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“We’ll be sure to get one the next time,” Tressa says.
* * *
The cookies are doneand cooling, and we’re now sitting in the common room since the men still haven’t come back upstairs, with sandwiches and drinks that Nonna prepared while the cookies were baking.
“I wonder how much longer they’re going to be,” I muse. I’m equal parts excited and nervous about my upcoming time alone with Stealth. Of course, he’s already seen me naked, but I was unconscious, so in my mind, that doesn’t count.
“Who knows? I just hope they hurry because I want to know what they found out,” Tressa adds. Then she starts giggling and looks at me and through her laughter, she says, “I’ll probably never know because they’ll say, ‘club business’ and shut me down.”
What has me snickering is the fact she lowered her voice so that it’s husky and she sounded like a man when she said ‘club business’, because she’s correct. I heard it several times when I was here before, and I suspect I’ll want to shove those two words down Stealth’s throat at some point. Even Nonna smiles while nodding.
“I guess you could always show me where my suite of rooms is located,” I state once we’ve all calmed down.
Both Nonna and Tressa begin to speak simultaneously, until Tressa waves to the older woman to continue. “Child, you slept in your room last night. With Stealth’s mark on you now, you’ll be by his side, not in your own space.”
I wrinkle my nose a little bit, then shrug because it’s like that in the shifter books I read as well. Once the couple claims each other, they’re by one another’s side. Wait a minute… do I get to bite him too? Grinning, I look at Nonna and ask, “Do I give him a mark as well?”
“Of course. You’ve probably already noticed you can occasionally hear him if his emotions are elevated, but when you give him your claiming mark, the bond will completely seal, and you’ll be able to hear him and his thoughts without trying.”
“He can hear my thoughts?” I shriek. Some of the things that filter through my brain arenotfor public consumption, for heaven’s sake!
“Right now, he would hear you loud and clear, because your emotions are high. You’ll learn how to throw up a shield, so your innermost thoughts are still private, child,” Nonna calmly states.
I’m about to ask another question when the front doors to the clubhouse open and Tressa’s father walks in, a prospect running behind him, shouting, “Sir, sir, you can’t just walk in!”
“Of course, I can. My daughter’s here and I want to speak to her,” Mr. Powers retorts. Spotting us, he moves closer while I watch my best friend carefully. She never told him why she moved out, nor why she wouldn’t come over for family dinners. So, if she doesn’t speak up now, I plan to because he deserves to know his wife is a big old steaming pile of dog shit as far as I’m concerned for how she treated Tressa as a child.
“Daddy? What are you doing here?” Tressa asks.
“I got tired of your excuses as to why we couldn’t get together, pumpkin. You weren’t easy to find, that’s for sure,” he replies. “Did you really think I’d be upset that you found someone who loves you because he’s a biker?”
Tressa shrugs, and I instinctively know it wasn’t her dad she was concerned about, it was the evil witch. I wish she were here so I could yank out her perfect hair, then wonder where my bloodthirsty attitude has suddenly come from.
“I don’t know, Daddy,” Tressa says. “I just… I just couldn’t take it if your wife criticized him, so I stayed away. Especially now that I’m pregnant.”
Mr. Powers stills, and he looks closely at his daughter. “What do you mean, sweetheart? Nancy would be happy for you, I’m sure.”
I can’t help the snorting noise I make at his statement because it’s so ludicrous it’s not even funny. “Nancy wouldn’t be happy for her, Mr. Powers. She’sneverbeen happy for her.”
Confusion now mars his face as Tressa wrings her hands together, a sure sign she’s becoming anxious. However, this has been a long time coming, and since I know how much Tressa misses her father, I decide to be her mouthpiece.
“Explain,” he demands, staring at me.
“Every and any time you were out of town, your wife treated Tressa like shit. Didn’t you ever wonder why she moved out at eighteen? Or why, when you had guests for dinner, Tressa wasn’t present? It was because of your wife,” I hiss out between clenched teeth. “She used to belittle her,hither, and generally make her feel like she was less than.”
His mouth is now gaped open, and a look of horror has his eyes wide as he stares at his daughter while I continue with a litany of some of the things Nancy did to Tressa while growing up. “Oh, Tressa, I had no idea,” he whispers, dropping down to his haunches next to her and taking her hands in his. “Please, forgive an old man who ignored the signs. Your mother would be appalled at how her best friend treated her baby girl.”
“Best friend? Nancy was Mom’sbest friend?” Tressa asks, her voice rising higher with each word spoken. “Let me say this much, Daddy, I don’t think Nancy knows how to be a friend. Do you want to know why I know this? Because Nicole has been my best friend ever since Nancy told me I had to leave since I had turned eighteen. Even though all I had at the time was a little part-time job that made slightly over minimum wage. I moved in with her and rented a room in what was her grandmother’s house until it got sold, then we moved into an apartment together. She’s been by my side when I was sick as a dog with the flu, has cheered me on in my business accomplishments, and helped me understand that Nancy’s issues were and are her issues, not mine.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything to me?” he questions. “You were my priority, Tressa.”
“Daddy, we had already lost Mom, and I figured if I said anything, you’d be sad all the time again,” she admits.
“I was happy because my little girl had someone who cared about her, who could take care of her while I was out of town for business. If I had known, we might not have had as much, but I wouldn’t have allowed it, Tressa.”
“What do you mean by ‘not had as much’?” I inquire, curious because from how Tressa explained things, she had to ‘make do’ with what she was given.
“Well, all the things Tressa was involved in might have had to be cut off, but as long as my little girl was happy, it wouldn’t have mattered,” he stresses. “Things are just that, things, and knowing your heart was hurt like that is killing me.”
