“Would you like something stronger?” Her mother asks me. Without even thinking about it, I nod my head. She smirks and raises her hand, calling the waiter back over. In no time my glass is being replaced by something else. I don’t bother to look at what it is. I grab it as soon as it’s set in front of me and down it letting the burn coat my throat.
“I’m going to assume you didn’t know who her father was by the way you’re drinking,” her mother says with an amused chuckle. I raise my eyes to meet hers.
“Am I makin’ it that obvious?” Toni starts to open her mouth but I quickly raise my hand, not wanting to hear it. Much to my surprise she doesn’t try to speak again.
“So, she didn’t tell you that part?”
“No. Would have been nice to have known it though. Excuse me,” I say before shoving myself out of my chair and turning on my heel. I need a minute. I need to breathe. I need to focus so that I don’t do something that I regret later.
I walk through the restaurant, finding the bathrooms at the back. I shove the door open and step inside, heading for the sink. Then I look at myself in the mirror.
“How the hell did you fuck this up?” I ask my reflection. “How didn’t you know who the hell she was?”
“I didn’t offer it up.” I close my eyes when I hear her voice. I don’t bother to look over at her, I’m too angry right now.
“I’m sorry, Leo.”
“You’re sorry? You’re fuckin’ sorry?” I ask angrily. I turn my head and look over at her, seeing the look in her eyes. She might be sorry but I’m pissed.
“I can explain this,” she tries but I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear a fucking word that she has to say. Aces of Night MC. She is the daughter of the President! I can’t believe this. I let her into the clubhouse. I let her around my brothers, my family. I let her into my heart!
“I can’t do this, Toni.”
“Leo, let me explain things,” she says stepping toward me. I can’t think straight. If she was a man, I would have snapped her neck. I would have taken my anger to a new level and fucked her world up but she isn’t a man. She’s mine. What the hell is wrong with me?
“I don’t want to hear you talkin’, Toni. Take your panties off,” I growl. She looks almost shocked that I’d ask her to do that right now but I need a release. I need to focus on not hurting her.
Toni slowly pulls her panties off and kicks them to the side before walking toward me. When she’s close enough, I grab her dress and hike it up her thighs and around her waist before undoing my pants. Lifting her, I set her on the edge of the sink before sinking my cock inside of her. She gasps for air, clawing at my shoulders as I fuck her. Everything seems to hit me at once. My head is a mess and she is making it worse. I failed my club. I failed me. Instead of voicing it, I take it out on her body.
“Leo,” she cries as I come roughly inside of her. Her nails claw at the back of my neck, no doubt leaving marks. I want them. I want the reminder of what I’ve done.
I pull out of her and pull my pants back up and buckle them as she sits breathlessly in front of me. There’s so many things I want to say to her but I can’t, I won’t.
“Since you’re a fuckin’ princess and all I assume you can get your own ride, yeah?”
“What? Where are you going?”
“I’m goin’ home, Toni. I’m goin’ back to the people that don’t lie to me. To the people that have my fuckin’ back when I need it.”
“Leo, if you’d just let me explain things,” she begins but I cut her off once more. I step toward her, grabbing her chin with my fingers and forcing her gaze to meet mine.
“No more, Toni. No more lies,” I say shaking my head. “No more bullshit. I thought what I was feelin’ for you was real. I thought . . .” I let that sentence trail off before pressing my lips roughly to hers. When I pull away, I hear the soft cry fall from her lips. I turn on my heel and walk out of the bathroom leaving her to her own mess.
It takes me no time to make it outside to my bike and I’m both happy and pissed that she didn’t follow me out here. I suppose a part of me wanted her to while the other part begged her not to.
Taking a deep breath, I blow it out as I look into the night sky and roar, “Fuck!”
Chapter Fifteen
Antonia
“He left you here, didn’t he?” My mother snidely laughs, coming up beside me as I stand in the corridor that led to the private room where we were eating.
Turning my neck, I glare at her. “You just had to go and screw things up for me, didn’t you?” Sure, I’m deflecting her question by giving her one, but I really couldn’t give a damn.
“The only one who screws things up for you, sweetheart, is your father, and it’s best you not forget that.” My entire life she’s tried to cause a rift between my father and I, or at least that’s what I thought when I was younger. As I grew up, I realized what she’s been doing is pointing out the parts of my relationship with him that bring me the most heartache. “He treats you like a tool, not like his child.”
I want to be sassy and snap back some well thought out reply, but I can’t. I’m too fixated on what Leo’s feeling right now, how betrayed he probably feels, how he’s most likely hating me for not being honest with him. “I wish I could say you’re wrong, but you’re not.” The truth hurts, but she’s right.
“I wish he’d stop being such an old, power hungry bastard, but he never will, Antonia. He’ll continue using you to get what he wants, and let me guess, he promised you something for this, right?”
I stare into her eyes and give her a curt nod. “Yes. He said if I proved myself, I’d get the club when he’s ready to pass the gavel down.”
She cackles, crosses her arms, and takes a step closer to me. “Tell me you didn’t honestly believe him.”
I don’t say a word.
“He will never give any woman power willingly, Antonia. Even if you’re his daughter, he won’t care.” I close my eyes at her words, trying to see some sort of possibility, something that would make me feel he isn’t just using me to do his dirty deeds again, but I can’t. Instead, the only thing settling deep within me is confirmation. I’m just a tool to him, a faithful, diligent tool that will do whatever he asks as long as he tells me what I want to hear.
“I’ve always hoped for much more from him. Yet he finds a way to disappoint me every single time.” I mutter, opening my eyes again. My mother puts her hand on my shoulder and gives me an encouraging squeeze.
“Men only let us down, darling. It’s best you see that now. Even your Leo will do it at some point. Men always do. They’re only good for one thing.”
I shake my head, “No. I refuse to believe that. I know you’ve had horrible interactions with men and they started with Dad, but . . . I’m not going to give up on finding happiness or that forever kind of love. I refuse to be as bitter as you and Dad are, and I’m sorry if that sounds crass. You know I’m always so respectful to you, but, I don’t want the cruelty of the world to rip me up like it has done to you.”