CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
“I’m fat,” I whined, staring at my ginormous belly.
Deuce, sitting on the edge of the bed pulling his boots on, looked over his shoulder. “Yup.”
I sat up in bed or rather I wiggled myself up. “Did you just call me fat?”
“Yup.”
Oh my god. He was so infuriatingly honest! I hated it!
“I’m not fat!” I cried. “I’m nearly eight months pregnant!”
He stood up and grabbed his deodorant from the top of his dresser. “Yeah babe, I know. But that baby ain’t in your ass.”
My mouth fell open. “Did you just call my ass fat?”
In the middle of tying his hair back, he turned around. “Yup.”
“I hate you,” I hissed. “If I could get up on my own I would kick your ass!”
He grinned. “Not gonna lie babe. Your ass got fuckin’ fat. Don’t really care though cuz I got big fat hands so it’s all good.”
I threw my pillow at him. Laughing, he ran out of the room.
“Where are you going?” I yelled.
“The club!” The front door slammed.
Huffing, I lay back down and pulled the covers up over my head. I was so bored. Which was probably why my ass got fat. Deuce had kept true to his word and was treating me good…when he was home. Which most days and most nights, he wasn’t. Two months ago I gone into premature labor, had gone to the hospital and was given magnesium sulfate to slow my contractions. It worked, the labor was stopped, but I was given strict instructions stay off my feet as much as possible, to stay away from stressful situations and to refrain from sexual intercourse.
After that, Deuce stopped sleeping at home. He was always at the club. And I was not allowed at the club unless he brought me there which was pretty much never.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew he was sleeping with other women. Only I didn’t know what to do about it. He had laid it out for me, told me he would try and I’d told him I would try. So I was trying but trying to maintain a relationship with someone who was never around was incredibly difficult.
There were a few times I had been breaths away from throwing these things in his face but then I would remember that he had never promised me an exclusive relationship nor had he promised me he would be home on a regular basis.
It was official. I was an old lady. And it was awful. I had gone from being an vital part of my club with strong ties to all my boys to this. To nothing.
In the meantime, I hung out with Danny when she wasn’t at school, I hung out with Danny and Cage when Cage was home and not at the club which was a lot less frequent then his father. And I’d developed a pretty good relationship with both of them. Cage and I had become friends and Danny had pretty much decided I was her role model. I thought this was a bad idea but I didn’t mention it because in all honesty I thought it was cute bad idea.
I had access to Deuce’s pickup but there was nowhere to go. Miles City, Montana had a population of roughly nine thousand people and consisted of a few streets with various shops and restaurants and a whole lot of empty land. The residents didn’t seem to mind this. As long as they had clothes on their backs, food in their bellies and a post office, they were good.
I wasn’t.
I’d been born and raised in New York City.
New York City. Eight million people. The most populous city in the United States, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. A power city, a cultural capital, the most linguistically diverse city in the world, a hodge-podge of commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment.
Sighing, I curled up on my side. I missed my city. I missed my father and Kami and Devin. I missed my boys.
But I loved Deuce. And I’d promised him.
☼☼☼
It was late when Deuce pulled into his garage. He shut down his bike and headed inside. The kitchen was his first priority, second was Eva. He hadn’t been home in four days and he was itching to touch her. He couldn’t fuck her, something about the baby, but he’d been solving that problem, usually with Miranda, but Miranda wasn’t Eva. None of those whores came close to working him the way Eva could. He couldn’t be around her without wanting her and her mouth, as sweet as it was, wasn’t enough. He wanted inside her. He’d wanted inside her since the Demon barbeque fourteen years ago.
Fucking hell, he was hard just thinking about her.
Bitch made him crazy.
He grabbed a beer and was about to head upstairs, had one foot on the first step, when the sound of incessant female giggling brought him up short. It was a school night and Danny shouldn’t be up at one in the morning. Eva knew this.
Narrowing his eyes, he went left, through the living room and into the family room. Eva, Danny and Cage were packed onto the loveseat together, their eyes glued to the television. Danny took up the left corner, Cage had the right, his arm slung over the back of the couch and Eva was curled up in the space between his arm and torso. Cage’s fingers were running distractedly through her hair and her arm was slung over his belly. A dark blue woolen blanket covered the three of them.
He stared. What the fuck was going on?
“Oh my god!” Danny cried, bouncing up and down in her seat. “She’s really going to make him a vampire!”
“No way,” Eva said. “She won’t. She can’t. That is just so wrong.”
“She could make me a vampire,” Cage muttered, “She’s so fuckin’ hot.”
Eva burst out laughing. “You’d give up your life for a nice pair of tits, huh?”
If he wasn’t so pissed he would have laughed. He’d been shot twice for a nice pair of tits.
Cage looked down at Eva and grinned. “For those tits, babe, hell yeah. For yours too.”
Eva snorted.
“Pig,” Danny muttered.
“Yep.”
“You can be a pig,” Eva said, laughing. “As long as you keep rubbing my feet every day.” She sighed happily. “Pure heaven, Cage.”
Cage’s grin turned into a soft smile. “Anything for you gorgeous.”
His fists clenched. Rubbing her fucking feet? Every day? Gorgeous?
“Ha!” Eva shouted, slapping at Danny’s arm. “I told you she wouldn’t do it!”
“Whatever,” Danny muttered with a smile on her lips. “She should have. Eventually he’s going to get old. If I were her I would have immortalized all that hotness.”
He stormed into the room and stopped directly in front of the television.
“Daddy, move,” Danny said, trying to look around him.
He didn’t.
“Danielle West,” He growled, “I wanna know why you’re not in bed.”
He watched his daughter fold her arms over her chest and scowl at him.
“Today and tomorrow are parent-teacher conferences,” Eva said quietly. “No school.”
He narrowed his eyes. She was still curled up around his kid. Right in front of him.
“Eva,” He barked. “Kitchen.”
“Here babe,” Cage said. He shifted his body out from under hers and slipped an arm around her back to help her up. She tottered for a minute then both her hands went to her swollen belly.
“Shit,” Cage muttered. “Are you having contractions again? Or is it the salt thing?”
“Oh!” Danny cried, jumping to her feet, “Do you need your pills?”
Salt thing? Pills? What the fuck?
“Eva,” He growled, growing more agitated by the second. “Get in the fuckin’ kitchen!”
“Dad!” Cage yelled. “Shut the fuck up! She’s fuckin’ sick! Blood pressure’s off the charts. Her OB has her coming in nearly every day to check her!”
What? What and what and huh?
“Why do you know this shit?” He demanded.
“Better question,” Cage shot back. “Why the fuck don’t you?”
It was either deck his only son or break something so he whipped his beer bottle across the room. It slammed into the stone fireplace and shattered in a spray of beer.
“Answer me!” He roared. “Why the fuck do you know this shit? And why the fuck were you holdin’ her?”
Cage’s lip curled. “Who do you think takes her to her doctor’s appointments and the fuckin’ hospital? Who do you think has to help her in and out of bed and in the fuckin’ shower? Sure as fuck ain’t you.”
His nostrils flared. “You help her in the fuckin’ shower!” He hissed.
“Yeah, daddy,” Danny said quietly. “You’re never home and I can’t help her all the time. Her doctor said she should be off her feet and we gotta keep her salt intake low and calm her down when the contractions start by havin’ her take warm baths or rubbing her back. Most of the time they’re Braxton hicks but because she went into labor already the doctors are worried.”
“And who the fuck you think is drivin’ Danny to school?” Cage yelled. “And pickin’ her up after cheerleadin’ practice. And takin’ her to fuckin’ gymnastics? Mom’s fuckin’ workin’ ten hour shifts, Eva can’t do it anymore, you’re not fuckin’ around, that leaves me!”
With tears in her eyes, Eva moved slowly across the room and disappeared into the foyer. He had planned on following her only Cage wasn’t done running his mouth.
“You’re doin’ it again,” He spat. “You’re fuckin’ everything up. You did it to mom, you’re doin’ it to Eva. You’re never fuckin’ home, you’re leavin’ her alone with no one to talk to and nothin’ to do and she’s gonna leave dad you don’t stop sleepin’ at the club and fuckin’ whores. And fuck you, but I don’t want her to leave and either does Danny. Havin’ here has been fuckin’ awesome, she’s cool to talk with, she’s fuckin’ fun and she makes shit feel good, better than it has in a long time and you’re fuckin’ it all up cuz you’re a fuckin’ selfish asshole!”
Danny moved to stand in front of Cage and took a protective stance. “Yeah daddy.”
He had to take several deep breaths so he didn’t end up saying something he didn’t mean. Done breathing, he turned and left the room.
☼☼☼
Deuce entered the kitchen shortly after I did. He walked right by me without as much as a glance my way, headed for the refrigerator. I bit my tongue. I had been biting my tongue a lot lately but I couldn’t fathom anything good coming out of a heart to heart when he’d just gotten into a fight with his kids.
Instead, I tried to think of something to talk to him about and kept coming up empty. I didn’t have a clue what he’d been doing lately, not for work, not with his boys, nothing.
“I got served,” I blurted out.
Empty handed, he closed the refrigerator and turned around. “What?”
“Served,” I repeated. “Chase wants a paternity test and he’s court ordered me to have it done.”
He blinked.
"WHEN DID THAT FUCKIN' ASSHOLE DOCTOR SAY THE CONCEPTION DATE WAS?"
I took a step backwards. "Deuce, why are-
"WHEN EVA, FUCKIN' WHEN!"
"The end of June," I whispered. "But it's not always accurate."
"Really?" He sneered. "Is it not accurate cuz it was the beginnin’ of fuckin' June when we fucked?
I stared up at him, speechless.
"Jumped from my fuckin' bed straight into Frankie's, jumped from Frankie's right back into mine and then from mine straight to fuckin's Chase's bed! That fuckin' kid could be Frankie's couldn't it?"
"Stop!" I cried. "You know it wasn't like that! You showed up and you had Frankie locked up and I was a wreck and you were you and I have never been able to be rational around you and I just wanted to be with you one more time! Chase was a mistake! I was trying to help Frankie but then I was trying to hurt Frankie and then I just wanted to hurt myself and I was so fucked up in the head and I don't know, Deuce! I just don't know!"
"No, you never fuckin' did know shit, did ya? Didn't know your old man had cameras in his fuckin' stairwell. Didn't know Frankie wasn't just crazy but a fuckin' homicidal maniac. Didn't know Chase fuckin' loved you, didn't know he was hole punchin' the fuckin' condoms so he could knock you up and keep you! Don't even fuckin' know who put that fuckin' bastard inside you!"
Chase was what? Oh my god. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…
"Yeah," Deuce sneered. "Now you get it. Now when it's too fuckin' late. That's his fuckin' kid in you then he's gonna play that fuckin' card. And I fuckin' know you, shit starts to get hard, you get upset, you're gonna run."
"Where am I going to run to?" I demanded. "Since you know everything you tell me where I am going to run to!"
"Back to daddy," He said darkly. "Back to the fuckin' club. Back to where it's safe and you don't gotta deal with your fuckin' life cuz you got a whole shit load of men who'll deal with it for ya. And then you can keep tryin' to save Frankie cuz that's all you've ever done with yourself and you don't have a fuckin' clue what to do when you're not tryin' to save him. And you and Chase can get back to beatin' each other senseless, fuckin’ each other in public, and gettin' off on it cuz you both fuckin' hate yourselves and your fucked up lives."
I felt my face get hot. I was angry but I was also embarrassed. Deuce had just aired my dirty laundry in a house with an open floor plan. I had no doubt Danny and Cage had heard everything.
"Shoulda never fuckin' laid a hand on you," He spat.
My heart seized. "What?" I whispered.
"You heard me bitch. I wish I never fuckin' touched you. Never fuckin' met you. You've done nothin' but fuck with my life."
As if he'd slapped me I staggered backwards reaching for the counter top to steady myself.
"Deuce," I whispered. "Please take that back."
He didn't. He didn't say anything at all. Just turned away from me and left.