Page 3 of Blade's Return
“That’s bullshit,” I huff. “Why is she so friendly with you if she has issues?”
“I’ve lovable as fuck. Who wouldn’t like me?”
I roll my eyes. “We’ll talk more about this after the meeting,” I grumble.
“I’ve said all I can. I’ll make a deal with you, however.”
“What kind of deal?”
“If you get close to Livy, I’ll tell you everything,” he bargains.
“Everything?”
“You have to get in with her first.”
“Are you doubting your baby brother’s skill with the ladies, old man?” I joke.
He laughs and slaps me on the back. “Not for a minute. You’ve always been better than me when it comes to that shit.”
“That’s because you wasted your time with that bitch, Mavis.”
Bear rubs the back of his neck. I know he’s happy with Ayita, but Mavis’s betrayal hurt him. He took her as his old lady when he first moved back to Cherokee. They were together for a while and seemingly happy. That was until Mavis started dabbling in drugs. That’s when the cracks began and when she tried some shit with the president of another club, Bear finally had enough. The bitch nearly caused a club war with one of the strongest MCs around. Bear gave her a choice, stop snorting the product the club was dealing or move out. When he told her that regardless she would no longer be his woman, she left. That wasn’t the worst part of the whole damn thing, though. No, that came a couple months later when Bear found out the bitch had moved her ass into the Feral Kings clubhouse, whoring herself out to our biggest enemy. Eyeball. The man is a motherfucking psychopath. He ended up killing Mavis and I can’t say I miss the bitch. She broke my brother for a while. She also made her own choices. The only good thing that came out of the whole mess is that after Mavis, Bear stopped dealing the drugs. We still do some shit that might get you thrown in the slammer, but we have nothing to do with drugs and I’m fucking glad. I’ve seen the devastation they leave behind. I’d rather we never have a part in that.
“Mavis was trapped by addiction. I hate that she got so bad, and I never saw it,” he says, regret laced in every word.
“That wasn’t your fault. Mavis was very adept at keeping shit hidden,” I tell him. When I see the commissioner making a beeline for Olivia, I stiffen.
“She was. I see you noticed that the town’s mayor and commissioner want the town’s innocent little lamb, just like you do.”
I shake away thoughts of Mavis and how that bitch hurt my brother. Now is not the time for memory lane—especially when memory lane is damn painful. “I doubt Olivia is as innocent as you think,” I reply, still watching her closely.
“I’ll say from what Ayi has mentioned, Olivia might not be a virgin, but she’s not far from it. She’s definitely a novice when it comes to dealing with men.”
“Interesting,” I mumble. “I think I’ll go rescue her now and have a word with the commissioner.”
“Sounds good,” he says. “I’m going to go sit outside and call Ayi before the meeting starts.”
I nod and move toward the woman who is setting up residence in my brain. I need to convince her to go out with me. I know without a doubt that’s going to be priority number one with me. I want her.
And I always get what I want.
2 OLIVIA
“You did good, Olivia,” my boss murmurs, standing a little too close to me.
I sidestep to put a small space between us. “Thank you, Mr. Lockhart.”
“Olivia, I told you, call me Alan when we’re alone.”
I try to hide my grimace with a smile. Hopefully the lighting is diffused enough that I pull it off. I love my job. I’m lucky to have it. The only education I have is an online college degree. That’s becoming more and more normal these days, but I can tell you from experience that a lot of the positions that I’ve interviewed for, look down on my degree. For that reason alone, I skate a thin line. Thankfully, my boss is married so he mostly stays in line.
“I hope everything goes well. This is very important for this community,” I reply, ignoring his millionth invitation to call him Alan. That’s never going to happen.
“I’ve had talks with the town council. I think it will. I’m trying to use whatever influence I have to push it. It would have helped if that damn gang member would have at least tried to clean up for the meeting. Thank God his lawyer seems to have good breeding.”
I bristle at the asshole’s words. He’s a prick and I know it, but I can’t stand when people say anything about Bear. They see his MC cut and immediately dismiss him as a thug. I would have more reason than anyone to feel that way, but Bear is the furthest thing from that. He’s a beautiful human being. He treats his Ayita like a queen, despite having been betrayed in one of the worst ways possible by someone he loved previously. They have the kind of relationship that I’ve been jealous of and always wanted. I’m not sure I’ll ever have it. With my history, being close to a man is extremely hard. I’ve had sex twice in my life. Once was not by choice and still haunts me. The second time was a guy who helped pull me out of the misery I had wrapped myself in. It was awkward and just not good. It kind of ended our relationship. He lives in Townsend now, which isn’t that far away. I see him here and there, but other than a very uncomfortable ‘hi’ or ‘how have you been?’, we avoid each other.
I bring my attention back to the event when William’s deep voice hits me. I look up to find him walking towards us. “Alan, I was hoping I could have a moment to talk to the mayor of this town before the meeting actually starts. I don’t suppose you’ve seen the asshole, have you?”
