As I watched him walk into the clubhouse, following with Natasha held against me, I wasn’t sure at all. After tonight, things between Mason, Luce and I—the Core Three—had been shattered. Trying to fix it would be a majorly tall order.
Right now, though, I had other priorities.
12
~Natasha~
“LET’S GET THIS SHIT STARTED,” Slade Mitchell’s voice boomed as I hung back at the threshold of his office.
I eyed Cole who was watching me from the hallway just outside. He gave me a reassuring nod, but I could see through his calm façade, the worry in his eyes giving him away. He hadn’t wanted me to meet with Slade alone, but Slade had insisted. Hell, he didn’t want me going anywhere without him by my side. He was more nervous than I’d ever seen him, more overprotective than I’d ever imagined him being even with the worst of it that I’d experienced in our years past. This baby, us actually being together at long last, had changed everything for him and he was struggling to adapt.
He wasn’t alone there.
I was worried too. Not so much for myself, not anymore. I’d lived with threats hanging over my head for so long that I was almost numb to it now. Truth be told, for a while now, the idea of meeting my demise at their hands had offered a sense of peace, an ending to all the pain, regret, fear and loneliness.
Then I’d found out about this baby, Cole had come back into my life and vowed he was finally in it for the long-haul and Slade had offered a way for all of that to become a safe, permanent reality. It’d changed everything for me too. And the thought of anything tearing away that life that I was so close to finally having was incomprehensible, irreconcilable. It’d become a waking fear that just wouldn’t abate.
But I needed to reel it all in and get a hold of myself.
I needed to remember who I was.
The no-nonsense survivor who had years of practice with dealing with overbearing, dangerous, self-proclaimed badasses.
Slade might have a notorious reputation, but so did I. He didn’t need to know how much of it was mere legend and how much was stone-cold truth.
He just needed to believe it. Just like him, I wasn’t someone who reacted well to being fucked with.
Drawing in a steadying breath, I gave Cole a nod, then closed the door and turned to face the formidable force that was the President of the Steel Titans Motorcycle Club.
“Have a seat, darlin’,” he said, as I approached his desk at the far end of the very simple room. Sparse furniture with only the oak desk he was sitting behind in his leather chair, the other two worn high-backed ones opposite him. A couple of filing cabinets in the corner were the extent of it. Aside from the photos of various memorable club events and moments lining one wall, there were very little knickknacks and comforts either. It was pretty much how I’d imagined it.
Just as I reached the desk, he had me jumping when he thrust his motorcycle boot out beneath the desk at one of the chairs, pushing it out for me. With a gasp, my gaze shot to his, to find a glint in his eye. Ah. He was testing me.
Dammit. Just a few seconds inside his office and he’d already gotten one up on me.
The old bastard was too good, just like his rep had suggested.
Sure, he was a hulk of a man, all muscle and tattoos. The sight alone as he leaned forward in his black t-shirt and leather cut with his inked arms folded across the desktop was intimidating enough to most just from a quick glance. Not to mention the soulless take he had on dealing out death if people made the mistake of crossing his path. But as far as I was concerned, it was his mind that was the most worrying aspect by far. He was a cunning strategist. He could plan things several moves ahead, see things that most others didn’t. And that made him dangerous to anyone whose agenda didn’t fall in line with his.
“Ain’t gonna hurt you,” he said, lifting his arms off the desktop and leaning back casually in his chair. “Know you’ve had enough of that with Nik.”
I studied him for several moments. There was no hint of a lie there. None at all.
Satisfied that he was sincere, I settled myself into the left high-backed chair.
“Besides, I don’t hurt women. Especially pregnant women.”
Oh my God. My gaze snapped to his.
Before I could get a word out, he told me, “Forgot I seen all ‘em symptoms and signs up close before with my late wife? Plus, you know, it ain’t like you to submit to nobody or nothing, least of all my boys giving you shit. I knew there was something up. Didn’t take much to figure out you were doing it to protect something, something real goddamn special.”
Special? Who would’ve thought that the notorious Slade Mitchell had a soft spot for babies?
“It’s true,” I admitted.
“We best protect each other then, yeah?”
“I thought that was what we were already planning on doing? You’d use me to draw Nik out so you and your club can finally be rid of him, then the club would give me and Cole their blessing.”
“We gotta be more careful now with you carrying that baby.”
I frowned. What was his game? “Why do you care?”
He smiled smugly, like he was proud of not being so easy to figure out.
“Twenty years back, I was in this same situation. We had Nik coming at us needing putting down and my wife was ready to pop. I had tunnel vision, the only thing I saw was destroying the threat of him and the Strikers so my coming family could be safe and wouldn’t have to worry. I shoulda had my eye on my immediate surroundings, the present, not the future. But I didn’t and
