Promise - Book 3 (Hope)

“Well, that went better than I expected.” Marco smiles, but his gaze is fixed on the ground.

“That was the easy part.” I want to think he is joking, but his tone and expression tell me he is right.

“So when do we meet your parents?” his lifts his head until his eyes find mine, his smile fading.

“Are you sure you want to be there for this?” I nod and hand him the extra helmet.

“So, where are we going?” He gives me the address and we mount up and head out to the devil’s lair. It takes us almost an hour to get to the address he gave me and I felt myself becoming more nervous with every passing mile. We pull into the parking garage at a large apartment building that looks like a 5 star resort. I find an empty space and park. We both place our helmets on the handlebars and he leads me to an elevator on the other end of the garage. I am unsurprised when he presses the button for the top floor penthouse. Marco takes my hand as the elevator rises, but not a word is spoken. The elevator chimes when we reach our destination and as soon as the door opens we are greeted by 4 guards standing in the hall that ends at 2 large wooden doors.

“Good evening Marco. Is your father expecting you?” one of the guards nearest the elevator asks as we step out.

“No, I am surprising him.” the guard raises his brow before waving us through. Marco flings the doors open without knocking and I hesitantly follow behind, “Madre? Padre?”

“Marco? Is that you?” A sweet woman’s voice shouts from somewhere beyond the entryway.

“Sí. Tengo a alguien que me gustaría que conocieras. (Yes. I have someone I would like you to meet.)” i watch as a short older woman walks quickly from the room to the far left of us. She is thin, hair is black with a lot of gray mixed, pulled neatly into a bun, frown lines and crows feet that give away her age in and her eyes look exactly like Marco’s.

“Oh my, who is this lovely girl?” she takes both of my hands in hers and smiles warmly.

“This is Hope. She is Slade’s daughter.” the woman sucks in a sharp breath.

“Hijo mío, ¿trajiste aquí a uno de su gente? ¿Por qué te esfuerzas tanto en molestar a tu padre?(My son, you brought one of their people here with you? why do you try so hard to upset your father?)” she gently squeezes my hands, but her smile is now a look of concern.

“Where is he? I am not here to upset him. I wish for him to meet her before I ask her on a date.” her face lights up again.

“He is in his study. I will bring your father a drink.” Marco takes my hand and leads me through the large sitting room, down a hall and stops before a closed door. He gives me what I think is meant to be a reassuring smile before knocking.

“Enter.” A deep voice shouts from behind the door. Marco opens the door, pulling me in with him. The room is far too fancy for my taste. The walls are lined with bookshelves, the carpet is a deep emerald green, white walls, a large fireplace on the left side with 2 brown leather chairs and a table between them, but the true conversation piece here is the large oak desk sitting the the right. The desk has intricate designs carved into it that I can’t quite make out. Seated in the large brown leather chair behind the desk is a large older man with mostly gray hair, dark brown eyes that almost look black and he is wearing an all black suit with a black button up shirt. The top 2 buttons are undone revealing the crest of a tattoo that I find myself curious about. I am pretty sure this is one of the men that accompanied Marco to the warehouse, but he seems much different now…more in his element. As Marco pulls us closer I realize that the carvings on the desk are horned demons and it sends a chill up my spine.

“Padre, I wanted to introduce you to Hope.” The man raises a brow, but his eyes never leave Marco’s.

“Why are you bringing her here?” Marco gently squeezes my hand making me realize how much my body has tensed.

“I am bringing her here to announce my intentions to see her. I wish to take her on a date, but I wanted to ask her parents permission first. I thought it would only be right to ask your permission as well.” The man finally looks at me for the first time since we entered the room.

“You wish to be romantically involved with MC filth?” his comment instantly sets me on fire. Before Marco can respond the older woman enters with a glass of amber liquid on ice.

“Father, I am not asking permission. I did not want to disrespect you by seeing her behind your back, but make no mistake, I will see her regardless of how you feel about it.” I don’t even bother to fight off the smirk on my face.

“Must you always fight? She is a beautiful girl and he likes her. Just let them be Hector.” the man shoots her a glare that makes my blood run cold.

“She is one of the Warrior’s and you wish to let our son be with her?” oh fuck…he is angry.

“Carlos is dating a new stripper each week, so we cannot fault Marco for his attraction to woman on a motorcycle.” The woman flashes a warm smile at us.

“I have business to attend to. If you screw up my business arrangement with the Warrior’s, whatever threats they made you will pale in comparison to what I will do to you, Marco.” the woman motions for us to leave, following us out of the room and ensuring the door is tightly closed.

“Would you like anything to drink?” her voice is kind and warm, matching her smile perfectly.

“No madre, we are going to go. I will be back for dinner friday.” he releases my hand and wraps his arms around her tight frame then places a kiss on her cheek. She steps forward taking my hands in hers and smiles at me.

“It was nice meeting you, Hope. Keep Marco out of trouble for me.” I nod as Marco pulls me out of the apartment, not stopping until we are in the elevator and the doors are close.

“Damn…and I thought Slade was a hard ass.” Marco chuckles, but I can tell he is still tense.

“My father is a difficult man to please.” I lean against the wall of the elevator and observe Marco’s body language. He is so tense and it is off putting.

“So did you mean what you said?” he looks to me with confusion splayed across his face.

“What do you mean?” I lower my head, staring at my feet.

“When you said you were going to see me regardless of how your parents feel about it?” he smiles and closes the distance between us.

“I did. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t completely fascinated by you.” the heat of his body is radiating through me and I find it hard to concentrate on our conversation. I pinch my leg to help bring myself out of the haze of emotions.

“What do you find so fascinating?” a devilish smirk pulls at his lips.

“You mean aside from your obvious beauty?” I roll my eyes at him.

“Is that the only thing you care about?” he shakes his head as he brings himself even closer until his breath is gently fanning my face.

“Your fire. I am enamored by the way you are unapologetically you. I saw it at the warehouse…then again the first night at the club…and again with my brother tonight. You do not even tame yourself in the presence of your family. Sure, you are delightful to look at, but it is everything else that intrigues me.” oh damn…he is good.

“Ok, that is better.” we both laugh softly as the elevator doors open. He takes my hand and leads me through the garage and to my baby.

“I know it is getting late, but would you like to hit the club for a few drinks?” I climb on my bike and hand him his helmet.

“I am a biker, remember? It is still early for me.” we make the short trip to the club, heading straight to the vip lounge. We sit in an awkward silence as the bartender prepares our drinks leaving me wondering if this whole thing is really a good idea. Maybe my parents were right…god I don’t want to have to admit that to them.

“Hope, I am sorry for the way my father behaved.” I smile as I take my drink and walk to the large window to watch the drunken masses make fools of themselves.

“Don’t sweat it, Marco. I have dealt with worse. I have thick skin.” he is now standing at my side, but does not look at me.

“I suppose you would have to.” He turns to me and leans against the rail in front of the window. “So, where would you want to go? For our date I mean. I don’t know if you are into fine dining or something less casual.”

“Well, I don’t own anything fancy and the MC’s version of casual is a strip club.” he laughs as I stand with a serious expression.

“I will pick you up tomorrow night then. Wear something comfortable and I would not recommend heels.” I tilt my head as I try to think of what he is planning, but he doesn’t give away anything.

“Ok, but pretty much everything I own looks like this.” I gesture to my current outfit and he just smiles.

“That will work just fine.” Marco walks over to the couch and I am quick to follow.

“So you really did all this without any help from your family?” I wave my finger in the air, gesturing to the building we are sitting in.

“Yes. I wanted something that was my own. My father was furious and insisted I would fail, but I paid off the loan in less than 2 years. Once it was paid off I made some renovations and now the club practically runs itself.” I chuckle softly as I throw back the rest of my drink.

“So sexy and business savvy.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively causing both of us to laugh. The door to the stairs opens and we both roll our eyes as Carlos walks in.