Chapter Nine
“You need to get back out there,”
Rosalie said.
Petal glanced over at her best friend and frowned. They were at the diner, working through the books as they did every Friday. She had already talked to Rosalie about hiring Tanya and even sent a quick text to Colt, who was all for it. Especially, as she advised it would be good for Rosalie to rest. She loved her friend dearly, but Rosalie was pregnant and she needed rest.
“Get back out there?”
“You know, find a man, a gruff stud or something?”
Petal got to her feet and turned to her friend, rolling her eyes. “No, thanks.”
“Come on, you’ve got to at least consider the possibility.”
She laughed. “Why?”
“Because, if you don’t, that means you still have a thing for Dirty.”
“Let’s get back to the books.”
“Holy crap, you do, don’t you?”
Petal stared at her friend, pouring them both some hot water and stirring in a tea bag. She would have much preferred coffee, but seeing as her friend vomited at the smell, she was sacrificing her own needs.
“No, I don’t.”
“They why not?”
Rosalie asked.
“I just … I don’t want to, you know. The first real relationship I had was with Dirty, and look what happened.”
“Not all guys are like that.”
Petal shrugged. “Yeah, and I don’t want to get hurt again.”
“Did you love him? I mean, you barely knew him, you couldn’t have loved him that quickly, right?”
She looked to her best friend and sighed. “I … some might say there was no way it was love, it couldn’t be love, but who is to judge?”
“You did?”
Petal nodded. There was no reason to put words to it. “It’s why when he asked me if he was the father, it hurt so bad.”
“Oh, Petal.”
“He … it was strange, because he came on that cruise, and there were so many guys, and I just wasn’t interested, you know? I was there, and I knew it was to keep me safe and that was the only reason, but I, he … it’s hard to explain.”
“It’s not, just talk.”
Petal sighed. “He was different.”
She took a sip of the hot tea and hated the taste. Wrinkling her nose, she walked back to the counter and handed Rosalie her tea. The other woman ignored the drink, more focused on her.
“Different? The guy’s name is Dirty.”
“He was a complete gentleman. Whenever I wanted to walk on the main deck of the cruise ship, or whatever you want to call it, he was there, holding my hand.”
She couldn’t help smiling. “When it was cold, he was there to offer me his leather cut. It’s stupid, I know, but he would smile at me, and it seemed like every bad thing would disappear. I knew Colt had sent him. I wasn’t a complete idiot, but I don’t know, there were times I got the sense he actually wanted to be there to be with me. Stupid, huh?”
“Not stupid,”
Rosalie said. “Not stupid at all.”
“Anyway, we came home and reality set in, and with that, a whole load of other bullshit, and my dream guy wasn’t quite so dreamy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Technically, it was. Colt wanted you out of the way or distracted so he could work on me.”
“And yet, you’re having his baby and you love him.”
“It’s complicated.”
“You know what I’ve come to realize?”
Petal asked.
“What?”
“Real life and love are complicated. Always have been and always will be. Relationships are a mess. Books, television, movies, where they make believe everything can work out.”
Petal shrugged.
There was silence and Petal stared down into her mug of hot tea. It was such a disgusting brew, but there was nothing else to drink. She felt close to tears. Memories of her and Dirty, alone, where no one knew what was happening, or what they were doing. They seemed like a lifetime ago now, but they weren’t too long ago.
She couldn’t believe how different her life had changed in the past year. Her parents had their shit together. She was considering going to college, or at least night school to take some business classes. She co-owned the diner with Rosalie, and Gabrielle was gone. Her best friend was pregnant, and when she once wanted to party at an MC, they had become part of her world. All within a year and perhaps a half.
“You know, he asks about you,”
Rosalie said, making her jerk her head up to look at her best friend.
“What?”
“Dirty. When he sees me or Colt, and it has been a few days since he has come to the diner, he asks about you,”
Rosalie said. “I don’t think he is quite as … unfeeling for you as you might think.”
Petal shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What would you do if he loved you?”
Rosalie asked.
“Stop, okay, he doesn’t love me. He never has. I was just a job to him, and besides, this was supposed to be a conversation about me finding someone else, right? Dirty is not a man I want to think about.”
“You won’t forgive him?”
“Let’s just focus on work.”
She moved toward her best friend and they finished going through the books.
“Tanya starts work on Monday,”
Rosalie said. “Are you sure she will be a good fit?”
“She was the woman that smacked Al for touching her ass. I think she is going to be a perfect fit.”
She didn’t tell Rosalie that a certain biker friend also wanted their new employee. She had a feeling Myth was going to be pissed at her, but Tanya asked her for the job, not the other way around.
She rubbed her temples and tried to make sense of everything. With the books done, she wrapped them up and took them to the back of the office, locking them into the safe that had been installed. Once she checked all the windows, and everything in the kitchen was turned off, she headed out to the main diner and found Rosalie typing away on her cell phone.
“Colt’s going to be late. Can you take me home?”
“Sure.”
Petal yawned and they left the diner. She’d not been sleeping well the past couple of nights. Walking to the car, she held open the passenger side and Rosalie glared at her. “Don’t start with me. You’re pregnant and you’ve been on your feet all day, don’t start with me.”
“I should smack your ass,”
Rosalie said.
“Sounds kinky.”
Petal couldn’t help but get a flash of memory of Dirty, putting her over his knee as she screamed and laughed at the same time he swatted her naked butt. Again, another lifetime ago.
Climbing behind the wheel, she put the car into drive, and took off, heading toward Colt’s home. She was so tired that as she pulled up outside of Colt’s, she knew she was going to have to slap her face to make it home.
“Don’t think I don’t see how tired you are. Park the car and get your ass inside. You have a change of clothes. Don’t argue with me on this.”
“I can drive home.”
“Again, do I look like I give a fuck? As you said, I am pregnant and currently temperamental with my hormones. Stop being a baby. Colt won’t mind, and in fact, I bet he would like me to have the company, especially if it’s my bestie.”
Petal was not going to argue. She was so tired. It had been a long day at work.
Climbing out of the car, she followed Rosalie to the front door. Colt had a nice place, and according to Rosalie, he’d been working on it for some time before he married her.
Petal had her own room. Colt didn’t have a choice but to turn one of his bedrooms into her room as she did stay there regularly. Again, she and Rosalie had been best friends for a long time, and an MC or a man or two were not going to come between them. They were solid friends and no one and nothing would take that away from them.
Entering their home, Rosalie had to type in the code, and Petal was already making her way over to her bedroom.
“I’m going to shower and sleep.”
“See you tomorrow,”
Rosalie said.
Petal gave a wave but went straight to her room. She knew Colt had gotten a reward for giving her a room. Rosalie had fallen that little more in love with him for it. As for Petal, she just appreciated that he finally accepted her, although she did believe he considered her as more of a furniture piece.
Entering her room, she kicked off her shoes, dropping her bag on the floor, and heading straight to the shower. Pulling out her hair, she climbed beneath the water and tilted her head back. She tried not to think about Rosalie’s question. It was so absurd, and yet totally understandable.
Yes, she did still love Dirty, and he had broken her heart. She was not going to forgive him. She sighed, opening her eyes and staring straight ahead. She didn’t know if he was with other women. There were plenty of club women always throwing themselves at the men, she didn’t know if he was going to be one of them.
Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she focused instead on getting washed. She wanted to sleep.
****
“Petal’s here,”
Colt said.
“That’s fine.”
Dirty entered Colt’s home, kicking off his boots. Warden was pissed but he also agreed with him. This was one avenue none of them had considered, but Daemon would have.
The peace treaty had been an illusion. Daemon always had some plan, and now, whoever was leading the Evil Fuckers MC had started to put it in motion.
Warden had handled the dead body and the driver, but the sheriff said there was trouble brewing. There was only so long he could look the other way before people started to question it.
They had Fritz working on identifying everyone associated with the Evil Fuckers MC. So far, they only had three names to go on that they had seen—Nasty, Slime, and Wrench. Dirty remembered them because they had been at the compound whenever they had visited.
He couldn’t remember the others. Wrench had a scar from his neck going up to his chin. Daemon often told the tale that none of their enemies could kill Wrench. There was no blade thick enough, and he apparently even had a bullet go straight through his heart. An elaborate story, but no one has disputed it. They allowed Daemon to talk his bullshit about the men in the club.
Nasty and Slime were two trackers, and anyone that needed to be found was found. They worked together. No one could slip between them, and anyone who did dirty with the Evil Fuckers MC answered to them.
The club was made up for more than three players, but it was a strong three to still survive.
“What do you think their next move is going to be?”
Colt asked.
They were talking quietly.
Dirty blew out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’d start hitting places.”
“You would?”
“Think about it, they have now made their presence known. We know where they are, we know what they are capable of. It is only a matter of time before we find them or they make a mistake. The longer they leave it, the more mistakes they make. Also, now that we know they’re close, we’re going to start checking our members.”
Dirty didn’t like this.
“There’s no way they could have been at the club.”
“There is. Especially when we were all partying.”
Dirty sighed. “Either way, they didn’t get into church, I reckon they would have tried to stop the last couple of runs we did.”
“Warden didn’t announce them in church, he did so privately,”
Colt said.
“A lot of bad shit going around.”
Colt nodded. “We’re going to have to put the men on protection detail, all of our businesses, and the diner, everywhere.”
“Warden’s going to have to call reinforcements.”
“And you two need to shut up before I make an enemy out of my father-in-law and kill you both,”
Rosalie said, drawing their attention.
Colt grimaced. “Shit, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’m not worried about me. Petal’s asleep. I refused to let her drive home. She is so tired. I’ve never seen her this way before.”
Rosalie sighed. Her gaze wandered toward him.
Since she had learned the truth, Rosalie didn’t like him. She didn’t make waves because he was still club, and well, his personal life didn’t affect the running of the club. His and Petal’s business was exactly that. No one would interfere.
He looked at Rosalie, and he wasn’t interested in starting an argument with her. He wanted to make sure Petal was okay. If she wasn’t sleeping well, he didn’t like that, and he wanted to make it easy for her.
“You better be gone by the time she wakes up,”
Rosalie said.
He held his hands up in surrender.
“Come on, he’s harmless and we need him here,”
Colt said.
Before Rosalie could say another word, Colt was already leading her away. Dirty waited a couple of minutes and then went to take a shower in the other guest room. Stripping out of his clothes, he didn’t care where they fell. He took a shower as fast as he could and then dried his body. Even though he was still damp to the touch, he changed into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt.
He stepped out of his room and went straight into Petal’s. She was sleeping, but even in the dark, he saw it was a troubled sleep. He didn’t like this.
Moving closer, he slowly began to climb onto the bed, being careful not to make any sudden movements as he got as close to Petal as he could. He waited several minutes and when she didn’t stir, he wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her deep floral scent.
She began to stir, just a little, and he pulled his arms back, giving her space. Dirty loved the way she smelled. It was truly a beautiful scent.
Seconds passed and they turned into minutes, and once she had settled down again, he wrapped his arms around her, relaxing into the movement. He waited.
And then, he felt Petal’s troubled body relax and her snores deepened just a little.
Dirty stayed awake, holding her. Sleep wouldn’t come to him, not yet. For now, he just wanted to bask in holding her. It had been too long since he held Petal in his arms.
She had no idea how he wished they could go back to that moment—the instant he saw his words hurt her, and shred that part of her feelings for him. Instead of asking if the baby was his, he’d tell her how happy he was.
A baby.
He was an asshole.
The times he was alone now, he thought about Petal, about a life with her. He watched Warden and Kim with a new appreciation. They were married and tight, and … happy. Yes, they knew heartache, but they had each other. Warden never looked at another woman. There was no one else he wanted. It was always Kim.
Then he saw Colt and Rosalie. An unlikely couple right from the start, her being the daughter of the enemy, but also a man Colt wanted to kill. Yet, they were married, thriving, and pregnant.
He and Petal made no sense. Petal had a smart mouth. She was stunning, beautiful, and had the prettiest smile, but also the saddest of faces when she was upset. One of the days on that cruise after talking with Rosalie, he saw how much this life had affected her.
She was so gutted for her friend, but she tried to be the strong one—the one Rosalie could rely on, and as he watched her, he couldn’t help but notice she had no one. There was no one’s shoulder for her to cry on. No one for her to rely on. She had no one. And he decided to be her someone.
Now he fucked that up.
He stared down into her sleeping face, and he knew there was never going to be anyone for him. He had his chance and he lost it.
****
“It’s clever,”
Warden said. “And I didn’t see it coming.”
“We both knew what Daemon was capable of. This is just another element of it.”
“The man is dead, Kim. D-E-A-D, and yet, he is still finding a way to fuck everything up.”
Kim sighed and went to her husband. She took the whiskey out of his hand and placed it on the counter. “Stop. Deamon is not responsible for this. He might have put it in motion, but he is not here. He is dead, and we made sure of that.”
She took a deep breath.
This was hard. The truth was, seeing Warden like this, she knew it was bad. Even when the Evil Fuckers MC with Daemon in charge was a threat, he never acted like this. This was different.
Daemon had been playing this game a step ahead of them, even from the fucking grave. She knew her husband would be upset. Warden had known that the death of Daemon didn’t bring the end of trouble with the MC. All it had done was send them into hiding, and now it was a game of cat and mouse.
“What am I going to do?” he asked.
She hated how deflated he sounded.
“Simple. We’re going to keep going no matter what. We now know they’re out there and they’re close.”
“They’re aware of our deals, Kim. They knew to intercept the drivers.”
“And we’ve got Fritz working that detail, right? Stop stressing.”
“I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you,”
Warden said. He reached for her, and she didn’t fight him.
“Nothing is going to happen to me. I’m not that young impressionable teenage girl anymore. I’m a full-grown woman and if I remember rightly, you got me a gun many years ago, and you also taught me how to use it.”
She offered him a smile. “I’ve never used it, but you never know, I might be convinced to kick some ass.”
Warden chuckled. “I don’t know what I did to win you.”
“Simple, you fell in love with me, and I fell in love with you.”
She knew he felt guilt at having no family.
Choosing Warden to spend her life with had come at a cost. When she first gave birth to Colt, or even when she first found out she was pregnant with her son, she’d felt so alone. The only women at the club had been those that wanted to screw all the men. She had to find her place, to let them know they couldn’t walk all over her.
Then, little by little, she came to realize she didn’t need her family. If they didn’t want her around because her husband was a “bad man”
and he ran with “the wrong crowd,”
she didn’t need them.
She wasn’t afraid of this new threat—angry, but not afraid. Daemon was gone, and it would take some time, but the Evil Fuckers MC would one day cease to exist.