Tyrant Chapter 13
Showing Lakelyn around our predominantly legitimate businesses had been a good idea.
Even the strip club had gone better than expected.
I almost didn’t go there, but I decided to see how she reacted.
I hadn’t expected her to want to tour the back, where the illegal stuff went on.
However, she acted the same when she rejoined me in the office.
It was hell waiting all day to know her answer. I was optimistic because she hadn’t denied it when I referenced her as my future old lady. If she had no intention of saying yes, why wouldn’t she? This thought gave me hope.
I knew that I didn’t bring much to the table.
Sure, I could help her live comfortably, provide protection, and that sort of thing, but I was a hard man with a scary persona and an ugly past. A past that, if she agreed to be mine, I had to tell her about.
I wasn’t looking forward to it, but she deserved to know.
It would help her understand when I was immovable over something or demanded her obedience.
I wouldn’t do it just to be an asshole. There would be a reason.
The day out had ended hours ago. It was evening, and we’d eaten. We were seated in the living room. I’d informed Cobra that Lakelyn and I needed to talk. It meant River would have to wait until tomorrow to see his sister. Cobra said he’d ensure River stayed away, and the guys would do the same.
I’d never admit it if asked, but I was nervous.
My gut was churning. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this way.
Not since I got out of the Navy. We were on the couch, turned sideways enough to see each other.
I wanted her on my lap, but I’d wait for her answer.
If she said no, I’d beg her to let me prove myself.
Begging was something I hadn’t done since I was a kid.
“Lakelyn, tell me your answer. Don’t torture me any longer,” I pleaded. God, she was turning me into a pussy.
“I’ve thought about this since you hit me with your desire last night. I thank you for today. It helped. I’ve got a question for you. Make that a few before I answer.”
“Shoot. Ask away.”
“First, do you and the club intend to expand your illegal activities, and if you do, would those ever include widening the drug business? You sell weed now. What about harder stuff like cocaine, meth, fentanyl, those things?”
“No, we don’t. We make more than good money on weed, and those others frankly scare me. I want nothing to do with them. However, some chapters do. I can’t control them, only this one. The mother chapter would never demand we do it.”
“What about other illegal enterprises?”
“That’s possible, but it would be a club vote, and I would listen to your thoughts, though you don’t have an official vote. I can’t promise not to do others, but I don’t want to do anything that hurts kids or innocent people.”
“Okay, this next one is more of a warning. I don’t want a man who’ll be with others.
We talked about that a little. If I ever find out you cheated on me, and that includes exchanging sexy texts or calls with a woman, as well as blow jobs or sex, it would end us.
I won’t be disrespected like that. I wouldn’t do it to you. I expect the same fidelity back.”
When she paused, I had to respond. “Lakelyn, I wouldn’t expect you to put up with it.
However, you don’t need to worry that it’ll occur.
I won’t be with anyone else. If I weren’t sure my feelings for you were real and lasting, I wouldn’t ask you to be my woman.
To ease your worry, we’ll agree that if we ever find ourselves tempted to be with someone else, we’ll immediately find the other and lay it out before anything happens.
I don’t see it occurring, but that can be part of our agreement. Agreed?”
She took a couple of moments to reply. It caused my stress to jump, but when she did, it dropped.
“Yes, I can agree to that. I know that we have a lot to discover about each other, and we won’t necessarily like everything.
So, are there any women in your past I should know about?
I know you said no old ladies, but others. A baby mama you haven’t mentioned?”
I chuckled. “No kids or irate baby mamas that I know of. If they exist, they stay away. I’ve been meticulous about never having sex without a condom, even though I know they’re not foolproof. There have been no broken ones. And unless they lied, the women were all on birth control, too.”
“Okay, last question. Speaking of kids, I saw you with that little boy today. It made me wonder. Do you want children?”
She asked it, but I couldn’t tell if she wanted them.
I was conflicted about how to answer. I decided to go for honesty.
“I’m scared to be a dad. I didn’t have a good role model, Lakelyn.
And I never want to have children and end up like my old man.
Do I want them? Until you, I would’ve said it wasn’t worth the risk.
Since meeting you, if you want kids, then I would do it.
I’d make sure to have a plan in place if I did become like him. ”
“What do you mean, a plan? You’d leave us? I’d like to have a few, but not unless my man is sure he does. I don’t want him to agree just to please me.”
“It means that if I ever touched you or our kids in anger, hit you, or tried to harm you in any way, my club would have orders to take me out and put a fucking bullet in my head and to take care of you and our kids.”
She gasped, and her hand came up to cover her mouth. Lakelyn’s eyes were huge, and disbelief was evident in them. She shook her head. “No, no, that’s too extreme. There has to be some kind of middle ground first. Even if it was us separating, you can’t go straight to killing yourself.”
“Yes, I can and would. I need to tell you about me and my past before you decide if you want to be with me. I was waiting for your answer, but I see that’s not fair.
You deserve to know it all so you can make an informed decision.
I know how your parents were. It’s only fair you know about mine.
Let me get ready.” I scooted to the edge of the couch and pulled my T-shirt off.
I laid it over the back of the sofa. She ran her gaze over me.
I picked up her hand and brought it to my chest. I moved her fingers all over my chest tattoos, then down to my stomach tattoos.
Her breath hissed as she inhaled. I let go and turned my back to her.
It was covered in ink as well. Her hand shook as she did the same there. She moaned. I faced her again.
“A large percentage of those scars you feel were put there by my dad. The rest were from my time in the Navy. I’ll explain those later ones in a bit.
My dad was a mean son of a bitch. He drank heavily, was always fighting, getting into trouble, and being a piece of shit.
He did hard drugs, too. His idea of work was to rough people up for money for the local loan shark or to sell drugs. He was a waste-of-flesh human being.
“My mom, on the other hand, was the sweetest, most loving person in the world when he wasn’t around.
She went silent and hid when he walked through the door.
She did everything she could to fade into the furniture.
She was the one who worked and brought in the bulk of the money that kept a shitty apartment as our home and some food in the fridge.
She had to call off a lot because of him, and she would lose her job.
“I was two or three years old the first time I understood that he beat her. He’d yell and scream, throw stuff, and tear up the house.
She’d cry and try to pacify him. She’d beg to know what he wanted.
I was seven or so when I figured out he raped her a lot.
She didn’t want sex with him. You’re probably asking why she didn’t leave him or go to the police.
The answer is dread. He told her what would happen if she left him.
She tried when I was six. He tracked us down and put the person who helped us in a wheelchair for life.
The threat was that if the man told the cops, my dad would come back and kill him and his family. ”
Tears ran down her cheeks. I wanted to comfort her, but had to get this out first. I detested telling anyone this shit. Only Scythe, Boomer, and a couple of old guard members in Ohio knew this about me. It wasn’t something they’d tell others.
“I was around six years old when he started to hit me. It was what made her leave him. After we returned, he became even meaner and didn’t care about the damage he caused.
And to be sure no one could interfere, he moved us away from our town and out into the middle of nowhere.
She was no longer allowed to leave the house, not even to work.
I wasn’t allowed to go to school. Thankfully, Mom was smart and found ways to teach me when he wasn’t around.
We were his prisoners, and we were treated worse than animals.
I’ve had chains, hammers, knives, whips, and broken glass used on me.
Broken bones galore. I tried to stay out of his way like she did. It didn’t work all the time.”
“How did you get away from him and end up in the Navy and then the club?” she asked hoarsely.
“I learned to be a mean bastard and hide my feelings. I crushed them. He loved to see us cry and beg. I refused to do either. I started young, strengthening myself and learning to fight. I began to hit him back. He hated that. But it sometimes made him so mad at me that he’d leave Mom alone. That is, until I was fourteen.”