HARDCORE: Storm MC(221)
Flash saw me standing there and stood next to me.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Everything’s okay.”
“I don’t know if I’m ever gonna feel like it’s okay again.” I looked at him. “Would you? If that was your kid, your woman?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, man. That’s why I don’t have either.” We both chuckled a little. He got serious, though, looking at them. “This is our life. You have to decide if it’s worth it.”
“If what is? Them?”
“No, this.” He looked around. “This is it. Our world. She has her own world. Gigi could be part of either world—she’s young enough. What do you want for her? What do you want for you? Do you wanna worry about them all the time because some other club from outta town wants to take your turf? Or because you pissed somebody off?”
“It’s not like that anymore. It’s peace time.”
“Will it always be?”
I looked at Gigi. She was holding on to Jamie for dear life. Jamie was bruised, bleeding.
“I’ll keep it that way for them. That’s how this will work.”
Flash slapped me on the back with a smile, walking off to drink with a couple of the guys. I felt better than I had before. That was the answer. If she wanted me, I would do everything I could to make it so I never had to worry about her.
I walked into my office so I could be alone for a minute. As I did, I said another prayer. My second in twenty years. Thank you, God. I’ll do whatever needs to get done to deserve them.
“Hey, Lance.” I looked up, surprised to hear Rae’s voice. She sat on the sofa by the wall. I looked around—what did she take? She chuckled. “It’s cool. I didn’t take nothin’. I didn’t even look around. Check me out if you wanna be sure.” She opened her backpack, taking things out to show me she didn’t have anything that belonged to me.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t have anything there of any value except the computer, and she couldn’t fit that into her shitty backpack.
“You got them back.”
“You wanna see her?” I asked. Not that I would let her within twenty feet of the kid, but I had to ask.
She looked toward the closed door. “Nah. It’ll just confuse her. But she’s okay?”
“Physically, yeah. She’s fine. They didn’t do anything to her.”
“Oh, thank God. I was so scared.” She swiped a hand across her face, and I really looked at her for the first time since I walked in. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her face was blotchy and swollen. She was crying—a lot. Maybe since we left her there. I forgot all about her.
“Why’d you hang around?” I sat across from her, on the edge of my desk.
“I had to know. I could’ve exchanged my ticket, but I had to know she was safe. After you left…I thought about killing myself. I’m not tryin’ to get your pity or nothin’. I really thought about it.”
“What stopped you?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t want her to know I went out like that.”
I nodded. It was fair. I didn’t believe it—I didn’t believe a word she said, ever, but it was a good excuse. I wondered what she really wanted. Why would she hang around there when she knew I hated her? What if I never found Gigi—if I got back and saw Rae there, I would’ve killed her. It was a risk, sticking around. She had to want something.
She looked at me, and the way her eyes went narrow told me she had something on her mind. I knew it.
“I think you and me have some talkin’ to do,” she said.
I only nodded. “I think you’re right.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jamie
“Ouch.” I couldn’t help but wince when I felt the sting of alcohol on my scalp.
“Sorry,” Traci murmured. “I’ll have you cleaned up soon. It’s not deep. Hardly anything.”
“Head wounds always bleed more,” I said.
Erica snorted from her seat across from me. “Yeah, no kidding.” She’d needed stitches, though. My cut wasn’t anything a few butterfly bandages couldn’t handle.
I ached all over—the sting of my scalp was nothing compared to my bruised tailbone, aching arms and legs. My jaw hurt so much that it was tough to speak. Even my throat hurt from screaming. Still, I wouldn’t let go of Gigi. She was curled up in my lap, a warm, limp body in the middle of sleep. I wasn’t sure I would ever let go of her. Not after we came so close to losing her.