“Dad.” I ample towards him, Mom in tow by my side.
“This is why I kept my mouth shut. Should have today.” I take the offered bottle of Jack Daniels from my dad, bring it to my lips, and take my own gulp.
“Well, you should have known Lavender would come to me, then, too. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure things out, and the minute Persephone came over and I told her, she glued the pieces together.”
“Got no words. Proud of you for bein’ a man, but I’m also tellin’ you, man to man, if some dick tried to get between your mother and me, I’d have shot him in the damn dick and taken my woman with me. Though, I guess I wasn’t in your shoes, and Lavender probably wouldn’t have taken the way you would have handled business too kindly. A shitty situation, and one I’m not proud of my Prez either. Fuckin’ Nail and Dice. They’d beat his ass bloody for causin’ all this fucking shit in the club. Raven, you better get Sadie’s head out of her ass, quick like, or I’m gonna do it.” Not sure I’ve ever seen Dad this pissed before.
“I get that, but it was either she hates me or Shovel if I told her the truth. And I wasn’t ready for Ender to know just what he’s capable of either. That bein’ said, now that I’m sure Aunt Persephone is lightin’ his ass on fire, maybe Ender will forgive me.” Fuck, that burning sensation in my gut is back, and I’m too damn young for an ulcer. “How’d you figure things out?”
“Didn’t take too much to put two and two together. I came home, your dad was already here, we talked about it, and he said to talk to Persephone. The timeline wasn’t hard to figure out, and you just told us the rest.” Mom sits back with a coy smile on her face.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter, yanking the bottle away from my father.
“Watch it, boy.” He lets me have the bottle. I know too much more, and I’ll be staggering back to my room at the club because no way in hell am I staying here tonight.
“Whatcha gonna do about it, ol’ man?” He snatches the bottle back, and the three of us sit around the table silently. Mom breaks the quietness with her questions, but for the most part, Dad and I are deep in our own thoughts.
CHAPTER 8
LAVENDER
“Ah fuck, how much of that did you hear?” He doesn’t even say anything else, just that. Never in my life did I think he’d be as heartless as he is right now.
“All of it.” I choke back the need to kick, yell, and scream as I remember he was the one I ran to when I thought Ryder betrayed me at the age of eighteen.
“I’d like to say I’m sorry, but, honey, I’m not. You were young, he was young, you both needed to live your life before you decided to be tied to the club.”
“I think we’re done with this conversation. I can’t even stand to look at you, much less be in the same room with you right now. I’ve always been a daddy’s girl, looked up to you, found some of the same qualities in Ryder, and believe me, I’m still pissed as hell that Ryder did what he did to appease you. But you’re supposed to protect me. Instead, I became a shell of myself. I’ve been hurting, in agony for four years, and it’s all your fault.” He doesn’t say anything. I look him in the eye, letting him see every emotion running through my body, letting him read my facial expression, unsure if I’ll ever see him like I did when I was a little girl—the man who let the bike fall on him so I wouldn’t skin my knees as I tipped over, or how when I was struggling with a class, he’d stay up to help me push through and feeding me hot chocolate while he guzzled back coffee.
“I’m leaving. I’ll be back when I want to.” I stand up. He goes to grab my hand, but I skate by him, barely. Though, if he really wanted to, Dad could overpower me without much effort.
“Lavender.” I’m at the door when he finally has an ounce of remorse in his voice.
“No, Daddy. I can’t deal with this, not right now, maybe not ever.” I open the door, closing it without slamming it unlike my mom did only minutes ago. Nope, I’m going to make a statement by not showing any feeling at all, much like Dad is doing.
Thankfully, I didn’t change into pajamas yet, or I’d be regretting my decision as I step outside, nothing surrounding the property except for trees, buildings here and there, houses for each of the members who have been a Diamondback long enough to get a patch.