“So, this Declan? How serious is that?”
I could hear the underlying question in her voice. Is it serious enough for me to go back to him as soon as I could? I couldn’t let her, or anyone else, deter me from what was right for me, which meant going back to North Carolina as soon as I could. So I told her how I’d met him, how we were friends first, then got together, and we had plans to open our own business, eventually.
“He sounds great,” she told me, putting her empty beer bottle down on the table. Yeah, her tone wasn’t as sincere as it could be.
“He is,” I said, looking her in the eye. We had a strange stare out that left me uncomfortable. I tried really hard not to fidget.
“You missed it? This?”
“I honestly never thought about it,” I said, keeping my eyes directly on her.
“Family always comes home.”
“Warren dragged me back-” I said.
“Waverley Curtis, if you did not want to do it, I know you would not be here right now.”
I sat back in the seat, not looking at her this time. She was right. I easily could have told Warren and Hudson where to go. Short of tying me up and dragging me here screaming, which I was sure wouldn’t be beneath Hudson at least, I could have stayed home.
I had to be honest with myself.
“You have more faith in me than I do, Rosa. I folded like a bad hand at poker when I saw Warren. I really missed him,” I add quietly.
She cocked her head and patted my hand. “He missed you too, though he hid it well. I know some siblings can be close, but you two were literally the same person for a long time. You were barely ever apart from birth. But you always had it in you to stand up for yourself, sweetheart.
“That night, when you left, you’d been knocked down hard, more than once, but you stood tall and walked out of those gates and went to get what you wanted. What you deserved. You didn’t let them break you and you made something of yourself. But… everyone needs their family once in a while.”
“My brother, definitely. You and the other old ladies, sure. But there are certain things I could do with never having to see again. I had the pleasure of watching Hudson with a club girl last night.”
“God damn his ass,” she hissed through her teeth. “That boy lost all sense five years ago.”
“I didn’t think for a second he wouldn’t be with other women, Rosa.”
Rosa made a soft humming sound, looking at me as if she could see inside my brain.
“Hudson Kelley doesn’t do that in the clubhouse. Everyone knows it. Nope, there is only one reason he let you see that.”
“Cos he’s a prick?” I suggested.
“Because you being back here’s thrown him and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. He never has got a handle on his emotions.”
“Act first, think later, you mean?” I asked angrily. “Or his specialty thinking with his dick.”
Rosa clucked her tongue and shook her head. I knew what she wanted to say, but fortunately for both of us, she held her tongue.
Over the years, she tried to tell me I should speak to Hudson, but it was a non-starter conversation. I didn’t want to speak to him, particularly about that night. I didn’t want to relive having my heart ripped from my chest.
But I couldn’t stop my thoughts racing because of how she viewed my current relationship. If it was so good, why hadn’t I told Declan about my family? Or about where I came from? He didn’t know I was a twin.
I convinced myself that didn’t matter. He was a huge part of my current life, and my life for the last five years hadn’t included the MC or anyone that had anything to do with it.
“You have any more beers in that pack?”
We both turned at the voice. Rosa smiled broadly and got to her feet, welcoming her daughter to join us with a tight hug and offering her a beer.
“Hey Cassie,” I smiled.
Cassie looked like both her parents. She was tall and stocky, more athletic than heavy, like her dad, but she had her mom’s Mediterranean features.
