“Sorry. Are you okay?”
I look up, narrowing my eyes at Ridge.
“Haven’t you hurt me enough?” I snap at him.
He winces. “I never wanted to hurt you. Mustang didn’t either. He only wanted you to be cared for.”
“I don’t need anyone caring for me. I don’t need his inheritance. I don’t need any of it. I just want to leave and never see this place again,” I spit at him.
He bows his head. “Of course. If that is your wish, then that’s what will happen.”
“You’re not going to try to convince me to marry you so you can get that stupid bike you have always coveted?” I let venom seep into my words.
It’s the truth, though. He spent hours with my dad rebuilding that bike. He loved it as much as my father did. I wasn’t surprised that Dad left it to him, only that he locked his golden boy into the same hell as me.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want to do. Do I want the bike? Yeah. It has a lot of sentimental value for me, but not at the cost of you. It wouldn’t be worth it. I will let the lawyer know that we will not marry and to proceed however he sees fit. Take care of yourself, Rain.”
The melancholy look on his face has the guilt from before coming back with a vengeance. Why should I feel guilty? He was my father. He fucked me over, and yet I feel bad for Ridge?
How the fuck is that right? Sighing, I head down the hall, but the feeling that I am making the wrong decision sits right there on the edge of my mind like a thought that won’t go away.
Ridge
Seeing Rain this morning was a sucker punch to the gut. I knew she wouldn’t like the stipulations that Mustang put forth, but I never thought she would feel so strongly about it. I can’t believe she is willing to give up everything. Not just the money, but her family home. That place holds so many positive memories for me, so I know that it’s triple-fold for her.
“Why are you sulking over here alone?” Wolf asks as he settles in next to me, Yak taking the other side.
“I still can’t believe he is gone,” I admit.
They nod solemnly.
“He was a good man. I only knew him a little while, and he was already sick by that point, but he always had a joke. He loved to make people laugh,” Wolf reminisces.
“He was always good to us prospects too,” Yak adds. “Even when we were getting the shittiest duties, Mustang would always come do something fun with us.”
I smile. “He started that after me. He took me in as his own and realized that if he gave the prospects a taste of what the life was really like outside of all the hazing, they were more likely to stay. He became an ambassador of sorts.”
“It’s a shame the new prospects won’t have that.”
I frown. It really is a shame. Or I could continue his legacy.
“Maybe I’ll take the two newbies out next week. Show them a little of the life,” I murmur.
“I think that is a great idea.” Wolf nods to me.
“Onto the real reason we are here…are you going to marry her?” Yak asks.
“Jesus fuck, Yak. Have some class. The man might not want to talk about it,” Wolf hisses at him.
“He needs to talk to someone. I can understand why he wouldn’t want to talk to Panther or Eagle. That’s why he has us,” Yak throws back at him.
“Maybe he doesn’t even like us. Did you consider that? Shit, I don’t know why I like you. You’re like a gnat that won’t go away.” Wolf huffs.
Yak blows him a kiss before looking back at me. “I knew you loved me. Back to the question. Are you going to marry her?”
I shake my head. “I asked her again this morning, and she said she has no desire to marry me.”
“Could she marry someone else?” Wolf asks.
