Page 10

Silver sat at the clubhouse bar for a long time, drowning his sorrows. Most of the guys had gone to bed or gone home. Torque seemed to have finished fucking his find for the night and decided to join Silver, taking the seat next to him.

“I take it you ended it with my daughter?”

He lit a cigarette and blew a stream of smoke. “What the fuck did I say all those years ago? Layla is and always will be off-limits.”

He didn’t say anything Silver didn’t already know. He also knew the consequences.

“Layla is a caring person.”

Torque puffed his cigarette. “You show her any kind of affection and she thinks she’s in love with you. She’s not. She just has a big heart for scumbags.”

Silver drank his beer. “Nobody said anything about love.”

Torque laughed. “Please. You look like a puppy that lost his favorite toy.”

He turned toward Torque. “What’s your deal with her? You’ve had more women than all of us combined. Plenty of them claimed they had your child, but you only believed Layla’s mom. Why is she the only one you took care of?”

He tapped his cigarette in the ashtray. “Layla was planned. Trina told me that she wanted a baby. Not my first request, but I didn’t think it was such a bad idea with her. I loved her at the time and when she told me she was pregnant, I was happy.”

Silver took a long drink from his beer. He didn’t know what he expected, but that wasn’t it.

“I went to the hospital when she was born.”

He smiled at the memory. “She was so tiny. Perfect, really. Trina told me that she’d need someone to look after her and protect her. I knew if nothing else, I could do that.” He glanced over at Silver. “She raised her, but I protected her. I always will.”

“Even from someone like me?”

“Especially from someone like you.”

He stamped out the cigarette and turned toward him. “She has a chance to make something of herself. To be whatever the hell she wants. You’re not going to fuck that up for her.”

Silver stood from the barstool. “You need to check on her. She wasn’t too happy when I left her apartment.”

He rubbed a hand over his scruffy face. “Fuck. I’m going over there right now. When I get back, we’ll handle the business between us.”

Silver didn’t say anything as he headed to his apartment. If his ass was going to get kicked for fucking Layla, he needed some rest.

****

Layla didn’t rest well. She slept some and woke up cold and lonely. She searched her clothes for something to wear and found an old ratty T-shirt and some shorts. An unmistakable motorcycle engine sounded outside and she went to the window to peer out.

Her father.

Instead of waiting for him to knock, she went to the door and opened it. He smiled at her holding a bag of food and kissed her forehead.

“I brought you some breakfast.”

She took it from him and motioned for him to come inside. The smell of biscuits and sausage gravy had her stomach growling. She sat at the table and spread the food out, digging in.

“So you’re pissed at me?”

He pulled out the other seat across from her and sat.

“I don’t know what I am with you.”

She took a bite of food.

“Fair enough.”

He watched her for a moment. “What do you want, Layla? In life. If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?”

“I don’t know. Family. Friends. I don’t really have much of either right now.”

“You don’t want to go to college?”

“I don’t have money to go to college.”

He leaned forward. “I told you that I’d pay for it.”

She shook her head. “I’m not living off you for the rest of my life.”

“The point of a college education is to get a job to make your own money. Good money. Legal money.”

She shook her head. “I don’t get that option. Natalie is graduating next year. Chrissy is living life one day at a time. Tori needs some stability. I don’t get to think about what I want, Dad. That ship has sailed.”

He pulled a cigarette out and lit it. “So you and Silver? The two of you would raise your sisters?”

“I don’t know.”

“You had to have some kind of idea of living life with him. What is it?”

She ate another bite of her food. She didn’t think that far ahead. Silver told her that he wanted to buy a house. He didn’t want kids. She knew better than anyone that her sisters were better off with her aunt. It didn’t change the need she had to be there for them. To step into her mother’s shoes and be the one that took care of them. Trina McDaniel may not have been many things, but she was a good mother. It pissed Layla off that she took those damn pills and ended her life.

“I didn’t want to raise my siblings with him.”

She shook her head. “They’re better off with Miranda. I know that.”

“Then what is it? What’s with the fascination?”

“I don’t know.”

She ate a few more bites of her food. “He used to bring me sodas. I didn’t ask him, he just thought of me. He gave me money when I needed it. His money. Money he was saving to buy a house.”

“He gave you that in exchange for sex. That’s not love.”

“It was more than sex.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “He took me to the movies. I’d had a bad day and he took me to the movies. Let me pick it. Bought me popcorn and a soda. He shoved Ashley away from him. Turned down a blowjob even though I told him to go for it. He yelled at me that she wasn’t who he wanted.”

Torque’s eyes widened. “When did this happen?”

“Last night.”

She cleaned up the mess she’d made and threw the trash away. “He finally talked to me. Opened up some. He told me that despite everything, he simply wanted me to like him. It wasn’t just sex between us. I know about his interest in me. I was interested in him too. He’s so much more than what’s on the surface. I would think you’d know that since he’s the VP of the Charming Bastards MC.”

And he was. Silver was reserved but held no qualms about caring for her. He liked to dominate, but let her push him when she wanted. His smile was rare, but when it happened, it lit up the room. He knew how shitty her life had been and for a while, he made her forget about it. It wasn’t just sex, even though that was a large part of it. She enjoyed the way he wrapped his arms around her. The way he kissed her. She shifted in her seat wishing that she’d kissed him one last time. She needed his kiss and it hurt knowing that she’d never get to have it.

Torque exhaled. “Fuck.”

She glanced up and met his eyes. “What?”

“No matter what I say or do, you’re always going to want him.”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t think you know him well enough to have that smitten look on your face, but who the fuck am I to know anything about love.”

“Love?”

She swallowed hard.

“Yeah. He had the same fucking expression.”

He leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him. “I can’t beat him for breaking the rules now. Not with both of you looking like I’ve just killed your puppy in cold blood.”

“Don’t beat him.”

Layla couldn’t bear the thought of that happening.

“Club business is club business, but I’m not. I told them all that if they even so much as talked to you or touched you that they’d get fucked up by my fists. He knew it too. I wasn’t kidding. I’m not really shocked he did it anyway. You’ve been an obsession for him for a while. I didn’t really think that anything real was there, but I guess I was wrong about that too.”

He tapped his cigarette on the table. “He’s going to get demoted. My new rules are: if you’re going to be his girl, then he’s going to fucking put you first. The club comes second. There’s no negotiating.”

She stared at him. “You’re allowing it?”

Torque let out a rough breath. “If you’ll promise me that you’ll go to college. I’ll make him support you so you’re not working fifty jobs around town. The two of you can find someplace better than this dump. Get a home and build a life. You can go to college and get a degree in something. Anything. I don’t fucking care. I want you to be better than me.”

“I can’t quit working. I have to pay for Chrissy’s treatments.”

He stared at her. “You’re not their mother, Layla. I know you love your sisters, but they’re not your responsibility. Trina was a bitch about most things, but she cared for her girls. She would want Miranda to keep them and take care of them. I know she wouldn’t want the burden put on you.”

Layla shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what she wanted or anyone else wants. I’m going to help take care of them. If they can’t live with me, then the least I can do is pay for Chrissy’s treatments. She’s got a doctor’s appointment next week and I’m going with her. I’ll probably take off a few days because they normally make her sick afterward. You may have only showed up when you wanted, but I can’t do that. I’m going to be there for them the best way I can and as often as I can.”

He licked his lips. “Fine. But you’re not going to run yourself ragged over it. Miranda never had children. She and Paul have that big house to themselves and they love your sisters as much as you do. You can help with the bills, but you don’t need to stress out over the other stuff. Work and go to college. Do something for yourself while helping your family.”

She planned to. She knew the girls living with her wasn’t really an option. She tried to take care of them on her own and failed miserably. But she did promise to do better.

She stood and went around the table to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if I deserve much thanks. Silver is still a fucking mess. I’m sure all that will come out with time if he’s talked you about some of his life. I think you’ll be good for him and if he’s what you want, I think he’ll be good for you. It took a great effort to keep him away from you this long. I guess it was inevitable that he’d eventually win this battle.”

He puffed on his cigarette. “I didn’t know about him bringing you the sodas. Where was I?”

She smiled. “Bathroom. Or doing club business.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I knew the fucker didn’t have it in him to come around you while I was there.”

Layla shook her head. Silver had been sweet in those days. Her father went inside the clubhouse for whatever reason and he brought her a soda. He didn’t say anything to her, not even when she tried to engage in conversation, but in his own way, he took care of her. She wanted to do the same with him.

She smiled. “Can we go to the MC?”

He rolled his eyes. “Why fucking not?