Wicked Nights (26 page)

“Then what is with all the evasiveness?”

She went to the window and pulled back the curtains. She didn’t want to confess that she had slept with the president of the Wicked Angels MC. Her father would give her a long lecture, possibly threaten her with the law. She was in enough turmoil as it was.

“Addison, maybe you should come back home.” Her mother came towards her. “You can take some time off and come back to Palm Beach where you belong.”

“I don’t belong in Palm Beach, Mom. I like Tampa. This is my home.”

“Obviously not since your house burned down at the hands of a motorcycle gang. What exactly are the police and the prosecution doing to stop them?” Her mother looked at her like an absent-minded prosecutor who based her complete case on hearsay. “I think it would be good for you to come home. You could open up a practice down from fire station. I think I saw some property for sale in that area.”

The pounding in Addison’s head increased. She wished someone would just knock her out. God, love them, but she’d moved to Tampa to get away from their overbearing habits. In her emotional turmoil last night, she’d thought that their domineering ways were what she needed, but her clear, rational brain decided against that this morning. She’d lost her office, lost her boyfriend, lost her friends at the club. Ironically, even though she had little contact with them individually, they’d treated her like family, and she’d grown used to it.

“I don’t think she needs to move back home, Lora. I think she needs to straighten her life out.” Her father watched her every move. “Who is the guy you recently broke up with?”

Dammit, she knew he’d been a fucking good prosecutor. His skills still showed. “I’d rather not say.”

“Too bad.”

She sighed. “Mason Vaughn.”

Her father’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I know that name?”

“He’s the club president of the Wicked Angels MC.”

“A biker?” Her mother’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “A client biker that is kinda responsible for my life being so screwed up.”

Her father gripped the counter. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Lucky for her, he didn’t expect her to respond. He simply looked at her with complete disappointment, which was bad enough. Maybe Mason was right. Good girls could go bad, and her father was less than thrilled about it.

“So you sleep with this guy, obviously without protection, and think what? This is the perfect guy to be the father of your baby? Have you been to a doctor? Those guys are into drugs, casual sex, everything. They treat women like property and they share. Did you get passed around the club like some damn trophy?”

Addison needed alcohol, and only the good stuff. She shook her head. Something about this conversation made her feel like a teenager who had sneaked out to a wild party and her parents had caught her.

“You don’t know anything about him, or the club for that matter.”

“I’ve spent the better part of my career getting to know guys like him and their so-called
clubs
.”

“Yeah, and you have no compassion for them.”

“Compassion? For lawbreakers?”

“The law does not serve justice to everyone. As you very well know, the client is innocent until proven guilty. You always had the burden of proof so you went looking for something to be wrong. I’m in the opposite boat and yes, they do bad stuff, but not all of them. It’s not all malicious or cold-blooded. They have a sense of loyalty that is unlike anything else I have ever seen.”

“How can you, my daughter, be standing there defending the one thing I despise?”

She shook he head. “How many of them have you spoken to? I really want to know. Have you talked to them outside the courtroom? Have you really got to know them on the most basic human level? Because unless you have, don’t you dare ask me how I can defend the one thing you despise. You don’t know, and until you do, you have no right to judge.”

“Like hell I don’t.” He moved from his spot. “You’ve got your head buried in the sand, Addison. You’re naïve and you’re so damn innocent that you’d let these men use you for their own advantage. They probably bragged about getting you in the sack. Scoring a lawyer, I’m sure, would be the talk of the town.”

She shook her head. “There is no they. I only slept with Mason.”

“Oh, it will happen sooner or later. The president doesn’t share until he’s tired of what he has.”

She stood, furious. “I’m done with this.”

“How can you tell me that this is okay, Addison? Thank God you’re not pregnant. You’d be a single mother raising that baby on your own.”

“He said I wouldn’t.”

“And you believed him? When is he going to take time out of his criminal life to change a diaper or read a bedtime story? Or better yet, what are you going to do when he’s arrested again for doing something that is club business and your child is wondering where its daddy is and when he’s coming home?”

Tears burned her eyes. She’d thought in the morning everything would be erased. She’d thought that she would never have to think of Mason again since she wasn’t pregnant, but she’d been wrong. Her father had to point out everything that she already knew. Bringing a child into that life was not a good idea.

“Well, I’m not pregnant, so you don’t have to worry about it. Your non-existent grandchild is not corrupted by a father who is the president of a motorcycle club.”

He slammed his hand down on the dresser, making Addison jump. “That’s not my point and you damn well know it.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m going to get dressed and go to the office. I’m done talking about this with you.”

Barely containing her emotion, she left them in the room as she escaped to the bathroom. It may have been a long night, but if her parents decided to stay, it looked like it could be an even longer day.

* * * *

“I’m going to work on the drywall. Since the windows are done, how about you start on sealing the exterior.” Mason directed Chuck, Duke and Matty to the outside while he went into Addison’s office and got a general idea of how badly the bullets had marked the drywall. The damn Skulls didn’t shoot in a straight line, they fucking went up and down with that shit.

Bullet holes zigzagged on the wall behind the reception counter and he went to work on taking down the bad pieces to put up the new ones. Work proved to be good for him. He didn’t particularly like construction, but he did enjoy doing something for once where he didn’t get retaliation from it. He wiped his brow then measured the space for the new drywall.

“What are you doing here?”

Mason glanced over his shoulder and spotted Addison standing out front, hand on her hip as she confronted Duke. He shoved his pencil behind his ear and set his tape measure down.

“Where is Mason?”

Mason opened the door to her office the moment Duke pointed towards him and Addison turned around. He briefly noticed an older man and woman with her, but his focus was on her blotchy eyes and foul mood.

“What are you doing here?”

“We’re almost done. I have some sheetrock to hang to cover the bullet holes behind the reception desk then we’ll be out of your way.”

She shook her head. “I can call a contractor to do that. You really need to leave.”

He licked his lips. He wasn’t about to argue with her. If she wanted him gone, he’d go. Simple as that. “Okay. Guys, make sure you clean up everything outside. I’ll grab the stuff inside.” He eyed her. “We’ll be gone in a few minutes.”

He turned and went inside, trying to push away his feelings and cause no more trouble with her. He didn’t want to beg her or plead with her for anything. If she didn’t want him around, even if it meant not fixing her office, then he didn’t need to be around.

“So this is your office, huh?” The woman with her cringed as she walked deeper into the building. “Addison, you’re lucky you didn’t get hit by one of those bullets.”

Mason bent to pick up his tool belt and spotted Addison staring at him. “If you need a good contractor, I recommend Stuart and Sons. They’ll give you a fair price and won’t screw you over with sloppy work.”

Addison glanced away from him. “Is that where you worked?”

“No. My friend’s uncle owns it.” He pulled the keys to her car out of his pocket. “Here. I was going to pick up your Mercedes in a little while, but I’m assuming you’d rather I not. It’s at Kirby’s on Sligh Avenue, close to the middle school. Make sure someone goes with you. It’s not the greatest neighbourhood, but he does the best work.”

She took the keys. “You fixed my car?”

“Yeah. I told you I would.” He glanced over at the man and woman who seemed less than pleased with him. “I’m going.”

He moved past her and she caught his arm, the soft touch making him turn towards her more than her actual tug. She glanced back at the people with her.

“Mason, this is my mom Lora, and my dad Charles. Mom, Dad, this is Mason.”

He frowned, confused. She wanted him out of her life, yet she introduced him to her parents? He shifted his construction belt to his other hand and turned towards them.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Her mother sized him up while her father simply stared at Addison. She let his arm go and licked her lips.

“Mase, I’d rather you go get my car.” She handed him the keys. “Maybe, if you want, we can go get some lunch. It’s a little early, but I’m sure it’ll take some time to get my car first.”

He glanced from Addison to her father. “I thought you wanted me to leave.”

She finally broke eye contact with her father. “Just go get my car.”

He took the keys. He wasn’t sure what that was about, but he left them, grabbing Matty to come with him while Chuck and Duke headed back to the clubhouse. He let Matty drive to Kirby’s as he analysed what the hell had happened a moment ago. The last time he’d seen her, she hadn’t wanted anything to do with him. Now she wanted to eat lunch with him and her parents.

“I take it that Addison is coming around?” Matty asked.

“I don’t know.” He stared out the side window. “Those two are her parents and I was invited to eat lunch with them.”

Matty chuckled. “Worst torture on Earth. Isn’t her dad some fancy prosecutor?”

“I think he’s a judge.”

Matty cringed. “Even better.”

Mason nodded. When they pulled into Kirby’s, he said his hellos and picked up Addison’s nice, shiny white Mercedes C350 coupe. The body work looked amazing. Her car was probably three years old, but it looked brand new. He climbed in the driver’s side and started the engine.

On his way back to her office, Mason knew going to lunch with her and her parents was a bad idea. She didn’t want to be around him, and he probably needed to reinforce that sentiment. There was no way she would come back to him, because in all things that mattered, what she said was right. She couldn’t be with someone like him and he shouldn’t have even pushed for it.

He pulled in the parking lot and Addison stared in awe as he parked her car. He climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around the back, meeting up with her and handing the keys off.

“It looks brand new.”

He nodded. “Kirby is the best at auto work.”

“Is it a chop shop?” Her father stared at Mason, obviously not pleased with him being around.

“No, it’s not.” He averted his attention to Addison. “Enjoy your car. I’m leaving.”

She frowned. “I thought we were going to lunch.”

“I think we’d better not.” He moved away from her. “You’ve got family visiting and you should spend time with them.”

She fiddled with her keys. “Fine. I’m not pregnant. I just thought you should know.”

He glanced over at her dad who decided to focus on him. He’d been here before. The father getting pissed off because Mason had touched his little girl. Fuck. Mason didn’t know what to say or if he should even respond at all. He wasn’t glad by any means, but he knew damn well that she didn’t want a baby. From the look in her eyes, she wasn’t too thrilled about the news of not having one, which only confused him further.

“I need to leave.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

“You don’t have anything to say to her about that?” Her father’s brow furrowed.

“With all due respect, what is there to say? Addison didn’t want a child and she’s not pregnant.”

“What if she was?”

Mason chuckled. “Then you’d be gaining a son who you obviously do not like.”

Her father looked taken aback. “You would marry her?”

“I would do whatever she wanted.” He rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m not a knock-‘em-up-and-leave-‘em kind of guy. I have no idea what your opinion of me is, but I do care about your daughter. That won’t change. We broke up and that’s my fault.”

“You care about her?” He said it in a mocking tone that Mason didn’t care much for. “Just like you care for all your
property
at the club?”

He frowned. “What property?”

“Your women,” Addison clarified.

“I don’t have fucking women or property or any other fucking name you come up with.” He didn’t even know the guy and he already thought he was a prick. “I had Addison and now I don’t.”

“Why don’t you?” her father asked.

He glanced to the side, knowing he’d screwed up royally. “Because I don’t deserve her.”

“Damn right you don’t deserve her.”

He didn’t have to tell him what Mason already knew. He took a step back. “Have a nice rest of your day.”

He left them in the parking lot and went to his truck. Mason saw Addison come around the corner. She stared at him as he backed out of the parking spot. Once he stopped, she walked to his side and propped her arms on the door.

“You didn’t have to fix my car for me.”

“I told you that I would.”

She nodded. She was close enough that he could smell her shampoo and the light fragrance of her soap. She brushed her fingers along his arm. The touch felt so good, yet so wrong. He wanted her yet he shoved away the thought of trying to pursue it again. He pushed her hand off his truck and stared straight ahead.

“I should go.”

“Mason, I don’t want you to.”

“What has changed, Addy?” He glanced at her. “I’m still the same person. I’m still the president of the Wicked Angels MC of Tampa. I’m still the criminal that your father obviously knows me to be and hates me for. I corrupted his daughter. I bet he was glad you weren’t pregnant with my bad seed.”