Page 98 of Where We Promise

Wanda shook her head. “You need to get her out of Richland. The club is vicious…Luke wants her dead, in my gut, I know it. I need you to get her out of here, Jameson, promise me.”

My rigid heart fought against her wishes. Penny had made her choice in Luke and hadn’t wanted me. While I wanted her to be safe, I didn’t understand why I had to try and be her hero when she had rejected me.

“My club, Wanda…I have to?—”

“She’s your club now, Jameson. Her and the baby.”

My breathing strained, which had me ducking my face and shaking my head. Wanda didn’t understand that Pen didn’t want me. I would make sure she was safe, but then I’d leave her to figure out what she wanted. For all I knew she’d work things out with Luke.

Wanda must have sensed my hesitancy because she tugged my hand until my eyes were back on her.

“I lied to you, Jameson.”

My brows caved in as I tried to work out what she was talking about.

A tear slipped down her face. “That day you came with flowers and the letter…I told you I would give them to her…”

More tears slid down the side of her face. “I thought I was doing her a favor…I thought if she could just move on from you, be free from the eternal crush she had on you, you’d both finally be free. I never gave her the flowers or the note. She never knew that you were an option, Jameson and in hiding that, I ruined my daughter’s life.”

She hiccupped as a sob crept up her throat. Tears were falling thick and fast down her face as she confessed.

“Please don’t tell her, Jamie. She’ll never forgive me, not now that she’s going through all this from Luke. Now that she realizes her choice was so horrific. She won’t ever understand that I was trying to protect her.”

I was trying to process that Pen hadn’t known.

All the pain I had felt over the past few years…she never knew that I wanted her. That I asked her to be mine.

I shook my head, bending down to kiss the back of Wanda’s hand. “I should have tried again with her, Wanda. I was a coward. I waited years to muster up the courage to ask her to be mine, only to do it in a note.”

“You thought she was going to be here that day,” Wanda argued, her voice thick.

I smiled. “No, I don’t think I did…it’s why I wrote the note. I was afraid. I saw her with Luke and I should have just fought for her, but I was scared. This is not on you. I will take her and get her out of here. I promise you, Wanda. I promise I’ll find a safe place for her.”

“Find a safe place for me where?” Penelope appeared in the living room, her eyes searching the scene in front of her.

I wasn’t sure how much she had heard, but it seemed like she’d missed the rather big confession her mother had made.

“I’m not sure, but I’ll find somewhere for you, Pen.” I stood from Wanda’s side, inspecting Penelope.

She looked tired, exhausted really, and her small bump was barely noticeable especially under the heavy sweatshirt she was wearing. Her hair was in a low bun, her face bare with no makeup.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Jameson.”

“He’s promising me,” Wanda said, tilting her head to see her daughter. “Call it a dying woman’s wish. I need this, Penny. Let me have it.”

Penelope’s nose flared, but she didn’t say anything as she spun away and disappeared down the hall.

THIRTY-ONE

PENELOPE

I hadn’t realized what it would be like to see Jamie with Connor. I had never dreamed far enough to let myself imagine the way his eyes would crinkle when he smiled down at my son, or the way he would walk around the room, rocking him gently. I didn’t realize that Jameson holding Connor while shirtless, was such a fucking turn-on, and I certainly didn’t know that I had to wait six agonizing weeks before I had sex with him again.

“This is torture.” I groaned, holding the heating pad to my stomach.

Jamie had Connor in his arms, like usual. I had expected him to head over to the Chaos Kings, show off his new little rider, or to make another statement about loyalty, but he hadn’t. Jameson had stuck with me every single day since we arrived home from the hospital. Every night when Connor would wake up to feed, Jameson would turn on the television for me, so I wouldn’t fall asleep. Sometimes he’d talk to me about anything and everything.

He'd ask if I still picked wildflowers, and I realized I hadn’t even thought of making a wish because so many of them had come true. Nights when he’d flirt were the hardest because I couldn’t have sex. I couldn’t even masturbate without feeling pain. One night Jameson had let me watch him masturbate, and that was so agonizing that I ended up throwing a pillow at him.

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