“He’s a great cook and an even better baker.” Ella laughs at the expression on my face. “I know. Most people wouldn’t think of it from a hardened biker, but people surprise you.”
“Of course.” My face goes scarlet. “I didn’t mean to assume anything. I don’t know anything about the club or how it works.” It’s a little bit ominous that they haven’t answered my question about Maverick either, and now I’ve embarrassed myself by getting caught in obvious stereotypes.
Me, of all people.
“We can answer your questions.” Ella guides me over to the table while Lark puts the kettle on and slides the cookies onto a plate.
“We should say that we do sort of know the basics, but this is secondhand. Scythe gave Tyrant just a rough outline, to help him understand. It’s not really club business, but Maverick is his cousin, and nothing is more important than family.” Lark pours boiling water into three cups. “Uh, sorry, what kind of tea does everyone want?” She swings open the cabinet closest to the sink and indicates a bunch of boxes. “There’s pretty much every kind you could imagine.”
“You pick,” Ella tells her.
“Uh- for me too.” I’m a coffee snob, but when it comes to tea, I know almost nothing.
“You have to help me out. What if I choose herbal and you hate it?”
To be on the safe side, I go with what I know. “Earl Grey?”
“Chai, if there’s any. I think that would be a good pairing with chocolate chip cookies,” Ella says.
Lark gets busy making it. She’s fast and has the three mugs prepped in no time. She brings them to the table for us and sets the platter of cookies in the middle.
It’s nearly unbelievable that I sat here this morning, going over the details of my life, flabbergasted that I could talk calmly about how much it had changed. Just yesterday I was sitting in my apartment. I had no idea that any of this was coming.
Despite the unbelievable chaos, it’s been the best day I’ve had in a long time. The fact that I’m here gives me real hope, and that’s been in unmercifully short supply.
“We know that you’ve been agoraphobic for a while now, and we know yours and Maverick’s history as pen pals. When he got out and came to see you, he wanted to help. Best intentions and all that.” Lark snatches a cookie off the platter. “He didn’t plan all that well, but you’re here now and you’ve agreed to stay, at least for the short term.”
“That’s… Um… I guess that’s right.” I swallow down a massive ball of nerves. It’s somewhat of a relief that I don’t have to go over this again. It would probably take hours to get it all out, and I just don’t know if I have the fortitude to do it right now. “This whole situation is pretty crazy. I understand if you’re both—that is—if you’re not sure about this or about me. I’m not sure about any of it either.”
Ella is seated to my right. She sets her hand on top of mine. “You don’t have to worry about that. Most of us met our men or came to Hart under circumstances that weren’t always ideal.”
Lark nods, compassion and empathy softening her already sweet features. “No one is whole. We’re all broken in different ways. We come closer to finding ourselves, or gathering up the shattered parts, when we’re together. Our sisterhood isn’t about finding perfection and punishing people when they don’t come close. It’s about loving people for who they are. We want to uphold each other, support each other’s dreams, and encourage each other when we need it, and even when we don’t.”
“I know that you didn’t have a lot of say in coming here, but girl, you picked the best pen pal,” Ella muses around a mouthful of cookie.
She’s the kind of person who appreciates dry humor, and no one is more thrilled about that than I am.
“The system actually picked for me.”
“The system knew what it was doing then, when it matched you two,” Lark insists.
“Maverick is trying to rebuild his life. Half of me feels like this isn’t fair to him. I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.” I have the urge to bow my head and look away, but I don’t want to do that. I can at last have the courage to look these women in the face. “I don’t want him to ever feel like he’s enabling me by helping me through this, or like he’s failed when he can’t fix me. I disappointed my family, and I know Maverick isn’t my mom or dad or my sister, but I’m scared that it’s all just going to go to shit the same way.” I snatch a cookie up and take a bite. It’s fucking delicious, despite my sad, sorry thoughts. “Beam of sunshine over here, I know.”
“You don’t have to be a ray of light every minute of every day. That’s unreasonable,” Lark states.
“I know a little bit about shit family,” Ella says. She blows on the top of her tea and steam spirals around her gorgeous face. “My mom passed, and my dad was involved with a rival club. He was Prez once, of Satan’s Angels, but he fucked up. He couldn’t live with that and blamed everyone else. He told me a bunch of lies and sent me here. He tortured my half-brother, and married me off to a total stranger just to further his political ambitions, and then he hurt me terribly. He’s in jail now, and he absolutely deserves to rot there. I hope he never gets letters from someone kind and caring,” she pauses and takes a mouthful of tea.
I see a look flash across her face, and I guess despite the lightness of her words, she has her own trauma that she’s eitherlearned to cope with or is still healing from. Something about that gives me hope. That if she can go through that and sit here seemingly composed, then maybe I can too.
She puts her cup down on the table and continues. “He dug his own grave. I don’t wish him dead, but he did taste his own karma. He killed men, set others up, and put good ones in jail foryears. I’ve come to love my husband, and the club has moved past all of that, but when I say that dubious shit brought us here, I mean that. After I found out who my father truly was and how he played me, I didn’t think that I deserved anything good in my life. But Raiden is the best thing that happened to me. He encouraged me to finish my doctorate so that I could teach college here. I have a life I love now. I’m so blessed. But none of it was easy.”
Shit. Ella really does know what she’s talking about.
“Raiden is my brother,” Lark explains. “And Tyrant is Ella’s half-brother.”
Double shit.
“Okay well that makes me feel a little bit less of a freak, if I can be honest. Everyone in my life was so normal. And then there was me. I was the black stain on my family. I was the one who changed their lives forever.”
