Page 27 of Chains
We dressed, then headed to the main common room, the only building we intended to give Tate access to.Also, Knuckles was serious.He’d assigned two teams to the bastard.Tiny and Noose during the day, and Inferno and Griffin in the evening.I didn’t anticipate any niceties on Knuckles’ part either.We agreed we wouldn’t tell Tate exactly what Kiss of Death was.
I guided Ellie outside, the October air crisp against our faces.“You don’t have to stand at the gate with me,” Ellie said as we crossed the courtyard.“You can wait inside.”
I gave her a look that made her lips twitch despite her anxiety.“Not a fucking chance.One more suggestion like that will have me tellin’ Knuckles to eighty-six the whole mess.”
“You really can be bossy.You know?”
“Been told that a few times in my life.”She might grumble, but I saw the way her shoulders relaxed.She wasn’t free of anxiety, but I thought knowing she didn’t have a say in what was going to happen took a load off her mind.Like it gave her permission to not feel bad or something.If that was the case, I’d make it clear up front to Tate Blackheart there was nothing she could do to influence if or how long he stayed in our home.
We sat under the covered entrance outside the main warehouse.I’d given Ellie a beer and encouraged her to drink.Knuckles and Gunnar both stood casually near the clubhouse entrance.Several other brothers lingered nearby, pretending to work on bikes or shoot the shit, but I knew they were all on high alert.
At precisely noon, a yellow taxi appeared at the end of the long drive leading to our compound.My muscles tensed as it slowed to a halt before the gate.Through the windshield, I could see the driver’s nervous glance at our clubhouse, clearly wondering what kind of fare he’d picked up who needed delivery to a biker compound.
The back door swung open, and Tate Blackheart emerged.My first thought was that prison hadn’t touched him.He stood tall and straight.His silver hair was styled in an expensive cut, not a strand out of place.He wore a tailored navy blazer over a crisp white shirt, pressed gray slacks, and shoes so shiny I could probably see my reflection in them if I got close enough.Which I had no intention of doing unless it involved my fist connecting with his face.
He paid the driver with a crisp bill pulled from a slim leather wallet, then retrieved a single suitcase from the trunk.The taxi peeled away the moment the trunk closed, leaving Blackheart standing before our gate, scanning the compound with calculating eyes.
Ellie had frozen in place, her face drained of color.I moved to stand at her side but slightly in front of her, my need to protect her in overdrive.Her breathing had gone shallow, and I resisted the urge to take her hand, knowing she needed to present a strong front to her father.
“That’s not prison issue,” I murmured, nodding toward Blackheart’s clothes.“Someone’s been holding his stuff.”
“Or helping him,” she whispered back, her voice tight.
Hawk pressed the button to slide the gate open, and Blackheart stepped onto our territory with the confidence of a man entering his own home rather than a stranger on hostile land.His eyes found Ellie immediately, and something flickered across his face.Not love or joy at seeing his daughter, but a cold assessment, as if he were sizing up his chances of using her to get what he wanted.It vanished so quickly I might have imagined it, replaced by a warm, fatherly smile that made my skin crawl.
“Elvira,” he called, his voice carrying across the yard.“My little witch.”
Ellie flinched at the childhood nickname but raised her hand in a stiff wave.I moved slightly closer to her, making my position clear.I was her shield, her protection against whatever this man might try.
Blackheart set down his suitcase and opened his arms wide, stepping toward Ellie with clear intention of embracing her.Something primal roared to life in my chest, and I stepped solidly between them, my arm extending to block his approach.He halted, surprise flickering across his features before smoothing into understanding.
“I see,” he said, lowering his arms.“Protective boyfriend?”
I didn’t answer, didn’t confirm or deny the label.Ellie shifted beside me, and I could feel her indecision.Part of her wanted to placate her father, but part of her needed the barrier I’d created and was grateful for it.
“Dad,” she said, her voice steadier than I’d expected.“I’m glad you arrived safely.”
“The journey was… enlightening,” he replied, his gaze sliding past us to take in the compound and everyone in it.“This is quite an establishment your friends have here.”He managed to sound both impressed and condescending.
“The people here at Kiss of Death have been good to me,” Ellie said, a slight emphasis on the club’s name.
Blackheart’s eyebrows rose fractionally, and he glanced around again as if noticing for the first time the bikes in the yard and the men in leather cuts focused entirely on him.“A motorcycle club?How adventurous of you, Elvira.”The subtle note of disapproval in his tone made my jaw clench.“Though I must say, it’s not what I pictured when you mentioned staying with friends.
“You look well,” Ellie said, changing the subject.“Prison doesn’t seem to have been too hard on you.”
“One adapts,” he replied with a modest smile that didn’t reach his eyes.“I made the best of my situation.Counseled younger inmates, participated in rehabilitation programs.The system rewards those who show genuine remorse and a desire to change.”
I barely suppressed a snort.Men like Blackheart didn’t change.They got better at hiding what they were.
“You look beautiful, Elvira,” he continued, his gaze returning to his daughter.“So much like your mother.You’ve grown into quite the stunning young woman.”His eyes flicked to me, then back to her.“I see you’ve found someone to look after you.That’s good.I worried about you being alone.”
“I can look after myself,” Ellie said, her chin lifting slightly.“I’ve been doing it since I was fourteen and went into the system.”
A fleeting shadow crossed Blackheart’s face.“Yes, well.That was unfortunate.If the courts had allowed me more say in your placement --”
“You gave up that right when you decided to harvest human organs for profit,” I interrupted, unable to contain myself any longer.
Blackheart’s gaze snapped to mine, something cold and reptilian swimming in their depths before disappearing behind his mask of civility.“And you are?”
