Page 46 of Broken

Dirty knocked on Petal’s parents’ front door andwaited. He made sure to always wait until the other kids had gone to school andthere was no one around. The last thing he wanted was for Petal to find out hevisited her parents regularly.

Seconds passed, and then George, her father,opened the front door. Petal and George had named their eldest kids after them.It was annoying, but in his head, they were simply Petal’s mom and Petal’sfather, it made his life a lot easier.

“Dirty,” Petal’s father said. “Why don’t you comein?”

He stepped over the threshold, but like a fewtimes before, he didn’t go any further into the house. “Here, this is for you.”He pulled out a brown envelope and handed it to Petal’s father.

George held up his hands and shook his head. “Ican’t keep taking it.”

“I insist.”

Petal’s mother joined them with David on her hip.The two had really gotten their act together, and for that, Dirty was happy. Heknew Petal was happier around her parents, and she didn’t constantly feel likeshe had to take care of them.

“We don’t need your money to keep paying forPetal. We’ve told you this a thousand times,” Petal’s mother said.

Dirty sighed. “I know, but I also know that Petalhas a lot of dreams, and you know she’s not going to accept help from me. Thisis my way of helping.”

“Son, don’t you think it’s time you talked toPetal, let her know what’s going on?” George asked.

“No. She’s … moving on. She doesn’t need me.” Ithurt to say that. Last night had been one of the happiest nights of his life inthe past few months, because he got to finally hold his woman.

Petal was not his. At least not in the eyes of theworld, but she belonged to him. One day, he was going to make it up to her, buthe didn’t know when. Until that day, he was going to do everything he could tomake her dreams come true.

He knew she was looking at returning to school. Hewanted her to not be intimidated about the price. School cost money, and hedidn’t want her in any kind of debt. He had plenty of money saved up. More thanenough to help, which is why he also gave the money to Petal’s parents to helpthem.

Her father had gotten that promotion, but they hadalso been close to losing everything. Behind on rental payments and every billimaginable. With his help, that was no longer the case. He wanted to help wherehe could.

They were Petal’s parents, and against all odds,she still loved them, which was mind-boggling to him. They were not bad, evil,or cruel. Just neglectful and more interested in themselves than the childrenthey took care of, or at least that was how it looked.

Petal’s mother was finally seeking the help andsupport she needed. Her father was getting the recognition at work. Everythingwas falling into place. He wanted to help where he could, and Petal would nottake anything from him. He didn’t even need to ask her.

“We’ll take it and make sure she gets it,” Petal’smother said.

Dirty nodded his head. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“You could stay for breakfast if you’d like,”Petal’s father said.

He shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. Just make sureshe gets the money. I don’t want her to be worried about how much her educationcosts.”

“It’s time you told her,” Petal’s mother said.

Dirty went for the front door, opened it, and lethimself out. No, there was no time for Petal to find out he meddled.

He had fucked up, and this was the price he paidfor that kind of fuckup. Leaving Petal’s parents, he rode out to the clubhouse.He parked his bike and made his way inside to find half of the brothers layingaround. They clearly had a party last night. Dirty went straight to the backroom where he found Myth enjoying a coffee.

“You’re not passed out?” Dirty asked.

“I didn’t party. I stayed with Kim until Wardentook over.” He gave a yawn. “Then I came back here to find an orgy and decided togo to bed. I can’t be too tired with the Evil Fuckers lurking, can I? Kim’sgoing to be a target.”

“Do you think you should go to the diner?”

“I go where Kim wants to go. I don’t get a say inthe matter, but trust me, Dirty, I will do everything to keep Kim, Petal, andRosalie safe.”

“Has Warden organized more protection detail onthe diner yet?”

“He’s organized a few things, but as you can see,they’re not exactly in a rush.”

Dirty ran a hand down his face, and he turnedtoward the coffeepot, pouring himself a large mug of the stuff. He didn’t getany sleep last night because he didn’t want to miss a single moment of beingwith Petal.

---