Duke (The Black Hornets MC Book 3), page 10
A ziplock bag, a sticky note, and a pen.
“For… the babysitter. And don’t… fight me… on this. Duke.”
I slid the money and the note into the ziplock bag, stuck it into Eden’s purse in the corner, and then made my way back upstairs.
The woman was passed out, softly snoring when I got to my room. And the sound made me grin. She’d always sounded like that. She had always been a heavy sleeper. I slipped out of the pants I found on my floor and crawled into bed next to her. I wrapped her up, pulling her into my arms as she moved with me. Her cheek settled onto my chest. Her thick leg, laced with strength, slid between mine as I laid there on my back. The smell of her pussy on my lips sent me into the most peaceful sleep I’d ever gotten, and when I woke up that morning we were in the same position we fell asleep in.
But not for long.
A knock sounded at my front door and I groaned. I had half a fucking mind to ignore it. To leave it alone so I could cherish this time with Eden. I looked over at my bedside table and reached out my hand. The fuck kind of time was it anyway? I picked up my phone and rolled my eyes as the knock came again. It was fucking seven thirty in the damn morning. I was going to kill whoever was at that door, because it didn’t sound like they were going away.
And I knew Eden needed her sleep after a fucking decade of turmoil and single motherhood.
Reluctantly, I eased myself away from her body. The knock came down onto my door again, only this time it was harder. Holy fuck, if whoever this was woke Eden up, they were in for a world of hurt. I pulled some jeans over my legs and jumped up into them. I closed them up as I walked down the hallway, making my way for the door.
My hand ripped the door open, my eyes squinting at the harshness of the morning summer sun hanging over Redding.
But it didn’t take me long to see who was standing there.
“Duke.”
“Colt.”
“We need to talk,” he said.
“Yeah. I guarantee you we do,” I said.
“Can I come in?”
“Nope. But we can talk out here.”
I stepped out of the house as my eyes adjusted to the sun. I saw the quizzical look Colt gave me as I closed the door behind me. Even if Eden wasn’t in my bed, I still wouldn't let that fucker into my home. I was irate with him, and my fury woke me up in a way coffee never would.
“So, where do you wanna start?” I asked.
“How about let’s start with why the hell my sister’s car is in your driveway,” Colt said.
“Or we could start with how the hell I didn’t know you had a damn sister in the first place.”
“I think my question is more pertinent than yours.”
“I guarantee you, it’s not.”
I stared him down. Squared off, toe to toe with my best fucking friend. The one man I trusted more than anyone else in this world. Well, used to anyway. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to trust that son of a bitch again.
“Why the fuck is my sister here?” Colt asked.
“To talk, like the two of us should have done years ago,” I said.
“Her child is yours, isn’t it?”
“The hell does that have to do with you?”
“Answer the fucking question, Duke.”
“No, Colt. I actually want you to answer a few questions. Like why the hell I didn’t know the girl I was seeing was your damn sister, how the fuck you could hide a family like this from the men who are supposed to be your family, and why the hell you think any of this concerns you at this point!”
“I did what I thought was best for my sister. I had no idea she was fucking pregnant,” Colt said.
“I’m glad you assumed everything about our talks that you needed to in order to make that statement. So, let me clear things up with you. Eden trusted you. When you rushed back into her life and told her to get the fuck out of dodge, you rallied your parents against her. Didn’t you?” I asked.
“The hell are you talking about?”
“You told them all of the things about this club, didn’t you? Brynn. Diesel. The faking of her death. The illegal gambling. You told your parents just like you told Eden in order to scare them, didn’t you? So they’d listen to you, didn’t you? So you could rip Eden away from everything the two of us had created for her life and dump her somewhere before abandoning her!”
“I didn’t abandon her! I did what was best for her and the life I had chosen to lead. You know shit was rough with that gang back then. And it’s rougher now. She shouldn't be hanging around you. She shouldn't be anywhere near you!”
“It wasn’t your decision to make back then, and it sure as hell isn’t now. She followed you blindly, hoping to have a relationship with the brother that left her when she was ten. Abandoned her for some life when you never had to abandon your family at all. That was a choice you made, Colt. A choice you made of your own volition. And then you swoop back in, use fear to manipulate the family you claimed to care about, and then you dropped Eden in a city an hour and a half away and left her there to fend for herself!”
“You don’t know a damn thing about me or what happened back then,” he growled.
“You are right about one of those things. I sure as hell don’t know you at all, Colt.”
In a flash, his fist connected with my jaw. And I flew into a fury. I gripped his leather cut and slammed him against the post of my porch, then brought my fist up underneath his chin. He tossed me to the cement. He brought his boot back to crack against my side, but I caught it in my hand. I pulled him down and rolled him over, straddling before I took one punch. And then another punch. And then yet another punch into that man’s slimy, sleazy stare.
“Duke! Stop!”
I heard Eden’s voice, but it was far away. Colt’s hand rushed up and wrapped around my neck as a pair of soft arms wrapped around my chest. I felt myself being pulled away from him. Away from the man I was ready to kill without a second thought. I stumbled off his body as the pair of soft arms fell away from me, and I watched Eden rush into my view. She dipped down to help her brother up, but he shoved her off. Pushed her away so hard she stumbled back onto her feet. I reached out and caught her, watching as tears welled in her eyes. She looked back up at me before pulling away. Shaking me off her like I was some fucking disease.
“What the hell are the two of you doing?” Eden asked breathlessly.
“Talking,” I growled.
“Sure as hell didn’t look like talking,” she said.
“Are you wearing Duke’s shirt?” Colt asked.
I looked over at Eden’s curvy frame and saw one of my bigger t-shirts draped over her. It came down to her damn knees, and she looked every bit of an angel in it. My eyes ran down her body. My eyes traced her sloping curves. I was ready to go another round with her. I was ready to pick her up, sling her over my shoulder, and take her back into the house.
I was ready to forget about Colt and use my energy for something much better.
“Why do you care, Colt?”
Eden’s voice ripped me from my trance and I watched him pan his eyes over to his sister.
“Say what now?” he asked.
“Why do you care about any of this? Up until yesterday, you didn’t even know you had a niece. An extended family of any sort. I’ve seen you three times in the past however many years. Three times. You want to act like my brother when it’s convenient, but you sure as hell aren’t one. Not really,” she said.
“Did Mom and Dad know about her?” Colt asked.
“Like you have a right to ask about them. Do you even know how they died? Do you even know that information since you never attended their funerals?”
“Dad died of a heart attack,” he said.
“And Mom?”
My eyes flickered over to Colt and I watched his face falter.
“Suicide. Last year. Because she couldn't deal with the grief of not having Dad around,” Eden said.
“What?” Colt asked.
“You’re a pathetic excuse for a brother. You come onto Duke’s doorstep thinking you can beat the father of my child into submission, when you know damn good and well you haven’t held a decent place in my life in years. Sierra doesn’t even know you exist. She knows she’s got two dead grandparents and a father, and that’s it.”
“You’ve… never told her about me?” he asked.
“Why the hell would I, Colt!?” she exclaimed.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your family?” I asked.
Colt’s eyes whipped over to me before he hardened his icy stare onto mine.
“Don’t think you’re so special, Duke. I didn’t tell anyone about my family. Especially when I got involved with the Black Hornets. Our father, when he was younger, paid his time in jail with a street gang. He went away for years before he got out and cleaned his act up. Got his life together. Met Mom. Did all the shit he needed to do in order to have the life he created for Eden when she came along,” Colt said.
“What?” Eden asked breathlessly.
“Yeah, Eden. There’s a lot you still don’t know about Mom and Dad. Like the fact that Mom stripped to pay for her college. Or the fact that Dad met her in the strip club she worked in while running with a local street gang,” Colt said.
“What!?” Eden exclaimed.
“Mom got pregnant with me before Dad got caught. Tossed into jail for seven years for what he had done. He wasn’t there for the most formative years of my life. And when he got out, he decided to clean his act up. Mom, too. She kept stripping, you know. To pay for bills. She dropped out of college to take care of me the best way she knew how. But I saw what it did to her. Even at seven, I saw what it did. And when Dad got out of jail, things weren’t the same with them. It’s why they cleaned up their act.”
I looked over at Eden and saw how speechless she had become.
“When they figured out that I was a prospect for the club, Dad was furious with me. Kicked me out because of it. He said he worked hard to make sure nothing bad came down onto the heads of his family, and that I was fucking that up,” Colt said.
“Wait a second, you didn’t leave because you wanted to?” Eden asked.
Colt shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Dad wanted me gone, and he made a lot of good points. But before I left, I made a promise to Mom that I’d do whatever it took to take care of my family. To keep you all safe, even with the life I had chosen.”
“Why did you choose it?” Eden asked.
Colt shrugged. “Because I didn’t have anything else. I wasn’t good in school like you were. I practically flunked out of ninth grade twice. Dropped out before I hit my sophomore year. I got tired of flipping burgers and washing cars for petty cash. The Black Hornets offered me something more. Something greater than what I was doing. So, I took it,” he said.
“So, when things started getting bad…” I said.
“I leaned back onto the promise I made Mom. I promised her I’d always protect you guys, so that’s what I did. I came back after leaving, gave them a quick rundown of what was happening, and then used only what I had to in order to scare you into doing what I needed you to do in order to keep you safe, Eden,” Colt said.
I watched Eden shake her head. He’d thrown way too much at her at once. The shock was stunning her system, and I reached out to take her into my arms. I saw the way Colt’s eye twitched. He didn’t like it one bit. But at the moment, he was nowhere near the most important thing to me.
“Oh my gosh,” Eden whispered.
“I was only trying to protect you,” Colt said.
“Well, you did a shit job of it, if you ask me,” I said.
“She’s alive, isn’t she?” Colt asked.
“Cut it out, both of you,” Eden said.
She pulled away from my grasp and raised her gaze to mine.
“No matter what you want to believe, you have to understand that I get it. I get why Colt did what he did. It was conniving and laced with absolute bullshit, but he was trying to protect me,” she said.
Then, she turned and faced her brother.
“This was my fault, too. It doesn’t fully lay on your shoulders. But Duke isn’t in the dark any longer. It was wrong to keep him there in the first place, and I own up to that. Every bit of it. But if you think for one second you’re in control of this situation any longer, you’re sorely mistaken. So stop acting like it,” she said.
The three of us stood there, our eyes dancing between one another. I didn’t know what to say. What to do. I still had so many questions. So many things I wanted to say to Colt. But, the sun was rising higher and Eden needed to get home.
Back to our daughter.
“We’ll figure this out later. Right now, there are more important things to deal with,” I said.
“Like what?” Colt asked.
“Like the fact that Duke and I’s daughter has been with a babysitter all night,” Eden said.
Anger flashed in Colt’s eyes as she turned around. But I was focused on her for a different reason. I followed her back into the house, peeking over my shoulder just long enough to watch Colt storm back to his bike. Our daughter. Eden had addressed Sierra as our daughter.
Was she trying to stick it to her brother?
Or did she really, truly mean that?
Chapter 18
Eden
I made my way back into Duke’s house, unable to look at Colt any longer. Duke was hot on my heels as the door closed behind me, and I drew in a deep breath. I turned around and took in Duke’s stature. The way his shoulders were rolled back. The fire that lined his eyes. The way his nostrils flared with his breaths. The way his hands clenched at his sides. He was worked up beyond belief, and he had every right to be. I saw the beginning stages of a bruise making its way across his jawline and it made me sick.
“I’m so sorry, Duke,” I said.
“I was so fucking hurt when you left, Eden,” he said.
I swallowed hard, bracing myself for the words I knew would shatter my world.
“I blew your phone up that day at graduation,” he whispered.
“Duke, I’m so—”
He held his hand up to silence me before his eyes met mine.
“I stood after your speech at graduation. Whistled for you as you walked across that stage to get your diploma. And when I shoved every kid aside to get outside to find you, I couldn’t. You were nowhere. I called and I called. It went from ringing to voicemail to nothing at all. Just a recording a voice that told me the number was no longer in service.”
Tears lined my eyes as I backed against the wall.
“I rode by your house. Practically stalked it, trying to get a glimpse of you. Some sort of explanation as to what had happened. As to what was happening. I was so fucking worried, Eden. I threw rocks at your window. I tried sneaking into your house through the basement. You were the woman for me. The girl I wanted in my life and at my side. And you broke my heart,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Duke,” I whispered.
“I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to understand. To get it. Do you get it, Eden? Do you understand?” Duke asked.
I pushed off the wall and made my way for him. I held my arms out for him and he scooped me up. He twirled me around as my arms tightened around his neck, holding him as close as I could get. I buried my face into his neck. I felt the pain he was experiencing. The haunting of past memories I had conjured over the years he had been experiencing as well.
“I loved you so much, Eden,” he murmured.
“I loved you, too, Duke. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant for any of my decisions to hurt you. I was young and scared. I wanted my brother. I wanted everyone in my life, and I couldn't have that. Please forgive me, Duke. Please don't be angry with me,” I begged.
He sat me down back onto my feet and pulled away from me. His hands cupped my cheeks and his thumbs smoothed my tears away. I hadn’t cried this much since my pregnancy. Since my entire world went toppling over onto its head with that one little testing stick.
“I was so desperate to have my brother back that I would have jumped to the tune and beat of any drum. So when he told me to leave—when he told me about all those stories—I agreed to leave. I didn’t want to get wrapped up in something bad. I didn’t want to be on the outside waiting for that person in jail. That’s why I left. That’s why I didn’t tell you. So many reasons and so many things, but it all stemmed back one thing,” I said.
“You were scared you wouldn’t be a priority to me, like you felt you weren’t to your brother,” he said.
The second I nodded, he brought my lips to his. His hands dropped down my body, pulling me close into him. My hands pressed into his chest. I slid them up and around his neck, cupping his head and tilting mine off to the side. His kiss took my breath away. Like it always had. Our tongues did battle as he backed me into the wall, pinning his knee between my legs.
“I’m sorry, Eden,” he murmured against my lips.
“Why in the world are you sorry?” I whispered.
He pulled back, his forehead pressing against mine as we breathed one another’s air.
“I wished life was different. I wished things had happened differently. If I had come clean with you about what I was doing, we had a chance to work through it. I know I could have convinced you that it wasn’t all that your brother had spooked you into thinking it was,” he said.
“Honestly? I wish things were different, too,” I said.
My eyes danced between his as he pulled away. He smoothed my hair back as I braced myself against the wall. My legs shook. Trembling in his presence. He still had that hold over me. My heart slammed against my chest with every stroke of his skin against mine.
“Do you want to make this work?” I asked.
Duke’s eyes whipped up to mine before his brows furrowed together.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Do you want to be part of Sierra’s life?” I asked.
His eyes light up. “Hell yeah, I do.”
“Then, we’ll figure it out. We’ll work at it and come up with something, okay? But we can’t do it now. I have to get back home to her.”
