Page 27 of Arrow: Riding Rebels MC

“I got to go.” I popped up from my seat, holding the folder close to my chest, and my brother followed suit.

“Don’t do nothing stupid that’s going to leave us wide open.”

Boss grabbed my arm, and I snatched away from him, getting into his personal space.

“Man, stop acting like I don’t know how to handle myself! Back up off me.”

Boss’s eyes scanned mine, then he stepped back and smirked.

His reaction took some of the air out of my chest. I wasn’t afraid of him, but Boss was one of the few men that could go toe-to-toe with me. He put his hands up in mock surrender, and I scoffed. Turning on my heels, I left the bar and went to my truck. I had no idea what I was going to say to Cecilia when I saw her, but telling her about what happened to our mother was out of the question.

That was a wound I didn’t want to open until I was ready to divulge the trauma.

“Arrow?” Cecilia poked her head into the hallway that led to the front door from the kitchen.

She was covered in flour, and my chest tightened at a feeling that didn’t match the anger I felt only seconds ago.

“I thought you were eating pizza and wings.”

She shrugged and said, “That was the plan, but when it got late and you still weren’t here, I changed my mind.”

I walked toward her, and she had been rooted until I got close enough for us to breathe the same air.

Cecilia stepped back but hit the wall. I had her trapped, and my mind came up with several scenarios, yet none of them had anything to do with what I’d learned at the bar. I shook my head because I could feel my body waking up, and that was the lastthing we needed. A serious conversation needed to be had, and I wouldn’t be able to focus if my dick was hard. I brushed flour from her chin, and the anger returned when she flinched at my touch.

Dropping my hand, I stepped back to give her some breathing room.

“Tell me again where you got the name Hendrix. That’s not really common…”

She looked at me with lowered lids, chewed on her bottom lip, then straightened up like she needed strength against something.

“From my father-in-law. He said it was the name of the strongest man he knew, and only the strong survived in his family. Gideon hates the name, so I always suspected there was some bad history with the person who had the name. It’s probably why Gideon hates our baby. I tried naming him something else, but when I got his birth certificate, Hendrix was on there instead of Celio like I wanted.”

“Hmm, okay. I didn’t eat, so what did you make?”

She hesitated, smiled, then led the way to the kitchen.

My kitchen was fit for a five-star restaurant, and Cecilia had shit everywhere. She attempted to move things around, but the damage was done. I had to give it to her because it smelled good as hell, but my eye twitched at the sight of the mess.

After a careful review of the space, I could tell she found her home in the paper towels as well.

“At home, we had a chef, and I wasn’t allowed to cook because my husband believed I would poison him. I’m flexing my muscles now that I don’t have him breathing down my neck.”

“If given the chance, would you have tried to poison him?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely. Him, his mama, and his stepdaddy. I would have eliminated them all and not think twice about it.”

The island separated us, as we held eye contact.

I felt deep in my soul that she would have taken Gideon out a long time ago if she had been given the time and opportunity. My dad, though, was mine. I had the chance to take him out once at fifteen, but chickened out, but that wouldn’t be the case now. I was going to handle them one-by-one. Mrs. Baxter would be last though.

I hoped she was up-to-date with prayers on whatever God she worshipped, because her time was coming.

“Was this the first time you attempted to leave him?”

Before I was done asking my question, she was shaking her head.

“No. I tried once before but made the mistake of trusting someone I thought was a friend. She helped me set everything up, but on the day I was supposed to walk away for good, she arrived with Gi—my husband in the back seat.” Tears formed in her eyes but never fell. “He held me in that little shack for seven straight days.”

---