Page 66 of Bullet
The bar was packed with people, which was a good and bad thing. Those members who saw me walk in, immediately looked at me, and the entire energy shifted as I crossed the threshold. Nick was in the back, playing pool, and when he noticed me, he stood upright and glared at me from across the room.
Boldly, and though everyone was staring at me, I made my way through the crowd and over to the table. Nick was there, along with Avery, and another shorter member that I hadn’t been introduced to before, and they were all giving me the stink eye. Part of me wanted to run, but I knew that I owed it to Harry to stick it out, so I cleared my throat.
“Nick, can I talk to you in private, please?”
Nick looked at Avery and then nodded toward the back, and then they both stopped playing pool and headed toward me. “Follow me, and if you touch anything, you’ll be sorry,” Nick said.
I’d seen Nick a handful of times around the bar and he always had a welcoming, jubilant energy. That was gone now that I was an enemy of his club. He led the way toward the bar, and Avery saddled up behind me, keeping an eye on me as I followed Nick. He led me around the bar and through a swinging door that led into the kitchen in the back of the bar. No one bat an eye as we walked through, and then Nick pushed through another swinging door that led into the warehouse Harry had brought me to before.
Nick walked over to the table and grabbed a chair and moved it to the middle of the warehouse. “Sit.” I did as I was told, sitting down in the chair, and I could feel Avery looming behind me. Nick crossed his arms and shrugged. “Okay? What’d you wanna talk about?”
“I have some money for you,” I said, handing over the envelope with the cash in it. “It’s not the full fifty, but I can pay that off with my next couple of paychecks, or I can work the bars on my day off, whatever you want.” Nick reached out for the envelope and I pulled it back. “Can you answer a question for me though?”
A scoff blew out of Nick’s nose. “You’re bold. Sure.”
“Can you tell me about Darrien Pescoe?” I asked. “He prospected here but was turned down.”
“Yeah,” Nick said. “I remember it vividly. He was a lunatic. Short-tempered, especially in competitions, and when he did the bike race, he nearly killed himself and another one of the prospects just trying to win. He was reckless with his bike, so much so that it was steaming by the end. There was no way I was gonna admit him after that.”
“Why do you ask?” Avery said from behind me.
“I’m his goddaughter,” I replied, and Nick took a couple of steps back. “He wanted me to get revenge, just like what he was trying to do, and we both hurt Harry. He told me the accident was Harry’s fault.”
“Have youseenHarry on a bike?” Avery asked.
I nodded. “I know. I fucked up.” I held out the envelope. “Please don’t take that money from Harry. He needs it.”
Nick snatched the envelope from me, handed it over to Avery and then knelt down in front of me. “I won’t take any more money from him, but I’m not done with you yet. You hurt my club and my members and now you’re gonna have to pay for it.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bullet
Cameron and I sat in the waiting room at the bank, and I couldn’t get my mind off of how badly things had gone, and how quickly. Just twenty-four hours ago, I was the happiest man in the world, and now, all of a sudden, I was the most lost I’d ever felt in my life.
Ruby.
My brain refused to let her go. What did she look like? What did she act like? I didn’t even know how old she was. Would we get along or would she hate me? How would she feel about being moved from Florida all the way to Arizona? I didn’t know any of the stuff I needed to in order to take a kid in. I didn’t know what school I’d enroll her in or how to design a bedroom that she would like. On top of that, I’d avoided women for most of my life and knew very little about them. As she grew up, who was going to teach her all of the things that I couldn’t teach her? Would she forgive me for being a dunce when it came to some of the stuff she’d need to know?
“What are you thinking about?” Cameron asked.
“Ruby,” I said. “I wish I could go get her.”
“Yeah. You know what I was thinking?” Cameron said. “I have some money saved up. It’s not as much as we have now, and we’d probably have to add to it, but it’d be enough to get us started. I was going to use it to buy Marisha a ring, but she’ll understand. She doesn’t want a big wedding, she’s always talked about just tying the knot at the courthouse, so it wouldn’t take me too long. Another six months maybe?”
After everything he’d already given up for me, my father was still so selfless. “I can’t allow you to do that. You’ve already waited so long to be with Marisha. Even longer than you wanted to because I dragged my ass about meeting her. You’re ready to propose and now you can’t again because of a mistake I made?”
“First of all, I’m not letting you take this all on yourself. You had no idea Celia was doing what she was doing. You didn’t know she was going to take money from the club, and you certainly have no control over your mother making more children that she can’t take care of. You’re just doing your best, Harry, and I’m your dad. if I want to help you, let me. There’s a little girl out there who needs us, needs you. Marisha and I can wait. It’ll be worth it.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. The thought that my dad would be willing to continue to make sacrifices for me was an emotional thing. “I’ll pay you back every dime, I swear.”
He smiled. “I’ll send you the link for the ring. If we can just get there, that’s all I care about.”
I nodded. “Deal.” I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a huge hug, and a few tears did slip out. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too.” We released ourselves from one another just as a banker was walking up to us. She looked a little uncomfortable, gathering that she’d approached at a bad time, but Cameron waved her off. “Just sharing a hug with my kid. You’re all good.”
“Great, well come on back and I’ll help you guys get this withdrawal processed.”
