Chapter Twenty-Eight
Pru
I’m just finishing changing Scarlett when Hack opens the nursery door. He says a quick hello to Addy and Trix before heading my way. He runs a hand over our daughter’s head as he leans down and places a kiss on my lips.
“There’s someone here who wants to talk to you,” he says before leaning further down to kiss Scarlett’s cheek.
“Kyle?” I ask, hope filling my voice.
“Yep,” he answers, leading me over to the bassinet.
My heart is pounding, and butterflies are flying all around my stomach as I lay her down and turn to Addy. “Do you mind keeping an eye on her for a little bit?”
“I’m sitting right here,” Trix shouts from her spot on the carpet, throwing her hands in the air. “Why doesn’t anyone ever ask me to watch their kids?”
“Because you shout too much,” Addy answers with a saccharine sweet smile then looks over to me. “I’ve got her.”
Hack chuckles under his breath as he leads me out the door. As we walk down the stairs, my anxiety level starts to grow in leaps and bounds. By the time we reach the bottom step, I feel like I’m about to lose my lunch.
Coming to a stop just outside of the common room, I place my hand on Hack’s arm. “Do you think Kyle is really my brother?”
“I can’t be sure, but I think so,” he says with a slight shrug. “If the two of you want, I’m sure there’s some kind of test the doc can do to find out for sure.”
“I think he is,” I whisper, fearing if I say the words too loud they won’t be true.
I’ve thought about it a lot since Hack told me about Kyle. I do think he is my brother, because there’s no other reason for him being in my life. My only true question is why he didn’t ever tell me.
Hack reaches up and cups my face, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Even if the two of you don’t share a drop of blood, he cares about you. He cares about Scarlett, too. He gave up his cut when he found out his club threatened her.”
If he had said these words to me a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have understood how important they are. After being in the clubhouse, learning about what being part of the club means, I realize just how freaking huge that is. Kyle essentially gave up his family for me.
“I can’t wait to see him,” I say, allowing a smile to spread across my lips.
“Well, come on then.” He releases my face and grabs my hand. “He’s waiting to talk to you.”
As we step into the common room, my eyes take in the crowd. It only takes a second to find Kyle at a table near the back of the room. He’s talking to Brew, but he is scanning the room. When they finally land on me, I can see relief fill his gaze.
I take a step toward him but stop when I hear my mother’s voice. “You’re gonna pay for this, you motherfucker.”
Jerking around, I see Round pulling her down the hall. She’s fighting him every step of the way, cussing with each step they take. When she lifts a foot to kick him, Round steps back and gives her arm a brutal twist. She lets out a pain-filled shriek, causing me to almost feel sorry for her. Not quite, but almost.
When they get only a few feet from us, he looks at Hack and asks, “You sure I can’t kill her? I’m not too happy about having to listen to her mouth all the way to Clarksville.”
Anyone listening would think he was joking, but the look in his eyes tells me different. “If you kill her, you’ll save me the hassle of ever having to see her again.”
“You never have to see her again, anyway.” Hack gives my hand a tight squeeze before releasing it and tossing it over my shoulders. “Just take her to the nearest bar. She can find her own way home from there.”
Hack and Round continue talking, but I am so focused on my mother that their words go in one ear and out the other. One of her cheeks is dark purple, matching the eye on the other side of her face. Her upper lip is swollen so big, only a small sliver of her bottom lip is visible. Her nose is sitting a bit crooked, with remnants of dried blood around the nostrils. More blood is sprinkled liberally over her shirt. Someone has worked her over and did it in a way she will be feeling it for a while.
“You see what your man did to me?” Mom spits out, bringing a hand to her face. “He hit me, Prudence Jane.”
Hack’s arm moves from my shoulders to slip around my waist. “I slapped her because she wouldn’t shut up. The rest came from someone else, but I promise you she deserved every bit of pain she felt.”
“Real nice man you got there, girl,” Mom says, nodding her head manically. “That blonde bitch is gonna pay for her part, too. I’ll make sure the Saints know every person that laid a hand on me.”
My lips tip up as I realize Trix taught Mom a lesson. Once this is over, I’m going to run upstairs and give her a hug. Then, tonight, Hack will be getting the best blow job of his life in appreciation of the slap.
Round gives her arm another jerk. “You ain’t nothing to the Saints, woman. You’re just an old, used up piece of pussy. They ain’t gonna do shit for your skank ass. I should do them a favor and snap your neck right now.”
“First you let them beat me up, now you let them threaten me. What kind of daughter are you?” she asks, bloody spittle flying with each word.
“You threatened my daughter,” I force out through clenched teeth. “I don’t care what they do to you.”
The more I’ve thought on it, the more I realize that Hack is right. Mom was probably just doing what she was told by the Saints. That doesn’t matter, though. She still played a part in the threat against my daughter, and I will never forgive her. She may walk out of this clubhouse still breathing, but she is dead to me.
“That little whelp is nothing to me. Why do I care about what happens to her?” Mom replies with a dramatic huff. “You should’ve gotten rid of her when you found out that bastard planted her in your belly. Believe me, she’s not gonna do anything but cause you problems for the rest of her life. I know, because that’s all you’ve ever done for me. You’ve never been nothing more than a pain in my ass.”
“Shut the fuck up, Clair,” Hack orders, pulling me closer to his body.
“These boys may have an issue with taking your ass out, but I don’t,” Kyle snarls, coming to stand by my side. “I don’t care if you’ve got a gash between your legs or not. If you say one more fucking thing about Pru or her daughter, I will kill you.”
“You still think she’s your sister?” Mom asks with a laugh, but her laughter stops when she starts to look between the two of us. “Well, shit. Looks like your daddy is the bastard that knocked me up after all.”
She keeps talking, but I ignore her and turn to look at Kyle. I’ve seen him many times during my life, but this time I am looking at him differently. I search every one of his features, but it only takes me a second to see it. It’s in the eyes. His are brown and mine are green, but other than the color, they’re mirror images.
“Hey, Buttercup,” he says with an easy smile on his face.
The day we first met, I had picked a bunch of buttercups and stuck one behind my ear, thinking it made me look pretty. I wore that flower all day, even when some of the older girls at the park laughed at me. Even when I wrecked my bike, the flower stayed in place.
When he helped me out of the ditch, he noticed the flower and started calling me Buttercup. At the time, I was too shy to tell him my real name. A few years later, I finally told him, but he continued to call me Buttercup anyway.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, tilting my head a bit to look at the way his hair has a slight wave, just like mine.
He blinks at my question, even though he had to know it was coming. “I don’t know. I wanted to every time I saw you but could never get up the courage.”
The tone of his voice lets me know he is telling the truth, at least part of it. I can also see that he is regretting his decision. Even though I want to ask him why again, to dig for more information, I decide to let it go for now.
“When I was a little girl, I dreamed of growing up and marrying you,” I say with a smile, feeling Hack’s arm get even tighter on my waist. “Considering you’re my brother, I’m thinking it’s good that dream didn’t come true.
Kyle lets out a chuckle. “I’m not the marrying kind anyway.”
My smile grows even bigger. “I’d rather have a brother than a husband, anyway.”
“Well, you’re gonna have both.” Hack’s hold gets so tight it hurts.
Wiggling just enough to get him to loosen his arms, I turn around to look in his beautiful blue eyes. “I’d rather have him for a brother, because you’re the only man I would ever want for a husband.”
Hearing my mother cursing, I look over my shoulder. Round is pulling her out the door, but her eyes are trained on me. I stare into them, hoping to see something good in her. Instead, they are full of hate. For some reason, it finally hits me. It’s not me that she hates; it’s herself.