Page 53 of Always Mine

“You ride at his back,” Lash said.

“What?”Anthony asked.

“Do I ever repeat myself?”

There were a few times growing up, but Anthony didn’t think this was the time or the place to bring that up.

“Dad, what about Daisy?”Anthony asked, hating that he looked weak in front of Luke.

“She will be here when you get back and you’d think you would want to fix this mess, seeing as you and she were the ones who helped ruin it in the first place.I’m not going to argue with you.Get on your bike and help me fix this.”

There was no sense in arguing.His father had spoken.What his father said was law, at least within the Skulls.

Anthony was going to have no choice but to have Luke riding at his back.“Don’t say a fucking word,” Anthony said, warning him.

“Why would I say a word?You want to go and see your woman,” Luke said.“I get it.I’m sorry, man.I ...I didn’t see Daniella until it was too late.In all honesty, when I saw what happened, I figured she had already taken off to be with my dad.”

“That is so fucked up.”He didn’t want to talk about it, though.

Making his way outside toward his bike, he saw several of the men—Hardy, Tiny, Stink, Steven, Gash, Killer, Alex, Zero, Murphy, Nash, and Blaine—arrive at their bikes.They were going to go in thick and fast.

Anthony hadn’t been given a gun.

Climbing onto his bike, he waited for Luke to straddle the machine behind him, and as he did and Luke held onto his waist, he was pissed.The only person he wanted at his back was Daisy.

Taking off, he followed out of the clubhouse and it wasn’t lost on him that he and Luke were not wearing leather cuts.All the guys were, and he knew, without Lash saying anything, that this was part of his punishment.He didn’t think it would ever matter to him, riding with the guys and not getting the chance to wear a leather cut, but it fucking hurt.Anthony was not used to this level of insult.

By going off on his own, half-cocked, he had put the lives of many women and girls in danger.He’d also put the club’s reputation at risk with the Billionaire Bikers MC, and above all else, he had put Daisy in the hospital.He hadn’t been the one to sink the knife into her, but he had led her to that night, and Daniella had been there.

He rode hard, trying to keep up with his father and the men he hoped to earn back trust from one day.This was all his fault and he had no choice but to take responsibility, because that was what a leader did.They led, took control, and made sure no one was left behind.

He got it now.It wasn’t about being silent, listening to everything, and making people afraid.His father could have done that, but he didn’t.He led by people believing in him, trusting him, and in an odd way, loving him.That was the point of the Skulls.They were one big family.Always had been and always would be.

That was Lash’s key to keeping them all together.They were not just a bunch of people in a club.It might have started out that way, but it certainly wasn’t how they had ended.They had all grown together, and it didn’t matter who it was, they had a bed, a shoulder, or whatever they needed with everyone.That was what made the Skulls powerful.You messed with one, and you messed with them all.

No one argued with his dad.They rounded up to follow him, and in that moment, Anthony realized he’d been going about this all wrong.Yes, he was different, and he didn’t feel things like other men and women did, but that had to also be a lie, because when it came to Daisy, his family, and the club, he felt a whole fucking lot.It was why he was pissed at Tabitha for leaving and waiting to come visit.

He got it now in ways he never had before and it made so much sense to him.Luke tightened his hold around him.It was going to be a long fucking ride.

****

Tabitha knocked onthe hospital door and stepped into the room to find Miles sitting beside Daisy.He wasn’t holding her hand, and he wasn’t even talking to her.

“Hey,” she said, offering him a smile, but her twin brother just glanced at her.

“What do you want?”Miles asked.

“Wow, okay, I guess you are pissed at me.”

“I’m not pissed.I just ...the nurses come in and check on her, and there is no change.They do that sympathy look, which is fucking useless, and they still leave, and it is pissing me off.We also know you have a family back in Piston County, so what are you doing here?”

Tabitha’s mouth dropped open and then closed.“So, I guess my brother wants nothing to do with me either.”

“Look, Tabs, I get it, you think nothing has to change, but a lot of shit has changed, okay?Look at your best friend.She is in a hospital bed.I’m not wearing a leather cut.I know for a fact Anthony, fucking Luke, and a bunch of the club have just taken off on their bikes.I didn’t get invited.My dad is pissed at me, and you want me to, what, stroke your ego?Tell you that whatever Anthony said wasn’t right.One of our own is in a hospital bed, and it has been a few days now.There is no change.For all we know, she could be dying, and you want to make this all about you.”

“I don’t.”

Miles laughed.“For the longest time that is all it has been about.Simon and Tabitha, Tabitha and Simon.”He shook his head.“What do you want?”

---