Page 21

Flash

S haring my first breakfast with Micah was both an enlightening and heartbreaking experience; it was clear to both me and Jake his home life had been worse than we thought. He clearly wasn’t used to having a decent breakfast, if any, and it was more than obvious he’d never had a family breakfast before. Today was the start of him having what every child deserves to start their day with: a decent meal surrounded by family.

Breakfast was the calm before the storm; however, things need to be handled today. I refuse to not get everything sorted and have it hanging over our heads any longer than necessary. Not only for my own peace of mind but Micah’s too. He tore my heart in two when I told him we had sorted everything so he’d never have to go back to Trish and would be staying with me and Jake from now on legally. The tears that streamed down his face at the news could only be described as tears of relief, especially considering the smile that broke out across his face at the same time.

I hate more than I can ever put into words what Trish and Raymond have done to that poor boy; hell, I’ve got a feeling I need to also include Megan in that statement too. As much as I’d prefer to keep him as far away from Trish as humanly possible, he needs the opportunity to collect whatever belongings he’d like from that house he used to live in with her and Megan.

With that in mind, we decided that the best course of action would be for Piston to stay with Micah and collect what he wanted from the house, while Jake and I deal with Trish. I know that Piston will protect my brother with his life if need be, and it gives me the freedom to deal with Trish without worrying about Micah.

I pull up on my bike next to Jake outside Trish’s home, with Piston behind us in one of the MC’s SUVs, which holds himself and Micah. We wanted to make sure we had enough space to take anything Micah wanted, and Jake and I have another stop to make after dealing with Trish.

Dismounting my bike, I calmly walk towards Trish’s front door, even though I feel anything but calm right now. I want to tear this woman’s head off for what she has fucking done to my younger brother and also for her role in Raymond’s double life. I’ve had more than enough time to think, and after Megan’s little show yesterday, it’s more than obvious to me that both mother and daughter were aware of Raymond’s other family.

Knocking loudly on the front door, I wait for her to answer. By the time she opens the door, I’m no longer alone on her porch; Jake is next to me with Micah standing behind us both shielded from her view, with Piston standing next to him.

“What the fuck do you want?” She asks as soon as she notices the kuttes we’re wearing.

“We’re here to collect Micah’s things and have a chat.” I say through gritted teeth. Her attitude is already rubbing me the wrong way.

“What the hell do you mean, collect Micah’s things?”

“Let’s go have a chat in the living room.” I say as I step towards her, making her move back so she has no choice but to let us enter or deal with me in her personal space.

She storms off, and I can hear her huffing and puffing as she goes. Glancing over my shoulder, I tip my head towards Piston so he knows to go and help Micah while we deal with Trish. Piston doesn’t need any further directions; he steers Micah towards the stairs, as far away from the woman who hurt him as he can possibly get right now, while Jake and I head towards Trish.

“Don’t lose your shit until Piston has Micah out of this house.” Jake says under his breath.

“That was the plan.” I reply quietly before stepping into the living room, which honestly looks more like a fucking showroom than a lived-in space. I guess I know where part of that trust Megan had went.

Trish is pacing back and forth across the room, muttering something I can’t quite make out under her breath, but I can see from her facial expressions she isn’t a very happy bunny right now. Oh well. Can’t be helped or happen to a nicer person.

“So are you going to fucking explain why you think you can come into my home and take my son’s belongings?” She says as she stops pacing and faces us. Her arms crossed over her chest.

I stare at her in disbelief; I can’t even begin to understand how she can even remotely stand there and say that after what she did to him last night. That’s without even taking into account the way she has treated him in the past.

“Because he is no longer in your care.” Jake says, taking the lead. No doubt knowing I want to go off on her something rotten, but am holding myself back until I know Micah is out of here.

“What the fuck do you mean no longer in my care?! He’s my son! You can’t just come in here, take his things, and think you have some sort of right to keep him.” She shouts in outrage. You’d think she actually cares about her son by the way she’s acting; we know better, though.

Before I can say anything to her in return, Piston pops his head around the doorway. Micah is nowhere in sight, thankfully. I don’t want him to have to deal with this piece of shit in front of me. He’s been exposed to her shittiness enough already.

“We’re done and off.” Piston says, eyes spitting fire as he looks towards Trish. He looks even more enraged now than when we arrived, and I can’t help but wonder what’s caused the change. What has he seen? Or what has Micah said? I’m sure I’ll find out later.

“We’ll see you soon.” I reply. Piston turns and leaves, which gives me the go-ahead to unleash hell on the woman in front of me.

I see Trish open her mouth, no doubt about to spew some new bullshit, but I’m done listening to her and her crap. It’s my turn to talk, and she will fucking listen.

“Keep your mouth shut and listen closely.” I say, voice hard, eyes never leaving her. She must realize that I’m being serious right now as her mouth snaps shut.

“As of this morning, Micah is no longer in your care. I have the legal paperwork that grants me guardianship over him. You lost the right to your son the minute you put your hands on him. Even if he wasn’t my younger brother, I wouldn’t fucking stand for it, but he is my brother thanks to your ongoing affair with my fucking father, so this is more than a little bit personal.”

I stop speaking when she starts spluttering, no doubt trying to come up with something to say, but honestly I couldn’t care less about what she has to say to me. There’s nothing she could say to make any of this situation okay. She has knowingly been having an affair with a married man for over twenty years. She started a family with him knowing he already had one. What kind of person does something like that?

“I’m not finished. From this moment on, you are no longer welcome in Devil’s Point. I want you gone. Micah deserves to live without worrying about running into you. That boy deserved to be loved and cared for, but for some reason I can’t even fathom, you never gave him that, so now we are going to do it instead. You have twenty-four hours to pack your shit and get gone. I’m sure your daughter will be joining you when she’s finally released from where she is. We all know she isn’t going to be welcome around here either. Not after the games she tried to play.”

“You can’t just make me leave. This is my home.”

“I can. You don’t want to fucking test me, Trish. You won’t like the consequences; not only have you messed with me and mine, but you brought Devil’s Inferno into it with your little stunt this morning. Do you honestly think we’d let you get away with the shit you tried to pull? You’ve made some rather big enemies with your actions.”

“That’s all without taking into account who my family is.” Jake says speaking up.

“Who the fuck are you? What the hell is that meant to mean?”

“I’m Flash’s partner, Jake Knightyle. I’m sure you recognize my last name.”

Trish’s eyes go wide, and I can’t help but smirk at her reaction. She’s just realized just how fucked she really is. Not only has she made an enemy of Devil’s Inferno but also The Khaos Group. One is bad enough, but both of them—yeah, she’s more than a little bit fucked, and she knows it.

“Fine. I’ll leave.” She replies. All the fight leaving her.

“Good. Oh, and one last thing: don’t go contacting Raymond and telling him all about this. I’ll know if you try, and I wouldn’t want you to spoil the surprise headed his way.”

She doesn’t speak, just nods her head in agreement. We turn and leave her there, knowing she has some packing to do; there’s a lot of crap around that house, and she only has twenty-four hours to get it all packed and gone. She won’t like the consequences if she’s still here when her time limit is up. That’s for sure.