Chapter 12 Sutton
SUTTON
It wasn’t ideal. I sure as hell didn’t enjoy the looks the guys gave me.
And when several of them started cursing, I just knew they were going to throw us both out on our asses.
That was the last straw. Me. My relationship with my father.
I peeked back over at Cage, watching as his face fell to stone.
I saw the worry in his eyes. I’d figured out early on how to read him like a damn book.
The solid stone facade he put on for the guys was nothing compared to the glimmer of worry I saw in those stoic eyes of his.
And honestly? I wouldn’t have blamed them for tossing me out on my ass.
They had families to protect. Children. Legacies. And my father was a disgusting man at times. Hell, all the time, really. I sighed as I leaned back into the couch. I pressed the heels of my hands into them and groaned, trying to wake myself up.
Then, chaos ensued.
“We have to get them the hell away from our lodge,” Knox said.
“Somewhere safe, yes. But not here. Not with the girls and the kids,” Grave said.
“Safe? They aren’t our responsibility. She just admitted to being the daughter of the man that’s chasing them down. The man that put a bullet in his back,” Knox said.
“Yes, but they still need our help,” Brewer said.
“Fuck help. Are we really prepared to help them out with something like this? I mean, truly ready?” Rock said.
“Cage is my brother, which makes him family,” Diesel said.
Cage looked over at me and he sighed. They all argued back and forth, going at one another like teenage posers.
A couple of the guys kept arguing that we needed to get away from here and them before we brought anymore trouble along with us.
Diesel kept reminding them that Cage was family.
One of the guys—I think, Knox? —said I wasn’t related, so I didn’t fit into that picture anyway.
That I was the biggest danger. And while I hated that argument, I agreed with his rationale.
“If she goes, I go,” Cage said.
All the men stopped arguing and turned to Cage.
I shook my head on him, knowing damn good and well he was being too stubborn for his own good.
I should’ve stayed home. I should’ve protected him from the home front.
But here I was. Ruining his chances of finding the last shred of family he had and integrating with this crew.
All because I couldn't let him go.
You’re selfish, you know that?
“Stop it. Right now,” Cage said.
It wasn’t until I looked up at him that I saw he was looking at me.
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“I know what you’re thinking. Stop it. This isn’t your fault,” Cage said.
“It kind of is her fault. Just a bit,” Brewer said.
“No, it isn’t. It isn’t her fucking fault that her father’s a psychopath,” Cage said curtly.
“He’s right. A child should never be held accountable for the sins of their parents,” Diesel said.
I whipped my head over to the president and watched him nod his head at me.
“Look, even if he is related to you, that still doesn’t mean we know him. Or her, for that matter. We need to tread lightly with this, especially give all they’ve revealed to us just now,” Brewer said.
“This could be a flat-out lie, too,” Rock said.
“It could be a set-up. Something to lure us into a trap,” Knox said.
“If we were lying, why would we have told you our ‘ace in the hole,’ so to speak, up front like that? Why would I have told you who her father was? Why would I have admitted my relation to Diesel? Why admit any of it if we’re somehow trying to trick you!?” Cage asked.
“Enough,” Diesel bit.
Everyone fell silent as I closed my eyes.
The room fell silent and the guys were getting nowhere.
And they wouldn't get anywhere, so long as they kept up the cyclical fights. I’d heard enough of them in Patch’s kitchen between the Night Outlaws to know how this went.
They’d fight, they wouldn’t come up with a solution, they’d back down, and they wouldn't address it again until it became an issue again.
Sometimes, men really had issues.
“You have no need to protect us,” I said.
I slowly opened my eyes as Rock snickered.
“You’re damn right we don’t,” he murmured.
“And I know you have no basis on which to trust us,” I said.
“That, too,” Brewer said.
“You also don’t have to protect us. Or house us. Or give us anything, for that matter,” I said.
“You’re fucking right,” Knox growled.
“But we don’t have those kinds of options right now,” I said.
I looked over at Cage and watched as he ran his hands through his hair.
“Cage and I, we’re on the run. Officially. My father’s men have spotted me with him and it’s only a matter of time before my father will make the decision to kill me along with him. That’s just the kind of man he is,” I said.
“Your own father would kill you,” Diesel said.
I nodded slowly. “Yes. He would. I’ve—”
I stared off at the wall as tears crested my eyes.
“I’ve defended the actions of my father for a long time.
I mean, damn it, the man’s my father. Slaughtering people and skimming casinos in order to give me the world.
In some twisted part of my mind that’s always grown up around this, I thought it was sweet.
I thought it was kind, somehow. That he’d go to any lengths in order to provide for the one shred of family he had in his life,” I said.
I looked down into my lap and watched my tears drip onto the blanket against my lap.
“But I’ve chosen sides now. I left to help Cage, and I brought my things with me. Well, I had. Before I had to ditch my car to get on the back of his bike yesterday,” I said.
“Sutton, you don’t—”
I held my hand up, getting him to stop talking.
“I’m sorry, Cage,” I said softly. “I’m sorry for defending him and I’m sorry for trying to paint him as something he wasn’t.
That man has given me everything, and I guess it was my way of trying to make peace with the illegal blood money he threw my way.
It wasn’t right, and I’m really sorry,” I said.
Cage furrowed his brow. “It’s okay. He’s your father. We all do insane things for family.”
“Yes, we do,” I said.
Then, I turned my eyes over to Diesel.
“We have nowhere to go. I have nothing to go home to, Diesel. The second I packed up my things and got on the road to find Cage, I chose a side. A side my father is trying to wipe off the face of this planet. And he won’t even blink before putting a bullet between my eyes.
I got on the road because my father insinuated to me that he knew where Cage was coming.
Which already put you guys at risk. And I’m sorry.
But I’m also not. Because Cage doesn’t have anyone anymore.
He doesn’t have anything. No family. No home.
Nowhere to go, except here. Except where his father told him to be with his dying words.
Cage promised his father he’d come here.
Cage promised your father he’d come find you and get help.
He’s asked you for that help, so now I am.
I’m asking you for help. For both of us.
For myself. For him. And if I have to get down on my knees and beg for it, I will. ”
The entire room froze. It felt like time had been completely stopped. I could have heard a pin drop ten miles away with how silent it went. I sat there, staring into Diesel’s eyes. If there was one thing I ever learned from my father, it was never be the one to break eye contact first.
So, I held Diesel’s gaze until he turned his attention out to the room.
“I think this is the first time I haven’t had to quiet down the club after an argument,” he said.
Everyone in the room chuckled as I peered over at Cage.
“A motion has been brought to the floor to help protect Cage and Sutton. All in favor?” Diesel asked.
And as hands slowly went up in the room, there was one man who didn’t comply.
One man who stood out among the rest. I looked over at Knox, watching them as his eyes slowly cased me.
He looked over at Cage, eyeing us as if we were criminals.
As if we were infiltrators in a place where we didn’t belong.
“How do we know they aren’t lying to us?” Knox asked.
“The Dead Souls don’t turn their backs on someone that needs help. Something we learned with the Black Hornets. Are you really starting to play favorites?” Diesel asked.
And with a grumble, Knox jutted his hand into the air.
“All are in favor, so the motion stands. Cage, Sutton, the two of you can stay here with us until we figure out what our next move is. But, Cage?” Diesel asked.
“Yep?”
“That means you’re fighting with us. As one of us.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.
I grinned as I drew in a deep breath. A breath of relief. A breath for a new beginning. Because I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew this was the start of something great. Something safe. Something new, for both of us.
“Wait,” Brewer said.
I bit back a groan, hoping this wasn’t yet another person kicking back against what has just happened.
“I’m already a step ahead of you, Brewer,” Diesel said.
“Cage and Sutton, you guys will be staying here. At the lodge. The rest of us will be packing up and getting our families to safe places until we can figure out what our next move is. I want you guys here so we know how to find you easily, and this place is already stocked with toiletries and food you guys can use,” Diesel said.
“Everyone can come to mine and Everly’s cabin until we can get it all sorted,” Grave said.
“You have a cabin?” Cage asked.
Grave nodded. “Don’t like the noise and the riff raff that comes with a not-cabin.”
I giggled. “A ‘not-cabin.’ I like it.”
I finally managed to get a grin out of one of the guys, and it gave me hope. It brought me peace. It gave me the idea that things would be okay.
“Is there anyway the two of you can get back to Sutton’s stuff she said she had in her car?” Diesel asked.
Cage paused. “Not without compromising this, I don’t think.”
“Then, there are some spare clothes in the drawers here I’m sure the girls won’t mind you using. I’ll make sure it’s okay with them beforehand, but as long as you take care of them and wash them, I don’t think it’ll be an issue,” Diesel said.
“I really appreciate it, thank you,” I said.
“So, does this mean we need to start packing up?” Rock asked.
Diesel nodded. “The sooner we can get the kids out of here, the better. Get your stuff and head to Grave’s place. And Cage?”
“Yep?” he asked.
“The safest room is at the very back. It doesn’t have windows, but it also doesn’t have windows,” he said.
“I got it. That’s where we’ll be, then,” Cage said.
“Great. Does anyone else have any other issues to air out?” Diesel asked.
The guys standing around shook their heads slowly before their president drew in a deep breath.
“Then, I officially end this church meeting,” he said.
And with a clap of his hands, everyone dispersed.