I walk inside, and the cool crisp air from the over air-conditioned room hits my face. I shudder. I walk up to the main desk where a lady in a dark gray suit is sitting, typing away. She lifts her eyes to see me standing there, and a small smile breaks out on her perky face. “Well, hi, how can I help you?”
I force a smile. “I’m actually here to see Raide.”
Her eyes narrow. “Have you got an appointment to see him?”
“Well, no, but...”
“I’m sorry ma’am, unless you have an appointment I can’t let you see him.”
“He told me to come and see him, anytime I needed,” I croak out, feeling my voice tremble.
“Look, just give me a minute. What’s your name?”
“It’s Meadow.”
She picks up the phone, giving me a snooty expression. I want to reach over the reception and smack her in the face.
“Mr. Wraithe, yes, it’s Lisa. I have a girl up the front, insisting on seeing you, I’ve told her that’s not going to happen, but...”
Silence falls.
“Pardon?”
More silence.
“Her name is Meadow.”
Her face pales, and she begins nodding her head.
“Yes sir, sorry sir.”
She hangs up the phone, and looks up at me, her eyes flaring. “He’ll be out in a second.”
I nod at her, and wait with my hands bound tightly together. I hear a door slam to my left, and I spin around to see Raide approaching me. He’s smiling, and his eyes sparkle as he approaches me. His blue shirt has a few buttons undone, and he looks far more casual now than he did earlier. I don’t want to like this man, but...he has something about him. Something familiar. I give him a wobbly smile. He stops in front of me, and extends his hand. I can see the receptionist watching us from the corner of my eye, and I decide then she must be his fuck buddy.
“Meadow, I didn’t expect you so soon. Are you okay?”
I hesitate. “Ah, yeah. I just wanted to, um, talk to you.”
He nods. “Can I get you something to drink? You look upset.”
“No, thank you.”
He extends his hand further toward me, and I take it. He leads me down a small hall, and into a large office. He points to a big, comfy gray sofa in the corner of the room, and I sit. He takes the one across from me, sitting down too. I entwine my fingers back into their comfy position, and I lift my eyes to meet his. God, he’s like Axel now I’m looking at him, really looking...I can see it.
“You want to tell me why you’re here so soon?” he asks, leaning back in the chair.
“I want to know...your story. I’ve heard Axel’s, but I haven’t heard yours, and I think...I think I need to.”
He stares at me for a long moment, and then he nods. “Yes, I believe you do.”
“So are you going to tell me...?” I say, hesitant.
“Tell me what you already know...”
I shake my head. “So you can leave details out? No. You’re either going to tell me, Mr. Wraithe, or you’re not.”
“Raide. And I’ll tell you. I’ve got nothing to hide from you, Meadow.”
I stare at him, not answering, just giving him one of those well, hurry it up expressions. He sighs, and stares down at his hands.
“I met your dad in our first year training. We hit it off right away. We both got situated at the same place, and things were great. It was great for a long time. He got married, and you were born. I was there through it all. Then Axel came back into town. I love my son, don’t get me wrong, but I had him young. I was only fifteen when his momma got pregnant. We were young, and stupid, and he got adopted out. We really didn’t get a choice.”
He sighs before continuing.
“Axel tracked me down when he was old enough, and came back for me. It didn’t go so well. He was angry at me, and when he found out I was a cop, shit hit the fan. I didn’t know he was in a club at that point, but when I did, we knew we couldn’t associate with each other.”
“So, what happened then?” I ask, leaning forward, and resting my hands on my knees.
“Your dad and I got put on an undercover mission together: to create ourselves a biker club, and get as much undercover information as we could to bring down the clubs. At that point, there were a lot of drugs being illegally run, and the cops couldn’t get close enough. It took us a solid eight years to earn the respect of the clubs, and get our name out there. Axel hated us. He knew what we were doing, and he chose to cut ties with both of us. He only came back to see you.”
“Me?” I ask.
He nods, smiling. “He adored you, and it was the only time we saw him. He’d come and pick you up, taking you out.”
I feel myself smiling at the memories. Axel used to take me riding, right up until I was about twelve. Then he distanced himself from me, leaving me heart broken. I don’t recall ever seeing Raide, and I narrow my eyes.
“I don’t remember you, if you were friends with my father, why don’t I remember you?”
“We worked in the same place for a while, but I was always away. You did meet me a few times, but it was with groups of people, so you wouldn’t remember. We tried to keep it all away from family, your father didn’t want you involved, so he usually kept people from your house.”
Makes sense.
Shaking my head, I continue. “So, you and my dad set Axel up?”
He shakes his head. “No, that wasn’t exactly how it was meant to go. Axel thinks it is, Meadow, but it wasn’t. We were after another club, but unfortunately, Axel’s club was involved in the shipments that we were looking at. He thinks we set him up to start a war between the clubs so we could bring them down, but it wasn’t the case. We sent Beast in with false information to the docks, to pick up a shipment. We were going to bring him down; we had enough evidence. Axel got wind of it, and he showed up first. By the time we got there, both of them were gone. We didn’t see Axel again for nearly six months after that. When he came back, he wasn’t the same.”