Chapter 12
I was supposed to be at the shop early this morning, but I found myself up under Cecilia and Hendrix yet again.
The only reason we weren’t together now was because Hendrix had a blowout, and his mama wanted to bathe him. I was cool on smelling his grown man poop, so I went to the shop to check on Snoopy’s progress with Buck’s bike. Keeping my mind on the task at hand was difficult because I wanted to be with them, but I tried not to be overwhelming.
When I got inside, I was surprised to see Izzy in my office, waiting for me.
“Don’t leave us to deal with her.” I smirked because Snoopy swore he knew me. “I can see your escape all over your face. Get this over with so she can be on her way.”
“Her ass shouldn’t be here at all, but I got this.”
“Uh-huh. Hopefully, whatever you say to her gets through so she can stop walking around here looking dumb.”
I chuckled and shook my head as I left him standing in the showroom.
The moment I crossed the threshold, Izzy looked up and smiled at me, but I gave her nothing. I simply crossed my arms over my chest and waited for her to speak. She came toward me, and I took a step back because I didn’t want to give her the impression that she could touch me. Her shoulders dropped, and she looked past me then sighed.
I hiked my right eyebrow, and she took a deep breath and finally spoke up.
“I wanted to apologize for my actions last night.”
“No, you don’t. You did that on purpose, hoping Charlie would see and cause some kind of issues between us?—”
“You don’t even know her for y’all to be an us, Arrow. She just came waltzing in, looking like a battered woman, and you fell for her act. We don’t know anything about her, yet you have her staying in your house. What was wrong with the clubhouse? What if she’s robbing you blind right under your nose?”
Both my eyebrows shot up because Izzy had some nerve talking about someone ripping me off.
The nerve of this woman who had played me for a fool to accuse someone else of using me. I couldn’t believe my ears. It had been months since everything came to light, but there was no way she forgot all the shit she and my father did to me. He had been banished for years, but to my surprise, the two of them had never lost contact. If I could make her disappear, I would have right then because there wasn’t enough room in my office with her audacity, me, and her. I took a deep breath so my anger wouldn’t pull me out of character.
After counting to twenty, six times, I laughed, and Izzy’s brows dipped.
“If memory serves me correctly, that’s exactly what you and my father were doing behind my back. Had it not been for Boss and our accountant, there is no telling how much y’all really would have gotten from me. Don’t put your indiscretions on Charlie. Also, you don’t need to know her… I do, and what I don’t know, I’ll find out. Worry about yourself and stay out of my way. I’m tired of repeating myself. It will never be you again. What is it going to take for you to understand that?”
She started crying, and I scoffed because her tears no longer had any effect on me.
“I’ve apologized several times, Arrow! Why can’t you just give me another chance?”
“You fucked my father our entire relationship, Iz, knowing that man had killed my mother and was married to the woman that helped him do it. You stole from me and plotted with the man you knew I hated, to take me away from my brother. How do you think Boss would respond if he knew that it was you who had been making me sick all those months, huh? I could have died behind that man, and you were willing to help him. Tell me why the fuck would I give you another chance?”
I stepped closer to her, but she was saved by Snoopy clearing his throat at the door.
Never would I have put my hands on her, but I was seconds away from telling her a few things that would break her ass down. Snoopy called her name, and she ignored him and stared at me. I stared right back, and the tears that fell from her eyes had my blood boiling because she hurt me… not the other way around, so I didn’t get the point of this show.
The only thing that made sense was my father being in her ear again, and that had me taking another step toward her.
“Arrow—” Snoopy called my name, but I had nothing for him as I backed Izzy into a wall.
“Did my father send you here?”
“What? No! I haven’t talked to him since you broke up with me. I have no way of getting in contact with him. I swear.”
My eye twitched, and I hated that I couldn’t tell if she was lying to me.
However, I didn’t trust Izzy, so I would have Tech do some digging because if she was being dishonest and had been in contact with him, she would see the same fate as him, his stepson, and wife. I would have to answer to Prez, but I was okay with that. Instead of giving the conversation any more thought, I turned on my heels and left the shop. I was gonna have to put Izzy on notice.
She had too much access to me, and that needed to stop.
“What you doing here?” Boss looked up from the paper he was reading to ask.
I looked around the clubhouse, and there were too many ears around for me to say what was on my mind.
“Come walk with me.”
“Aight, bet.”
He folded his paper, set it on the table, then stood.
I walked in front of my brother, wondering if I should just come clean about our shady ass father or stick with the events that had just taken place at my shop. When we were about three buildings away from the clubhouse, he asked what was on my mind. I turned to him and shrugged my shoulders. The thought of Izzy keeping in contact with our father had me on edge. It was fuck me all day, but I had Cecilia and Hendrix to protect, and Izzy was too close to the situation.
If she was trying to set me up again, I wouldn’t be responsible for what I did.
“I think Izzy is still talking to your father.”
Boss’s head snapped back.
“What? What the hell would make you think that? You sure you not paranoid because your girl is here with us?”
I broke down the entire conversation that I had with Izzy in my office.
“Plus, I’m not understanding her sudden obsession with being in my face. It’s making me think he is pulling her strings to get her to be on my good side again. It feels like a setup. After everything she did at the instruction of him in the past... This clinginess has me about to tweak the fuck out because why can’t she fall back like she been doin’? It’s not just my interest in Charlie. It can’t be.”
With me saying Charlie instead of Cecilia, Boss looked around and noticed two Rebels and nodded.
He’d seen the full file like I had, so he knew her real name just like I did. However, I was feeling like I didn’t know who I could trust, and I hated that. I had been a Rebel since I was fifteen.
These men were my brothers, but Izzy showed me that the only one I could truly trust was the man that came from the same woman as me: Boss.
“Well, let’s get Tech on it because no matter how well they hide it, that man will find out.”
I nodded, and we slapped hands.
“His death timeline has moved up. I am going to set Charlie and the baby up, then I’m getting on the road.”
“I’ll be ready to ride when the time comes.”
I knew that, but hearing it always made me feel good.
We walked toward the clubhouse, but instead of going in, I climbed into my truck to head home. When I pulled up, I couldn’t help but smile, seeing Cecilia and Hendrix on the porch on the swing. She looked good right where she was, and I wouldn’t be mad if she never left. She looked up when I pulled into the driveway and smiled a smile that melted the anger my heart had been wrapped in.
I climbed out of the truck and walked up the four steps that led to the porch.
“Why your brows pinched? Did something happen?”
“You ready to talk about what happened last night?” I asked instead of going into details about what happened with Izzy.
I knew I would have to tell her about our past in depth at some point, but I wasn’t in the headspace at the moment.
“You’re impossible. What do you think we have to talk about, sir?”
I smiled and walked into the house, leaving her on the porch.
Cecilia would follow, so I didn’t bother telling her to do just that. By the time I made it to the half bath to wash my hands, she was coming into the house. She stood outside the door with the baby on one hip and her hand on the other. Once my hands were dry, I exited the half bath and took Hendrix from her and loved on him. When I realized I hadn’t given her a proper greeting, I leaned forward and kissed the side of her mouth.
She smiled, and I chuckled to which her smile dropped, and her mad face took its place.
I led us into the living room, sat down, and said, “I want to apologize for last night. I am not a man that lacks self-control, but I am a selfish man. Last night should not have happened because your husband is still breathing. I have a rule about women that are attached, and last night, all that went out of the window. Now, I wanted you probably more than you wanted me, but I still should have put my needs to the side to make sure mentally, this is what you want. I don’t do casual sex. My territory has been marked, and I want to see if you know what that means.”
“Last night happened because I love the way you make me feel. It may not make sense to make decisions like the one I made last night, but I know what my heart is feeling. Even in this short time, you are all about me. Yes, I have some growing to do alone, but I do not think that can’t happen here with you. To me, you marking your territory means you want me to stay in Rushin Mills with you.”
“I been saying that since the morning after you arrived.”
Cecilia laughed because she knew I was telling the truth.
There was something about her that I wanted to protect and make mine. At first, her safety was the only thing that mattered to me. However, the time we spent together, I wanted every part of her. She filled my spirit in a way that had never happened before her. Letting that go was out of the question.
Plus, there was no one walking this earth that could protect her the way I could, so her being with me was self-explanatory.
“You have, but if you’re going to keep me here forever, I think it’s past time for you to tell me your real name. You have a whole file on me, so I know you know mine. Honestly, I should have asked before you had my cookie in your mouth.”
My lids lowered as they swept her body.
“I am a fan of cookies.” I smirked, and she pushed my shoulder. “Helix.”
“Hmm. I like that… Helix.”
Hearing my name leave her lips caused a chill to run down my spine.
This woman was turning me into a man I didn’t recognize, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Izzy and my father had turned me into something unrecognizable, but with Cecilia in my space, I felt like myself. I played with Hendrix while she looked at us. This was something I could get used to because this was what peace felt like. Everything wouldn’t always be peaches and cream, but for the time being, I would accept the peace that this was.
I looked at Cecilia and gave her a lopsided grin.
“Why you staring like a creep?”
“I’m not a creep. Just admiring you with my heart. Gideon had access to him from conception to his fourth month, and he didn’t have a much care for him as you do, and they share blood.”
“Well, that’s his loss because this little guy is perfect. However, we don’t have to complain because Hendrix will never know Gideon, and that’s the true blessing.”
She nodded, but the smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes.
I hated him for his mother’s actions, but the piece of trash he turned into only added to that hate. Gripping her chin, I brought her to me and kissed her. I wanted nothing more than to be fully buried into her sacred place, but I didn’t want that to be what we were all about, so I pulled her into my side and let Hendrix entertain us for a bit. When he yawned for the third time, she got up and went upstairs to put him down for a nap. While they were gone, I got up to look in the refrigerator to see what I could snack on.
It was too late to have something heavy, too early for dinner, but my stomach was touching my back.
“I know you’re not hungry already. We just ate.”
I turned at the sound of her voice.
“Four hours ago is not us just eating. I’m starving, but I see you didn’t get nothing that can just be popped in the microwave. Swear, I might fall out if I have to sit here and make me a sandwich.”
Cecilia laughed loudly and had to cover her mouth.
“The dramatics are getting out of hand.”
When she was close, I kissed her lips. My tongue swiped at her lips, and I was granted entry. She grabbed my face and brought me closer, which I didn’t think was possible.
Cecilia was the first to pull back, and like two lovesick teens, we stared at one another, wearing goofy grins.