Doc (The Kings of Mayhem MC Tennessee 2)

She gives me a gentle smile, and emotion crashes through my chest.

I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.

She nods, and a fierceness enters her eyes. “I am now.”

LILY

All eyes are on me as we join the Fourth of July celebrations on the clubhouse lawn.

Clearly, they know who I am and who my father is, and I stiffen next to Doc as we weave through the people gathered on the lawn, positive someone will say something. But people are more curious than anything, and it doesn’t take me long to realize it’s more to do with Doc being with a woman than it is with me being Max Stonecypher’s daughter.

It’s late afternoon, and the sun is lower in the sky, casting golden light across the grass where everyone is enjoying the celebrations.

“American Band” by Rob Zombie beats out of the sound system as Doc clasps my hand protectively and leads me over to a row of forty-four-gallon drums filled to the brim with ice and bottles of beer and water. “What’s your poison?”

“I’ll just have water, thanks.”

He pulls out two bottles of water and hands one to me. “You feeling okay?”

I nod and look around. Sitting at a table near a small playground, a group of women study me curiously while across from them, five bikers in Kings of Mayhem cuts drink beer from bottles and talk amongst themselves, occasionally glancing my way. Amidst a cloud of smoke, another group of bikers gathers around a stone grill where a biker with a handlebar mustache flips large cuts of steak and hamburger patties on the steaming hot grate.

Everywhere I look, people are smiling and laughing and making the most of the holiday.

There’s a feeling of relaxed celebration in the air. Flags flutter in the warm breeze as children’s laughter and the hum of adults talking floats above the music.

“They look scary but don’t worry, they won’t bite.” Doc gives me a relaxed grin. “Except, Ghoul, but I think that’s his thing.”

“Ghoul?” I question as I turn to look in the direction of two incredibly tall, strong-looking men walking our way.

“The one who looks like he just climbed out of a grave is Ghoul, and the one beside him is Merrick. His thing is ladies… lots of them,” he whispers in my ear, and I shiver at the contact. “Don’t make eye contact with him, you might get pregnant.”

When the men reach us, their gazes sweep over me.

“So… you’re the mysterious Lily,” Merrick says with a wide grin and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“We were beginning to think he made you up,” Ghoul says, then takes a swig of beer. When Doc gives him a warning look—because my absence has clearly been something of a conversation piece between them—he looks at him innocently and asks, “What?”

Their suspicion is warranted. I get it. I disappeared with the Inferno, and I stayed gone. Though, I don’t think Ghoul said it to cause trouble.

“Jesus, Ghoul, you have no tact,” Merrick says.

“Says the guy who lets his hookups bump into each other in the hallway when one is leaving and the other is arriving.”

“Like you haven’t?”

“Dude, if I’m doing two chicks in one night, I’m doing them together.”

Doc clears his throat, but I laugh. Ghoul and Merrick seem harmless, and it’s hard not to like them.

Merrick looks a bit like Harry Styles but tougher and less polished, with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. He has a cheeky charm about him and a devastatingly cute grin. While Ghoul looks like he’s just stepped off the set of True Blood with his high cheekbones, full lips, and a jawline cut straight from marble. There’s something darkly hot about him.

Seriously, is every King a hottie?

When Merrick and Ghoul disappear inside for a game of pool, Doc leads me over to a gorgeous, long-haired man leaning up against a river stone fence. He’s standing with a beautiful blonde girl with flowers in her hair and a baby in her arms, and they’re laughing at something.

As we approach, the man’s smile fades, and the sparkle in his eyes disappears.

“Lily, this is Jack, his wife, Bronte, and their son, Rhett.” Doc looks proud as he introduces me to his friends. “This is Lily.”

It’s awkward, and even though his expression doesn’t give anything away, Jack is suspicious about me. Bronte, on the other hand, greets me warmly, and despite the baby in her arms, leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she says with a sunny smile.

“All good, I hope,” I say nervously.

“It was interesting to say the least,” Jack says, completely void of any expression. His eyes are intense and sharp, and he’s so guarded he could give Doc a run for his money in a poker face competition.

His gaze shifts from me to Doc. “You and I need to talk.”