Clocking out didn’t come fast enough, but I jumped at the chance to be one of the first ones out. Normally, I’d wait until the next person after me was settled before taking off, just in case they had any questions or needed me. Not tonight. Tonight, I was out of there.
Katie had to work, but I needed to talk to her beforehand. Therefore, I drove with a purpose, watching the clock. Luckily her car was still in the lot as I got out of my car and ran up the stairs to our apartment.
Opening the door, she smiled up at me. Her smile died instantly when she saw my face. Katie wasn’t home yesterday except for the brief moment in passing when I had to go to work, and she had no idea what was happening. Yet, here I was crumbling and trying with everything inside of me to stand upright.
“Remy’s dad is part of the Ravage MC,” I blurted out in a rush, then looked around the space to make sure Remy wasn’t up. That should’ve been first, but dammit I needed my sister. She was my rock, and I needed that now more than ever.
A thump hit the kitchen counter as her coffee cup came down. The clatter was so loud it would be surprising if the mug hadn’t broken.
“What?” She came around the corner, grabbed my hands and pulled me to the couch, sitting us down. “Talk to me,” she said as I kicked off my shoes and ripped off my bra. I hated those damn things, and if there was any time to free the boobies, this would be it.
“Is Remy asleep?” I asked first.
“Yeah. You’ll have a couple of hours to get some rest before she gets up.”
“Hopefully,” I said on a sigh and then began to tell her the tale of my life over the past day. It just spewed from me, needing to get it out of my system. Katie would get me. She always did.
Starting at the first moment I saw Micah at the clubhouse to when I stepped in the door from work. I broke it all down for Katie. We’d been through everything together. She’d know what to do. Or at least both of our heads could come up with a solution.
Hope. That was what I had in Katie. The hope that she’d be able to solve this problem and lead me down the right path.
Tears ran down my face as Katie pulled me into her arms, hugging me close. “I just don’t know what to do, Katie. I’m dying inside, and I don’t know how to fix this.”
“Calm down. I need you to take some deep breaths for me.” I followed her instructions, hiccuping the entire way. Once I had myself together, she pulled away from me and stared into my eyes. “Did he say anything?”
My body trembled. Was the heat on in this place? Because I was burning up from the inside out. “I didn’t give him a chance. I ran out before he got two steps in my direction.”
Panic swirled around my heart once again. I had no control over it. The feeling just hit whenever it damn well wanted. To say I didn’t like it was an understatement. I’d prided myself with being in control. This was not in control. It was so far out of control dread was pulling me under.
“Okay. What did Ryker say to do?” Katie went the logical route which I appreciated. I went that way lying in bed last night too, and I wanted to believe he’d handle it. But I also knew I’d have to be the one to fix it.
“Just to let him work some things out,” I responded on a heavy sigh.
“What things?” she asked with a quirk of her brow.
Frustration came out in my tone. “I have no idea. But Ryker hasn’t let us down, and I trust him fully.” Which I did. He was there for us when we needed someone. While I might have been all over the damn place with my thoughts and feelings, I had to admit that Ryker wouldn’t do anything to hurt us. Ever.
“I do too.”
Katie’s tongue clicked as she asked, “Are you going to talk to Micah—is it?”
My head shook, then nodded. Even my head motions were getting confused in this mess. “I don’t know. I mean, yeah, eventually. I wouldn’t want to keep him from his kid, but I don’t know. Do you think he’ll try to take Remy from me?”
Katie went on alert. “No freaking way. I’ll gut him if he even tries.”
This made me smile. I needed that small bit of Katie to help me. She was my strength when I was weak, and she knew exactly what to say. “We’ll both cut him.”
To that she chuckled. “So he’s back from the Marines and is related to the Ravage MC. How in the hell could that happen? The one place we find safe haven, then years later the baby daddy just appears like poof?”
The exhaustion smacked me hard after laying it all out for Katie. “My luck isn’t the greatest, but even I couldn’t have been prepared for this one.”
Katie reached over and put her hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze. “It’ll work out. If Ryker says he’s going to handle it, he will. We just gotta wait and see what he says to do next.”
Something else had been weighing on my mind. “You don’t think he’d come here?”
Katie’s head turned my way. “Well, if he doesn’t know about Remy, then there’s no reason for him to come here. Even if he knows where you live. But Ryker would’ve told you if Micah did. So you need to put that aside, breathe in deep, and go get the three hours of sleep before Remy gets up.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.” Even though I was dog tired, sleep would probably evade me again.
Katie slapped my knee. “You need to, or you’re going to crash again while Remy’s awake, and she’ll draw on the walls. I’m not painting the walls again.”
A chuckle escaped me. She always had that way with her. Katie was right. “I’ll try.”
Katie got up from the couch, and I followed as she wrapped me tight in her arms. “Love you,” she said in my ear.
“Love you too.”
Moments later, Katie was gone, and I fell face-first into the bed, passing out instantly.
14
Ryker
Son of a motherfucking bitch. My baby cousin was Micah’s kid. Fucking Micah.
The asshole was coming damn close to getting a bullet between his eyes. He may have come clean, but fuck me—if he weren’t Tug’s kid, he wouldn’t be breathing.
So not only did we have to deal with the bullshit he’d told us, but we had to deal with this too.
The club knew all about Remy and how she came into our world. I’d never forget it.
Fists pounding on the door, I called out, “It’s Ryker.”
It took a few beats, and I hoped it was Cyrus checking the damn peephole before opening the door. There was always a way to get through the barrier if someone wanted to bad enough.
Seconds later, the locks clicked, knob turned, and the door slowly opened.
Small. That was the first thing that flickered through my head. She couldn’t be more than five-three if that. Her big green eyes showed her fear. Actually, it was radiating off of her.
“How ya doin’?” I felt myself going soft, talking to her like a child instead of in my usual hard tone. Something in me thought she needed a little bit of tenderness. It was a new thing for me.
“Ryker. Thank you.” Tears welled in her eyes.
Not thinking better of it, I pulled her into my arms and wrapped her up tight as she burst into tears. The scratchy material of her dress reminded me of my mother. It was always the same look for their clothes. All large and baggy, covering them from neck to ankle. Even when it was hot as all hell, they wore those things like armor.