He closed the door behind him and dropped a pile of clothes on the bed. I grabbed a pair of boxers and yanked them on. His gaze flashed around the room as if giving me privacy. I knew he was waiting to lecture me.
Adjusting his hat, he nodded. “You’re moving Elle to Baton Rouge.”
“Elle’s the only chick that’ll work for me. I’ve got to give this thing a shot. You know me. I don’t do regrets. If I want something, I go for it. If I fail, oh, fucking well.”
“I can’t argue with that logic. I chased Lula and didn’t look back. But Elle has a fatherless kid. He’s going to get attached to you. How will he handle things if ‘oh, fucking, well’ happens?”
“Sutter’s smart,” I said and yanked on the jeans. “He knows his mom and me aren’t normal people.”
“Where are you planning to live? When I looked around for places with enough space, the options were slim.”
Tugging a T-shirt over my head, I refused to let him derail my plan. “I don’t need a big fancy place like your lawyer.”
“What about Elle? She’s used to this upscale house. So is Sutter.”
Running my hands through my damp hair, I faced Exile. “Dude, if you have issues with this decision, spit it out. We both know you’re not worried about me finding a solid house.”
“Okay, then. My issue is that you’ve never once shown any interest in having a family. You get irritated when people come over to your place. Elle is great, and Sutter’s a cool kid. Plus, there’s the baby to consider. I get all that. But moving them to Baton Rouge like this is out of character for you.”
“Look at it this way, I give myself what I want. Right now, I can’t function with Elle so far away.”
“Well, I’ll support you however you need. You did that for me with Lula.”
Tying my boots, I eyed him. “But you think I’ll fail with Elle.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Playing the family man doesn’t seem to be in your DNA. But for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never failed at anything. I don’t know why you’d start now.”
I combed my fingers through my wet hair again, enjoying how I smelled like Elle. The woman felt like she’d always been mine. Just like how I was always meant to be the Black Rainbow’s president.
I eyed Exile before admitting, “You should know if Elle or the boys aren’t happy in Baton Rouge, I’m willing to walk away from the club.”
“What the fuck?” he nearly shouted. “Now, Iknowyou’re cracked in the head.”
“Let me ask you something. If I had insisted you be in Baton Rouge a hundred percent of the time or I’d kick you out of the club, would you have stuck with me or given up the Black Rainbow for Lula?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do,” I said and poked his chest. “That’s why I didn’t give you an ultimatum. I wasn’t looking to lose that battle.”
“The Black Rainbow has been your life,” Exile said in a pained voice.
“True, but I put myself first always. Right now, I need Elle. If it comes down to her or the club, I don’t think I can walk away from herlike I can the club. Of course, I could start a chapter of our club here in Little Memphis. We’ll just need to kill off the Jokers.”
Exile gave my idea a little eye roll. “Who would run the club in Baton Rouge if you quit?”
“York’s plenty capable. Lots of our guys are, but they don’t have the balls to push me out of the way.”
“But you’re not quitting yet.”
“I honestly feel like Elle and Sutter can be happy in Baton Rouge. I’ll find them a good place to live with plenty of space for their family. I’ll make sure the little nerd feels stimulated, and LSU is a decent school. I bet a few of those dweeb professors would like to mentor a genius like Sutter. Elle’s going to be busy with the baby soon. I believe I can build them a good life there.”
“Elle’s really tight with her family and the club.”
“Ford and Shay will likely be in Baton Rouge a lot. Elle has already started bonding with our club. Plus, York has the hots for a Crimson Guard chick. If he can ever figure out how to nail that down, Elle might have a local friend.”
“Any idea who York’s into? We could work our magic and make that happen sooner rather than later. Elle will do better if she has her people nearby.”
“Chill, will you? You’re doing the ping pong shit with living here and Baton Rouge. Lula has a kid and a life here. I assume you’ll bang a kid into her eventually. Nothing I’m doing is out of bounds,” I said and then added, “No, I don’t have a clue about York’s crush. He wasn’t eyeballing anyone at Cher’s party, so I might be reading that situation wrong.”
