Page 13

King

I see it in her face. Fuck me. I see it. She’s feeling happy as we walk toward the landlord. It’s a man. For some reason, I was expecting a woman. He’s watching Gabby and I do not like the look on his face. I wrap my arm around her, my fingers resting on her hip. I feel the minute Gabby tenses up.

“What are you doing?” she whispers, annoyance clear in her voice.

“I don’t like the looks of this guy. I’m letting him know you’re claimed.”

“Claimed? Have you lost your mind?”

“Woman, if it keeps you safe, let him think what he wants.”

She stares at me, swallows nervously, and pastes a smile on her face. “Fine,” she murmurs. I get the feeling she’d say a lot more if we weren’t almost to the guy. I lean down and kiss her forehead. Her eyes lift to take me in and I grin down at her as they dilate while surprise lights her features.

“Gabby. It’s good to see you again.”

“Hey Mick. Thanks for agreeing to speed up the process. I decided I didn’t want to wait.”

“I’m happy to. I had a lot of interest in this property. I wanted it to go to someone I knew would take care of it. It can be hard to find good renters these days.”

“ We’ll be sure to take good care of the place.”

Gabby squeezes my hand. I can feel her nails biting into my skin. She doesn’t argue with me, though—which is a good thing.

“Are you her …?”

He leaves his question open-ended. I do not. “Yeah, man. I am.”

“I thought this was a single rental,” he counters.

I can feel the resistance in Gabby until this asshole says that. Then she leans into me. “I don’t remember a question on the rental application about if I was dating anyone, only if I had children. Which I was very upfront about, I believe,” she responds.

He looks back at her, resignation on his face.

“You’re right, of course. It was just … a surprise,” he responds, not looking us in the eye.

However, I see it. He looks at Gabby and then at me.

I see the disgust written all over his face.

It’s nothing new. People look at the color of my skin and don’t like seeing me near someone with Gabby’s coloring.

In response, I smirk at him, daring the motherfucker to say anything.

I see the minute fear trembles through him and my smirk turns into a full-fledged grin.

“As I said over the phone, I will need a month’s rent and the safety deposit. ”

“I have a check ready,” Gabby answers right away.

She reaches into a purse she has hanging from her shoulder across her stomach and resting on her hip.

She pulls out a check and hands it to him.

“I’m actually paying three months in advance.

With the baby coming soon, I’m not sure how hectic things will be,” she explains.

The pride she has is hard to miss. Hell, she should be proud.

I sure am. Gabby’s pregnant, holding down a job and getting on her feet with practically zero help.

Scratch that. She’s not getting any. They may have given her a place to stay at the club, but she worked in the kitchen there and helped with cleaning.

She did this even after working all day at the diner.

No one asked her to do that shit either. She demanded it.

“Well, with that, I guess I can give you the keys. I was going to show you around once more, but it appears you have someone with you to help you with that.”

“Yes. She does .” I say at once, not liking this guy’s vibe whatsoever.

I’d like to introduce his smug face to my fist. The only reason I haven’t is because I know that would keep Gabby from having her own place and she’s too happy to allow that.

If there’s a woman around who deserves happiness right now, it’d definitely be Gabby.

“King,” Gabby admonishes quietly. “Thank you, Mick. I truly appreciate all your kindness.”

“We’ll talk soon,” he says, sparing me a glance. He’s at least smart enough to give me a wide berth as he walks out into the drive.

“You just make friends wherever you go. Don’t you, King?” Gabby hisses.

I look down at her, smiling and enjoying her temper. “Woman, that guy is a grade-A asshole.”

“He’s been really nice to me,” she argues.

“Of course he has. He wants in your pants.”

Her mouth drops open, then she looks at me like she can’t believe what I said. “You’re crazy!”

“No, I’m not. That fucking asshole was undressing you in his mind from the moment you stepped out of the truck.”

“He was not! Oh my God, King, you need therapy.”

“Gabby, he was!” I insist.

“I’m almost seven months pregnant, King!”

“So?”

“So? Men do not hit on women who are seven months pregnant.”

“Wrong, Sunshine. They do when that woman looks like you and doesn’t have a man at her side.”

“A woman that looks like me? You mean someone who looks permanently tired, and like she has swallowed a watermelon and couldn’t digest it? And while we’re having this discussion. Stop calling me Sunshine. I don’t like it.”

“Gabby, when is the last time that you looked in the mirror? Also, I’m not going to stop calling you Sunshine. It fits you.”

“It doesn’t! And unfortunately, I look in the mirror daily. So, yes, I know what I look like, and I know I’m not the kind of girl a man looks at twice—especially being heavily pregnant.”

“Okay, then, in this case, you don’t get a vote.”

“Huh?” she squeaks, completely confused.

“Whatever place you’re operating from in that brain of yours, it’s not seeing correctly.

Therefore, you can’t have a vote in this.

I’m a man. He’s questionable, but I’m thinking he has a dick since it’s clear he wants to stick it into you.

That means I’m the expert vote and trust me, that man wants in your pants. ”

She gives me a look that I’m pretty sure is designed to kill me dead.

Lucky for me, it doesn’t. I watch as she opens the door to her new home and walks inside.

I look around, frowning. It’s not a bad place, but it doesn’t look like somewhere I’d want to bring my baby home to.

The room we walk into appears to be a living room.

The walls are painted a red color that would hurt your eyes.

At least the flooring looks relatively new.

It’s a gray floating floor. There’s no furniture in the room and that makes me frown.

I don’t remark on it, though. I’m not going to tap down on her excitement.

There are two open doorways in the room.

One is straight ahead and just peering through it appears it leads into a kitchen.

The other doorway is to the right, and it leads into a hallway.

“Don’t you love it?” she exclaims. “I know the walls need painted. I’m thinking a gray throughout that’s just a little darker than the floors. I was going to paint the baseboards white. I think that will brighten it up in here and yet make it all feel homey.”

I said I wasn’t going to, but I can’t seem to stop myself. “Sunshine, there’s no furniture.”

“The kitchen is fully equipped. Plus, the master bedroom has a bed. For the other one, I bought the pack and play for the baby, although to be honest, I’m probably going to keep my jellybean with me.

I was thinking I’d go out to the Peddler’s Mall tomorrow.

It’s my day off. I can find a cheap rocking chair and a couch, maybe.

Get some linens and things. That’s really all I need.

I’m going to be leaving after the baby is born and I make sure he or she is healthy.

I won’t be able to haul my furniture. So, there’s no point in getting a lot,” she reasons.

“Peddler’s Mall?”

“Yeah, it’s in an old furniture store. It’s like two stories of secondhand items. You can find some really nice buys there.

I’ll go by the hardware store and get some paint first, though.

Since I’m going to be redoing about every room, I’m going to do it all in the same color.

It will save money if I buy the five-gallon jug option.

But first, I need to make sure of how much money I have to work with before I go hog wild and buy other things.

I want to get a really nice rug so the baby can have somewhere soft for tummy time and to learn to sit up and things.

I mean, the pack and play will have a playpen, so that can work, but I want to be able to get on the floor and play with my jellybean. You can hardly do that in a playpen.”

She’s talking so fast I have to really listen to take it all in. I smile despite my misgivings. “Show me the rest of the place, Sunshine. Once we get that done, we’ll go get your car and I’ll pick us up a pizza.”

Her smile quickly turns down. “Seriously, King. Stop calling me that.”

“Why would I do that? That silly song you love and declared was the best ever talked about his woman being sunshine constantly. If a man ever gets lucky enough to claim you, you’ll give him sunshine. It’s a name that fits you.”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s a name that T calls Lyla.

They already don’t like you and I being friends.

They’re afraid I hold some kind of secret power to rob you of all your brain cells and make you fall into my bed or something.

The last thing I need to do is have T lose his mind because you slip up and call me that sometime.

He’ll hunt me down in order to give me hell, and honestly, I’d rather not see him and Lyla again. ”

“I thought you said that you apologized?”

“I did.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Well, they accepted, but made it clear all would never be forgiven. Mostly, they wanted me to grow from this and learn from my mistakes. Which, I fully admit, I need to do. They didn’t need to forgive me.

It was just awkward, and I did it for closure.

Closure will never happen if you ever talk about me as if we’re friends.

It especially won’t happen if you refer to me as Sunshine.

It will be just more proof to them that they are right about me. ”

“What the fuck does it matter what they think? Are you friends with me because T is my brother?”

“Please, if anything, the fact you are Dragon West’s son is a reason for me to stay far, far away from you.”

“Now, that’s bullshit.”

“Huh?”

“Gabby, they’re happy and married! They have kids. I get what went on was twisted and not good, but you apologized. Life went on. You’ve recognized your mistakes and apologized. I didn’t hear you say anywhere in there that Dom apologized to you.”

“I think if we’re giving a grade on who did the most wrong, King, that would land solely at my feet. It’s over. I just want it done—which it is. I just don’t need more reasons for them to be upset. I’d rather just cease to exist for them. That’s for the best.”

“Bullshit, and that’s never going to be sustainable.”

“Of course it is. It’s one of the reasons I’m moving to Denver.”

“Which is more bullshit. You will have a new baby. The last thing you should do is move away from people who care about you.”

For a minute, her face looks lost, and slowly she brings her gaze up to mine and I see the tears shining in her eyes. “King, no one cares about me.”

“That’s even more bullshit and damn it, Gabby, I don’t want to hear any more of that crap.”

“It’s true.”

“What the hell do you think Nicole is doing, carting all that baby crap down here?”

She stares at me. “Nicole is nice. She enjoys helping. That’s all.”

“What about that Lottie chick? Or Dani?”

“Lottie wants me to join her club that her and Aspen are creating together behind her dad’s back—mostly to piss Ryan off and say a fuck-you to the whole of Savage Brothers in general because they don’t allow women in as patched members.”

I stare at her like she’s lost her mind. I pinch the bridge of my nose and hold my head down. “The longer I live, the more I think all women are nuts.”

“I’d argue with you, but I kind of did go nuts for a while, so I can’t. For the record, there’s nothing wrong with women having their own club.”

“I didn’t say there was, but you’re not joining her club.”

She frowns at me. “I’m not, but if I wanted to, I would. I just happen to be pregnant and have no desire to join.”

“Thank fuck for that. Still, all this shit proves my point. Lottie and this Aspen chick must like you, or they wouldn’t ask you.”

“Not necessarily. They just want a lot of members to add more credibility to what they’re building.”

“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”

“I wish,” she chuckles quietly.

“How about the fact that I like you, Gabby? Don’t I count at all?”

She looks up at me with sadness. Seriously, her face is so sad that it makes my damn heart clench in my chest. “King, honest to God, you’re probably the only true friend I’ve ever had, but you and I can’t truly exist as friends.”

“Why the fuck not? Especially since we’re already friends.”

“Because of your family. They would never accept me in your life, King.

“Gabby—”

“Even as just your friend. They won’t allow it. I couldn’t handle the looks from them if we were hanging out and ran upon them. I’d be miserable, and you’d get upset on my behalf, maybe even resent me one day. That’s not the life I want.”

“So, you think running away to Denver is the answer? Do you really think you need to move all the way to motherfucking Denver just because of what Dom and T think?”

“It’s not just about me,” she whispers.

“You’re damn straight. It’s about me. I want you in my life, in whatever way that comes out. I want you in it.”

“I don’t want my baby living near people who know he or she was conceived by rape.

All it takes is one overheard conversation, one person mentioning that in front of my child, or when he or she is just walking by.

Then my baby’s world is destroyed. I can’t stay here, King.

I can take whatever anyone wants to say about me, but I’ll be damned if I let them say anything to my child that will make them feel less than, or unwanted.

I’m going to protect my baby. You must understand that. ”

I tuck some of her hair behind her ear, lean in and kiss her forehead. “How about I carry your stuff inside? Then I will take you to pick up your car. While you come home, I’ll drop by and grab a pizza, and we’ll have dinner together.”

“I’d like that.”

“Good. Let’s get a move on.”

“Okay,” she laughs.

She leads the way to the door. I follow, but I do it with my mind racing. Gabby needs help. I’m just going to have to figure out how to do it without reinforcing this horrible image she has of herself. Somehow, I’m going to have to make her see what I see in her.

I just have no idea how to accomplish that.