“No welcome home?” I asked with a sassy bite to my tone.
“Welcome home, Flick.” His tone was bored, his eyes full of loathing, but there was something else in there as well. Something I couldn’t put my finger on. Surely it wasn’t relief?
Hawk relieved that I was home? Yeah, I doubted it.
“Gee, thanks. If I’d known I was going to be welcomed so warmly I would have done it months ago,” I snapped at him.
His jaw clenched and he started to say something but Gracie slapped him firmly on the chest. “Be nice,” she murmured softly.
“I’m nice, baby. She’s just a bitch.”
I couldn’t keep from flinching and I gritted my teeth. Having Hawk call me names was something I figured I’d have to get used to.
“Don’t,” Jet commanded in a tone that everyone seemed to take heed of. “Flick’s home and you’re going to respect her. Call her that again and I’ll make sure that you don’t use your mouth again for a few weeks.”
Hawk stood with Gracie still in his arms and slowly set her on her feet. I heard the other woman telling him to ‘play nice’ before she stepped away from him. Hawk turned to face me. “I’m sorry, Flick. Welcome home. Will you be staying long or do you plan on leaving in the middle of the night without a trace again?”
I shrugged. “I’m here as long as Jet says I am. If you think I came back willingly, think again. I don’t want to be here.” My reply was honest and I didn’t regret it until I saw the look on Raven’s face. She looked hurt and that had guilt churning in my gut, but it also set flame to my anger.
What did she expect? What did any of them expect? It had felt like no one—not one damn one of them—had cared if I was around or not. I wasn’t the kind of female to beg for attention from anyone. I’d left because I’d needed to for my own sanity and wellbeing.
From the couch, Bash pushed to his feet and stepped toward me. His electric blue eyes were full of understanding. I lowered my eyes to Toby who sat contentedly at my feet. “It’s late. It’s been a long day for everyone. No one’s temper is stable when you’re tired. Get some rest and we’ll welcome Flick home in the morning like we should.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” I nodded and glanced at Colt. “Do you mind driving me to my mother’s house?”
“You’re not going to Marcie’s,” Jet said, quick to stop me. “You’re home, as in this house is home.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “You have got to be kidding me.” Seriously, he had to be. There was no way I was sleeping under the same roof with him. “That’s not happening. I came back with you, be thankful for that much. There is no way I’m sharing a roof with you. I can barely stand to share the same air with you, let alone a house.”
His eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to me. Feeling my sudden tension, Toby stood and growled at the big man. Jet ignored the dog. “You will be staying here, Flick. In this house. In my room. In my bed. There will be no negotiation, no compromise. This is where you belong and it’s where you’re going to fucking stay. Don’t like it, too damn bad.”
“You can’t make me stay here,” I shot at him, practically shaking with the anger making my blood boil. “I’m not some prisoner, Jet. You told me I had to come back with you. Not once did you mention that I had to live with you.”
“If I had would that have changed your mind? Knowing you would have to share the same house with me, the same bed, would you have walked away and risked me telling the world what I’ve done for you?” He had the gall to grin when I remained quiet. He knew fucking good and well that it wouldn’t have changed anything. I wouldn’t have risked Emmie. If he’d said he wanted me to join the circus as a freaking trapeze artist, I would have complied.
“Didn’t think so,” he said with a smirk.
“I hate you.”
The smirk disappeared and his jaw tightened. “That’s okay. I hate me too.”
It looked like I was stuck there. I clenched my hands into fists and glared at him with all the hate that was burning through my chest. “Fine. I’ll sleep in your bed. You can take the couch. No negotiation. No compromise.” I pushed past him. “If you step foot in that room, I’ll scream this place down. Pretty sure you don’t want me waking up the kids.” I started up the stairs.
“Flick…” I paused on the second step at Raven’s voice and glanced back at her. She looked as if she were at a loss for words for a moment and then she blew out a long breath through her nose. “I’m glad you’re home. I really have missed you.”
“I missed you too, Rave.”
Chapter Five
Jet
Max’s squalling woke me the next morning. I grunted and turned onto my stomach, pulling the pillow I’d gotten out of the linen closet over my head. I’d had to sleep on the couch the night before. Flick hadn’t been kidding about putting me there. When I’d tried to go into my bedroom, the door had been locked.
I could have broken the door down but didn’t want to chance waking Lexa and Max. Raven would have done a lot more damage to me than Flick would have and it was for that reason alone that I’d camped out in the living room rather than try my luck with my own bed.
My nephew was really letting the world know just how strong his lungs were this morning. My pillow was doing nothing to block out his screams. Grumbling, I threw my pillow across the room in my frustration and tossed back the covers. Scrubbing a hand over the day-old scruff on my face, I groggily entered the kitchen where Raven was already making breakfast while her eight-month-old son screamed the house down, as always wanting nothing more than his mother’s attention.
I glared at the kid as I dropped down into the chair next to his highchair. “I don’t know who you get that temper from, boy, but I’m gonna beat it out of you if you ever patch into the Club.”
“How’re you planning on doing that when you claim you’re out of the Club?” Raven sassed at me from the stove where she was flipping pancakes.
I grimaced. She was right. I hadn’t returned to the Club after I’d gotten out of prison. So far, I’d kept my promise to Flick and stayed out of the MC’s business, knowing that if I had to choose, I would pick her over anything this time around. Didn’t mean I didn’t miss it, though. The Club had been a part of me for my entire life. I’d patched in at eighteen after prospecting for more than a year. It had been my entire life, the only thing I knew. But it was the Club that had gotten between Flick and me and I wasn’t going to let that shit happen again.
“Shut up, Rave.” The thing about being so close to my baby sister was that she saw way too much. Things I didn’t want her to see. Like how hard it was to continue keeping my promise when things had been so difficult for the Club over the last year. I knew she didn’t want me to stay out of the Club, but getting Flick back was more important to me than anything. Including my MC.
Senator Samson might have backed off—for the most part—but I still felt a little uneasy about how quiet things had been from the senator’s corner. I’d seen the look in that fucker’s eyes before he’d agreed to back off. He wasn’t convinced that the Angel’s Halo MC hadn’t killed his son. Kevin Samson had gotten off easy if you asked me. He’d stupidly set fire to my family’s bar and in the process had caught himself afire too. He’d died from the burns but, if he hadn’t, I could have promised him a death ten times more painful than the one he’d met with.
Bash had done an exceptional job as the Club’s president during all of the senator’s bullshit. His calm had been one of the reasons I’d wanted him to step into my shoes while I was in prison. That still hadn’t made seeing what was going on in the Club easy to watch from the outside. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, the Club was part of my soul and I was struggling to stay away.
Raven set a plate of pancakes, bacon, and eggs in front of me. Dropping the warmed maple syrup beside my plate, she gave me a soft kiss on the cheek before returning to the stove. “So…what exactly did you use against Flick to get her to come back with you?”
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I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth. I could have told Raven what I’d done and knew that she wouldn’t have told a soul, not even Bash if I asked her not to, but I didn’t want my sister dragged into the drama that was Flick’s and mine alone. Well, I guess Hawk’s too, but it wasn’t like the Club’s new VP was going to say shit about it. I was pretty sure that Gracie didn’t even know what Hawk had come to tell me when I’d still been in prison.
“It’s nothing,” I muttered before shoving the forkful of eggs and pancakes into my mouth.
“That bad, huh?”
I shrugged and continued to eat my breakfast, trying—unsuccessfully—to block out Max’s temper tantrum as he kicked his legs and stretched his arms toward his mother while screaming at the top of his lungs.
The back door opened without a knock and Matt Reid walked in with a glower on his face. “Listen, little dude,” Matt grumbled as he crouched down beside Max. “I can hear you all the way across the driveway in my house. I can hear you in my room. My room, kid. That should be impossible. Stop being such a momma’s boy. Man up.”
Max didn’t seem to care what Matt thought of his crying and only screamed louder. Raven kicked at Matt’s legs as he stood and walked around the table to take his usual spot on the mornings he joined us for breakfast. Lately that wasn’t nearly as often. Something was up with Matt, but I couldn’t bring myself to give two fucks what it was. I’d been too caught up in missing Flick. “Leave my son alone, Matt. He can be a momma’s boy all he wants. You fuckers can start turning him into a biker as soon as he’s able to ride. Until then, leave him alone.” She bent and brushed a kiss over her son’s forehead, which appeased him.
For about a minute.
The screaming started again. Knowing I would be no help to the little guy, I lifted my mug of scalding hot coffee and took a long swallow, letting the heat burn my throat and sit warm in my belly. I figured a full pot of this shit would help me through the rest of the day.
“Good gracious.” A female grumble came from the door that led into the living room and my head snapped up to see Flick groggily enter the kitchen.
Her hair was sexily rumpled from sleep. She pushed a few wild strands back from her face, making her all the more delectable to my eyes. Her eyes looked slightly puffy, making me wonder if she’d cried herself to sleep. That thought had the coffee sitting a little too hard in my stomach and I pushed my half-eaten breakfast away.
My eyes weren’t the only ones drawn to the breathtaking goddess. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Matt’s head snap up and I shot him a killer glare that he ignored. It was Max’s reaction to her, though, that had us all glad to see Flick. He shut up as she walked toward him, his big blue eyes seeming to take in every inch of her.
Flick avoided my side of the table as she went around to Max and crouched down beside him. She offered the eight-month-old her hand and he latched on to her finger like it was a lifeline. “What’s all the fuss about, little guy? Are you Momma’s alarm clock or something? I’m pretty sure you woke up the entire house, maybe even the whole neighborhood.”
“Kid’s a momma’s boy, Flick,” Matt informed her with a grin. “Raven is letting him call the shots around here these days.”
Flick shot him a quick grin in return. “If you looked this cute, I’m sure she would let you call a few of them too.” She turned her attention back to the baby. “Right, Max? Tell the mean old biker. Say, ‘I’m cuter than you, dude. Deal with it.’”
Max’s mouth opened and he grunted, as if he were trying to say just that, making Flick and Raven both laugh. Carefully, Flick tugged her hand free and stood. She was just starting to take her seat when Max opened his mouth and started screaming again.
She lifted a brow at my nephew. “What’s the matter, buddy? Wanna play?” She held her hands out to him and he lifted his arms, wanting her to hold him. Smart kid. Shaking her head, she lifted him from his highchair and sat at the table with him on her lap, facing her. “What’s he like to play, Rave? Peek-a-boo? Patty-cake?”
“He likes to play what all bikers like to play,” Raven assured her with a laugh just as Max grabbed for Flick’s tits. I felt the grin tug at my lips. Looked like Max was more like me than I’d realized. He looked so much like his father that I’d begun wondering when or even if he would inherit anything from his uncles. As soon as I saw the baby grab on to the one part of Flick I’d always found a way to grab on to in the past, I knew he was going to be hell on wheels when he got older. “He’s a lot like his daddy in more than just looks.”
“Whoa there, little man.” Flick untangled Max’s chubby little fists from her shirt and held on to each one as she put her face in his. “Those are mine, not yours. The only boob-action you’re going to get is from your momma when she feeds you.” She rubbed her nose against his, making him giggle. “Be good or I’m gonna put you back in your little prison and let your uncles deal with the hellacious noise that comes out of your mouth.”
Watching Flick with Max made something tighten in my chest. Was this what it would have been like if our baby had lived? Max looked so much like Bash that I knew that I couldn’t possibly have imagined him as a stand-in, but the way Flick acted with my nephew had me wondering if this was what she would have been like as a mom. Would we be sitting there with our son or daughter cuddling against her, giggling happily up at Flick? Would we have fixed what I’d broken between us by now? Would her stomach be rounded with another kid?
“He’s not that bad,” Raven said with a pout, pulling me out of my painful musings.
“Yes, he is,” I assured her.
“Yup. It makes my ears bleed,” Matt agreed.
Raven picked up a biscuit and threw it at Matt’s head. He caught it at the last second and took a hungry bite of it. “Thanks, Rave.”
“Holy shit. It’s quiet in here for a change.” Colt laughed as he came in using the back door.
When had he left? More to the point, I couldn’t help wondering where he had gone. I knew he hadn’t been spending time at the clubhouse. Raider had commented on that a few days ago, making me wonder where my baby brother was spending all his free time.
“Don’t you start too,” Raven grumbled as she turned back to the food she was still cooking. “You and anyone else who opens their mouths about Max will get no food from me this morning.”
“Ah, Rave.” Colt gave her a one-armed hug even as he was stealing a piece of bacon. “You know I love the little guy. I was just commenting on how sane it seems in here this morning.”
She let out a tired sigh. “That’s all thanks to Flick. She’s keeping him entertained.”
My little brother’s eyes went straight to Flick who was talking softly to Max. The baby’s blue gaze was entranced as he looked up at her. “I knew she would fix this place. It hasn’t felt the same without her around, you know?”
I saw the way Flick reacted to his words, but she pretended not to hear Colt. I chanced a glance at the stove, saw the sad look in Raven’s eyes and glanced back at Flick. My sister was in complete agreement with our brother and I had to admit, so was I.
Before long the kitchen was full of my other siblings. Bash was the last to come downstairs, with Gracie just a few steps in front of him. She had her briefcase in one hand and her hair was a wild mess that she was trying to fix with her free hand. “I’m late,” she cried as she dropped the briefcase Hawk had given her from Christmas.
She’d loved the present, but she had no clue that it had been more of a safety net for my possessive brother than anything else. It had a tiny tracking device in the bottom of the case. Hawk had asked me for my opinion on the thing and I’d told him that it was a good idea.
As long as Gracie didn’t find out about it, that is. She was all about having her own independence. She hadn’t wanted him to pay for her law school, so he—along with Bash and Uncle Jack—had gotten the Club’s lawyer to sponsor her. In other words, they were paying him to pay her and had started an account speci
fically for her tuition. If she ever found out about it, I pitied my brother. Hawk was going to have a lot to be sorry for if she did find out. Not that I wouldn’t have done the same.
“Here, at least take this to go.” Raven handed her a biscuit that had some bacon on it. “I’ll bring you some lunch later if you want.”
“I’ll do it,” Hawk told them and wrapped his arms around Gracie’s little waist before dropping his head to brush his lips over hers. “Drive safe. Jenkins can suck it if he get’s upset you’re a few minutes late.”
“I’m already an hour late, Hawk.” She pulled away and ran her fingers through her hair yet again. “Stop keeping me up all night,” she mumbled with a blush.
Hawk laughed. “I’m not going to promise anything, babe.” Another smack of his lips on hers and Gracie was practically running out the door.
Flick had been watching the two. When the back door shut behind Gracie, and Hawk’s old car purred to life in the driveway, Flick glanced over at Colt. “She works for Jenkins?”
“Yup.”
“But…” She broke off, shaking her head. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
“Damn right it isn’t,” Hawk growled from across the table.
I kicked at his chair. “Cool it.”
Hawk shot me a glare before turning his eyes on Flick. “Yes, Gracie works for Jenkins. She’s his protégée, he’s her mentor. When she passes the bar she’s going to take over his practice.”
“So who’s paying for that? You forget that I know Jenkins, Hawk. He doesn’t have a generous bone in his body. So who’s paying for it? You or the Club?”
“Me.” He answered with a frosty bite to his tone that I wanted to punch him in the face for using with my female. Whatever his past feelings for Flick, he needed to bury that shit, and fast. I wasn’t going to have Flick feeling unwanted by anyone, especially Hawk.