Page 54 of Redemption

“We don’t have a lot of time, so I need to know what happened.”

Swallowing, he winces and reaches for the glass of water on the tray by his bed. “We arrived late because she fought me about going in the first place. I’m guessing Lex already told you why I needed to be there.”

He nods. “Yeah, she did. We’ll get to that, but I need to know about the attack.”

The comment clearly doesn’t comfort him, and he sighs. “We had to park across the street because the lot was full. We took my personal vehicle, and we heard motorcycles. Part of me thought it might be guys from out of town coming for the party, so I didn’t think too much about it. But then I saw them. Fifteen or twenty, I think. I saw one had a gun.”

That’s what Lex said, but he’d hoped she was wrong. “Lex was right.”

“She’d have the best recount of what happened. I guess they didn’t want it to be overkill or something. He took aim, and I realized he wasn’t aiming for me. My heart damn near stopped.”

“Grayson-”

“I grabbed her and threw her behind me. I couldn’t push her out of the way because they were coming at us full steam ahead. There was too great of a chance she’d get run over by one of the bikes. If the bullet managed to hit her, at least it would have been slowed down as it went through me. I took the option with the best outcome. I swear it, Diesel. My only goal was to protect her.”

Running his hands over his face, he sighs. “She wasn’t injured at all.”

“I knew this wasn’t for me. I’ve never seen these guys before, and there’s no way it was an opportunity to take out a cop. They had no way of knowing I was one. They had a target, and it wasn’t me.”

“It’s fucking retaliation,” Diesel says. “The fucking Savage Slashers.”

“What’d you do?”

His eyes snap up and lock with his. “I didn’t do shit.”

“I meant the club. Trust me, I’m not a cop right now. I’m drugged up and just a guy talking to the father of his girlfriend.”

“They have beef with the Drifters, and it’s escalated. Up until now, it’s been out in Black Valley. Guess they decided to attack the mother charter.”

“By going after the women of the club?”

Sitting in the chair next to the bed, he sighs and tugs at his beard. “I don’t know what their end game is. Why they’re doing this shit. What their beef is, exactly, but at the end of the day, we can’t sit back and do nothing. They went after my daughter.”

“You’re gonna want extra security on Lex, Lily, and Kai,” Grayson says, his eyes closed as he leans back against the pillow.

“Why?”

“If they went after Ashley because she’s the daughter of the club, they’ll hit twice as hard on daughters who happened to also be old ladies. Or ex-old ladies. Whatever Lex’s title is now.”

He’s right. They’ll get it taken care of. These men won’t get another chance to hurt a woman of their club. “There’s something else to talk about, Tate.”

“The ring.”

“Yep.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Diesel. I love your daughter. There’s the whole ‘cop’ thing I know you hate, but I don’t want to ever be without her. And there is no one you could ever find who will take care of her the way I plan to.”

Sniffling, he leans back and stares hard at the man in the white gown with blue diamonds on the fabric. Who the fuck designs these damn things, anyway? No one looks tough wearing a hospital gown. “And you think we’re going to let a cop into the family?”

“I’m not marrying you,” he says with a laugh and winces, his hand clutching his stomach. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“If you marry my daughter, you marry me, her brother, and the whole fucking club. Is that something you’re willing to do?”

“As long as I don’t have to consummate the marriage with you guys, guess I’m okay with it.”

Great, now he has images of this man fucking his daughter. Shaking them from his mind, he leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “What happens when you have to decide between your job and my daughter because of the club? What happens then?”

“What are you talking about?” he asks, shifting in a vain attempt to get more comfortable.

---