by Nina Levine
She arched a brow. “You want to try that again?”
“Not particularly.”
“I’m not making you another until you speak to me like a civil human being, Hyde.”
Fucking hell. “Make me a fucking drink, Kree, or else you and I are gonna have words about your employment here.”
“Hyde.” King’s ominous voice came from behind me.
I faced him, shoulders squared. “Have you come to your senses?”
Distaste clung to his words when he ordered, “My office. Now.”
We watched each other, silently waging war. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence for us. One minute united, the next going to battle with each other. It never lasted long, but over the last few months, tensions had simmered to boiling point. I did my best to reel my shit in, but when my mind snapped like it had tonight, my efforts were futile.
When I didn’t budge, he repeated himself in the quiet, menacing voice that signalled he’d also reached his limit. I managed to come to my senses enough to heed his warning. When we arrived at his office, he kicked everyone out and closed the door behind us.
“If you were anyone else, I’d tell you to get the fuck out of the clubhouse for the way you spoke to Kree.”
“You’re fucking joking, right?”
“No.”
“Who the fuck is Kree to you, King? I’ve watched the way you are with her. I’ve never seen you like it with any other woman here.”
“That’s not fucking important here. Your—”
I cut him off. “You’ve never cared about this shit before. Why the change all of a sudden?”
“Fuck!” He slammed his hand down on the desk and then paced the width of the office in silence for a few moments. Finally, he stopped and looked at me. The torment I saw in his eyes was enough to make me stop. Something else was going on here.
“What?”
“The club is in danger, and I can’t fucking figure out who is behind it. I can’t fucking stop it. And I can’t fucking make sure everyone is safe.” He paused for a moment. I’d never seen King in this state before. He lived and breathed power, not this bewilderment. “The only thing I seem to have any control over at the moment is the club.” He jabbed a finger in the air at me. “I fucking need you behind me, brother. Not pissing all over club members and staff. Not losing that fucking temper of yours all the damn time. Go home, get yourself together, and when I see you next, I don’t wanna see any of this bullshit. It’s done. I’m not fucking putting up with it anymore.”
He was right. I was smart enough to acknowledge that.
I nodded, but said nothing. There wasn’t anything to say to that. King wasn’t looking for promises; he never was. The only thing he was interested in were actions that produced results.
“Go home. Bronze is looking into Ryland and the other guy for us. There’s nothing else to do here tonight.” With that, he exited the office, his shoulders tense with the burden he carried.
Fuck.
Letting King down wasn’t something I wanted to do. And I’d done plenty of it over the years. I hadn’t cared enough, though. Life had just been something to get through. Until now. Now, I had reasons to do better. To be better.
I stopped at the bar before I left. Kree was busy so I waited for her. When she was free, I said, “I was an asshole. I’m sorry.”
Her eyes searched mine. I had the distinct impression she was assessing my honesty. Finally, she nodded and said, “Apology accepted. Don’t do it again, Hyde. I’ve put up with enough shit from men in my life. I won’t accept it anymore.”
“Understood.”
I respected the hell out of a woman who stood her ground. If she’d told me to go fuck myself, I would have understood. Now that I’d calmed down I would have. Not earlier, though. No, earlier my temper owned me. And that scared the everloving fuck out of me. It reminded me that I really was my mother’s son.
Chapter 21
Hyde
I cracked an eye open and instantly regretted the whisky I’d drunk when I got home last night. My head throbbed and I felt like shit. The headache was intensified by the yelling coming from another room. Tenille and Charlie were going at it.
Checking my irritation, I headed out to the kitchen where they stood arguing. “What the fuck’s going on?” I asked.
Two heads snapped around to face me, and they both yelled something about the other. I held up my hand. “How about you take turns? I’ve got a headache and can only focus on one at a time.”
It took them a good five fucking minutes to tell me they were fighting over Charlie getting her hair done. She wanted a colour that was apparently out of Tenille’s budget.
Desperate to end the yelling, I cut in. “I’ll pay for it.”
Charlie’s eyes widened with surprise. Tenille’s darkened with anger. Neither reaction was what I’d expected.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Tenille started in on me. “You’re just going to come back into our lives and play the fun dad who gives her everything she wants?”
“Jesus, Tee, that wasn’t my intention.” Where the fuck did women come up with these ideas?
“Regardless of whether I could afford it or not, Charlie knows that until she brings her grades back up and stops smoking and drinking, I’m not paying for her to get balayage.”
“Balay-the-fuck-what?”
Charlie groaned impatiently. “Balayage. It’s a colouring technique.” To her mother she said, “You’re so hypocritical! You drink your gin like its water, but you have a whole other set of rules for me.”
“That’s because it’s my job to have rules for you.” Tenille’s voice grew louder. Blinking, I took a good look at her. She looked like shit—tired and drained.
“What’s in your plans for the day?” I asked her.
That question really pissed her off. “Don’t change the conversation!”
I reached for my bottle of whisky and poured some into a glass. “Wasn’t trying to. I figured maybe you should take a day and go out. Do something by yourself.”
Tenille’s hand slammed down onto her waist as she glared at me. “You’re trying to get rid of me?”
“Fuck, tone that shit down, woman.” Her voice had turned into a screech that hurt my head. “No one’s trying to get rid of anyone. I’m suggesting, though, that we could all do with a break from each other.”
“You’ve hardly been home, Aiden. I don’t know what the fuck you need a break from.”
I swallowed all the whisky in my glass, hoping to fuck I could control my rising temper. “Tenille,” I said, deathly calm, “walk away from this conversation, pick up your bag and remove yourself from this house for at least half the day. When you get back, we will resume this discussion and come to an agreement on Charlie’s hair.” How the fuck hair colour could cause a problem like this was beyond me.
“Ugh,” Charlie whinged before stomping off to her bedroom. “I wanted to get it done today!”
Tenille picked up her handbag. Dropping her gaze to the bottle of whisky, she said, “You’re turning into your mother, Aiden. Something you swore you never wanted to do.”
The front door slammed after her a few moments later as her words settled deep in my bones. They cut like a motherfucker because she was right—I had sworn I wouldn’t become my mother. A mean drunk. And yet, I was fast becoming exactly that.
Fuck.
I shoved the whisky back in the cupboard and dumped my empty glass in the sink. Walking faster than my headache preferred, I made my way to Charlie’s room where I found her with earphones in on her bed.
Glancing at me, she pulled an earbud out and muttered, “What do you want?”
“You need to cut your mother some slack. And you need to realise that her rules are there for a reason. And for fuck’s sake, you’re old enough to know that parents do the shit they don’t want their kids to do. Drinking doesn’t make her a hypocrite.”
She looked at me with shock. This was the first time I’d
been so blunt with her. I’d been fucking tiptoeing around her, not wanting to chance pushing her away. But the time had come for me to step up to the plate and parent her. And she could try to push me away all she liked. I wouldn’t stand for it. I was in her life now whether she wanted me or not.
“You don’t understand, Aiden. She’s turned into such a bitch this last year. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she hates everything I say and do. Nothing is good enough for her.”
“Ever stop to think about shit from her perspective? For her to leave Craig, I’m guessing they’ve had a lot of problems.”
“Dad does a lot for Mum, but she’s never happy with him either. They fight so much. The only time she seems happy is when Gibson comes over.”
I ignored the fact she called Craig dad and zeroed in on the way she spat Gibson’s name out. “You don’t like him, do you?”
Her face darkened. “No. He’s a creeper. He’s always watching me, asking me about how school is and about my friends and my sport. I mean, why does he even care about that stuff?”
My fists clenched by my side. I hated that Tenille had let him into their lives. “Do me a favour and stay away from him.”
“I thought you two were close when you were younger?”
“Why would you think that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. He talks about you a lot. He’s always reminding Mum of things you guys did with his son.”
Tenille had said something similar. It made no sense to me. I’d always thought Gibson cared about me, but he’d shown his true colours the day he threatened to kill my family and me. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“Not for a couple of weeks. I think he’s been overseas.” She huffed out a breath. “God, can we stop talking about this and start talking about my hair? You need to talk Mum around.”
“I’ll talk to her when she’s calmed down, but I’m gonna need to see some respect coming from you towards her.”
She slumped against the wall. “I’ll try. I just hope she tries too. I’m sick of her making me feel like shit.”
I decided it might be a good idea to keep them apart for the day, to give each a chance at getting their head together. “You ever been on a motorbike?”
Her eyes sparked with interest and she sat forward. “No.”
“You wanna go for a ride?”
She was off the bed in a flash. “Hell yes!”
If I’d realised she’d be this excited about something that meant we’d be spending time together, I would have suggested it sooner. Jerking my head towards the front of the house, I said, “Get your ass outside. And Charlie?”
“Yeah?” She was already halfway across her bedroom.
“No more talk of hair today. I take you out on my bike, we’re gonna discuss everything else that has been happening in your life.”
Slowing, she met my gaze. She understood my meaning. I could tell by the way she looked at me with a little hesitation. Today would mark a change in our relationship. I’d be asking for more from her from here on out.
“Okay.”
With one word, she made my fucking day. The headache pounding in my head cleared, and hope stirred deep in my gut. My kid and I were finding our way back to each other.
Chapter 22
Hyde
Holding my phone to my ear, I watched Monroe in her front yard from where I’d parked my bike outside her house. Sully was on the other end, but I had trouble focusing on what he said as Monroe proved again what a distraction she’d become in my life.
“Are you listening to what I’m saying, Aiden?”
I wasn’t listening to a damn word he said because the only thing I could focus on was the fact another man had his arm around Monroe. And I didn’t fucking like it.
“No, I missed it.”
Monroe laughed as the guy standing next to her with his arm around her shoulders said something to her. The smile on his face irritated the fuck out of me. Fox was with them, laughing too.
Who was the motherfucker with Monroe?
Sully’s voice boomed from my phone. “I said I’m heading down to Melbourne today to check on Craig like you asked. He’s been in Perth but is back now. I’m not sure how long for, though. I’ll check in with you when I have more information.” I’d asked him to investigate what Craig was up to that caused him to come home beaten up.
I gripped the phone harder when the guy with Monroe squeezed her closer to him for a moment. “Sounds good.”
With that, I ended the call and gave my full attention to the asshole with Monroe. Committing his face to memory, I vowed to find out who he was. I also vowed to get Monroe on the same page as me. I was done with letting her fight this thing between us.
Her gaze turned to me as I walked towards her. She hit me with a sexy smile. At least she hadn’t given that to the motherfucker.
“Hyde,” Fox greeted me.
I nodded at him. “Fox.”
“I didn’t know you were bringing your sexy ass over today,” Monroe said, her voice all smoky and breathy, hitting me right in the dick. “I thought you were gonna call,” she added, a hint of playfulness creeping in to her voice too.
“I decided not to take a chance on you ignoring my call.”
Her head dropped to the side, eyes full of heat. “You really think I would have ignored your call?”
“Right,” Fox cut in, “That’s our cue to leave you two alone.” He indicated for the asshole with his arm still draped over Monroe’s shoulders to leave.
“Thanks for everything, Fox. I’m excited about our plans. I just hope I can find a way to pull them off,” Monroe said.
The asshole said something to her that I couldn’t hear before following Fox out of her yard. I watched silently, tracking their movements. They couldn’t leave soon enough as far as I was concerned.
Monroe slid her arm around my waist and pressed her body against mine. “It’s good to see you, but I really wish you’d called first.”
Hardly paying attention to what she said, I growled, “Who was that?” I couldn’t keep the demanding tone from my voice even if I’d tried. I needed to know who he was and what the fuck he was to her.
Her eyes narrowed. “What does that mean? If we were dating, I’d say you sounded jealous.”
“Answer my question, sugar. Who the fuck was that?”
She let me go and took a step back. “Whoa, tiger, steady on there. That was Leo, Fox’s cousin and a friend of mine. What’s going on here?”
With a determined stride, I closed the short distance between us and took hold of her by the waist. “What’s going on here is that I didn’t like his hands on you.”
Her eyes widened and she planted her palms on my chest. Trying to push out of my hold, she said, “I don’t live my life making sure to only do things you like.”
I tightened my hold, not letting her move a fucking inch. “I never said you had to, but I would like to know what that asshole means to you.”
“He’s not an asshole, Hyde. He’s a good friend. That’s all.”
“Looked like more than that to me.”
“You are jealous.”
I ignored that. “You sleep with your friends, Roe?”
She smacked my chest. Still trying to move out of my embrace. Still failing, because there was no way in hell I was letting her go. “Oh my God, you did not just say that to me! We’ve made no promises to each other, so who I sleep with is none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business. And I’m telling you now, I don’t want another man’s hands on you.”
“Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but the only man who gets to dictate that kind of shit to me is the man I’m dating. And seems as though you and I aren’t dating, you get zero say in whose hands are on me.” She hit my chest again and added, “Now let me go.” Her eyes were full of that fierce energy I loved in a woman.
“How about you and I start dating?”
She stopped trying to escape my
hold. “You don’t do dating.”
“I don’t do dating because I haven’t found a woman I wanted to date.”
“Oh, but now you have? Or is this just because you got your dick in a twist when you saw me with another guy? I’m not down with a man fucking me around, Hyde. If you only want me when you think someone else has me, you can walk away right now.”
“Jesus, woman, are you always this fucking difficult?”
Her mouth fell open. “Are you always this fucking insulting?”
“I don’t date women just to keep other men from them. I can’t stop thinking about you, Monroe. You’re there when I wake up, and you’re still there when I go to bed at night. And in between, you’re every-fucking-where. Hell, I’m even thinking about you when I should be focusing on club business.” I pulled her even closer to me and growled, “I just about lost my fucking shit when I saw that asshole’s hands on you. That’s never happened in my life.”
She stared at me for a long few moments before muttering, “God damn you have a way of saying stuff that makes me wanna drop my panties and fuck you on the spot.” Slapping my chest again, she added, “Stop doing that! A woman needs some control in a relationship.”
My lips twitched. She had a way of amusing the hell out of me. “I’ll take that as a yes, then?”
She pointed a finger at me, in the way that let me know she was about to lay down some rules. “Yes, but I’m not sure about this possessiveness you’ve got going on. It’s kinda hot, but at the same time, I don’t like being told what to do.”
My lips grazed her cheek on their way to her ear. “Sugar, stop trying to boss me. I fucking boss you. And as far as that possessiveness goes, we’re good unless I turn up here again to find someone’s hands on you. That happens, all fucking bets are off. I don’t share what’s mine.”
She didn’t say anything, but I was sure I heard a moan fall from her lips.
Not wasting any time, I smacked her ass and said, “Now, I want you inside, naked. We’re about to get wet.”
