“No need for that, just be happy, that’s all I need from you.”
I can do that.
CHAPTER TEN
Pope
Not at any time did I think I would have to go against the club. There has never been a situation where I have had to choose. A few brothers over the years have questioned themselves and the club but I’ve not been one of them and thanked the lucky stars at the time. Now these fuckers are going to believe what they want on account my daughter will be regarded as untrustworthy because of her past.
She said she didn’t take the fucking ring and I believe her one hundred per cent. I don’t want to fight my brothers on this but I will if I have to for Kyla. I let her down all her life thinking staying away done her good, now she’s with me I’m not going to make the same mistake.
The shop is empty when I barrel through the door and find Kristen in Slade’s arms. Why she has the nerve to be upset is beyond me. She must’ve called Slade and like the hero he likes to be with her, he came riding to her rescue. She pales when she sees me and half hides behind the brother who I have had his back on numerous times. It will be interesting to see how much he’ll have mine now.
“Pope…”
I hold my hand up to stop him, “I know what my kid used to be but it isn’t going to define the rest of her life. She told me she didn’t take the ring and I believe her.”
“Pope, the ring is gone and Kyla and Kristen are the only two who know the code to the safe,” Slade pipes up trying to build their case.
“I couldn’t care a shit about that, she said she didn’t take it so she didn’t. Look elsewhere.”
Looking around the shop crammed with second hand items, neatly displayed on shelves and clean and maintained.
“She hasn’t been anything but professional working for you, I’m not disputing the ring is missing but the explanation doesn’t lay with my daughter. I’m telling you now, if word gets around that my daughter is to blame for this I won’t be fuckin’ happy.”
The beast inside wants to smash the entire shop up and burn it to the ground just for the audacity of accusing Kyla, but what sane levels I do have forces me to turn around and walk out of the shop, knowing Slade is still my brother and his old lady is just as important.
Counting to ten, taking deep breaths, none of them work, fuck them anyway, if I want to be angry I will.
I ride hard and fast away from the shop towards the club and don’t bother to park in the garage, I won’t be staying long.
The club goes quiet when I walk into the bar and my anger spikes again. Without thinking, my mouth opens and I’m holding my arms out embracing whatever is to come.
“Any of you fuckers got anything to say?” I yell to everyone.
I can’t bide people talking behind your back, I’d rather they say it to my face and they do it now.
Squaring my shoulders, I let every cunt know I’m deadly serious.
“Say it now, whatever you’ve heard, say what you have to say,” I add.
“No one has anything to fuckin’ say, brother. Just cool off while we get this sorted,” Oak tries to tell me but I’m not interested in listening.
Every brother keeps their mouths shut and I leave them to it, men clear a path as I stride to my room and pack an overnight bag.
Ricky
“This better not fuckin’ divide him from us,” Oak rumbles, sitting next to me keeping his eye on Pope leaving with a bag.
“Pope is his own man, he won’t be divided between any of us.”
“That’s true, but he’s a father too and he feels a threat against his cub who he’s shielded from this place. It shocks me you haven’t been defending her with you two being so close. I’ve seen the way you look at her and going behind Pope’s back tells me your balls are big enough to go up against all who think she’s guilty.”
“I know she didn’t take the fucking ring,” I mumble.
“How do you know?”
“Cause she told me she didn’t,” and I do believe she didn’t.
“So what are you doing here then?”
“She told me she wanted to be alone.”
His loud burst of laughter fills the room.
“Oh Ricky boy, you will soon learn that what women say they want and what they really want are two completely different things and you won’t win trying to figure out which. If you want to be with her, take control.”
Oak being one of the older guys, you’d think he would have some wise advice. I’m pretty sure Kyla meant it when she asked to be left alone, but I do want to be with her and I don’t want her feeling like she is alone.
First there is something I have to do, something I should’ve done hours ago.
Town is quiet and Slade is helping Kristen shut up the shop for the night.
“Hey, wait up,” I yell out, parking my bike up.
“We’re closing up, Rick,” Kristen calls back.
“I can see that but you have to let me look for the ring myself, Kyla did not take it so it has to be in there somewhere,” I plead.
I can see the fatigue on her face and the uselessness of what I want on Slade’s face.
“Come on, five minutes is all I’m asking for.”
I’ll beg if I have to, luckily I don’t have to, Kristen sighs heavily and unlocks the doors.
“Five minutes and then we have to be home for Zachery,” she says, opening the door.
I rush past her and head for the back.
“How does it work back here?”
The back office and storage area is neatly kept and nothing looks out of place.
“The ring is tagged with an id number and attached to a receipt, only the receipt is missing the ring.”
“Yeah yeah, I get that,” I mumble, searching the floor surrounding the huge safe built into the wall.
“I’ve looked all around there, it isn’t there, brother,” Slade chimes in.
If I keep hearing that I’m going to flip my shit.
“Help me pull this out,” I grunt, gripping onto the cabinet running along the safe wall.
“There’s no way it can be behind there, you’re wasting your five minutes,” Kristen snaps, looking at her watch.
“It’s a good job they’re my five minutes.”
Slade grunts and takes the other end of the cabinet, after counting to three we pull it out far enough to look behind and what the fuck do I find? The fucking ring of course.
“Not behind here huh?”
Kristen’s face falls and Slade closes his eyes and runs his hand through his hair.
“Oh God, what have I done?” she chokes out.
Yeah, now she wants to listen.
After putting the cabinet back in place, I throw the ring at Kristen and head for the door.
“Four minutes and twenty-three seconds of proper looking,” I say, “You can lock up now.”
“Brother, has she moved into the house yet?”
“Yeah, Pope had her moved in after she left here. You going to apologise?”
“It’s only right we should,” Kristen says.
Yeah it is.
I follow them in Slade’s truck to Kyla’s house and hang back when they stand on their old porch waiting for someone to answer.
Kristen steps back when Pope opens the door and rightly so, he doesn’t look happy to see them.
“Kyla is busy, what do you want?” he grumbles at them.
“We’ve come to apologise…”
“No, I’ve come to apologise. I made a huge mistake,” Kristen interrupts Slade.
Pope grunts and moves to the side to allow them to pass. I follow in behind them and walk into the kitchen.
Kyla is standing over the sink scrubbing her hands, there are no dishes, only soapy bubbles from rubbing her hands together, over and over again.
“Kyla?”
“I didn’t take it,” she repeats, not bothering to turn around.
“I know, that’s why we’re here,” Kristen says, moving cl
oser to her.
Kyla slowly turns and drips bubbles over the floor. She begins laughing, ever so softly but it builds until Kristen steps back looking nervous.
“I thought we were friends, you were so nice to me but as soon as something went missing I was your number one suspect and in a way I get that, I really do.”
“We are friends and I can’t apologise enough, I shouldn’t have jumped on you like that. I feel beyond guilty and of course, I’d love you to come back to work tomorrow.”
Kyla smiles weakly and turns back to the sink, she runs the tap and carries on washing her hands.
“Thank you for the apology but I can’t come back to the shop, I’m grateful for the chance you gave me but this is going to give me time to focus on what I should be doing with myself.”
Slade, Pope and I stand around silently watching the scene fold out in front of us patiently, Kyla needs this.
“I’ll have your pay sent over to you, I’ll pay you until the end of the week.”
Kyla doesn’t answer her and nods her head.
“Thanks for coming over, you can leave now,” Pope says, letting everyone know they are not welcome any longer.
“I’ll see you soon Kyla,” Kristen says, as Slade pulls her by the arm out of the kitchen.
Pope walks them out and I use the few minutes we have alone to cuddle up to Kyla. She doesn’t turn to face me but I still hold her tight from behind.
“Did you have a part in this?” she asks, rinsing the soap off again.
“I might have done, it was nothing.”
Finally, she turns around and smiles brightly.
“Thank you, my hero.” Her smile wanes and turns into a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“My dad has done so much for me today, well, since I got here and I need to make it up to him and us going behind his back isn’t something I’m comfortable with anymore. I like you, Ricky, but until you talk to my dad I can’t see you anymore.”
This is not what I want to hear, I should have spoken to Pope by now but the opportunity hasn’t come up.
“Unless you haven’t spoken to my dad because you don’t think this is going anywhere,” she whispers.
The uncertainty on her face pulls at my heart and a quick kiss on her soft, pouty mouth does nothing to change it.
“I don’t think, I know this is going somewhere. I’ll talk to him, don’t doubt that, Ky.”
And speak of the devil and he shall appear, filling the doorway to the kitchen.
“Pope, can we talk?”
“I have a good idea what it’s about and I haven’t got the energy tonight.”
He doesn’t say anything else and leaves the room.
“Come and find me tomorrow if you’re brave enough,” he calls out as his heavy boots clump up the stairs and stop after a door slams shut.
“I’m going to find him first thing tomorrow morning, babe,” I promise her.
“Walk me out.”
I take her hand and hope by this time tomorrow I can do more than hold her hand.
She tugs me to a stop when I open the door and I turn to look at her.
“You know, you are my hero for finding that ring.”
“Only for you,” I grin.
I can’t help myself, I have to kiss her before I leave. Swift and chaste, I leave her standing on the doorstep and jog across the lawn to my bike.
All the way back to the clubhouse I form a plan. First thing tomorrow, bright and fucking early, I’ll be back on Kyla’s doorstep and I will talk to Pope.
Nothing can bring my mood down when I walk in the bar at the clubhouse. Sparky is already sat on a stool ordering a drink and I join him.
“What are you so happy about?” he ask, downing his shot in one.
“Let me get you another, prospect, two tequila’s now,” I order, banging my hands on the bar top.
“Life is fuckin’ good, why wouldn’t I be so happy?”
“You still haven’t spoken with Pope have you?” he laughs, shaking his head.
“Not yet, but I will in the morning. He told me to go look for him.”
He stops laughing and we both down our shots.
“I heard your girl didn’t take the ring,” he says, standing to leave, “For what it’s worth, I didn’t believe she did at all.”
My smile grows hearing someone other than myself referring to Kyla as my girl and I get carried away drinking to toast the next stage in my life, not that anyone knew what I was drinking to. They just thought I was on one and joined in regardless. The rest of the night becomes a drunken blur, I drink hard and even in my drunken state all I can see is Kyla.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kyla
Why does everything have to happen all at once? Finding out who my father really is, getting clean from heroin, and meeting Ricky, each step is leading to something bigger and when I think what the future could look like, I can’t stop myself from grinning so hard my cheeks ache.
As soon as my feet hit the bottom stair, I round the house and draw open the curtains, open the windows and bask in the morning sunshine.
It’s still early and I’m hoping my father is still asleep so Ricky can turn up and have the dreaded conversation with him before he disappears for the day.
The coffee is on, the radio is playing and my day could not start any better. Until, my dad walks in looking like he should’ve stayed in bed for more sleep.
“Everything that happened yesterday doesn’t exist anymore, the ring was found, Kristen apologised, you accepted, there won’t be any more talk about it,” he grumbles sitting at the table.
I pour another coffee for myself and a fresh mug for him and join him.
“I wasn’t going to say a word,” I say, feeling like I should defend myself.
He doesn’t waste a second and carries on.
“I know what Ricky wants to talk to me about but before he does you have to be categorically sure this is what you want and he’s the one you want it with. I’ve seen how he’s looked at you for the last couple of months, he’s a good kid and I trust him with my life but he comes with the club. If he’s needed, he’ll drop whatever plans you have. If shit goes sideways, he might not come home. You need to be prepared for anything. Talk to him and then if you still want to be with him, I’ll listen to what he has to say.”
I wasn’t expecting that and now I have so many questions.
“This life isn’t for everyone and I’ll be damned if I drag you out of one situation just for you to jump blindly into another one.”
I know he’s looking out for me but for one moment I wish I could have a slice of normalality.
I sip my coffee quietly waiting for him to get everything out, it’s clear to see he has more to say on the matter.
“I can’t tell you who to be with or not be with, however, if it happens to be with someone in the club I can damn well make sure you have your eyes wide open.”
He leans back in his chair holding my stare, okay so now he’s waiting for me to say something. With the old version of my dad I knew how to talk to him, this version is a learning curve.
“He’s pretty afraid to talk to you,” I say, not knowing what else to reply.
“He should be, the last brother to fall for a brother’s daughter got beaten pretty bad.”
My mouth opens and closes many times to say something to that but I can’t form a coherent sentence. Imagining Ricky being beaten and covered in black and blue injuries fills me with dread.
“Dad, you can’t let that happen to him,” I can’t help but finally shriek.
“This is what I mean, talk to him. You need to know what a future as an old lady looks like. Sometimes it isn’t easy.”
No one can say my father holds back when he wants to get his point across.
Digging around in his jeans pocket he pulls out a set of keys and throws them across the table.
“The truck is now yours, please don’t kill yourself driving recklessly.”
br /> I jump out of my chair and throw my arms around him, “Thank you, dad.”
“Go find Ricky before he comes to find me.”
I don’t wait to be told twice. I’m washed and dressed within fifteen minutes before I’m sitting behind the wheel of my brand new ride.
Without a second hesitation I set off out of town and towards the Lost Souls clubhouse.
The bar is shrouded in darkness when I arrive and there’s not a soul in sight. Making my way across the room I’m careful not to bump into any stray chairs and make my way up the stairs. Light pours through the window on the upstairs landing and my eyes adjust to the difference. Thank God Ricky’s room is the first one up the stairs and I don’t have to go far.
Knocking lightly not to wake anyone else up, I pray he’s not up and out already.
“I’m not surprised he isn’t awake yet, the party was wild, he had a real late night if you know what I mean.”
Jessica walks up behind me and leans against the wall, half dressed and make-up running down her cheeks, she looks like she hasn’t had much sleep either.
“Maybe you should’ve called first, I can get him to call you when he wakes up.”
She is such a bitch but I’m not falling for her suggestion that she spent the night with him.
Her eyes roam from my boots to the top of my head slowly as she steps towards me. Scrutinising every pore of my body.
A cruel smile forms on her blackened stained face and she drags herself closer to me.
“You come here high as a fucking kite, dragged through the door like a broken doll and yet because you’re Pope’s daughter and have an instant ticket into the club, you get everything you want and the guy you don’t deserve. What do you have?”
I’ve had enough of her now, what do I have? She’s about to find out.
Pushing her out of my space I back her up against the wall and make sure she can’t go anywhere until I’m done with her.
“Do you know what? I’ve had enough of hearing your voice. It’s crystal clear you don’t like me and to be honest I don’t really care.”
She goes to speak but I slam her again and she shuts up.
“From now on, don’t talk to me, don’t look at me and don’t presume to think I won’t smash your head through the fucking wall if I hear you call me a whore again,” I threaten her, not forgetting what I overheard her say to Ricky.