Page 59 of Pike
There was so much to think about, but I had no emotional bandwidth to deal with any of it, not as the highway rushed past me outside. Not when we arrived back at the clubhouse. Not when Gemma rushed towards me and wrapped her little arms around me.
“Mommy, you’re back,” her words were less excited and more relieved. The weight of her little body sagged against me. She had no idea what had happened, but she would have picked up on the tension in the clubhouse. My little girl had been through too much in her short life. From now on she was getting a proper childhood.
“I’m back, baby.” I dropped down and picked her up, holding her so close she squirmed.
“Mommy, you’re hugging me too tight.”
I offered a watery smile as I loosened my grip. “Sorry, I guess I missed you.”
“It’s okay Mommy,” she smiled back. “I missed you too,” she wriggled free and rushed off to give Chopper the same hug she’d given me.
And then I was surrounded by women who wrapped me in hugs. Tears in their eyes as they issued words of joy and sympathy. Some scolded my dangerous plan and others expressed relief it had all worked out. It was so… surreal.
All of these people were happy that I had survived. They were glad to see me in one piece, emotionally shattered if physically whole.
They all fell away and there she was, my sister. Faith stood a foot in front of me with her hands fisted on her hips, a half-smile, half-scowl on her face. “You’re stupid for makingme worry like that,” she said and yanked me forward forcefully, hugging me so tight it knocked the wind right out of me. “And you are brave as hell for fighting back. I am so fucking proud of you, Chloe,” her voice cracked on those whispered words.
“I learned it from you,” I told her and hugged her back just as tight.
“Mommy,” Gemma called out again.
I looked up and found her glued to Pike’s side with her arms wrapped around his neck. “Mr. Pike’s back! Iknewhe would come back,” she shouted with the certainty of a child.
Pike smiled softly beside her, his smile was almost shy as he hugged her back, his eyes sliding closed. “I’m back.”
Gemma whispered something in his ear, and he laughed, nodding as he replied just as quietly. Then Gemma squeezed him tighter and kissed his cheek, looking at him with so much love that it was hard to look away.
More tears came again but this time for a different reason entirely. I cried because this was the dream, the one I searched for with Marcus and failed spectacularly. It was the picture-perfect image I desperately wanted all those years but couldn’t have.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Pike
The party raged all around me and I stood there with a cold beer in my hand, watching it all unfold. There were smiles all around, lots of laughter and celebrating the end of one of the longest shit shows in MC history. Drinks flowed and music blasted through the speakers.
Everyone had come to party. To celebrate our victory and the effective end of the Ghost Riders while we mourned the loss of Angel. The wives and girlfriends were here. The whores. And all the brothers, old and new, decked out in MC gear, had shown up.
Chloe and Gemma were free. Free to live life however they wanted. Free to leave, if that was what they wanted. The thought of them leaving caused my heart to seize up inside my chest, but I wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was. A good man, a supportive man would let her go, right?
That wasn’t me. I was a selfish bastard who wanted Chloe in my life and in my bed every fucking day. I wanted to hear Gemma’s sweet giggles and see that dazzling smile every time she saw me. I wanted them both.
My girls.
T-Bone approached with an amused smile, pressing a fresh beer against my palm. “You gonna tell her, or are you gonna be a pussy about it?”
I slanted a look at my best friend who smirked like an asshole. I knew what he was doing dammit, and it was working. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe this whole thing was just situational?” That shit sounded like a lie even to my ears, but the thing was, it could’ve been. “Emotions were running high, and we were forced together in that small, intimate cabin.”
T-Bone nodded, not in answer, but as if he was giving my words serious consideration.
My brows shot up. “Nothin’ to say?”
“Just thinkin’,” he said slowly, watching the party as it unfolded in front of us. Finally, he shook his head. “I hear what you’re sayin’ man but it’s bullshit.” He turned to face me, his gaze gravely serious. “She put herself in the line of fire to save you, Pike. Once she knew you’d been taken, a switch flipped behind her eyes, she found her strength and her courage. She came up with this plan and decided to go head-to-head with a group of men who spent three years trying to kill her kid. All of that to save you.” T-Bone took a long swig of beer and then sighed dramatically. “Don’t soundsituationalto me. She’s in just as deep as you are.”
He was right. The Chloe I met months ago was scared of her own fucking shadow. She jumped at every noise, avoided eye contact and had no idea how strong she was. But she found herself when it mattered. BecauseImattered. My breath caught in my fuckin’ throat. “Shit man, I love her,” I admitted.
“No shit,” T-Bone shot back with a shit-eating grin on his face, as if he knew it all along. “You haven’t taken your eyes off her all night. You’ve tried but brother, you failed.”
He was right about that. She’d joined the party late wearing a pale pink sundress that showed off all of her best parts. “She’s not ready.”
