Page 10 of Breaker

Momma goes to grab my hand, but I'm already out of reach.

"Quinny, please…" Dad pleads.

I raise my hand and continue walking, unwilling to give him the time of day. I head out to my car and climb in, feeling angry that they sprung this on me. Looking at the door, I see my dad standing there looking upset, but I can't. He has no right to make me feel guilty for not forgiving him when he ruined my childhood.

I pull away from the curb and head home without looking back, wondering if I should distance myself from Jack and Momma now, too.

3

Breaker – 29 Years Old

I shake my head as Poppy kicks up dust, speeding out of the club parking lot.

"And another one bites the dust…" I murmur to myself, linking my fingers behind my head. I met Poppy a month ago, and she seemed sweet and shy, or I thought she was. She's the fifth girl I've met and thought about dating, and every single one Noah has fucking hated.

Ally, a woman I met at Devil's Rose Bar about five months ago, her caught fire, honest to God, blew up in flames. Noah somehow managed to grab a candle and place it at the tip of her hair. Celine, last year, I dated for three months. Something was missing but I thought I'd give it a go. Introduced her to Noah, he threw paint in her face.

Every time I've brought a woman to meet him, it's been like that. Even if a woman stops me in the street and I have him, he does something to scare them away, and God help them if they have a drink in their hand.

My boy does not hold back.

This time around, I decided to bring her around after a few dates. I knew Noah would be with Crow and Momma, who has started to come to the club more since marrying Crow.

As for Poppy…I wish I had seen it coming, I really do, but I was mid telling Lola to stop talking shit about Momma when my boy, who has not long turned five and just started kindergarten a few weeks ago, and has gotten into coloring and cutting out his drawings for the fridge, had somehow cut off a big chunk of Poppy's light ginger hair. Before Noah’s makeover, her hair hit her mid-back.

I honestly didn't know what to do when she screamed in horror at Noah’s grinning face.

Fuck, I'm raising a hooligan, a little Devil in the making.

I feel a hand clamp on my shoulder, and I just shake my head, knowing it's Crow. "What the fuck just happened?"

He sighs. "That would be your son showing you he's not happy with who you've been choosing."

I looked at him and ask, "So what? I'm just supposed to sleep around and be alone."

His eyes soften, his hand tightening. "Nah, son. I think when you get that feeling, so will he."

"I just…fuck…. I feel bad, you know. I was so focused on the shit Lola kept saying about Momma being a fucking home wrecker that I didn't see him picking up the scissors," I rasp, and his eyes harden.

"This is what you're going to do…. You're going to go get your frustration out, whether that's by the gym or a woman or, fuck, women, I don't care. Noah will stay with us tonight, and I'll take him to school tomorrow, and you're going to avoid Lola. I'll be having words with her later. This pathetic shit stops. She never had a chance with you, and yes, she's my daughter, and I love her, but right now, the only home wrecker is her. She screwed a married man last week and broke up a fifteen-year marriage, and she keeps trying to ruin my marriage. She should be fucking happy that I found I love. She knows her mother used me."

I respectfully tilt my head at him, grateful that he's willing to stand by my mother this way, and he nods, patting my back, before heading back inside. I check the time and notice it's seven in the evening and decide—fuck it. I head inside and make eye contact with Suzy, who grins wide when I nod to my room, and she rushes that way before I make eye contact with Amber, Snake’s high school girlfriend. She rushes after Suzy before I look around the room. I scowl at Lola, whose heated, jealous eyes are on the women's disappearing figures. Turning toward the hallway, I notice Momma helping Noah get his coat on. Sighing, I head his way.

When he notices me, his eyes tear up, and I shake my head. I won't fall for it this time. I kneel.

"What you did was not okay, bud. You could have cut her."

He winces at my firm tone before whispering, "But she's not right, Daddy. Ms. Sanders is…."

I furrow my brow as my mother asks, "Your teacher, baby?"

He nods. I haven't met the woman yet, but my boy has taken a shine to her.

Snake pipes in and asks, "Is that Jack's little sister?"

Sniper comes into view and nods. "Yeah. He mentioned his sister was working at the school. I didn't know she was Noah's teacher, though."

I kiss Noah on the head and rasp, "What happened today cannot happen again, little man. Do you hear me?"

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