The man hates me, and he has no problem showing me how much every chance he gets. K-9 constantly makes it known he doesn’t agree with my decisions. In fact, the only one he doesn’t fight me on is about the schedule I try to keep Derick on. Probably because Derick’s grandparents intervened once. K-9’s dad, Danny, got in his face about it, this being after Danny and his wife, K-9’s mom, Lia, sat down with me to talk. Our conversation consisted of a lot of emotions regarding the whole situation. They’d lost their son, and I hid my pregnancy from them. I never intended to keep Derick from them, but I was scared, because at the time, I was only eighteen.
Danny and Lia are a big fixture in my son’s life alongside K-9; however, K-9 is an even bigger one than they are. Meaning I see the man constantly, if not every other day.
“Are you okay with that?” I ask my son when we get to my SUV.
“Do I still have my toys?” Of course, he’d worry about his toys. He’s three and loves to play. Especially his mini guitar, Chaz and Hunter, were teaching him to play on.
Yep, even at his young age, he’s learning to play on his guitar, because you don’t live in a house filled with musicians and not pick up an instrument. Even if my son didn’t want to learn what my brother and his friends teach him, Derick would still grow up to want to learn. I’m sure of it. Derick’s father had played the guitar and taught me. We’d sit for hours upon hours playing. He wrote his own music and taught me to play those songs.
Those songs are now on a disc just for my son to listen to. Lex, Chaz, Hunter, and Tanner all did that for Derick. They gave him a piece of his dad, and they didn’t even know him.
“Yeah, sweetheart, all of your toys are at the house and waiting for you.” I help him into his car seat and strap him in. I make sure he’s secure and close the door, round the front of it and climb in behind the steering wheel.
Starting the ignition, I check my mirrors and back out of the parking spot of the daycare. Music fills the car for Derick to listen to—his favorite station, Disney. He loves to hear the different songs while in the car. I don’t mind it so much since they’re pretty awesome anyways. I mean, no one can beat Sebastian from The Little Mermaid singing about kissing the girl.
While music plays and my son sits in the back seat singing, my mind wanders back through the events of the day. I’ve been in my new house for a few days now, and no one has bothered me. I honestly don’t think I’ve even seen any of my neighbors yet. Sure, I know the type of neighborhood I’d moved to isn’t the best, and it’s in gang territory, but still. The house I chose for the two of us is nice, clean, and well looked after. The best part is I don’t have to worry about the grass, because the owner of the property has their own maintenance man for handling that a long with other things.
I drive down the main roads leading home while my mind brings me to thoughts of K-9’s text message. We need to talk. What do we need to talk about? Derick is my son, and I have a say. I may have let K-9 walk all over me for the past several years, but it’s time I get my life back. I need to let the guilt go, finally. I can’t let the guilt I feel for Derick’s death take over my life anymore. I need to be happy for my son. He deserves to learn that happiness can come even in tragedy.
K-9 will just have to get over the fact I’m not going to allow him to walk all over me anymore. I won’t put up with him talking down to me.
Pulling onto my street, I make my way to my driveway, not missing the men sitting around on the porch at the house next to my own. I park, turn the engine off, pull my keys from the ignition, pocket them in my scrub top and get out. Ignoring the men’s eyes on me, I round the car where I help Derick out of his car seat and out of the back seat.
“You ready to see your new room?” I ask, taking his hand and heading into the house.
“Yeah,” Derick responds enthusiastically and rushes us up onto the porch, where I pull my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door. Once the door is open, I release his hand, and he takes off running, exploring the little house. He yells from what I’m assuming is his room as I step through the threshold, closing the door behind me. I make sure to flick the lock as I do so.
“Mommy, I love my big bed,” Derick yells.
I knew he would. I had picked him out a full-size bed with dinosaur bedding to go on top. He might play music, but he’s just like any other three-year-old and loves all things boy. I’d made sure to deck his room out at my brothers the same way I did this one with his toys and what he likes. But this is his space here at our home, just the two of us, and he deserves to have his space filled with everything he wants. Which he got.
Grinning, I put my stuff down and decide to go join my son before ordering dinner. Tonight we’ll celebrate a new beginning, just him and me. Tomorrow, I’ll deal with whatever else comes my way. Meaning I’ll deal with K-9.
Chapter Five
Lex
Sitting at the bar, I stare into my drink. Lately, everything seems to be changing around me more than I can handle some days. My sister moving out is one of those changes. I don’t like that she’s decided she needed to move, let alone to the neighborhood she moved to. I should blame K-9 for this, but I can’t. I know the truth. It only took me about a day to figure it out after I found out my nephew’s father, Derick, was his brother.
K-9 may think he’s hiding the fact he wants my sister, but I’m not a fool. Neither is anyone else around us. Yeah, he’s always the jokester around us, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see it. I think the only person who’s blind to his anger is Anabelle. She puts up with his anger and hateful words.
I don’t like this, but then again, it’s not me who lost a man like Derick. I didn’t know the guy, and I have my own guilt to bear for that, because I kept my sister at arm’s length when I should have held her close. Now she’s just turned twenty-one, finished nursing school, and started working at the hospital in the ER. I’m gonna miss having her and my nephew right down the hall.
Blinking, I lift my beer off the bar top and bring it to my lips. Most of us had decided to stick around tonight to be on the alert if anything were to go down with this run. It’s strange to think I’ve known these men for years. Hung out with them on more than one occasion, and three years ago, they’d made Chaz, Hunter, Tanner, and me members of the Devil’s Riot MC. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of anything else. That is besides being a part of my band.
“Something’s up,” Twister says, sitting down next to me and waving to the prospect behind the bar.
“What do you mean?” I sit the bottle back on the bar top and look at him with inquisitive eyes.
“You. Something’s up. What is it?” And that right there is why this man has my respect. He doesn’t bullshit. Twister goes straight for what he wants. No matter what it is. It’s why he got his ol’ lady, Izzy. I remember that shit that went down with them two. Her situation was fucked up, but mainly because she blamed herself for something she had no control over. Izzy also can understand what K-9 and Anabelle both are feeling since she lost her brother in a car accident.
“Nothing really. My sister moved her and my nephew out of our house and into one for just the two of them.” That isn’t the only thing fucking with me, but it’s a start.