Chapter 12 #2
His grin faded. “She’ll wanna get better, Dad. I know she will.”
I gave him a reassuring smile, but I wasn’t convinced. Experience told me that once drugs took hold, everything became complicated.
Bree deserved a chance to prove to the boys that they came first, but if she let them down, she wouldn’t get another chance. I’d help her because my boys asked me to, and she’d been a good mom, and even a good woman for me at one point, but if she made the wrong choice, there’d be no second shot.
“I’ll look into facilities,” I promised.
The relief seemed to bleed from him. His shoulders slumped, and the tension slid from his face. “Knew you’d step up,” he muttered.
“I’ll try,” I corrected him. “I’ll offer your mom the help; it’ll be up to her to do the work, though, not me.” My stare cut to Rex, who was studying me thoughtfully.
He got me; my eldest was no fool. Rex had my street smarts, whereas Roman, although not much younger, still had a boyish innocence about him that I didn’t think Rex had ever possessed.
I’d told them about my childhood because they’d questioned where my parents were and why they didn’t see them, but I still shielded them from the worst of it.
“I’ll do my best,” I vowed softly.
Rex's forehead creased, but he nodded before going back to reading the menu. “What are you gonna do with Kev?”
“That dipshit won’t be around anymore,” I stated.
His eyes remained glued to the menu, but his lips twitched. My eldest had the same mean streak as his pop.
“You gonna kick his ass?” Roman asked excitedly, his ass bouncing slightly on the bench seat.
“Be cool, Rome,” Rex hissed, nudging his brother’s ribs. “You don’t gotta announce it to the entire diner.”
“I am bein’ cool,” Roman protested, while not being cool, whatso-fucking-ever.
Rex’s eyes flickered across the room, then back to his menu. “Hot chick at two o’clock.”
Rome sat back and casually looked around the diner, his eyes tracking right. “She’s fire. Bit younger than your usual type though.”
Rex shrugged. “Can’t always go for the more mature ladies. Gotta settle down with a nice girl at some point, and that brunette looks like a very nice girl.”
Roman chuckled. “She keeps lookin’ at you and blushin’.”
One side of Rex’s mouth curved into a lopsided smile, and I heard a whisper of feminine sighs float in the air all around us.
I looked at the ceiling and breathed, “Fuck me.”
Roman snorted.
“Hey!” a voice said brightly from beside me. “You boys ready to order?”
My eyes drifted left to see the waitress, Amber, standing there with a pad and pen in hand.
“Good to see you again,” she said with a smile. “Got talking to one of your brothers, Thug, the other day. He’s such a sweet guy.”
Rex let out a soft snort, and Roman ducked his head to hide his laugh.
“Sweet?” I questioned.
She shrugged. “Well. Yeah. In a murderous, serial killer kind of way. He’s the epitome of not judging a book by its cover. Anyway, you got an order for me?”
“Cheeseburger, no tomato, and fries, please,” Rex announced.
Roman shot the waitress a smile. “Same for me.”
“Make that three,” I told her.
“Drinks?” she asked.
“Coke,” we all chorused.
She scribbled on her pad and collected the menus, a small grin playing across her lips. “You boys seem to have made an impression.” She jerked her head toward the pretty brunette girl Rex had been eyeing. “Saw you checking out my sister, Isabelle.”
He lounged nonchalantly, playing it like the big dude he thought he was. “She’s alright.”
“She’s the most popular girl at school,” Amber corrected. “Straight A student, head of the debate team, and a magnet for the boys. Luckily, she’s got a big sister to look out for her.” She tucked her notepad and pen into her pocket. “I’ll introduce you if you want.”
A full-on grin split his face.
“She’s only fifteen though,” Amber went on. “And I know your type. You show her some respect, right?”
“Ain’t no dawg,” Rex protested.
I gave him a pointed look because he certainly was a fucking dawg, and we both knew it.
“Not with nice girls, anyway,” he added hastily, catching my incredulous expression.
“Glad to hear it,” Amber shot back.
“What’s her Snap?” Rex drawled.
“I’m not giving you her Snap...” Amber’s voice trailed off as Rex slid out of the booth and sauntered over to the girl’s table, pulling out his phone.
Isabelle tracked him as he approached. He must’ve asked her for her details because she blushed prettily and gazed up at him through her lashes as she replied.
He programmed something into his cell and waited for Isabelle’s to beep before he said a few more words to her. Then he turned and strode back to the table, full of himself.
I shook my head incredulously as he slid back into the booth. “Mission accomplished?”
He shrugged. “A gentleman never tells.”
Amber twisted her neck toward Isabelle, who was whispering excitedly to her friends. “Lord help us. There’s a new teenage dream in town.” She glanced back at Rex. “How long are you visiting for?”
“We're movin’ here permanently,” he declared.
“What?” Roman demanded.
My jaw dropped.
I’d been trying to convince them to relocate here for months, and I’d been shot down every time I brought it up. Jesus, if I knew all it would take was a trip to the diner and a pretty teenage girl, I would’ve brought them here months ago.
Amber’s brows arched questioningly. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah,” Rex replied. “Dad’s buying us a house in town and he’s gettin’ us a cage,”
“Cage?” she asked, obviously puzzled.
“A car,” Roman cut in. “Dad’s got good taste in rides, too. He’ll get us somethin’ cool.”
Amber smiled. “Well, that’s good news. I’m sure Isabelle will be thrilled. I’ll go get your drinks.” Her gaze rested on me. “Tell Aislynn that Gracie’s gonna call her to arrange a coffee date.”
Two pairs of eyes identical to mine slashed toward me.
My gut dropped.
Fuck.
I gave her a dismissive nod, avoiding the boys’ stares.
Amber’s eyes lingered, then she turned and moved off, her ponytail swishing.
“Who’s Aislynn?” Roman demanded.
I pulled my cell out and checked for messages. “Just a girl.”
“Serious?” Rex asked pointedly.
Clicking on my emails, I replied casually, “Maybe, who knows? It's early days.”
My boys glanced at each other.
“How long have you been seein’ her?” Rex asked.
I shrugged. “Couple’a months, give or take.”
Roman’s mouth split into a grin.
“What?” I demanded.
“First one since Mom,” Rex pointed out. “She must be hot.”
I smirked.
Roman leaned forward. “Show us her socials.”
I leveled him with a look.
“Come on, Dad,” Rex pleaded. “I wanna see how hot she is.”
“She’s hot,” I stated.
He grabbed his phone from the table. “How does she spell her name?”
“It’s Irish,” Roman declared. “Read it in a book. It begins A-I-S—”
“Gotta hit,” Rex exclaimed. “There’s only one Aislynn who lives close. She’s in Hambleton, that town Dad goes to, south of here.” His thumb flew over the phone, and he suddenly looked up at me. “She’s a baddie.”
Roman shifted closer. “Let me see.”
Rex showed him the phone screen.
“Wow,” he exclaimed. “She’s a ten.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, she’s a ten. You think I’m gonna hang with a two?”
Rex nudged his brother. “Dad’s an MC prez. He’s always gonna get the cream of the crop. The babes love it.”
My blood cooled because my boy was right; the chicks did love it.
If I were a regular Joe who worked the night shift and drove an old pickup, they wouldn’t give a fuck about me.
The authority, leather, bad attitude, and motorcycle did it for them, along with what they believed was a glamorous life and a sense of danger.
For them, it was all about Pagan, the MC president, and never about Aiden the man.
Rex and Rome were both nose deep in their cell phones, so I picked mine up and messaged Ash.
You okay?
I waited a few minutes, my phone feeling weighty in my hand, but there was no reply, so I clicked onto my message app, found Wiki’s name, and typed,
Pinpoint Aislynn.
After a few seconds, my phone beeped.
Wiki: She’s on the I-25 heading to Denver.
Check her messages. What are her plans?
Wiki: She’s going out tonight with those 2 bitches she works with.
My mouth twisted.
The last time she went out with those women, I walked in on her kissing Captain America. If she thought that was gonna happen, she could think a-fucking-gain.
Over my cold, dead, body.
I signed off from Wiki and typed out another message to Aislynn.
Don’t want you going out 2nite. Stay home.
I pressed send, and my thumb hovered over the screen while I waited for a reply. With every second that passed, the fire in my chest burned hotter until finally, I grabbed my phone and slid out of the booth.
Rex’s stare lifted from his phone screen. “Where are you goin’?”
“Just need to make a quick call,” I said, glancing down at my phone and heading toward the door.
“Drinks are comin’ now,” Roman called after me.
I glanced over my shoulder. “You two carry on, I’ll be right back.”
By the time I got to the door, I’d already pulled Aislynn’s number up. I stepped into the street and wandered to the window of the diner before leaning back on it and clicking the call button. The phone rang a few times before the call clicked in, and Aislynn’s voice came over the line.
“Hey!”
“Where the fuck are you?” I barked.
There was a brief silence, then she murmured, “About ten miles from Denver. Why?”
“You’re not goin’ out tonight,” I stated roughly.
She paused again, then snapped, “I beg your fucking pardon?”
My jaw tightened. “Did I stutter?”
“I think you must have, Aiden,” she said snarkily. “Because I swear I heard you try to tell me what to do, and you would never say that to me, right?”
“Stop with the lip, Aislynn,” I growled.
“Or you could stop with the orders,” she returned. “I can’t believe you’re telling me what to do. I’m not one of your kids, Pagan. I’m an adult.”
“You’re a fuckin’ brat,” I gritted out.
She sighed and, in a resigned tone, replied, “Standing up to you isn’t being a brat.
Not letting you railroad me isn’t being a brat.
I’m not saying it to make you pissed, Pagan; I’m saying it because you’re being unreasonable.
I started making my own decisions a long time ago, and telling me I’m not allowed out isn’t just weird; it’s unhinged. ”
“Aislynn!” I grunted. “Hand to God, if you defy me, you’ll be sorry.”
“Oh, just fuck off,” she snapped, and then the line went dead.
I lowered my cell and stared at it, shocked.
No bitch had ever ended a call on me before. They wouldn’t fucking dare. The fire in my chest began to burn out of control, and I had to physically hold myself back from launching my cell through the goddamned window.
I sucked air into my lungs to cool the fire within.
My boys were inside waiting for me, which meant I had to keep my shit together for their sakes. I had a responsibility to them, so I couldn’t go on a wild hair by saddling up and riding down to Denver to punish my woman.
Still, there was no way she was going out tonight.
If my Dubheasa wanted to test me, I’d give her a result she wouldn’t much like.
I held my phone back up to unlock it, then went straight to my contact list. After clicking on the name I was looking for, I held my cell up to my ear, my ever-present smirk ghosting across my mouth.
After a few rings, my brother answered with, “Yo. Prez.”
My smirk widened into a grin, and I muttered, “Thug, brother. Pack an overnight bag. I’ve gotta little job for you.”