Chapter Twenty-Six
Worry eats away at me.
I hate this. I hate this so damn much.
Farrah hasn’t even left the house yet, but I’m worried. I’ve thought about packing up my vehicle and heading to the border. Take Farrah where we wouldn’t be found just to keep her safe from Billy.
While it’s great in theory, I can’t. We have a life here. People who we care about and who care for us.
Loyal.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why is this so hard?
“Do I have to go?” she asks as she comes out of her room.
“You already know the answer, baby. The lawyer made it clear you have to go with him today.”
“Ugh, this is such bullshit,” she grumbles.
“Language,” I say half-heartedly.
She gives me a pointed look. “I’m pretty sure if there was ever a time it was okay to swear, it would be now.”
“Not wrong,” I admit. “Just don’t make a habit of it or it will piss him off even more.”
I don’t even have to clarify who he is.
The front door opens, making us both tense.
“It’s just me!” Loyal calls out before coming into view.
He takes one look at us and shakes his head. “So you guys are handling this well.”
“Pretty much,” I sigh.
“Well, I might have something that will make you guys feel better.” He shakes a bag I hadn’t realized he was carrying.
“What’s that?” Farrah asks.
He opens the bag and pulls out a box. He hands it over to her before grabbing another one and hands it to me.
I watch as Farrah opens it and lines form between her brows. “Uh, Loyal…don’t you think it’s a little weird to get me jewelry? I mean, I know I’m awesome, but you’re dating my mom…not me.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “God, you’re such a little shit.”
I open my box and pull out a metal bracelet. “Did you get us matching bracelets?”
He shifts uncomfortably and rubs the back of his neck. “So, these aren’t just pretty things for you guys to wear. They are both chipped so if anything happens…the club can find you.”
“You got us tracking bracelets?” Farrah asks.
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” I add.
Loyal shrugs. “I hope it’s not, but at this point, who the fuck knows. I’m just trying to protect both of you as much as I can.”
“This feels extreme,” I tell him as I roll the jewelry between my fingers.
“It is, and I get it. It’s invasive as hell. I just…I want to make sure I can reach you if for some reason something happens…”
“You’ll only check it if you don’t hear from me or something?” Farrah asks.
“Absolutely,” Loyal says immediately.
Farrah slips it onto her wrist. “Okay, I’ll do it. Is it weird that it kind of gives me a peace of mind?”
“Not weird at all,” I tell her as I put mine on.
She’s right. Something about the weight of it on my wrist is comforting. Almost as if it’s always supposed to have been there.
“Is there anything else we need to know?” I ask, staring down at it.
“Yeah, if you twist either of the balls on the ends, it will alert me and tell me you’re in danger.”
“So like a built-in panic button,” Farrah says.
Loyal nods. “Exactly.”
“That’s neat,” she murmurs, twisting the ball.
Loyal’s phone immediately starts screaming. He pulls it out and silences it before sending a quick message to someone.
“Wow. That’s quick,” Farrah says, wide-eyed.
“It really is. And they are tight enough that they won’t spin on their own. You have to actually do it yourself,” he tells us.
“Good to know.” When I smile at him, his shoulders relax.
“I wonder when the cop will show up. Dad could be here any time,” Farrah says, picking her lip.
“Don’t do that,” I scold her.
She rolls her eyes. “Sorry.”
“The cop is already outside. He gave me a nod when I came in,” Loyal says.
“He clearly doesn’t know who you are,” Farrah teases.
Loyal winces. “Actually he does. Let’s just say he’s familiar with the club and he isn’t one of those who has an issue with us.”
I want to ask him if this cop is on the club’s payroll, but just thinking it feels ridiculous.
A knock on the door makes us all tense.
“This is it,” Farrah mutters, running her hands along her thighs.
“It’s best to get it over with and not wait,” Loyal says.
“Maybe if I wait, it will set him off and I won’t have to go?” Farrah says hopefully.
I shake my head. “I don’t think it works that way, baby,” I tell her as I stand.
Side by side, the three of us walk to the door and step outside together.
“Good evening, Ms. Abrahams.” He looks at Loyal and nods before looking at Farrah. “Hi, Farrah. I’m here to make sure you feel safe while going with your dad, okay?” the cop says.
My eyes drop to his name tag, and I have to stop myself from laughing.
Young.
He sure as hell looks young, but if Loyal says he’s good. I’ll believe him.
“Okay…” Farrah says to him before turning toward me. “I’ll call you?”
“You better. Every night at least, and whenever you want. I’ll keep my phone on me, and if you have any issues, call Loyal,” I tell her, rubbing her arms.
“I will.” She nods.
“You got this,” Loyal tells her.
I give her a quick hug and watch her walk away.
“Farrah,” I call out when she’s halfway down the driveway. She stops and looks back at me. “I’ll be here waiting for you to come home, okay?”
She nods, giving me a weak smile before continuing on her way. Loyal wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side.
“I fucking hate this,” I mutter.
“Me too, Mami. Me too, but she’s a good girl. Has her head on her shoulders. If she needs us, she will call,” he says as we watch Billy speed away.
“God, how stupid is he to take off like that in front of a cop?” I mutter.
“Some people just don’t learn.”
“What now?” I ask after a moment.
“Now, let’s head inside and distract ourselves. But first, my place or yours?”
“Yours. I don’t think I can be here without her.”
He nods. “Then let’s go.”
As we walk across the yard between his place and mine, I can’t help but be thankful for him.
If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know how I would be dealing with all of this.
He’s my rock. Every time I think I can’t possibly love him anymore, he goes and proves me wrong. Like giving us tracking bracelets.
Because only he would think of something as ridiculous as that.
Opening my door, we head inside. I watch as she heads straight to the living room, falling onto the couch.
“I hate this,” she moans into the cushion.
“Hey, I get it. It’s hard for me too, which is saying something considering how well Farrah and I got along in the beginning.”
She turns toward me and holds out her hand. “Reassure me it’s going to be okay.”
I walk over to her, taking her hand in mine. When I sit down, I pull her into my arms and think of the best way to ease her fears. While I could say the words, I don’t think that will help. Not really.
“What if I showed you how the tracking app works?”
She blinks up at me with those big blue eyes. “You can do that?”
I shift her slightly in my arms and pull my phone out of my pocket. Quickly I pull up the app and log in. When it opens, I show her the screen.
“Red dot is you. The bright pink is Farrah,” I tell her.
She takes my phone in her hands and studies it. “They are going down Tenth Street.”
“A normal route back to his place.”
She takes a deep breath, relaxing into me.
“You know, when you gave these to us, I thought it was dumb. Then as soon as I put it on, I felt more at peace than I have been in a long time. It’s oddly reassuring. It looks nice too.”
I rub her arm. “I would like to tell you that I had them custom made or that I spent an insane amount of time picking them out, but that would be a lie. Savage bought them in bulk in case of emergencies.”
She laughs softly under her breath. “I’ll admit, I don’t know him well, but that seems pretty on brand for him.”
“It’s the military guy in him.”
We fall silent for a moment as I begin to play with her hair.
“Tell me something that no one else knows,” she says quietly.
I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling as I try to rack my brain for something. Anything.
“I don’t know,” I murmur.
“Come on, you have to have something. Even if it’s club-related, you can be vague. I don’t need all the details.”
The memory hits me like a freight train. “You know how I got my name Loyal, but what no one knows is I almost wasn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
I blow out a deep breath. “It felt like I was standing at a crossroads. I can’t go into specifics, but I was given a choice to join the wrong side. I could stay loyal to Lotus or be a part of something different.”
“But you chose to stay.”
I nod. “I did. I wasn’t even a full-fledged member, but I loved what we stood for. I wanted to be one of them. Sure, joining the wrong side would have been easy, but it wouldn’t have been right. So I chose Lotus.”
Sami hums. “I’m glad you did. I honestly can’t imagine you with another club.”
I don’t bother telling her that if I had joined the assholes who were trying to take over, I would be dead right now.
“I couldn’t agree more. Enough about me, though. What’s something that no one else knows about you?”
“I’m afraid of who I am without Farrah,” she says with no hesitation.
“What do you mean?”
She sighs heavily. “I became a mom when I was sixteen. It’s been my entire identity.
The woman who got pregnant in high school.
The statistic. I love Farrah, truly I do.
Being her mom is one of my favorite things, but the closer she gets to graduating high school, I worry about who I’ll become when she’s gone.
I’ve literally spent every day for half of my life with her.
It’s bad enough when she’s gone to her dad’s. ”
“I guess I had never really thought of it that way. The whole half of your life with her, I mean.”
“Yeah…” She starts rubbing her thumb back and forth over my T-shirt.
“It’s going to suck, I’m sure, but it’s not like she’s going to go far,” I try to reassure her.
She looks up at me and smiles weakly. “Matty, think about it. The last year of her life has been hell. She’s been manipulated to the highest degree. She just had to have a police escort between parents to make sure no one fought. Do you really think she’s going to stay?”
“You think she’s going to take off?”
“I mean, I would if I were her. I would want as far away from here as possible. Shit, I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t cut me off.”
I shake my head before she’s even finished speaking. “Baby, stop saying stupid shit. That girl loves you even when you guys are at each other’s throats. She’s not going to cut you off. In fact, I bet if she heard you say that she would be pissed, and rightfully so.”
“Hey, you’re the one who asked me to tell you something that no one knows.” She shrugs, trying to play it off.
“Ask her. I bet you if you did, she would tell you to stop being dumb.”
“Maybe. Or I could just wait another year and see,” she whispers.
I roll my eyes. “Okay, I love you to hell and back, but enough of the deep shit. Let’s talk about something else. Anything else.”
“Like what?”
“Like…” My eyes dart around the room, trying to come up with an idea of something. Anything. “Tattoos. How do you feel about tattoos?”
Sami laughs. “Tattoos? Really? Could you have been any more random?”
I shrug. “Hey, I was working on the fly. Don’t judge me. Now tell me.”
“I’ve never really been a fan…until you.”
“Really, tell me more,” I tease, making her giggle.
“On you, I love them. They just look so…good…” She trails off.
“Ms. Abrahams, are you flirting with me?” I gasp.
“Maybe. Is it working?” she asks, biting her lip.
“Mami, how about I show you?”
I flip her over and bury my face into her neck, making her laugh, and I swear it’s the sweetest fucking sound.
As long as I can keep her making sounds like this, the rest will be easy. No matter what life throws at us.