AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterSixteen
“I miss you, Mommy,” Harlyn whispered softly into the phone, bringing tears to my eyes.
“I miss you too, baby girl. But I’ll see you in the morning, and we can go to the store so you can have your own personal tour before we open. Daddy is gonna bring you over,” I told her, trying to ease both of us emotionally, while I fought with my heart. It screamed at me to go over to the club right now and get my daughter back.
But I couldn’t.
It was better this way.
For now.
After saying goodnight, Optimus came back on the phone. I cringed, knowing that over the past few weeks our relationship had been pretty fucking shitty. It was completely my fault. I could admit it, just not to him. It had been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Times where I’d almost given in and called Wrench. I wanted to beg him to come over and just sit with me, knowing that his presence, his voice, would be enough to take the pain away.
“We’ll see you in the morning,” he said gruffly, almost emotionless.
“Yeah…” I answered, my throat scratchy with unshed tears. “Hey, Op?”
Silence met me for a moment, and I figured he’d hung up, waiting for the haunting beeps.
“Yeah?”
I swallowed, forcing myself to say the words I’d been trying to fight with over the past few weeks. “I’m sorry.”
He released a heavy sigh. “You need to tell me what’s going on, Sugar.”
My eyes clenched shut, and I gripped the phone tightly into my hand, willing my lips to say the words he wanted to hear.
That I needed his help.
That he needed to step in and take over.
But I’d battled through it so far, fought to get myself back on the path. Knowing that I had to do it for Harlyn. And that if there was anything left between Wrench and me to salvage, that we would never work unless I could stand on my own first.
“I’ll be okay, I will.”
The words wouldn’t come. My brain refused to let Optimus and the club get tangled up in this goddamn mess I seemed to have made of my life. I never expected that coming back here would draw the attention of the one person I’d spent the last six years hiding from. Optimus thought he was protecting me and his daughter from club drama and the war that had killed his father, and I was selfish and willing to let him believe just that. I wanted him to think that it was him and the club I was running from.
It wasn’t, and one day soon he would know the truth.
Just not today.
“Tomorrow,” he said quietly, but I could hear the agitation in his tone and knew the softness was purely for Harlyn’s benefit.
“Tomorrow,” I echoed before hanging up and falling back onto the bed. “Goddamn it!”
Pressing the palms of my hands into my eyes, I tried to stem the flow of tears that seemed to have taken over my life. If it wasn’t Harlyn, it was the shop. If it wasn’t the shop, it was these stupid feelings I seemed to have caught for a certain brother who I hadn’t seen in over three weeks.
It was a never ending cycle of shitty decisions that, no matter how much progress I thought I’d made, never failed to throw me back into that fucking hole.
I was scared.
Petrified.
But I wasn’t going to give up.
“Thank you, girls, for coming,” I said loudly, earning the attention of many sets of eyes. “It’s really great to have your support. Especially, since I know I haven’t been around a lot lately.”
Chelsea placed her hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll do whatever we can to be there for you.” I met her eyes, they were soft and understanding, and I really didn’t deserve that. “I’m just a little annoyed that I won’t be able to buy anything until these two brats are evicted.” She laughed, waving her hand over her protruding belly.
