Inked (10 page)

Before he could answer the sound of a few deep, loud
voices could be heard even in her bedroom, and then there were two hard knocks
on the front door.

“God, I feel like a teenager all over again, trying
to not get in trouble with my dad.”

He smiled again. “Baby, if my dad was the president
of The Vicious Bastards, I would be getting freaked out, too.” He kissed her
once more for good measure, and swatted her on the ass.

She grinned and turned to answer the door, and
Cadeon followed her, but closed the bedroom door. He wasn’t afraid to let Scars
know that he cared for Stella, was going to
 
lay it all out for him, too, but that didn’t mean if he or one of the
other members walked past her room that they needed to see the “just screwed in”
appearance of it.

“Stella?
You in there, baby girl?”
There was the sound of Scars talking softly to someone else, and then Booshie’s
voice came through.

“Scars, man,
ain’t
that
Cadeon’s bike?” Booshie asked. There was a moment of silence, and then Scars
was banging on the door again.

Stella gripped the handle and opened it. Cadeon
leaned against the wall in the hallway. Even though he knew he appeared calm,
he was ready, because shit was probably about to get crazy.

****

As soon as Stella opened the front door she knew her
dad and Booshie saw Cadeon behind her. Her dad looked over at her, and there
was this hard look that covered his face.

“What’s going on?” He stepped inside, and she had to
move back so he and Booshie could walk into the foyer.

She closed the door and glanced at Cadeon. He
appeared nonplussed, but she knew he was prepared for whatever was about to
happen. She was an adult, yes, but her father acted first and thought later. He
didn’t care about repercussions or if he was making a mistake until after he
had started the shit and it was all said and done. She saw the way her dad
flexed his hands, and she glanced at Booshie. Even through his thick beard and
the black bandanna he wore on his head, she could see the rage simmering below
the surface.

“I want to know what the fuck you’re doing at my
daughter’s house at this time of night.”

“Dad…”

Scars looked at her, and there was this warning in
his expression, the kind that said tread carefully because he was in a foul mood.

“This is my house, and I’m an adult. I can have
anyone over at any time I want without having you two busting in here and
asking questions.” She looked at Cadeon. He was standing straight and had his
eyes on her father. His whole body was tense, and she could tell that he was
coiled and ready for a fight.

“Maybe, but I’m still your father, and when I come
to your house and see a man nearly twice your age here, I think I have every
right to ask some questions.” He crossed his arms and moved so he could look
and her and then at Cadeon.

She moved over to Cadeon and stood beside him. Well,
she might as well spit this out. “I’ve had feelings for Cadeon the last three
years.” She stayed silent for a moment, letting that small piece of information
sink in before she continued. “I didn’t do anything behind your back, didn’t
even think anything would happen between us.”

“And what exactly happened between you two?” Her
father asked, but had his eyes trained on Cadeon.

“Well, Scars, that is our business seeing as Stella
is an adult.”

Her father made this inhuman sound and took a step
forward. She stepped between them.

“No way in hell is this happening, and certainly not
in my house.” Straightening her shoulders and looking at her dad and then
Booshie, because it looked like her father’s VP was about to break something,
too, Stella knew she had to stand firm on this. “I care about him. I
love
him, Dad, have for a long time, and
I want to see if this works.” She stared into her dad’s face, hoping that he
could see past his own anger and protectiveness, and the fear that she would
leave him. Her father was a strong man, but he also had a lot of fear inside of
him. Although he never actually came out and said he was afraid of losing her
in the same manner he had lost her mother, she knew he was.

“Stella, Cadeon is not the kind of man I want you to
be with,” her father growled out.

“Dad, it isn’t your place to tell me that, at least
not anymore.” She stepped up to him. “I know you are worried about losing me. I
know that, but you are going to have to let go at some point and trust me in
what I decide for my life.”

“I want to talk to Cadeon,” her father said in a deep
voice that showed absolutely no emotion and left no room for argument.

She looked behind her at Cadeon, and he pulled his
attention away from her dad and glanced at her. He nodded and offered her a
smile.

“It’s okay. Scars and I do need to talk.”

“Come on, Stella, make me something to eat.”

She looked over at Booshie and narrowed her eyes. He
gave her this shit-eating grin, obviously trying to get her to leave. “Please
don’t fight,” she said after she looked at Cadeon and then her father again. So
far it wasn’t going too badly, because at least they were talking and not
killing each other, but that could change at any second.

“Come on, girl.” Booshie came up to her and placed a
hand on the center of her back, but she didn’t miss how he shoulder-checked
Cadeon
in the process. But before she could say anything
her father was asking Cadeon to step outside.

Lord, she just hoped they didn’t kill each other,
because even if she didn’t want them to fight, if they were going to then it
was going to happen no matter what.

The sound of the front door opening and closing
somehow made it seem final. “I should be out there talking with them.”

Booshie shook his head and went over to her fridge.
“No, sweetheart.
That is between them. You are your dad’s
little girl, always will be no matter how old you are.” He looked over his
shoulder at her. “Did you have more to say to him?”

“I mean, no, I guess not. I pretty much said what I
was going to say, but I don’t like the fact I feel like they shut me out.”

“They didn’t shut you out.” Booshie faced the fridge
once more and started rummaging through it. “They just have to do that manly
bullshit routine, and they don’t want an audience.”

“So, you’re not going to give me a hard time about
Cadeon?” He didn’t answer her for a few minutes as he grabbed a bunch of stuff
out of her fridge and placed it on the counter.

“You love the guy, right?” He didn’t look at her as
he started making himself a sandwich.

She didn’t answer right away, but it wasn’t because
she didn’t know how to respond.

He looked up at her and lifted a brow, but didn’t
say anything.

“Yeah, I love him, Booshie.”

He made a grunting noise of affirmation and bit into
his sandwich. “And he never hurt you?”

She shook her head.

For several seconds he didn’t say anything, just
watched her.
“Good, because that is grounds for an ass
kickin
’.
You know, you may not have ever said
anything about wanting Cadeon, but you didn’t have to.” He lifted his hand, and
his silver rings glinted under the light as he waved his hand in a circle toward
her face. “I could see how you felt every time I looked at you and saw you
staring at him.” She had been that transparent? “In fact, I’m not the only one
that noticed. Ranger did, and a few of the other guys. If your dad didn’t
notice then he has damn blinders on.”

She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms
over her chest. The sound of Booshie chewing seemed loud, but then again she
was lost in her thoughts on what he had just said. Was it that surprising that
she hadn’t been able to hide how she felt? No, not really, because she
remembered the look Ranger had given her when she had been watching Cadeon
tattoo one of the guys.

“Anyways, I am a firm believer in following your
heart.”

That had her lifting a brow and chuckling
humorlessly.

He set down his half eaten sandwich and placed his
hands on the counter. “What? You don’t think I am capable of loving someone?”

“No, I think you are, but I just never saw you as
the romantic type.”

He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I almost married
a girl once, but my dumb ass didn’t think I could have an old lady and be in
the MC life. All I wanted to was to fuck a bunch of bitches that didn’t want
anything more than that. Dumbest move of my life, and I regret it every day.”

Stella didn’t know what to say in response, so she
just kept her mouth shut.

“But I’ll tell you
what,
your old man knows what love is. He had one of those once in a lifetime things
with your mom.” He walked over to her and wrapped his beefy arms around her in
a hug. Booshie had been in her life since she was a little girl, and never had
she seen this side of him before. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Things always have
a way of working out.”

She really hoped so.

Chapter Nine

Cadeon and Scars had moved to the side of the house.
There weren’t any homes on this part of the property, and so they had a thick
patch of forest taking up their view.
Scars was
pacing, but Cadeon didn’t say anything. If this was about to get violent then
no amount of words were going to calm Scars down and make him see that Stella
could make up her own mind when it came to men.

“Why would you do this behind my back?” Scars
stopped pacing and faced Cadeon. His voice was low, calm even, but there was
definitely a warning.

“That wasn’t my intention.” Cadeon kept his voice
low as well.

“You come to my club, are welcomed with open arms,
and you fuck up on the most important rule I have.” Scars didn’t say anything
for several seconds. “Don’t touch my daughter. Anyone associated with the club
knows that, and you did
good
this whole time.” He
ground his teeth. “That’s my little girl in there, and she deserves better than
men like us.” Scars took a step forward.
“Men that have hurt
people without regret.”

Cadeon couldn’t deny what Scars said.
 
He had done a lot of shit when he was
younger, but he had since cleaned up his act. Still, being associated with the
club meant they looked up backgrounds and found out shit that was meant to stay
buried. “I love your daughter, Scars.” Before Cadeon could even prepare himself
Scars threw his arm forward and connected his fist with Cadeon’s jaw. His head
cocked to the side, and the tangy flavor of blood filled his mouth. He leaned
to the side and spit a mouthful out. “Fine, I deserved that, but I still love
your daughter and am not going to walk away.”

“You tell her about all the women you fuck on a
weekly basis?”

Cadeon clenched his teeth together. “That is in the
past. Just because I’ve fucked a lot of women
doesn’t
mean I am incapable of loving Stella.”

“No?” Scars crossed his arms over his chest. “And
how do you see your life going? You think you can still fuck those whores while
you profess your love to my daughter?”

“I have no desire to be with anyone else, and I sure
as hell didn’t want to start shit with the club. She is happy, and I intended
to do everything in my power to make her stay that way, and protect her.”

Scars stayed silent for a few seconds, but his
expression was unreadable. “And what if some asshole comes sniffing around her,
what then?”

Cadeon tightened his hands into fists. “Then I’ll
make it known she is mine. And by making it known that means I’ll bust fucking
skulls in and make sure there is a lot of blood spilled.”

Scars grunted and narrowed his eyes on Cadeon.
“Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand over his head and looked away. “I should kill you
for going against a club rule, you know that.” It wasn’t phrased as a question.
Scars turned around gain, and although there was still anger in his face, there
was also part of that hard exterior that he always wore that was cracked slightly.

“I’m not going to hurt her, Scars.”

The other man stepped forward and growled low in his
throat. That sound seemed suited to some kind of feral animal. “Yeah, you
won’t, because if you make her cry one tear you better believe me and my boys
will be coming after your ass.” He eyed Cadeon up and down once. “And you don’t
want to know what we will do. Trust me when I say The Vicious Bastards know how
to hide a body in the Rocky Mountains.”

Cadeon had no doubts, and although he should have
been scared over what Scars was implying, he wasn’t, because he knew he would
try with his last breath to make sure Stella was happy, and he would protect
her with his life. He didn’t respond to
Scars’s
threats, and after a few very tense seconds the other man took a step back.

“Well, you’re serious about my girl, and she is an
adult so not much I can do.” Scars scratched his jaw and glanced over at his
Harley. “I think this whole shit is moving way too fast. One minute you’re
tattooing my daughter, and the next professing you love her.” He didn’t phrase
it like a question. “I trust my daughter.” He pointed at Cadeon. “
It’s
guys like you that I don’t trust. But I’ll be watching,
boy, and just waiting for you to fuck up.”