Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
ATOMIC
Rim joins me to help clean up all the broken glass and shit from Ryan’s room, and when we’re finished, he lets out a heavy sigh. “We’re going after this fuck, right?” he asks.
He doesn’t even know why this person attacked Ryan, but he’s just as pissed off about this as I am.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “We sure as fuck are,” I snap.
“I’ll stay here and keep an eye out until the neighbor and kid get back tonight,” he mutters.
I open my mouth to thank him when there is a banging on the door. We both turn our heads and together march the few steps down the hall and toward the front door. I’m just about to tug the door open when I hear a woman’s voice screech.
I know that voice.
Instantly.
Wrenching the door open, I don’t give her a second to even take in who I am. I wrap my fingers around the front of her throat, haul Ellen into the house, and slam the door closed behind her.
“Atomic,” she gasps.
“Fucking right, you goddamn cunt,” I sneer as I walk her backward and slam her against the closed door. I hear her head make a cracking sound against the wood of the closed door and smile, hoping it fucking hurt.
“You better start fucking talking,” I grind out.
Ellen lifts her hands to my wrists and tries to pull them away, but that only makes me tighten my grip on her throat even more. I watch as her eyes bug out, the sight again making me smile. Only because I want to hear her attempt to save her own ass do I loosen my grasp on her neck.
“I came here to check on my sister. What are you doing here?”
“Wrong fucking story,” I growl. “Tell me why the fuck a pimp is after your sister. And why the fuck he would even know who she was.”
When her eyes widen this time, it’s out of shock. She seriously didn’t realize that I would fucking know what was going on? I could ask her what the fuck she thought I was doing here, but I don’t really give a fuck what she thinks about anything.
“I owe him money.”
“Sounds like a goddamn you problem.”
She rolls her eyes to the ceiling, and I swear to fuck, I want to kill her right here and now just for that shit alone.
“I owe way too much. I can never repay it, so he said he wanted Ryan because she would bring in a lot more money. And she will. She’s always been the pretty one. The two of us could get it paid off pretty fast.”
“She’s always been the one who wasn’t a goddamn junky,” I bark. “Your debt is not hers to pay. You fucked up.”
“Why do you care? Don’t you hate her?” she asks, then her lips curve up into an asshole smirky smile. “Didn’t she take your money and run off with the Nomad Kings?” she asks.
The man I was when this bitch knew me would have already killed her and not waited for any answers.
It’s only been six years, but I’m not that same man.
Not anymore. I am the president of an MC now, not just the VP.
I have to take my time before making decisions.
No longer can I go off on anything half-cocked.
At least I try not to.
I’m not perfect.
“What the fuck do you know about it?” I demand.
She hums. “More than you.”
I squeeze her neck, her lips part, and she tries to get my arm off her throat again. Lifting her slightly, it’s my turn to smirk as her toes are elevated from the ground. I could kill her in about five minutes, but I want more information.
Ellen will die.
And it will be me who kills her.
Just maybe not today.
I release her and take a step backward. “Get your skanky cunt ass out of here and tell your fucking pimp to watch his goddamn back.”
She doesn’t scurry away like the cockroach she is, and I’m two seconds from picking her up and physically throwing her ass out the door when she asks me a question. It surprises me. Mainly because I figured she knew the answer. But I can see the confusion clear in her expression.
“Where’s Ryan?”
“You’ve got to be shitting me right now.”
“Atomic, tell me where my sister is.”
Leaning forward slightly, I look into her eyes, and if I thought she sincerely wanted to know, I might tell her, but I can see she’s panicked, and not because Ryan isn’t here, but more likely because her pimp sent her here as some kind of cruel joke.
“Go tell your pimp to fuck himself,” I grind out. “Get the fuck out.”
“My—”
Holding up my hand, I face my palm toward her. “Not another fucking word. You no longer have a goddamn sister. Get the fuck out.”
Thankfully, she does as I demand this time and leaves the house. In the silence that follows, I can feel Rim’s gaze on me. I turn my head to look at him. He’s watching me in silence, then I watch as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“That’s who did this?” he asks. “A pimp?”
“A little pissant pimp. She owes him money. He’s her dealer. Why they both came up with the plan that Ryan would be paying off that cunt’s debt with her body, I have no fucking idea. Ryan was never a whore. She was mine from day one.”
Rim’s eyes widen, then his lips curve up into a grin. “You’re going to have an old lady by the end of all this, aren’t you?”
I flip him off. He doesn’t know that even though she left me, I never renounced her as my old lady. Ryan Turner has always been mine. From day fucking one that she walked into that clubhouse looking for her sister, there was never anyone else for me.
I might have fucked up more times than I can count in the five years she was in my bed, but never fucking once did I not love her. And never was she not mine. Ryan was always mine, and she will always be mine. Rim is right. She’s coming back with me, and I’m never letting her leave again.
Never.
RYAN
I’m not sure how long I wait for something to eat from Atomic, but when he rolls into the hospital room, he has a concerned expression on his face and two bags of food in his hands. He doesn’t say anything about the concern. Instead, he asks who is hungry.
Naturally, Adam, being a little boy, is the first one to pop up from his seat and call out that he is, indeed, hungry. Although, I don’t see how. He’s been eating anything and everything that comes into this room. Plus, the nurses think he’s the cutest and keep bringing him things.
A few moments later, everyone has something to eat, including me. Slowly, I open the Styrofoam container and blink a few times, unsure that I’m seeing what I’m seeing. It’s not just lunch. It’s lunch. It’s my favorite lunch.
“How did you remember?” I ask on a whisper.
Atomic snorts. He’s sitting next to me on the bed, even though the small table Rose and Adam are sitting at is large enough to seat four. His gaze shifts over to mine, and he gives me a smirk before he speaks.
“Hard to forget anything about you, legs.”
The lunch isn’t really anything special. It’s rice with grilled chicken and cabbage and some coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. He reaches into the bag and holds out the coconut aminos. He’s remembered everything. I don’t know how to feel about that.
Granted, I have never forgotten a single thing about him, but I didn’t think he really cared all that much about me. I figured he was pissed that I took his money more than anything else. But maybe I was wrong.
Maybe he cared more for me than I realized. Why do I want to believe that he loved me so much? Is it because I’ve had his child? Is it because there’s never been anyone else for me except him? Is it because I’m pathetic?
Yes to all.
“Thank you, Atomic.”
We eat our lunch in silence, well, everyone except Adam.
He has no problem talking about anything and everything under the sun.
Sometimes, it can be a lot to sit and listen to him ramble and go on in detail about things, but I don’t mind it today.
Maybe because as Golden was beating the shit out of me, I thought I would never hear his little-boy voice again.
When Adam’s voice pauses, I look up to see if he’s waiting for me to answer something he’s asked. I haven’t been listening, really, not to his words, just enjoying the sound of his voice. But when Atomic clears his throat, I know he’s probably searching for the words.
“What was that?” I ask, wishing to know what is happening in the room.
Rose coughs but tries to hide it with the clearing of her throat. “Adam was wondering if Atomic would be here from now on. He asked if you were boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“He also said you have never had a boyfriend,” Atomic adds, turning his head and looking directly at me.
My cheeks heat, and I’m sure they turn red, but since I’m one gigantic bruise, thankfully, he can’t see that. I’m not sure how to answer, but Atomic has no problem clarifying our relationship, giving me news that even I didn’t know.
“You and your mom are coming back with me to my place after it’s safe enough for her to travel. And your mom hasn’t had a boyfriend because I’ve been her boyfriend since she was eighteen years old.”
Fuck.
My eyes widen as much as they can. I suck in a breath and hold it, unsure if he’s just said what he has.
Rose murmurs something, and I hear the door open and close.
I assume they’ve left, but I can’t bring myself to look away from him.
He reaches for my food and takes it from my lap, setting it down somewhere before he reaches out, curling his fingers around the side of my neck gently.
“Atomic?” I ask on a whisper.
“Legs,” he replies but doesn’t say anything else.
“I left you, and I know there’ve been others. There were others when we were together, so why are you telling my son this?” I ask.
His lips curve up into a grin. “Yeah, legs. I know there’ve been others. I’m not a good man, but I will protect you with every fiber of my being. I loved you then. Love you now. Nothing has changed.”
Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around his wrist and squeeze gently.
“I don’t want to be the idiot those girls laugh at behind my back.
I know they do it. You can say everyone knows their place, but remember, my sister was one of those girls.
She made sure to tell me in detail about how they made fun of the naive old ladies. ”
“Before or after she talked you into leaving with the Nomad Kings?” he barks.
He’s angry, but his hold doesn’t tighten. He stays gentle even though if looks could kill, I might actually be dead right now. “Before,” I whisper. “And after.”
“I’m sure she did.”
Squeezing his wrist, I keep my eyes connected to his.
“It doesn’t negate the fact that I saw you with them more than once, Atomic.
She wasn’t making that part up. You were with those women, probably with her, too.
And in your world, there’s nothing I can say or do about that.
It wears on a girl, especially a young girl. ”
He dips his chin in a single nod, then leans forward until his lips barely brush mine. It hurts, but only a little. He lifts his head, shifting backward slightly as his eyes find mine again. “I want to tell you that it will be different this time.”
“Then tell me that,” I say, pleading with him.
He smiles. “How about we get you there and settled, then we go from there?”
“I have things we need to talk about.”
He nods once. “We have the time now. I have my own questions. We can get to know one another again. We can figure it all out.”
I’m not sure he’ll feel the same way once he finds out that the money I stole was for Ellen and that Adam is his son. Although it’s been made clear that there wasn’t anyone else, I thought he would have it figured out.
I wanted to date. It’s not like I sat around and pined over Atomic.
I mean, I did for months, for well over a year actually.
But when Adam was about three, I thought I would try to date again.
I wanted to find someone, a good man. But between Adam being so young and my sister being…
well, my sister, that dream died at inception.
So, I’ve been alone, not necessarily by choice, but by necessity. And just thinking about it all makes me feel really, really damn stupid.