Page 31 of The Other Princess

“Holy shit,” Deck hissed, and I thought I heard a smacking sound before boots were echoing down the hall growing closer to me at a very fast pace. “Ever, wait,” he called out to me. I did not stop, and had gotten half way up the damn steps leading to my apartment door above before he finally caught up to me and grabbed hold of my upper arm, effectively throwing me off balance and spinning me to face him, while I wobbled on the step I nearly fell off of. “Please, hear me out,” he started.

“I don’t need to hear you out. My brother just told me everything I needed to know. I’m not trusted enough to know that you had somewhere else to be. That being the case you do not need to be here now.”

“Fuck!” This time it was hissed from my brother’s lips as he stood down below, looking up at Deck and me. “That’s not what I meant, Ever,” he stated solidly.

“Really? That’s exactly what you just told me. You were not allowed to contact anyone in case there were leaks. So, you thought I’d be responsible for a leak.”

“No, I never said that,” T-Bone argued.

“Did our father tell Mamma-Luce he’d be gone?”

“Of course he did,” my brother insisted vehemently without thinking out his too-quick response. I quirked an eyebrow up at him as if to say, ‘you weren’t worried about her spilling the beans then, just me’.

“I bet he said goodbye to Anna too,” I stated and while my brother didn’t answer I could see the guilt dripping from him in the slump of his shoulders and the pleading in his eyes.

“Ever,” Deck started, but I only shook my head.

“Did your father tell Tiger-Lily where he was going? Let me rephrase that. Did he tell her he was going on club business for a couple days and would be out of communication?”

Deck swallowed thickly, but nodded his affirmation. I tipped my head in agreement too, because I already knew the answers to these questions I asked. I knew, because I’d seen the old ladies of the club receive calls, or in person announcements before a run before.

“That’s different, and you know it. You’re no one’s old lady,” my brother argued. Deck winced, because he knew that was an implication thrown at him as much as at me.

“No, I’m not. I’m also no one’s sister or daughter right?” It was my brother’s turn to wince. “I am apparently someone whose time can be wasted without regret or consideration though.” I bowed my head, thinking things through. Then I lifted my eyes while looking down the stairs at my brother, once again ignoring the man who was still holding on to my arm. “I’ll hand you the transfers for the tattoos that still need to be done. You can take them to whomever you want to get them inked if you choose to, but I won’t be the one doing them.”

My brother sucked in a sharp breath before responding. “No! Ever, no! It has to be you. It’s meaningless without you putting it there.”

“My art, my pain, they’re meaningless?” He shook his head in a way that represented a very vehement no, but I pressed on. “Then you won’t be needing them at all. Please, see yourselves out of this building. You aren’t welcome here.” I turned, snatching my arm from Deck’s grip, which hurt because he hadn’t wanted to let go, and the movement forced it to happen.

“Damn it, Ever!” He yelled the words at me. “Stop being so freaking stubborn. This is my fault. You want to be mad, be mad at me. I wasn’t allowed to tell you, because I hadn’t claimed you. Your dad didn’t tell you, because he didn’t think you’d care. Your brother didn’t realize I didn’t break the damn rules to let you know. I’m sorry, okay? I screwed up. I told you that I would put you first, but I’m stuck between a rock and hard place here, because I can’t claim you into a club that you don’t want to be a part of. I was hoping you would change your mind once the tattoos were done, but there was nothing I could do before then, unless I wanted to bring trouble down on…”

I scoffed at that. “That’s bullshit, and we all know it. Your idiot brother has told every whore he’s ever bedded when, and most of the times where, he was going and he’s never suffered any consequences I’ve seen for doing so.”

“I think it should be obvious to you that I am not my brother, and my word means a fuck of a lot more to me.”

“So, you’d be surprised to know that Jay was the only one to let me know that he wouldn’t be able to get his tattoo yet, because HE was going on a run?” It was true. Jay had texted me, and so I thought he was the only one on that particular run. “When no one else showed up, I figured you were all together, but it didn’t make any sense that Jay could do me the courtesy of letting me know he wouldn’t be showing up when no one else bothered to do the same.” I moved up two more stairs, and turned to glance over my shoulder. “I meant what I said. You need to leave. I need time to cool off, because if we keep having this conversation it is not going to go in a good direction for anyone.” With that, I unlocked my door and walked through it, shutting them out, and relocking it behind myself.

~ Declan ~

I fucked up! I turned, and sat my ass on the steps to Ever’s apartment, planted my elbows on my thighs, my head to my hands and growled out some insane noise to release my frustration. I fucked up, and my douchebag of a brother made that even more apparent by actually doing the right thing for once. How had I let this happen?

“Every time I take a step forward with my sister I end up fumbling a full field back man. Shit, sad thing is, I can’t even blame her for feeling this way or for being fed up with all of our bullshit. Sucks to be you, because you get lumped with the rest of us so your mistakes are going to seem way bigger to her than they would any other woman.”

“Yeah,” I sighed out as I glanced down the steps at T-Bone. “I’m beginning to see that. I thought I would have a different slate to work off of than the rest of you, but wearing this,” I flicked two fingers at my kutte to show him exactly what I meant. “This rag is going to cost me that girl.”

“If that’s how you feel then you don’t deserve her,” T-Bone told me as he glared up at me from below.

“You saying I should toss our family aside for your sister?”

“I’m saying if you’re not willing to then you need to walk away and leave her be. She deserves more than a half-hearted attempt on your part. I’d never tell another brother to walk away from the club, from our families, for a woman. Not a single damn one. Ever is different though. With her you get all the baggage that our club and our families have packed on her back, and because of that, only a person willing to give it all up by putting her above everyone and everything else will ever have a chance at winning and keeping her heart.” He started walking away then, but turned back at the last minute to glare at me. “She’s also the only person on this earth I think is worth it, and I’ve already failed her, so you better believe I won’t stand by and watch someone else do the same. You’re held to a higher standard than the rest of us if you want to go there. You have to be better, even if that means taking that rag off and walking away from what you know.”

He was already through the door, heading back into the main studio area, before I could muster up a damn thing to say. T-Bone hadn’t told me anything I didn’t already know. I knew damn well I had to do better than my brothers, better than our fathers. I just hadn’t thought things through when my own father pointedly informed me that no one was to know that we were heading out. Now that I thought about it, he had also turned around and called my mother immediately after. Maybe he was testing me. The damn shame of it was I didn’t know whether I’d passed or failed in his eyes. I did know I’d failed where Ever was concerned though, and I wasn’t sure what to do about that.

“She hasn’t eaten all day,” a man’s voice called up to me a few minutes later. I turned my attention to the man in black that was lounging against the wall with one foot crossed over the other and his arms crossed over his chest like he had zero fucks to give the world. I wasn’t sure why Kane was trying to help me when he obviously wanted Ever for himself, but I was about to find out.

“Why are you telling me?”

“Well, I figure if you’re going to camp out on those steps you might as well do something productive with your time. The girl hasn’t eaten yet today, or much of anything over the past couple days from what I can tell. So, you either fix that shit, or I will, and if I have to do it, you won’t get another chance.”

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