Page 81 of Blue-Eyed Jacks
She stared at her hands like she’d never seen them before.“I…”
I had to tread very carefully here.She spoke the truth when she said she was fragile.And yet, it was also a lie.Anyone who can hold themselves together when their body is literally trying to shake them apart had to be the strongest person in the world.“You can tell me… I mean, you don’thaveto tell me, but you can if you want.”
“Jackson.”The tears she was trying to hide clung to her eyelashes.She fought them back with sniffs and swallows until she found her balance.“Baldy was getting a blow job in our pantry.”
I tried not to smile.She’d said “Our.”
“It’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not that—” Unbidden, the image of Kate opening the door on that asshole with his pants down around his ankles and some bitch slobbing on his knob flashed in my head.I snickered.
“Jackson.Our food is going there.Your daughter’s cereal.”
“What kind of cereal does she like?”
She glared at me like I was an idiot.
“Kate, love?Help me out here.I can’t get the picture of that hairy asshole getting his dick spit on out of my head now, and I need something to distract me.Anything?If not Zoe’s favorite cereal, tell me why were you looking in the pantry?”
Kate shook her head.Then she started laughing silently.It turned into a snort that shook her whole body.“I was putting the mop away.”
“And?”
“And… I opened the door.There he was.And I just… handed him the mop.”Her giggles turned into sobs.“I thought, what if Zoe had caught that?Would she be safe?”
Oh shit.Now I wasn’t laughing.Because while I could order my men around, there were certain things some of them did that were right on the cliff’s edge of things I’d kill them for.And while I could guarantee Zoe would be safe if she interrupted Baldy and some whore; she shouldn’t see shit like that, nor could I vouch for all the whores Baldy messed with.They might start shit.But I could promise Kate one thing, I’d do my damndest to let the entire club know that Zoe and her mother were first in my heart.“He won’t do that again.”
“You can’t guarantee that.Even if you could, there was…is cocaine on our coffee table.If the cops come, we’ll get busted for that.”
Unfortunately, she also had a point there.
“And then what happens to Zoe?Who takes care of her?”
“First things first, are you mad at me, or just all things biker?”
She closed her eyes.“You haven’t heard a word I said.”
“No, I’m hearing you.I’m hearing that this party was a trigger for you.That it was too much too fast.But I’ll tell you why it had to be that way if youpleaselet me try to explain?”
“What is there to explain?You party.You drink, your friends do drugs, I—I can’t say I’m surprised at all.I saw ten times worse at Shock’s, and I hated him for it.I don’t know why I thought you’d be different.”
Fuck.This was going south fast.“Who drove three hours in the snow to pick you up from a hospital?”
She didn’t answer.
“Who… stole you from a patched brother?Who risked their life, their future for you?”
This time, I didn’t wait for her to think.
“I invitedeverymember of my club tonight.And they showed up.They had to see you and Zoe to know who they’re fighting for.While I’m sure they probably didn’t see the best of you, they sure as hell didn’t see the worst of you, either.What they did see wasyouas a person.As a survivor.Asmywoman.The only one I’ve ever gone out on a limb for like this.
“I know that sounds egotistical or like I own you or something, but I’m giving it to you straight here, sweetheart.Those men may have shown up to party.But they also saw something they’d never seen before.Me.”
“That’s not egotistical?”
“Let me clarify.They sawme, in love.”
That statement didn’t exactly wow her.
