30. Jameson
THIRTY
I watchedas Luke stumbled in through the club doors, a group of five men behind him. They reeked of weed as they slumped down on the couches and started talking amongst themselves.
“Where’s that pretty wife of yours, Luke? She needs to come get us some fucking food.”
Luke sputtered a laugh before tipping his head back. “She’s not my wife…I’m not marrying her or anyone else. I want to fuck when I want, who I want and how I want. Speaking of…when is Brooklyn and her crew getting here?”
The men laughed, and then they saw me.
“Oh, hey, mister prez, sir.” Mase laughed, digging for a cigarette.
I directed my comment to Luke. “We had church this morning, you were missing.”
Luke waved me off. “We had our own meeting, it was fine.”
It wasn’t fine, and this was the bullshit that was dividing the club. It couldn’t continue on like this.
“What did you discuss in your meeting, Luke?” I crossed my arms, playing along with his little production.
Luke’s head lolled to the side, his eyes were rimmed red and glassy. “We talked about banning Penelope from showing her face around here anymore…tired of seeing her and that bump. She needs to fucking leave.”
The men around him agreed with murmurs and salutes.
“Where the hell is she supposed to go, Luke?”
“Isn’t her mama about to die? Maybe Miles wants to start fucking her instead…can we trade Miles to Sons of Speed or Mayhem Riot?”
I gripped him by the shirt and pulled him off the couch.
“The fuck is wrong with you? That’s your child, Luke…these are people you’ve known your whole life, why are you acting like they’re so disposable?”
He pushed me away, stumbling as he went. “Because they are. All of them. They need to get the fuck out, or I will make them get out. I don’t want to see her, or that fucking belly!”
“Then you leave!” I roared.
He stepped nose to nose with me. “And if I don’t?”
His men started filling in behind him, and how fucking pathetic was it that they were his men? They were supposed to be loyal to me.
I knew this was over. I had to do something drastic, and I had to do it soon.
“She’s carrying your child, Luke. You owe her?—”
Luke spun and grabbed a beer bottle and tossed it against the wall. “I owe her nothing! I told her to get rid of it. She didn’t! That’s not on me. That’s on her. I owe her shit, Jameson. Stop playing the simpering hero and just go fuck her already. It’s painfully obvious that you’ve been dying to, but you’re too chicken shit to do anything about it.”
The words echoed around the room, settling like dust. I wouldn’t dignify it with a response.
“You owe her more than this, Luke,” I muttered quietly before pushing past him and exiting the club.
I needed to talk to Penelope and figure out what her thoughts were around this. Luke wasn’t wrong, her mom was sick…it was a punch to the gut learning about it. It seemed to sneak up on all of us, although I had a suspicion it had been going on for a bit longer than anyone knew. Regardless, she was given mere months to live…if that. Her cancer was aggressive, and Wanda declined doing chemotherapy, saying she wanted to live her last days in peace.
I had no idea how Penelope was handing the news. She and her mom were close, but after dealing with everything I had with my own dad, I knew she had to be in pain.
I walked over to the club garage where she worked as a receptionist to see if I could steal a few minutes of her time. The large bay doors were open, but the small office in the front was vacant.
Poking my head in, I searched back by the file cabinets and then the waiting room. Maybe she was in the bathroom. I moved down the hall, but the women’s bathroom door was open, the light off.
I turned toward the mechanics, and asked Rafe, one of the lead men, “Where’s Penelope?”
His face twisted as he spit into a nearby cup. “The whore?”
“Fuck you, Rafe. She was dating Luke. He’s the one who stepped out.”
Rafe shook his head. “She should have left…just the same, Luke told us to fire her. She was let go a few days ago.”
“That was my call, not Luke’s.” I seethed, angry that once again this entire fucking thing seemed to be falling apart.
It angered me on an entirely different level because before Pen had started dating Luke, she’d gotten back into photography, but at his request she quit and started working at this stupid fucking garage.
Now he had fired her.
Fucking asshole.
I left in a rage, heading for Miles’ house.
I knocked on Miles’ front door, knowing the male was currently down at the bar, drinking and smoking with a few old timers. Fucker didn’t seem to think it was necessary to stay by his old lady’s side while she was in the last days of her life.
Gene answered the door with a sad smile in place.
“I need to talk to Penelope.” I didn’t waste time on pleasantries. They’d be lost on Gene anyway.
She welcomed me into the house, but once I was inside, she let out a sigh.
“Penelope is out job hunting.”
Fuck. I shook my head, my hands going to my hips, unsure how to fix this. It was quiet in the house when I heard a feeble request coming from the living room.
“Jameson King, come talk to me.”
My stomach tilted as I registered it was Wanda.
I gave Gene a quick look, she only gave me that sad smile once more then nodded toward the living room.
I followed her, wishing I had washed my hands or taken off my boots. Something that would have made me feel a little more prepared to see her lithe body, the pallor of her skin nearly translucent, and the bags under her eyes that were deep set and dark.
She saw me and those cracked lips tilted up into a smile. My chest felt tight as I remembered the old Wanda, and how beautiful she once was, how that beauty still lingered around her like a faded photograph.
Her hand came out, and I took it into mine, taking a seat in the chair next to her.
“Jameson.” Her voice was weak, and it made tears burn behind my steady gaze. I wanted her to be strong for Pen, to stay for her daughter who needed her more than ever right now.
“I’m here.” I smiled at her, lightly squeezing her hand.
Her watery blue eyes latched onto me as she pulled me closer. “I need you to make me a promise, Jamie. I need you to promise me that you’ll get Penny out of here. Find somewhere safe for her to go to have the baby. She can’t stay here. Miles doesn’t want her here…Gene can’t take her in. Luke…” Her voice wobbled as if she were about to start crying.
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be on the verge of death, unsure if your child would be okay.
“I’ll try, Wanda. I can get her an apartment or something.”
Wanda shook her head. “You need to get her out of Richland. The club is vicious…Luke wants her dead, in my gut, I know it. I need you to get her out of here, Jameson, promise me.”
My rigid heart fought against her wishes. Penny had made her choice in Luke and hadn’t wanted me. While I wanted her to be safe, I didn’t understand why I had to try and be her hero when she had rejected me.
“My club, Wanda…I have to?—”
“She’s your club now, Jameson. Her and the baby.”
My breathing strained, which had me ducking my face and shaking my head. Wanda didn’t understand that Pen didn’t want me. I would make sure she was safe, but then I’d leave her to figure out what she wanted. For all I knew she’d work things out with Luke.
Wanda must have sensed my hesitancy because she tugged my hand until my eyes were back on her.
“I lied to you, Jameson.”
My brows caved in as I tried to work out what she was talking about.
A tear slipped down her face. “That day you came with flowers and the letter…I told you I would give them to her…”
More tears slid down the side of her face. “I thought I was doing her a favor…I thought if she could just move on from you, be free from the eternal crush she had on you, you’d both finally be free. I never gave her the flowers or the note. She never knew that you were an option, Jameson and in hiding that, I ruined my daughter’s life.”
She hiccupped as a sob crept up her throat. Tears were falling thick and fast down her face as she confessed.
“Please don’t tell her, Jamie. She’ll never forgive me, not now that she’s going through all this from Luke. Now that she realizes her choice was so horrific. She won’t ever understand that I was trying to protect her.”
I was trying to process that Pen hadn’t known.
All the pain I had felt over the past few years…she never knew that I wanted her. That I asked her to be mine.
I shook my head, bending down to kiss the back of Wanda’s hand. “I should have tried again with her, Wanda. I was a coward. I waited years to muster up the courage to ask her to be mine, only to do it in a note.”
“You thought she was going to be here that day,” Wanda argued, her voice thick.
I smiled. “No, I don’t think I did…it’s why I wrote the note. I was afraid. I saw her with Luke and I should have just fought for her, but I was scared. This is not on you. I will take her and get her out of here. I promise you, Wanda. I promise I’ll find a safe place for her.”
“Find a safe place for me where?” Penelope appeared in the living room, her eyes searching the scene in front of her.
I wasn’t sure how much she had heard, but it seemed like she’d missed the rather big confession her mother had made.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll find somewhere for you, Pen.” I stood from Wanda’s side, inspecting Penelope.
She looked tired, exhausted really, and her small bump was barely noticeable especially under the heavy sweatshirt she was wearing. Her hair was in a low bun, her face bare with no makeup.
“You don’t need to worry about me, Jameson.”
“He’s promising me,” Wanda said, tilting her head to see her daughter. “Call it a dying woman’s wish. I need this, Penny. Let me have it.”
Penelope’s nose flared, but she didn’t say anything as she spun away and disappeared down the hall.