Chapter 29—Kooper #2
“About the time we all learned you were more than just a mouth,” he shoots back, gaining even more laughs as Bass’s smile drops.
“Settle.” Casper bangs the gavel twice before we do.
“King’s got a point. Who knew?” Another round of smirks, even Bass as he quietly gets over his little tiff.
“I’ll talk to Billy and let her know the club’s ruling.
We’ll wait till they get back to us on it.
Meeting adjourned.” He smacks the gavel hard.
“Kooper, stick around. Someone bring in Ruby.”
Most of the boys head out, but Atom sticks around, as well as Bulldog and Flint. Before General gets up, I tag him on the leg, and he leans in.
“Need a tox screen,” I say.
His eyes get wide, but he keeps his voice low, like mine. “Issues?”
I shake my head. “Solo thing. I’ll get with you after this.”
“How long was it in your system?”
“Last night. Felt like shit again this morning. Still do a bit. Might not be a ton, but I’m hoping you can at least get me an idea of what it is.”
He nods. “You know where to find me.” He slaps my back and exits just as Ruby walks through the door.
“You rang, Your Majesty?” The girl even bows a bit, her hands rolling at her sides. Like a freaking court jester being summoned before a king.
“Save the sass and have a seat,” he barks at her. He doesn’t even stand, just folds his arms and leans back in his chair.
Ruby raises an eyebrow. I doubt she expected Casper to ever speak so harshly to her. But things are changing. The sooner she gets that, the better for me.
“Last time I checked, I already had a daddy. And you weren’t looking for a sub.”
Casper’s hands come to the table, and he stands slowly.
“Let’s get a few things straight, little girl.
You have a dad, not a daddy. A daddy is someone who cares, guides, and even adjusts behavior.
Your dad raised you till you could take care of yourself.
A daddy sees that, despite your age, you still need a firm hand to guide you into decisions that others would leave you on your own to make.
They mold you into the best of what you can become and tan your ass if need be, if not other things.
They create a safe, trusting place for someone to grow beyond what they thought without fear of failure or disappointing someone.
Unless it goes against a rule, a rule that’s put in place to keep you safe.
You don’t have a daddy. You might need one, but you don’t.
And I am not the caregiving type. I have my own demands and needs, and not one of them can you even attempt to satisfy like my girl does.
Now sit the fuck down and shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you. ”
It’s either the sass from Ruby getting to him or the fact that his relationship got called into play twice within the hour that sets off Casper. He ain’t wrong, though. On any count.
With a huff and a puff, she sits. At the opposite end of the table.
The door ain’t closed, so this isn’t an official meeting.
If it were, she wouldn’t be here. We don’t let women in Church—well, not usually.
Fairy was invited in once because of her entanglement.
And the Crazy Eights meet with Casper and the boys in here, but that’s just because it’s the biggest room and has wheelchair access for Charles, their leader.
“Want to tell me what happened yesterday?” Casper’s still standing as he asks. Bulldog, Flint, and I are still in our seats, and Atom is holding up a wall close to the back by Ruby.
She shakes her head, glancing at me and then at the table. For a second, my heart stops beating, and I hold my breath. I look at the boys, then the boss. No one is looking at me, just at her.
They can’t know. They can’t possibly be asking about what went down between us.
I’ve made sure that nothing we did was caught on camera.
I’m the only one with cameras in her place, and they’re only at the front door and by her sliding back door to the tiny balcony.
If cameras saw me, all they would have seen is me coming and leaving.
Nothing else. And me sleeping on the couch ain’t a hard concept to understand.
I’ve got no doubt that no one in their right mind would think I was in her bed, letting her fuck me all night long before I took over and did the same to her.
“Why not just check the feeds? I know you have cameras at the hospital.”
I try to let the air out softly and not all in a rush so no one knows how long I’ve held my breath. A dead giveaway.
This is just about her dad. Not me.
Jesus, man. Get out of your own fucking head. No one cares if you fuck Ruby. They only care if you fuck her over. And they care far more about Law’s recovery than anything else.
Which is how it should be. A brother’s care over another. But when it comes to Ruby, putting anyone, even her dad, before her doesn’t sit well with me.
“We saw the feed,” Casper replies, acknowledging that they were eavesdropping. That this is what they wanted to talk to her about. “We still want to know what your thinking is. Why you thought it was okay to talk to him like that.”
“Talk to him like that? My own dad? You’re really going to stand there and tell me how to talk to him?”
“Yes.”
“You’re unbelievable,” she mutters under her breath.
“What did you say?” Casper quirks an eyebrow, and maybe on a submissive it might work. But Ruby ain’t a submissive. On a good day, she’s a brat. But that’s about it.
“You heard me. You ain’t deaf, none of you are, but you might be going mental. The lot of you. You really think you can stand there and tell me what I can or can’t do with my own dad when you keep lying to me? Keeping things from me?”
Casper huffs. “What did we hide this time?” He seems annoyed, like he’s talking to a child.
“Oh, I don’t know. What about telling me to keep all this to myself when you blab to your woman and her group, huh? So you can do what the fuck you want, but me telling my old man off, who doesn’t even remember me at all, is a bad thing? Fucking one-sided assholes.”
“They’re talking?” Bulldog growls and turns his gaze to Casper, who looks equally pissed.
“Abigail sure had no problem blabbing it all over the hospital. Or should we be calling her Rue now?” Ruby looks away with disgust, and the boys look at Casper.
“The club voted.” That’s all he says, but there’s grit in his voice.
“Kind of shitty that you didn’t take the gag order off Ruby first, though,” Flint says.
Whether Ruby wants to acknowledge it or not, she has allies here. And I don’t think Casper expected any of this to go the way it’s going.
But there’s a reason why Casper is the president. He knows when to take a step back and say when he’s wrong. Or at least attempt an apology.
“You’re right. It should have gone differently, but it didn’t. The club fucked up. Again, where you’re concerned. I get it. And you can be mad at us.”
She scoffs. “I am, dumbass.”
“But…” He looks at her with an intensity to keep her from interrupting again.
“Don’t let your anger at me, at us”—he gestures to those around the table—“affect how you treat your father. You’re going to regret it.
He’s your dad. He might not remember who you are now, but he will. Just give it time.”
Ruby shakes her head. “I’ve given this club plenty of time. Him too. What else do you expect from me?”
“To keep trying,” Atom says, pulling her gaze.
“Trying? He forgot me. He forgot Mom. All he cares about is some ditzy nurse. If he came to the clubhouse right now, I swear he’d hook up with the first vamp he saw.”
“You don’t know that,” Flint says with a shake of his head.
She looks at the others at the table. Everyone but me. “And you don’t know it either.”
When no one answers to deny her, she stands and exits in a flourish. And I don’t even hide that I watch her go.