“You stole a fucking baby?” I shouted. “That’s a new low, even for you.”
“It’s our baby, you idiot!” Chastity yelled back.
“That’s funny, because I don’t remember ever getting you pregnant or even trying to.” I shot back.
Myra tried to let go of my hand, but I held on that much tighter. No matter whose baby that was, it wouldn’t change my mind. Myra was the woman who I should have been building my dream life toward all along. And not to sound like a complete pussy, but I needed her to have my back right now. If there was any truth to the bullshit Chastity was spewing, I was about to be tied to that cunt for at least a solid 18 years.
“She’s yours, she’s the reason I took off.”
“That doesn’t even make sense. I told you how much I wanted a family. Obviously, an unplanned pregnancy wouldn’t have been anything to cause me to turn you away. What I would get angry about though, is a woman knowing she was having my kid and running off and never saying a word about it. I think you knew me well enough to understand both of those things. So, again, I’m asking whose kid you have there, because I am 99.999 percent positive it ain’t mine?”
“You don’t understand,” she whined, just like I knew she would. When Chastity didn’t get her way immediately, she knew how to turn on the drama fast. I still wasn’t sure what happened to make her the evil twin to Cherry’s beautiful soul, but they were night and day in personality. “I didn’t think I was cut out to be in a functioning family or to be a mom.”
“So, instead of running in order to terminate your pregnancy, like a normal psychopath who didn’t think she could be a mommy, you went and had the baby and kept it, despite your admission that you didn’t think you could be a mom? How the fuck does that make any sense, Chas?”
I moved to walk away when she didn’t answer the question. Of course, it was Chastity, so she wasn’t done yet. The bitch had to stab a little harder with that knife she was wielding. “Don’t you want to meet your daughter?”
“Sure, one day, when I have a daughter with my woman. Until then, if you want to continue with this charade, we’ll have a paternity test done. If it says I’m the father, we’ll go from there.”
“Where are we supposed to stay until then?” The calculating bitch had the nerve to ask.
“Most definitely not with me,” I answered.
“We could stay in our house you haven’t moved into yet.” The hopeful tone in her voice made me want to be sick. As if I would ever allow that to happen. “This is what you had it built for after all, our family.”
“It’s not now, nor ever will be ‘our’ anything. And you will never sully the inside of my home with your presence.”
“But…”
“Do something with your sister,” I told Cherry. “If she keeps asking more of me, I’m liable to kill her myself.”
“I have enough saved for a place closer to work now. Why don’t you have her stay with you for a few days to give me time to move the rest of my stuff out of the apartment over Spinner’s garage, and then she can stay there?” Myra asked Cherry.
“That’s perfect,” Chastity cooed. I’d honestly never contemplated violence against a woman before, at least not in the very serious way that my brain was running through scenarios to get this woman out of all of our lives for good. Truthfully, if that was my child, I would do whatever it took to make sure Chastity had little to nothing to do with her. There was zero doubt in my mind that the woman would ruin that child otherwise. I had other things to worry about for the moment though, like Myra thinking she was going to be getting an apartment of her own. Not happening.
I didn’t bother disagreeing with Myra in front of everyone, but we were going to have a serious talk in private. “Come on,” I told her in a whisper, and that time she followed along behind me, our hands still locked together. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Someone give Doc a call and get him on the DNA test immediately before the bitch can skip town with the kid again,” I called out.
“No need. I know you’re the father,” Chastity called back.
“There is most definitely a need,” I answered through gritted teeth. “She doesn’t leave here until Doc has had the chance to swab both of them.” I ordered, pointing down at the baby.
“I know of a place where we can get it done quickly. No need to call Doc.” Chastity’s bright smile made me cringe. Either she was positive it was my kid or she had something up her sleeve. My bets were on her having something to hide and needing a way to control the situation.
“And why would a woman who was sure of her child’s paternity just happen to ‘know of a place’?”
“Girls talk,” she suggested.
“Doc will do it,” I growled.
“I don’t trust Doc,” she muttered.
“Funny, he’s the only person I trust with this. I suggest you watch bad mouthing a brother in his clubhouse before you find yourself locked up downstairs while your sister cares for your baby.”
I didn’t stick around for any more of Chastity’s drama. Myra and I both let out a heavy breath when we were back behind closed doors in our room.
“You are not looking for a place closer to work when I already have one,” I informed Myra.
“If that’s your baby-” she started.
“If that’s my baby, and I seriously doubt that, then I will take care of it. Would it be a problem for you if we both bring a child into our relationship?”
“Of course it wouldn’t. My issue is more along the lines of whether you would end up wanting to keep your family together since you have the opportunity.”
“Would you do that?” I asked. “I can’t trust Chastity with anything. There’s no way I could be with her again. And that would be my answer only if you weren’t in the equation. With you here, the answer becomes, FUCK NO! I’d never give you up, my beautiful little momma bear. Not for anyone, but certainly not for a cheap imitation and a shitty mother figure.”
I pulled Myra down on my lap after I sat on the edge of the bed. “You are mine to protect, mine to love, mine to take care of. My house is half-way between the clubhouse and where you work. That makes it perfect for the two of us. No one has ever lived there before so we can move in and make it our home together.”
“You don’t think we’re moving too fast?”
“No. I think we’re moving at just the right speed, especially since this baby will be here before we know it. He’s going to need a place to come home to. I want that to be with me. With us.” Myra seemed to be contemplating my words as she leaned more heavily on my body. “What do you say? Move in with me?”
She leaned in and kissed my lips. “I would love to live in sin with you and maybe coparent a couple of babies together.”
“You giving me more babies?”
She shrugged. “You know, just in case that little girl does turn out to be yours.”
“Myra, I always used condoms with Chastity. I know that’s not something easy to hear or talk about, but it’s the truth. I was never comfortable even considering not doing that. So, the chances of that being my baby are pretty damn slim.”
“Things happen, they’re not foolproof.”
“I get that, but even if that turned out to be the case, I want us to be able to deal with it together, and I’m really going to need you because there is no way I’d ever leave my kid with that woman to raise.”
“You think she’ll let custody go that easily?”
“There are two things in this life that Chastity cares about. Money and power. I have money, if I need to buy her off, I will.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Myra managed to say before hugging me tighter.
“I liked what you did with your little apartment. Can we do something similar with the new house?” I asked her, trying to get Chastity out of our heads for a few minutes.
“You really liked it?”
“Yeah, baby. I want that, but obviously, on a bigger scale.”
<
br /> “That can be arranged.”
Chapter 27 - Myra
My life became a series of events I was waiting for. We were waiting on furniture to show up at the house Rabbit was moving us into. We were waiting on the DNA test to come back to see if Chastity’s daughter really was Rabbit’s too. Then there was me, waiting on this baby to grow big enough to be able to come out and meet me properly. Not that I was complaining about all of it. Rabbit managed to turn every day into an adventure for us. Our relationship was completely different to the one I’d had for so long with Blaze. We had fun. We laughed. Even when there were heavy topics being discussed, Rabbit and I made sure that we always ended them on a light note because there was no need to stay stuck in the negatives all the time. Despite all the waiting, I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I had been happier.
“You didn’t have to come get me, Deanna was going to bring me home,” I told Rabbit when he picked me up from work unexpectedly. The Beast was in the shop again, this time just for routine maintenance to make sure it wouldn’t crap out on me somewhere between work and home.
“I wanted to come get you,” was all he said for a little while. I noticed the tension in his shoulders and his hands as they tightened around the steering wheel though.
“Are you okay?”
He pulled in a huge breath, held it a moment, and then let everything go. “Doc called. He has the results awaiting for us at the clubhouse. Spinner went to get Chastity and the baby. They’re meeting us there.”
“That’s a good thing. Now, you’ll know for sure if she’s yours or not.” He didn’t acknowledge me at first.
“What if it is my baby? I’ll have to deal with Chastity’s bullshit for the rest of my life. I don’t want you to have to do that too.”
“Whoa! What are you saying?”
“If it’s my child, I’ll give you an out, you can take the house, keep clear of me as much as possible.”
I gasped audibly. “Is that what you really want?”
“Fuck no! I want to build a family with you.”
“And I want that with you. We’ll deal with whatever the test results are, but we’re doing it together.” My words were a demand. There was no way I would let Rabbit self-destruct over this. I could handle Chastity and to be honest, something Rabbit said to me the night she showed up kept playing in my mind. ‘Money and Power’ were the two things that woman wanted. Granted, playing games with my head and the relationship I had with Rabbit would give her a huge power trip, but I honestly thought the money would be the bigger motivator. Either she would sell that kid or end up trying to fleece Rabbit slowly with outrageous child support asks.
“She’ll never stop her cunning plays. She’ll try to tear us apart at every opportunity.” It was as if he were speaking the worries spinning in the back of my mind.
“The only way she’ll succeed is if we let her,” I reminded him. “You forget, I grew up with the twins. I know exactly what she’s capable of.”
We both sat quietly contemplating that on the way back to the clubhouse. When we got there, none of Spinner or Cherry’s vehicles were in the lot, which made me uneasy right off the bat. We got inside and sat at the bar waiting for word from them, or for Spinner to walk through the doors with Chastity and the baby in tow. We were sitting in the clubhouse for about fifteen minutes when Rabbit’s cell finally rang.
“Yeah?” He called into the receiver.
“She’s not here. The apartment was cleaned out, man,” I heard Spinner voice rather loudly on the other end of the call.
“What the fuck? Why would she haul ass now?”
“My guess?” Spinner questioned. “She knew it wasn’t your kid.”
“All right, well, Doc’s here. I’m going to go ahead and get the results. I’ll call you back in just a minute.” Rabbit looked to Doc who had moved to stand beside him. “You have them?” Rabbit asked him.
“Right here, but Rabbit, I think maybe you might want to open them in private.” Doc glanced my way briefly, and my stomach felt like I was on a roller coaster and the bottom just dropped out from under me. Did that mean that Chastity hadn’t been lying and now she was in the wind with Rabbit’s kid? Was that my fault? Did she take off because of me? Crap. Panic was creeping in as Rabbit shook his head.
“It’ll be fine, let me see,” he told Doc who then handed him the envelope.
I watched as Rabbit’s shaking hands peeled the envelope apart, reached in, and grabbed the papers to pull them out. He glanced over them quickly, but then his eyes went back to the top and he just sat there stunned for a moment. “No! She wouldn’t,” he hissed out as some sort of realization dawned on him.
The anticipation was too much so I leaned over and took a quick peek at what was there. An audible gasp flew from my lips when I realized why my man had asked that question. “Oh no!” I managed to get out. “Cherry will be devastated.”
Rabbit pulled his phone out and called his brother back then. “You need to get to the clubhouse now!” Once he hung up again Rabbit glanced up at Rage and Shameless, who were standing near us too, waiting with Doc as we read the results.
“Find her. Don’t come back without that baby.”
“Shit, is it yours?” Rage asked.
“No, but she’s still a club princess.”
“Fuck!” Shameless hissed, immediately understanding since there was only one way I would know that for sure based off of my own test.
Chapter 28 - Rabbit
Spinner came running into the clubhouse with Cherry hot on his heels. “Is she here? Is the baby yours?”
“We need the two of you to come with us,” I told my brother as I headed downstairs to where the club had soundproofed rooms set up.
“You have her in a cell?” Spinner asked incredulously.
“Not yet,” I answered. “Our brothers are out there searching for her as we speak.”
“Shit!” Came out of Spinner’s mouth. “It was your kid,” he surmised.
I waited to answer him until we were all inside the room and seated. How the fuck was I supposed to ask my brother this shit with his wife sitting right next to him? My heart was hammering against my ribs so fucking hard, I just knew everyone in the room had to hear it. I couldn’t even meet Cherry’s eyes, though I knew they were on me because I felt the burn of her stare. “I need to know if there was ever a time you remember being with Cherry that she didn’t seem to recall,” I started.
I watched as Cherry blanched and looked stricken. “No,” she whined so low that I almost missed the word along with the agony it was wrapped in.
Spinner glared at me then turned to his wife. He immediately must have remembered whatever Cherry had already thought of. “You told me it must have been a dream because you hadn’t come into work that night,” he mentioned.
My brother turned back to me, all the color having drained from his face. “Nate, what in the hell did your results say?” He already knew. That was the only reason he’d call me by my childhood nickname. My big brother was looking to me to make the reality of the situation untrue, and I didn’t know how to do that for him.
Instead of answering, I passed the paper across the table to him and waited until he opened it. “It says I’m not the father, but I am a close relation.”
“This was why she really left,” Cherry tells us in a wooden, detached voice. “She knew we would find out what she had done.” While she sounded as emotionless as a robot, the tears that were on a steady drip down her face belied her true feelings on the matter. My sister-in-law was devastated. There were still questions that needed to be answered though, because according to the timeline of the baby’s conception, Chastity and I were very much together still.
“How did you not realize?” I asked my brother. Part of me was angry with him for having slept with the woman when she had been mine, and after he had already claimed her sister. Logically, I knew he must have been tricked somehow, but that didn’t stop the quick sting of betrayal th
at worked itself into my heart. I figured Cherry was feeling the same shit in the moment too.
“Something was wrong with me that night. I went to lie down in my office because I didn’t trust myself to drive home. Couldn’t drive anyway because I kept getting dizzy for no fucking good reason.” Spinner turned to his wife, and his face crumpled into a miserable, pained shell of his normal visage. “Cherry had me convinced it was all just a weird dream I had when I fell asleep at work one night.”
“I never suspected Chastity would pull a stunt like this because she was with you. I thought she was finally happy.” Cherry’s voice was pleading with me to understand why she didn’t think it was possible.
“You think you were drugged?” I asked my brother, while ignoring Cherry’s assessment of her sister, since there wasn’t a single thing about Chastity that had ever been happy or honest.
“It’s possible. I thought I was coming down with something. I felt like shit the whole next day too.”
“When was this?”
“About two months before she took off,” he confirmed.
“So, she found out she was pregnant, knew it was yours-” I started to recap, but was immediately interrupted by my brother.
“How would she have known it was mine?” He asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and glanced at Myra, remembering having this exact conversation with her not too long ago. “I guess I never trusted her because we never once had sex without a condom on.” Myra flinched beside me and I pulled her close to me and held her tight. This wasn’t exactly the best conversation to have with my current woman sitting beside me, especially since it wasn’t the first time we’d discussed it. Having grown up discussions about your past history was one thing, constantly having to face it being thrown at you, with details, that was something entirely different. Neither of the women in the room deserved to be hearing what they were today.
“Do you have cameras at Rosy’s?” Myra asked.
“We do,” my brother answered. “Normally, we wipe old video files once they reach the six-month mark. Otherwise, it would be hell on storage.”
The Restart and the Remedy (Aces High MC - Dakotas Book 3) Page 18