Page 41 of His Old Lady

Chapter 14

Curley

Priest walked out ontothe deck at his house. Curley stayed at the railing. He couldn't see anything below in the valley. Darkness coated the side of the mountain where his president had built his home.

The hiss of a beer opening stopped the frogs from croaking. "Are you sure you don't want a beer?"

"No." His chest remained tight. "My head is already fucked up."

Priest joined him at the railing. "What's going on?"

"Faye."

They'd talked many times over the years. Priest was the only one who knew the truth. Any time one of the Tarkio members got arrested, it was felt throughout the club. But Curley's part in the crime pinned on Walker made him the one responsible, and it was hard to live with the outcome.

"She went to the prison and made a deal with Walker. Her freedom in exchange for giving up her job at Kingston Bar." His jaw ached, knowing one day he would give her credit for finding the right angle to get rid of him. But for now, it hurt. "I'm not letting her go."

Priest passed a joint to Curley. "I don't say this lightly, but maybe it's time to call it quits. It's not like she was ever your woman in a real sense. You’ve kept her at arm's length and never brought her into your life. Walker has had all the time in the world to think about what happened. His views could've changed over the years. Tell him you're walking away and then go in front of the club and make the announcement. If Walker has a problem with that, he'll let me know, and we'll take it to the table, and you can plead your case in front of the officers."

There were strict rules within Tarkio about messing with family members. To fuck a brother's wife, daughter, niece, without permission would take the patch from his vest or worst. It was a vital law within the club, and the only way a Tarkio member could protect their family in a lifestyle where someone could shoot you in the back without breaking a sweat.

"I can't let her go." He gritted his teeth. "How can I?"

"She's suffering, too," said Priest.

He hung his head. No one needed to tell him that he had made the situation worse for Faye. He agonized over her every day, knowing what he'd done. Knowing what she wanted. Knowing he couldn't be the man for her.

And yet, in the back of his mind, he had the knowledge that what he was doing by keeping them apart was for her own good. What he thought was good made her feel rejected and unloved. It was something he couldn't change.

He sniffed and straightened. "Maybe I'll tell her the truth," he whispered.

The reason why Walker had been sent to prison had never gone beyond him and Priest. Far as he knew, Walker planned to take what happened to his grave. Some days, he wanted to tell Faye so fucking bad, he was willing to throw everything away—his club, his life, her.

But he always stopped. His loyalty to Tarkio ran deep in his blood.

"You can't tell her," said Priest, reminding him of the oath he'd sworn to the night he'd earned his patch.

Taking another hit off the joint Tarkio produced themselves, he handed the smoke back to his president. He waited for the right thing to do concerning Faye to become clear in his head, but he'd never lived his life doing the right thing.

Other men could rely on honor, loyalty, and pride to make their decisions. He acted on his gut to keep his ass out of trouble. He'd claimed Faye to keep the club from killing him for fucking with a member's family member without permission.

It was do or die.

Even if years had gone by and the initial reaction of him sleeping with an underaged Faye had softened Walker, he wasn't willing to let her go. He wanted her more than he wanted to be V.P. of Tarkio. Nobody would understand his position because the club was his life.

There was no way to clear up both of his problems. He had walker on one side and Faye on the other and damned if he felt like they were splitting him apart.

"She's your woman. Take what's rightly yours."

"Because, as it is, she hates me for how I treated her, but I can still take care of her when she's hating me, which at least lets me do something for her." His head pounded. "If I give her what she wants. Hell, what I want, and in five years or twenty years—if I'm still alive—and the truth comes out about Walker, it'll destroy her. Nothing between now and then will mean a damn thing. I'd rather cut out my heart."

"Curley..."

He looked at Priest. "If she finds out I was with Walker the night two Cusclan members were killed, and I should be the one sitting in prison instead of her uncle, she's not only going to go through life hating the sight of me, she's going to hate herself for loving me. I won't let that happen."

"You think she loves you?"

He straightened. "I know."

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