Pops

by Screaming Mimi

  “Thank you Dino, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind if I ever need to disappear. Who’s your father? I’ve met Dominic and Lucian, is it one of them?”

  “You’re welcome angel face, Dominic is my father. He’s the quietest of the four boys, I’m not like him at all. Which drives him crazy I think sometimes, I talk all the time, it gets me in trouble occasionally.” He winked at me, making me laugh at his antics.

  “Oh, I can see you getting in a lot of trouble with the ladies, don’t you?” He threw his hand against his chest in mock insult.

  “Me, why would any lady find me trouble, I mean look at all this handsomeness, who can resist it. That’s the smile I remember angel face, it’s good to see it again.” I gave him a puzzled look, because I didn’t remember ever meeting him before, but clearly he remembered me.

  “Oh yeah, that’s right, you were too young to remember. You were the cutest little thing, looked like a little angel. When you smiled the whole room would light up. When you left, it was like someone turned off all the lights for a long time, we didn’t think we’d ever get you back. Your mom...never mind, here we are. Lucian always wakes up at four a.m. to do yoga or some shit. Says it’s good for his joints, whatever that means, I think he just likes being all flexible for his wife.” I blushed; thinking about my uncle with his wife was definitely not on my to-do list for the day. Dino knocked softly on the door, listened for the approval to enter, and let us in. Sure enough, Lucian was in white yoga pants and nothing else.

  I shouldn’t be checking out my uncle, but the man was still in amazing shape for his age, very lean and muscular. Not like Castor who was built like a tank, with muscles on top of muscles, or so it seemed. I wasn’t comparing or anything, but Castor could probably take him in one shot, just an observation.

  “What is it Dino? Bethy are you alright, did Pops do something to upset you? I’ll kill him, where is he?”

  “Stop that right now, no one is hurting Pops! He didn’t do anything wrong, he’s a good man, don’t you dare threaten him.” I was in Lucian’s space, poking him in the chest with fire in my eyes.

  “Whoa there wildcat, I won’t hurt Pops. Sorry, force of habit to want to go all caveman, now tell me what’s got you up this early.” He quirked his eyebrow at me while smiling down, smoothing a hand down my hair.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all worked up. He really is a good guy, which makes what I have to ask you to do that much harder. Lucian, he’s in danger the longer he stays here, I need you to make him leave. I don’t know how, but he needs to go home, where it is safe. Where who I am can’t hurt him. Can you do that for me?” A sad smile formed on his lips, before he nodded his assent.

  “Alright Bethy, if you think he’s better off not being here with you. I’ll send him away; but are you sure this is what you want? You won’t regret this in a day, a week, a month; because once he’s gone he might never come back to you. Seems you are pretty attached to him to simply just let him go. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that he’s a biker doesn’t make me like him, but his club has always been clean with us.” Tears are running down my cheeks unchecked because my heart is screaming at me to not let Castor go, to hold on to him. Instead, I seal my fate and his with a simple nod of my head before I can change my mind. “Very well, Dino, see that Pops is escorted out of the house.” Dino scoffs, before heading out the door.

  “Do you think he’s upset he has to do my dirty work?”

  “No sweetheart, he knows this isn’t what you really want in here.” He points to my heart. “But he knows better than to disobey an order. He’s torn, and I completely understand how he is feeling.”

  “This is what has to happen; I have to know he is safe. I need to know Michael can’t touch him. If he stays here, Michael is too close, I can’t take that chance. Thank you Lucian, it hurts now, but the pain will go away in time I’m sure.” Pulling me into a hug, he holds me tightly for a few minutes and I soak up the warmth.

  Pops

  I’m already up and dressed by the time Dino comes to escort me off the property. I knew as soon as I felt her get out of bed what she was going to do. I won’t lie it hurt like fuck to have her decide to get rid of me. Dino didn’t look thrilled to be the one breaking the news to me, but he was a good soldier in his grandfather’s army. Pulling on my jacket, I ignore him for a few minutes, getting my thoughts settled.

  “Don’t look like I’ve just kicked your dog son. I’m not going to fight you if that’s what you’re worried about.” Dino ran his hand through his hair, looking like he was about to throw up.

  “Naw, I’m not worried you’re going to fight me. I just wish she could see we are trying to help her, that we’ll keep her safe. She doesn’t trust us, her own family, and that’s her fucking father’s fault.” Judging by the way the kid was flexing his fists; he was close to losing his shit.

  “She’ll learn to trust you guys, be there for her, and keep her safe. When the dust settles, she knows where to find me. Until then I’ll have to respect her wishes.” Knowing she wanted me gone regardless of the reason why, hurt like a fucking boulder crushing my chest. It was hard to breathe without pain. Leaving was cutting a hole into my heart, but she needed to feel like she’d done the right thing. “I’m a phone call away. If you need help, any help, you have Gino call me.” He nodded before turning around to lead me out the door, stuffing his hands in his pockets. If this kid got a chance to take a swing at Michael or Vinnie, I felt sorry for them, almost.

  I’d avoided Michael for the most part, but apparently he thought he needed to make the appearance of being Beth’s father before I left. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs as we made our way down, I could see Dino’s muscles bunch on his neck. I knew I needed to defuse the situation before it went sideways.

  “I’m glad to see you leaving; I don’t like your kind sniffing around my daughter. She’s a delicate thing, better for her if she doesn’t have to deal with you.” Was he fucking joking? I wanted to laugh as soon as he called Beth delicate; she was as delicate as a cactus in the desert. I placed myself between Dino and Michael, turning to give Dino a look that said I had this.

  “It seems I’ve worn out my welcome, I hope I didn’t upset your daughter’s delicate sensibilities with my presence.” I smiled turning to walk away, because I needed to, Gino had a plan. He’d let me in on it the night before, which was the only reason I wasn’t busting the asshole in front of me in the nose. I was halfway to the door when Vinnie, standing next to Michael, spoke.

  “Don’t worry about her sensibilities; I’ll make sure she doesn’t have any left when I finish with her tonight.” I heard Michael curse right before I heard bones crack, then a very unmanly scream escaped from Vinnie. When I turned back, Vinnie was holding his nose glaring at Dino, who looked ready to finish the job if some of Gino’s other men hadn’t been holding him back.

  “You don’t get to talk about her like that, you hear me! Let me go, I’m fine, let me go.” Lucian came running down the stairs, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans; he’d clearly been in the process of getting dressed.

  “What the fuck is going on down here? Dino, what the hell did you do to our guests?” He was putting on a hell of an act glaring at Dino, but I saw the way he shifted his eyes away, making almost imperceptible motions to the men around them. “My apologies, sometimes he reacts without thinking. Are you alright Vinnie? I can have one of my men take you to the hospital if you need it looked at.” There was grumbling followed by Michael and Vinnie going back to their rooms.

  Waiting until they were gone from sight, Lucian talked quietly to Dino. The kid was nodding in understanding, but I was sure given the chance he’d have done the same thing all over again. I was about to tell him to give the kid a break when Beth came down the stairs. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and when she looked at me, she looked broken. I took two steps toward her, before my brain caught up with my head, I stopped mid-stride. She’d made her choice clear, she didn’t want me
there. I knew why, but damn if it didn’t still hurt like hell. Lucian pulled her into a hug, before looking over at me with sympathy in his eyes. I didn’t say a word; I just nodded at him in understanding, turned on my heel, and walked out the door.

  It took everything in me to keep walking towards the gate; one foot in front of the other seemed like a trial in itself. There were men waiting at the gate to let me out. Before they locked the gate soundly behind me, everything in me wanted me to go back into the house, grab Beth, and haul ass. I needed to think of her, she just found her grandfather; she needed time to get to know him. Time for him to prove she could trust him; the first step would be when he got rid of Michael and everything associated with him. I fucking loved her, but that old saying kept mocking me in my head “if you love something, set it free, if it comes back to you it’s meant to be”. Don’t know who the fuck thought up that little saying, but it didn’t say shit about how fucking much it would hurt to let go. Some damn warning would have been nice, you know something along the lines of “loving something may cause heartache, indigestion, or questionable activity”, but it didn’t. So, here I was hurting like a bitch because I loved a woman, and I just let her go. Well more like she just let me go, but it worked out the same didn’t. She’d come back to me if it was meant to be, that’s what the saying said, I had to believe we were meant to be. No way would fate send me this amazing woman, only to snatch her away from me before I had a chance to make her mine.

  I would let the cards fall where they may, keep hope alive, but I had to move forward. Her family would protect her; I knew that from talking to Gino. That was one man I never wanted to be on the bad side of. He had a wicked plan for Michael and his men, and he’d never have to lift a finger. Would never be traced back to him, or anyone in his organization, fucking brilliant is what it was. Gino was setting up the informant he knew was in Michael’s organization to tell the cops when to set their trap. Michael would try to get away, and with any luck, be taken out by the cops in the process; it was a fucking genius level op if I’d ever heard one. Gino wouldn’t be near the scene. No one would link him to the whole thing, and even if Michael did survive he’d be going away for a really long time.

  When the smoke cleared, hopefully Bethy would come back to me, until then I’d be as patient as possible. Not that I wanted to be, but this is what she wanted, I wasn’t going to fight her anymore. I’d forced Gar on her, and look how that ended up. No, I needed to back off. Rubbing the center of my chest, it hurt to breath. It hurt to keep moving, but I had a club back home that needed me to have my shit together when I got there. Hopefully, the open road would help clear my head.

  Chapter Twelve

  Three Months Later

  POPS

  “You should either get laid or go kill something old man. Why don’t you just go after her already?” I growled in response to Bart’s question. Three months with no communication from Bethy made me miserable company to be around. I figured as soon as Michael was out of the picture she’d come back to me, but she hadn’t. That should say it all, but a part of me held out hope she’d come back to me, or at least call.

  “Leave him alone Bart, she’ll come back, I’m sure of it.” Bliss hugged me tight. If only I could believe her, but three fucking months was a long damn time with no word.

  “If he would swallow his pride, go get her, throw her over his shoulder, and bring her back here, things would be a lot simpler. Don’t give me that look, you like it when I go all caveman sweetheart.” Shaking my head at Bliss sticking her tongue out at Bart, I seriously didn’t need to be hearing this. “Maybe if you told him the news he’d be in a better mood, go on tell him so I can see him suppress the urge to hit me." Now I was confused. What could she possibly tell me that would make me want to hit my own son?

  “Are you sure we should tell him already? What if...what if something happens?” She seemed close to tears as Bart made his way across the room to her, pulling her into a hug.

  “Someone better tell the old man something, before he beats both of your asses for confusing him. I’m old, keeping me teetering on the edge isn’t good for my health.” Bliss started laughing, before putting her hand over her mouth and running to the bathroom. My brain didn’t take long to decipher what it was they wanted to tell me, and give Bart my “are-you-fucking-kidding-me” look. He simply shrugged before following Bliss. I could hear him speaking to her softly. The shock of what she was going to tell me hit me right in the gut. When she came out of the bathroom, with tears in her eyes, I held my arms out for her. Enveloping her in a bear hug, I held her ‘til she calmed down.

  “You aren’t mad? Bart said you’d probably beat him senseless for getting me knocked up.” She wiped her nose with her sleeve before looking at me expectantly.

  “I should beat some sense into him, not because I’m not thrilled to be a grandfather, but because he should make an honest woman out of you first.” I gave him a pointed look causing him to hold his hands up in surrender

  “Oh, that was the other thing we needed to tell you.” She flashed a ring in front of my face, one that I should have noticed, but I was too busy wallowing in my own self-pity. “He liked it, so he put a ring on it.” I hugged her tightly to me, before motioning for Bart to come over, adding him into the hug.

  “You know Pops I’m getting a little old to be hugging you like this.” I smacked him on the back of head.

  “You will never be too old for you to hug your own father. If I catch you telling my grandchildren they are too old to hug you, I will beat your ass. Shit, I’m going to be a grandpop. How long do we have ‘til they arrive?” Looking over Bliss she doesn’t seem like she’s very far along, but what the hell do I really know about pregnancy.

  “Oh you have plenty of time to get used to the idea; I’m only about six weeks along. We were going to wait until I was through the first trimester, but I wanted to tell you. Even if something goes wrong, I wanted you to know.” I hugged her to me again, relishing in the fact that I was going to be a grandpop.

  “We both wanted you to know. I won’t say I’m not nervous as fuck to become a father, but I had one hell of an example. Beth will come back when she’s ready, but now you have something to keep you distracted until she does.” Bliss nodded smiling.

  “Maybe it’s better this way, if she’s not here then I won’t feel the need to change for her.” Raking my hand through my hair, the words tasted sour in my mouth even as I said them. “Fuck I was willing to keep her completely away from the club, make a life for us away from it all. Hand over the reins to you completely, only coming in when you really needed me.” They both gaped at me with wide-open mouths in shock; not that I blamed them. Hell, I loved my fucking club, it was my family, and the fact that I was willing to give it up for her said it all.

  “Are you fucking insane? How could you let a woman make you choose between your family and her? I thought I knew her, but if she was making you choose then she wasn’t the right woman for you.” Bliss looked madder than a wet hen.

  “Bliss calm down, you don’t need to upset yourself, it’s not good for the pregnancy, doctor said so. I, on the other hand, can tell you exactly how fucked up that shit you were spouting is.” Bart had his hackles up too, looking ready to go to war for me.

  “She wasn’t making me choose, I made the decision on my own. I didn’t even get a chance to tell her before she had me shipped out of the house. But she made it clear time and time again that there was no way she’d ever be involved with someone like me. She wanted a normal life, one with the house, the car, and the two point five kids. None of which I can give her, well except the house. If I was going to keep her, I needed to make it worth it for her.” Even I knew how lame that shit sounded, if she loved me she’d accept all of me, not just the stuff she wanted to. Love was everything, not picking and choosing what you wanted from the other person, it was all or nothing. That’s what I’d taught my kids, that’s what I’d told the younger guys in the club. T
hen why was it I was making excuses for my relationship to be different. The resounding “because you love her” didn’t help the argument.

  “So you didn’t even talk to her about it? Did you tell her you loved her at least? Oh my GOD! Pops! Seriously, after all you went through to track her down, and you didn’t tell her you love her. Our father is fucking stupid, you know that Bart, he’s fucking stupid.” Leave it to Bliss not to pull any punches.

  “Yeah, well it’s not like it matters now anyway, does it. She doesn’t want me, that’s obvious.” Bliss let out an angry huff with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Do you know she’s miserable too? I swear you are both so damn stubborn!” Bliss slammed her hand over her mouth realizing her mistake, but it was too late. Bart turned her around to face him giving her a questioning look.

  “Have you been talking to her Bliss? When?” He sounded a little angry with her, but I couldn’t blame her for not telling me if Beth told her not to.

  “She called not long after you left her, said she needed to make sure I was alright. We talk once a week on the phone now, I can tell she’s miserable though. She doesn’t sound like herself; she sounds like she’s hurting.” Bart ran his hand down his face before giving me an apologetic look.

  “I swear if I’d known I would have told you. Bliss you can’t keep things from me like this. Hell, you shouldn’t have kept it from Pops! Don’t cry baby, I’m not mad, but shit, you’ve seen how he’s been.” Patting Bliss’ back while she sniffled, Bart looked lost.