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Chapter Twenty-Eight
I looked at the letter in my hand and couldn’t help but smile.
After Simon was killed, I asked the club lawyer, Matthew, to look after anything that came up regarding him. Technically we were still legally married when he died, so I’d already told Matthew that if there was anything to come regarding life insurance or Simon’s assets, then I would accept that but it was immediately to be donated to charity.
I wanted nothing from him.
I was going back to school. I was going to get my degree and get a teaching job. Where I could help teens—teach them, build them up and help them to craft their futures into something great. Leo was working hard, supporting us. He didn’t have to. We hadn’t been together that long, but it seemed like forever. I felt like his soul knew mine as if they were long lost friends.
We were stable together, and my heart kept telling me not to let Simon get back into my head. I needed to stop allowing him to have an impact on my life. He had already created too much destruction and now that he was dead and gone, I just wanted the pain to end and move on with my life.
Turns out, Simon’s payout was more than I expected. I looked at the response letter in my hands from a charity who helped women escape domestic violence and find new homes—and sometimes even identities for them and their children—I wanted to look down into the ground, into the depths of hell and say… fuck you.
These women were going to get the help they needed, they were going to be free of assholes and chauvinistic mother-fuckers like him. They were going to get the chance, just like I have now, to move on with their lives and possibly find someone to put them back together again and help them build themselves back up into strong women.
I hoped he was in hell, rotting, watching me use every cent of his life insurance, every penny that his assets were sold for, in order to help women escape men like him.
Sitting down on Leo’s and my bed, I palmed my chest, trying to rub away the ache that had once again settled there. With each beat of my heart, it was like a sinking reminder that I was still breathing.
And that Slider wasn’t.
When Piper came to the clubhouse a few weeks ago, peace settled over me like a soft blanket. She was having Slider’s baby and it had filled me with a sense of comfort, knowing that his legacy wasn’t over yet. There was a little baby coming into this world that one day would find out just what kind of person Slider was. Funny, loving, strong and heroic.
We still had no real idea what Piper was going to do, but Optimus and Chelsea had pleaded with her to let the club be involved in the baby’s life. I knew she was wary, but I knew better than anyone that once these people got inside you, they seeped into your bloodstream, filling your heart with more love and support than you could ever ask for.
I had a feeling that was something Piper needed.
And what the club needed too.
We all still felt his loss. His bedroom hadn’t been touched since his death. It became something like a shrine to his memory. A place where we could go to feel his presence. Maybe this would help them heal, to know that they were supporting his child, a child that we all knew he would have fucking loved more than anything.
“You shouldn’t frown so much, you’ll get wrinkles.” I looked up to see Skylar and Chelsea standing in the doorway. A smile tugged at my lips as they stepped inside.
“What’s up?” I asked, shifting over so the girls could sit down.
Chelsea grinned and I instantly looked at her suspiciously.
“I want to get a tattoo.” She shrugged as though she was just talking about what kind of ice cream flavor she wanted today.
Skylar rolled her eyes but was obviously amused by my reaction as I stared at the woman with my mouth hanging open. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you mean after the babies are born.”
She shook her head. “Better get off that limb, because the branch is about to break. I want one now. Rose mentioned you were thinking of getting Leo a tat for Christmas. I want to get one on me… for Op.”
“Chelsea, you have humans growing inside you. I’m not even sure that you can get a tattoo.”
“I researched it. There’s nothing to say a pregnant womancan’tget a tattoo. The main concern is dirty needles, and we know that Art down at On Point is the most professional tattoo artist out there. He’s like the only one the boys will go to for their tats,” she rambled on as though it was no big deal.
A very unladylike snort shot out my nose. “And you think Art is going to agree to tattoo Optimus’ Old Lady while she’s pregnant and without his permission?”
She waved me off like my comment was invalid. “I have mad powers of persuasion. And I’m pretty sure when I tell him what I want, that he will see how much it will mean to Op.”
“Oh God, what is it?” I groaned.
“Property of Optimus, across my lower back.” She indicated the area with her hand. Chelsea already had a tattoo covering her back of a blackbird, and given she was pregnant, it probably was the only ideal place to get the script.
Strangely, I found myself warming to the idea. I’d been thinking of getting Leo a tattoo for Christmas, but Leo was quite capable of paying for his own tattoo, and I wasn’t even sure there was anything he really wanted.
“Uh-oh, she’s considering it.” Skylar laughed. “Don’t tell me… now you want one too?”
