Page 57 of Roam

Beth’s words had Sprite fighting a smile even when she was so mad she wanted to hit MacCuntzie.

“What do you want? You know you don’t care about Blake,” Sprite could see exactly when MacCuntzie figured out that her saying she wanted Blake wasn’t going to work.

“I want the money. Liam’s check deposited and then was removed from the account. The bank manager said Liam’s money would no longer be going in my account. I need money.”

Of course. It was all about what MacCuntzie wanted, not what Blake needed. Sprite had scrimped and saved to make sure Blake was taken care of and she was positive Blake’s freaking bio mom hadn’t missed a hair or nail appointment.

“The money’s dried up and you’ll need to take care of yourself,” Sprite said, then stopped when Remi, Beth and Winnie’s phones went off.

“Oh nice, well, it seems like we have some other options, Sprite. MacCuntzie failed to appear for her hearing. She has a warrant out for her arrest and Scoop said the car she is driving is listed as stolen. We can take her in and collect the bond. She’ll be going to jail for a long time. Or if you need to expend some ‘anger’ shall we say, she could have resisted us taking her in and get a little beat up in the ensuing altercation,” Remi offered.

“I just want her gone and never able to bother Blake. Jail sounds perfect, and if you all make some money off her, then great. You had the most beautiful child with the sweetest heart and you’re too selfish to see the amazing girl you and Liam had. I hope you rot in jail and become some big woman’s pet. Meanwhile, I’ll be living an amazing life with an amazing daughter.”

Sprite felt lighter getting that out. Regina’s arm slipped around her. “Well done! Locks texted Code Burke and that he’s sending someone to pick up the trash if you’ll have it packaged for him.”

Beth and Ellie had MacCuntzie’s arms in cuffs and had her removing her shoes to check her for hidden items. Ellie had opened the purse and whistled at what she found.

“Nice, this amount of drugs should give you another charge. We’ll stay out here if you all want to go reassure Blake and figure out how the zoo is getting to the compound. I am not holding a mini horse on my lap,” Beth said.

Sprite turned and went into the building where the girls were playing with puppies. She looked at the amazing girl that she and Roam would get to shepherd over the years and was so thankful. Sprite had never wanted to hit someone as much as she’d wanted to clock MacCuntzie in the face but if Blake ever asked if Sprite had hit her, Sprite wanted to be able to say no.

“Do I get to stay with you?” Blake asking while cuddling a puppy against her face.

Sprite bent down and slipped her arm around her daughter. “Of course. She just wanted us to know that she’d gotten in trouble with the law and she was sorry. She’s going to jail for a while.”

Blake put the puppy down and threw her arms around Sprite’s waist. “I love you, Mama Sprite. I’m glad I get to stay with you and Roam.”

“Me too. Now have you decided what you want?”

Blake nodded and smiled.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Roam kissed Sprite and held her against him just for a moment. Roam was frankly glad that Sprite had stayed home with a couple of the kids because they were under the weather. He’d brought leftovers but lunch had been a shitshow.

Cannon finding out Jesse was pregnant with possibly his baby had involved yelling and a lot of anger. The sisters had rallied around Jesse and taken her with them. Flick, Speedy and War had spent some time with Cannon this afternoon trying to calm him down and talk through what was going on.

Flick had suggested an evening ride. Roam didn’t really want to leave Sprite, but he also wanted to be there for his brother in this time. He had grown up with Jesse even though she was younger. She was a fantastic mechanic and an honorable woman. If she’d kept it from Cannon, Roam had to believe there was more going on than meets the eye.

He’d actually thought that they were heading into smooth sailing. Whiskey and his wife were back at their place after some upheaval. MacCuntzie, which is the only way Sprite referred to her now when they were alone, had opted for a plea bargain. With all the charges she’d ended up with due to her fighting and killing another woman being held at the jail with her, they wouldn’t have to worry about her being out before Blake graduated high school.

Sprite had opted to wait for a Christmas wedding as long as Liam could get leave. Roam was fine with that because she’d accepted his cut. He hadn’t done the big ceremony because they’d done everything so different from everyone else. He’d had a coffee waiting for her early this morning out on their porch. It had become their thing to stay up after Matthew’s early morning bottle. Honestly, it was one of the few times beside bedtime they could have alone. They alternated between the front porch or the additional screened-in back porch they’d added on for the bunny.

He'd waited until she’d had a couple sips of coffee, then taken her face in his hands and kissed her, putting everything he felt into that. He’d handed her the cut and helped her slide it on over her camisole and shorts. She’d straddled his lap and shown him exactly how much she appreciated being his woman.

When he’d got back from the clubhouse, he’d come out on the porch to think for a minute before he left tonight. Sprite walked out, pushed his chest back and straddled his lap. She leaned close and kissed him, her hand over his heart. He could feel the stress leaving his muscles. She pulled away and stared at him.

“So an evening ride? You think it will help him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe if we ride around for a little bit then we can stop and chat. I don’t anticipate us being longer than a couple of hours.”

Sprite nodded against him. “I’ll be here when you’re done. The kids and I are watching a movie after baths. My heart hurts for them. I can’t believe she was able to hide it for this long.”

Roam stood, saying a little thanks for his life. He wanted Cannon and Jesse to have what he and Sprite did.

He kissed Sprite goodbye and walked out to his bike and got on. Maybe the ride would help.

ROAM SLOWED HIS BIKE down and stopped. His heart was pounding. He couldn’t see where Cannon’s bike had gone. The truck had come out of nowhere, slamming into Cannon, then driving off.

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