“You went without a guard?!” he growls, and I raise a brow at his tone.
“Bruce, Logan’s mama, and Kate are no longer around, Vincent, we’re safe,” I reassure, but it doesn’t work as he growls.
Damn.
I go to sass again but my mouth clamps shuts as he snaps, “And what about your mother!” and my stomach drops because I completely forgot the danger she was to us just as a scream echoes, and I turn to see the woman in question wearing high heels and a pant suit, dragging my daughter towards the back of the shop by her arm, which is bent in an unnatural position.
No!
“Vincent, I need Logan!” I shout as I run after my mother, who has picked up the pace, seeing me coming.
Déjà vu is hitting me like a ton of bricks and panic hits.
Aisling’s screams get louder, and I rush out of the side door, but I grunt as I’m hit hard across the face, making me dizzy as a throbbing pain hits my brow and I squeeze my eyes tight.
Holy…
“I warned you I’d kill the brat, you ruined everything,” Mama sneers as I try to get my bearings, “Your father hasn’t given me any money for years and Bruce was my answer to all that until you had to ruin things by disobeying me, by bringing that brat into the world and donatingmymoney!”
Okay, so Mama is money hungry and I was her meal ticket. Awesome.
I blink before I notice her charging towards me again but I duck just in time as a plank of wood comes my way, making her stumble.
“News flash, Mama, I’m not your puppet,” I snap as I shove her against the brick wall before she can get her bearings, causing her to drop the wood and ignoring the blood dripping down my brow, I inform her, “Besides Bruce is dead, so your plan has failed miserably!”
She screeches as Aisling cries louder distracting me for just one moment as I turn my head and see her hiding near the dumpster clutching her arm and Mama smacks me hard again but with her fist, managing to shove me out of the way as I lose my footing but quickly correct it before I can fall.
Mama rushes towards Aisling, her heels catching my attention and I don’t think, even as I hear a rumble of bikes knowing Logan is here, like he always promised, I grab the back of my mother’s blazer and yank her back causing her to trip in her heels and land flat on her back with a grunt and again I don’t think.
I grab the wooden board, and just as she’s about to get up, I slam it hard against her face, making her scream in shock and fall down before I hit her again and then again and again,vaguely hearing someone say, “Fuck!” as I beat my mother for trying to kill my daughter again, nothing else registering, my only focus – saving Aisling.
Chapter 26
Tank
I put my hand up to Arthur as he opens the gate for us, the club’s now-empty van following behind me, Dirty, Stone, and Anchor right behind the van as I drive through the gates, my back aching like a fucking bitch while frustration fills me and maybe, if I admit it to myself, a little bit of fucking fear.
I wanted to head straight to the farm to see my girls. Normally, as we get into town, I’d take the front, but this time I wanted Anchor to just keep front formation home while I ride behind so I could veer off but nope, Doc demanded I come to the club first, falling back into my usual routine after a run, despite knowing I need to get back to Jas. His request pissed me off so much that I have ignored his calls the whole ride home, my anger growing with each ring.
Three whole fucking days with barely any contact with Jas doesn’t sit right with me. Even though she says she’ll fight for me, I can’t stop worrying that her mind will wander, or she’ll feel the urge to leave again. That fear sits heavy, shaped by when she left six years ago, and I want nothing more than to speed away, say ‘fuck you’ to my friend and pres, and get home.
I need to get fucking home.
The past week hasn’t been easy by any means. I can see she’s trying to make amends and I’m trying to learn to forgive because I know I can’t live without her. I’ve done nothing but miss her since losing her and wish she’d come home, but fuck, the resentment hits every time I learn something new about our daughter that I would have loved to be part of but wasn’t—especially when Ais asked if she could join ballet class.
I got excited thinking maybe it would be her first time, something I finally got, but it wasn’t. Jas admitted she hadn’t eaten properly for about a month when she enrolled Aisling in a class, but had to pull her because her funds were too stretched, and the tutu she had before I found them was two sizes too big for her.
Fuck my heart broke, and the resentment built, and I know even though I can’t help it, if things keep going this way, Jas will think her leaving would be for the best, not thinking about how I just need time.
Two months to learn to live with the fact I lost my home in her and I lost the first five years with our daughter, all because she didn’t trust me, isn’t enough time to try and get over things, she just has to be patient, something, according to Axel, most old ladies lack.
The fucker turned up with bright pink hair and a scowl, ready to lay into me while I looked at him in shock because I’m pretty sure Brit mentioned Annie was going to give him a break with the pranks after the last one nearly started a gun fight.
Apparently, if I’d shown up to each run instead of walking away like a jackass – his words, not mine – then I would have seen his woman’s pranks have instead increased since he knocked her up purposely after she had not long given birth.
Annie is pissed, and he’s taking it like a man because he did mess with her birth control yet again.
The man likes his woman knocked up, while his woman just wants five minutes to herself without needing to piss every five seconds.
