Page 38 of Broken By It

I twist a bit in order to face her on the couch and she does the same. “It probably sounds crazy, but Maritza, there is something about knowing you are here, my son is here, and I can keep you both safe. Things changed for me in Florida. The reality that I care in ways I knew but pushed down are feelings I won’t deny anymore.”

She reaches out and puts her hand on my knee. I drop my hand to lace our fingers together.

“I don’t know how to do this,” she tells me honestly. “I haven’t had a serious relationship since high school, and Dillon you have a son, this has to be something neither of us take lightly for him.”

“I don’t take anything about family lightly. My mother left me at my aunt and uncle’s house before I even started kindergarten. You have more time as a role model for my son than I ever even spent with my own mother. It gave me a distorted view on love and family for a long time. I’m older now and I know what I want is a family with you. I don’t want to push. I want to take thingsslow and do this the right way because it would kill me to fuck this up.”

We sit together, facing each other on my couch, her head rests on the back of the couch, while I hold mine in my right hand. My left hand is interlaced with her right hand on my thigh as we don’t speak but embrace the moment.

“Dillon, I’m a mess inside,” she whispers.

“Baby, I dropped my entire shit homelife on you ten years ago and you haven’t once given a second thought to stepping in for me. Nothing about you can ever turn me off or away.”

I lean over and press my lips to her forehead before quietly muttering, “you get what you give in this life. You gave me unconditional love in a way I can see it, feel it, and embrace it. You have taught me stability simply by being you. I’m in this, Maritza for the long game.”

I shift releasing her hand but guiding her to lay draped over me on the couch. Holding her in the quiet of night soothes the part of me that has been on edge for far too many years. In time we are both relaxed together and asleep.

Morning comes all too soon as we wake up and get going. With a quick kiss, she takes Hollis to school while I head out for a quick meeting before work.

The rideover I’m not nervous as I expected to be. However, sitting in his driveway right now, I can feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. After removing my helmet, I sit on my bike trying to think of the words to start the conversation. Apparently, I sit too long because the front door opens, and Ruby emerges locking eyes with me. He makes his way over as I climb off my bike.

“Karma, you alright brother?” He asks studying me, “Hollis? Maritza?”

“No problems, Ruby. Wanted to talk to you.”

He looks up to the sky like he is seeking some answer, “thought this shit would happen one day. Wasn’t ready for it ten years ago, not ready for it now.”

Oh fuck.

“Ruby, you know things have been chaotic to say the least. I’m not one to chit chat or drag something out.”

He laughs, “right now you are. Look man to man, the answer is no.”

I’m stunned. “Are you fuckin’ with me?”

He shakes his head.

“Ruby, I love her. I want to do this right by you and her. That’s why I’m here before taking things any further I wanted to talk to you.”

He reaches out putting a hand on my shoulder. His grip is firm but not painful. “She is my world, Karma. She made me a father first. Before Mariella, before RJ, there was Maritza. I watched her stretch her mother’s belly to come into this world a ball of energy. She has grown into a beautiful woman. She was a gift to me to be her father, and she’s a gift to the man she will marry.”

“I agree, she is a gift. There isn’t another woman like her.”

He squeezes my shoulder, “Karma, you reap what you sew. You’ve been in the club for years. You are a man I want at my back. You are loyal. And true to your name you deliver what goes around. You are the what comes around.”

“I want to give her a good life. Ruby, she is good and deserves the best, I want to give her that.”

He sighs, “you can’t.”

Anger builds, “why? Why am I not good enough for your daughter?”

“I never said you weren’t good enough. But you have baggage. Your problems almost got her killed.”

In an instant I see red, I turn grabbing his cut and bunching it in both hands. Face to face, I growl. “You think I don’t fuckin’ know that. But clue in, that shit ran deeper than just Anna. Having that moment where I didn’t know if I would have another moment with Maritza showed me exactly what I want in this life.” I shove him back releasing his cut, “her.”

He adjusts his cut shaking off my aggression. “Remember when you got those rockers?” he inquires, and I nod. “You said, this is everything. To have a family.”

“I did say that, and I meant it then and now. The Hellions are my family including you, brother.”

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