“Not asking, babe, takin’ you to the clubhouse.” My shoulders sag and I let out a sigh. Of course, he would send a prospect to come get me. But did he have to send this one?
I slowly make my way to him and as I’m about to get behind him on the bike he grabs my waist, yanking me to him and slams his mouth to mine. I let out a small moan that makes me want to punch myself in the face. I pull away and glare at him. “You have no right to do that.”
“You’re mine.” He shrugs turning around. “Now get on. Even put a bitch seat on the back just for you, baby. Never done that for a woman before until you.”
“No, you’re Susan’s,” I mutter as I climb on the bike behind him. Stupid asshole is not gonna keep declaring I’m his. Already got Mateo saying that shit too. Both of them need to stop, it’s giving me a h
eadache.
His body stiffens and for a moment I think maybe I blurted all that out instead of thinking it, but he relaxes moments later. “Susan ain’t mine,” he replies gruffly and guns the bike.
We drive through the town I grew up in. The town in which I was known as the child of a no-good whore and my stomach drops. My Mom was a good woman with a gypsy soul. She was misunderstood by everyone. She had a free spirit. I was a child who belonged to no one when I was growing up after she passed away. Crystal and Susan made sure of that. Walking into the clubhouse I tense up as uneasiness washes through me. Memories hit me of when Mom would bring me here and it sends a pain into my chest. She’d sit me on a barstool and Con, the guy working the bar, would make me a root beer float with a cherry on top. Mom would always take the cherry and pop it in her mouth. God, I miss her. She was always wearing belly tops and billowy skirts with white heart shaped sunglasses on. She was so beautiful. Happy says I look like her and at times it hurts him to look at me. I guess I should say it used to hurt him, and I never understood why. He was happily married so why would seeing my face pain him? He’s not seen much of me since I ran off. I can’t help but wonder if coming back is a mistake. I don’t want Sophia to suffer the same hurts that I did.
An arm snakes around my stomach and I’m pulled flush with Grady’s body. “Find me when you’re done with Happy. We’re gonna chat.”
I see Mateo off in the distance staring us down. I know it’s wrong of me to taunt him, but I turn into Grady’s embrace and touch his cheek momentarily. “Yeah. Sure.”
I walk down the familiar stairs to the basement where Happy has his office. The same pictures still line the walls. Club members present and past. There is a picture of my mother; she’s standing back behind Happy and Crystal looking so damn sad. I stop mid-step, tracing my fingers over the planes of her face wishing I could wipe that expression from her face. One I never saw her wear but one I have worn like a mask most of my adult life.
I carry on and knock on the door that has President painted in big black letters on the front. “It’s open,” Happy’s gruff voice calls out.
I push the door open and take a seat across from his desk. “You wanted me to come by?”
“There’s something I need to tell you. I don’t know how you are going to react but it’s something I should have told you a long time ago. I just thought you’d be better off not knowing. I kept something from you all your life thinking that it’d protect you, but I see now that I was wrong in doing something. I know you never knew who your father was but that’s my fault. I hold all the blame. Your mother wanted to tell you, but I begged her not to. I was glad to be the cool and fun Uncle who got to see you on the weekends and on the side. But, Nikki, I’m not that guy. I’m your father.”
“What?” Is fucking with me right now? I sit stunned in silence working it all out in my head. Why Happy insisted he take me in when my mother died. Why Crystal hated me. Why Susan was such a cunt to me.
“I know I have a lot to make up for, but I want you to know that Crystal won’t be a problem anymore. She will never harm you or go near Sophia. I made sure of it. Bitch got what she deserved for killing your mother and for how she treated you. I finally have the truth and it’s time you get it as well.”
All I can do is nod. The man has left me a bit speechless. I want to be mad at him but right now I feel a small pang of sadness for Susan. I know how it feels to lose your mother. Then I recall the hell she put me through, and I smile at Happy, at my father. Quickly, I frown, all this time I had a father and never knew it. The way I was treated all makes sense now.
“There’s more,” he says, breaking the silence. At this point I’m not entirely sure I want to know more. This is already a lot. He starts telling me shit that has me more confused than anything. My mother was his old lady?
“I don’t get it, why was I always treated like garbage, not just with Susan and Crystal, but everyone in town?” I ask him, needing answers.
Happy, dad, Uncle, hell, what do I call him, sits back in his chair and rubs the back of his neck. “I was legally married to Crystal,” he starts. “It was to give her protection, medical insurance and shit like that. She was pregnant. I always thought it was Rhonda’s idea, turns out Crystal talked her into it, anyways, that’s what everyone around knew. They knew we were legally wed, thought Susan was mine. You see Crystal tricked me into sleeping with her. Pretended to be Rhonda then came forward later and said she was pregnant. Told me what she had done. Rhonda loved her sister and forgave her. Went along with her plans but we were still together. Obviously when I was seen with Rhonda and you, everyone jumped to conclusions. Everyone in the club treated you and your mother like queens, and you know it.” He’s right, I always felt at ease here, except when the club whores were around and would glare at both mom and me.
“I wish I had known all of this. Life would have been better, or at least easier, don’t you think?”
He shrugs, looking deep in thought as he pulls out a picture and hands it to me. “This is a picture of your mother and Crystal before you and Susan were born.” I look at it, noticing how similar my mom looks like Crystal. But something is off with this photo. Mom’s hair is dyed red and her makeup so thick it looks like you’d need a chisel to get it off, which is not the mom I knew, she loved being blonde, barely wore make up, and Crystal is curvy, which shocks me, since I’ve only ever known her to be rail thin.
What he says next shocks me. “They were twins, Crystal was the wilder one, she’s the one with all the makeup looking like a natural whore, in that picture.” I look at it again, what the hell. “Once Crystal got pregnant, a stipulation I made was she had to change, couldn’t be wild and reckless anymore, something we let everyone think your mom was. I loved Rhonda more than anything, she was my world.”
I set the picture down and glare at him. “Yeah, except you were married to her sister and obviously slept with her since Tyler is younger than I am.”
“Which was a mistake and a calculating move on Crystal’s part. That broke your mother’s heart and things were never the same after that. I have a lot of regrets, but I hope you know that you were never one of them.” He fills me in, and rage takes over me, that Goddamned cunt. I wish I could kill her. She destroyed my whole world. How on earth did she get away with that shit for so long? Who has their own twin murdered and steals her man like that?
“I think I need to go,” I tell Happy quietly, getting out of my seat. “Thank you for telling me all this, but I need some time.” My head is pounding, and my heart keeps cracking. Susan is my cousin. Crystal was my aunt and treated me the way she did my Mom. I feel hurt…sick. I need to process all this information and all these feelings swimming in my head.
“I understand, but you gotta know, Nikki, that no one will ever hurt you again. I love you beyond the moon.” A memory hits at that moment, and I remember him telling me that when I was younger, and he tucked me in after reading me a story. I gulp, struggling with a reply. And just nod, not trusting myself to speak right now.
I leave the room and instantly Mateo is there, in my space. “What?” I snap at him, wishing he had just left me alone.
“You okay?”
“Fine.”
“We should talk.” He pulls me to him, and I am afraid he will kiss me. That’s the last thing I need right now.