her to fuss over. She’ll be the last person to worry that the kid’s not really mine.

The immensity of what I’ve taken on hits me. Words start tumbling out. “I presume she put ‘Father Unknown’ on the birth certificate. Need to get that changed to my name. Need to get the wedding organised. Get a lawyer to tell us our rights. Get next week’s hearing postponed…”

“Whoa, hold up, son. You’re forgetting one thing.” As I raise my eyebrow, he continues, “She has to agree.”

She can’t afford not to. I have to make her see that. “Violet will do anything to keep Theo safe. If I tell her this is the plan, she’ll go along with it.” She’ll take my advice, she thinks I’m her proxy big brother. She’ll do what’s best.Big brother, yeah. One that wants to put his cock in her. Nothing wrong with that. Shit!

There’s a knock at the door, followed by Cad putting his head around it. “Heard you wanted me?”

“Yeah.”

Thunder stands, indicates the chair he’s just vacated, then steps back and leans against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. Quickly I explain to Cad.

“How the fuck did he know she was here?” The question Cad’s just asked must, for now, overshadow the personal ramifications of what I’m taking on.

“That’s what we want you to find out.” I’m proud of the patience in my tone.

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