Aunt Kendall tipped her head back. “Goddamn. You all are so fucking young to be going through this. My Matilda is nine months away from fourteen.”
“I’m nine months away from sixteen,” Harley said glumly. “If I make it there,” she added under her breath.
Aunt Kendall covered her face and shuddered, then looked at Harley. “Your Uncle Christopher has me looking into the club and family history. I was always so grateful for our stability. The club’s. Our children. Our marriages. Even before I began piecing together the legacy of those original fuckheads. But we aren’t much different, darling. It’s just anothertime and another place, a different cast, where club life tightens its grip.”
“That doesn’t sound reassuring, Aunt Kendall,” Harley said quietly. “It almost sounds like a warning.”
“It wasn’t meant to be reassuring and, yes, it is a warning. Club life will swallow you whole and leave your life and your sanity in shreds. You must be tough.”
“I try to be, but I feel as if I’ve lost so much.”
“Did Ryan force himself on you?” Aunt Kendall blurted.
“No,” Harley whispered. Ryan wasn’tthathorrible. “It was consensual.”
“And now?”
“He barely talks to me. Mommie told me I could go to Rebel’s dinner party with Kaia since Daddy would be there. I didn’t act the best, so Ryan left with me. He…we…” Harley swallowed and shrugged. “He hasn’t talked to me since.”
“Fucking prick,” Aunt Kendall grumbled just as Harley heard the front door opening.
“I have to text Harley,” Aunt Zoann said, her voice traveling down the hallway.
“Okay, Puff,” Uncle Val responded, their footsteps echoing in the silent house.
“I’m home, Aunt Zoann,” Harley called as Aunt Kendall got to her feet.
“Is everything okay?” Aunt Zoann asked when she saw Aunt Kendall.
“I came to check on Harley,” Aunt Kendall told her. “When Mattie told me that she hadn’tgone to the party, I thought maybe she could use company. Since the ground lights aren’t very effective, I decided to walk here.”
“Let me know when you’re ready to go back home, Kendall,” Uncle Val said. “I’ll walk you there.”
She got to her feet. “I’ll be ready in a minute. I have an early morning and a full day ahead.”
“On a Sunday?” Aunt Zoann asked.
“Unfortunately, since the DNA tests are Wednesday,” Aunt Kendall grumbled, then leaned over and kissed Harley’s cheek. “You and I will go to a spa as soon as I’m free.”
“Okay.”
“Whenever you’re ready, Kendall,” Uncle Val said.
“Thanks, Val, but I’ll be fine,” Aunt Kendall with a smile and looked at Aunt Zoann. “Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah.” Aunt Zoann hugged Harley. “Give me a few minutes, baby.”
“Okay, Aunt Zoann.”
The minute the two women walked out, Uncle Val came to Harley and sat next to her.
“I’m sorry, Harley,” he told her softly. “I’m so fucking sorry for what Ryan did to you.”
“It isn’t your fault, Uncle Val. And he did it to Rebel and Mattie, too.”
Uncle Val scrubbed a hand over his face. “This is hitting Puff so hard. I think she knows Ryan more involved than we telling her. For the past three mornings, she’s thrown up.”
Harley frowned.
