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“Still making the club whores cry I see.” Sugar leaned against the pole of the swings as I pushed Harlyn gently. I glanced over my shoulder to see Chelsea packing her bag into her car. I turned away before I got the urge to run over and ask her to stay.
It was better this way. If we were being watched then hopefully they would think she was unimportant—letting her leave without someone to watch her.
What she and everyone else didn’t know was that there was someone watching her. Kit had already sent one of his boys, Lift, to tail her all the way to Troy. The kid was good and I knew she’d be safe.
“They know what they’re getting into when they come here.”
“That’s not a‘kicked puppy’look. That look is more like a puppy that you took home, played with, named, fed and then threw off a bridge a week later.” I glared at her, but she just stared me down. Sugar was sweet and soft and caring, but the girl was strong.
“It’s complicated,” I muttered as I pushed softly against Harlyn’s back.
I could see her frowning at me through the corner of my eye. She was studying me. “Oh, Optimus. Not again.”
I stopped the swing as Harlyn jumped off and ran toward the jungle gym. I followed after her hoping to avoid Sugar, but she shadowed me the whole way.
“Don’t do it.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The reason you bought us here. There’s something big going down isn’t there?” She pulled at the sleeves of her sweatshirt, tugging them over her hands.
“You know I can’t talk to you about it. But yeah, it’s pretty damn big.” I could see the wheels in her head moving as she put together piece by piece just what was happening.
I felt her hand on my arm. “Don’t push her away.”
My body stiffened. “I’m doing what I have to do to protect my family.”
“And how did that work out for you last time, Op?” The strike was low and she knew it.
I growled and turned on her. “You and Harlyn are still alive aren’t you?”
She scoffed and met my gaze head on. “Yeah, congratulations! Because of what you did our relationship fell to pieces and you see your daughter once a year. Good work.”
“You never wanted to be a part of the club anyway,” I accused, jabbing my finger at her. “You’re the one who wanted out, refusing to come home.”
She looked hurt for a moment before shaking it off. “You pushed us out and you pushed us so far away, it hurt. And after everything that happened with your dad, I was young, pregnant and scared,” she sighed, “there was no coming back after that.”
“I did what I had to do to protect you and my daughter,” I muttered, watching as my beautiful girl scaled the climbing frame like a pro.
“No,” she whispered. “You made a mistake that hurt all three of us.”
I couldn’t look at her. Sending her away with my child had been one of the hardest decisions I’d ever had to make. She was right. I knew it wouldn’t have worked between me and Sugar, but I could have done more to fight for them, I could have kept them safe and been more involved in Harlyn’s life.
I’d made a mistake.
“And now you’re about to make it all over again,” Sugar said as she stared up at our little girl. “Except this time, she won’t have a reason to keep you in her life.”
“Daddy, catch me!” I moved under the jungle gym just as Harlyn threw herself off the top and into my arms. The girl had no fear. She had absolute trust in me. She knew I would catch her.
“Come on. Let’s go get some lunch,” I told her as I brushed her wavy hair back from her eyes.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby girl.”
“Are we going to get a puppy?”
This child doesn’t miss a thing. I needed to remember that.
