Chapter 7
Rosa grabbed a six-pack of beer, telling me it was drink o’clock somewhere, even though it was only a little after three in the afternoon.
She led me outside and walked around the back patio to the side of the house where there was a small, fenced off seating area that looked like it had been made specifically for the adults.
We sat on a comfortable rattan sofa with huge peach-colored cushions. Rosa opened and passed me a beer, then opened her own and took a long drink with a satisfied sigh.
Despite being out of sight, we could still hear the kids both through the open windows and around the back of the house where they had come out to play.
I laughed at her, kicked off my shoes and put my feet up, tucking them beneath me. “I can’t believe how many kids there are here now.”
“It’s like a goddamn school most days,” Rosa grumbled, but she was smiling.
“King might look like he’s softening having all the families around here,” she arched a brow my way.
“But it’s more about keeping his people close.
Safe. You know he doesn’t tell us women much, but it’s easy to see there is something going on lately. ”
“What do you think it is?” I hedge.
“Randy has been away a lot,” she looked off into the distance, toward the shed. “He’s spending a lot of time down there. Him and Hudson,” she turned back to look at me. “You know he’ll take over for Randy as enforcer, eventually.”
I shrug half-heartedly, even though I hate it.
“My brother is Vice President,” I respond. “Can’t get more embedded than that. Do you know the reason they wanted me here? Dad is saying it’s to keep me safe, but it has got to be something he is really worried about, you know, given I haven’t heard from him in five years.”
Rosa looked at me in silence, her eyes shrewd. Despite what people thought, and how the men keep women out of the “business,” not everything gets by the old ladies. Some of them were confidantes to their husbands, they would never break confidence, especially outside of the club.
I was hoping she could shed some light on what was happening, beyond what King told us about our mother.
As she sipped her beer, our attention was caught by the sound of bikes roaring.
They were heading out of the compound, whoever they were.
I’m stuck here. It doesn’t matter if everyone else can come and go as they please.
The best thing I can do for myself right now is get as much information as possible. Knowledge is power, or so they say. They never had to pit themselves against a motorcycle club with a stubborn, angry asshole for its president.
“How much do you know about my mom?”
“Danica?” Rosa raised her brows. “Your dad talked about her?”
“Oh yeah, he talked about her. He hated her, huh?”
Rosa barked a laugh, but it trailed off and she cast a look over at the clubhouse. For a few minutes, we sat in silence, Rosa clearly thinking about what she wanted to say about my mother.
“Be honest,” I told her. “From what King just told us, we were better off she left.”
“Danica never wanted to be a mother,” Rosa told me, the anger clear. “She wanted what came along with the title of being with an officer in the MC. Danica was smart and could see King was going places. She wanted to rise with him.”
I frowned. It was more or less what King told us. “How well did you know her? You always welcome the other wives in like family. Was it like that with her?”
“No,” she shook her head sadly. “It’s a different dynamic when a hang around ends up becoming an old lady. Not least because you always gotta wonder if your man has fucked her, you know. But Danica never made the effort.
“Even when she was a club girl, she looked down her nose at everyone. She didn’t have any friends. I tried, but most of the other girls didn’t care to. She was different. It was hard to relate to her.”
I thought about what she said for a while. “Do you know where she came from?”
“I do.” She glanced at the house. “Randy may be the strong silent type,” she gave a half smile, referring to her husband. “And he mostly follows the laws of the club, but occasionally,” she winks. “If you follow my meaning, he talks a little freely.”
I nodded to let her know I understood, even if it was a little disturbing thinking about their ‘pillow talk’ given Rosa and Ballistic were like an aunt and uncle to me. Also to reassure her I wouldn’t say anything to get either of them in trouble.
“Randy didn’t agree with bringing her in. She was from a rival club, but Dutch was a soft touch. He was a sucker for a pretty face and your mama, well, she was a walking, talking doll.”
Rosa reached over and pushed some of my hair back.
“Not a patch on you and that handsome brother of yours. You got the best parts of her and your dad.” She blew out a deep breath. Her eyes looked sad, like this really hurt her.
“Danica was ugly. Sorry to say it honey, but she was a raging bitch. We could all see it. But King was happy when he found out your mama was pregnant,” she smiled gently then, almost wistfully.
“The day you two were born, I could see it in his face, you meant the world to him. I know it might not feel like it now, but your dad, he’d do anything for you.
He would be devastated if anything happened to you. ”
Somehow, I couldn’t picture that. Although, in his own way, King had made it seem as if he cared.
“When a man holds his child in his arms for the first time, you can tell instantly what it means to him. King lit up, held both of you together like two little bags of sugar,” she smiled at the memory.
“So, he’s talking about Danica?” she changed the subject. “That can’t be good, considering there is trouble with the Kingsmen.”
I explained to her what King told us and she nodded, confirming that was about as much as she knew. Ballistic had not been as forthcoming with the full story.
“Maybe you need to brush up on your skills,” I laugh.
“Pft, I will have you know Ballistic has never had to look elsewhere from the moment he met me. I know how to keep my man smiling.”
We both laughed at that, and Rosa clinked her bottle against mine.
As much as she had done to help me get away all those years ago, it was obvious Rosa thought I belonged here.
Rosa was the only person besides me and those involved who knew what happened that night. She’d been the one to help me leave before I was supposed to. It was something I had been planning for years, albeit believing my brother and my friends would be with me.
I had to go that night to spare everyone from hurting the way I was. Warren would have known as soon as he saw me that something was seriously wrong. I didn’t want him to know, or anyone else for that matter. It was my story and mine alone.
I’d come to this house, hoping none of the old ladies would be around because they usually went home when there wasn’t a special occasion at the clubhouse. I’d dragged myself up the stairs in the dark, trying to see through my tears.
Rosa had been there and found me. I’d begged her to not tell anyone, and she promised she would keep it to herself if I told her the whole truth.
Once I had, she’d taken me off the compound, cleaned me up. She gave me a packet of cash from her safe saying she would explain it to Ballistic when he realized it was gone. And the keys to a car her son was working on. He fixed up old cars to sell on.
Rosa hadn’t tried to talk me out of it, except to ask me to get some sleep before I went and leave early in the morning rather than go straight away.
She thought if I did that, I’d change my mind, but I didn’t.
I’d gone up to the spare room as she’d asked, knowing Ballistic wouldn’t be back home that night, but I hadn’t slept, and I hadn’t stayed like I told her I would.
Once she was asleep, I grabbed everything, and I left. I called her along the way, so she knew I was okay. I hadn’t disappeared without a trace, and I was genuinely grateful to her for what she had done.
Not caring how it would affect her, she let King know I was safe. We kept in touch, and she told me Warren was ready to come get me when King stopped him.
Rosa didn’t know what was said to them that day, but Warren hadn’t tried to follow me again. He had tried to contact me constantly though, and it had been hard ignoring him at first.
I eventually sent him an email telling him I was fine, I was going to college like I planned, and I was living my life out from under the MC. It hadn’t been polite and had left little room open for further communication.
“So, this Declan? How serious is that?”
I could hear the underlying question in her voice.
Is it serious enough for me to go back to him as soon as I could?
I couldn’t let her, or anyone else, deter me from what was right for me, which meant going back to North Carolina as soon as I could.
So I told her how I’d met him, how we were friends first, then got together, and we had plans to open our own business, eventually.
“He sounds great,” she told me, putting her empty beer bottle down on the table. Yeah, her tone wasn’t as sincere as it could be.
“He is,” I said, looking her in the eye. We had a strange stare out that left me uncomfortable. I tried really hard not to fidget.
“You missed it? This?”
“I honestly never thought about it,” I said, keeping my eyes directly on her.
“Family always comes home.”
“Warren dragged me back-” I said.
“Waverley Curtis, if you did not want to do it, I know you would not be here right now.”
I sat back in the seat, not looking at her this time. She was right. I easily could have told Warren and Hudson where to go. Short of tying me up and dragging me here screaming, which I was sure wouldn’t be beneath Hudson at least, I could have stayed home.
I had to be honest with myself.
“You have more faith in me than I do, Rosa. I folded like a bad hand at poker when I saw Warren. I really missed him,” I add quietly.