Withstanding Me
Page 42
Welcome to the f**kin club.
“That’s what f**ktard said. Before we killed his ass. It makes sense. Tatiana is good at evading us when on lockdown. Maybe he just hasn’t had the opportunity?” I reply thanking f**k that my daughter is just that f**kin smart.
“Still doesn’t make any goddamn sense as to why it’s been quiet with him.”
And I have to agree with Sniper. It makes no sense, and that’s got my f**kin palms sweatin. If it weren’t my daughter, I can guarantee my palms wouldn’t be sweatin.
“This is what we’re gonna do to keep the fam safe. Club Sated closed until further f**kin notice. Lockdown in the compound. No one, but brothers leave the compound,” Pyro speaks up. He’s acting prez so we’ll do what he says. Just one problem. You ain’t getting Winter, and the rest of the women to agree to that shit. What makes lockdown bearable for them is being able to move in between the two locations.
“Not gonna work,” I laugh.
“Why the f**k not?” Pyro growls at me.
“Winter and the girls ain’t gonna let that slide. She’ll close down the club, but she ain’t gonna be confined, and you f**kin know it.”
It’s just the damn truth.
“Where the f**k is our Prez?” he growls. Braxxon is the only one that can order Winter around.
“So we close the club and pretend to let the ladies move back and forth. Ya know, act like we trust them with this shit. That crazy reverse shit that people do. Let’s do that.”
Pyro contemplates it for a minute, running it through his brain. “That’ll work.”
We end our conversation, start tossing back shots, and smoking our joints. We haven’t had a f**kin party in ages at the club, and I know we’re all f**kin aching to get so blistering f**ked up we can’t remember the last 24 hours. We’re in the middle of shooting the shit when I hear my daughter’s voice loud and clear through the club.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE A FUCKIN BROTHER?”
I groan. Dammit!
“Yeah, we forgot to talk about that.” Pyro chuckles.
“Shut the f**k up,” I growl and stand up, popping my knuckles and neck. “Winter got any junk food in the kitchen?”
They both look at me like I’m crazy. “How the f**k would we know?” Sniper says.
I roll my eyes and jog towards the Club kitchen. She’s gotta have some kind of cookies in here. I rifle around the cabinets and spot some sugar cookies. Okay, they’re not chocolate chip, but my baby will understand.
I jog back over to where I left Storm and Mace. I tap Tatiana on the shoulder and she flies around. I hold out the cookies, and she jerks them from me. “Dad… what’s going on?”
I flinch. Fuck do I flinch. She sounds hurt. I f**kin hate that.
“Sit down baby.” I motion towards the booth.
I go on to tell her about how her mother didn’t tell me I had a son, or that she had a twin brother, and tears roll down her face. She’s so f**kin hurt. I f**kin hate when my baby is hurting. And I can’t stop this hurt because I didn’t f**kin cause it. All I can do is make it easier on her.
“I f**king hate her dad; I f**king hate her so bad.”
I blow out a breath, thanking f**k she’s not mad at me. It’s one thing for a parent to be let down by a child, but for a child to be let down by the parent, not f**kin cool. Never wanna let down my kid. Shit. I mean kids.
Which reminds me.
“Tatiana, need to tell ya somethin baby girl.”
The cookie she was about to eat pauses midway to her mouth.
“Storm was pregnant, but she lost our baby in the car accident.”
Strom squeezes my leg underneath the table booth and a small gasp escapes her lips. I don’t think she was expecting me to tell anyone else.
“Storm…,” Tatiana cries like she doesn’t believe me.
“It’s true.” She replies.
“This is a f**ked up world.”
And that’s it. Tatiana doesn’t say sorry because she knows it’s not what Storm wants to hear right now. Another reason why my dumbass is finally trying. My daughter loves Storm.
“So Mace… is your name Mace or is it short for Mason?” Tatiana looks at her brother.
“It’s short for Mason.” He answers her.
Damn. I seriously hate that Mira.
“Me and you. We’ll be good as long as you agree that our birth mother is a cunt.”
I choke on my laughter. Leave it to Tatiana to leave an ultimatum.
“Well, we good then.”
I shake my head. This is f**kin nuts. I have twin kids. Yeah, f**kin nuts.
“Awesome and oh… don’t be hitting on Storm. She’s gonna be our step-mommy soon.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
Storm starts choking on her drink. I start patting her on the back because I feel the same f**kin way about that sentence.
“Seriously? She’s almost our age.” Mace laughs.
“Tatiana, baby girl, you’re getting ahead of yourself here.”
God damn if Storm isn’t red in the face.
“Babe, your dad and I are dating, and you’re grown, so I’m just gonna say it how it is. We’re f**king. Right now, that’s all this is.” Storm gestures between us.
That pisses me off. We’re f**kin, and that’s all this is? Why the hell does that make me mad? I repeat her words over and over again in my head. Trying to make sense of them. We’re f**king. Right now that’s all this is. What the f**k? I don’t like that shit. It’s weighing on my mind something heavy. Goddammit! I said I would try. I would try at a relationship. Doesn’t that mean more than f**king? I don’t understand.
“That’s what f**ktard said. Before we killed his ass. It makes sense. Tatiana is good at evading us when on lockdown. Maybe he just hasn’t had the opportunity?” I reply thanking f**k that my daughter is just that f**kin smart.
“Still doesn’t make any goddamn sense as to why it’s been quiet with him.”
And I have to agree with Sniper. It makes no sense, and that’s got my f**kin palms sweatin. If it weren’t my daughter, I can guarantee my palms wouldn’t be sweatin.
“This is what we’re gonna do to keep the fam safe. Club Sated closed until further f**kin notice. Lockdown in the compound. No one, but brothers leave the compound,” Pyro speaks up. He’s acting prez so we’ll do what he says. Just one problem. You ain’t getting Winter, and the rest of the women to agree to that shit. What makes lockdown bearable for them is being able to move in between the two locations.
“Not gonna work,” I laugh.
“Why the f**k not?” Pyro growls at me.
“Winter and the girls ain’t gonna let that slide. She’ll close down the club, but she ain’t gonna be confined, and you f**kin know it.”
It’s just the damn truth.
“Where the f**k is our Prez?” he growls. Braxxon is the only one that can order Winter around.
“So we close the club and pretend to let the ladies move back and forth. Ya know, act like we trust them with this shit. That crazy reverse shit that people do. Let’s do that.”
Pyro contemplates it for a minute, running it through his brain. “That’ll work.”
We end our conversation, start tossing back shots, and smoking our joints. We haven’t had a f**kin party in ages at the club, and I know we’re all f**kin aching to get so blistering f**ked up we can’t remember the last 24 hours. We’re in the middle of shooting the shit when I hear my daughter’s voice loud and clear through the club.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE A FUCKIN BROTHER?”
I groan. Dammit!
“Yeah, we forgot to talk about that.” Pyro chuckles.
“Shut the f**k up,” I growl and stand up, popping my knuckles and neck. “Winter got any junk food in the kitchen?”
They both look at me like I’m crazy. “How the f**k would we know?” Sniper says.
I roll my eyes and jog towards the Club kitchen. She’s gotta have some kind of cookies in here. I rifle around the cabinets and spot some sugar cookies. Okay, they’re not chocolate chip, but my baby will understand.
I jog back over to where I left Storm and Mace. I tap Tatiana on the shoulder and she flies around. I hold out the cookies, and she jerks them from me. “Dad… what’s going on?”
I flinch. Fuck do I flinch. She sounds hurt. I f**kin hate that.
“Sit down baby.” I motion towards the booth.
I go on to tell her about how her mother didn’t tell me I had a son, or that she had a twin brother, and tears roll down her face. She’s so f**kin hurt. I f**kin hate when my baby is hurting. And I can’t stop this hurt because I didn’t f**kin cause it. All I can do is make it easier on her.
“I f**king hate her dad; I f**king hate her so bad.”
I blow out a breath, thanking f**k she’s not mad at me. It’s one thing for a parent to be let down by a child, but for a child to be let down by the parent, not f**kin cool. Never wanna let down my kid. Shit. I mean kids.
Which reminds me.
“Tatiana, need to tell ya somethin baby girl.”
The cookie she was about to eat pauses midway to her mouth.
“Storm was pregnant, but she lost our baby in the car accident.”
Strom squeezes my leg underneath the table booth and a small gasp escapes her lips. I don’t think she was expecting me to tell anyone else.
“Storm…,” Tatiana cries like she doesn’t believe me.
“It’s true.” She replies.
“This is a f**ked up world.”
And that’s it. Tatiana doesn’t say sorry because she knows it’s not what Storm wants to hear right now. Another reason why my dumbass is finally trying. My daughter loves Storm.
“So Mace… is your name Mace or is it short for Mason?” Tatiana looks at her brother.
“It’s short for Mason.” He answers her.
Damn. I seriously hate that Mira.
“Me and you. We’ll be good as long as you agree that our birth mother is a cunt.”
I choke on my laughter. Leave it to Tatiana to leave an ultimatum.
“Well, we good then.”
I shake my head. This is f**kin nuts. I have twin kids. Yeah, f**kin nuts.
“Awesome and oh… don’t be hitting on Storm. She’s gonna be our step-mommy soon.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
Storm starts choking on her drink. I start patting her on the back because I feel the same f**kin way about that sentence.
“Seriously? She’s almost our age.” Mace laughs.
“Tatiana, baby girl, you’re getting ahead of yourself here.”
God damn if Storm isn’t red in the face.
“Babe, your dad and I are dating, and you’re grown, so I’m just gonna say it how it is. We’re f**king. Right now, that’s all this is.” Storm gestures between us.
That pisses me off. We’re f**kin, and that’s all this is? Why the hell does that make me mad? I repeat her words over and over again in my head. Trying to make sense of them. We’re f**king. Right now that’s all this is. What the f**k? I don’t like that shit. It’s weighing on my mind something heavy. Goddammit! I said I would try. I would try at a relationship. Doesn’t that mean more than f**king? I don’t understand.