Page 41 of Bound By Consequences
With Ryker and Austyn on my side, I felt a little bit better about it.
Ryker pulled out a slip of paper from the inside of his cut and held it out to me between his two fingers.
It felt like a damn snake ready to bite me in the ass at any given second. One strike and I’d fall to the ground. The weight of my world was in the numbers on this tiny scrap of paper. I could do this. I would do this. Reaching out, I took the paper and opened it to see numbers. The actual line to Remy’s father. Damn, if that wasn’t something I’d never thought would happen. When I first found out I was pregnant, I used to daydream that I could call him, and he would swoop in and take me out of my nightmare. Who knew the Ravage MC would be my saving grace from that situation and the foundation under my daughter’s life? It all felt surreal.
“Sorry, cuz. But this shit needs to be sorted.”
“Right.”
Ryker kissed the top of my head and was gone.
Hours I spent pondering at that damn piece of paper. Remy tried several times to steal it from me, but luckily, I was quicker. She at least took my mind off of Micah for a little bit. We played Whack-a-Mole, where you hit the moles with a plastic hammer. She loved that game and laughed through it. We had to stop midway through to catch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and I may have told her that the Trolls were sleeping tonight. Cut me a break, it was a long day. I didn’t need another round of troll chaos tonight.
It wasn’t until the door closed on our bedroom with Remy fast asleep in her crib, that I pulled out the paper and read the digits as I clasped my phone. My palms were clammy, and I fought to hold the device steady.
Just do it. You can do this.
That was so much easier said than done. The minutes ticked by, and the more they did, the more anxious I became. A single phone call was going to change my entire life. Good or bad, I didn’t know; I only knew the freedom I had found this short time in Sumner, Georgia would change the moment the call connected.
Blowing out a deep breath, I punched in the numbers, my thumb hovering over the green call button. Closing my eyes and wishing on a prayer, I hit the button.
It rang and I almost hung up, scared to death but hoping it wouldn’t come out that way over the phone.
“Low,” the deep voice I remembered all too well said into the phone, bringing back so many memories of that night we’d spent together. That night where he made me feel special. That night when I acted like someone else just to have fun. That night that no matter what I did I could never forget and not just because of Remy.
“Micah.” My damn voice cracked, and I cleared my throat, wanting to sound put together but failing miserably. It was so damn dry like sandpaper scraping me.
“Yeah, who’s this?” There was some shifting on the other end, maybe the phone being switched between hands. Nerves crawled like thousands of ants all over my skin. Could I really do this?
“Ensley.” My thumb went to my mouth again as I started chewing the nail. That damn habit was tough to break, and even as I thought about it, I still continued to chew because the pacing was doing nothing to calm me.
“Don’t know an Ensley,” he responded frankly.
My heart sunk. Fuck. No, he didn’t. He didn’t know me by that name. He knew me from my previous life, not the one I’d made for us here in Sumner. Cyrus was who he knew. He had no idea the lengths I’d had to go through to keep Remy safe. He knew nothing… Just my old name.
How was I supposed to explain this all to him?
This was so damn jacked up, and I didn’t even know where to start.
“Hello, you wanna tell me who you are?” he asked since I was apparently taking too long to reply.
What did I tell him? How did I begin this? Guess it would be my name. A name I’d always hated. A name I was happy to get rid of. One I hated even thinking about, let alone to actually say out loud.
I sucked in a deep breath, taking my hand away from my mouth as I spoke. “You know me as Cyrus.” The words were so quiet I didn’t think he heard me, but apparently, he did because he responded immediately, making me jump just a touch. It was wishful thinking that he hadn’t heard me, I guess.
“I swore that was you at the clubhouse. I called out, wanted to talk to you. Why did you run away from me?” He sounded a little mad and a lot concerned. Or at least that was what I’d hoped it was. The other way around didn’t bode well.
Damn. The first things out of his mouth were about me running. “How did you know it was me?” That was the million-dollar question I needed an answer to. Hiding had been all I’d thought about since we'd left. No one recognized me as Cyrus. I thought I had covered my bases, but apparently I hadn’t. This was my biggest concern. I couldn’t let them find me. I couldn’t let him find me.
“Your eyes. When you stared in my eyes for that brief second, I knew it was you.”
His response had my heart picking up speed. The thumping so loud he could probably hear it over the phone. I needed to get off of this call. The intensity of my own emotions was almost too much. His voice made me come alive. Even with so much unspoken between us, I felt the ghost flickers of his touch. God, I would never forget this man. Right now, I needed to remain focused because my entire future in Sumner depended on Micah’s intentions. Like a Band-Aid, I’d best rip this open fast. “Can we meet to talk tomorrow?”
His deep voice seemed friendly, but I was still so unsure. “We can, but we can also talk over the phone.”
I didn’t know how to feel about this. “Why did you change your name?” He fired at me, still friendly, but now a little more demanding.
“Please. I would rather do this face to face.” I wished I could say that I was this badass woman who didn’t shed a tear, and this wasn’t eating me up completely, but I wasn’t. I was a mom. A mom who would protect her cub no matter the cost. A mom who would do anything, including running and changing our names again. Anything to protect my kid.
