“This life, or me in her life?” I ask.
He shakes his head once, his eyes sliding closed slowly before he flicks them open again and focuses his gaze on me. He stares at me for a moment, and I know he’s trying to read me, likely attempting to figure out how to approach this and not piss me off even more than I already am.
He can’t.
There is only one response I’m going to accept, and that’s his full support. Nothing more, nothing less. I want a handshake and a welcome-to-the-family announcement. So I wait for his response.
“Everything. I wanted her to have someone who loved her and could give her a good, clean life. She’s had a rough life, and she deserves so much better than this club.”
Taking a step toward him, I don’t break eye contact. He’s said the quiet part out loud. He doesn’t want Cidney to be part of the family. I run my fingers through my hair, gripping the strands before I pull on them slightly and release them.
“You may not want her to be with me, or anyone else here, but that ship has sailed. We fell in love, Ivy, and there’s nothing you or anyone else is going to do about that. I’m claiming her—protecting her.”
“You can’t have her.”
Taking another step forward, I tilt my chin down. I have never felt more powerful than another man, but after buildingall this muscle, I could take this fucker down in a goddamn heartbeat, and nobody would be the wiser. I let him kick my ass the last time. It will not happen again.
“With or without your permission or consent, Cidney is going to be my woman. I’ll take whatever punishment the club doles out. I tried to do it the right way, and all it did was hurt the woman I love. Not again.”
I don’t allow his response. I honestly don’t care that much about what he thinks or what he has to say. Turning around, I walk away from him. He can look at my fucking back as I go, but he doesn’t just let me walk away in peace. No, he has to call out my name.
I still don’t look around. I stay with my back to him, my feet stopping, but only for a moment. I know I’m not going to like what he has to say, but I’ll listen to him. At least for now.
“I still don’t agree, and I will never give you permission.”
His words should not hit me like a punch to the gut, but they do. I’ve known him for years. Loved him like a brother for years. He is the man who Cidney looks up to and loves. It’s really fucking sad that he can’t accept us.
Turning my head slightly, I look over my shoulder at him. I refuse to face him completely. He hasn’t earned that kind of respect from me. In fact, he’s lost almost all of it, as far as I’m concerned.
“That’s too bad, Ivy. You’re going to miss out on a lot.”
And with that, I walk away from him. As much as I want to hash things out, he very much has it stuck in his head that there can be no other way. That his way is the only way. And I get that, but not in this. I’ve lost respect for the brother I would have once both died and killed for.
Climbing onto my bike, I start the engine and look around the parking lot of the gym. I have an idea. It goes off inside my head like a lightbulb. I never understood how that could happen.I always thought that people were full of shit when they said that until now.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I text Bullet.
MEET ME AT THE CLUBHOUSE
BULLET: WHAT THE FUCK FOR?
GOT AN IDEA
Instead of waiting for his response, which is probably just more questions, I head straight for the clubhouse. I want to get this conversation started and get the plan rolling. It might take a hell of a lot of doing, but I think it will be the best-case scenario where Goffredo and Lorenzo are concerned.
I just have to know if we can pull it off logistically, and I’m going to need help doing it.
CIDNEY
Posey is nervous. I can feel it coming off her in waves. I start to tell her that she has no reason to be anxious, but then decide not to. Maybe that makes me a bitch, because I know that none of this stuff with Goffredo, Justin, and Goose is anything she can actually control, but I’m kind of pissed off at her by proxy at this point.
She’s with Justin and could probably talk to him about everything that happened. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t listen to her. He’s stupidly in love with her, so I can’t help but wonder why she hasn’t tried to help, at least to help me.
“Okay,” she says, letting out a heavy breath. “What can I do to fix this?”
I’m surprised she’s asking now, but I‘m glad for it. At least she’s not entirely heartless. I don’t say what I want to say, because it would be pointless, even though what I want is to ask her to figure out a way for Justin to accept Goose and to let bygones be bygones.
But I don’t know if I could do that with Goose where Justin is concerned, so I guess it would make sense that she can’t, either. And maybe she feels the same way, that she couldn’t persuade Justin to think any differently.
