“Not this shit again,” he mumbled under his breath. “Leave, Bethy.” She nodded her head, turning in her steps and walking out the door.
Rubbing my hand over my jaw, I exhaled out in frustration. “This is fucked. I need time to let this sink in.”
“Come back to Vegas, son,” he said, looking down to me, waiting for an answer.
I shook my head. “No. Not ready for that, I need time.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, a nod of understanding and setting into his black eyes that I’m so familiar with.
Hella stood from his seat where he’d been silent for the entire time. “I’ll come with you.”
I shook my head again. “I need time alone, bro. You stay here with Abby, I’ll find somewhere to clear my head.”
Hella’s shoulders stiffened. “No. No fucking way are we splitting.”
“We’re not splitting, I’m going to clear my head. I’ll come to Abby’s when I’m done.”
“Fuck that! No. No way,” he answered with certainty, crossing his thick arms in front of himself.
“Hella…” I warned, boring my eyes into his.
Luce stepped in, running his eyes between both Hella and I. “Suggestion. Come to Vegas and clear your head. Both of you. Hella can crash at the clubhouse until your head is…” he waved his hand around his head, “…cleared. Deal?”
Narrowing my eyes skeptically, I asked him, “Why? Why are you eager to know me?”
His face relaxed. “You’re my son. Our time was stolen. I plan to amend that. And there’s your mother, I loved her like no other.” Closing my eyes briefly, I nod.
“I need time,” I stated with certainty. “I’ve never had family. Hella and Jada were the only family I had. This word is foreign to me.”
“Just come home, son. I will take care of everything, that I promise you.” His words wrapped around the lost kid that still hides inside me. Maybe under it all, I do still crave a family. Under a lot of concrete layers and titanium barriers, but under there somewhere.
“Yeah, all right.” I swallowed past the lump that had built in my throat.
Hella walked to me, clutching his hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want me with you? We’ve never been separated,” he whispered, looking toward Luce.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I answered, looking directly into Luce’s eyes.
“I want to show you something,” Luce said, dragging up the garage door. The Devil’s Own compound is a lot rougher than the Sinful Souls’. It looks… biker. After our chat in Westbeach, we all rode back to Vegas that night. My head was clouded and I didn’t like it. It was a vulnerability that I wasn’t familiar with.
My footsteps caught up to Luce where he pulled up another silver garage door, opening out to display a gloss black Harley Davidson.
“Nice. It yours as well?” I asked, taking a step into the garage. The only light that beamed in was coming from the late day afternoon sun.
“Yeah. I bought her before my father died… your grandfather. He died last year. Don’t know why I bought it.” His eyes came up to meet mine with a smirk. “I do reckless shit when I’m feeling off.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, you don’t say.”
He pushed his fist into his pockets, fishing out a set of keys. “Here…” throwing them into my hands, “…she’s all yours. I don’t know why I bought her, but I’m glad I did.”
“I can’t accept this,” I responded, throwing the keys back at him.
“You can, and you will.” He tossed them back to me. “I make the rules around here, you take the bike.”
I caught them in the air. “All right. Thank you.”
He rounded the bike, walking toward me. “She’s a Dyna Super Glide Sport with custom T-bars.”
“Thanks, you didn’t have to do this.”
“No, I did,” he answered with a smirk.
“Oh, and why is that?”
“Because, you’re my son. Which makes you a Devil by blood, which means you will be patching in.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Yeah? You’re very optimistic. Have you forgotten, I have The Army chasing my ass? That’s some baggage to bring into your club.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. You’re family… and that makes me automatically involved, patch or no patch.” He turned in his steps, smirking over his shoulder. “Oh, and there’s a phone in the bag. Make sure you use it to get hold of me. Don’t be longer than a couple weeks. Welcome home, son.”