Chapter Ten
Dirty knocked on Petal’s parents’ front door and waited. He made sure to always wait until the other kids had gone to school and there was no one around. The last thing he wanted was for Petal to find out he visited her parents regularly.
Seconds passed, and then George, her father, opened the front door. Petal and George had named their eldest kids after them. It was annoying, but in his head, they were simply Petal’s mom and Petal’s father, it made his life a lot easier.
“Dirty,”
Petal’s father said. “Why don’t you come in?”
He stepped over the threshold, but like a few times before, he didn’t go any further into the house. “Here, this is for you.”
He pulled out a brown envelope and handed it to Petal’s father.
George held up his hands and shook his head. “I can’t keep taking it.”
“I insist.”
Petal’s mother joined them with David on her hip. The two had really gotten their act together, and for that, Dirty was happy. He knew Petal was happier around her parents, and she didn’t constantly feel like she had to take care of them.
“We don’t need your money to keep paying for Petal. We’ve told you this a thousand times,”
Petal’s mother said.
Dirty sighed. “I know, but I also know that Petal has a lot of dreams, and you know she’s not going to accept help from me. This is my way of helping.”
“Son, don’t you think it’s time you talked to Petal, let her know what’s going on?”
George asked.
“No. She’s … moving on. She doesn’t need me.”
It hurt to say that. Last night had been one of the happiest nights of his life in the past few months, because he got to finally hold his woman.
Petal was not his. At least not in the eyes of the world, but she belonged to him. One day, he was going to make it up to her, but he didn’t know when. Until that day, he was going to do everything he could to make her dreams come true.
He knew she was looking at returning to school. He wanted her to not be intimidated about the price. School cost money, and he didn’t want her in any kind of debt. He had plenty of money saved up. More than enough to help, which is why he also gave the money to Petal’s parents to help them.
Her father had gotten that promotion, but they had also been close to losing everything. Behind on rental payments and every bill imaginable. With his help, that was no longer the case. He wanted to help where he could.
They were Petal’s parents, and against all odds, she still loved them, which was mind-boggling to him. They were not bad, evil, or cruel. Just neglectful and more interested in themselves than the children they took care of, or at least that was how it looked.
Petal’s mother was finally seeking the help and support she needed. Her father was getting the recognition at work. Everything was falling into place. He wanted to help where he could, and Petal would not take anything from him. He didn’t even need to ask her.
“We’ll take it and make sure she gets it,”
Petal’s mother said.
Dirty nodded his head. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“You could stay for breakfast if you’d like,”
Petal’s father said.
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. Just make sure she gets the money. I don’t want her to be worried about how much her education costs.”
“It’s time you told her,”
Petal’s mother said.
Dirty went for the front door, opened it, and let himself out. No, there was no time for Petal to find out he meddled.
He had fucked up, and this was the price he paid for that kind of fuckup. Leaving Petal’s parents, he rode out to the clubhouse. He parked his bike and made his way inside to find half of the brothers laying around. They clearly had a party last night. Dirty went straight to the back room where he found Myth enjoying a coffee.
“You’re not passed out?”
Dirty asked.
“I didn’t party. I stayed with Kim until Warden took over.”
He gave a yawn. “Then I came back here to find an orgy and decided to go to bed. I can’t be too tired with the Evil Fuckers lurking, can I? Kim’s going to be a target.”
“Do you think you should go to the diner?”
“I go where Kim wants to go. I don’t get a say in the matter, but trust me, Dirty, I will do everything to keep Kim, Petal, and Rosalie safe.”
“Has Warden organized more protection detail on the diner yet?”
“He’s organized a few things, but as you can see, they’re not exactly in a rush.”
Dirty ran a hand down his face, and he turned toward the coffeepot, pouring himself a large mug of the stuff. He didn’t get any sleep last night because he didn’t want to miss a single moment of being with Petal.
He didn’t realize just a few months ago how much he was going to miss. They only had a few nights of sleeping together, but it seemed that had been enough. Pulling out his cell phone, he called Warden. He wasn’t surprised when the boss picked up right away.
“What’s up?”
“I want to be put on either Kim’s protection detail or at the diner,”
Dirty said.
There was silence.
He heard Kim in the background. “Who is it?”
“It’s Dirty.”
“What does he want?”
There was a time when there was quite a bit of animosity to saying his name. Now, it was just a normal word. There was no anger or rage there. He didn’t know what he’d done to impress her, if he’d even done anything. Either way, it didn’t matter, because Kim wasn’t treating him like the enemy, which meant the shit jobs were not going to be on his radar.
For a short time, after he decided to blurt out the whole truth to the club, he’d been doing jobs only prospects did. That had changed, thankfully. He didn’t mind doing any job for the club, but prospects had certain jobs for a reason. It built character.
“He wants to be on your protection detail,”
Warden said. “Or, he wants to be at the diner to protect.”
Warden must have covered the cell phone, because for a short time there was no noise. He glanced down to make sure his cell phone hadn’t timed out, and it hadn’t. He waited.
“Dirty,”
Warden said, after what seemed like way too long of a wait.
“Yeah.”
“You can be on the diner’s protection detail. I want to know if you see or hear anything. Anyone you don’t recognize. I want pictures sent to Fritz every chance you get, got it?”
“Got it.”
Warden hung up.
“Do you think I can’t do my job?”
Myth asked.
“It’s not about you doing your job. If shit hit the fan at the diner, you and I both know there is only one woman you would go for—Kim. She is your only person of interest to keep alive because you are terrified of Warden.”
“Everyone is terrified of Warden.”
“As they should be, because Kim is Warden’s only sanity. We all know that. Take her out of the equation and we’re fucked. I get that. He’d make Daemon look like a cuddly teddy bear. So, the more people helping you, the better.”
“And we both know you’d die for Petal,”
Myth said, after a few seconds.
Dirty didn’t confirm or deny it. He would take care of Petal, but he’d do everything he could to eliminate the target as well. Warden would expect Myth to get Kim to safety, not to do any kind of heroics.
He took a long sip of his coffee.
“You love her, don’t you?”
Myth asked.
Dirty kept looking at Myth, and he waited. He was not going to answer that question.
Myth laughed and he leaned back. “You know what, you’re full of shit.”
Dirty waited, not sure what his point was.
“I don’t get it, you say all that shit about Petal, you make her fucking hate you, and now what? You’re still in love with her.”
“And you’re not in love with her?”
Dirty asked.
“Petal’s my friend.”
“I know.”
Myth shrugged and he got to his feet. “I’ve got work to do.
Dirty watched him head toward the door, and he knew he should just keep his mouth shut, and he didn’t have a clue why he decided to start talking.
“Have you ever done or said something and the moment you did, you instantly regretted it but you couldn’t stop?”
Myth turned back to him and didn’t say a word.
“Petal was a job,”
Dirty said. “I was asked by Colt to distract her. That was my job, and no, he didn’t care if that meant sleeping with her, just so long as it got her away from Rosalie long enough for him to do whatever he needed to do, so I did my job perfectly, or as perfectly as I could. I should have left it alone at the cruise. Got home and ignored her. That was the plan, but Petal is not the kind of woman you ignore. She’s the kind of woman you cannot even stay away from.”
He shook his head. “When she told me she was pregnant, I panicked and even as I asked the question, I knew it was mine. I messed up. I didn’t take the news like Colt did.”
“What about after? At the party?”
Myth asked.
Dirty looked him straight in the eye and shrugged. “I was jealous.”
“You were jealous.”
“It’s not so hard to believe. You got to see her smiles. You got to see her laugh. You got to see Petal happy, and I didn’t like that.”
“Man, I’m so sorry,”
Myth said.
“Don’t be. All of this is my fault.”
“I can talk to Petal.”
“No,”
Dirty said. “If she is willing to forgive me, then she will let me know, but until then, I’ve got to live with what I’ve done.”
Myth shook his head. “Am I the only one who wouldn’t mind finding a woman and if I loved her, beg her to have me back?”
“Maybe when you find the right woman, you will realize what it’s like to fuck up, and then know you hurt her. I hurt Petal. She didn’t even get the feeling of having a child for that long. She was still figuring everything out because of what I said, and then it was taken. I hurt her, and she lost our baby, and then I hurt her again. I don’t expect her to forgive me.”
“Petal’s a hard cookie, but she is not unforgiving, and I have a feeling she is still in love with you.”
****
“What the fuck did you do?”
Myth asked, pulling Petal to the side and glaring down at her.
“Okay, look, I know this is bad, or at least it kind of looks bad.”
“You hired Tanya?”
Petal grimaced. “Like I said, it looks bad, but I promise you, she asked for the job, and seeing as she was the only one qualified for the job, and wanted it, I don’t see a problem. Harry at the DIY store is reducing the opening times, and she needs a job. It is no big deal. I promise you. No big deal at all. There is nothing to worry about.”
He stared at her, and she tried to smile back at him, or at least get him to smile at her.
“I swear, this had nothing to do with you. She doesn’t even know you like her. Everyone else was an epic failure, and look, Tanya is awesome. The people love her, and Colt is all for Rosalie not being on her very pregnant feet.”
Again, he still glared at her.
“Stop glaring at me. Look, if you can’t handle it, convince Kim to eat elsewhere. This is not all about you. I’m helping a woman out, and she has a kid. Stop being an asshole.”
This time, she glared right back at him. She refused to feel guilty for helping a woman.
Myth’s nostrils flared and she smiled at him.
But, he was done arguing with her, which was a relief. Being Myth’s friend was turning into a full-time occupation. She wondered if she could start charging him by the hour, which sounded so dirty in her head, because she did not want to have sex with him.
With Myth back in his seat, she went to serve some of the orders that had come through. They were busy for lunchtime, and having Tanya working was a welcome relief. She even arrived at the diner super early as well, to learn the new till.
Everything was working great. She was sweet to the customers, fast, and didn’t have butter fingers. Not once had she caught her on her cell phone scrolling through social media. It was all good. The customers were happy. Burto was happy.
Petal came to a stop when she saw Kim calling her over. Everyone in her section had been served, so she made her way toward Kim.
“Is everything okay?”
She’d been the one serving Kim’s table. Myth was with her, and her friend was no longer glaring at her, so that was a win.
“Yeah, I just want to see how you’re doing?”
Petal pulled out a chair with a frown. “I’m doing good. You?”
“You know what I was thinking?”
Kim asked. Before she even got a chance to respond, Kim began talking again. “A girls’ night.”
“A girls’ night?”
“Yeah, you know, you, me, Rosalie, a couple of the girls. Maybe even the new girl who is working.”
“Tanya?”
“Yeah, what do you think?”
Myth frowned and Petal didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“I’m not sure Colt is going to be so happy about Rosalie going out. With her being pregnant, she can’t drink.”
“Alcohol does not make a good time. It helps to loosen the mood, but I think a night out on the town, some dancing, and maybe we find you a man.”
Petal shook her head. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Yeah, I do. I want to see you happy, Sweetheart, and seeing as I’ve made up my mind, that is exactly what is happening.”
“A girls’ night.”
Petal smiled. It had been a long time since they last went out.
“I’m so excited. I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Don’t you think you need to talk to Warden first?”
Myth asked.
“Who do you think I’m going to speak to?”
Kim gave a little giggle. “Please talk to your friend.”
Petal had a feeling Myth had let the cat out of the bag by drooling over Tanya. That had to be the reason Kim seemed determined to have a girls’ night. She was not going to argue, although a night out was the last thing she wanted.
Petal made her way over to the main counter, and Tanya was filling up sugar containers.
“Hey,”
Petal said.
“Hey, Petal, what’s up?”
“How are you getting on?”
“Is it sad and pathetic that it was like I hadn’t left, apart from the fact my ass is not a target for squeezing?”
Petal laughed. “If it would make you feel happy I can attempt to give your ass a squeeze?”
Tanya burst out laughing. “Nah, I’m good. When Al did that last time, he got a black eye.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want any bad color on this pretty face,”
Petal said.
Tanya was easy to talk to.
“So, uh, there is something I’ve got to ask you. It’s not anything to worry about, not really, but, um, you know the Satan’s Death Riders MC?”
“I know of them. I know they come here regularly for the food.”
“Right, uh, you see that woman in the middle chair, got a biker guy with her, looks kind of scary? Not the woman but the guy?”
Tanya smiled. “Yes, I know her. Kim, right?”
“Yes, Kim, well, she wants all of us to go on a girls’ night. She wanted me to invite you and see if you would like to hang out with us.”
This was a lot harder than she anticipated.
“Thank you for the invite but I have no one to watch Leanna. Maybe another time.”
“The club could watch Leanna,”
Kim said, joining them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tanya.”
She held out her hand for the other woman to take.
Petal watched as the two women shook hands.
“Thanks, but as much as I appreciate the invite, I’m not going to leave my daughter with strangers.”
Kim held her hands up. “I totally understand and I wouldn’t either.”
Petal didn’t even need to guess what was going to happen next. Kim was used to getting what she wanted. In a few days’ time, she had a feeling the whole club was going to descend on the diner and Tanya would have met everyone, which meant they were no longer strangers.
Kim went back to her seat, and Tanya turned toward her. “I’m not going to hear the end of this, am I?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “No, you’re not.”
Tanya sighed.
“You’re not apprehensive because they’re … bikers, are you?”
“Petal, I don’t care about that. Leanna is my little girl, and I’m not comfortable leaving her alone to have a night out, especially when I can have one with my little girl, doing our hair, watching movies, and ordering pizza.”
She smiled at Tanya. “Sounds great.”
“It really is, at least to me. I don’t know if anyone will understand.”
Tanya picked up the sugar containers, and Petal got back to work. It was a long day, even after the lunch rush, and she had to wipe down all the tables. There were customers stopping by throughout the day, followed by the dinner rush.
When she locked the main doors at the end of the night, her feet were hurting. Tanya had already left. The diner was spotless. Rosalie had also left. Colt had picked her up, and Burto had gone as well. She was doing the last of her checks before heading out.
It was dark outside, but the parking lot had extra lights, and as she walked toward her car, she noticed it looked different. Stepping closer, she glanced down at the tire, and growled.
“What the ever-loving fuck?”
Someone had slashed her tires. She walked around her car and gritted her teeth. All four of her tires were slashed, and what was worse, she didn’t have a clue who would do this. She didn’t have any enemies. It had been a long time since she pissed anyone off.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Myth. He was the only person she might have upset by hiring a single mom. It would be completely outrageous if he was pissed off with her because she hired someone who needed the job.
“Petal, what’s wrong?”
Myth asked.
“Did you slash my tires?”
“What?”
“Well, did you?”
“No, I didn’t slash your tires. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m at the diner and someone slashed my tires.”
“Please tell me you’re not alone.”
The harshness of his words made her tense up. Myth wasn’t joking. He didn’t slash her tires, and it wasn’t some stupid joke. He sounded serious, and she began to glance around, but outside the parking lot, it was dark.
“Myth, what is going on?”
“I want you to get back in the diner, lock the door, and stay there.”
She began to walk to the diner, hating the feelings swirling inside her gut. This was not good. Fear crawled down her back, and her hands shook as she got to the diner.
She was sure at some point she heard footsteps behind her, but when she looked, no one was there. This is why she hated the fucking dark. This was all bullshit.
Entering the diner, she turned on the lights, which made it impossible to see outside.
“What do you want me to do?”
Petal asked.
“I want you to stay there, go in back to the office, and listen, I’m going to call Dirty.”
“Why are you calling him?”
“Because he put himself on diner protection duty, and I haven’t seen him, which means he’s close by.”
She wanted to ask what the hell that meant, but he had already hung up.
She hated this feeling. Something was clearly going down.
Petal got to the office, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. She took a seat, feeling like a fucking coward. This is not who she was, but fighting a shadow in the dark was equally terrifying.
This was not going well. Next time, she would leave when Burto left, or anyone who stayed late.
Someone slashed her tires, but who? There was not a single customer complaint today. No one sent any food back. It was actually a really good day, which was rare.
Why were her tires slashed? Was it someone just vandalizing property? Myth seemed to know there was someone out there.
Her cell phone went off, causing her to jump and let out a little scream.
“Get your shit together, Petal,”
she said to herself, answering the call. “Hello.”
“Dirty’s outside waiting for you. He doesn’t have your number,”
Myth said.
“Are you going to tell me what is going on?”
she asked. She left the office, locked the door, and made her way through. At the door, Dirty stood close enough for her to see.
“I can’t. You need to talk to Warden.”
And like so many other times when Myth didn’t want to be bombarded with questions, he hung up. She wanted to say something snarky or sarcastic, but nothing came to mind. Instead, she shoved her cell phone into her bag. This was the first time she had come face to face with Dirty since that morning when she hit him.
“Hey,” she said.
“Are you all right?”
Dirty asked.
“Yeah, I am. It’s just my car. The tires were slashed.”
“Myth told me.”
“Where were you?”
she asked.
“I didn’t slash your tires,”
Dirty said.
Petal laughed. “I didn’t think you did, I was just wondering.”
Dirty rubbed the back of his head. “I was riding. I hadn’t gone far, but I didn’t want to scare you. I’ve got my bike if you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
She secured her bag over her body, quickly doing up the zipper. She was ready. More than ready. She looked at Dirty. A part of her wanted to tell him she would wait for someone else, but she didn’t see the point. There was no reason to argue over the ride home.
It was strange, looking at Dirty had been hard for so long. It had been painful, but this didn’t feel painful.
She locked up the diner, making sure to turn off the lights. Once everything was okay, she followed Dirty out toward his bike. Her car looked so freaking lonely.
“What should I do about my car?”
Petal asked.
“I’ll deal with it. Don’t worry. I’ve already called the guys, and they’re coming to look at it.”
“I cannot believe someone slashed my tires.”
She shook her head. “I think what is pissing me off is that I paid good money for those tires.”
At her last service, her tires had pretty much been condemned as the tread was wearing thin. She had no choice but to have them changed. With the money her parents were giving her back, she was able to handle several bills, including her car. Now, that was a bill she would have to pay for again. If she ever met the person responsible for taking out her tires, she was going to fucking kill them. No doubt about it. She hated wasting money. When you grew up with money being scarce, you didn’t risk losing it.
Moving toward Dirty’s bike, she had all those old feelings coming back. The last bike she rode on was Myth’s. Even with Dirty asking her not to go on the back of anyone else’s bike, she went on Myth’s. He had no right to tell her who she could be with.
“I haven’t got a helmet,”
Dirty said.
“That’s fine. I don’t need to wear a helmet.”
“I’ll go slow.”
“You don’t have to.”
She remembered her time with Myth, and when he sped up, it felt so good, so freeing.
Dirty climbed onto his bike, and that was when Petal realized she was going to have to hold onto Dirty. Wow, she was being pushed outside of her comfort zone.
Remember, you hate him.
She was going to have to hold onto him. It was either hold onto Dirty or wait for someone else to come and take her home. Myth hadn’t said there was anyone else. She was all alone right now.
She took a deep breath and climbed onto the back of the bike. Rather than hold back, she wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his musky scent combined with the leather and smell of the bike fumes.
“Are you ready?”
The truth was, she wasn’t ready. She didn’t know if she was ever going to be ready, but she gave him the shout that she was. He took off, riding out of the parking lot. As they were leaving, she saw a couple of bikes approaching, and she saw them flash their headlights at Dirty. She figured that was the club coming to look at her car.
Dirty didn’t stick around, rode her out of the diner, and took her straight toward her home.
The streets were all but dead and it was still warm out, although the sun had set a short time ago. This is what she loved about leading into summer.
The ride to her place didn’t take long, and Dirty didn’t ride too fast or too slow. They arrived at her place, and he turned off the ignition.
Petal climbed off the bike, still feeling the vibrations between her thighs.
“Thanks,” she said.
She made her way up to her house and then she heard it.
“I’m sorry,”
Dirty said.
This made her stop, and she turned to look at him.
Dirty climbed off the bike and made his way toward her. Petal didn’t move. She wasn’t afraid of Dirty, she never had been. He had the power to hurt her, but not to kill her.
“What?”
“I never said I was sorry and meant it,”
Dirty said. “I … I don’t know what came over me. One moment we were doing good. The next, you told me you were pregnant, and I panicked. It makes no sense, because that would have meant you were mine.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”
“I fucked up. I hurt your feelings, and I know there is no way back from that, but I want you to know I’m not going to stop trying.”
“Dirty?”
“Tell me you don’t love me,”
Dirty said. “Tell me you can’t stand to look at me, that you want nothing to do with me. Tell me I am wasting my time, and it would be best for me to just move on. Can you imagine me with another woman?”
Petal frowned. “What the hell is this? You want to apologize and now what? Humiliate me?”
“Fuck!”
He ran a hand down his face. “I’m not good at this. I can’t stand you being with other men. I don’t want to think of another man knowing your pretty smile, or looking into your eyes and knowing you’re one hell of an amazing woman.”
“I have no idea what you’re trying to say,” she said.
“It means I love you. I want a chance with you, and not in secret and not for any club reason. I want to be able to take you out on a date.”
Petal couldn’t believe she was hearing this.
“I know it is going to take time. This is not an easy fix, but I also know we can make this work.”
Dirty reached out and stroked her cheek.
It was such a tender touch that at first she wasn’t sure she felt it.
“I guess what I am trying to say is I’m not giving up. Not on you, not on us. You’ve got me, Petal.”