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“Yeah. You could say that. Might have something to do with… uh… you know.” Byte and Rocket shared a look. It was the look that said, we’ve got secrets we need to keep from the outsider. Still, I bit my tongue and said nothing. I’d unload on Rocket later. While I might berate him when I thought he needed it and give him shit continually, I’d never truly undercut him in front of his club. Not like that needed to happen in this instance. While I intended to fight at Rocket’s side any time he had to fight, I’d never disrespect him or go against him in public. One battle at a time though. Because, no matter what, I intended to be a good old lady to him. Even if we parted ways afterward.
“Does she have other relatives besides her mother?” This was something that had to be decided now. Rocket was surprisingly quiet. He didn’t offer input, but he watched me intently. Well, if he didn’t want to participate in any meaningful way, he didn’t get to bitch when it didn’t go the way he wanted.
“No. Her mother’s parents are dead, and there are no living relatives on her mother’s side. They’ve been living here by themselves since Effie was born. As far as I can tell, Effie’s mother, Mary, had no close friends. No intimate relationships. No job. She had a modest inheritance she got when her father passed, but it was enough for her to be able to live off the interest while Effie was little. It looked like she’d planned on going to work soon, but hadn’t, deciding to wait a while longer. They didn’t have a whole lot, but they had a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.”
“Why didn’t the state take Effie in?”
“They couldn’t find her. The girl was scared and ran, then hid. She’s been living on the beach ever since. Cops ‘er still lookin’, but not very hard. A nobody’s child with the only person who cared about her dead? There’s other things for the state of Florida to spend time and effort on. With no one making any noise, finding her isn’t a priority.”
“Fuckin’ pricks,” I muttered. “So Effie has nowhere to go.” That was the bottom line as I saw it.
“Correct.”
“Rocket, it’s time we have this conversation.”
“You gonna leave Effie with Gina?”
“Of course not!” I snapped. “She’s coming with us. We’ll talk after she goes to sleep. Quietly.”
“That’s what I thought.” Rocket chuckled. “Go get your girl. I’m tired and in pain. I’m sure you are too. Let’s go home.” He didn’t look like he was in pain, but my ribs were screaming. I’d never admit it, but I’d really like to have one of those painkillers Bullet left us.
“Good.” I gave a curt nod before stalking back inside the house. Again, Effie immediately ran to me. “Ready to go, sport?”
“Where we going?” The girl looked at me with such trust, I had to wonder how she’d processed her mother’s death. She’d need help there too, but that was above my pay grade. We’d figure it out. “I’m taking you with me and Rocket. We’re going to his house and staying there.”
“You’re staying with me. Right?”
“Yeah, honey. Me and Rocket got things to talk about, but we’ll wait until you go to sleep. We won’t leave the house.”
“You promise?” Her chin quivered, but I could see how worried she was.
“I promise. You’re staying with me and Rocket. As long as you want.”
“Can I stay with you forever?”
I thought about that. I couldn’t promise her forever with Rocket. That was a day by day thing. Maybe even hour by hour. “I can promise you can stay with me. No matter what.”
“Doesn’t Rocket like me?” She looked forlorn. Defeated. That look tore at my heart, ripping it to shreds.
“Rocket doesn’t know you. But he doesn’t matter. It’s you and me. If he wants to be with us, that’s his choice.” Which was good advice to myself. I knew Rocket saw me as an amusement. Hell, he was probably just sitting back waiting to see what deficiencies I thought his club had and what I thought would be the best way to fix them so he could laugh at me and tell me how naive I was. That thought hurt as much as it infuriated me.
“OK. As long as you promise I can stay with you.”
“I promise.” And I’d make that stick. Even if I had to go back to the Iron Tzars. Of course, if that happened my heart really would be in tatters. Because the idea that I was really Rocket’s old lady had taken hold in my heart, and I knew that’s what I wanted.
All of that depended on the conversation we were going to have, though. After all, there weren’t many MC presidents who were capable of letting a woman tell them why his club sucked ass. I didn’t know these men like he did. All I knew was there appeared to be little cooperation when it counted. The lack of finding out what the relationship between Gina and Hammer had been was just another example of that. Falcon’s refusal to go after his president when he knew Rocket was in trouble was another.
I might not persuade Rocket things needed to change, but I was going to try. Because I could see something in Grim Road even Iron Tzars didn’t see. There was something about these men that made me think there wasn’t anything they couldn’t accomplish. But before all that, they had to work together. They had to trust each other, and they had to value the club and each other more than their secrets.
Yeah. Time to go find that fucking unicorn.
Chapter Ten
Rocket
I could tell Lemon was expecting a fight. I could practically hear her going over all her points and arguments she’d come at me with in her head as we made the short drive back home.
Home…
