17
17
Sadie
My soul had never hurt so much. I was dying a slow death after five days of not seeing Bryce and the girls. How could I have fallen so hard for the three of them in such a short amount of time?
I couldn’t say I loved them, but I sure adored them. And no question, had we gotten more time together, I would’ve loved them down to the marrow of my bones. I was confident they would’ve become as dear to me as my flesh and blood and my MC family.
The attraction and passion between Bryce and me had been off the charts. I doubted I’d find that kind of chemistry twice in a lifetime. Knowing me, I’d become obsessed with my career, so I didn’t think about Bryce, and before I knew it, I’d be wrinkly and gray, and alone.
When I thought of the sweet conversations and fun I’d had with Cat and Tori, I realized there was a place in my heart that I hadn’t known existed. I had a yearning to be a mother, to teach and nurture, and love a child.
At least a dozen times over the past several days, I’d wanted to call Bryce to ask if we could figure things out. Then I’d stop myself. Why go through the torture of being told no?
I hated feeling trapped in the gloomiest, saddest, and most depressing universe imaginable—something like a post-apocalyptic movie, where no one survived at the end. The kind of film you hated because it tore you up inside and kept you from a peaceful night’s sleep.
Yeah, I had hardly slept and probably sounded overdramatic, but I couldn’t help it. I was emotionally drained and depressed. I couldn’t do anything but lie in bed and listen to heartbreaking country music.
I heard footsteps and whispering from outside my door, and it put me on alert. I’d been waiting for my dad to tell me the club had taken down my blackmailer, my bio dad.
“Sadie?” My mother rapped softly on my door. “Your dad and I want to talk to you.”
“Come in.” I sat up as they entered.
Mom smiled, and I sensed relief in her.
“Peanut.” My dad winked, which I assumed meant he was in good spirits. I was glad but also nervous about what he would tell me.
“Is it over? Did you catch him?” I was so ready to get on with my life and return to Manhattan. No, not really. I dreaded going back.
No question, people were talking about me in the club. It was just what my MC family did. They probably thought I was stupid for giving up the lead in the Nutcracker. They wouldn’t be wrong. I should’ve told my dad the day I’d found the images on my bed. But if I had said something right away, I wouldn’t have driven home or hooked up with the most handsome single dad of the most adorable twin girls.
“It’s over.” Dad sat on the edge of my bed. “Maddox and his crew captured him. They’ll do away with him when you give the order.”
“When I give the order? I don’t understand.”
“Honey, I told your dad that you should decide what to do with Richard.” Mom sat next to me and took my hand. “He’d love to end his life, but only if you want him to.”
“I know I should care, but I’ve never met Richard. He’s a stranger. And he fucked up my life.” Obviously, Richard was a dick. He only cared about money, not me.
“You have met him.” Mom paused for a long second. As if choosing her words carefully. “Do you remember the man I called my friend in Vegas?”
“Mom, I was like four. Are you saying I was close to him?”
“He wasn’t mean to you.” She stared into my eyes. Hers were the color of whiskey, and mine were hazel green. “He gave you gifts for your birthday and Christmas.”
“He also forced your mom to go back to Vegas,” Dad hissed. “That fucker threatened to take you away from her if she didn’t go back.”
“Oh my God.” I felt sick to my stomach hearing all this for the first time.
“And he got your dad arrested,” Mom said.
I covered my mouth in shock. “He sounds horrible.”
“He is, and that’s why I told him to stay away from you.” Dad paced in my room. “That prick crossed the line, peanut. He came after my girls again, and I can’t let that shit go!”
I wished the floor could swallow me up, so I didn’t have to hear any of this. “Why would he do that?” Duh. He must’ve hated me for being born.
“Because he’s a son of a bitch and a fucking scumbag.” Dad’s face turned beet red.
“Zander, we said we wouldn’t badmouth him.” Mom scowled at him, then turned toward me. “He’s mixed up with a loan shark. If he doesn’t pay up, they’ll kill him and take his strip club.”
“Well, it’s true, Jay. He broke into Sadie’s apartment and left those pictures of you. He scared the crap out of her, and she quit the show!” Dad looked as if he could strangle Richard. I’d never seen him so furious.
My dad was right here, protecting me as he always had.
“So let them go after him.” I raised my hands like I was done with all this. “He ruined my chance at fulfilling my biggest life dream.” There was no love lost for my sperm donor. He wasn’t my father. He had wanted nothing to do with me until he needed money… to the tune of five million dollars.
“Exactly. Fuck him, right, peanut?”
“Right.” I didn’t want to know anything more. I just wanted to get on with my life.
“Are you sure, honey?” Mom asked.
“Yes.” I reclined on my bed and got comfortable. Honestly, to hear I’d known my bio dad when I was little, made everything that had happened more messed up. Richard knew me. He’d been in my life, yet he had no problem using me to pay off his debt. Asshole!
Dad clapped his hands. “Fantastic. Now let’s go celebrate.”
“Zander, isn’t there something else you wanted to tell Sadie?” Mom glared at him.
“Tell me what, Dad?”
“So you know, here in the club we vet everyone. It’s just what we do to protect our loved ones.”
“Yes.” Where was he going with this?
“So I had Grizz look into Bryce.”
“Noooo. Please tell me you didn’t.”
“He did.” Mom rolled her eyes. “But they found out some urgent news.”
“Urgent? Is he sick?” Oh, God. If he was dying of cancer, I would die right along with him. Wait. No, I wouldn’t. Someone would have to be around for Cat and Tori, so they wouldn’t go back to their mom, the mom who didn’t want them.
It just hit me all at once. Cat and Tori had grown up with a single parent as I had. Their mom hadn’t wanted them, like my dad hadn’t wanted me. The similarities we shared were heartbreaking. I’d been blessed with a wonderful mommy like they had a fabulous dad.
When my mom and my dad, Lynx, had gotten together, they had created a loving home for me. I’d gotten a brother and sister. I couldn’t help but wonder about Cat’s and Tori’s future or ignore the intense feeling I was meant to be part of their lives.
“As far as I know, Bryce is as healthy as a horse. But he’s maxed out on his credit cards. The loan manager at the bank said if he doesn’t pay his past due, he’ll lose his house.” Dad’s face fell. “It’s no wonder he really wanted the renovation job. I should have given him a deposit for the whole job, not just one project at a time.”
“But it might be too late.” Mom squeezed my hand as if genuinely concerned about Bryce’s situation. It made my heart hurt.
“Too late?” I asked, my throat constricting.
“You care about him and his girls, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we can help him, but he’s a proud man. He wants to earn his living, not take handouts.” Dad paced again. “But all I need to do is make one phone call, and he won’t lose his house.”
“Then make the call,” I told him, my voice thick with emotion. I was practically in tears. “They can’t lose their home, Dad.” Where would Bryce go with the girls? I guess Nana Bea’s. Still, I didn’t want them to have to move. I remembered what it was like to move into our first home with my dad. I felt safe and secure, and I wanted that for Cat and Tori.
“Okay, done. Do you want to tell him?” Dad asked.
“No. Just do it. I’m leaving in a couple of days.”
Mom gasped. “Honey, so soon? Give him time to consider what he’s giving up.”
“It wouldn’t make a difference. I need to get out of Minnesota.”
The sadness on her face broke a piece in me. I knew my family wanted me nearby, and if things had worked out with Bryce, I might have stayed. But I couldn’t. It would hurt too much if I ran into him and the girls in town. I would forever wonder what might have been, if my dad hadn’t been a biker and I’d grown up normal… whatever normal was.
Returning to the Big Apple was what I needed to pour myself into my dancing. I wouldn’t have a second to spare to think about him or the girls.
“When will you go?” Mom asked. “I was hoping we’d go to the fall festival together. Remember how fun it was to go through the corn maze and find the wartiest pumpkin in the patch? And eat an entire bag of kettle corn?”
“Each. You each powered through your own large bag.” Dad chuckled heartily. “Even when the bag was bigger than you, peanut, you finished it in one sitting.”
“It’s that yummy, babe. Right, Sadie?”
“Yes, it’s the best.” It would’ve been so much fun to take Bryce’s twins to the festival.
There wasn’t anything better than small-town events planned throughout the year. I loved them all: the Easter hunt and picnic, the Fourth of July parade and fireworks show, the fall festival. But my favorite was the Christmas tree lighting after Thanksgiving. There would be cocoa and caroling. Oh, we’d frozen our butts off most years, and those were the ones imprinted on my heart.
I’d missed experiencing the fun in Bastion. Manhattan was great, but it didn’t compare to the charm and tight community I had here in Minnesota. In a perfect world, I’d have both in one place, along with Bryce and his girls.
“Will you stay until Sunday?” Mom made praying hands. “It’ll be for old time’s sake.”
“Gosh, you make it sound like I’ll never come home again.”
Dad tilted his head with attitude. “Peanut, until this visit, it had been five years.”
Thank you, Dad, for the reminder. But he wasn’t wrong. I had become consumed with dancing and chasing my dreams, and I’d forgotten about my family and my hometown.
After the amazing naughty times I’d had with Bryce, and being with the twins, I would have considered staying in town and opening the dance school. Until meeting Bryce, having my own family had never entered my mind, but maybe that was because I hadn’t found the right guy to be my partner and lover.
“Earth to Sadie,” Mom called and shook my hand.
I blinked a few times. “Oh, sorry. Guess I was lost in my thoughts.”
“Thoughts of Bryce?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just say it was fun while it lasted.”
“Sounds like you’re giving up.” Dad hiked his brow. “We’re Quinns and not known for throwing in the towel.”
“We also belong to a MC and y’all aren’t Boy Scouts.”
“Eh, could be worse.” He shrugged, then kissed me on the head. “We could be gangsters, like the Remotti family. We’re way cooler than them.”
“True, very true. I guess I’ll stay for the festival.” Maybe I’d run into Bryce and the girls…