Page 74 of A Brother At My Back

He’d told me he hadn’t deserved a one of them, that he’d taken them for granted until he was granted one last final chance but at a terrible cost.

“I’m giving you a chance,” he’d said, leaning back in his chair. “A last chance, because Brother, I do believe you earned your colors with this club despite your having a past. Hell, we all got a past; and the way you’re spillin’ your guts now tells me one of two things – either you’re ready for a change, a real change or you’re fucking suicidal. Either one of which means you’re ready for something and this situation right here with the Suicide Kings is gonna give you exactly what you want. It just may be fate which decides for you.”

It’d sounded good, it’d sounded really good, and I’d taken it. I didn’t think it was a mistake, him choosing me to relocate that woman Darlene with her sick kid across the country. Dragon was a firm believer in lessons but didn’t fancy himself a teacher. He didn’t have to, life was there to do it for him. It wasn’t a coincidence he chose me to help this betrayer and the circumstances of her betrayal had been heartbreaking, for sure.

Maybe that was why I took Tiffany’s line of side work so well. I understood that every man and woman had a story to tell. I also understood that not everything was black and white. The world was full of living color for a reason. There was no sense in dulling it down just to make sense of it. Life was meant to be lived in a riot of sight and sound and feeling.

I set aside the book I’d been reading on top of my mini-fridge and reached up, turning out the lamp I had sitting on top. The room was plunged into darkness and still Tiffany didn’t stir, even with all the moving around I did. I smoothed a hand up and down her nude back and closed my eyes, smiling when I felt Mad Max jump up onto the bed.

* * *

I wokewhen Tiffany finally stirred. She pushed up off of me and groaned, dragging her fingers, or trying to, through her tangled hair.

“There’s no fixing this,” she griped. “I need to start over.”

“You know where the bathroom is, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said and sat up completely, stretching luxuriously. I watched her as Max padded across the covers at her.

“Oh, hey, baby girl,” Tiff crooned at her and picked her up, snuggling her to her chest.

“She came out last night after you fell asleep,” I said, pushing myself up and leaning back against the headboard behind me.

“I still don’t understand all this,” she said, looking around.

I smiled and shrugged a bit. It had made sense at the time for me but now it seemed silly. I stayed quiet but the truth of it was when you were running around up to all sorts of illegal things, stuck between law enforcement and a rival MC trying to kill you off, you wanted to be comfortable. While the club was on lockdown and all of us were here, I made my surroundings as comfortable as possible. Kept all my favorite things here, the things that reminded me of home.

After, when Rush was looking for new projects to complete, I’d helped him with the bed frame, drawing from everything I missed most about home. I’d figured he could sell it or whatever, but he’d given it to me. Then, I’d felt isolated, homesick, and so I’d kept everything here safe, but had relocated myself closer to my work at the bar. Distancing myself from the memories this room contained.

“Well,” she said when I didn’t offer up explanation straight away, “I’m going to go get in the shower.”

“You hungry?” I asked.

“Yes and no,” she said.

“Now I know how that feels,” I said with a bit of a grin and though she didn’t laugh, she at least cracked a bit of a smile.

“The thought of food is nauseating but my stomach is growling.”

“Ah, fair enough.”

“I guess I could eat,” she said, and it was in a relenting tone of voice.

“I could get us some Makka’s,” I suggested and her eyes crossed.

“Some what?”

“Sorry, it’s what we call McDonald’s back home.”

“I have no idea how you got that out of Micky D’s.”

I smiled and Max struggled to get out of Tiff’s hold like, okay mom, enough of this, so Tiff let her go. She came over to me and got in my lap.

“Yeah, you can stay there,” I told her. “But I’m not falling for it for one minute.” She looked up at me with golden-green eyes and blinked and I swear it was a trap.

Tiff smiled and said, “I think she’s starting to like you.”

“Yeah until she hooks teeth and claws into me.”

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