Page 87 of Skid
“I remembered how I know Needles,” I started, and his blue eyes narrowed as I spoke. “I never met him, but Kevin showed me a picture of him, telling me he was going to be my husband. It was when . . . when he first mentioned Aubrey and how it was my time to fulfill my promise.”
Tension rolled off him as he quietly asked, “But you never actually met him?”
“No. I was told he was out of town, and his father was making arrangements for him to return so we could get married and honor our promise. I ran away a few weeks later and hadn’t thought about him since.” I paused and looked at Dalton through a watery gaze. “It was his eyes I remember. They were haunting, and I could see sadness staring back at me.”
“Devlin uncovered some things this morning, and I was going to meet with Needles to discuss them this afternoon. I can tell you that in no way do I think he was involved or even aware of what they planned for him. As soon as he could, he came back to Portstill from his mother’s house and patched into the club,” Dalton explained.
“Why wouldn’t he stay with his parents?”
“His dad was Torch, the club president over fifteen years ago. Needles lived here on the compound from the day he came home from the hospital, but when his pops died in an accident, his mother reappeared and practically dragged him out of here. That’s all I know, but I swear to you, I don’t think he’s a part of any of this.”
“Can I . . . can I talk to him?” I asked, and Dalton squeezed my hand.
“You don’t have to do that, baby. It’s my job to protect you,” he said, and I shook my head.
“If he’s not a part of all of it, then I have nothing to worry about. He’s your friend and brother, and I want to put this behind us. Please, I promise I won’t cause any problems.”
Dalton leaned over and kissed me with his hands on my cheeks. “You’re so brave, Grace. Yeah, I’ll let you come with me, Gunner, and Devlin, but if at any time it gets too much, we will leave. Agreed?”
Pecking him on the lips, I responded, “Agreed. Now take me home so I can show you what I spent your money on.”
He laughed and scooped me up from the couch. Spinning me around inside the small living room, I wrapped my arms around his neck and knew, deep down, no matter what, he would always protect me. Dalton’s love was healing me, and together, we were complete.
A few hours later, I was on the back of Dalton’s bike with my arms securely wrapped around his waist. We were headed to Monroe’s shop to speak with him, and I was nervous. Not for me, but for him. If he was another unwilling participant in The Community’s sick beliefs, he was as much of a survivor as I was.
We pulled into a back alley behind his shop, and Dalton parked next to two other bikes before he turned his bike off. A black SUV was already parked, and I exhaled deeply as we walked into the shop.
Needles sat in a chair against the back wall, and when he saw me walk inside, his eyes grew wide. Devlin and Gunner sat on a couch next to him and turned their gazes to us. Dalton placed his hand on my lower back and urged me inside, giving me strength.
“I wasn’t expecting you, Grace. It’s nice to see you,” Devlin remarked and cut his eyes to Dalton.
I looked between the four men and could feel the anger and tension rolling off all of them. I was the reason this was happening, even indirectly, so I sat down and smoothed my hand over the imaginary wrinkles in my new jeans.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I felt it was important to be here to support Monroe,” I explained and sat down on a couch across from Devlin.
Dalton sat next to me, closer to Monroe, and took my hand into his. Monroe kept looking at me and finally spoke, his deep voice calm as he asked, “Do I know you, Grace?”
I glanced to Dalton and then turned to face Monroe as I explained. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but we know of each other. At least I do.”
“I don’t understand what the fuck is going on. Can someone tell me and stop side-stepping all these secrets?” he uttered loudly, and Gunner looked at me.
He gave me a nod, and Dalton squeezed my hand as I began. “I’m the woman you were promised to by The Community.”
His eyes grew wide, and he pushed back from his chair to stand. Dalton leaned forward, and we watched as Monroe paced the floor, muttering to himself. Devlin’s hard eyes appraised the situation, and Gunner looked worried as he sat silent.
“I swear to God, I didn’t know about any of it until a few years ago, when my mother finally divorced that sick piece of shit. Goddamn it!” he yelled, and I flinched at the raw pain and anger in his voice. “I knew he was a demented motherfucker, but this shit takes the cake.”
Monroe turned and looked at me with pain evident in his green eyes. “Grace, I promise I wasn’t a part of any of it. I didn’t even know about you or any of their plans for us. I swear on my cut, I didn’t know.”
His voice was painfully angry, and I stood from the couch and stepped around an observant Dalton. Monroe stood still as I approached, and he glanced at the men behind me as I looked up at him. His eyes cast down at me with worry, and I smiled sadly.
“I believe you. I don’t blame you, so please don’t blame yourself. We were kids who got caught up in some . . . disturbing events, and I just wanted you to know I hold no bad feelings for you.” I looked over my shoulder at a smiling Dalton, and I turned back to Monroe. “In fact, I think we should be friends.” His eyes grew wide, and he opened and closed his mouth as I continued. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t have many friends and could use all that would have me. Can we do that, Monroe? Can we be friends?”
“You’re pretty unique. Do you know that?” he asked, and I shrugged.
“I just want to put all this behind us, and the best way I see to do that is to take the sting out of the memories.” Leaning closer, I lowered my voice and explained, “Think about how pissed off they would be to know we’re friends. It would negate everything they tried to teach us, and we could prove to them we’re stronger than they are.”
“Skid?” he asked, and Dalton stood to join us as Gunner and Devlin looked on.
