Chapter 50 #2
Sutton was a mess. Every hair on his head was standing up instead of smoothed back the way it used to be. His eyes were surrounded by shadows of both shock and grief, and I swear he was trying to mask the slight quiver of his top lip beneath his tash as he worried it between his teeth.
Poor fucker.
“Chief,” I said, acknowledging him quietly. “Welcome to my home.”
Howard’s eyes met mine and where he would once have stood taller at the sound of my voice, he simply ran a hand through his hair and gave a few small nods.
“Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back out here.
” I sighed, signaling for him to sit down on the chair beside me.
I guess he hadn’t fully disappeared. He shook his head and declined my invitation, instead choosing to stand.
“I trust my brothers have looked after you since they brought you back here.”
“They have,” he answered, clearing his throat. “Quite the little motorcycle hotel you have here, Tucker.”
“We respect those that respect us. It’s always been our way.”
“I see that now.”
My smile was more sympathetic than anything as I watched him fidget and look around.
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said softly. “How are the war wounds?”
Sutton sighed, the tiredness pouring out of him as he scratched the back of his neck and shrugged awkwardly.
“Nothing on the surface that won’t heal in time.
” It was then he swallowed and the light caught the moisture that coated his eyes.
Not wanting me to notice, he moved his hands to rub at them.
Giving my men one single look, they began to move around the room, distancing themselves from the private conversation that needed to take place. Once I was sure the chief had the personal space he needed, I leaned forward and ignored the pain that shot down my arm from my shoulder.
“I know you and I haven’t always seen eye to eye, and I know that me even speaking her name is something that’s always got your back up, but I need you to know that I am sorry about Maisey.”
Sutton swallowed again, not hiding the way he struggled to regain control of his voice before he spoke. “Are you?”
“Yes,” I answered firmly.
“Why?”
“Sutton, she was your wife.”
“Only on paper.”
“I doubt she ever intended to hurt you.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I only ever try to be honest.”
“I’m not sure how I feel.”
“That I can believe.” I nodded my head in understanding, not looking away from him as he dropped his arms down by his sides before shoving them in the pockets of the oversized sweats he was wearing.
“I want to mourn her more than I do, but all I can see is her face when she spoke to you. All I can hear is the way she said that other man’s name. That kind of betrayal runs deep no matter how much you thought you loved a person.”
“She was in over her head, Howard. Doesn’t mean everything was false.”
“No?” he asked, lifting his head again.
“You’ve got your daughters. She can’t ever take them away from you.
” As soon as I said it, my head spun around to the side and I looked for them.
In the haze of everything that had happened, I hadn’t a clue where they were, but I distinctly remembered giving an instruction for them to be taken care of and kept safe.
“They’re in one of your rooms, Tucker,” he said, obviously sensing my question before I even had the time to formulate it in my mouth. “Another thing I’ve got to thank you for.”
My eyes closed briefly before I turned back to look at him and shook my head. “No need. You saved my life. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”
“Likewise.”
“Then I guess we’re even.”
He sucked in a small breath, the weight of what I’d just said showing in the way he creased his brows together and took a moment to stare his old enemy in the eye—an enemy who he would probably now have to call a friend.
“I know it ain’t easy,” I began to offer.
“It’s never easy to change the way you’ve seen something or someone your whole life.
I get that. But in order for us all to stay safe, for you to keep being the father to your girls you want to be, for me to be able to keep being the father to my club that I need to be, we have to work together now, Howard. ”
“Together,” he repeated in a whisper.
“Together. All of us. My men will have your back and your girls’ backs for as long as you need us.”
“And what will I have to do in return, Drew? Be your bitch cop who gets paid a nice fee for letting you run things through my town that used to turn my blood cold?”
I didn’t snap at his attack. It was expected and it was understood.
We were the devil’s sons in his eyes. We wore the reaper on our chests and had black in our hearts, or so he thought.
His confusion was going to throw a million questions out before any kind of comfortable friendship was truly formed.
“We’re not that club anymore. At least, we’re trying not to be.
Do we attract trouble?” I looked down at my bust up body before swaying my head from side to side.
“Evidently. Do we like it? Somedays. Do we want it as a permanent feature in our futures? No. And if you struggle to understand why I’ve had such a change of heart, you just need to look at that woman over there and see for yourself. ”
I didn’t have to look up to see where she was. I could feel her, my hand rising and pointing in her direction as I kept my eyes on Sutton. He took one glance over his shoulder, spotted Ayda and turned back to me.
“You expect me to believe that one girl has changed a whole history of corrupt morals for you?
“No,” I said, lowering my voice and peeking up through hooded eyes.
“I expect you to believe that that girl has changed a whole history of corrupt and fucked up morals for me. For all of us. Shit happens, Chief. Sometimes it’s good; sometimes it’s bad.
Sometimes it’s the most unexpected shit you can imagine.
She’s my good and my unexpected, and right now, she’s all that matters.
If she matters to me, she matters to my men.
Everything she loves matters to all of us.
I don’t expect you to understand, but you better fucking believe it, because I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire, miserable-before-she-came-along existence. ”
His eyes went wider the more I spoke, forcing him to swallow down again as he took one more look over his shoulder and stared at her for a length of time that would have made me feel uncomfortable had we been in any other situation. But I needed him to see what I saw.
When he eventually turned back to face me, his nod was a silent communication to let me know he understood.
“Good,” I said through a sigh, straightening up and pushing my hands carefully into the tops of my thighs. “So we’re friends? Two people working together for once instead of trying to tear each other apart?”
“I’d like that.” He ran his hand down over his mouth, resting it on the edge of his chin before shaking his head at the weird situation we were in and locking eyes with mine. “I’d like that.”
“Then it’s already done.”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you. Without you doing what you did, I wouldn’t be here.
That’s the kind of stuff that never gets forgotten in this club.
It’s a mutual respect. We’ll help you keep your involvement covered from the rest of the law, we’ll deal with Maisey’s…
” I trailed off, not wanting or needing to say the word funeral.
We both knew where I was going. “The girls will be safe and they’ll get to keep their father at home. ”
Sutton’s nostrils flared as he pulled in another deep breath and held it high in his chest. When he spoke, it came out through the exhale, followed by a weird, misplaced smile I hadn’t expected to see.
“Seems like a few knocks to the head has made you a better man, Tucker.”
My responding grin was immediate, my eyes widening as I straightened up and took a quick glance at Ayda before meeting his gaze again. “Or maybe I was just a good guy all along, Chief?”