Page 26 of Steal

When I said goodbye to her, I knew she hated me, but I knew I couldn’t change the circumstances. Only once, in the four years I’ve been out of her life, have I contacted her.

I didn’t write anything; I only sent her a picture of Moira when she was an hour old. I don’t know why I sent it, but something inside me compelled me to do it, knowing she wouldn’t tell a soul.

When the elevator dings, I push off the bar I’m leaning against and walk out, heading to the end of the corridor before entering the light blue door. My eyes instantly lock with the dark gray ones I see in my dreams.

My daughter grins wide before she stands and runs over to me, nearly falling twice before I catch her and throw her in the air, making her giggle. I hold her close, pressing my nose against her curly, dark red hair as her arms wrap around my neck.

She’s a mixture of me and Steal and absolutely perfect.

She has my dark red hair, freckles, and bone structure, and has his eyes and nose, though the bigger she gets, the more she looks like her father, making me miss him more each day.

I know I was going to leave him, but something deep in my gut tells me I wouldn’t have stayed away for long, even with Faith and his club against us. He would have fought for me, and Iwould have caved because the man owns my heart. He’s the love of my life, but he destroyed us that day. Maybe even before then, but that day cemented the end of our relationship.

I know I won’t ever get over him, especially seeing his double in our daughter as she grows, but I know this is the right path.

I killed his brother, and it doesn’t matter what Brute did to me, what Faith orchestrated with him, the club and Faith will always come first because they’re family and I’m not.

I didn’t accept his cut, and now I’m kind of glad I didn’t. Once you have their cut, you are bound to the brother for five years before you can give it back. Hammer’s father enforced this when too many brothers were handing out property cuts like candy, and then snatching them back when they were bored.

“You ready to go home, my angel?” I ask my darling daughter who lays her head on my shoulder.

She nods, and I kiss her head before accepting her bag from the daycare worker. I give her a smile in thanks before I turn and walk out, knowing they’ll email me a report on Moira’s day.

I hate that I have to leave her here four days a week, and with Tanner on the nights I patch up the fighters, but I know it’s to ensure she has a future she’ll love and, most importantly, a roof over her head, especially since she doesn’t have her daddy in her life.

I wish she did. I wish things were different and we meant more to him, but his club will always come first.

She’llalways come first….

9

Steal – Thirty-One Years Old

“Please, Steal, surely you’ve found her,” Trudy pleads, and I hold in my sigh. I lean back in my black office chair as I close my eyes, willing myself to not throw my fucking phone across the room.

Every fucking day, it’s the same call from Cassidy’s mom while her sister just outright ignores me, even when at the diner, a job she’s tried to quit several times.

I’m just fucking lucky the contract Perrie signed is stopping her, I just wish she’d stop walk past me like I don’t exist because, honestly, I miss the days she’d run to me for a hug or reem my ass for not paying more attention to her sister.

I should have fucking listened to her.

“Trudy, these phone calls need to stop. It’s been four years, and Piston hasn’t managed to find her, and even Perrie hasn’t heard from her. At this point, she doesn’t want to be found,” I tell her truthfully.

Piston taught Cass well; it’s like she vanished into thin air, and every day, I die a little more inside, just going through the fucking motions without her.

My eyes go to the letter on my desk, which I read at least twice daily to punish myself, my fingers itching to grab it.

“You need to move on, Trudy. She doesn’t want to be found, and I don’t think she ever will,” I finish before hanging up, unwilling to hear any more of her babbling.

It would be alright if Trudy wanted to find her because she’s a concerned mother, but it’s not. Perrie sold the house, which means Trudy got fuck all, and Perrie has put half the money from the sale into Cassidy’s account, an account Piston is watching closely, which is how we know about the sale to begin with.

I chuck my phone on my mahogany desk with a deep sigh before I pick up the letter and torture myself yet again, that one sentence always standing out.

I love you, Colt, I always will, but this is it between us.

She’d given up on us before whatever happened in that kitchen.

I drop the letter as my eyes go to my ring finger, her name inked there, clear as day. I claimed her the day I met her, but she never claimed me back. She always had one foot out the door, and I know the club and Faith were a big part of the reason. They never accepted her because of Faith, because I fucked the bitch.

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