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“Tex,” Huntsman finally growled, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Hunt—” Texas tried to argue, but Huntsman was quick to shut him down.
“Stand down,” he ordered sharply.
I didn’t take my eyes off my father, but I saw the movement out of the corner of my eye, and Texas soon appeared just to Huntsman’s side. “There something you want to tell me, Meyah?” He tried to hide it, but the hurt was there.
At this point, he would be second-guessing whether I was really his daughter. He would be wondering whether someone put me up to this. Whether I was a rat, and he was probably even considering what he would do about that if it were true.
“Yes, there is. But you’re gonna tell your boys to wait outside, and we’re gonna sit and talk about it like adults,” I declared. Not missing the way his hands scrunched into fists, like the idea of sitting and talking right now was the last thing on his list when all he felt like doing was killing someone. “I know you’re wondering whether I betrayed you. The answer is…no, I didn’t. And as your daughter, I’m asking you to stop and listen to what I have to say.” That was all I could ask for.
“Motherfucker,” Romeo cursed from the other side of the room.
My eyes were welling up with tears. And just when I felt like I could break down, and that all of this would have been a fucking joke, I felt Ham move up behind me, his hand resting on my hip, not saying a single word, but letting me know that he had my back.
Even with the truth bomb I’d just dropped.
Even though he knew now I’d kept something huge from him.
He was still going to stand with me.
Because that was what you did. You stood as a strong force together in the face of hell. Later, behind a closed door, we’d talk. He’d probably yell. I’d probably cry and yell back. But right now, he knew how much I needed him. And when I did, he was always there.
There was complete silence through the room, a pause that felt like it lasted forever before Huntsman finally stepped to the side, opening up the exit. “Ripley, you stay. The rest of you, wait downstairs.”
There was no questioning him, and with a sigh of relief, I slowly lowered the gun.
All the men but Ripley stepped outside. Each one of them tearing a layer off my heart as they looked at me and shook their heads.
Yeah, it hurt.
Ripley came around to stand beside our father, his eyes burning through me, just when I’d managed to soften them and earn his trust—I’d ruined it all.
I took a deep breath and held out his gun. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how else to make a point.”
He stared at it a moment before he reached over and snatched it back.
Ham and I moved back, trying to put a little bit of space between us and ease some of the tension in the room. Romeo moved over to Dakota, who was starting to toss and turn restlessly. He crouched down beside the bed, whispering softly until she started to calm again, then moved toward the mess he’d made.
“The great and mighty Romeo, don’t tell me you’ve lost your dark side and have just decided to become the pussy whisperer,” Ripley joked, but his words were meant to be hard and strike hot.
Romeo who was picking up the spilled bottle of whiskey froze with it in his hands.
The mask I’d seen a brief couple times, and that I didn’t ever think I’d get used to fell across his face. “I’d watch that smart mouth if I were you, Rip. You might wake up one morning and find your tongue missing.”
Ripley lunged at him, but Huntsman was quicker, grabbing the collar of his cut and pulling him backward. My big brother was fuming, the fire of betrayal burning hot in his eyes as he turned his anger on me. “We invited you into the club like fucking family.”
“I am your family.”
He laughed, the kind of laugh that I wasn’t expecting from him. The kind where you could hear the hurt. “Then what’s this? Who is this guy? I don’t know if you know how this shit works, Meyah, but moving between two clubs is a punishable offense. It’s not fucking done.”
“No one is going to be fucking punishing her for anything,” Ham growled, pulling me back against him.
“And who the fuck are you?” Ripley threw back, taking a step forward again, practically itching for a fight.
Huntsman slammed his arm across Ripley’s chest, before looking up and over my head at Ham. “What’s your claim to her?” Huntsman asked seriously.
“She’s my Old Lady,” Ham replied without a second of delay.
