Page 35 of When It Reins
“And?”
I sigh. “And the last president who I made the deal with said they would keep my family safe while I was gone, so long as I sent part of my earnings and promised to join the club as soon as I was home again.”
Juniper is quiet, and I let her process all the new information. Hell, I’m processing it all from finally saying it out loud. Everything happened so fast when I got home, and I felt as though I’d gotten caught in a riptide, unable to find my next breath above water.
“Mitch.” Juniper lays her hand on mine, and I look into her eyes. They’re full of worry and sympathy. “Who else knows about this?”
“The whole club knows. They’ve been watching the Cash family’s back for a while.”
“No, I mean, outside of them. Your mom? Your brothers?”
Our eyes stay latched, and I shake my head. “You.”
“You’ve never told anyone?”
I don’t exactly chitchat with my brothers, and they never asked, so I figure it was better to just keep to myself. “No. I never told anyone.”
“Honey, you should. They would understand why you did that.”
I’m still hung up on the fact that she just called me honey—I want to hear that all the fucking time—when she stands and grabs my guitar.
I watch her, realizing that she took my story at face value, that she trusts the words that I’m saying, and I’m grateful that she not only knows, but does trust me.
She sits beside me and starts strumming the guitar. “What are you doing?” I ask.
Juniper smiles and says, “I’m singing you a love song.”
She’s kidding, but I smile anyway and spend the rest of my night listening to her soothing voice. For the first time since I came home, I feel a weight I’ve been carrying ease off of my shoulders.
17
juniper
I wokewith a crick in my neck this morning, but when I realized why, I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading over my face. I had fallen asleep on Mitch’s couch and so had he.
We finally slept together.
Well, of course, we didn’t. But it feels like a step in the right direction.
Because we accidentally fell asleep, he drove me to work today, letting me hold him on his bike again and get that feeling of absolute freedom from the way we zoom down road after road.
When we park, he grips my hand in his and smiles at me. We’ve turned a new leaf. Something is different.
Our feet scuff along the asphalt, and I’m not expecting it when someone moves from the shadows of the bar’s building and blocks our way.
“Well, I didn’t expect this from you, Juniper.” David’s voice reaches me before I fully see his face, but when I do, I find myself tensing up.
Mitch squeezes my hand in comfort, and I’m grateful he’s here beside me.
David’s eyes and nose are still bruised, and I almost feel bad for him until he shakes his head and says, “I never took you for some whore that jumped from bed to bed.”
I stare in shock, wondering where the sweet, nice, kind man I thought I was dating went, when Mitch takes a few menacing steps forward. David barely holds his ground, looking up at Mitch with tension around his eyes.
“You want another beating, son?” Mitch’s tone is low, nearly a growl, and I watch, muscles coiled tight.
David glances from Mitch to me and laughs. “Really, Juniper? You went from me to this?”
“David, that’s enough.” I finally find a voice, finally speak up, and say, “We’re over. I don’t know what business you have here, but whatever it is, be done with it and leave.”
