“He won’t take anything else from me,” I sob, suddenly heaving. Everything tears through me, becoming too much, so I sit down on the floor and let every emotion I have roll through me. I don’t bother looking at Stoney, not wanting to see what I’m sure is gratitude on his face.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. If I’d . . . if I’d known I wouldn’t have . . .” He speaks softly, trailing off as he talks to Ricochet, but I’m in no mood.
“Get the fuck out before you fuck up anything else!” I scream, unable to stop tears from rolling down my cheeks.
Ricochet clears his throat, “Wait for me out in the hall and shut the door. I’ll be out in a couple minutes, then . . . then the three of us can talk.”
Ricochet kneels down in front of me and the click of the door can be heard, signaling we’re alone. He brushes his fingertips against my cheek and stares into my eyes. “Tala,” he’s practically whispering my name.
“I know I-I fucked up h-here. I k-know I d-did. I know I’m t-the one in the w-wrong.” I manage to get out through sobs.
Ricochet sits down on the ground next to me, wraps his arms around my body and pulls me close, holding me against his chest. I won’t let him do it for long, but I sure am glad he was here. Emerson doesn’t know this, but Ricochet is practically my brother too. I only wish my actual brother would treat me like this, and not like a piece of gum stuck on his shoe.
Chapter Five
I was quiet, but I was not blind
~ Night Owl Quotes
Cowboy
“You good, brother?” Mug, our club enforcer asks while he takes a seat beside me at the bar.
“I’ll be better when I get a scotch.” I reply, looking over to Iris who was lucky enough to avoid the shitshow between Stoney, Boss, and me.
“Say no more, sweetie. Coming right up.” She tells me with a smile, though her eyes say it all. She’s feelin’ sorry for me. Iris is quick and gives me my drink before she tends to the rest of the club, who’ve been slowly filling out the bar area. It’s a Friday night, so everyone is ready to get turned on and go on up to the game room. We call it a game room, but it’s really the fuck room. We’re a club of swingers. Sure, there might be ol’ ladies and ol’ men in here. Take Gold and Chuckles for example. They’re one hundred percent committed to each other, but fuck if they don’t screw around with other people on occasion.
“I need you to keep your shit together. There’s gonna be enough shit I gotta watch out for right now. I don’t need you comin’ up in here, losin’ your shit over Stoney and puttin’ us in an all-out war. The Devil’s Riot MC is our ally, brother. Until the day Boss changes her mind, we can’t fuck with that. You get what I’m sayin’? They’re helpin’ us with the cult, keepin’ eyes open and their ears too.”
“I get what you’re sayin’ man, but how much help have they actually been givin’ us? I mean, really? Our leads ran dry and we haven’t heard a damn thing as of late.”
“Brother, it’s best you shut your mouth now. The second Boss hears you sayin’ shit like that, doubting her ability to make the right decisions for the club. Shit, man . . . she’ll have your fuckin’ head.”
“Doesn’t she already? She really didn’t like the way I was talkin’ to Destiny’s sperm donor.” I huff. I know what Mug’s tryin’ to do, keepin’ the peace and all that, but right now isn’t the time to preach to me about shit.
“Dude, Stoney is her dad.”
I blink blankly at Mug, wonderin’ if he’s tryin’ to get his ass beat right now. “Don’t ever fuckin’ say that to me again. He hasn’t been the one here for her every day. He hasn’t been the one spendin’ every Christmas and birthday by her side. I’m her dad, and that’s the end of this conversation.”
“Speaking of, someone woke up.” Faith’s voice causes me to turn around and I see my little girl in her pink pony pajamas. She rubs her eyes and sticks her arms out for me to grab her.
“Thanks, Faith.” I say to her.
“Not a problem. I thought I saw her moving around on the monitor, so figured I’d check.” Tala has a monitor down here behind the bar. Iris and Faith have been a huge help with caring for Destiny. It’s like Tala has an entire army of help and thank goodness she does. Destiny might be a toddler, but I can see Tala comin’ out of her more and more every day. We have a handful, that’s for damn sure.
Destiny yawns and rubs her eyes again, “You sleepy, baby?”
She yawns and puffs out her bottom lip, “Why’d you wake up then?”
“I didn’t want you to leave again,” she murmurs softly, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Oh, baby.” I hold her close, pressing soft kisses to her forehead. “C’mon, let’s go upstairs and we’ll take a nap and wait for Momma.”
“Mkay,” she murmurs.
I rise with her in my arms. She burrows her head against my neck, the heat of her breath hitting my skin as we go out into the hallway, running right into Stoney, Horse, and Ricochet.
“Hey, nugget. I thought I saw you.” Ricochet chuckles, going to pinch Destiny’s cheeks. She yanks her head away from him and sticks her thumb in her mouth. “She okay?” He asks.
I nod, “Yeah, just tired. A little grumpy. She thought I was leaving, so she didn’t get a good sleep.”
“Oh, man. You go get some rest, princess, okay?” Ricochet looks right at the little girl in my arms. For some reason I look past Ricochet to Horse and Stoney,
