Page 40 of Bound By Consequences
Cruz was always thinking from all different angles, trying to line everything up. Knowledge was his thing. It was how he kept everyone safe. I understood his concerns because I questioned them myself. Loved my cousin, but she snuck out and just happened to find Micah. It took me getting to know Ensley to find out she had zero connections to the Ravage MC, only me.
“Brother,” I started. “Know it sounds like shit. But Ensley wouldn’t lie. I believe her. It was just a twist of fate because she didn’t know Micah was even known around here. She about passed out when I told her. And that fear of him taking her girl, I could feel it in my bones. No, she didn’t know one bit. His reaction just seeing her, he had no clue she would be here. Hell, they didn’t even exchange last names, so there was no way for him to track her or her to find him.”
Cruz gave a sharp nod. “We’ll need to check all this shit out. Just make sure everything is straight.” He turned to Cooper, his kid. “Make that happen.” Cooper nodded.
“Wait until Blaze hears this shit,” Tug said, slowly swiping his face with his hands and pulling at his skin. “We’ve watched that little girl. And she’s ours. Our fucking blood.”
As a man, this was the hard shit, telling another man that he had to keep something that impacted his family hard close to the vest. “Yeah, man. Sorry about this shit. I was as surprised as you. You tell Blaze because no man gets to come into another man’s marriage and tell him how to handle his ol’ lady, but I gotta ask that you wait until Ensley tells Micah before this shit blows up all around the clubhouse. Ensley will come around and find her own way to share. There’s a kid involved, and who knows how she or he’ll react. I want to give Ensley time to get there on her own. And while I don’t think any of us in this room are too concerned with Micah’s feelings, for the sake of shit between them, I think this is best if it comes from Ensley.”
“Understandable. But shit needs to come out soon,” Tug warned. “In a good place with my son. He’s a man now, and as a man, that kinda shit doesn’t need to be buried.”
On a nod, I said, “I’ll talk to her.”
“Fuck me,” Tug groaned, and I felt the same damn way. This was a clusterfuck. As if I didn’t already want to kill the bastard, now he’d knocked up my cousin.
His time would come. It appeared this time we had a secret concerning him. The tides sure had changed.
15
Ensley
“The brothers know.”
My stomach dropped to my feet. One single sentence and suddenly the world felt like I was freefalling into a blackhole. While I knew it was coming, part of me hoped I’d be in on the plan. I wanted—no—I needed time. The brothers of the Ravage MC were close. They knew about my past, yet had taken all of us in with open arms. They all deserved the truth. It had to be shocking. I was twisted up inside. The brothers knew.
Tug, though. Shit. He would tell Blaze and Micah. I just knew it. He couldn’t. I wasn't ready. Would Micah be pissed? Would he want us to disappear? This was his family, and I had barged right in, unwelcomed possibly. My palms began to sweat as my stomach rolled, threatening to pull up my dinner.
“Settle,” Ryker said, seeing the look on my face and the tightness in my body.
“What’s going to happen?” The words tumbled out as my voice cracked.
“Nothin’ you don’t fuckin’ want, Ensley, but you gotta talk to him and tell him. Bought you some time to sort your shit. It’ll get to him soon enough, and you should be the one to tell him.”
I fell onto my couch. While I knew what Ryker said was true, I wasn’t sure I could do this. “So that’s that. Remy’s going to have a dad?” Uncertainty kicked me in the gut. I’d been fighting for my little girl since I knew I was pregnant. I’d just started to let my guard down just a bit, and then bam, everything had changed once again. How was I supposed to trust him with my little girl? How was I going to open up our lives to a stranger?
While I knew Tug and Blaze were good people, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t support their son in taking Remy. My heart raced, and I felt as though my lungs were constricted.
“Only if you want that shit to happen. But Tug and Blaze’ll wanna know their grandkid. Can’t tell you what to do, Ensley. Can’t tell you what’s best for your kid. Just know things always have a way of revealing themselves. So best I can tell ya, put it out there and take whatever comes as it comes.”
My thumb started to throb from biting it so far down, and it was sure to start bleeding. I pulled it out of my mouth and wrapped my arms around my body, willing the thumping to slow down. Having a heart attack would only add to the shit storm around me.
Why did it always feel as though I had to fight to make my way through this life? When were things going to get easier? Be calmer. This right here was not that time. Fight was my middle name.
“You know him. Is he going to want to be part of Remy’s life?”
“Know him?” Ryker’s lip tipped. “He’s a shit. Said some things about the club when he was a kid. You’ll hear all about it eventually; I ain’t fuckin’ gossipin’ shit. You get that shit from Austyn or whoever. Micah came back, but I’m not a hundred percent convinced he’s changed yet. But this is for damn certain, Remy goes nowhere without your permission. I’ll make sure that shit is known should he question it.”
The tight bindings around me didn’t loosen, but didn’t tighten either. His words were a comfort, but I was still on edge and would be until I found out Micah’s intentions. Everything around me felt like a deck of cards that had been thrown in the air, and I watched nervously as the cards flittered to the ground. Whichever one popped up would be our future. It was so overwhelming. I had these plans, found this solid place in life for Remy and myself. Fate, karma, life, whatever the greater power was royally fucked me once again.
“Thanks. It was one night, Ryker. One. It was the second time I’d snuck out to meet with Ari. And bam, I’m pregnant. I moved here, and now he’s here. What am I supposed to think about that? That can’t be a coincidence.” I choked back a sob. “How do I know he’s not going to take her from me? How do I know what his intentions are?”
“Don’t know. But shit happens in life, and we roll with it. I believe the both of you had no idea the other was here. He wasn’t stalkin’ ya or anything like that. Austyn called it fate, whatever in the fuck. I agree with you, though. I don’t like the randomness, and I don’t believe in coincidence. I’m lookin’ into shit with him just to make sure.”
The air in my lungs finally started to release. I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t seeing something not there. Ryker felt the same as me. The fact that us being in the exact same place sounded fishy. He could find out more about it than I could, and I needed that reassurance.
But there was something that needed to be done. Regardless of why we were both here and what the future held, I had to face this.
“Do you have a way for me to get ahold of him?” Not that I wanted it, but it was time to pull up my big girl panties and figure this shit out. I wasn’t going to live my life in fear. It put too much stress on me. It made me crazy, and that wasn’t an option. He needed to know and learn where I stood about the whole thing. Then we’d figure it out.
