Second Sets Omnibus

Twenty-One - Kieran

“Lay your head down, Pretty Girl,” Rad demands, running his hands through River’s hair. To her credit, she mumbles her disagreement as he forces her head into his lap.

“Rad,” she hisses, squeezing her eyes shut, looking white as a ghost.

“You’re making it worse,” Callum grumbles, swatting him in the back of the head. Rad shoots him a cutting glare. “You good?” he asks softly, looking down at her where she begrudgingly rests her head on Rad’s thighs.

Shaking my head, I rest on the couch opposite them. Nerves prickle beneath my skin. This is our moment. The desperate need for answers hangs in the back of my mind, nagging me to figure it out. We all crowd around her living room, waiting with bated breath for the conversation we’ve been anticipating.

“I’m fine. I guess,” she mumbles, situating herself on the couch better as Callum sits beside her feet. Swallowing hard, he glances up and down her body with a concerned look. His fingers twitch, but he stops himself from touching her.

“It’ll be okay, Pretty Girl. We’ll care for you and Lyric while you’re not feeling good. Do you need any more soup? Crackers? 7-Up? Or—” Rad frowns when she blindly puts her hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up. Thank God. He babbles when he’s fucking nervous, and right now, his voice grates on my nerves.

“I’m fine,” she reiterates with a sigh, forcing herself out of Rad’s lap. Running a hand through her matted brown locks, she wearily looks around the room, taking the three of us in. “Thanks for today,” she mutters. “I appreciate you guys jumping up and helping me with Lyric.”

“She came to our door,” I say gruffly, taking a deep breath.

All the frustrations boil to the surface after being swallowed for so long. It’s getting harder and harder not to show my frustrations physically.

She grimaces. “She knew where you lived.”

“And who we are,” I grunt, jumping. My fingers grip the roots of my hair as I pace back and forth opposite them. Don’t freak the fuck out on her now. You can’t be an asshole when you need to stay calm.

“Dude,” Rad warns, standing up from the couch with a frown.

“Don’t dude me. My daughter knew exactly who I was, but I didn’t know about her. I didn’t even know she fucking existed,” I say in a low voice, gritting my teeth through every word.

The last thing I want to do is rile Lyric up as Asher reads to her just down the hallway, preparing her for bed—something I should have done every night for the last four years of her life. I’ve missed so much of her growing up, and I don’t want to waste another minute without knowing it all.

“We don’t have to do this right now. River is sick,” Callum says, shaking his head. “We can do this when you feel better,” he says, looking directly into River’s eyes.

“No,” she says, swallowing hard. “Let it all out,” she says, waving a hand in my direction.

“Why did she know who we are?” I ask, stopping and towering above her. “Why, River Blue?” All the rage turns to desperation, leaking into my tone. It catches in my tightening throat.

“Because, even after you left, I wanted her to know where she came from. Even after you denied her and…”

“Denied her?” I gape, leaning over her body and forcing her head against the couch. Our eyes lock in an intense battle. “You know me better than that. Or at least you did. I’d never in my fucking life deny my child. Ever,” I growl, curling my fists at my side.

River sighs with exhaustion, closing her eyes. The selfless part of me wants to walk away and let her rest more. She’s been ill all night and day. But the answers I’ve been desperate for since the first knock have me prodding further. There’s an incessant need gnawing at the back of my mind, desperately searching for an answer.

“That’s what we tried to tell her.” Rad grimaces in pain, shaking his head. “Tell him, Pretty Girl. Tell him the whole story. Please.”

She cracks an eye open, promptly rolling it in his direction. “The whole story?” she rasps. Her jaw tightens, pulling the rest of her face into a tense expression. “Where to begin? Like the fact I ran to Callum’s house, only to be greeted by your mother.” I tense, jerking back like I’ve been slapped, but she continues. “You can be pissed off at me all you want, but I’ve already told the other three the entire story. You knocked me up over the dining room table on our little vacation. Not only did you ghost me after my mom fucking died, but you also left me. You fucking—You fucking promised me that you’d take me with you. That—” Her eyes squeeze shut, holding back the emotions boiling to the surface. Anger roars through her system, twisting her expression until she uses all her strength and climbs to her feet. Her painted red nail pokes into my heaving chest. “You assfaces left me when I needed you the fucking most. My mom died, and where were you? Winning Battle of the fucking Bands. I mean, fucking good for you,” she grits out with a bitter laugh. “Good for you for living your dream. But what about me? What about what I needed? You left me like I was nothing more than trash on the curb.”

“What the fuck about my mother?” I ask, gripping her finger in my fist, squeezing it gently so she can’t back away from me.

“Oh, that bitch,” River snaps, trying to yank her hand away from me. “I drove to Callum’s with this fucking secret. I needed you—all of you,” she cries out, trying harder this time. I eye Rad and Callum as they move to her sides, wrapping their arms around her until she stops fighting me. Angry tears pour down her face, and she shakes her head. “I was pregnant, and all I got were restraining orders and a nice check to ‘get rid of the problem.’”

“What?” I breathe, shaking my head. No. No. No. That’s not what I would ever fucking want. How could Gloria do all that shit behind my back and not fucking tell me?

“She called you right in front of me. Called you by name. Said you didn’t want the baby. You said it was probably Van’s,” she says through gritted teeth as a fire erupts behind her heated eyes. “Said you wanted me to get rid of it! How could you?” she breathes the last part, staring daggers in my direction.

“I didn’t.” Words fucking fail me as I stare at the hurt encasing her every movement. “I didn’t fucking know, River. I swear to all fucking things holy that I had no clue Lyric existed. Gloria didn’t fucking call me. Not then. No, she called me weeks later and told me about you. But she-she said it was Van’s baby and that you… That you….” I suck in a breath as the world I’ve built around me deteriorates. The thick lies that built me crumble in the burning flames of truth, turning to white ash.

“But you still left,” she whispers so lightly I have to strain to listen. “You still fucking left me. You left her. You didn’t even come and talk to me. You didn’t even check on me to see how I was doing.” River shakes her head again, shrugging all of us off of her. With a deep breath, she stops a few feet away from us. Her glossy moss-green eyes drag up and down our stunned expressions. “How could you? You were my best friend. You left me once, and I thought maybe it wouldn’t happen again. But you left me.”

“But Van?” My heart pounds when her face morphs into disgust. “That video. That kiss Callum caught on camera. You-you—” I trail off, losing myself in past events that have haunted me.

“Right. You’re convinced I cheated on you. Is that why you turned your back on me?” She crosses her arms across her chest. “Is that really what you believe? I don’t know why in the fuck?—”

“It was me.” The world ceases to turn as those three guilt-ridden words wrap around the four of us arguing in the living room, cutting off our voices.

I blink several times as his words sit heavily on my chest. Turning to Asher, who stands stoically across the room with tears flowing down his pale cheeks, I shake my head.

Asher’s been through hell in his life. I’ve watched Nigel beat the fuck out of him, throw him across the room, and stomp on his ribs. All the while, Asher never made a sound. Tears never came. Not even as an adult. Asher’s a fortress, holding his emotions prisoner in those walls.

So, to see the tears welling up and falling down his cheeks like rain cascading down the windows has me flinching back.

“What do you mean?” Every muscle in my body tightens at his words.

“What was you?” Rad asks tersely, balling his hands into white-knuckled fists.

“What the fu-fuck did you do?” Callum shouts brokenly, staring at Asher with wide eyes. He shakes his head several times, stumbling back onto the couch with a ghostly expression like he’s figured it out. It only takes a second for reality to take hold of Callum. He stands on silent feet, cracking his knuckles. A deadly expression thunders across his face, and he snarls in Asher’s direction with such malice my balls shrivel. “You fucking asshole!” Callum growls through clenched teeth.

“It was me. I did it. I…” He heaves a breath.

“What do you mean?” River asks, taking a tentative step toward him, cautiously approaching like he’s a wild animal about to bolt. “You did it? What did you—” her words trail off, staring at him in disbelief.

Wiping a hand down his face, he pushes all the tears dripping down his cheeks away. “River didn’t cheat on you. She never touched Van. Even when you went to find her,” he says, throwing an arm in Callum’s direction.

“What in the ever-living fuck are you talking about?” Rad shouts through clenched teeth.

“You were all so content with staying behind!” he sputters, stumbling back into the wall. Through vigorous head shakes, he finally settles his eyes on the ceiling. “That night at the castle house on the damn lake, you told her you’d stay behind for her. You said you’d drop the Battle of the Bands until she could come with—” His lip trembles until he covers it with his hand. “I couldn’t let that happen. This was our destiny, and I was afraid.”

“No, you fucking didn’t,” Rad says through a shallow breath, disbelief pulling his lips open.

“Looking back, it’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever done. And I’m so damn sorry! But I was so goddamn desperate to get away from my father and live our dream. I couldn’t stay in Central City. This was it—my only chance. You remember what he was like, right?” Asher’s chest heaves when his sorrow-filled eyes connect with mine, but thankfully, he doesn’t go into full detail about our abuse at the hands of his father.

“Of fucking course, I remember how he was. But that… That doesn’t fucking…”

“What the hell is going on right now?” River mutters, looking around the room, slightly shaking her head. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Explain!” I bark, taking a step forward with urgency, slamming into the front of his body. “Explain every fucking thing you did!” My fingers curl on the front of his shirt, pulling him forward so he can’t lie to my damn face. “What. Did. You. Do?” I growl, pushing my face into his. “Asher!” I shout again.

“I set it up!” he gasps out, slamming his eyes shut. “The videos were old. River didn’t sleep with Van. He sent them to me because I asked him to. I had to convince you guys—” He doesn’t get to utter another word when my fist slams straight into the side of his head, knocking him back from me, but I cling on by the scruff of his shirt, keeping him within striking distance.

“You what?” River breathes, going completely still. Her mouth falls open, eyeing Asher as he sways on his feet. If it’s humanly possible, all the color drains from her body. A twisted look of betrayal and horror takes over her features, and she shakes her head. “Why would you ask him to send you old sex tapes that I didn’t even know existed?” River’s words stammer together. Sharp shivers run through her body until she’s trembling uncontrollably. Her knees knock together, and her breaths saw in and out of her flaring nostrils.

“Pretty Girl,” Rad rushes to her side, throwing an arm over her shoulders. “I got you,” he whispers, holding her tightly to his side and kissing her head tenderly.

“Here,” Callum grunts through his anger, handing Rad a blanket to drape over her shoulders. Quickly, he drops a kiss on her temple, freezing there for a millisecond before his eyes flash to Asher.

A ringing forms in my ears, cutting off the noise around me. Asher set it all up. He led us to believe a big fucking lie. One that’s destroyed every piece of not only us as people but the goddamn band. My gut lurches, threatening to spill my damn dinner. Colors blur around me. Everything swerves out of fucking focus.

“What was real? Was anything you said that night real? Did—” A knot forms in my stomach. “We left her for no reason?” My tongue dries up, sticking to the roof of my mouth. “We left River… My daughter… We left everything…”

My face falls at the realization. All the fucking hate in my heart for the woman I loved was false. I was misled into believing all these radical bullshit lies. I’ve treated her like utter shit since we reconnected because I was under the assumption she cheated on me and fucking deceived me when the snake in the grass was my own damn brother.

“You fucking snake,” I hiss, stumbling back.

“How could you?” Callum says, breaking the silence with a low growl. “We fucking loved her, and you knew it! You fucking knew how we felt, and you…you took that from us!” Callum’s fingers ball into fists, and his body vibrates with pent-up anger. “How could you fucking do that to us?” He shudders, stomping forward. Before I can stop him, his fist connects with Asher’s nose once and then his ribs. Blood spurts from his face, dribbling down his lips and chin. The more hits that come his way, the less he blocks and takes the pain. “We lost five years with River and our daughter. All her firsts! All her…everything!! Because of you,” he grunts, slamming his fist into his cheek and knocking him to the side. “We lost the most precious gift on the planet.”

“Stop,” I grunt, pulling Cal back before he fucking kills the little snake. Not that I don’t want to obliterate him. He deserves every fucking piece of pain doled out to him in retribution.

“I’m sorry,” Asher wheezes, clutching his side. His eyes squeeze shut, leaning against the wall for support. “I thought…I was doing the right thing. I thought I was saving us,” he says, taking painful puffs of oxygen.

“Saving us?” Rad rasps through his emotions, still clutching River as her eyes glaze over. “How would you be saving us?”

Asher blinks several times through the pain ricocheting through his body. Good. He fucking deserves it. Fucking deserves the pain and resentment and fucking hate we feel.

“I was so fucking stupid,” he gasps out, cringing from the pain when he tries to straighten out his spine. “And selfish. I know I was. I’ve been carrying this around for years, and it’s been killing me.”

“That doesn’t fucking absolve you of your goddamn crimes,” Callum growls, tracing the carnage he left behind with his fierce eyes.

“I can’t believe you,” I say, shaking my head. “You’re a fucking manipulative dickbag!”

“What about the restraining orders?” Rad asks, pulling River’s trembling body into his.

“That wasn’t me,” Asher whimpers, grimacing when he tries to reposition himself. “That was all Gloria.”

“Gloria?”

“She started it,” he whispers with a voice filled with shame and regret. “She came to me and offered me money. She even told me about Van and the tapes. She…she told me everything.”

“Money?” Callum growls.

“How much was your betrayal worth?” I shout, filling the room with my voice.

“Keep it down,” Rad chastises, nodding toward the wall separating us from our sleeping daughter.

“How much?” I growl, lowering my voice. No matter how angry I am, I don’t want to startle the little girl sleeping just down the hall.

“It wasn’t just the money,” he wheezes. “It was a way to get us away from Nigel. Away from that fucking house!” he grits out like that justifies his actions.

“How much fucking money did you take to pull your betrayal off?” Callum grits out, flexing his fingers again.

“Five grand and a promise to keep Nigel out of it.” His eyes squeeze shut again, sucking in air. “And a promise to leave her behind,” he whispers so softly I almost miss the implication.

“You fucking weasel!” I bark, stomping toward him and taking him by the shirt again. “You made a goddamn deal with the devil and lied to us about everything!” My fist tightens again, ready for another round of bashing the asshole who lied.

“Stop,” River says, clearing her throat. We all watch as she slowly walks forward, eyeing Asher with apprehension. Standing before him, her lips curl. “Did you send Van to my apartment?” she whispers, almost in shock.

“Yes. I knew they’d go to you, so I had to have a backup plan to leave. I—” Asher’s face jerks to the side when River slaps him across the face, leaving behind her handprint.

“River Blue,” I whisper, pulling her trembling body into mine. From behind, Callum touches her shoulder with reassurance. A worried look twists his face as he stares at the girl he once deeply loved, so much so that he trusted her with his virginity.

She shakes her head against my chest, burying her face in my shirt before pulling away with flaring nostrils. Anger rests behind her glossy moss-green eyes, ready to burn down the world.

“How could you?” she accuses sharply, balling her fingers into a fist. “How fucking dare you do that to me and send him to my fucking apartment.” She shakes her head in disgust, curling her lip back.

“You’ll never know how fucking sorry I am,” he gasps again. “I was a stupid fucking idiot. Please believe me when I say I’m so fucking sorry. I know—” He cuts off, bending out the waist and crying out in pain. “I know I fucked up so fucking hard.” Tears roll down his cheeks in rapid succession. Whether it’s from the pain or the deep regret, I don’t fucking care. He took everything from us when he went behind our backs and fucked us over. “Please,” he whispers, looking at River. “Please don’t take her away from me.”

“How fucking dare you!” I growl, making a move toward him again.

“Stop,” River says, putting a shaking hand on my chest, which I promptly grasp. “No more violence. Not here. Not when she could walk out of here and see this. I’d like you all to leave now.”

“Don’t fucking come to the band house,” Callum growls. “I’ll bury you,” he promises, curling his lips back and baring his teeth before stomping off and slamming through the front door. Two seconds later, his bike roars to life, accelerating toward the gate.

“Fuck,” Rad mumbles, pinching his nose. “He’ll be at Ruthless’s fucking ring in two seconds.” His eyes whip to Asher, who collapses to the floor and leans against the wall. “I love you, Pretty Girl. I’ve never loved someone as much as I love you. No matter the pain I felt when I thought…thought you hurt me. I’m sorry. I know I’ve said it before, but I am,” Rad mumbles without a second thought, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She startles at his confession but relaxes in his touch. Good. That’s a good fucking sign for us. We can make it up to her one day at a time. “I’ll leave and take him with me. Call us if you need anything, okay? You’re still sick as fuck.” He kisses her temple again, reluctantly peeling himself away. As he passes me, he grabs my arm and jerks me back.

“You get the fuck out of here,” I spit, trying to advance on Asher.

“I’ll take care of it,” River says, holding my arm. “Give me some space, okay? I’ll see you guys tomorrow for your band practice. We still need to keep up with it.”

“Not with him!” I grunt, cupping the side of her face. Searching her eyes, I swallow hard. “I’m sorry, River Blue. I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t try hard enough to get to you. I’m so sorry I didn’t talk to you. I’m so fucking sorry I walked away. Again. That’s on me. Every fucking mistake I made that led here is my fault. But I promise that every day from here on out, I’ll be here. For you. And for her. I want to get the chance to be a real dad and someone worthy of you,” I whisper through the burning lump in my throat. Leaning forward, I press my lips to her cheek, savoring the feel of her skin beneath mine. She’s still as soft and beautiful as I remember. “I’ll work my ass off to prove to you that I’m your Knight again.”

With those parting words, I let Rad drag me out of the house. Leaving River with my stupid, broken ex-brother. My heart aches from his confession. Rage. Fucking betrayal. Every emotion rushes through me. How fucking could he? He took our blind trust in him and used it against us.

As I lie in bed that night, sleeplessly staring at the ceiling, I make a vow. A vow to be the man I promised River I would be years ago—her worthy Knight.