My eyes automatically went to the house next door. To the little girl’s window where I could so often see her staring out of it and watching the neighborhood with eyes that had way too much knowledge in them at such a young age.
“Zakelina?” I asked.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “She’s six years old. Mom’s a tall blonde. Dad’s an executive somewhere. But he has a heavy hand despite pushing papers all day.”
I clenched my teeth upon thinking of that little girl receiving any such treatment that was harsh.
She was cute as fuck.
“He abuses her?” I asked.
“Yes.”
Rage suffused my body as I thought about anything touching a hair on her head.
I’d seen Zakelina a handful of times since I’d moved into my place, and of those handful of times, she’d never looked abused.
But the mom, on the other hand…
“When you say abused, do you mean physically? Verbally?” I asked, requiring clarification.
“From what I understand, he’s physical only with the mother. The daughter generally gets left out of the punishments. However, he is verbally abusive to both of them. Have you heard anything?” Sin asked.
“Nope,” I said, my eyes straying to another house on the block that had caught my eye. “But I’ll definitely keep an ear out. And an eye. If anything happens, I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you,” Sin said. “You coming to the party at Crockett’s in a few days?”
“Party?” I asked. “First I’m hearing about a party.”
“Word may not have made the rounds as of yet,” he said. “Something about a pre-wedding food tasting thing. Crockett is trying her hand at catering a wedding in about four months. To make sure she has enough for everyone that’s going to be at the wedding she wants to test it out. Six and Wyett started it, and then Beckham, Swayze, and Blaise got into it, and now it’s a big thing. Though Crockett said that the more the merrier because she’s not sure on how much to actually cook.”
The thought of seeing Crockett again was like a punch to the gut.
I’d been trying to stay away, but the woman kept being thrust into my face around every corner.
It was getting harder and harder to fight the feelings that I was starting to have for her.
“Sure, I’ll be there,” I said. “I’m a sucker for her food.”
And I was. The damn hamburgers I kept consuming were likely to clog my arteries. But having something that tasted so good and seeing something that was as beautiful as Crockett every time I went in there? That was irresistible.
“K. When I hear more, I’ll let you know.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t hesitate to call me when it comes to that little girl and her mom. I feel terrible for denying her the help she obviously needs.”
I thought about someone I knew that helped with that sort of thing and decided to make a phone call of my own.
I would get her the information and anonymously drop it off to her when her husband wasn’t around.
There was an organization called Free that made it their mission to help women and children in predicaments like this.
“I might have a few ideas of my own,” I admitted. “I’ll see what I can accomplish.”
• • •
Two nights later, I was in even less of a good mood.
Why was I in such a bad fucking mood?
Because, when I got to the impromptu party that was being thrown, I immediately sighted in on Crockett and found her talking to Laric.
Laric who was a good friend, and had become a great one, over the course of the last six months that I’d been out of jail.
He was a club brother, part of the Souls Chapel Revenants MC, and I wanted to kick his motherfucking ass the moment that I walked into Crockett’s store and found him so close to Crockett.
“Easy there,” Murphy said upon reading my expression. “You look a little murderous.”
I reluctantly pulled my eyes away from the scene in front of me and focused on Murphy.
Murphy who, might I add, looked a little rough around the edges today.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked him.
Murphy huffed out a laugh. “That fuckin’ son of mine.”
I closed the door on the happy scene inside and leaned my hip against the porch railing that rounded the front of the store, then waited for him to explain.
“Come on, old man,” I urged. “It’s not like you’ve hesitated in telling me your other life stories.”
Murphy pressed his hand against his belly and laughed.
It did wonders for his face.
“Have a seat,” he suggested. “It might take a while.”
My brows rose. “I’m perfectly comfortable right here. I don’t have bad hips like you yet.”
Murphy kicked his feet up on a pallet that was in front of his chair, then leaned back until his arms were above his head.
“My son came into the store today while we were in lunch rush,” he said. “He thought it would be a good idea to ‘come see his child’ while she was too busy to interact. That would ease his worry that he wasn’t giving her any attention that his wife could get mad about later, and he could say he ‘did his part’ on seeing his girl.”
I frowned.
“Crockett’s brother and sister give him shit all the time because of how my son never comes to see her or has anything to do with her,” Murphy said. “The way he did it today got them off his back for a while, didn’t piss off his wife, and allowed him to ‘show his face’ to Crockett. Letting her know he ‘cares.’”
I stretched my neck to one side and popped the bones in my neck, followed shortly by the other side.
“What, exactly, is his deal?” I asked. “Why is he the way he is?”
“The new wife.” He shrugged. “I don’t really know, to be honest. He wasn’t like this when he was married to Crockett’s mother. He was kind and attentive. Caring and compassionate. The only thing that changed was that he remarried.”
“Why is it just Crockett, though?” I asked. “I mean, there aren’t any reasons for this. And from what she’s told me, as well as you, they don’t get the same treatment. What is it about Crockett that spawns this kind of anger?”
“Melody is…” He paused. “Melody had a daughter that looked a whole lot like Crockett, from what I’ve gathered. She’s a real ‘peach’ according to my son. Melody doesn’t talk about her much, but yeah, that’s all I got. It has to be the daughter. But in the process of hating his daughter, she started hating on a young girl that’s the sweetest, most loving person you’ll ever meet.”
Before I could open my mouth and reply to anything more that he had to say, a car pulled up, and my heart rate started to race.
That was because I hadn’t seen that particular car in for fucking ever.
Nor the person that drove it.
“You okay?” Murphy asked.
I swallowed hard, watching, waiting, to see if she’d actually get out this time.
Juniper, the woman who I once thought was the love of my life, had been doing this to me since I’d gotten out of prison.
She’d drive by my place, idle in her car, and then leave before ever getting out.
Honestly, it was getting really fucking old.
Just when I’d go a day without thinking about her, she’d show up, and I was left wondering what in the hell she wanted.
This time, though, she surprised me by actually getting out.
Her eyes were wary as she took me and the old man in on the front porch.
She flicked her gaze to inside the store where the party was going strong, then looked back to me.
“Umm,” she hesitated. “I was wondering if I could talk to you.”
And Juniper was why I’d turned down Crockett to go to the wedding with the stepmother from hell.
Why?
Because Juniper had a stepmother of her own that she liked to appease.
One that ga
ve her orders, and Juniper followed no matter what.
Why? Because the woman gave her money and controlled her bank account, and Juniper liked money more than she liked me, apparently.
So when her stepmother ordered her to kick me to the curb or lose her inheritance, she chose her inheritance.
But that didn’t explain why she was here right now.
Didn’t explain why she continuously came and watched me and never said anything.
“Go for it,” I suggested, shrugging as if I didn’t care.
And, in that moment in time, I realized that I didn’t.
At some point in the last six months, when Crockett came into the picture, I’d stopped caring about Juniper. I’d stopped thinking about her all day every day. I stopped wondering what she was doing. And stopped thinking ‘I wonder if she’s okay.’
Juniper was only ever on my mind if she showed up out of the blue like this.
And that had to do a lot with the fact that I was busy.
But it had more to do with the fact that Crockett was starting to occupy a lot of time in my mind, and there was just no room for Juniper and her inability to choose me anymore.
Before either I or Juniper could say anything more, though, the front door of the store was kicked open and Crockett came out onto the porch.
She looked at Juniper, then me and Murphy.
“Hello.” She smiled when she saw Juniper. “I’ve never seen you before. Are you with any of the boys?”
Juniper’s eyes went to me, and I physically saw Crockett’s shoulders drop.
Her eyes went blank, too.
I felt that look in my heart.
“Umm.” She smiled hesitantly. “Well, dinner is done. Murphy, do you need help inside?”
I watched as she wrapped a piece of paper towel around her thumb, holding it tightly with her other hand.
“In private, Zach?” Juniper’s soft voice filled the air behind me.
I hesitantly pulled my eyes off of Crockett for a short moment, then turned back to Juniper who was now tucking her hand behind her back and looking slightly flushed.
I frowned hard.
“Just say what you have to say, dear,” Murphy said. “I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
Crockett bit her lip and walked past us, skirting past Juniper who was partially blocking the front path, and made a beeline toward her grandfather’s vehicle that never moved.
I watched her go and didn’t stop watching until she opened the trunk. She pulled something out of the back and placed it onto the now-closed trunk.
“Umm,” Juniper said. “I’d like to say… I’m sorry. I finally understand.”
My head whipped around and my eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’m sorry that you… I’m sorry I didn’t choose you. I’d like to make a different decision this time… if you give me a chance.”
I once again looked over to Crockett, only then realizing that she was doing something with the paper towel that was around her thumb.
I narrowed my eyes, then watched as she peeked inside of the towel at her finger, then wrapped it back up before reaching for something in the box.
“Are you listening to me, Zachariah?” Juniper snapped.
I looked to her and narrowed my own eyes. “Don’t call me that.”
I hated when she called me Zachariah. Like she was my mother and she was scolding her child for how he was acting.
“I’m sorry,” she immediately apologized.
And that was when I realized something.
There weren’t always hearts and rainbows when it came to Juniper. In fact, more often than not, it was fights and disagreements.
Shit.
How had I not seen that?
Crockett cursed and my eyes were once again drawn to her.
And, before I knew it, I was leaving Juniper behind and walking toward where the light above the parking lot was illuminating the area over Murphy’s car.
When I arrived at Crockett’s side, she whipped around and stared at me with annoyance in her eyes.
And pain.
Yes, there was pain there, too, and I definitely didn’t like seeing that.
“What happened?” I asked as I reached for her hand.
She grumbled under her breath, and I pulled back the paper towel to see her thumb splayed open.
Obviously, she’d split it open with a knife when she was cooking, and now it needed stitches.
“I was cleaning up the mess that was left over from cooking,” she admitted. “And sliced my finger open on the knife that was under the sudsy water.”
I winced.
“Come on,” I said, wrapping the thumb back up. “I have a kit inside my saddlebags. I can get this cleaned up for you.”
And by kit, I meant whatever I would need that would get a wound fixed up long enough for me to get back to the rest of my medical supplies that were at my house or Lynn’s.
Today, I wouldn’t need more than that kit, however.
Wrapping my hand around her good one, I tugged her toward my bike, stopping only long enough to grab my kit.
I had to push past Juniper who was still standing there, only this time with a lot more anger on her face, to get up the porch steps.
And when I got inside, it was to see everyone eating and laughing and carrying on.
I bypassed everyone for the back room, gesturing toward the counter.
“Come here,” I urged.
She walked carefully to the counter and stared at it with thoughtfulness.
Seeing her dilemma, I picked her up and put her up there myself, causing her to gasp.
My hands on her luscious hips only stayed there for a short time before I let her go.
Placing my kit on the counter next to her hip, I opened it up, laid out what I would need, then washed my hands.
Slipping on some gloves afterward, I opened shit up and laid it all out before once again reaching for her hand.
“I can’t do this without some sort of numbing…” She paused as I reached for a bottle of lidocaine. “You have access to medicine still?”
I grinned. “There are a lot of things you can do when it comes to medicine nowadays. And, just sayin’, but Hunt is a damn genius when it comes to fake identification. He ordered this all under a board-certified doctor. Something of which I am not anymore. But this fictional guy is. I have everything I could ever want or need at my fingertips.”
Her brows rose. “Wow. That’s cool, actually.”
“Umm, Zach?”
I didn’t bother looking behind me at Juniper. “What?”
“Can we talk?” she pushed.
I gritted my teeth and said, “This is going to hurt. Just a prick.”
Then I went to numb the area around the cut.
Crockett hissed.
Juniper growled.
I rolled my eyes and patted Crockett’s thigh. “Let that work for a second. Let me deal with this.”
Crockett started to slide off of the counter, but I stilled her movements. “Stay.”
After giving her a look that clearly meant ‘stay or else’ and she shot me one back that just as clearly said ‘okay, but you better deal with this,’ I turned around to find Juniper at the door.
“No, Juniper. We cannot talk,” I told her honestly. “The time for talking was a long time ago.”
Her breath hitched. “But I made a mistake.”
I tilted my head.
“I know that you did,” I said. “But I’ve finally moved on. I’ve made it to where I can function without you.”
A breath hitched in behind me, and I knew that though we were being quiet, it obviously wasn’t quiet enough because she’d heard.
Which, in all honesty, wasn’t surprising. I was being quiet. Juniper was not.
Which pissed me off because she’d come in here with a group of my friends in attendance, and she’d thought to what? Reconcile after she’d done her worst to
me? Yeah, no. I wasn’t about that life anymore.
When I’d first gotten out, I might’ve been able to reconcile with her after the words that she’d said. But after getting out? After months had passed? After I’d finally started to have feelings for another woman—even if I wouldn’t act on those feelings thanks to the woman who’d broken me?
Yeah, I was done a really long time ago.
“You’ve moved on,” she said. “So why is it all you do is work, go home, and come here. If you were truly with her, I think you’d spend more time with her.”
I gritted my teeth, then a thought occurred to me.
“How the hell do you know where I am?” I asked.
She bit her lip. “You still have that app.”
I cursed and pulled out my phone, making quick work of deleting her from my phone, blocking her number, as well as turning my locations off when it came to that stupid app. An app that she’d asked me to get a long time ago that tracked my movements because ‘she could never tell when to turn dinner on’ because I was always working.
How long had she been tracking me?
When I looked back up, it was to find her crying silently.
At one time, those tears would’ve broken me.
At one time, I would’ve given her whatever she wanted.
I just can’t forgive you, Zach. You did something that I’ll never be able to forgive. You turned into someone I don’t know.
Those had been the words she’d spoken to me, that she’d speared into my heart, when I’d told her what I’d done. She’d topped it off with telling everyone that we knew how awful of a person I was.
And hell, maybe I was.
Maybe I was a terrible person.
“Go home, Juniper,” I urged. “This isn’t a place for you anymore.”
‘This’ being by my side.
Her breath hitched at the use of her full name. I barely ever called her by it because ‘Juni’ was what I started addressing her by almost the instant we started dating.
The last time I’d called her Juniper had been the night that I’d asked her out on a date.
And tonight.
So yeah, she realized the importance.
She also knew that I wasn’t kidding anymore.
“I don’t want to,” she whispered.
I turned my back on her and walked back to Crockett who was staring at us in surprise.
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