31 Ivy #2
“Not now. Need to give him some space,” Grip told me.
“I want this,” I told Vike. I wished more than anything I could sit beside him and slip my hand into his. I wished I could kiss his scarred cheek and remind him that we were good together. “With both of you.”
I practically heard Ice’s eye roll when he breathed out a loud breath.
“Better start drinking something,” Ice told me.
I headed for the kitchen. My throat was parched, and I was starting to feel a little sick. Probably more so from the stress than the pregnancy, but I was sure the scrambling of my hormones wasn’t helping. Surprisingly, Grip was right behind me.
Tucked into the corner and with the wall cutting us off from the living room, I felt like I could breathe. But it only lasted a minute. I was scared of what Grip had to say to me, but I’d take it. I owed him that much.
“I don’t even know what to think here,” he told me. His voice wasn’t angry. It wasn’t happy either. Mostly, he sounded confused, which I understood. “So, you’re the mother chapter’s Prez’s daughter, huh? And we’re having a baby?”
“Yeah,” I replied as I turned and opened the fridge.
I pulled out a can of ginger ale soda, sending a thanks to Mama Marge for grabbing it even though I hadn’t asked for it.
I also pulled out the water pitcher. If I was going to have to pee on another stick or two, then I needed to fill up the tank.
Grip was silent as I poured a glass of water. I was nice and poured him one too. I wanted to bring Vike one, but Grip had made it clear I needed to give him a minute or two.
“Your dad was gonna sell you?” Grip asked, his tone horrified and almost soft.
“Yeah, we’re gonna need more about that,” Ice said, stepping into the kitchen. Bones walked in a second later, and if the opening wasn’t so wide, I would have started to feel caged in.
“What I told you is all I know,” I said. “Muff came to me one day, gave me the pendant, and wouldn’t tell me why. I was freaking out for a couple of weeks, then he… then he was dead.” I turned my back to them as I struggled with my emotions.
My head was dizzy, and the pounding in my ears wouldn’t stop. I hated everything about this moment.
“Hey,” Grip said. His tone was softer than I would have ever imagined it could be. His arms went around my waist, and then he was pulling me back into his chest. He held me. Protective. Secure. And I lost it. “Don’t cry, little lamb.”
“I don’t want to. I wish I could fucking stop,” I told him. His breath tickled the side of my face when he blew out a whisper of a laugh.
I wiped my eyes, stood tall, and turned to face Ice once again. Grip was beside me, slithering his arm around my waist like an anchor. Or better yet, a tether.
“Muff was dead. I had no one, and I didn’t have a clue what was going on.
I was on edge. I couldn’t sleep. One night, I just couldn’t let it go.
I didn’t believe that Muff had died at the hands of another club.
I just felt it in my gut that it was wrong.
” Grip’s arm squeezed me lightly. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t let myself get distracted by it.
“It was in the middle of the night, and I went looking for my dad to ask him what exactly had happened to Muff. I found him in his office. But he wasn’t alone. ”
“Shouldn’t have been snooping,” Ice said, but I could hear the forced tone as if he had to say it.
“I know,” I said through gritted teeth. Of course I fucking knew.
That was all my life had been. The one rule I made sure to never break.
And I hadn’t broken it, not on purpose anyway.
“I didn’t want to hear what I heard. I wasn’t trying to be a snake.
But when my name came out of his mouth, yeah, you’re damn right I fucking listened. ”
“So you overheard him saying he’s handing you over to someone else,” Ice stated, like I hadn’t just said that.
“My dad called the man Berto. That’s a name you don’t say,” I told them.
“Berto Héctor García. Everyone knows him. He works for the North Mendoza Cartel. He has most of northern Florida in his pocket. He had reach from Florida to Texas. I stood there and listened to my dad reassure the man that he still planned on handing me over as a token for the bond of a new relationship or something.” My hands fisted at my sides.
I shook them out, then crossed my arms over my chest. “Berto said that without me, he wouldn’t hand over the product when it came in.
Which we all know is heroine. That man was in the club.
My dad invited him there, and I don’t think anyone else knew.
I hid and waited for them to leave. No one else was in that office other than the two of them. ”
Ice let out a long breath.
I knew this was a lot. I knew I was asking a lot. But I was in it now, and I couldn’t turn back.
“Grip?” Ice asked. “What is it you want to do here?”
I couldn’t tell what he meant by that question. Was he going to help as long as Grip and Viking stood by me? Would he kick them out? I really hoped not. I’d ruined their lives enough. I couldn’t be the cause of them losing their colors on top of it.
I held my breath as I waited for Grip’s answer.