Jesse patted my shoulder and headed over to Casa, and Axle held out a hand. I shook it and he pulled me in and patted my back.
“Watch out for him,” I said, nodding toward Jesse.
Axle nodded and smiled before walking away.
I drank some more of my beer while I waited for Battle to say whatever it was he wanted to say. After several minutes of drinking in silence, I turned to him.
“I’ll come back,” I said.
Battle put down his beer and turned to me. “Need to speak to Quinn, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be on board with this.”
“With what?” I frowned.
“We’re coming with you, brother.”
“Fuck off,” I laughed. “I don’t need you holding my hand. I can do this shit on my own.”
Battle barked out a loud laugh. “I’m not going to be holding your hand, motherfucker. I’m going to be balls deep in my woman. Truth is, I’ve got bad vibes about this club, and I don’t want Quinn anywhere near when the shit hits the fan.”
I thought about that for a moment before answering. “So this is about you and her?”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “This is about her. It’s always about her. Everything is about her. And don’t make out like you don’t get it now, cus’ I know that you do.”
A couple of months before I would have called him a pussy for saying something like that, but not anymore. Now I got it. Everything was about her—Penny. I’d walk to the ends of the earth to keep her safe, to make her smile, to help her sleep a little easier at night. It killed me to stay away from her, to give her the space she needed to find out who she was and to grow into that woman.
But I wanted it for her.
She needed it.
And more than anything else, she deserved it.
~ 33 ~
Penny
I dug the spoon into the ice cream and crammed it into my mouth while I stared down at my notes. The nursing course was hard, much harder than the crappy online course I’d been taking when I was a Viper, but I was getting through it, slowly. Ice cream definitely helped.
A heavy knock came at the door and I looked up sharply. I placed the carton and spoon down and headed toward it, a hundred names passing through my head as to who it could be. Charlie had a key and always let herself in, and Battle and Quinn had dropped by a couple of times but Quinn always called my name when she knocked.
I stood on my tiptoes and looked through the peephole, seeing Fighter standing there with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His shoulders were back and his chin high, uncaring of the scars my daddy had given him. He looked beautiful and fierce, his black eyes finding me automatically.
I looked around the apartment, seeing the mess of it and feeling embarrassed. Then my gaze went to myself and I felt even worse. An hour earlier I had been dressed and had a full face of makeup on. But I’d gotten home, taken a shower, and thrown on some sweats to study. And now there I was, about to see Fighter for the first time in months and looking like crap.
I unlocked the door and swung it open and he looked at me with those black eyes of his that were so empty and so full all at the same time.
“Hey,” he said casually, like it wasn’t the first time he’d been to my apartment—an apartment which he’d paid for and furnished.
“Hey,” I replied with a small smile, the butterflies in my stomach going crazy.
I’d missed Fighter every day since he’d left me at Charlie’s house with his credit card and an order to spend as much of his money as I needed to. I’d barely spent a dollar that first week, but once I’d started to heal, Charlie had taken me under her wing and taken me shopping—first for small things like a new purse or makeup, and then for bigger things like an apartment and the home comforts to furnish it. I hadn’t wanted to go back to my old apartment since I’d left my daddy and the Vipers. I’d barely collected a suitcase full of things from it before locking the door and walking away from that life.
I was still the feisty woman I had always been, but I was also discovering a new side to myself—one that wasn’t hidden from her father. One that wasn’t controlled by him either. I dressed differently, I spoke differently. Even the music I listened to was different. Because now I had nothing to fear. Now I was free. Thanks to Fighter.
“Are you coming in?” I asked, holding the door open for him and stepping to one side.
He looked uncertain, his eyes looking around me before he nodded. “Sure.”
“Drink?” I asked, and he nodded again, his dark eyes taking in every inch of the apartment. The vases filled with daisies on the window ledge, the books stacked on the shelving unit, the pillows and throws on the sofa. He’d paid for it all, but it was all mine.
