Chapter 28
28
Cassidy
“Please tell me he did not just say he’s handing in his fucking patch!” Bulldozer snaps as the brothers stare at the door to the yard where the council brothers went.
“Come on, Cassy,” Acid whispers, and I nod, keeping hold of my daughter tightly as I allow him to guide me down the steps and over to my tearful sister.
When close, she wraps her arms around Moira and me, and my tears fall as I put my face back into my daughter’s neck as my sister guides us to a chair.
“My woman and kid come first….”
Colt’s words echo as I sit with my daughter in my lap.
“He didn’t mean it, right?” someone says loudly, and another states, “Surely, he didn’t fucking mean it? He’s our brother, our family. He’s the reason why the club has grown….”
I swallow hard and try to wipe the tears off my cheeks with my arm before I place two fingers against my daughter’s pulse, counting it.
“He meant it,” a prospect says from behind the bar, and I look up to see him looking my way. There’s no resentment or anger, just sadness for me, for Colt. He continues, “His daughter was taken by a woman who wanted him and did everything she could to have him, including helping a man assault his girl.” He looks around the room. “He means it.”
When every brother looks my way, a lump forms in my throat.
“Don’t look at me like I asked this of him, because I didn’t,” I state, my nerves shot from the day’s events.
Canine clears his throat and says, “We know this, sweetheart, but I guess we’re wondering what you will do about it.”
I frown, confused, and ask, “What do you mean?”
Art says, “What he means is, if Steal hands in his patch, would that be why you give him another chance.”
I answer immediately, “No,” and the brothers sigh in relief. I state, “Our problems, yes, stem from his loyalty to the club, but his actions and choices tore us apart. He hurt me repeatedly, and I get he held that gun to protect me, but it doesn’t take away the years of abandonment.”
Art nods in understanding, then asks, “And what do you think of him abandoning his club for you?”
I think for a moment as the brothers look at me expectantly, and I reply, “I think he’s hoping for too much if he leaves the club. Instead of facing the problems and realizing we may never be together again, he’s hoping I’ll change my mind, but it goes deeper than the club, than Faith.”
The brothers all tense hearing the insinuation, and Perrie grips my hand, and I look at her. Her eyes tear up, and she whispers, “I know he hurt you, believe me, I know. I had to live four years without my big sister; I had to live knowing you had a baby alone, but I know how much you love that man and how much you have missed him.” I sniffle, and she gently strokes my daughter’s head, then begs, “Don’t let him do this, Cassy. Don’t let him leave the club, his family…don’t give up on him.”
She wipes away my tears as the brothers listen to her words, “Forgive him, but most importantly, forgive yourself, because we both know you are struggling with guilt for staying gone for too long….” She leans forward and kisses my cheek, then says, “I get you want to put yourself first, but you’re not if you are not letting your heart have the man it desires….”
The lump in my throat gets bigger, and I open my mouth, but it slams shut when I hear, “You men have got to stop keeping me from my daughters!”
We all look to the door and, nope, I wasn’t hearing things; standing in a fricking suit skirt and blouse is my mother.
Her hair is immaculate, and her makeup is en pointe , but even from here, I can see her nails are chipped.
Since the Andrea “ran off,” Mom lost her money man, Andrea’s father, and Mom’s illicit fuck buddy.
“I’ll deal with this,” Perrie says as she grips my arm. Then she stands and walks over to our mother, who narrows her eyes at her.
“I came to see my grandchild, Perrie. Our fight can wait for another time,” Mom says, and most men in the room cross their arms over their chests, glaring at her, knowing Perrie has not had any contact with the witch in months.
“And what makes you think I’ll allow you anywhere near Moira?” Perrie snaps back, and instead of hearing her words, Mom gasps, “She named her Moira? Moira —really?”
I roll my eyes as Perrie reminds her, “That is Steal’s mom’s name. Now, you need to?—”
Mom cuts her off and shouts, “She named her after a biker’s mother?”
“Watch it, lady!” Bulldozer growls from near me and I grab his arm, making him look at me. I shake my head as Mom shouts, “I will not watch it! How dare she! My first grandbaby should be named after me!”
I snort and ask, “After what? A whore who can’t keep her legs closed?”
Bulldozer chuckles.
Mom ignores me and continues her rant, “That biker is the father, isn’t he? Isn’t he? She never should have been with him!”
“Okay, this day has sucked, and now I am done,” I state as I struggle to stand with Moira in my arms so Bulldozer helps me. Gently, I readjust my daughter in his arms, and he takes her instantly while Canine grumbles, “I was next to hold her,” from beside him, making me snort.
Shaking my head at the two men as they argue about who should hold her, I walk over to my mother. Her eyes blaze with anger as she snaps, “How dare you name my grandbaby?—”
Her words cut off as I pull my arm back and punch her in the face, making her fall to the dirty floor.
Damn, that was exhilarating….
The men stop their arguing, and everyone looks at me in shock as I shake my hand out. I look at my sister and state, “Perrie, that is twice I’ve used your moves, and twice I’ve hurt myself!”
She blinks and numbly replies, “You just hit Mom…I’ve wanted to do that for years….”
I roll my eyes and look at our mother as she scrambles to stand, holding her eye. “I-I’m suing you,” she says, “that money your father left—my money—I’ll get every cent back!”
I grin coldly and admit, “Go ahead, but as far as I’m aware, you fell over your own stupid stiletto heel and banged your face.” I look around the room. “Right?”
Mom’s face reddens when the brothers and clubwhores agree, and I grin and drawl, “Besides, all that money is in Colt’s name, for our daughter, meaning I have nothing for you to sue me for.”
Mom’s mouth drops open as Perrie’s head whips my way in shock, and I shrug before looking at Western and ask, “Can you escort my mother out and, next time she shows up, just shoot her.”
He grins, and Mom sputters, but I ignore her and look at Perrie, “I do love Colt; that’s something that will never change, and no, I won’t let him hand in his patch for me because this club is his family. But I don’t know if we can be together with all the hurt and pain between us.” Her eyes tear up. I say, “Moira is with Bulldozer; please, can you make sure the brothers don’t fight over her? I need to go see Colt.”
She nods, and I kiss her cheek and turn as Western grabs Mom’s arm, who protests instantly, but no one says anything to her. I walk to the back door, kissing my daughter’s head on my way through as Canine tries to grab her from Bulldozer. The brothers look at me with what looks like pride.
I swallow hard as I walk up to the outhouse door, Faith’s screams echoing so loudly that I can’t help but relish them a little. With a deep breath, I open the door, then walk down several steps before opening the next door.
A brother quickly turns, and I lock eyes with Anchor, whose eyes widen when he sees me. Faith screams, “You were mine. I had you first, please….”
I tilt my head around Anchors' large form as I look at Colt—no, not Colt— Steal , the president of the Huntsmen MC, glaring at a tied-up Faith who is dangling over a drain, holding a bloody knife in his hand.
“Actually, you were just a hole he could use until he met me,” I state, causing every brother to look my way except for Colt.
“You need to go back to the clubhouse,” he demands, not looking at me.
I hum and ask, “Why? Because you’re afraid I’ll see something I hadn’t seen before? Last time I checked, you dragged me by my hair and threatened to kill me, holding a gun to my head while I was pregnant with your child…because of this woman.”
That gets his attention. His head whips my way, his dark gray eyes cold as he snaps, “I did that to protect you and fuck, Cassidy, I didn’t even know about Moira, and neither did you.”
I nod. “I know, and right now, in this bunker, you are keeping your promise to protect me, to protect your daughter, and to make things right.” Faith breathes heavily, glaring at me, and I smirk at her and ask, “How does it feel to know I won?”
She screeches, but Piston quickly gags her. I look back at the man I gave my heart to.
“I’m here to tell you, if you hand your patch in, you and I, we will never happen, and not because I want the old lady cut.” I eye the brothers, who smirk, before I look back at Colt. “I could have had that years ago but you wasted eight years of putting your club before me, before your daughter. If you give up your cut, that means you put me through all that heartache for nothing.”
I hold my arms out. “These men are your family, and you’ve worked your ass off to keep a roof over their heads, to be their leader, their brother, their family.”
I drop my arms.
“I love you, Colt,” I admit, and his eyes glisten, “but I’m hurt, and I’ve done nothing but try and put myself first for four years after years of you neglecting me, forgetting me. I know I can forgive; if I didn’t, I would have left town with Moira. I just don’t know if I can forget….”
“I won’t lose you,” he rasps as Faith screams through the rag.
My eyes race between his, and I demand, “Then don’t. Fight and prove to me that you know better now, but not by abandoning your family; if you do that, you are not the man I thought you were.”
He nods, and my eyes go to Faith. I curl my lip at her as she narrows her eyes at me like she isn’t about to lose her life.
Without a second thought, I storm over to her and punch her in the face, then mutter, “See you in hell bitch,” before I turn and walk out the room muttering, “Fuck, I really need to learn Perrie’s technique better,” as I shake my hand out. The brothers laugh at my words.
I don’t know if Colt and I will be together again, but I do know I can learn to forgive so we can co-parent. Even if my heart is begging to give him another chance, I need to think rationally.
Once bitten, twice shy….