Chapter 13 #2
“You’re not funny.” she twisted her head away from me until she was staring at the ceiling again.
I tutted at her. “That’s the depression talking. I’m hilarious.”
“What do you want, Rachel?” She sighed once more.
“Your grandson is here. I was coming to see if you would like to have breakfast with him.”
“No, thank you.”
“I’m sure those ceilings are as interesting as the ones in the Sistine Chapel, but I wasn’t really asking. Come and have breakfast with your grandson.”
“No.”
Well, that’s me told!
“So, you’d really rather lay here and wallow in self-pity?”
“It’s been working for me so far.”
“Has it? Because you look like shit, Kitty.”
“Have you just come here to insult me?”
“The woman I knew would have fought back. She would never have tolerated being disrespected like this. Even though she never won against me, the woman I knew would have at least tried. What the fuck happened to you?” I hissed at her.
“As you’ve just reminded me, I lost my son and my husband!”
“And so have millions of other women, Kitty! It’s awful, and you’re allowed to feel fucking sad about it.
You should be sad. And you should be so fucking angry, because it’s unfair, and it’s cruel.
But it’s also life. And you’re losing the rest of your family—including the club.
They all love you, and you’re abandoning them, because you’d rather lie here and live in your memories, instead of cherishing what you have left. ”
She rolled over, presenting me with her back.
I scoffed at her. “I’m not surprised, Kitty. Thank you so much for proving I was right. You’re nothing. It’s so fucking disappointing.”
“Do you remember that feeling you had when Dante took Bee from you?” Kitty asked quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Well, imagine that feeling, but knowing your child is never coming back.”
“And I continued on for Axel’s sake.”
“You still have your children, Rachel. That’s the difference.”
“And you still have Dante. But I suppose, once again, he’s left to pick up the pieces of your fucking messes. It’s just such a shame.”
I left the room, refusing to take part in her nonsense anymore.
Of course the woman had a right to grieve, but she didn’t have the right to waste her life away, neglecting her child and grandchildren.
And, if I was being completely honest, I didn’t want to see her anymore because I was scared.
I was scared that this was my future.
Alone. Lonely. Bitter. Depressed. She was emotionally wrecked from her past, and that could easily be me if I didn’t change my ways.
“No luck?” Dante called when he heard me stomping down the stairs.
“There are little ears, so I’ll refrain from saying what I really think. But she’s a word that begins with a C and ends in unt.”
“She’s hurting.”
“And you’re excusing her behaviour yet again. But I’d rather not fight with you over this.”
“You sure?” he grinned. “We’ve only got a few hours left before we sign that contract. Don’t you want to have fun whilst you still can?”
“Tempting, but no.”
“Fu… Jesus,” he corrected himself before he swore, well aware that Axel was listening to our every word. “Have you finally grown up?”
“Who is doing the contract?” I asked, changing the topic.
“I text Shark with the details, and he’s bringing our lawyer over. Him, Hacksaw and Vienna are going to be witnesses.”
“Ooh. How proper and official.”
“It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? If it reassures you I meant every word I said, I’ll do things officially,” he said, picking Axel up out of the highchair and setting him down on the floor so he could crawl around.
He went straight over to the motorbike, and I silently cursed his obsession when Dante shot a smug look my way.
“He loves his bikes, huh?” He smirked, bringing his brew to his lips.
“Of course he does. Just like his fucking father.” His grin widened. The urge to slap the cup out of his hands was overwhelming. But then my eyes fell on his hand and noticed the new tattoo he had.
“Why do you have a bite mark tattooed on your hand?”
He chuckled into his cup and set it down on the table. “It’s yours.”
That had been the last thing I expected, and all I could do was blink at him. “Excuse me?”
“From when you bit me before you took off with Bee. I got it tattooed the day after you left.”
“Why?”
“I loved you,” he shrugged. Those words still had the power to make my heart clench.
Not “love.” Loved. Past tense. My chest ached like someone had ripped that bite mark out of me instead.
I wasn’t even going to try to decipher why that hurt so much. Some boxes were best left unopened.
“This was a perfect way to remember what a vicious little bitch you were. There were times where I almost caved and wanted to ring you to ask you to come back. One look at my hand and I’d remember why that was a catastrophic mistake. It reminded me why I couldn’t let you under my skin again.”
Well. That was fucking delightful.
“Dante I—”
“Did someone call for the law?” Vienna yelled through the archway. “Because there’s a suit here, and he looks like he’s about to vomit all over the alcohol. I don’t want to have to kill a man this early in the morning… but you don’t mess with the booze.”
“Rain check,” Dante smiled, getting to his feet and going to the bar to show the lawyer the way in.
It was time to sign my life away.