“Yeah, a great night.” Cowboy tells him.
“Figures. You two what, finally got to sleep around four?” Omen asks, and Cowboy chuckles.
“The walls are thin, man.” Omen tells him with an amused laugh, “Let me sleep tonight, will ya?”
“Not gonna make any promises, man.” Cowboy tells him, and I don’t say a thing.
We get to the main level, right where the bar is and walk into the bar area. Almost everyone communes here. It kinda works as our main living area too, like the other clubs that aren’t in the middle of urban areas.
Much to my surprise, Horse and Stoney are at the bar, sipping on coffee. Faith is serving them with her fake smile plastered on her face. She’s probably so confused, not sure whether to be nice or be leery of them.
“Happy Birthday, kiddo!” Faith comes out from around the bar and gives Destiny the biggest hug, and man, the smile on my little girl’s face makes me forget about everything else going on right now. It just fades into the background.
“Daddy’s taking me to the kill shelter so we can get a kitty before it’s evicted!” Destiny tells everyone loudly, getting a couple of chuckles from some of the guys. Everyone knows she doesn’t have a clue what it means, but that’s the cuteness about it, that she’s doing a good task without even realizing it.
“Mug, you and Iris are gonna go with Cowboy and Destiny to the shelter a few blocks away. I have to get ready for her party tonight. Remember everyone, it starts at three. It doesn’t start at four, or five. Three o’clock sharp. Be there, or I’ll bust up all your asses. Have anything to add, baby girl?” I glance down to Destiny.
“Yeah, bring presents!”
Again, the entire group laughs. I look over to Stoney and Horse, seeing them both wearing smiles from the interaction Destiny just had with the club.
Nikki and Devi said they’d head with me to the party store, so I’ll chase them down in a few minutes so we can get a move on the long list of things we need to do today. But first I want to talk to these two guys. I’m in a great mood, and as long as Stoney isn’t being a royal dick this conversation should go okay.
I’m gonna try damn hard to be the bigger person right now.
“Morning,” I say to them both.
“Mornin’,” Stoney mutters, still seeming a bit off.
“Morning, Boss.”
“You two are more than welcome to come to her party this afternoon. It’ll be on the rooftop. I have some inflatable jumpy things coming and whatnot. There will be lots of toddlers, so fair warning.”
“Thank you. I think we’d both like that very much. She’s a damn sweet kid.” Horse says with a smirk, “Has everyone twisted around her finger, obviously.”
I let out a giggle, “Oh yeah. Sometimes I think she’s the real Prez around here.”
“Tala,” Stoney speaks up, clearing his throat for a moment before continuing. “Look, I’m really sorry for how shit happened last night. I didn’t mean to break that dove. I mean, I did, but, if I’d known it was something you did with Rage before he died, I wouldn’t have—”
I’m not the type who normally interrupts people, but I don’t wanna start crying about the dove again. “Stoney, it’s in the past. Lets just . . . leave the dove situation where it is. Otherwise I’ll get all teary eyed again.”
He nods in agreement, “Fine. I’ll let it be.”
“If you’re okay with talking like this now, can I say a few things?” I question, looking right at Stoney. I don’t really care that Horse is privy to everything. I’m sure Stoney would end up telling Horse everything anyway.
Stoney nods, “Yeah.”
“At the end of the day, I’m the person in the wrong. I could’ve told you about her, and I should’ve done that. There’s no denying it, but I would like to explain why I didn’t, if you’re open to hearing it.”
“I mean, it’s an excuse regardless, but go on.” Stoney grumbles, seeming a bit aggravated.
“She’s all I have, Stoney. When I found out I was pregnant, for the first time since my dad died, I didn’t feel alone. Sure, I have my half-brother, but Joker is a joke. He fucking hates me, and I think he will until the end of time. She’s the only blood I have left on this planet, and the thought of you telling me to abort or—”
“I would’ve never told you to abort. It’s not my place to rule over your body, Tala. It would’ve been your decision, but I gotta admit, I’m damn glad you didn’t. She’s a precious little girl. She obviously didn’t learn shit from you.”
I roll my eyes at his slight jab. “I got really lucky with her and I know it. My point is, I couldn’t bear the idea of you taking her from me, or demanding I come down to Virginia and shack up with you. I know you, Stoney. I know you’d try to do right by her, ‘cause let’s be honest, I’m not . . . no offense Horse, but I’m not like your momma.”
Horse holds up his hands, “Hey, no offense taken.” Horse’s mom was the worst kind of deadbeat. Stoney couldn’t rely on her for shit.
“You can try to deny it, but I know that’s what you would’ve done.” I tell Stoney, and he nods.
“Yeah, I would’ve. We coulda made one damn strong alliance, with a kid, marriage, and all.”
“Don’t we already have one? Minus the marriage, obviously.”
Stoney nods. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Destiny is living proof you and I can stop being so damn stubborn and make some things work. I just . . . I hope you won’t try to take her away from me. She’s my entire fuckin’ world, Stoney. I can’t lose her, and I won’t lose her. I hope you’ll respect that decision, but I’m not going to stand by and let you rip her from my life. I’m not Horse’s deadbeat momma. I’m more than capable of taking care of our daughter.”
Stoney cocks a brow, “Tell me again why she calls Cowboy her daddy?”
I crane my neck to the side a bit, “Because he is. He’s the man who reads her bedtime stories, who takes her a couple blocks away for a cuppie cake. He kills the monsters under her bed and watches those annoying little cartoons that would make you wanna gouge your eyes out. He is her daddy, and you’re her father. If you agree not to be a bastard and try to take her from me, I have a proposition.”
“Which is? I don’t make a deal without hearing what’s comin’ my way, sweetheart. You should know that.” Stoney chuckles.
“Destiny will live with me full-time. Cowboy will be her daddy, and you’ll be her father. You’ll get her for the summers when she’s old enough, and on holidays. We can alternate holidays if you’d like. This way she can experience life with both of her families.”
“I . . . I think that’d be good, but I gotta talk to Rachel about it.”
“Rachel?” Who the fuck is Rachel?
“My ol’ lady. My woman.”
I stare at him blankly, “Let me get this straight, someone willingly wants to be with you?”
“Sweetie, even you wanted to be with me for one night. What’s so hard to believe?” Stoney cackles, and I’m not tryin’ to get ahead of myself, but I have a really good feeling that we can get through this somehow. Maybe it doesn’t have to be dramatic and fueled with awful things being said about the other. Maybe, just maybe, we can get out of this like adults.
Chapter Nine
If it’s right, it happens. The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away
~ John Steinbeck
Cowboy
She is going to kill me.
“You know what would be the coolest names ever?!” Iris giggles as she holds Destiny’s hand.
“No, what?!” Destiny asks her, eyes bright and filled with happiness, but who wouldn’t be happy when she just got three of the oldest, decrepit little things at the shelter?
“You could name them Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles, like The Powerpuff Girls. They’re three girls who stick together and fight evil. I’ll have to grab some Blu-ray discs so we can watch some episodes of the cartoon.”
“Ooo yay!” Destin
y claps her hands together.
“You realize two of those half-dead things are boys, right?” Mug shakes his head.
“Don’t be a meanie, Mug!” Destiny chastises him, getting a good laugh out of us all. She sure knows when to chime in and come in with that much needed comic relief.
“I’m not, babycakes. Your momma is just gonna kill your daddy. Comin’ home with three cats. I mean, shoot.”
“Aren’t you the one who signed us up as foster parents for the older cats?” Iris politely asks him, sticking her tongue out a bit.
“That one chick in there really got me thinkin’. These poor things have been out on the streets, humans discardin’ them like they meant nothin’. It’s fucked up. We have the room, so why not help?”
Iris keeps her eyes on Mug a little longer than she normally does, and I swear I see a little sparkle in her eye. She might have a crush on the man, and I think I’m right about it.
One of the cats starts meowing just as we walk in through the garage and up into the bar. Meanwhile, we walk into a full house, including Tala. She stares for a few seconds and blinks her eyes over and over again. “Am I losing my mind, or do you have three cat carriers?”
“Momma! Meet Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles!” Destiny jumps up and down, showing her just how excited she is. Meanwhile, one of the cats meow. It kinda sounds like two rusty knives rubbing together.
“Is that one okay?” Tala looks disgusted at the sound. I have no doubt she’s seriously worried.
“Yeah, they’re just older cats. I think one of them is seventeen.”
“You brought home a seventeen-year old cat?!” Tala widens her eyes.
I nod, “Yeah, they were gonna get evicted, babe.”
“Babe, huh?” Ricochet teases from the other side of the room.
“Did you two . . . get together?” Gold questions with a smirk.
“I dunno. Why don’t you ask your prez,” I dodge the question, waiting to see how she answers.
Tala looks around the room, “Cowboy has stepped down as the Prez of Calgary. In the meantime, his VP will be the interim Prez there. He’s asked to transfer here as a full patch member. We won’t have a vote until our next meeting, but I figure since y’all are being so damn nosey I could give you some details on what’s going on.”
“We don’t need a damn vote, Boss!” Chuckles calls out from the back of the bar.
“Yeah, fuck that shit. Cowboy is one of us,” Hoodrat adds.
“Agreed. We don’t need no vote, Prez.” Devi speaks up.
“What she said,” Abyss comments.
“Same,” Venom pipes up.
Omen snickers from the corner of the room, “I think you know where I stand.”
“He’s one of us, Boss. C’mon now,” Muffler tells me, and we have pretty much everyone’s opinions. Hell, even Devi spoke up and she’s a prospect.
“Now are you gonna answer the question or keep deflecting?” Gold asks, cocking a brow.
“Yes, we’re together. Are you nosey bastards happy now?” I question the room with a laugh.
“Yes! Finally!” Iris jumps up and down.
“Okay, okay. Everyone calm down. We have a party to prepare for. If some of y’all don’t have any shit to do, you can head up to the roof and help us set up.” I tell the room, and a couple people start heading up the stairs.
“C’mon, kid, lets go get your kitties upstairs.” Mug tells Destiny, hiking her up in his arms. He turns back, “Chuckles, Hoodrat, grab a cat carrier and get your asses upstairs with me. We gotta get these guys settled in.”
Tala comes over to me and grabs my hand, pulling me over into an empty corner. “So, I need to tell you something. I talked to Stoney earlier and I think we settled things. He won’t take Destiny from us, as long as he can be active in her life. I . . . I think it’s fair. So, I suggested he gets her for the summer and we alternate holidays. I told him you’re always going to be her daddy, but he’ll be her father, and one day we will explain everything to her . . . but, I wanted to make sure we could keep the peace, Cowboy. Not just for the club, but for our family too. Destiny didn’t ever need to get into a nasty custody battle. Not now, and not ever.”
Well, I would’ve liked it if she spoke to me about shit. But as Tala always does, she dove into the situation and handled it the best way she knew how. “It’s fine. We’ll . . . we’ll have to sort shit out as things happen, but we’ll make it work, babe. I know we’ll figure it out.”
Tala lets out a breath she must’ve been holding in and walks into my arms. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. I really needed to hear it, to be honest. I was afraid you’d be upset.”
I shake my head, “No, babe. We’ve had our fair share of shit to be upset about. Now it’s time to look to the future and move on. We’re a team now.”
Tala rises up on her tippy toes and presses her lips to mine delicately, and it’s like another confirmation. I’m damn happy with this woman, and I know things won’t always be easy, but I’m really gonna try to show her we made the best decision we could by coming together like this. Not just for us, but for our family.
“Come on, lets get upstairs so I can show you these half dead cats.” I tease her, hearing the sound of her beautiful laughter filling the air.
“Please tell me there’s nothing else you haven’t told me.”
“Eh, Mug signed us up to be a foster family.”
“Stop it!” Tala cackles loudly, but as she holds onto my hand with her own, I know she’s finding a good bit of amusement out of it.
Chapter Ten
You don’t know how deeply you are intertwined with someone until you try to walk away from them
~ Abusive
Boss
I have to give credit where it’s due. I couldn’t have done this without everyone’s help. The rooftop has been converted from the usual drinking and smoking area, to every little girl’s dream. Purple and pink balloons are tied to the railing, there’s a six-foot table filled with presents and a massive Vampirina cake. I had ordered something smaller at first, but then Chuckles reminded me how I’d better get the biggest cake I could, figuring most of the guys would come just for the cake. He isn’t wrong and while they love cake, I’m sure they’re showing up because they love Destiny too.
Iris comes up with Destiny, plops her down on the ground and she immediately starts running around. This little girl goes from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds, I swear.
Looking around the rooftop I see everyone from the club is here, ready to take part in today’s festivities. It’s no shock that Destiny’s the only kid here at the club, but since I’ve had her I’ve gotten a little bit chattier with the neighbors. There are a few nice families in the apartments across the street, which thankfully ended up meaning we have four little ones in addition to Destiny today. She sees everyone here at the club every single day, so it’s no shock she ran straight up to her friends.
Since Destiny is pre-occupied and Cowboy has his eyes on her, I walk up to Stoney. Since he’s been here, we haven’t been able to talk about business, and considering one of his idiots killed the prisoner associated with the cult . . . we need to have a chat. It’s actually overdue if you ask me.
“You have a minute?” I ask, looking between Stoney and Horse.
Stoney nods, “Sure. What’s up?”
“I figure since you’re here, we might as well save Omen and Tracker the extra work. What the fuck happened with the cultist?”
Stoney shrugs, “Guess the fuck couldn’t take what we were givin’ ‘em.”
It pisses me off how he acts like it isn’t a big deal. “We needed him alive, Stoney. Now we have no leads. We have no fuckin’ clue where they are, or what they’re doing.”
Stoney nods, “They’re retreating to tunnels like the rats they are. Tala, they’re gonna pop their little heads up again soon, and when they do we’ll be waiting. Watch. These fascists group always act the same way, repeating the same sequence as their
predecessors. It’s how they get fuckin’ caught, ‘cause they repeat the same shit over and over again.”
I shake my head in annoyance, “That fucker at your club shouldn’t have died. We needed him alive. If he was still breathin’ he could’ve given us somethin’ by now.”
Stoney cackles like I’ve just said the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “That piece of scum wasn’t gonna give us shit. Now, I know you wanna drive the knife deep into the cult’s heart . . . but you gotta be patient, girl.”
“They took so much from me, Stoney.” I grit, clenching my jaw.
They didn’t just take my father from me, but the newfound happiness I found with him. Some people in the MC community don’t understand how I could forgive my father for everything he did to other people, but at the end of the day he was my dad. He was certainly no saint, and in comparison, he was as bad as these cultists. But I really do believe near the end of his life he was trying to make amends for all the pain he gave others.
“I know they did, and we’re gonna get them. You just gotta be patient.” He tells me, but it still doesn’t make me feel better in the least bit.
“I don’t want to keep waiting. We’ve waited long enough if you asked me. They’ve been in hiding since my father died, slowly poppin’ their heads up like you just said. Now what do we have? Nothing. We need more, Stoney. We need more than . . . dead ends. We need to do more.”
“Sounds like you’re suggesting something.” He mutters, running his hand over his jaw.
I nod, “‘Cause? I am. We need to . . . think outside of the box. The cult’s been mainly operating around your area, still sticking close to the universities, yeah?”
“They have . . . what’re you suggesting, Tala?” Stoney questions, narrowing his eyes in on me.
“I want to send one of my newest prospects down to your charter, to work specifically undercover. I want her to try and find out about this cult. Hell, I was gonna have Omen talk to you about this, but I want us to have a regent program.”
Bossed Up (Iron Vex MC Book 2) Page 5