Craving Trix (The Aces' Sons 1)

“Not that I know of. She’s been actin’ fuckin’ weird for weeks, though.”

“Hmm.” Farrah met my eyes. “What started it?”

I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut again. I didn’t like the idea of airing our dirty laundry in front of my parents. They loved me—and if they had to choose, they’d always choose my side. But that was the problem. I didn’t want them to think badly of Trix, even when I was pissed at her.

“When she found out she was pregnant,” I finally said, leaving it at that.

“She wasn’t happy about it?” Casper asked.

“No.” I swallowed hard, then took another sip of my coffee to stall. “She wanted an abortion.”

Farrah’s eyes grew wide and Casper scoffed in disbelief.

“What the fuck?” Farrah screeched.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “She was seriously fucked up about it. Don’t know what was goin’ on in her head.”

“Jesus,” Casper murmured.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Calm down, Ladybug,” Casper snapped. “He doesn’t need your shit.”

Farrah scowled at Casper, but took a deep breath and relaxed back into his body.

“She already said she wouldn’t do it,” I told them, shaking my head. “I think she might’ve been figuring her shit out, but then those fuckers showed up at the house and she’s ten times worse now.”

“You think she’d have an abortion?” Farrah asked quietly.

“No.” My hand tightened painfully on my coffee mug. “No, she wouldn’t.”

“You sure?” Casper pushed.

“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ sure,” I snapped back, just the thought of it riling me up.

Casper raised his hands in surrender and I sighed.

“She told me last night she doesn’t want me near her,” I ground out, looking at my mom for some reassurance. “I don’t know what the fuck to do. I’ve tried everythin.’ She won’t talk to me.”

“You keep tryin’.” Casper said, surprising me. “She’s worth it, you keep pushin’.”

“That worked real well last night,” I laughed, scratching at the short beard that was growing in on my cheeks.

“You were drunk,” Farrah said flatly. “I thought Dragon was going to kill you.”

“Shit.” I groaned. I’d conveniently forgotten about that part.

“Wasn’t his place to step in,” Casper cut in. “But can’t say I wouldn’t do the same with CeeCee or Lil.”

I nodded. “How’s Lil doing?”

“Better,” Casper said with a nod. “A little better. She’s with Cec at home so we could come here and check on you.”

“Hell, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, we did,” Farrah argued. “You’re our boy and you’ve had a rough time of it.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Farrah said resolutely. “But you’ll figure it out, bud. Nothing lasts forever—even bad times.”

I nodded, accepting her words. “Have they said when they think Lil will get her eyesight back?” I asked softly.

We hadn’t really talked about the chance of Lily regaining her sight. It could happen, and I think all of us were waiting for it to get better—but there were no guarantees. We hoped for the best, but in the meantime, we’d have to just accept her blindness as fact.

Lily was blind, and there was nothing we could do about it. No surgery that could reverse the damage, no drug that could fix her.

“We’re going to start taking her to a psychologist next week,” Farrah answered. “Hopefully, that will help her.”

“It might not,” Casper murmured. He raised his eyes to mine. “Might be that this is her life from now on. Gotta be prepared for that.”

“Fuck,” I hissed.

“Coulda been a fuck of a lot worse, Cam.” Casper shook his head. “We coulda lost her. Eyesight is nothin’ compared to that.”

Farrah sniffed, but that was the only indication that she was feeling emotional. My adopted mother was tough, but she felt things just as deeply as everyone else, maybe even deeper. She’d never show that emotion at the club, though.

“You guys heard anything from Grease?” I asked, changing the subject. It wasn’t any easier to talk about Casper’s sister, Callie, but at least we wouldn’t be thinking about what would have happened if Vera and Gram hadn’t protected Lily with their bodies.

“Yeah, Callie’s up and around now,” Casper said with a nod. “They’re not letting her out yet, but they’ve got her out of bed and walking.”

“Damn, isn’t that really soon?”

“Nah, they make you get up pretty quick these days,” Farrah replied. “The quicker you’re on your feet, the better you heal, I think.”

“I need to get back up there.” I’d barely been up to see Callie. With everything going on with Trix and then the funerals, I hadn’t made the time.

“She’d like that,” Casper said with a nod. “We’d better get going, Ladybug. Don’t want Lil home too long without us.”

We climbed to our feet, and I finished off my coffee before hugging Farrah goodbye.

“Cecilia doin’ okay?” I asked, as I walked my parents outside.

“Yeah, she’s okay,” Casper answered. “Can you believe that shit with Woody? I think she’s been talking to him on the phone since he went back to Salem with his mom.”