My father smirks. “Had you asked me, dear daughter, I would have told you it was not all mine to let you borrow.”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly ask you, now could I?”
“You’ve paid it back, yes? The family will take care of you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
He snorts and shoots a glare at Chaser. “Are you sure about that?”
Chaser breaks his silence. “Your man tracked her down and tried to bring her home by force. That the kind of ‘care’ your people offer?”
“And how exactly will your club treat her?” he asks, obliterating the illusion that he has no idea Chaser’s part of an MC.
Chaser isn’t intimidated. “My club will protect her, same as they would any member’s old lady.”
I’ve gathered from my time spent at the clubhouse that the title of “old lady” isn’t used lightly, and among the brothers, it’s the same as being someone’s wife. But I have no idea if my father understands the term or its significance.
My father’s gaze zeroes in on my left hand. “I see no ring.” He waves a dismissive hand in the air. “Not one of your patches.” Spitting out the last word like venom.
“We haven’t been together that long,” I explain. Why does everyone keep trying to rush us into marriage and babies? “But I love him and hope you’ll be happy for me.”
My father’s face twists with annoyance. “Eh.” He waves his hand in the air in a dismissive gesture. “Love.”
Chaser pulls our intertwined hands forward, resting them on the counter in front of my father. He brushes his thumb over the back of my hand. “I love your daughter very much, sir. I will take care of her. Provide for her. Protect her.”
A crack in my father’s hard expression appears. A widening of his eyes as his head tilts in Chaser’s direction. Chaser notices it too and continues his pledges. “I want to support and encourage all of Mallory’s ambitions. Not turn her into a robo-wife or make her into my brood mare.”
I squirm from the blunt statement, but my heart swells at the conviction in Chaser’s voice.
“That’s what Vasily would’ve expected of her, right?” Chaser continues.
Ah, he went one too far. My father’s eyes harden. “You’re an outsider to her world.” He nods at me. “And she’s an outsider to your world.”
“You’re not giving me the ‘stick to your own kind’ speech are you? Come on, it’s 1989, join us in the twentieth century.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone speak to my father with such disrespect and survive. His unrelenting stare radiates hatred. “What can you possibly have in common with my daughter?”
“Our parents are in similar lines of work for starters,” he deadpans.
My father casts a glance around the empty space and leans forward. “You think your rinky-dink motorcycle club is in my league, boy?”
Chaser drops his future-son-in-law act. “You know as well as I do, our businesses are frequently in competition.” He squeezes my hand. “My father and my club have welcomed her.”
“Yes, and wouldn’t that be the perfect way to bend me to your club’s needs?”
“Daddy—”
Chaser cuts off my outburst. “I get why you might see it that way, sir. And if I was in your shoes, I’d probably be thinking the same thing. But that’s not what this is.”
I finally understand what Chaser’s father was trying to explain to me.
“Daddy, Chaser and I met in California.”
“So I heard,” my father says without taking his eyes off Chaser.
“Well, here’s the part you haven’t heard,” Chaser says. His gaze searches the room as if he’s trying to come up with a way to explain the situation. “I’m going to be completely straight with you, Mr. DeLova. I’m technically on leave with my club. Brothers in my charter always have my back if I need them, but I’m not in a position to conduct business on behalf of my club at the moment.”
Now Chaser has my father’s full attention. “And why is that, son?”
Chaser’s mouth quirks as if he knows my father won’t be impressed with the next portion of his story. “Sir, before I met your daughter, I only had two loves in my life. Music and the club. My father’s been president as long as I can remember. Before that, my grandfather was in charge. So I grew up with the expectation I’d take over the club someday. I patched-in at fourteen, which you must realize isn’t that common.”
My father nods, making me believe he might understand motorcycle club life better than I expected.
“I had a band in high school with friends of mine. We were a fairly popular local band. Kodack isn’t exactly known for its music scene, though, so when I turned eighteen, I moved to California to pursue music.”
“You took off and deserted your family?” My father sneers. Clearly thinking he’s figured out something significant about Chaser’s character.