by Nicola Jane
“I hate the way he’s been treating you. And it makes no sense, he went from being obsessed with you to behaving like he hates you!”
“One day, my prince will come,” I say, laughing. We used to use that line a lot when we were younger. “But until then, I don’t need a man.”
At seven o'clock prompt, there’s a knock. Riggs fills the doorway. Eva takes Ziggy to the car, eyeing Riggs as she passes him. “What's up with her?” he asks, and I shrug.
“Can I pop my head in to see Willow?” he asks. I nod, opening the door wider for him to step inside. Willow smiles when she spots him, wriggling her legs and making her bouncer wobble. He picks her up and smothers her in kisses.
“Did you get an appointment to see a solicitor?” I ask casually and he stares at me blankly. “About a divorce,” I prompt.
“No, not yet. We should talk and decide how we’re gonna do shit,” he says.
“Get the papers drawn up and I’ll sign. There’s nothing to discuss.”
“We gotta talk money, Anna.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need anything from you. I won’t take you to the cleaners. Just pay towards Willow.”
“You’re entitled to half of everything I own,” he mutters.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want anything,” I say.
“You say that now because you’re angry, but down the line, you’ll need money for your future.”
“That’s why I’m at college, to better my future for me and the kids. I’m looking for a job. I can pay my own way. I’ve dipped into the money Reggie left in my account.”
Riggs glares at me. “You used Reggie’s money rather than asking me?”
“Technically, it’s my money. It’s wasted just sitting in the account, and besides, I’m raising his daughter. He should pay.”
“I can give you money. I can provide for my wife and kid,” snaps Riggs.
“I never said you couldn’t. We’re going around in circles. Anyway, we’re separated. You don’t need to pay for me anymore.”
“We’re still married,” he sighs.
“Hopefully not for much longer,” I say, adding a sarcastic smile.
Leia waits for me to reach her before wrapping me in her arms. “I miss you so much,” she cries.
“You’re so dramatic.”
She called me to meet for coffee. We find a table and take a seat, then a waitress takes our order. “I have something so exciting to ask you,” she says, practically jumping up and down in her seat. “Vinn’s opening a microbar,” she says. “He needs a manager.”
“Okay,” I say, confused as to why this is so exciting.
“He wants you, Anna. He wants you to run it.”
My eyes widen. “Really?”
“Yes!” she says, grinning. “It’s a great little place on Queen’s Road. You’ll fall in love with it. He’s done an amazing job on the place. Mum and Esther said they’d help with the kids when you need it, and of course, you have me, Eva, and anyone else who wants to help.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes!” she laughs.
“Yes! A hundred times yes!”
“Have you spoken to Riggs?” she asks, her smile fading.
“A little. He’s talking divorce and splitting money,” I mutter. “It’s all a bit real.”
“He’s really sad. Locks himself away in his office all the time. Chains is worried, said he’s never seen Riggs so crazy. He’s making snappy decisions and getting his hands dirty instead of asking the brothers. It ain’t like him.”
“He told me he’s sleeping with Raven,” I say, and her eyes bug out of her head.
“Chains hasn’t mentioned it and we all know he and Raven are as thick as thieves. Maybe Riggs is trying to make you jealous?” she suggests. I shake my head. If he’s saying stuff like that, then he’s thinking about doing it. “He’s seeing a counsellor,” she adds quietly. “Mum wasn’t meant to tell me, but you know what she’s like. It’s clearly not helping if he’s talking about divorce. We thought it’d help.”
“Well, maybe it is. Maybe it’s what he wants deep down and the counsellor made him see that.”
“No,” says Leia. “He loves you. He does. Something’s happened to make him like this. We just have to figure it out.”
RIGGS
I wait for my brothers to file into the room. Slamming the gavel onto the table, I finally get their attention. “Vinn has a shipment coming in tonight. I need you guys on the ball. No wandering off for a piss,” I say, my eyes falling to the prospect. “No clowning around. This needs to be unloaded and reloaded in quick time.”
“What we dealing with, Pres?” asks Brick.
“Glocks. But triple what we usually shift,” I say.
“We expecting a war?” asks Blade, laughing.
“Who the fuck knows. All I know is Vinn has already sold over half the cases. We’re gonna make some good money on this provided we can keep to our end of the deal.” I turn to Brick. “Any news, treasurer?”
He shrugs, opening a large book. Most shit’s done on the computer these days, but Brick prefers to write it down old school. “We made good figures this last month, Pres. We keep this up and dreams of turning the club around are a real possibility.”
“Speaking of turning things around, we got the keys to the microbar yesterday. I have a manager lined up and bar staff. I’ll be running the doors for the first few weeks,” I say.
“You?” asks Blu.
“Yeah, me, brother. Problem?”
He shakes his head, smirking over at Cree. “Usually you pass that shit to us.”
“Well, I don’t wanna risk you fuckers screwing up the first clean business we’ve owned. I don’t want it getting back to Anna that we own this place either. As far as she’s concerned, It’s Vinn’s.”
I arrive five minutes early for my appointment with Eleanor. Her receptionist smiles at me in the hungry way she does every time I sit in the waiting room. “This is so unprofessional of me,” she begins, “but I was wondering if you’re single?”
“It’s complicated,” I mutter.
“I know all about complicated,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Maybe we can hook up for a drink some time and compare stories?”
I stare at her for a minute. She’s pretty, blue eyes, blonde hair, good sized tits, and a feistiness about her, but I find myself shaking my head. “You’re right,” I say as the office door opens and I stand. “It’s very unprofessional of you.”
Eleanor takes her usual seat. “How’s things?” she asks.
“I fucked things up with Anna, even more than before,” I say bitterly. “I said a load of shit that I didn’t intend to say, things I hadn’t even thought about.”
“Like?”
“Like I wanted a divorce.” I begin to pace. “That hadn’t entered my head. She’s mine, I ain’t divorcing her. But you know what? She didn’t argue. Like she’s accepted we’re done. Then I told her I was fucking a woman from the club. A woman I’ve not touched!”
“How did Anna react to that?”
“She was upset. Of course, she was. Christ.” I flop down on the posh chair.
“You didn’t get around to telling her the truth?” she asks and I shake my head. “You don’t need me to tell you that talking to her will make all this go away.”
“And then what? She comes home? She sticks by my side?” I snap.
She shrugs her shoulders. “Maybe.”
“And I’ll spend the rest of my life worrying she came home for the wrong reasons. I’ve set her free. Released her from the burden.”
“A burden isn’t how I’d describe it. You think you’ve set her free, but you haven’t given her the option. Anna sounds like a woman who would like the option to make her own choices.”
“She’s agreed to manage the new bar,” I say, changing the subject. She allows me to, which is rare cos usually she pulls me up on that shit. “Well, sort of. She doesn’t know the club owns it.”
“Is lying the best way to start this off?” she asks.
No. “Yes. She wouldn’t take it if she knew the truth.”
Eleanor gently places her notepad on the side table and stares at me. “Remember when you said you felt like you’d been tricked by Anna?” I nod. “It upset you enough for the whole thing to snowball out of your control. Isn’t this the same sort of thing.”
“I know what I’m doing. I know what Anna needs.”
She picks the notepad back up, her eyebrows raised slightly. “What would you like to happen next?”
“I want things to go back to how they were before . . .”
“Before Anna? Before Willow? Before the cancer diagnosis?”
I stare down hard at my fingers.
Before all of it.
Chapter Six
ANNA
I don’t think it’s possible to love a place as much as I do the Easy Riders Bar. Leia was right, this place is amazing. It’s small, and we’ll get fifty customers at one time tops, but it’s intimate, which only adds to the ambiance of the place. Cree hands me a bunch of keys. He spent yesterday showing me around and going through how things work. The most exciting part is I have an office above the bar. That blew me away—I’ve never had my own office.
“Any problems, call me.”
“You?” I repeat. “Not Vinn?” He mutters something vaguely about Vinn being too busy. “Grand opening in a few hours. Exciting,” I say. “Are the bar staff going to appear soon?”
“The schedule is pinned behind the bar. One of the guys will be here soon to cover the security side of things. I gotta go. Call if you need anything.” I watch Cree rush off and head behind the bar to check out the schedule. I guess that’ll be my job from now on. I narrow my eyes when I see Raven’s name down for tonight’s shift. Just what I need—NOT!
Almost an hour later, Raven turns up looking amazing. She’ll get guys in here spending their cash just so they can watch her. I smile stiffly, reminding myself it isn’t her fault my husband is an ass and she looks stunning whereas I—I glance down at my jeans and roll my eyes—look so mumsy. “I’m so excited,” Raven gushes, looking around.
“I thought you were working in the office for Vinn?” I ask casually.
“Yeah, I am. Office worker by day, bar worker by night. I’m saving hard and I love to be busy.”
I show her the office and point to a cupboard where staff can keep their bags and other belongings safe. “Have you done much bar work?” I ask.
“Loads. I really love bar work, chatting to the customers, it’s a great job.” Damn, she’s just so happy and enthusiastic all the goddamn time!
The office door opens and Eva marches in. She smiles and throws her arms around me. “This place is fantastic.”
I nod. “I’m so excited,” I say. Raven slips out the door and goes back down to the bar. “Is she like Superwoman? I mean, she’s stunning, she’s so nice, she works two jobs. Give me at least one flaw so I can hate on her.”
Eva smiles. “Sorry, sweetie, she’s really nice. I have nothing to give you. Unless she is shagging your husband, then . . .” She shrugs, leaving the sentence open.
“She’s so enthusiastic about working. No wonder Vinn hired her.”
“Has Riggs mentioned her since?”
I shake my head. “We haven’t spoken about other people. It’s not her fault, even if he is going there. I’m not stupid. I know all the women who hang around the club want the President. He’s the ultimate prize. Who the hell would turn Riggs down if he came on strong?”
“Me,” says Eva bluntly. “I can’t even look at him lately. He’s an arse.”
I grin. “You have to say that because you’re my best friend.”
The second we open the doors at seven, the place is packed out. Eva steps behind the bar to give us a hand. I make a mental note to double up on staff. I don’t have a minute to myself for the first hour but it passes quickly. When I next look up to serve a waiting customer, I stutter, seeing Riggs before me. “Just water,” he says in a gravelly voice. “I’m on duty.”
I frown, getting him a bottle and placing it on the bar. “Duty?”
“I’m your new doorman baby,” he says grinning.
“Since when did you do door work?” I snap. “Did Vinn put you up to this?”
He shakes his head. “My brothers are busy tonight, so I stepped up. Plus, I wanted to be here on opening night. It’s a big night for you.”
I don’t have time for his riddles so I turn to the next customer. Riggs takes his spot at the door. Every time I look up, I see him staring at Raven and my heart breaks a little more. He could at least try and hide how he feels.
An hour before closing, there’s a break in customers. Things are slowing down and my aching feet are thankful. “Why don’t you take a break, Anna? You haven’t moved from this bar all night,” says Raven. I smile gratefully, taking her up on the offer. I’d made sure she had regular breaks, I’ve read up a lot on keeping employees happy.
I step out for some fresh air. “Opening night was a hit,” says Riggs. I nod in agreement. The only down side of the evening was watching him watch Raven. “And you’re great with the customers.”
“I’m surprised you noticed,” I mutter.
“Why didn’t you do something like this before?” he asks. “You were radiant behind that bar. I’ve never seen you look so . . . happy.”
“I should have,” I agree. “I should have made more time for me and what I wanted, instead of you and Reggie. I’m finally getting a life. That makes me happy.”
“I’m glad, Anna. I just wish you’d have told me sooner you needed something more. I would have made your dreams come true.”
I scoff. “I only wanted you, Riggs. Nothing else mattered. And look where that got me. Are you and Raven happy?” I ask, lightly.
“About that—” he begins, but a scuffle breaks out inside and we both rush to break it up.
Two guys are pushing each other and yelling. There’s a woman between them, crying and trying to break them apart. Riggs grabs the nearest guy to him and tries to drag him outside, but he puts up a fight, knocking a table of glasses over. “Come on,” I say, groaning at the shards of glass on the floor. “Just calm down.”
The guy turns at the same time as Riggs pulls him, and his arm flies up and smashes into my face. A blinding pain rips through my cheek bone and makes my eyeball feel ready to burst. “Motherfucker!” I yell, gripping my cheek. A look of rage passes over Riggs’ face and he throws the guy out into the street, following him and closing the door.
Raven puts an arm around my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
I nod as she leads me back behind the bar and grabs a towel. She throws some ice into it and presses it to my cheek. “Shit, he got you good,” she mutters, examining my face.
“Can you go out there and make sure Riggs doesn’t go mental on the guy? It was an accident.” She nods and heads outside to find them. I check my watch to see it’s closing time and I’m relieved to ring the bell, letting the customers know to drink up.
It’s another ten minutes of waiting for customers to finish their drinks and leave. I follow the final couple to the door so I can lock up. I spot Riggs and Raven chatting in the car park and a stab of jealousy hits me hard. They look good together.
When the pair knock on the door to be let in, I release the latch and go back to collecting dirty glasses. Riggs stands in front of me, blocking my path. He grips my chin in his fingers and tilts my head so he can examine my face, but I pull free and step around him. “I wanna check you’re okay,” he says as I pile glasses on the bar top.
“I’m all good,” I mutter.
“I’ll stay and help you clean up. Chains is here to drive Raven home,” says Riggs.
“I’m fine by myself,” I say, coldly. “You can leave with her.”
He stares at me for a second and then begins collecting glasses. Raven appears with her coat and bag. “I enjoyed ton
ight,” she says. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Riggs sees her out to Chains’ bike and then returns, locking the door behind him. “You really didn’t need to stay,” I mutter, loading the glasses into the dishwasher.
“Anna, you’ll never be here alone at night.”
“You’re not responsible for me anymore. I can look after myself.”
Riggs wipes down a table. “Mum was really happy you asked her to have the kids tonight. She misses them,” he says.
“It’ll be weird going home to an empty house,” I say. I’ll need a lot of childcare help doing this job.
“You’re the manager. You can make sure your shifts fit around the kids,” he points out.
“I know, but I wanted to be around for the first week or so.”
“It suits you,” he says quietly. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you tonight. I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time.”
“I thought you were too busy watching Raven to notice me,” I admit.
“I didn’t look at her once,” he says, frowning. “It’s you who I can’t take my eyes off, Anna. It’s always been you.”
“Not always,” I almost whisper. “What went wrong with us?” I ask, my tone almost desperate. He rests his hands against the bar. “I thought you’d see Willow and fall in love. That you’d forgive me for all the shit you thought I’d done. But you became so distant, and not just to me but to Willow. She didn’t deserve that.”
He nods, acknowledging that he agrees, which surprises me. Usually, he shuts me down at this point. “Too much happened and I lost my way,” he says. “You took me by surprise when you announced the pregnancy.”
“I’m your wife. I didn’t need to trap you.”
“I know,” he mutters. “I said all that stuff because . . .”
“Because what?”
He stares at me for a long while, then sighs. “Come and see the counsellor with me. Please.”
I groan. Not this again. “Why?” I ask. “You pushed me away and let me leave, but now, you want to sit in a room with me and a stranger and talk about what? All the things you think I did wrong? You think I’ll confess to trapping you? Because I didn’t. Willow was an accident, and a good one at that.”
