Chapter Five
Storm
Mason comes into the room, takes Miracle from my arms and disappears from my sight.
His jaw was working in a way it only does when he’s severely pissed off. It’s a look I don’t mess with. I can read my man like the back of my hand, and I know the words coming my way when he returns—aren’t going to be pretty.
I fiddle with my fingers when he comes into the room, shuts the door and paces for a moment.
“You knew I had a kid,” he says, his voice hard. “She may be an adult, but you knew I had one. You knew her mother was a piece of shit.”
I swallow. “Mason—”
He turns towards me; his beautiful brown eyes dark with anger. “I don’t say this to be a fuckin’ dick, I say this to bring you back to fuckin’ reality, Apple. You wanted fuckin’ more. I fought it. You knew what was at stake for me,” he grits and throws his hands in the air. “You made me fall in love with you. You. You did that.”
I don’t understand where his anger is coming from.
I know I’ve been a little distant and sidetracked with our daughter, but I honestly don’t think it’s been bad enough to force this kind of reaction from him.
“I know I’ve been a little—”
“Distant? More than a little,” he interrupts once more. “My fuckin’ daughter is worried we,” ZZ points to himself and then me, “are gonna split, and she’s gonna lose you,” he growls. “She loves you, and she can see our problems, Apple. I’m not fuckin’ down with that shit.”
Oh no.
I stand and walk over to him, and he takes a step back with his arms up. “Don’t,” he warns. “Fuckin’ ironic how I was cravin’ your touch and now it’s the last thing I want.”
Tears pool into my eyes when he takes another step back.
Mason honestly doesn’t want me to touch him.
“I’m sorry,” I cry as tears flow down my face.
For a split second, I believe he’s going to forgive me, but he crosses his arms and turns away.
“Mace…”
“I… I fuckin’ can’t right now, Apple.”
Oh god!
I can’t do it.
I can’t stay away from him.
I’ve done this.
I take tentative steps, and he stiffens when I wrap my arms around his back. “I’m so damn sorry,” I cry against the leather of his cut.
Mason turns in my arms, his lips pressing a small kiss to my forehead before he pulls away. “Fix shit with Tea.”
My arms fall to my sides as the love of my life leaves me in our room, alone.
What the hell have I done?
“Storm?”
I blink.
More tears fall.
Piper rushes into the room. “I passed ZZ on the stairs, his… his eyes were blurry. What happened?”
I drop to my knees. “I screwed up,” I gasp, choking for breath. “I forgot about the rest of my family,” I cry. “Who does that?”
Piper’s knees press to mine when she drops down in front of me and takes my hands into hers. “You didn’t forget about them, you’re a new mom.”
I squeeze her hands and blink more tears. “I made Tea worry.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
I love Tatiana as if she were my blood. Mason’s right. I knew asking for more meant she came with him. A packaged deal and somewhere, along the way, I forgot my actions not only affect ZZ, but Tea’s as well.
I lost track of what we were building.
Our family.
A family which includes more than Miracle and me.
“I screwed up, Pipe. So bad.”
Piper releases my hands and uses her thumbs to wipe away the fallen tears. “Then fix it.”
Fix shit with Tea.
His first concern was for Tea, not himself.
Mason always puts himself last.
Which is the way it’s supposed to be when you have kids, but I wasn’t only putting him last, I completely forgot about him altogether.
I’m such a bitch.
“I’m guessing Berry has my baby.”
“She does.”
“Okay. Good. I have to find Tea.”
“That’s easy. She’s in the courtyard.”
“Thank you.”
✽✽✽
“Tea,” I say and cover my eyes as the sun blares into them. “You got a minute?”
“I… ugh, sure,” she answers preoccupied with her phone.
Tatiana is so engrossed in whatever she’s doing, she doesn’t even look up when I sit across from her. I hate sitting at these picnic tables. I always get little splinters in the backs of my thighs. “I want to apologize.”
“For what,” she murmurs confused, still not looking away from her phone.
“For making you worry about your dad.”
Tea rips her attention from her phone. “Oh. I’m not mad or anything,” she sputters. “I was worried about the both of you. Not just him.”
I feel even worse now.
“You’re not supposed to worry about us though, it’s the other way around, and I’m sorry for that.”
At first, it was a little strange taking on the role of being a step-mom to someone who is only a few years younger than me, but I adjusted rather quickly.
Tatiana has always been easy on me.
“So, you two are gonna be okay?”
“Of course,” I assure her. “I guess all the change overwhelmed me.”
“You promise? I worry about you both, but dad, he will always need you.”
I pull back in shock. “Tea, is there something else bothering you?”
Tatiana pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “No. You’re important to him, and I worry. I’ve never seen you both so disconnected.”
The thumping in my chest quickens. I knew I let everything get out of hand, but it’s worse than I feared.
“I promise you, I’ll fix it. Are we okay?”
My stepdaughter smiles. “If you’re fixing things with dad, of course.” Tea winks at me, but it feels forced.
I’m still not satisfied with the vibe I’m getting from her. “What’s wrong, Tea?”
“You know how I have really bad cramps?” she whispers when her eyes flick to the courtyard camera. We’ve never asked if there is volume on the recordings, but a few of us aren’t willing to find out. “They switched my birth control, and it’s messing with my emotions. I’ve actually felt like a basket case because of it.”
Birth control can be a little fickle when you’re finding one that’s right for you. “I could see why you didn’t bring it up with your dad.”
Tea laughs. “Dad knew I had an appointment for new birth control because it wasn’t helping with the cramps. I’ve never really talked to dad about how they can affect the female body, I had Grams for all the female stuff.” Tatiana shrugs with a grin. “If I wanted to talk to him about it, I know I could. Hell,” she giggles. “Dad would get every book he could find on the subject if I went to him for help and he couldn’t come up with a solution. Could you imagine big bad Zig Zag searching for cramp remedies in the bookstore?”
A laugh bursts from my chest. “He would go straight to the bookstore instead of a search engine.”
We laugh for a good five minutes before she grows serious. “I’ve missed you.”
Blade. Right through the heart.
I take her hand in mine. “I won’t let it happen again. You have my word.”
“I believe you.”
“In the future, you know you can come to me. With anything. Big or small.”
“I know. I can handle birth control on my own though,” she laughs shaking her head. “I’m almost old enough to drink.”
“Little smartass.”
“Yep.”