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A long breath left Izzy. “And now you’re stuck between one big rock and a very hard place.”
“Pretty much,” Shell whispered. “I have no idea what to do, Iz. Copper raised Rusty. He feels paternal toward him. This will kill him.” She threw her hands in the air. “If he even believes me. But how can I not tell him? I may not be a patched member, but my loyalty has always been to the club.” Tears filled her eyes. Despite the challenges life threw at her, it wasn’t often Shell cried. At one time, she’d wondered if she’d used up her allotment of tears as a teen. “He threatened to try and get custody of my baby,” she whispered.
A hard mask fell over Izzy’s features. “Well, that won’t fucking happen. I’ll kill him myself before he gets near her.” Reaching across the center console, Izzy hugged Shell. “You already know the answer, Shell. But I get that you need to have someone say it to you, so I will. You need to tell Copper. All of it, back from the beginning when you were a kid and Rusty took advantage of you. It may get ugly for a time, but your man is solid. He’ll listen, and he’ll take it in, and he’ll believe you. Even if it’s not the moment the words are spoken. He will also protect you and that sweet kid of yours with his life. And if he fucks this up? If he doesn’t believe you? Every other man in the club will, and they’ll beat some fucking sense into him.”
Shell huffed an exhausted laugh. God, it felt good for someone to have her back. Someone to validate her fears and help guide her in the right direction. Izzy was right. Shell knew what she had to do but needed someone to push her off the ledge. Now that she was dangling by her fingertips, there was nothing left to do but drop.
“You’re the best, Izzy.”
“You got that right, girl. And I’m about to get even better. I’m coming with you.”
“What?” Shell pulled back and stared at her friend.
Wrapping the tail of her very long braid around her fist, Izzy nodded again. “I’m coming with you. Moral support, back-up, strength in numbers, girl power, whatever you want to call it. We’ll do it together.”
Resigned to the horrible task, Shell sighed. “Thank you. Let’s get it over with.
With each mile that passed, Shell’s stomach coiled tighter, and her insides shook harder. By the time they pulled into the clubhouse, her heart was lodged in her throat, pounding so hard she felt each pulse in her neck.
Like a prisoner being led to death row, Shell walked unseeing through the clubhouse straight to Copper’s door. Nothing registered. She had no idea who was hanging around, what time it was, or if anyone noticed how off she was. Standing in front of Copper’s door, trembling, she lifted her hand to knock on the door.
Her arm froze.
Almost a full minute later, Izzy knocked. Shell hadn’t been able to do it. Her fist had refused to curl and track to the door.
“’S open,” Copper called out.
“We got this, girl.” Izzy gave her a thumbs up.
Shell wasn’t so sure. Her stomach churned like the ocean after a hurricane. There was a very high chance she’d be making use of Copper’s trash can. Her brain told her legs to move, but the damn things just wouldn’t obey.
“Said it’s fucking open,” Copper yelled.
“Go.” Izzy nudged her forward, and Shell opened the door.
“H-hey, hon,” she said popping her head in the office. Strong. She had to be strong enough to get the words out and stand by Copper when they wrecked him.
Copper’s face lit up at the sight of her, which only made her feel worse. “Hey, gorgeous! Didn’t know you were coming by, but damn am I glad to see you. Sorry I snapped. Thought you were Rocket coming to bother me with bullshit. I’ve been expecting him since he walked in late a while ago.” He sprang up—as much as a giant man could spring—and had her in his arms, stealing her breath through her mouth before she even pushed the door all the way open.
A throat cleared behind them making Copper lift his head. “Oh, hey, Iz. Sorry, didn’t see you there.” No shame in being caught devouring Shell. He shifted his gaze between the two women. “You ladies are looking pretty glum. You’re not just here to make out with me, are you, babe?”
“No. We—I need to talk to you about something important.” The words felt like they were dragged out of her desert-dry throat by someone else.
“This a door closed kind of conversation?”
She swallowed, trying to speak again when Izzy said. “Please.”
“Shit. Okay, come on in. Have a seat, Izzy.” Copper shut the door, keeping one hand curled around Shell’s. Then he drew her to his giant leather desk chair and guided her down to his lap.
