Chapter 19
Molly
I lock my jaw as I scrub the kitchen floor, the tiles my mama picked out when Daddy bought the house for her, full of some sticky tar shit. For the first time in a long time, I have the urge to knock Abby out and actually go through with it.
She wanted money, I told her to go screw herself, and this is my punishment, all while Ruth cackled, knowing there was nothing I could do, not unless I wanted her and Abby to get my parents’ home, and I couldn’t exactly leave the mess because we’re due another house check.
The closer I get to graduation, the more the checks happen, and we’re lucky Mr. Chimes hasn’t told us we have to leave yet.
Damn, Dad and his stipulations.
“It’s just so you don’t throw house parties, sweetheart, that is why your dad put it in there, and it was only as a joke. He probably wouldn’t have known Ruth and Abby would ruin the house…”
Mr. Chimes’ words float around me, and resentment and anger towards my dad and his stipulations fill me higher and higher as I silently curse him out.
Ruth knows she won’t get the house if it’s a mess, she knows it’ll come straight back to me after I graduate, so I don’t even know why she does this shit, her or her daughter.
“You know, if you had just given her the money, she wouldn’t have done this,” Ruth sneers from behind me, and I snort.
“Did you know you’ll be homeless in four months’ time?” I retort.
“This is my home!” she snaps, and I throw the cloth on the floor and look her way.
She looks like a fricking stripper in her sparkly bra and panties instead of a forty-year-old mother.
“No, this home is my mothers, it is mine, not yours and certainly not your daughter’s,” I growl and she narrows her eyes but her face soon pales when I announce, “I already sent a photo to Mr. Chimes so this will be added to the court ordered bill you and your daughter will have to pay when I graduate college per Dad’s will, you refuse, you both will end up in jail and last time I checked the amount with Mr. Chimes, you’re already in the six figure bracket! ”
“You can’t do that!” she snaps as she takes a step forward, and I smirk and pride, “I dare you!”
She freezes, realizing what she’s just done, and takes a step back.
It isn’t only me who can’t hit, it’s just a shame I don’t have the recording of Abby assaulting me when she shoved me into Luca’s bike, because at least then they’d both be out.
Luca’s deep blue eyes flash before me, and my stomach tightens at the memory of him taking me on his bike, and I swallow hard.
It’s been four days since then, and I haven’t seen him despite working at the diner three of those days. He’s been busy with club business, but he has texted several times but I just, I don’t know. The distance isn’t helping me believe we could work.
The doorbell rings, and I sigh as I grab the cloth as Abby calls, “I’ve got it, Mama,” and I begin to scrub the floor again.
“I’ve looked after you since you were eight. How can you threaten to kick me out?” she asks with hate, and I chuckle darkly.
“You made it perfectly clear I wasn’t part of your family and treated me like crap, I don’t even know why my dad married you to begin with because you’re a monster,” I reply with just as much hate and bitterness, and she growls just as we hear “Hi baby!”
We both look towards the kitchen door with confusion before I shake my head, grumbling, knowing she’ll now be fake moaning for god knows how long, and heck, even Ruth groans.
“Where’s Pidge?!” I hear, and I look up again, and my heart skyrockets.
Luca.
“Oh, she’s in the kitchen,” Abby giggles, “cleaning up the mess I accidentally made being the perfect maid, I guess you want to get her for the diner before we fuck?”
Even I roll my eyes at that.
“Well, at least Abby’s got herself a biker, an officer one at that,” Ruth gloats, and I swear my eyes are going to get stuck behind my head if I roll them any harder, just as the kitchen door opens and Luca raises a brow, seeing me on my hands and knees.
“Pidge,” he says, and I sigh, “Prick,” and he smirks.
“Molly Sophia Wright, you cannot call a brother a prick!” Ruth snaps, but I ignore her as Luca asks, “Sophia?”
I smile slightly and admit, “After my mom,” and he grins.
“Ugh, get back to work, Molly!” Abby snaps before she turns to Luca and goes to press her hand on his chest, and he steps away with a brow raise.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” he snaps, making her jump back, and Ruth clears her throat.
“You uh, you’ve come to see my daughter, right? This is her home, Ace,” Ruth says, and I roll my eyes again.
Yep, my eyes are definitely going to get stuck at this rate.
“Last time I checked, this home is Pidge’s not yours and not your daughter’s and before you lie through your teeth, I’ve already spoken to Mr. Chimes.
You two need to pack up and get out,” Luca says firmly and I look at him sharply with confusion but he isn’t looking at me, he’s looking at Abby with hate.
“I-I,” Abby stutters, but Ruth quickly snaps, “you cannot tell us to pack up and leave, you have no authority!”
Luca smirks as he walks over to me and holds his hand out, and I take it and allow him to help me up, but instead of letting me go like I expected because he does want us on the downlow, he wraps his arm around my waist. I look at him in awe and shock, and he just smirks as his eyes take in my messy ponytail and lack of makeup.
“Ace, what do you think you are doing? Get your arm from around the virgin skank right now!” Abby shouts, and I snort, not shocked that this is what she’s focusing on.
Wait, how can I be a virgin and a skank?
And more importantly, where did Abby get the word skank from anyhow? I thought it was an English term?
“Believe me, my girl is not a virgin,” Luca murmurs, and I swear my cheeks heat because of the ass’s chuckle before pressing a kiss to my lips, then focuses on a seething Ruth from his demand.
“This is my home, so if you think you can order me out of it all because you're fucking that whore then you have another thing coming, I’m not scared of the MC!” Ruth growls, and Luca chuckles as I mutter, “Wow, first I’m a virgin skank and now I’m a whore…”
Luca squeezes me to him before he states, “We all know the house belongs to my girl, and after showing footage to Mr. Chimes of your daughter purposely shoving Pidge into my bike, hurting her, breaking the stipulations in her father's will, then you’d still have a roof over your head for the next four months.”
I look at Luca with my mouth wide as Abby stutters, “I-I, I didn’t, I mean…”
Luca cuts her off and states, “I have cameras all over that diner, Abby, I’ve seen the proof, so has Mr. Chimes,” then he holds out a piece of paper and she gingerly takes it as he explains, “There is the bill for my bike, all the work Pidge had to work before she signed a contract to become the diner’s chef has been put into her account so the bill is now solely on your head including the hospital bill for Pidge’s wrist! ”
He then holds another piece of paper to Ruth, who chokes back a gasp as a biker walks into the room, a biker I know well.
Dirty gives me a wink making me smile at him as Ruth takes the paper and Luca explains, “$568,079.89, that is how much you owe in damages and possessions sold, and whether you pay that in instalments or all at once, it needs to be paid before Pidge graduates, otherwise you’ll be locked up.”
“Oh god,” Ruth chokes as she reads the paperwork before she glares at her daughter, who has frozen on the spot, and I look up at Luca, who smiles slightly at me.
“Club business, huh?” I whisper, and he hums as he cups my cheek and gently rubs his thumb over it while taking me in, his lips twitching seeing I’m in his shirt I never gave him back.
“I’m sorry,” he says, and I furrow my brows despite the small smile.
“It took me a minute to finally ask my brother for help in finding the footage, and then we had to see Mr. Chimes and arrange the cops who are waiting outside to come in,” and I melt into him as I press my forehead against his chin.
“That must have been hard, talking to your brother,” I rasp, and he hums, “Anything for you, Pidge,” and I smile slightly.
He has trust issues, he wants to keep us on the down low, but also won’t hide me if we’re out and about together.
He’s trying, and it only makes me want to grab hold of him even tighter and never let him go because what he doesn’t understand is that with him fighting his demons and commitment issues, he’s helping me fight mine.
“Ruth Wright and Abby Hill, come with us please,” a man with chief on his blue uniform states and both women begin to protest until he states, “You either come with me and pack all the belongings that are on this list,” he holds up a piece of paper, “or you get escorted out and leave with nothing!”
Both shut up, and Abby drops her head as she sulks, walking out of the room towards another officer, while Ruth seethes, “You won’t hear the end of this!” as she looks at me and Luca growls, but she stupidly ignores him and storms out of the kitchen.
Uh oh…
“Bitch clearly wants the club as an enemy,” Dirty mutters, and I look up at Luca with nothing but love and affection.
“Thank you,” I say, full of emotion, and he looks down at me and smiles slightly.
“I’m just sorry I didn’t speak to you that day, because if I had, then they would have been out of your life months ago. I just felt that spark between us, and it scared me,” he admits, and my eyes tear up.
“I love you, you know that, Prick,” I choke, and he grins as he leans down and presses a soft kiss to my lips, then replies, “I love you too, Pidge.”
“Fuck, I never thought I’d see the day my little brother would fall in love.” Dirty grunts, and we look his way to find his eyes on us. “It’s nice to finally meet one of Lyra’s favorite people,” he says to me, and I grin widely.
“She’s amazing, though I don’t know how Holly works with kids, as soon as Lyra and Caleb pout and bat their eyelashes, I’m a goner.”
Both men chuckle, and Dirty replies, “Yeah, my darling has a habit of giving in, so don’t think she’s strong in that way,” and I giggle, not surprised.
Luca kisses my head, and I grin, but it soon fades when Dirty says, “There are a couple of prospects outside, including Shaun, because I know you’re close with him.
They’ll clean up Ruth and Abby’s shit so you don’t have to, and they are under strict instructions to keep their mouths shut about you two.
I know you both want time, and I’ll make sure you get that. ”
“Thank you,” I whisper, feeling a little torn because he basically worded it like I was his brother's little secret, even though I know different.
My fear is seeping in again, and I quickly turn in Luca’s arms and press my face against his chest.
His arms automatically go around me, and I mumble, “I love you,” as I close my eyes to try to shove the fear away.
“I love you too, Pidge,” he whispers against my head as Ruth and Abby’s screams and protests echo. I squeeze Luca even tighter, hoping he won’t hurt me, hoping he’ll see he’s going to be the reason why I stay in town, why I’ll be able to even breathe.
I hope he can learn to trust me.