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“You better be calling me to tell me you’re on the road, TK.”
“Right to the fucking point, as always, Judge. Not even a ‘Hello, TK. Long time, no talk.’ Grace is slacking on your manner lessons.”
“Do you deserve a hello?” Truthfully, no. I’d disobeyed his order to come home, a disrespectful defiance to my club president.
“You got me there.”
“Where the fuck are you? And don’t try to lie to me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Prez.”
“Answer the fucking question, TK. I know you’re not with Priest. He called me as soon as you turned back.”
“I guess you know where I am, then.”
“Better be a good fucking reason for you ignoring not only a call home, but every attempt to connect with you.”
I grip the phone, willing him to understand. “I couldn’t leave her, Judge.”
The other side of the line goes quiet, his heavy breathing the only thing I hear. “I think you owe me an explanation, son.”
“I do. But you, of all people, know what it’s like when you find the right woman.”
“Fuck, do I know it.” Judge would never admit it to us, but Grace changed him, made him better. She had a bit more work cut out for her to change that moody asshole’s attitude, but going from zero kids to two hormonal and emotionally damaged teenagers in a blink of an eye, I could see why he’s still a moody fucker.
“Cora’s my Grace, Judge. Don’t ask me why or how, but she is. I don’t know what I came up here looking for, but I found it.”
“I’m happy for you, TK. Really, man, I am. It’s about time you found someone who can keep your ass in line.”
“That, she does. You’ve known me for a long time, seen the shit I’ve done. My priorities have changed.”
“I’ve seen enough to scar me for life. Shit, we all have.”
All I can do is laugh, because he’s not wrong. I’d done a lot of shit to get a rise out of my brothers, and for my own personal satisfaction. Shit that I’m now not exactly proud of, but I can’t change the past. What I can do is look to the future, shining like a fucking beacon from my bed. My salvation. The redemption I didn’t know I needed to find.
“So what’s the plan, then?” he asks, never one to beat around the bush. “You stayin’?”
I consider my answer carefully. “I think I am, Judge. Cora’s family is here. I can’t force her to leave.”
“What about the club?”
“I’m no good to you this far away. My only option is to go nomad.”
“That’s a big decision, TK. We’re a family out here. You gonna walk away from that?”
“If I want her, it’s the only way. If you knew what she’s been through, you’d understand why I can’t force her into our lifestyle.”
He pauses at that, his unsure tone changing to one of concern. “Enlighten me.”
I tell him everything. I tell him about Big Dick raping her and getting her pregnant. I tell him about me and Priest keeping watch over Cora and her family until we could deal with him and make sure they were safe. And then I tell him about what had happened outside of the brewery.
The implications of what I’d done might bring a whole pile of shit down on the club. I know he’ll probably be pissed, but I leave nothing out. He listens to everything I say, only letting out the occasional heavy sigh as I talk. “The only reason he’s not dead is because Cora stopped me.”
“I’d have killed the motherfucker if that were Grace,” he growls.
“I know, Judge. It would’ve been easier if I had, considering his affiliation. I haven’t seen any blowback yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming. Hashtag has information on them if it comes to it.”
“Of course he does.”
