Chapter 2 Cash #2
Then her anger started. It took about a year, give or take, but I noticed a change.
She wasn’t calling me as often to take her on the bike, and she wasn’t at the clubhouse nearly as regularly as those first several months.
Jude started complaining about rage music blaring through the speakers as she baked into all hours of the night.
Anytime someone brought up her sister, Lucy would get a worried look on her face.
Cece was pushing her away. Hell, she was pushing everyone away.
The only time she was the sweet girl I first met was when she was babysitting Colby.
She loves that kid. We all do. I didn’t push, but maybe I should have.
At least a little. But that was never our relationship, and I think it’s something we both appreciated.
Instead, I would answer whenever she called, take her out whenever she needed some time on the open road, and hang out with her at the park with Colby.
Being in the open still made her nervous, and having me there eased her mind.
Since the kidnapping six weeks ago, that’s all changed.
She doesn’t watch Colby at all anymore, and she hasn’t called me once to take her for a ride.
She rarely answers the phone when I call, and when she does, she’s usually in a rush to hang up.
A couple of times when she has picked up, her words are slow and slurred, and it’s obvious she’s been drinking.
According to Jude, Cece and Lucy have been fighting like cats and dogs. Not that I would know, since she hasn’t deemed it necessary to talk to me.
When she showed up at the party at Elaine Dawson’s estate, she was three sheets to the wind and stumbling over herself on the way out the back patio door.
I clock her immediately, which is usual whenever she enters a room, but so has Lucy, and she’s fucking pissed.
“I said I’m fine,” Cece hollers as Lucy tries to grab her arm.
“You’re drunk,” Lucy hisses. “And you drove here. That is not even in the realm of okay.”
“I had one glass of wine. I’m hardly drunk. You drink all the time. We can do that now. Whatever we want. No one is going to tell us no, right?”
“I never get behind the wheel. And I guaran-damn-tee it was a bottle, not a glass, unless you filled a fucking flower vase and consider that one glass,” Lucy shoots back.
I have no intention of holding back this time.
Cece is going to hear what I have to say, whether she likes it or not, just as soon as Lucy is finished reading her the riot act.
But then I look at Colby and see the heartbreak and worry in his gaze.
He has no idea what’s going on. All he sees is someone he loves acting out of sorts and getting yelled at.
Right then, I decide she needs to get the hell out of here.
Stalking toward the woman who can barely stand straight, I grab Cece by the arm and lean down, whispering, “Colby is watching and he’s scared. I’m taking you out of here.”
Cece’s gaze finds Colby sitting with his mom, nestled in her embrace. She closes her eyes and nods before allowing me to lead her back through the house to her car to take her home.
She doesn’t say a word, just sits in the passenger seat as silent tears stream down her face.
When we get to the house, she still hasn’t spoken.
Honestly, I don’t think she knows what to say or how to spin this.
It seems as though her actions are finally catching up to the part of herself that knows this is wrong.
Everything she’s been doing, the way she’s been handling things, is wrong.
Walking her inside, I lead her to her room.
Cece lies on the bed and closes her eyes.
I head to the kitchen and grab a cup of water, then walk back into her room before setting the glass on the nightstand.
I know full well she isn’t asleep, but I leave her in her room, letting her think she has me fooled.
Then I pocket her keys.
If she wants them back, she’s going to have to talk to me first.
Which brings me to her doorstep.
Cece refused to answer my calls yesterday.
She probably didn’t even know I had her keys when she woke up.
When she realized they were missing, she texted and demanded I bring them back.
I answered that I was busy and would stop by the next day.
It may have been childish on my part, but she needed a day to cool off, and quite frankly, I was still pissed.
How dare she put herself in a situation where we could have been burying another family member because she’s been angry?
She has every right to her feelings, but putting herself and others in danger because she refuses to talk to someone who could help her isn’t going to cut it.
I park my bike between Jude and Linc’s house and hear laughter booming from the garage behind Linc’s place. Instead of going directly to Jude’s, I walk up Linc’s driveway and spot the two men sitting in front of the bike that Linc has been restoring.
“I see you decided to brave Hurricane Cece today. Too chickenshit to do it yesterday?” Jude asks with a smirk playing on the corner of his mouth.
“Figured she needed a day to reflect instead of running off,” I reply.
“Yeah, thanks for that, mate. She was storming around the house well into the early morning hours. Would barely look at me and Lucy when we got home last night. Just blaring that shit she calls music and baked. I don’t know about Lucy, but I’m not touching the new batch of bread.
Shit’s likely to be laced with arsenic.”
“This is Lucy’s sister we’re talking about,” Linc says. “She’s more likely to stick a knife in you than watch you die slowly.”
I give him a flat look. “I don’t know. I think Cece might be patient enough to watch the poison slowly cripple him before taking his life.”
“Wow, you assholes are really making me feel safe in my own home. I have to say, taking her keys was a nice touch,” Jude says with a chuckle. “Wish I would have thought of that months ago. Maybe we should start calling you Daddy Cash,” Jude jokes.
“Please don’t ever let those words be repeated.
To anyone. Under any circumstances.” The last thing I need is a reminder that I have over a decade on Cece.
I’ve never felt particularly old at thirty-six.
Until I started having some not-so-appropriate thoughts about a girl who’s twenty-four.
Those get shut down really fucking quick, though.
“Plus, with that text from Red the other day, I’m perfectly happy having her stick close to home. Kind of hard to run off when you don’t have the keys to your car,” Jude says.
“You don’t have an extra set?” Linc asks.
“You know,” Jude says, tapping his bearded chin. “Now that you mention it, I do recall seeing one in Lucy’s nightstand drawer.”
“You go into your woman’s nightstand drawer? That can be dangerous territory,” Linc comments.
“Ah, mate. The stories I could tell you about all the fun things I find in there—”
“Which you won’t because you aren’t one to kiss and tell, right, asshole?” Lucy chimes in from behind me.
“Damn, Lucifer,” Jude says, eyes wide with surprise. “Every day I’m more and more convinced you really are a demon with the way you sneak up on people.”
“I clocked her as soon as she stepped out of the door,” I say with a grin on my face.
“And you didn’t think to share that information?” Jude asks, quirking his brow.
“Nope,” I reply, my smile widening. “Figured I’d let you dig yourself in a hole. More fun for me that way.”
Jude rolls his eyes and Lucy steps up to him. “I’m going to coffee with the girls. I suggest you keep our activities to yourself if you’d like to keep having them.”
“Now, love. Don’t act like you can resist my charming personality.” Jude grabs her around the waist and pulls her to stand between his knees.
“You’d be surprised what I can resist. I have a drawer full of little gadgets to keep me occupied.” She leans down and kisses her man on the lips.
“Wicked woman,” Jude says with a smile when she straightens and steps out of his hold.
“Have fun with your toys, boys,” Lucy says as she crosses the garage to where I’m standing just on the other side of the threshold. “You going in to give Cece her keys?”
“Yeah. Just checking in with these two first.”
“Scared?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Not at all.” Not entirely a lie.
“Thanks for taking her home the other day. I was in no position to be in an enclosed space with her at that moment.” Lucy looks toward her house and back to me.
“Since the attack…” She shakes her head.
“She’s been drinking. A lot more than what I’d seen before.
Lashing out at the smallest things. Charlie thinks she needs to talk to someone, but she refuses. I don’t know what to do.”
“You thinking rehab?” I ask.
“God, no. At least not yet. I think locking her up would do more harm than good at this point. No, I think if she opens up to someone about what happened, not just in the motel, but while I was gone from the compound, it would help. Maybe I’ll try to talk to her again about seeing a professional.
I think the anger we see is just scratching the surface.
I think—” Lucy swallows hard—“I think she might be angry at me for leaving.”
“She said that?” I ask, a little taken aback by Lucy’s openness with me right now. She’s always been pretty tight-lipped about her previous life with the brothers, well, other than Jude. Charlie has always been her confidant, not any of us. Not like I thought I was with Cece.
“No. And I’m too scared to ask.” She looks away as though she’s embarrassed by her admission. Lucy isn’t afraid of anything, but the thought of her sister resenting her for escaping without her obviously leaves her unsettled.
“I’ll talk to her. See if I can get through,” I offer, and Lucy nods.
“Thanks, Cash. She’s always been more comfortable around you. Hell, more than she is around me sometimes.” Lucy releases an unamused laugh and heads to her car.
“She’s been in knots for the last month, brother,” Jude says, looking toward where Lucy walked off. “When Lucy left, she had to toughen up quick, and she did. But she’s made of stronger stock than Cece.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” I say, shaking my head. “That girl went through hell and she’s still here to tell the tale.”
“Problem is, she isn’t telling it. It’s festering inside her,” Jude replies.
I stare at the house for a few beats, then return my attention to Jude. “I’ll see what I can do to help.”
Jude looks at me for several moments. “I’ve noticed the way she looks at you, brother. Lucy has never said anything, and Little Bit is the last person to open up to me about her feelings, but she looks at you like the sun rises and sets on your blond ass.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, brushing off his comment. “I’m just a person she feels comfortable with.”
“Hmm. Just remember whose sister she is when you’re trying to get her to open up.”
“Are you threatening to beat my ass or something if I mess with Cece?” Not that I ever would, but I can’t help but find Jude’s protective nature when it comes to Cece a little comical.
He was never one to give a shit about anyone or anything other than himself or the brotherhood before Lucy came along.
Life was always one big party. He certainly wasn’t one to have heart-to-hearts with any of us.
“I’m not going to do anything. Lucifer, on the other hand? She’s more likely to dig your grave than tolerate you breaking Cece’s heart.”
I shake my head. No one is breaking anyone’s heart. Cece is too young for me and far too soft and sweet. The only thing I’ve allowed myself to be to her the last two years is her friend. And that’s all it’s ever going to be.