AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I didn’t know what to do.” He says after a moment or two. “I always knew how she felt about you. At first, I thought it was some silly schoolgirl crush, but I thought once you were a member, it’d break the spell you seemed to hold over her. It’s fucking hard to be an ol’ lady.”
“So, you told her I cheated on her.” My voice rises in an unconvincing tone. “Then you told me I’d never be good enough for her. You played on every fucking insecurity I had, self-esteem that I’d been working on since leaving that house and my old man behind, and you made me feel like shit because you couldn’t handle her being with me! Tell me Pres, if it had been anyone else in this club, maybe Reaper, would you have acted like that?” I wait, unable to keep my feet still as I do, fidgeting with heavy breaths from the exertion of our war of words.
“Yes.” He grits out, “No fucker is good enough for my daughter.”
“At least it wasn’t personal.” I add quietly, as Pres cocks an eyebrow.
“Jesus, Chains.” He sneers. “I loved you like a son,” his head shakes but I let him go on in his own time, “but I couldn’t bear to watch her go through that life.” I hear the break in his voice as he glances away for a quick second. “You were a mess. You’d been through more in your first sixteen years than the majority of kids do in their whole lives. I didn’t know if you’d come out the other side of it.”
“You didn’t give me the chance to prove it.”My voice rises with the ridiculousness of his statement.
“That day when I saw all those bruises on your body, I felt murderous. I wondered how any man could do that to their own child, their own flesh and blood. If I’d seen those bruises on Luna, I couldn’t imagine what I’d do but it wouldn’t be fucking legal. Then I saw you, broken on the yard outside, I knew I had to do everything in my power to help you, to seek justice for you - show you belonged somewhere in a family that loved you...I loved you.” He pulls in a breath and lets it out in a heavy, shuddering sigh. “I’m sorry, kid.”
The muscle in my jaw ticks as I push back the emotion I’m suddenly feeling. I never thought I’d ever look to any man as a father figure after that sack of shit. He took that away, I thought, but then Pres came along. He made me see I was worth more and not every older male behaved that way.
As all the fight and anger leaves my body I drop my chin to my chest, my head hanging low. Tears that I haven’t shed in a hell of a long time make a path down my face. Feeling Pres’s hand on the back of my neck, he urges me forward to give me comfort. I let him tug me closer as I swipe at my face with the back of my hand. “Come on kid. Let's go grab a beer, yeah.” I nod, wiping the rest of the moisture from my face. He rubs the hair on my head and leaves his arm to hang around my shoulder as I let out a calming breath, and we move for the door.
As I pull it open, Reaper looks up and stops his pacing, “Oh thank fuck for that.” His hand is on his chest, dramatic much. Pres and I look at each other questioning his over-reaction, “I thought I’d have to scrape one of you off the carpet. Only I wasn’t too sure which one it would be.”
“We’re getting a beer, want one?” I shout over my shoulder as I pass Reaper, leaving him and Pres behind me as I head for the bar.
As I reach the bar, I drop my hands on it. I lean over the oak and tell the prospect to pass over three beers. He does as I ask and takes the caps off for us. Reaper and Pres stand on either side of me. “You know Pres, while we are talking truths, maybe you should talk to Luna.”
“Something you’re not telling me, Chains?” His brows pinch and I snort,
“Nah man.” It’s for her to mention our little secrets, it’ll come better from her, I think to myself. “But maybe she deserves to be told what you’ve just told me.” I lift the bottle to my lips to down some beer and swallow, letting him ponder on his own truths as I hear my cell beep in my pocket. I take my cell out to see a message from Frisco.
You need to get to Luna’s. We have some unwanted visitors.
CHAPTER 23
LUNA
Why does my dad have to treat me like I don’t know anything, or am nothing. This has been the problem all my life, but I never saw it until I came back from college. There were so many little things that I ignored and shrugged it off as being a kid. I’m just a little girl scared of real shit. Well, I grew up in this shit, so I have more right than anyone, and I deserve to know what’s going on.
Jesus, he makes me angry.
With the door to the bar unlocked, I give it a shove and as it swings open it slams off the wall Just inside. I push through and cross the room in anger, dumping my purse and car keys on the bar. I go around turning all the lights on, then the pumps on just as I hear the rumbling of a bike engine stopping outside. As I’m pulling all the chairs down from the tables, Frisco walks in, his usual easy-going self just doing as he’s told, and now the poor fucker has to put up with my shitty mood. He shoves his keys into his pocket and starts helping.
“You don’t have to do that.” I force a smile his way, he doesn’t need my wrath, that’s reserved for the asshole back at the compound, and for once I’m not talking about Levi. That is a first.
Frisco and I work together while we get the bar ready to open, but don’t speak a word. He also knows when I’m in a bad mood and never pushes me on it. I like Frisco. He’s sweet, and it's not a total inconvenience to have him here all the time. He’s sweet.
With all the chairs on the ground, Frisco takes his pew in the corner at the other end of the bar while I turn on the jukebox. I pick something with bite in it, a bit of rock to help with my mood. I need to kill this deathly silence. My head nods to the sounds of Bon Jovi - Livin’ on a Prayer. I grab him a beer from the cooler and place it in front of him.
“Thanks. Is everything okay?” He asks with a small smile.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I grab a beer for myself. I never drink on the job, but maybe this will help my anger issues today. “Cheers,” I tip my bottle to his and clink them.
“I saw you storm out of the clubhouse…” I watch him, cocking a brow as I gulp a mouthful down. “Well, if you need an ear, I'm always around.”
Pulling my bottle away from my face, I give him a more genuine smile. “Thanks, Frisco. But honestly, you don't want to get in the middle of the tribulations with my dad.”
“Oh, so it’s Pres you’re pissed with…?”
“You got it.” I answer with a sarcastic laced, tight grin.
“So, correct me if I’m wrong, but you and Chains are a couple, right?” I guess we’ve hardly hidden it when we’ve been here.
