Page 109 of His Old Lady

Chapter 39

Curley

Priest stood in theback room of Promise. Curley closed the door. It was the first chance he'd had to talk about telling Faye the truth behind her uncle's incarceration.

"She knows." He kept his hand on the door, aware that if the information got out to the wrong person, more lives than his would go down for the crimes.

"What is she going to do?" Priest looked at him, not even questioning what they were talking about or why he'd break club code and drag his old lady into something that only belonged within Tarkio.

This crime. This business. It involved Faye, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. He believed she was better off knowing.

He loved her. And he had to give her the option to walk away from him if that's what she wanted.

"I don't know." He looked toward the other room, even though he couldn't see Faye working the tables on her first day back to work. "She's...calm. I keep expecting her to blow up and let me know what she thinks about me now, but she hasn't done anything. She also isn't talking much. It's like she's gone from the shock of Cal's death, straight to protecting herself from the ramifications of what I confessed."

"I've been there." Priest exhaled harshly. "If it was Nicole, I probably would've told her. This is a hard life. We keep most of what we do away from those we love the most, for their own good, but living a lie can wear on a person."

Curley met his gaze. "I'm tired, Prez."

"You'll do what you need to do to protect the club."

He understood what Priest was telling him. He'd said the same thing to many of the Tarkio members at their breaking point.

He also knew he wouldn't allow Faye to go to the authorities or let the information slip to anyone else. Knowing that he was responsible for what she decided to do burned a hole in his stomach. It was the reason why he'd sworn never to tell her.

The personal war between club and love viciously played out, and he was a casualty.

"Why don't you take her home." Priest crossed his arms. "Faye needs you, not the bar or her friends."

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's probably for the best if she's away from here."

In the main room, halfway to Faye, Paco stopped him. "Walker called the clubhouse and wants to know what the fuck is going on?"

"Have him talk to Priest." He pushed past Paco and caught Faye as she was heading toward the customers.

The hell if he was going to allow her to discuss what he'd told her with Walker before talking to him about how she was feeling.

"We're going home." He ushered her toward the back to grab her purse.

She put her feet down, refusing to move. "I'm staying. I want to work."

"No. You're not." He pulled her until she had no other option than to walk with him. "Hurry and get your stuff."

She rounded on him in the back room. "So, you're still making decisions that affect my life?"

Verbally slapped, he glared. "You've got two minutes to get outside and be ready to ride."

Leaving her to follow through, he walked out the back door. He'd had enough of her silence at home, and he had enough of her mouth right now. They were going to settle things tonight.

He wanted to see her expressing herself through her eyes. Laughing with a burst of amusement at his stubbornness. Coming undone, wild and untamed, underneath him. Damnit, he wanted something more from her that would tell him he hadn't fucked up.

She came out of the bar ten minutes later. He bet she stalled to piss him off.

Starting the engine, he sat the bike as she climbed on behind him. She shoved her purse into his back and wrapped her arms around him. It was at the forefront of his mind to rip the purse off her and toss it to the side, but he would give her the poke toward him if it meant she sat the bike for the mile it took to get home.

He parked in the driveway. She refused to get off.

Hauling his ass off the Harley, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He ignored her screams. There were no neighbors close enough to hear her. If she wanted to shout to the world how much she hated him, she might as well get it out of her system.

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