Chapter 28
Molly
I gently nibble my bottom lip as I walk around my old family home, the place feeling cold and empty.
Pictures of my dad still litter the mantelpiece and the walls, a few show me growing up. Dad stated in his will that these cannot be touched, or Ruth will lose the house. I sigh. So many stipulations yet none make sense.
My eyes go over the photos on the mantel, the ones of Ruth and Abby officially gone, and I gently trace my dad's smile that is fake while I cup my baby bump.
It’s his wedding day to Ruth, yet he looks like he’s regretting it.
His smile is tight and his eyes hard. I still don’t understand why he married Ruth, and I’m beginning to believe I’ll never know why.
I look away from the photos and see the place, once light gray with dark oak furniture, now painted a dull, hideous yellow and confusion consumes me.
I don’t know what to do with the house.
I know I can get a good price if I put it on the market.
The house is in a safe neighborhood with a long gated driveway.
It has four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a basement converted into a cinema room, and a loft—technically a library with a skylight roof—holding all my mother’s belongings and now my fathers.
There’s a large open kitchen and dining area.
The living room is a decent size, has an open fire and an attached conservatory.
The back garden is huge, but the thought of selling it makes my heart stutter.
I know Luca has a house behind the clubhouse, next door to his brother. I know his brother wants us close, but he isn’t ready for that kind of commitment—with the club, or his mother. So, can we live here?
Can we bring our children up here until we outgrow the home and Luca is ready to move back onto club property?
Can I get over my past and make new memories here, or are we better off looking elsewhere?
I huff and scan the room again, my head scrambled.
How did I go from the girl refusing to settle down and deciding to move out of state to suddenly deciding if I should live in my old home and grow my family here?
Damn Luca and his heart-throb smile...
I turn to head upstairs to check the mess left in Ruth’s and Abby’s rooms with a sigh but pause when the front door slams open and I raise a brow at a disheveled looking Ruth as she storms in, looking a bit out of place—almost like a stripper and no that’s not a slight, strippers do what they have to do.
But most don’t walk around town in a dress that barely covers their butt, or straps that just cover their breasts.
I’m pretty sure I can even see a nipple.
How in the hell has she not been arrested for public indecency?
“It’s about time you returned!” she growls as she storms towards me, but she soon stops short when her eyes go to my stomach, and they widen.
"You’re on private property, Ruth," I say, voice flat with irritation.
“I don’t give a shit. You got my daughter arrested!” she spits and I can’t help it, I snort.
"Your daughter got herself arrested for attacking me in the early stages of my pregnancy. Now turn your plastic ass around and get out of my house!" I snap, already fed up with the woman and she curls her lip at me in disgust.
Ha, disgust, maybe she should look in the mirror.
“This house should be mine, not yours. That was the deal,” she snaps and I tense.
What the hell does she mean by deal?
I open my mouth to question her but instead she answers my question for me and rants, “I told your father I’d ruin him if he didn’t marry me or put me on the deed. He defied me.”
What…?
“What the hell are you rambling about, crazy?” I snap, my confusion sharp.
She growls, then grits, “We had sex. I knew exactly who he was. I knew he had money. I couldn't afford my daughter's lifestyle—so I blackmailed him.”
Son of a bitch!
Ruth cackles, “He paid me a grand to fuck him because he didn’t want to settle down and bring a woman into his precious daughter's life, because he knew he couldn’t love anyone else other than that bitch.
He thought I’d be the perfect person for a quickie because I’d keep my mouth shut and every woman he met wanted his wallet, but he underestimated me.
I filmed us, and for years, I blackmailed him—until he had to go and die on me when I laced his coffee with too much GBH. "
She shakes her head, her eyes darting around my home, looking crazy and I take a step back at her words, realizing what she’s just admitted to as my breathing picks up.
She killed my father, he didn’t have a blood clot in the brain?
“I thought if I gave him just enough, I could get him to sleep with me and get pregnant. Then he’d forget all about you.
But his heart gave out because of the drug, and when the will was read, you got everything—everything!
He only put those stupid stipulations in place because he was worried my influence might have rubbed off on you and didn’t want you turning out like Abby.
I thought I could get what I needed if you broke the rules, but you had to be a goody two-shoes, didn’t you? '
My nostrils flare, and anger consumes me.
"You killed my father?" I sneer, stepping forward and without sensing her danger, she cackles, "I wish I'd killed you too!”
The roar of bike engines echoes, but I pay no mind, instead, I screech in horror and anger. Without thinking, I pull my fist back and punch Ruth in the face, ensuring to throw my weight behind it and pain hits my knuckles at the impact.
“Pidge?!” I hear Luca snap, but I ignore him.
Ruth stumbles back, and I hit her again, making her screech in pain before she retaliates and smacks me hard across the face, but I don’t feel it—my anger doubles.
Luca grabs Ruth by her hair and yanks her back before arms gently pull me back, and I shout, “No, let me at her, she killed my father, she blackmailed him!”
"Think of the baby, sweetheart," Tank whispers in my ear and I cup my twenty-week bump, knowing he's right, but my body trembles as tears fall and a sob escapes me.
“She killed my daddy, my best friend,” I choke and Tank holds me tighter as I lock eyes with Luca, his eyes full of fury as he grabs Ruth by the throat, making her gasp.
I can’t even relish in the blood soaking her face, from the damage I’ve done because of what she took from me.
“Look away, Pidge,” he says icily.
Tank growls, “Brother,” but Luca cuts him off, his voice sharp, “She hit my pregnant woman,” He turns to me, voice softening. “Close your eyes.”
My eyes race between his. I know what he’s about to do, but I can’t seem to care, even as I hear Tank command, “Pres, we need prospects and a van at Molly's home. Keep it on the downlow.”
I nod to Luca and shut my eyes, turning my head into Tank, who pulls me in tighter. I flinch at a screech and loud crack, and Luca orders, “Keep those eyes closed, Pidge,” and I nod.
And eye for an eye and all that right?
It may not make it right, but she killed the only person I loved in the world before Luca came along all out of greed.
***
Twenty minutes later, I’m standing near the photos of my dad while Tank and Luca clear up the mess.
I didn’t move from Tank’s hold. I kept my eyes closed as tears fell while the prospects cleared my stepmother’s body, prospects who have been ordered to keep their mouths shut.
I don’t feel bad or guilty. I know I should, but she took my best friend out of greed because she refused to work and provide for her child.
She stole my childhood which is ironic considering Abby accused me of taking her life from her when she knew it was the other way round.
“Pidge?” Luca says softly, and I turn towards him.
Fear etches his features—afraid I’ll see him differently—but I just smile sadly and whisper, “I love you, you know that?”
He relaxes, takes me in his arms, while Tank watches, concerned and asks, “How are you doing, sweetheart?”
I admit, "I don’t know. He paid her for sex, and she blackmailed him." I shake my head. "She admitted to giving Dad too much GBH, which caused his heart to fail. She wanted to get pregnant to get everything."
“I’m sorry, Pidge,” Luca whispers.
I nod and mutter, “Thank you for ridding me of my demons.”
He holds me tighter. “Any fucking time,” he chokes and I close my eyes, relax into him, and he gently rubs my sore knuckles.
I smile slightly and murmur, “Twice I’ve hit someone, and twice I’ve ended up hurt. You made it look easy when you hit your dad.”
I hear Tank snort as Luca chuckles before he presses his lips to my head, and I melt into him as he promises, “I’ll teach you to throw a proper punch.”
I hum in contentment, despite knowing he killed Ruth less than half an hour ago.
My broken, alpha hole, imperfect man always saving me, from my childhood, my demons, my own mind, and I wouldn’t change him for the world.
“How would you feel about redecorating and moving in, Pidge?” Luca asks after a few minutes of silence and Tank curses, “Fuck, the club won’t be happy with that, brother, and you know it.”
I ignore him and look around my old home, safely nestled in my fiancé's arms, nothing looking the same from before Ruth ended up in our lives and my stomach tightens.
Confusion swims and I bite my lip, my earlier questions return, intensified.
"I-I don’t know," I whisper and Luca holds me tightly, and I rest my head on his chest because, honestly, I don’t know.