Page 84 of Wife Number One

Because if cleaning up a place for Kara was my penance, then I should at least earn it.

I trudged through the woods, taking the leaf-littered path opposite the one I normally took when I came out here. This one led out to the old cabin War had once lived in, back before he’d become a pussy-whipped fool who couldn’t stop knocking up his woman. Though to be fair, that could have been any of Bliss’s partners. I wasn’t about to ask which kid belonged to which baby daddy. They both called war Dad, as would the new baby, I assumed, so it hardly mattered if they were biologically his or not.

The cabin had been a lot nicer when War had lived here. Now we only used it when we had a lone wolf roll into town who was brave enough to ask for somewhere to stay, or when Slayers’ members from other chapters came into town to talk business with me and War.

The business talk only ever lasted a few hours and the rest was filled with drinking, fucking, and partying. When they finally dragged themselves back onto their bikes, sometimes the next day, sometimes weeks later, the mess they left behind always pissed me off.

We never turned away other chapters. It was written into our laws that all the Slayers were brothers. But some of them were brothers I’d be happy to never have in my home because they were disgusting and thought nothing of leaving their shit everywhere for our prospects to clean up.

I stomped up the steps to the cabin, the wooden floorboards creaking underneath my weight. When the door swung open, I almost turned around and walked straight back out. If I hadn’t royally fucked up that morning with Kara, I absolutely would have.

The entire place reeked of stale piss, shit, body odor, moldy food. I gagged on the stench and then stormed around the main room as well as the bedroom and bathroom, opening up every window and letting some fresh air in.

I dry heaved over the mess in the bathroom, staring at it in horror.

I wasn’t a complete neat freak. But I wasn’t a twenty-year-old kid anymore, and my interest in medicine had led me down many a germ-and-bacteria rabbit hole. Once you’d learned some things, and worse, seen some photos, it made you want to keep things clean. How the fuck did fully grown men make a mess like this and then just get back on their bikes and ride on out the gates like it was no big deal?

“Pigs, the lot of you,” I said between rounds of gagging. I pulled a bandana out of my pocket that I usually used for keeping insects out of my mouth when I was on my bike, but now I prayed it would keep out some of the stench of this room.

The toilet had to be first. I squirted a bunch of cleaner in there, found the brush, and then got down on my knees to get to work.

A small gasp came from behind me.

I whipped around, only to come eye to eye with Hayley Jade. I squinted at her, peering behind her for an adult in tow but not finding anyone. “What are you doing down here, kid? Where’s your mom?”

She didn’t answer, but her face was screwed up.

I couldn’t blame her. I was sure mine was too. “Smells bad in here, huh?”

She nodded, covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve.

“Yeah, I agree. You should really probably go back up to the main house. This isn’t something a little girl like you needs to see.”

She didn’t say anything, just gazed around the cabin in interest.

“You come to check out your new digs? I know it doesn’t seem like much right now, but just give me a couple hours and I’ll have it so sweet you won’t even recognize the place.”

Hayley Jade cocked her head to one side, and this time when she screwed up her face, it wasn’t with disgust but with disbelief.

Jesus, why did no one think I was capable of doing something this basic? “Hey! I can clean! Why the hell does no one think I can clean?”

Hayley Jade didn’t respond, but she didn’t make a move to go back up to the clubhouse either.

I shrugged. “Fine. Stay. Whatever. No skin off my nose if you’re a sucker for punishment too. You want a job to do?”

She nodded her little blond head.

“Good for you, kid. At least you aren’t a lazy shit like the prospects are. They should have done this ages ago.” I realized what I’d said. “Oh, shit. I mean, sugar. Crap. Am I allowed to swear in front of you? Are you old enough for that?”

She didn’t answer.

“Yeah, probably not, right? You really don’t talk, do you?”

Still nothing.

I shrugged. “Okay, I can respect that. Fuck knows I talk enough for the both of us. Shit! I mean, fudge, not fuck. Fuck.” I sighed. “I give up. I swear a lot, kid. Sorry.”

To my surprise her lips twisted into a giggle.

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