“Let me get this straight,” I finally managed to get out as I turned to Julie. “You actually asked my brother if you could upgrade to the NHL Hockey player instead of being with the firefighting biker man?”
Her lips moved, almost as if she was a fish out of water trying to draw breath. Her cheeks flamed red, and then she began to sob. “It was a long time ago, and before I fell in love with you,” she admitted. I just stood there; my glare frozen on the woman who now seemed more a stranger to me than the doorman of my brother’s apartment.
“You didn’t think, at any point, since you made that offer to my brother that you should come clean and tell me about it?”
Her head snapped up, defiant eyes meeting mine as it did. “When do you suppose would have been a good time to do that?”
“I’m guessing the best time would have been before you made the offer to my little brother, but since you obviously weren’t thinking clearly, let’s go with right after you fucked up.”
“You would have tossed me aside then,” she admitted.
“Yeah, and according to your own admission, you didn’t love me then so what would it have mattered?”
“I did like you a lot then,” she tried to explain. It was a piss poor attempt as far as I was concerned.
“You liked me so much that you thought you’d wreck my relationship with my brother? Then you had the audacity to keep up a farce like you didn’t understand what his problem was every single time he ditched out on anything involving you. You knew. Every single time I wondered what I had done wrong to piss my little brother off so much that he was basically alienating me, you knew you fucked that up for me. You remained silent though. You let me think I’d done something that I was incapable of fixing. All this time, it could have been fixed. I missed out on years with my brother that I will never get back, and you caused that. I raised that boy! He might as well have been my son instead of my brother, and you took that from me. From us,” I indicated Kent and myself as I flipped my hand back and forth between the two of us.
The tears were falling freely down her face ruining the perfect makeup job she had done this morning. That alone made me wonder if she had changed her mind about going after my brother instead, or if she was still playing a game. She hadn’t been so particular about her makeup in months, until today, when I told her we were going to surprise Kent. I narrowed my eyes on her for an instant, and then something washed over me bringing with it a sort of peace I didn’t understand at the time. For the first time since I’d been with Julie, I realized I truly didn’t even care if I lost her. I could not wrap my head around the sort of betrayal she had perpetrated. It was one thing to have propositioned my brother when she did, but to let me live with a fractured relationship as a result and never once speak up? That was completely unforgivable.
“Smoke,” she called out as I turned my back on her.
“Don’t,” I told her as I picked up my bag from the floor and moved toward the door of the apartment. I turned back to glance over my shoulder. “I’m pissed at you too, man. This was avoidable. Our lives didn’t have to be so fucking far apart all this time. The lost moments, the ones we can never get back, that’s on you as much as it is her.” My brother looked stricken by my words.
“I just wanted you to be happy, and you looked happy with her,” he managed to get out.
“Yeah? How happy did I seem when you canceled our plans all those times? I wasn’t fucking jumping for joy because I got to spend another weekend with my girlfriend instead of my brother who I barely got to see.”
Julie sucked in a breath that we both ignored.
“I’m sorry man. You sacrificed so much for Soph and me over the years. I just wanted you to have something that was all yours.”
“There is nothing in this world I want that would jeopardize the relationship I have with you or Soph. Nothing and no one. Do you understand?” Kent nodded his head and I turned to leave once more.
“Smoke?” Julie called my name again.
“You can find your own way home. We are done.”
“You can’t mean that. We’ve been together five years. This is all something that happened so long ago,” she whined.
“So long ago that it still had my brother on edge and unwilling to visit with me if you were in the picture. You fucked that shit up for me. You fucked with my family. You lied. You kept your lie. You lived your lie all these years. I hope it tastes great on those lips, because you’ll need that memory to get you by from here on out. Never again, Julie. What you did is un-fucking-forgivable.”
With that I left. I needed time before I talked to my brother about everything because he would always be one of the most important people to me and I didn’t want to say the wrong things and cause a bigger rift than he’d allowed my girlfriend to put between us. I didn’t need any time between Julie and myself. All I needed where she was concerned was a whole lot of distance and space. I also needed to get back to Cedar Falls and pack my shit. I was in the market for a new place, because it wouldn’t be anywhere near where she was.
Chapter 2
Throwing myself into work was supposed to take my mind off cutting my girl loose and being angry with my brother. I suppose it had worked, though if I were being honest with myself it wasn’t entirely necessary either. Kent and I worked our shit out. Julie and I never spoke again. That was because I meant what I said and I refused to see her, listen to her bullshit, or anything else. She had effectively been frozen out of my life and was certainly persona non grata at the club these days too. The crazy thing was, none of it bothered me. I wondered how I could have just been going through the motions with her all this time. Granted, I still hadn’t formally claimed her as my old lady in all that time, even if we had been exclusive and everyone assumed it was the case. Now, I was beginning to see that maybe there was a reason for that. Julie and I had been coasting by in our relationship. With six months having gone by since I left her in my brother’s apartment that day, clarity had come to me. That quick flash of relief I had experienced in my brother’s place after finding out the truth had brought with it a lasting peace as well.
“Saw that new chick trying to get up on you last night at the party,” Chief said as he tossed a grin my way.
“She tried,” I admitted.
“Still not ready to get back on the horse?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not that. Just haven’t found the right horse to get on,” I explained on a laugh.
“Damn, dude. When you put it like that, maybe the horses just don’t want to be ridden.”
“Fuck! We took the wrong track with that conversation. Now, I’m suddenly seeing flashbacks to that time you bastards dragged me to that show in Tijuana.” Chief laughed his ass off then.
“Oh hell, that shit was the stuff of nightmares.”
“No kidding. So, what’s new with you these days. You seem to be carrying a little stress around on your shoulders.”
“Just worried about Poppy,” Chief explained.
“Poppy?”
“My little sister. She’s still down in Georgia. I’m hearing all kinds of whispers from people down there that things aren’t going so great for her. She didn’t handle the anniversary of our parents’ and sister’s death well. There was some whole drama surrounding that, but no one will tell me what happened. Then there’s Walker,” he huffed out.
“Walker,” I repeated the name trying to place it.
“He’s a member of our Sierra High Chapter. He’s also Poppy’s husband, and the fucker’s reportedly been stepping out on my sis.”
“Damn, dude. That puts you in a tight spot with what you can do.” It did too. Having to choose between a blood sister and a club brother was going to mean he might have to break some rules if he needed to get retribution for her. I’d do it for Soph in a heartbeat if I found out her husband, Bender, was stepping out on her. Then again, just like my little brother, Kent, Soph was more than just a sibling to me. I’d helped raise her t
oo.
“Why don’t you just go get her?”
“I want her to come to me about her problems first. Right now, I’m only hearing things from a couple people.”
“What the fuck? Why the wait?”
“If I force it, she’ll fight me on it. If I let her come to me, she’ll be living here where I can keep an eye on her – finally.”
“What about in the meantime?” I asked as we hit a fuckin’ pothole in the road and Chief turned a glare on me. I guess this line of questioning was distracting him from his driving.
“I have someone in place for her,” he finally admitted. I wasn’t sure I liked the sounds of that. Chief should have been going down to save his sister from prolonged misery rather than being on this run with me. Not to mention the fact that he mentioned having someone in place. What the hell did that mean, and how did he trust someone from down there to have his sister’s back against a brother in the club? For that matter, why the hell was I ever so invested in asking all these questions? I didn’t think I’d ever even met Chief’s sister before, or if I had it was in passing and I didn’t remember it.
We managed to find the spot where we were supposed to be meeting some of our brothers from the Tallahassee Chapter, but they hadn’t arrived yet. “I’ll check to see what their ETA is.” I shot a text out to Court asking just that and got a response that it would be a few more minutes.
“I’ll be glad when we aren’t having to help Tallahassee out on these runs anymore,” I finally said after we had been sitting there in silence a little too long. Unfortunately for us, this piece of shit vehicle didn’t have a working radio, auxiliary port, or a fucking way to charge our phones.
“You and me both, brother. At least we get to enjoy the free pussy party when we get back,” Chief commented.
I grunted out my disapproval.
“Seriously, I know we discussed the lack of decent horses earlier, but are you getting back with Julie or something?”
“Fuck no! Never look back to someone you couldn’t trust the first time around, brother. Just not feeling the type of women that hang around the club and not willing to share with my brothers. Julie wasn’t the one, man. I get that, but I am at a point in my life where I want to be settled. Hate to admit it, but I’m jealous of my little sister. What she and Bender have with Brantley…” I paused a moment thinking about the last time I saw my nephew. The little shit had kicked me in the shin for calling his mom stupid. I’d said it only to tease her, but he was quick to jump to her defense. “I want that. I want a family.”
“Would have thought you’d be the last person who wanted that since you raised your brother and sister,” he told me.
I shrugged. “I didn’t mind doing it. Besides, it’ll be different to have my own instead of raising siblings.”
“I guess. I used to want all that too. It’s what brought me to Cedar Falls in the first place.”
“What changed?”
“Bitch I couldn’t trust changed me. Now, I’ll take no strings, and fuck the big picture. Maybe if Poppy gets shy of that dickbag in Georgia she can finally have the kids she wants so bad and I can just spoil my little nieces and nephews.”
I smiled at the thought of seeing Chief being goofy with little versions of himself running around. I’d seen him with my nephew Brant and some of the other club kids. He’d make a spectacular father one day. Shame for him to give that up because of some lying, cheating woman he scraped off before it was too late.
I tipped my head up when I heard the sputtering of a motor heading our way. “Jesus, all this business they’re doing, you’d think those Florida boys could get some maintenance done on their vehicles.”
“Bite your tongue. We have to drive that shitshow all the way back home, and hope we make it.” Chief laughed, but I saw there was real concern in his eyes especially when the vehicle in question sputtered and wheezed as it was put in park and turned off.
Court got out of the passenger side laughing at the looks on our faces before he slammed his open palm down on the top of the van’s engine. “Aw, don’t give her that look, she’ll get temperamental on ya, just like a bitch.”
“Fuck sake,” Chief called out. “Can’t you guys upgrade that shit.”
Court shrugged his shoulders up and down once. “Why? This isn’t a long-haul gig. We only have a few more runs like this and we’re done.”
Chief shook his head back and forth. “We’ll get her some maintenance done if we manage to make it all the way back to Cedar Falls without…”
“No! Do not jinx yourselves. Last time someone badmouthed Betsy here, she stopped working for a solid month,” Diamond told us. He was one of the Florida boys, though we teased him often that he was really one of the Florida girls since he had a stripper name. He came by it as innocently as possible too. It was the fucker’s last name.
“Listen sparkle-dancer,” I called out to him. “We don’t have time for your salvage heap to break down on us, so from now on, let’s get a good clean bill of health before we do this thing, yeah?”
“Fuck you, Smoke!” Yeah, that shit always got under his skin. He hated being referred to as a stripper. Chief chuckled and then pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking down at a text that came in.
“Shit,” he proclaimed and then held his finger up, asking for a minute. “You got this?”
I gave him a chin tip and watched as he walked off a little way so whoever was on the other line couldn’t hear us. “What’s up with that?” Court asked as he came over and slapped the keys to Betsy in the palm of my hand while I traded out the box van keys to him.
“Don’t know. Might be his sister,” I told him and watched as he cringed a little.
“What?”
“Aw man, I was up there in Sierra High about a month ago. Walker was running through the whores like a dying man in the desert runs through water when he finds it.”
“Shit, that sounds a whole lot worse than anyone has let on to Chief,” I explained.
“If I had known he wasn’t aware, I would have fuckin’ given him a heads up. Met Poppy a few times. She’s a real sweet girl. The forever kind you don’t fuck shit up with, you know?”
“Yeah, well, hopefully that’s her calling her brother to come get her so she can start fresh somewhere else. He’s been distracted, worried about her.”
“From what I saw down there, that would be a good call. Everyone in that club knows what’s going down. Not a damn one trying to talk that idiot down from his insanity except Snake, and I don’t think he wants to see Walker stick it out with Poppy anyway.” I kicked an eyebrow up, a question in the gesture. “Yeah, I think it’s like that, but he ain’t acted on nothing yet, far as I could tell.”
“Well, maybe it would be best for Chief to get his ass there sooner than later. That would be a fucked situation to end up in for her.”
“No shit.”
Diamond interrupted any further discussion. “I’d like to enjoy soap opera hour, but we have precious cargo to get moved before the fates stop smiling on us.”
“Yeah, brother. Good to see you both again. Safe ride!”
Diamond gave Betsy a little slap on her bumper. “I had a little pep talk with our girl. She might just get you back home.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” I muttered before glancing over at Chief as Court and Diamond drove off. They had a tail of two more Aces High members on bikes, but they hadn’t gotten close enough for me to see who it was. Once they were gone, Chief hung up his cell and walked back over to me.
“Sorry about that,” he offered before stuffing his cell back into his pocket. “Looks like I finally got the call. Soon as we get back, I need to head out and go get Poppy.”
“Need someone with you?”
“Nah, man. You got work anyway. I’ll have it handled. Apparently, she has the family house packed up and on the fuckin’ market already,” he told me as a giant grin bloomed across his face. “Baby sister don’t play. That fucker never bothered to chec
k on her once in the time since she kicked him out so she could have time to think. She managed to pack up the entire house. He finally shows up and sees all the boxes and lost his shit.”
“She okay?”
“Aside from having her life fall apart? Yeah. Snake was there too. Nothing physical went down. He says he has a truck coming in two days. I’ll be there to help load it and then I’ll be driving her up. You know of a place for rent?”
“Pretty sure Hop’s brother has a place just up the road from you. I’ll check in on it and see if we can get her set up.”
“It’s empty?”
“Yeah. I just helped him remodel a bit. We yanked carpets out and refinished the wood that was underneath them. Last renters had cats that marked the carpets up. Stunk to high heaven in there.”
Chief wrinkled his nose. “Maybe we need to look for something else,” he mentioned.
“Nah, I promise, it’s all good now. You’ll see.”
“Okay, if you could get that set up for me, I’d appreciate the fuck out of it.”
“Not a problem, brother. You just go worry about your sister.”
Chapter 3
I was about to drive on past the little cottage style house near the corner when I thought better of it. I knew this was the house Chief was setting his sister up in because I had arranged it for them while he went to collect her. The only vehicle in the drive now was an older, but obviously well cared for, Subaru Outback. Chief was gone since his bike was no longer there, and yet, I didn’t keep going down the block. Something made me stop. I’m not that curious of a guy, but for some reason I couldn’t pass by the house without meeting the sister I’d heard so much about over the past couple of weeks.
When Poppy’s marriage started falling to shit, word was sent up through the chain of bickering old hens I tend to call my brothers. They were giving Chief the heads up before his sister filled him in on her troubles. I didn’t really agree with him waiting on her to be forthcoming, but he knew her better than I did – which was not at all. Her man was up to no good down there in Georgia. Normally, I’d call a brother out for ratting out anyone in his MC, but in this case, it was a weird situation, and from Chief’s viewpoint forgivable.
Redemption Duet (Aces High MC - Cedar Falls Book 0) Page 25