“His dad was a good man, a good father. He died when Kill was about eleven,” she continued. Her face hardened. “His mom’s a junkie, total bitch to boot. Doesn’t give a shit about him. Club’s pretty much raised him,” she told me with sad eyes.
I felt a pang for this poor kid, the one who looked strong and unflappable from the outside. The one who also looked like a whole lot of bad news, but one who treated my daughter with unbelievable tenderness and me with respect. I had already begun to grudgingly like him. This just cemented it. Plus, I knew exactly what it was like to have parents who didn’t give a shit. It sucked. No wonder he gripped onto a girl like Lexie with both hands. Why he was happy to sit with us and watch movies he no doubt hated while we chattered through them almost half the time.
Lucy, who had been quiet, spoke to me. “Despite that, Killian’s actually a real good kid,” she told me with a small smile. “I’ve known him since he was a baby, and despite appearances he’s respectful. He’ll treat her well,” she promised.
“I already know he will,” I told her with a smile.
“Yeah well, if he doesn’t I know he’d have Cade to answer to,” Gwen interjected. “He’s pretty big on treating women with respect.”
“And Brock,” Amy added.
“And pretty much every guy in the club,” Rosie added.
“And me,” I added. “I may not own a shotgun, but I’m thinking of heading down to Walmart to get myself an arsenal.” I may have liked the kid, definitely felt sorry for him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in for it if he hurt my baby.
The women laughed. I wasn’t sure why, considering I wasn’t kidding.
Then I felt it. Something that made my eyes move from Lexie and Killian’s intense looking conversation. It was pressure, heat, anger. I could feel him. His stare. My eyes moved until they settled on dark, stormy, beautiful ones. Zane stood in the doorway that led into Rosie’s kitchen. He was wearing all black, as usual, despite the fact it was scorching. I felt like the temperature went up about a thousand degrees with his glower threatening to set me on fire.
“Mia, why is Bull looking at you like you blew up the Harley Davidson headquarters?” Gwen asked. “Did you guys have a fight or something?” The subject of Zane was surprisingly yet to come up in our chat. The women had all asked about what happened in Hope and had seemed sympathetic of me having to give up my favorite vintage haunt, at least temporarily, but no one had grilled me about my relationship with Zane. It was as if these women had a sixth sense about heartbreak, or at least they were waiting for me to bring it up. Zane’s unmistakable glare had them done waiting.
“Umm,” I drew out my response, willing myself to tear my gaze away, or at least to muster up my own glare. He wasn’t the only one who was angry. I may be trying to convince him not to give up on us, but I was still pissed as hell he did in the first place.
Before I got the chance, his eyes moved. They settled on Killian and Lexie. I didn’t think it was possible for his gaze to turn more murderous, but it did. I was surprised Killian didn’t scamper away or beg for mercy once he met it. But the kid stood his ground. I had to admire him for that. Zane stormed his way over there. He hadn’t been around the past two weeks, so he obviously wasn’t privy to the serious relationship that had developed in that time. Which was probably a good thing, considering what he was doing in his blissful ignorance.
Zane barked something at Killian and he reluctantly let Lexie go and stormed into the house, pushing past Zane.
Lexie looked after him with a faraway look in her eye. Her gaze settled on Zane and she beamed, running over to him. To mine and everyone else’s at the table’s utter surprise, she put her arms around him. He seemed to jolt slightly before engulfing her in his giant arms and kissing her head lightly. He pulled back once he had decided he’d shown enough affection without damaging his badass card. His face softened as she chattered away, smiling the entire time.
More than a few men in the crowd were watching in open amazement at his soft face and clipped answers to Lexie’s chattering.
“Is that Bull actually having a conversation?” Amy asked in disbelief.
“And he might actually look like he has the possibility of a smile brewing,” added Rosie, equally gobsmacked.
“And he let Lexie actually touch him in public,” Gwen added with a sad smile. She looked to me. “You’ve fixed him,” she declared weirdly. Her voice held a sad note to him.
“Fixed him?” I repeated in confusion, really needing to get behind the glint in all the women’s eyes. The glint that was connected to the demons in Zane’s. That, I guessed, was the reason Zane was trying so hard to keep his distance.
The ringing of my phone interrupted the conversation, much to my chagrin.
“Sorry, ladies, I’ve got to get this,” I said apologetically. I did, considering I was on call at the hotel and I was sure something would go wrong right when I needed to be exactly where I was.