Page 74 of Always Mine

Anthony took hold of her hand and kissed her knuckles.“It’s going to be all right.”

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He’d known there wasgoing to be a party, he just didn’t realize it would be such a big event.

Anthony glanced around the yard, seeing the barbeques set up, his dad on one of them, while Nash was on the other.Several of the guys were playing with the kids, keeping them occupied so they didn’t cause any trouble.

It was a good day.He knew this was going to be the only good day, and then shit would get serious.

Tipping his beer against his lips, he looked to see Daisy sitting with Angel.His mom was fussing with her, putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her comfortable.Daisy had worried for the longest time after they got married that Angel wouldn’t love her.Anthony knew differently.All his mother wanted was for him to be happy.

“It’s intense,” Luke said.

He turned to see Luke, and chuckled.There was Eva and Tiny’s kid, and now Dog Luke.

“We may have to come up with a new name for you,” Anthony said.

“Dog Luke seems to be working for me at the moment.”

He glanced toward the other man, and saw the pain in his eyes.“Dude, you’ve got to stop this.”

“I’m fine, man.”

“No, you’re not.You’ve got to stop with this shit that’s eating away at your soul.You were not part of it.”

“But I helped, didn’t I?I was there with my dad.I was helping the club.Fuck me, I wanted to take over from him one day.Now, my dad is out there, along with several of the guys, and I know they’re going to hunt me down.I’m the traitor.I’m the bad guy in their story.”

“Stop thinking about their story.It doesn’t matter what story they write.This is your story, and it is about the storyyouwant to write.”He couldn’t believe he was talking with him about this, and for so long.Couldn’t he go back to just being silent and fucking staring at the assholes he didn’t want to talk to?

He glanced toward Tabitha and Simon, but Luke wasn’t looking in her direction.

“Does it hurt?”he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Does what hurt?”

“Seeing her with him?”

“I got over Tabitha a long time ago.Trust me, it was a crush.”Luke shrugged.“I’m glad she has found happiness, after everything.”

At least they could agree on that.He was still pissed that she had waited to come and see Daisy.If it were the other way around, Daisy wouldn’t have waited.

Anything that involved Daisy being taken advantage of, or being hurt or abused pissed him off.It made him want to hurt people.Tabitha was still family, distant but family, and he wanted to hurt her.

“I can’t believe Ryan did what he did.It fucked everything up,” Luke said, and then he laughed.“Who am I kidding?I bet he already knew what was going on.”He shook his head.

“Stop it, dude.You’re not one of them, and you’re on the path to being one of us.”He then gripped Luke’s shoulder.“Enjoy it.”

“I’ll enjoy it when I kill my dad,” Luke said.

“Hey,” Tabitha said, coming over.

Anthony didn’t say anything.

“Hey,” Luke said.“I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Do I need to be worried about that?”Tabitha asked after Luke had left them.

“Only if you want to hear the guilt he is feeling,” he said.

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