Chapter 29
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
LOOT
Two-Pump stands next to me, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze focused straight ahead. He’s been standing here for a while, watching and waiting. Dare steps up beside me, and the three of us stare straight ahead in silence.
The only reason Two-Pump even knew what she looked like was that I finally shared a picture of her. I’ve kept as much of her existence from the club as possible.
They know her by name, and they know she’s Cade’s biological mother—who I unfortunately share custody with—but they’ve never met her. I would have liked to keep it that way forever.
Destinee wasn’t just a mistake I made. She’s the biggest regret of my life.
Not because of Cade—never because of Cade.
So maybe I shouldn’t think of her as a regret, but my life would be a hell of a lot easier if she weren’t part of it.
If only I had chosen better and not fucked some random fucking slut at a party who was just looking to score, saw my cut, and thought I’d be a payday.
And here I am, her goddamn payday.
Until now.
The only reason I haven’t dealt with her before now is because of Cade. Seems I’m the one who has fucked up again. I should have handled this shit for Cade years ago.
That shit ends now.
“How do you want to handle this?” Two-Pump asks. “I’ve been watching her for an hour, and she hasn’t moved.”
She won’t. Not unless a trick comes to get her. She’ll do what she does, and then she’ll be right back in that spot. She leans against the stucco wall. It no doubt fucking hurts as she presses her bare back against the side. She’s wearing a bikini top and a pair of exercise shorts.
I thought she was clean. I imagined that she was getting herself together somewhat. I figured she was smoking some weed, maybe drinking a little too much. But not turning tricks for what I assume is meth.
A man walks up to her, but it’s not a job. That’s her pimp. Her boyfriend, whatever the fuck she wants to call him. I know exactly who and what he is, and right now, he’s not happy with her. I can tell by the way he’s holding himself, by the way he points at her and leans in close.
She hasn’t made any money.
“He’s going to be watching,” I mutter. “So either we try to catch her alone, or we take both of them down. Without a doubt, he’s nobody and nothing. I can’t imagine anyone would miss him.”
Cruel words, but at the same time not wrong words. Pressing my lips together, I try to think about how to play this. I knew it wasn’t going to be as simple as snatching her off the sidewalk, but I didn’t think that she’d be with a pimp.
Naively, I assumed it was an actual boyfriend, and they were just sitting around stealing shit and getting high.
I should have known. Should have predicted.
I didn’t want to believe it, though, because then I would have to admit to myself that not only did I leave my son with a fucking crackhead, but I paid for her shit.
“I brought the club van,” Dare announces. I honestly didn’t notice what he brought, because I tore out of the clubhouse before he could even walk out of the bar. “Figured we might need it. You think she’d get inside for a trick?
“She would. Seems desperate enough,” I state just as the boyfriend slaps Destinee across the face. He spits on her, then turns and walks away, leaving her there against the building.
If she hadn’t neglected and abused my son, I might feel bad for her right about now, but I don’t.
All she had to do was call me and tell me she needed help with him.
I would have dropped anything and everything for my child.
She knows that, but she’s a selfish cunt and didn’t want to lose her payday.
“How’d you even find her?” I ask, turning to Two-Pump.
He tears his gaze away from her, his eyes finding mine.
I arch a brow, waiting for his response.
My lips twitch into a smirk because I know he wasn’t down here looking to pay for anything, especially since easy pussy is free down at the clubhouse.
Well, not free, but paid for by the club… a business expense, if you will.
“Sometimes I come down here to see if I can find my mom,” he murmurs.
Fuck.
Dare growls, and I know why he growls for one reason and one reason only: because his woman was probably down here, too, and he likely came here looking for her. There’s a bunch of shithole motels that they frequent, by the hour, I’m sure.
“We’re a sad fucking group, aren’t we?” I ask.
“Speak for yourself,” Dare snaps. “I left this side of town behind me a long-ass fucking time ago. I’m going to pick up Destinee, and we’ll meet you at the clubhouse.”
Without another word, he walks away. Turning my head, I watch him make his way toward the van. The license plates won’t match anything in the system in case anyone comes looking.
Two-Pump doesn’t make a single motion to move.
He’s staring straight ahead, though I know he’s not actually seeing anything.
He’s thinking about his mom and about what Dare has just announced.
I highly doubt he meant it in any kind of way, especially to Two-Pump.
It was mostly just for him and his shit.
But that doesn’t mean those words didn’t slam into our brother, because they did—hard.
“I should do the same,” he states. “There’s no saving her. Deep into addiction for the past fifteen years.”
“You’re only thirty,” I point out.
He snorts. “Yeah, born a drug baby, brother. When she was fifteen.”
Fuck.
His mom’s younger than me, then. Only forty-five years old. Fucking hell. I doubt any of us has had the perfect life, but thinking about him having a mom that young and on drugs, too—my mind shifts from Two-Pump to my own son. Because I gave him that mother.
Destinee might not be as young as he was, but she’s been addicted to whatever the fuck since day one. For Cade, that shit stops now. I curl my hand around his shoulder and flex my fingers gently.
“You never know, brother. There’s hope for everyone as long as they’re still breathin’.”
It’s a lie I tell him to make him feel better. Because there is no hope for Destinee. She won’t be breathing after tonight, though, so I guess maybe it’s not a complete fucking lie, after all.