“Nice to see you, too, Roman.”
“I’m not in the mood for games, Mortar. The agreement was you bring my daughter back safely, finish Brick, and only then will the Snakes call a truce with the Cutthroats! Coming to my house like this...”
I rush around Mortar and straight into my father’s arms, wrapping mine tightly around his powerful back. I have never felt such relief in my whole life. We may not have had the talk we needed before Brick took me, but this is my father, and I need him right now. His arms tighten around me as he peppers kisses on my head.
“I told you she’d be here. I have to get back to the clubhouse. Once this whole thing is sorted, I’ll be in touch with Shepard. I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow.”
I feel Roman nod against my head, and Mortar strokes the back of my hair. “Take care of her, Roman. Brick hasn’t treated her the best this past month and a half.”
“She’ll be fine now. Mortar?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you,”
After Mortar leaves, Roman leads me into his house where both Marley and my grandparents are waiting. Grandparent’s I don’t really know.
Marley and Leona grab hold of me, holding me close to them while crying. I cling to them for a moment before pulling away. My grandfather, whom I’ve never met before this moment, hugs me briefly. He looks a lot like his son; only his skin is very white.
“Look at the state of your beautiful face.”
Thanks, Marley. It’s not like I’m self-conscious about the way I look right now or anything!
I suppose the bruises look bad, they haven’t had time to heal.
“Hi!” I smile at the woman smiling excitedly at me. “I’m your aunt, Leah.” I can see that. She looks like Leona. “I’ve been so excited to meet you!” Then she grabs me and hugs me.
I hug her back and smile at Leona over Leah’s shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you, aunt Leah.”
She pulls away from me with a smile on her face. “Mommy, did you hear that? She called me, aunt Leah!”
“I heard her sweetheart.”
I remember now. Red mentioned something about Roman’s sister having autism. I wouldn’t have guessed at first glance.
Nervously, I tuck my hair behind my ear and look at Roman. He’s looking at me closely, scanning me from head to toe. I know he’s going to be asking me a shit load of questions very soon, but not right now. There’s something more important I need to talk to him about.
“How’s Ava?” They all exchange looks, and it makes my stomach turn. “Is she not okay?”
“She’s fine, Fallon,” Roman says.
Thank God.
“I know she’s asleep, but could I go see her for a moment? I promise I won’t wake her. I just want to see her.”
“Oh, Fallon,” Roman sinks in his armchair with his head in his hands. He’s not going to let me see her, and whom do I have to blame for that but myself?
“Please, Dad.” He looks up at me. I’ve never called him that before, but the fact remains that he is my Dad. He took my little girl in and took care of her. He’s probably worried that I’ll take her and leave and he’ll never see her again. I know he loves her, loves me. I won’t be going anywhere, even if I did have somewhere to go, which I don’t.
I take Roman’s hands in mine and crouch down in front of him. “I’m not going to run away with her. I love her, Dad. I only did what I did to protect her and all of you from Brick.”
“I know you did.”
“So, can I see her?” I ask, hopefully.
“She isn’t here, Fallon. She hasn’t been for weeks.”
“What?” I get to my feet. I feel like I’ve been sucker-punched in the gut. I thought Ava would be safe here with my father; I thought he’d love and care for her. “You didn’t want her?”
“Of course, I did.”
I shake my head. I can’t believe this.
I look at Marley and Leona. They’re both watching me with guilty looks on their faces. Did no one want my baby girl? I turned her into me, into the little girl with no one to love her.
Oh, god!
I can’t stop the tears. All this time, I thought I was protecting Ava, and my own father sent her away! I know he has two small children of his own, but I thought they could cope with Ava as well, she’s no trouble at all. Oh, god, my baby.
“Tell me where she is!” I demand. Christ, I’m imagining all sorts!
Roman comes closer. He doesn’t touch me, but he stands in front of me with his arms crossed over his big chest. “Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong.” He tells me. “I love that little girl as much as I love you, Romany, and Colt.” I smile at that. It feels nice to be loved. “I did not send her away. I took her in just as you wanted.”
“Then where is she? Why isn’t she here with you?”
“Because she took a shine to Trace.” This time, I narrow my eyes in confusion. “Took him a while, but Ava had him falling in love with her. She’s been living with him for the past few weeks.”
What the hell? She’s living with a man who said he never wanted kids. The man I lied to about everything. The man who believes I used him, never loved him, and that the baby inside of me isn’t his, leading him to believe I’d been cheating on him the whole time we were together. Yet, he took my baby girl in because he loves her. I can’t believe it.
“I tried to get Ava to come home, but she refused. Trace brings her around every morning. Every morning I ask her if she wants to stay with us. She always tells me no, she wants to stay with Trace.
“I wouldn’t have allowed it, Fallon, but Ava is happier with Trace. I never thought he’d step up the way he has, but he’s amazing with her.”
“We couldn’t bear to see her begging and crying,” Marley tells me while wrapping her arms around Roman’s waist. He pulls her against him with his arm around her shoulder.
“She’s happy?” They both nod. “Trace takes care of her, okay?”
“Like his own,” Roman says.
“Will he let me see her?”
“She’s your daughter, Fallon; he can’t stop you.”
“I know.” I do know that. Deep down, I do. However, I have nothing to offer her. I walk in and out of Ava’s life, never coming through with the promises I make to her. I’m a rubbish mother, and nothing anyone says will change that. Ever.
Trace has given my daughter the one thing I couldn’t, stability. The big bad biker who claims he has no heart has lost it to my daughter.
Trace is taking good care of her, and Ava obviously loves being with him. Who am I to walk back into her life and take that away from her?
You’re her mother, you selfish bitch. Grow up and act like it!
I’m trying. I really am.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Trace
Walking into church this morning after dropping Ava off at the playgroup I got her into last week – she needs interaction with little people her own age – I, along with almost everyone else was surprised to see a fucking Cutthroat sitting at the table. The fucking Cutthroats VP, Mortar.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Was the first thing out of my mouth. I was ordered to, Sit the fuck down, by our Prez, and told that Mortar is our guest, he has information for us.
Cunt must have a damn death wish, because, believe me, all I want to do is rip his fucking head off!
“Mortar. Why don’t you start? Tell my boys what you know.”
He nods his head toward Shepard, then turns to us. I can’t look at the piece of shit!
“First off: I’m not here to make trouble, I’m here to discuss a truce.”
“A fuckin’ truce!” Red roars. So, it’s not just me then. “You really think we’d call a truce with your motherfucking president after everything he’s done!”
“I’m president now, Red,” Looking at his patch, I see it there, “President” When the fuck did that happen? “Brick is no longer a problem for you or for us. None of us knew what he’d d
one to Scott, I swear to you on that, Red. If we had, we’d have dealt with Brick years ago.”
“You offed your own president?”
“Yes, Stryker, we did. We don’t kill our own, but he killed Scott because he wouldn’t allow Brick to claim his then seventeen-year-old sister. No one could blame Scott for that. Brick was a crazy fuck. The stupid cunt has been killing his own men left and right.” He rakes his hand through his hair.
“Brick lied to us all these years about everything. Especially when it came to Thor, he told us we could no longer visit him in the hospital because Red had made sure of it, and we weren’t to confront him about it. Red was Thor’s father, and we had no rights. Brick wouldn’t allow us to start trouble with Red because the Snakes would cause war and wipe us out. It didn’t sit well with any of us. We felt we had the right to see our brother. Brick thought different.”
“Brick lied to you. I didn’t even know where Scott was until a few days before he finally died!” Red yells.
“We know that now.”
So, Brick’s dead. Good. But what about Fallon?
“We knew something was up when Brick kidnapped Fallon. I want you all to know that she didn’t go with him willingly, and she tried to get away. Bastard shot her.”
Yeah, we know this shit already!
“He’s always been hung up on her, even before she hit sixteen.” Sick motherfucker! “None of us have a clue why; maybe it was because she was forbidden fruit. Not that a child should be forbidden fruit for any man. Brick did some crazy shit over the years to try forcing Fallon to be with him, including convincing her that she was too grief-stricken over her brother to take care of her daughter and that it would be best to hand Ava over to him. I want y’all to know that he never hurt little Ava, my wife and I took care of her, Brick hardly had anything to do with her.”
That at least puts my mind to rest. I had been worried Brick had done more than say a few mean words to Ava, but she’s a well adjusted little girl. I guess I have Mortar to thank for that.
“Brick hurt Fallon every fuckin’ day she was at our clubhouse over the past month or so. However, she wouldn’t leave, and she wouldn’t tell me why. I knew then something was very wrong because Fallon would always tell me in the past when something was wrong.”
“Yet you didn’t get her out of there and bring her home?” My thoughts exactly, Hammer.
“A buddy of mine fixed her up after Brick shot her, made sure that wound didn’t get infected. Tried to talk to Brick about the other crap he was doing to her. I even told Brick I’d take her home. Fallon flat out refused.” He shrugs. “She’d sent Ava away, got my wife to bring her here, and May did because both Fallon and Ava mean the world to her. Fallon knew Ava would never be safe there, and she knew Brick would use that little girl to keep her in line. Fallon didn’t want that for her daughter. Brick hit the roof. It took me a whole day to make him understand what I’d do if he touched my wife.”
Mortar scratches the scruff on his jaw with his thumbnail. There’s so much tension in this room that it’s stifling.
“I asked Fallon every day why she wouldn’t let me take her home, why she’d stay when she didn’t have to. She wouldn’t say. I genuinely thought she wanted to be there at first. I didn’t think about it much because I was too busy filling my men in on what I overheard Brick telling Trace about Scott. We needed to figure out what we were gonna do about it. That boy was a good soul. He didn’t deserve to be shot down for protecting his sister. He was my friend.”
“And he was my son!” Red’s out of his seat, Ace beside him, hand on his shoulder trying to push him down.
“Sit down, Red!” Prez yells. I don’t know how they expect him to act. They brought a fucking Cutthroat into our clubhouse, and they’re treating him like he’s one of us! “Carry on, Mortar.”
“You sure your boys can stay quiet long enough for me to finish?” I bare my teeth like a rabid animal, Mortar sees me, raises his eyebrow.
I know all about Mortar Mcarthy. Fuck knows what his actual name is, don’t think anyone ever speaks it out loud. He’s Irish blood, and still has a slight accent thanks to his parent’s. Crazy motherfucker, doesn’t give a shit who or what you are, you get in his way, you’re dead. Shows just how fucking crazy he is to willingly walk into the Snakes Henchmen clubhouse and sit at this table with us, like, he belongs here.
“Brick started smacking Fallon around even more after the first week. We were all worried he’d end beating her to death.” My stomach turns over. It shouldn’t surprise me, and it doesn’t, not really. However, the thought of him hurting Fallon makes me sick. “My wife begged me to talk to Fallon. I did, and I tried again to get her to tell me why she stayed. I don’t know, I guess she was scared it was a trick, and I’d tell Brick what she’d said. Fallon had no reason to trust any of us.
“I confronted Brick more than once about the way he treated Fallon. Few of the guys did, actually. Fallon would always interfere and tell us to back off. God knows why when she couldn’t even take a piss without Brick following to make sure Fallon was where she said she’d be. He’d force himself on her every fuckin’ night unless some whore or another caught his eye.”
This time, my eyes close. She slept with him. Not that I believed she wouldn’t. However, sitting here, listening to Mortar telling us about how Fallon would fight Brick, beg him, plead with him not to rape her, is killing me. Yeah, I’ve fucked a woman since Fallon’s been gone, but that’s because I thought she left me for that cunt!
God, Brick had been raping and beating her, and I’ve been sitting feeling sorry for myself. Pathetic!
“I finally had enough a couple weeks ago when Brick told me about the wedding. There’s no way Fallon wanted that. Scott was everything to Fallon, and there’s no way she’d willingly be with and marry his murderer. My wife heard Fallon crying in the bathroom the other day, saying sorry to Scott and how she had to protect Ava. How she loved him and hoped he could forgive her lies.
“My men and I talked. It was a unanimous vote. Brick had to go for what he’d done. Scott was our friend, and our president went against us when he took him out. The moment Scott joined us, he asked us one thing, to protect Fallon as if she was our sister as well as his. Then Ava came along, and we swore to protect her too. Scott came to me a few days before he died and asked me to take care of his family if anything ever happened to take him away from them. I swore that I would, but I should have paid more attention to why he was saying it. He knew he wouldn’t be around much longer to do it himself. My club let Scott down badly by not doing the job he asked of us.
“That’s why I knew I had to get Fallon home where she belongs. Not just to make good on my promise to Scott, but because it was time to end Brick for good.
“Last night, Brick threw a pre-wedding party. We all knew it had to happen then. He took to his room with a couple club whores while Fallon sat at the bar alone.”
“Wait. He was cheating on her, fucking around in front of her? After everything, he did to get her to be with him?”
Mortar nods at me.
What the fuck?
“Fallon preferred it that way. Meant he wasn’t touching her. I followed her outside. She finally cracked and told me the truth.”
“Which was?” I prompt.
“That she was only there to protect her family. All of you.”
My eyes catch Red’s. He’s breathing fast and hard, and he’s thinking the same thing that I am. Fallon didn’t need to do this; we would’ve protected her and Ava. Brick couldn’t have done shit!
“I know what you’re all thinkin’. However, what you’ve got to understand is that Fallon has never really had a family. Scott was all she cared about until Ava came along. When Brick shot Scott, Fallon was lost to grief. Brick took Ava from her and handed the baby to my wife because he thought he could use the kid to control Fallon.
“Trouble was, Fallon became hardened, didn’t give a shit about anything. Sure, she visited Ava now an
d then, but nothing else mattered. So, Brick stopped paying Scott’s medical bills. Told us the club could no longer afford it. I heard here and there what Fallon was doing to get the money.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
“You don’t tell Fallon anything, Roman. Besides, I knew she wasn’t sellin’ herself. She’s a good girl, would never do that. However, the stripping thing, how else was she supposed to take care of Scott?
“Anyway, I brought Fallon home last night,” She’s home? “Brick was dealt with, and the club is under new management. I won’t run the Cutthroats the way he did. This feud he created with your club is not one we want to carry on. We don’t have to be enemies.”
Fallon is home, Brick is dead, and I don’t know what to feel. I’ve been angry with Fallon for so long that my head is spinning with it. She is going to want to see Ava, that much I know. She’ll want to take her. I’m not prepared for that. I have no claim on the kid, no rights over her, but she’s become, my little girl. I love Ava as if she was my own, and I can’t just hand her over like she was just a lodger in my house.
Fallon can’t take care of Ava. She’s not in any fit state right now. She’s been through a horrible ordeal, and Ava is better off staying with me. Once Fallon has recovered, maybe then I’ll let her take Ava home. No doubt she’ll be moving in with Roman. Ava would be safe there with him, but he’s got Romany, Colt, Marley, and now Fallon and whatever state she’s in. Mentally. Physically.
No. Ava is better off with me for the foreseeable.
I completely missed everything that’s just been said. Wasn’t ’til the Prez yelled my name, that I snapped out of thought.
“We’re waiting for your vote.”
“On what, Prez?”
Prez rolls his eyes, Jett grumbles.
“Have you listened to anything that’s been said?!”
“Yes. No. Sorry.” I offer up.
“Brick is dead. Mortar dealt with that problem. He also brought Fallon home. There need be no more bloodshed and death between our clubs. Allies, not enemies. What do you say, Trace?”
Two Of A Kind: Snakes Henchmen MC Page 21
