Cutter 3 (4 page)

Shutter nodded eagerly and shuffled
out of the room.

“I don’t kill your friends, so don’t
kill mine.”

Blaze chuckled and my father smirked
in spite of himself.

“That cop has it out for you.” My
father stood up, aggravation written all over his face. “He wasn’t here to
check out the warehouse he was here to deliver a direct threat to you.”

“He’s right,” Blaze nodded. “He barely
took his eyes off of you the entire time.”

“That’s great,” I puffed my chest out
again. “I love my fans.”

“All those times I told you to lay low
and stay out of trouble, you just couldn’t control yourself, you always had to
put yourself in the damn spotlight thinking you were untouchable.” He was in
front of me now, looking down at me like only a worried father would. “It’s
finally caught up with us.”

It was always weird when my dad
switched modes on me. Going from the cold crime filled man who ruled the
brotherhood with an iron fist to a worried father who didn’t want anything bad
to happen to his son.

“Don’t put this on me, dad. That guy is
a tight-ass. He came in here looking for someone to latch onto. If it wasn’t
me, it would have been one of the other brothers and you know it.”

“He was pretty filthy,” Blaze backed
me up.

“No,” my dad said, sure of himself.
“He wanted you, even before you walked in he was completely uninterested in
anything I had to say, asking about my son.” He pounded his fist down on the
desk hard and one of the legs snapped out from underneath it, causing the wood
to slant off to the side. “My son,” he repeated the words angrily.

I exhaled and shot
Blaze
a look. “
It’s
going to be fine, dad. That piece of
shit has nothing on me or he would have taken me in by now. He’s just fishing
around for information, trying to scare us.”

It was a roll I wasn’t used to
playing, comforting someone. Normally I was the one who flipped out and assumed
the worst-case scenario playing out then Blaze had to calm me down. But I’d
learned enough to know over the years that me getting worked up only made my
father more worked up, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, Blaze always
told me.

“He’s right. If they had anything
concrete then he would have taken him in or our men in blue on the inside would
have tipped us off about it already.” Blaze padded me on the shoulder,
reflecting my words.

My father didn’t say anything for a
moment and when he turned back around he had a look I couldn’t read plastered
across his face. “You’re right, and they aren’t going to find anything on you
either. You need to lay low for a while,” he announced. “And that means you
aren’t allowed to be involved in the capture of Stone.”

Blaze took a step in front of me,
anticipating my reaction. “Casper, with all due respect, I don’t think side
tracking Cutter is the answer here. He’s one of the best field men we have in
the entire club, he’s a good shot and you know it.”

“Well, it’s a good thing your opinion
doesn’t matter, Blaze.”

Then my father pushed past both of us
and left us alone in his office, slamming the door just as hard behind him at
the detective who left before him had.

I was going to lose my fucking mind.

And judging by the look on Blaze’s
face, he knew it.

Chapter Four

GRACE

I wanted Heather to like me, I really
did. I was involved with her brother for Crist sake, of course, I wanted us to
get along but her attitude was proving to make it more and more difficult.

“I don’t know why you’re wasting your
time, he’s Cutter’s puppet he won’t do anything unless his master loosens the
strings and tells him that it’s alright.” She crossed one of her small legs
over the other and repositioned herself in the backseat of Ace’s car.

Imagine my surprise when Ace had shown
up to get me with Heather in the backseat. Apparently, she had insisted on coming
along with him. I was pretty sure it was so she could get a glimpse of Blaze
but I wasn’t going to open my big mouth about that. I was in enough trouble
with her.

“I’m not anyone’s puppet.” Ace glanced
at us in the rearview mirror as he zoomed up a busy street. “I’m just loyal,
something you probably don’t know much about Heather.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She
crossed her arms over her chest and squeezed her knuckles together. Jeez, she
really did have big boobs for such a small person.

I glanced down at my own chest. Mine
were big, but hers were giant.

“It means that the streets have been
talking and word has it that you’ve been hanging out with that fool, Criminal,
on the low.” He puffed his lips out and let out am annoyingly loud sigh. “Now,
tell me, what would your brother and Blaze think about that?”

“Well, the streets lie,”
Heather
snapped. “He’s just my friend. Besides, my brothers
too busy to notice much these days.” She glanced out the window. “And Blaze
doesn’t concern himself with what I do.”

She sounded let down by both of them
and it immediately made me feel like a piece of crap. Had I been distracting
Cutter so much lately that he didn’t have time for his little sister? And was
Blaze so worried about Cutter that he had less time to worry about Heather?

I remembered what Cutter had said in
the car about their mother and even more guilt came over me. I made a mental
note to try and be on my best behavior from here on out. Try being the key
word.

“Your brother would cut his head off and
you know it.”

“Who’s Criminal?” I asked, not being
able to help myself.

“None of your business, Grace.” She
glanced up at Ace. “And it’s none of your business either.”

“He’s the little brother of A Misfit,”
he said the word Misfit like it was a disease. “And it’s pretty clear he’s just
using you, Heather, probably for information on your brother.”

“No, he’s not!” Heather spat out,
uncrossing her legs. “You don’t even know him, he’s my friend! We don’t even
talk about our stupid brothers! He actually cares about what’s going on in my
life!”

“I really hope you aren’t sleeping
with him,” Ace said, shaking his head.

I tried not to laugh. The idea was
unlikely. She was clearly too into Blaze to take anything with another guy very
serious, chances are they really were just friends.

“
Ew
, gag!”
Heather looked like she might throw up in the middle of the backseat. “Yeah,
right, have you ever seen him? He’s definitely not my type.”

“Why not?” I took a long sip out of
the water bottle Ace had brought me.

She got a dreamy look in her eye for a
second. “He’s too…” She happened to glance up and catch Ace shooting her a
weird look so she just shook her head, snapping out of whatever daze she was
in. “He’s just not my type, okay? Ugh!”

“Criminal is everyone’s type, remember
that the next time he flashes those sparkling blue eyes at you.” Ace slammed on
the breaks, just missing an old woman crossing the street. “He’s a sweet
talker, that kid.”

“Sounds to me like you want to date
them,” Heather pointed out.

I laughed loudly.

Ace narrowed his eyes at me.

“What? It was funny.” I sat up in my
seat and leaned forward. “Besides, talking about whatever his name is isn’t
going to get us anywhere. The only thing we should be talking about is how
you’re going to take this next turn and swing by my mom’s house.”

I’d been trying to get Ace to take me
to see my mom and sister since he first picked me up. So far, I was having
little luck. Every time I brought it up he would just shake his head and then
start ignoring me. How rude could he get?

“I have strict orders to bring you
directly back to the bar.”

“But it’s just my mom’s house! What
can go wrong there? You’ll be with us the entire time. And you’re so big and
strong that if anything were to happen you could protect little old me with
almost no effort at all.” I smiled brightly at him.

“Unlikely,” Heather grunted.

“You aren’t helping,” I hissed.

She rolled her eyes but shut up
anyway.

“There’s no helping.” Ace sped through
a yellow light. “Cutter said no.”

I leaned my back against the black
leather seat and let my head crash into the headrest. I gave up, it was no use,
I
was just going to have to wait to see my family. The
thought tugs on my heartstrings and I consider trying to jump out of the car at
the next red light, but I probably wouldn’t get very far. Plus, I had just
promised Cutter I’d listen to him.

Damn him and his sexy and intense
eyes.

I glanced out the window, feeling
defeated.

I heard Heather mumble something to
herself next to me and then she leaned forward herself. “Come on, Ace, you owe
her one anyway. Let her see her mom for a minute, imagine how you would feel if
you couldn’t see your mom whenever you wanted.”

He stared straight ahead. “I can see
my mom whenever I want because I’m careful and I follow rules, I don’t sneak
into the back of cars when I’m supposed to be safe and sound at home, nor do I
hang out with rival club member's little brothers.” He hit on the breaks. “And
I owe no one anything, never have and never will.”

“Not even if you almost let them get
raped,” Heather fired back.

I practically started choking from my
seat in the back.

Ace spun around, giving her a death
glare. “Low blow, Heather.”

“So is leaving someone alone in a room
with a piece of shit who gets off on having sex with a woman against their
will.” She leaned in closer to him. “What if Blaze hadn’t of gotten there when
he did? Would you have been able to live with what could have happened in that
room?”

“Jesus, Heather!” Ace shouted. “Shut
up!”

“And now you won't even let her see
her mother? Wouldn’t you need to see your mother if you went through all the
shit that she’s been through in the last few weeks, Ace?”

I felt like I could barely breathe. I
didn’t even know she knew about half of this shit. I made a mental note to not
underestimate her in the future. She was clearly more in touch with the
brotherhood and what went on than anyone was aware of.

“Enough,” he yelled. “Enough.” He felt
around on the passenger side seat and produced his cell phone, tossing it over
the seat to us. “Here, if you want to go so damn bad, you two get permission
from Cutter and then I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

Heather picked the cell phone up and
handed it to me with a winning look on her face. Like getting Cutter to agree to
anything was an easy task. I took the phone anyway and hit the call button.

Which each ring, my heart plunged
harder and harder inside me.

“Are they back safe?” Cutter’s voice
filled the other line with annoyance and aggression. I could hear voices in the
background talking loudly. Actually, it sounded more like yelling than talking.
Yikes.

Clearly, I had the best timing.

“ACE?” Cutter said louder to be heard
over the background noise.

“Hello, darling, it’s me,” I announced
sweetly. I’d never called him darling before but I figured since I wanted
something it was only fitting that I bring the big guns out.

Heather smirked next to me.

“Grace?” Cutter asked suspicion in his
voice. “Why do you have Ace’s phone? What have you done?” The sound of
footsteps moved in and out loudly around him.

“He’s right here. He just wanted me to
call you and make sure that it would be okay if I stopped over to my mother’s
house for a few minutes and get some clothes, maybe say hello to her and my
sister.”

“Your mother?” He sounded like the
idea had never crossed his mind.

“CUTTER!” Someone screamed in the
background, it sounded like Blaze.

“Just a minute,” Cutter snapped.
“Look, Grace, I really can’t talk.”

“It’ll only be for a few minutes,
baby. Please?” I begged.

“Put the phone on speaker.”

I hit the button, holding the phone
toward the front of the car.

 
“Go ahead,” Ace said.

“She has an hour and then you get her
out of there.”

I was smiling so big that I probably
looked like an idiot.

“Got it,” Ace told him, satisfied.

“Take me off speaker, Grace.”

“Hi,” I said, bringing the phone back
to my face.

“An hour, Grace, I mean it.” There was
more yelling around him.

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I could practically hear
the smile on his face. “Remind me in the future that when you call me by any
cute little nicknames that you want something from me.” The line went dead.

“Nicely played,” Heather told me,
grabbing the phone and giving it back to Ace. “I never thought I’d see the day
that my brother gave someone their way because they called him ‘baby’, I’ll
have to try it next time.”

“The warehouse?” I whispered, inching
closer to her. “How did you? I mean I didn’t know that you even knew anything
about it.” I glanced at Ace to see if he was listening but he was already
turning the car around.

“I know more than people think.”

“Address,” Ace barked.

I glanced at Heather. “Thank you.” I
would never have had the nerve to say the things that she said to Ace and that
meant Ace would never have called Cutter in the first time so that I could ask
permission.

I was still pretty shocked Cutter had
given in so easily. I must have caught him at a really good time. Or maybe a
bad time for him, but a good time for me. I said a silent little prayer that he
was okay and tried not to worry about him too much. He was right; if I wanted
to be with him I was going to have to start coming up with new ways to deal
with it.

I wasn’t sure I’d be too good at it,
but I could at least try.

“Don’t mention it.” Heather shrugged.
“I owed you, too” It was her way of apologizing for the things she had said the
other day but she didn’t need to, I had already forgotten about it. I had too
many other emotions flooding through me to hold onto pointless grudges,
especially for the sister of the man I was falling for.

Heather turned around and didn’t say
another word the rest of the ride.

By the time we pulled up to my house I
was too nervous to think straight. I hadn’t talked to my mother or sister in
over two weeks, that was unheard of for us and I was pretty sure they were
flipping out. I knew I should have made time to call them before this, but I
had been a little caught up with all the other life-altering drama going on
around me.

“Are we going in?” Ace asked after a
few minutes of just sitting there.

“Yes,” I nodded. “Yes, of course, we
are going in.”

“Great,” Heather said, swinging the
door open and climbing out.

“Oh,” I said, startled. “I didn’t know
you wanted to come in.”

Heather smoothed out her black shirt.
“Of course, I want to come in, why wouldn’t I?” She motioned for me to get out
of the car. “Come on, I can’t wait to meet my new sister-in-law’s family!”

That got me out of the car and fast.
“Your what?” I sounded like someone ran over my voice box with a tractor. “You
can’t say things like that in front of them! Promise me!”

I could hear Ace laughing as he got
out of the driver’s seat.

“Relax, sis.” Heather threw her arm
around my neck and guided me toward the front door. “I won’t tell your family about
your new boyfriend who’s the head of one of the most feared biker gangs in the
city, your secret is safe with me.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said sarcastically.

It was funny, even under the stress of
seeing my family I was very aware of the fact that she had called me Cutter’s
girlfriend. The high school girl in me came out and I felt myself starting to
blush.

“Could you be any more obvious?”
Heather laughed.

“What?” I asked, faking innocence.

She pushed her sneaker across the
sidewalk as we walked. “You’re completely and totally in love with my brother!”
She linked her arm through mine, dragging me up to my mother’s front door like
we had been best friends forever. “I think it’s about as sweet as a toothache.”