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“And you blame me for that?”
Penny shakes her head, but I’m not sure if it’s at what Krista said or at herself. “And when you said no, I thought I had a chance. I thought he finally saw me. I gave him everything, but he still only wanted you.” Penny jabs her finger in Krista’s chest. “Not me. Not the one he tied down. He wanted you.”
“And look where that got me!” Krista screams so loud that a few birds that were sleeping in a tree take flight.
“Whatever.” My eyes go wide at the lackluster comeback from Penny. I expected more.
So did Krista from the way her eyes squint as she takes a step forward, tears all but forgotten. “Were you jealous of what happened? Of how my life turned out?”
Penny turns her head completely away, causing Krista to huff in a surprised way, but also with a sound that’s clearly her heart breaking.
“Seriously?” she whispers as tears stream down her face once more.
Penny looks back and shrugs.
Krista, being the strong woman that I’m learning she is, wipes her tears with another hard palm to the face. “Well, you got him, didn’t you? After me, though, right? That’s why you weren’t there when Blue was born. That’s why you wouldn’t let me touch you for weeks. You got yours, and what? He got bored with your sad, pathetic life and dropped you or something? And with no one else around, you thought, ‘Hey, maybe Krista would put up with me.’ Huh? Is that it?”
“You don’t know shit.”
“I know!” Krista shouts as she throws her arms up to the sky. “So tell me. Tell me all of it.”
Watching Krista practically beg her friend to tell her something reminds me too much of my relationship with Ruby. One of us always had a secret, but I never saw mine as something that would hurt her. I thought I was protecting her by not telling her who I was. I didn’t know her family. Didn’t know who the Hounds were to the Yakuza. I was protecting Ruby as much as I was protecting myself.
Similar to what it seems Penny was doing for Krista. But at what cost to Penny, I don’t know.
Penny shakes her head at her sister and starts her bike.
“Fine, be that way. Fuck you,” Krista shouts over the engine’s purr.
“Yeah, fuck you too, Krista,” Penny says in defeat as she grabs the handlebars.
Casper pulls his woman back a moment before Penny spins the bike and rides hard out the front gate. Gravel and dust fly up in the air, but all that remains standing is Casper. He’s already picked up his sobbing old lady in his arms and is carrying her back inside the clubhouse.
“What was that about?” Viv asks me, and I shrug. I know some things about the club, but not this. Clearly not this. No clue what happened in the backyard to get them into this fight, but it must have been major enough to only have Casper coming after his lady and not half the damn place.
Thank God for women’s drama.
It saved us from getting caught.
“We’ve got to get going if you want to still do this,” Viv says as she opens the driver’s door.
I get into the back of the SUV she and her man have been borrowing from the club since they flew in a day ago for the party. Covering myself with a dark blanket, I lie as flat as possible on the floor bed and barely breathe as the car starts and begins to move.
Only when she taps on me do I sit up and look out the back window, watching the clubhouse slip away as we drive.
“Okay, remember what I told you.” Viv parks at the back of the building and leans back to look at me. “Go inside and head to the left. When you see the rope, tell them Menace sent you and you’re here to see Lou.”
“Lou who?”
“Just Lou. Trust me.”
I nod because there isn’t anything else to do. I grab my bag and get out. A second after I shut the door, she pulls away, and it’s just me.
I take a steady breath, denying myself any kind of pep talk because I don’t have time for that, and make my way to the back door.
As expected, the place is busy, but I follow Viv’s instructions and get to a roped-off area with a guy standing guard. He doesn’t speak, barely looks at me.
“I’m here to see Lou.” His eyes cast down to me, as he’s a clear head taller than me. “Menace sent me.”
