HARDCORE: Storm MC(224)

I was a little shocked at how well he was taking everything, though. He wasn’t angry, but maybe resentful. I wondered if he was really the best answer for Gigi. Would he be there for her, twenty-four seven? Would he clean up his act? Would he have the patience and free time for her? His club had been the focus of his life for so long—would the switch be easy on him? I doubted it. I didn’t love the idea of Gigi having to deal with his growing pains. She had been through enough already, more than any kid her age should ever go through.



Rae stood up. “I’m gonna go now.” She walked out of the room without another word. Without even a backward glance. I listened as the front door opened and closed. I didn’t know how she’d get home, and I didn’t care.



Lance stood, too. “She won’t go to rehab,” he murmured. “She only said that so she wouldn’t look like the piece of shit person she is.”



“You think she’ll stay around?”



He shrugged. “I don’t much care anymore. As long as she hands Gigi over to me, she can do whatever she wants.”



I looked up at him, wondering. “You’re sure you’re ready for this?”



“Who is when they have a kid? The only difference is I don’t have to change diapers. I’m okay with that.” He gave me a tired smile.



“It’s a huge lifestyle change, though.”



“You think I don’t know that?” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re still trying to get me to give her to you. Is that it?”



I shook my head, totally serious. “Not at all.”



“You’re serious?”



I nodded. “Deadly. I don’t have what it takes to be a mother to her.”



Lance crouched in front of me, no longer joking. “What the hell are you talking about? You sound nuts. Maybe you do have a concussion.” He held my chin, looking into my eyes like he was checking to see if they were focused.



I pushed his hand away gently. “I’m fine. I mean what I’m saying. I don’t have what it takes. I’m too selfish. This whole time I thought I knew better than anybody else how to take care of her. It wasn’t about her. It was about my ego. I had to be the hero, you know? I had to save the day. I knew it all, I could save her. What a joke.”



“Where’s this coming from? The way I heard it, you just about got yourself killed trying to stop them from taking my kid. That sounds like something a mother would do, doesn’t it?”



I shook my head. “You don’t understand. I should have been here with her instead of at my house. I didn’t take you seriously when you said we were in danger—that she was in danger. I sat around, hanging out, while that pig was kidnapping her. He might have killed Erica. She fought back at least. She did what she had to do.”



“Right, and it didn’t matter either way. You can’t see things that didn’t happen—I mean, you can’t sit there and say you would have fought him off. He would’ve hurt you. He hurt you in that room, didn’t he?” He touched the back of his head, referencing my injury.



“Yes, that’s true.”



“You did what you could when it counted. You went there to protect her.”



“I should’ve called you.”



That stopped him. He frowned, thinking it over. “Maybe you should have. Yeah. Now we know.”



“What? We know I should call you the next time your daughter is kidnapped?”



He cocked his head to the side, smirking. “We know we’re a team. You can’t take everything on by yourself. I can’t take everything on alone either. We have to work together. Especially if we’re gonna be raising a little girl.”



It took a moment for his words to sink in. My face went slack, my jaw hung open. He smiled, closing my mouth with a finger under my chin. Then he caressed my jaw—gently, hardly touching me, his brow furrowed.



“What are you saying?” I asked in a whisper.



“It’s a lot to ask. I know that. But I was thinking…you’re right. I can’t do it alone. And yeah, I have a lot of people here.” He nodded toward the lounge outside the office, and I knew he meant the club. “It’s not the same as having a mom, though. I know you love her. She loves you. I know you would lay it all down for her, too. I don’t hafta to be a genius to know the right thing here.”



I was speechless. When I finally stopped screaming in my head long enough to think straight, I whispered, “How? How would we do this?”



He looked at my hands. “I thought…you would stay. Maybe. If you wanted to.”