Page 64 of Dagger

“What’s with the ring?” Breaker questioned.

Pain stabbed through my heart again, but I breathed through it. “I gave it to Elise on her eighteenth birthday, the day I made her my ol’ lady. It represented everything we were.”

“Wait!” Bowie exclaimed. “This is a good thing, right?”

I lifted my eyes and watched the men return to their seats. “Huh?”

“She kept the ring, Pop,” he noted. “Kept it safe in her nightstand, next to her goddamned bed for thirty fuckin’ years. Those ain’t the actions of a woman who doesn’t give a shit.”

A grunt escaped Atlas’s throat.

“Son,” I said, ignoring my SAA’s glower. “I didn’t have her back. She doesn’t trust me, and rightly so. The night I slid that ring on her finger, I promised her one day I’d replace it with a diamond, told her I’d marry her and give her babies, and vowed we’d be together forever. Didn't keep my promises, Bo.”

Cash looked at me quizzically. “You say Elise is pissed at you?”

“Pissed is an understatement.” I deadpanned.

He studied me thoughtfully. “Maybe for once in his life, Bowie’s right.”

My forehead creased questioningly.

“Cara was so angry when I fucked her over, she couldn’t see straight,” he continued. “Years later, when we met up again at Bo’s weddin’, she was still raging at me. At the time, it was a nightmare; her anger was the main thing stopping her from givin’ me another chance, but I’ve realized since that Wildcat was angry because, underneath it all, she still loved me. It stands to reason Elise is pissed because she cares about you. If she didn’t, she’d get the fuck over it easily and just be—well—indifferent.”

“Believe me, Pop,” Bowie interrupted. “You’d know if your woman didn’t give a fuck. You said yourself that even when she acted ice cold, you could sense her anger simmeringunderneath.” He looked between the men, “Speaks volumes. She’s waited years for you to go claim her, but you never did, even after you and Mom got divorced. Abe told us you and Elise had a lotta love between ya and a lotta passion, too. He said back in the day, you touched her constantly. Everybody else felt like outsiders because nobody else existed when you two were together.”

Cash turned to me, and his head cocked. “Will ya do me a favor, Pop?”

My head reared back slightly. “What?”

His lips twitched. “First time you get back inside, take it somewhere outta the way. From what Abe just implied, everybody within a three-mile radius will feel the goddamned earth move the first time you two get it on.” His lip twitch split into a grin. “We’ve got kids to think of.”

A weird noise escaped Atlas’s throat, and his face paled. “That’s my mother-in-law you’re talkin’ about.”

Abe let out a hoot.

“You’re a dirty little bastard,” I accused.

The men began to laugh.

“Jesus,” I muttered. “You must get it from your mother’s side.”

Cash grinned at me before leaning forward and shooting me a conspiratorial wink. “Don’t like seein’ ya feeling so helpless, Dad. You and Elise will sort it. If me and Cara can make it after the shit I did, anyone can.” His expression softened. “You good now?”

As I stared at my boy, something hit me.

Not two minutes before, I’d been close to dropping to my knees and weeping like a baby. Now, I felt better, thanks to my eldest yanking my chain. He’d done it deliberately to get my head back in the game.

It made me realize how far my eldest had come.

Two years ago, he was fresh outta the slammer and carried a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. He’d always felt he had something to prove—another legacy my shithead of a dad left—but with a fuck load of therapy, the love of a good woman, and the birth of his boy, he had sorted his noggin out. He’d taken responsibility for his shortcomings and was a better man for it.”

Cash couldn’t have made me prouder.

I shot him a look of gratitude. “Yeah, I’m better. Thanks, Son.”

He dipped his chin sagely.

“Right,” Atlas boomed. “Now we’ve got all that nasty business outta the way, let’s talk about the most important thing on the agenda.” He shifted to face Breaker and rubbed his hands together gleefully. “Kitty cat’s bachelor party.”

---