Page 46 of Property of Stone (Kings of Anarchy MC: Pennsylvania #1)

“Then why the fuck did he do that shit? What the fuck changed?”

It was crazy that this man—a man she’d only known for a short time—cared more about her and Wren than the man she used to love and be married to.

“Because he thought he could simply walk away from his family scot-free. He got pissed when I didn’t let him slink away like the snake he turned out to be. ”

“Where was he slinkin’ to?”

“His best friend’s house.”

Stone jerked his chin into his neck. “He gay?”

“No, but his best friend has a wife. Or had a wife. Neither has a spouse now and Vic no longer has a best friend.”

“Chasin’ pussy can fuck up a man’s life.”

“I’m assuming you’re speaking from experience.” She sighed. “Of course, when I went after child support, I got it. Obviously, Vic wasn’t happy about that. He blamed me, just like when he was arrested. Despite that arrest being a consequence of his own actions.”

“Him bein’ inside means you ain’t gettin’ shit right now. Guess that was one way to avoid payin’.”

“He mistakenly thought he could simply leave his family and never have to deal with me again. I wouldn’t let him do that. I was holding him to his responsibilities. And that’s what pissed him off.”

“Thought he wanted custody of Baby Bird?”

“Only so he could avoid paying child support. Since he wasn’t paying at all, I filed for full custody instead of partial and that’s why he confronted me in the parking lot.

He knew if I got it, what he owed would’ve increased.

” Meaning he’d owe even more back child support if he ever got a job that didn’t pay him under the table like his brother did.

“Guess he thought usin’ his fists would get you to change your mind.”

“It didn’t work. I was granted full custody after he went to prison.” Thankfully.

“As someone who pays support, gonna say that it can be cheaper than raisin’ the kid yourself.”

“It’s also more work to do the actual child raising, as I’m sure you’re learning now that Sunny’s living here full-time.

It doesn’t take much of an effort to write a monthly check.

Or have it automatically deducted from your pay.

How did the court know what your monthly payment should be when you don’t have a job on record?

” Getting cash under the table was one way deadbeat dads got out of paying child support.

“No courts needed. We negotiated. I threw out a fair amount, Sheena countered with some fuckin’ crazy amount and, surprised the fuck outta me, somehow we met in the middle.

Probably the only time we agreed on anything.

No matter what the amount ended up bein’, planned on makin’ sure my girl didn’t go without. Whether she’s with me or her mother.”

“Do you think Sheena will fight to get Sunny back once she’s released?”

“She can fight all the fuck she wants. Sunny ain’t ever goin’ back. Already told Sheena that.”

Just because that was what he believed didn’t mean it would pan out that way. “What if she takes you to court?” With no income on record, that would be a negative checkmark for his case .

Stone snorted. “She ain’t takin’ me to court ‘cause she ain’t payin’ for no attorney. She also don’t got any real job. When it comes down to it, she’s a greedy bitch, so all I gotta do is throw some scratch at her and that’ll be that.”

“Until she needs more money.”

“Drug addicts always do.”

“Since she’s a drug addict, weren’t you concerned about Sunny not being taken care of properly?”

“Yeah, but like you said, don’t got a job on record, so never woulda got custody in the first place if I took her to court.

Got no proof how I can financially afford to take care of my girl.

Did the only thing I could fuckin’ do by checkin’ in with Sunny daily when she wasn’t with me to make sure she was good.

Got clothes. Was fed. Got to school. Any issue, I stepped in.

No longer gotta worry about that shit. Now just gotta deal with her miserable attitude twenty-four-seven. ” His mouth twisted.

“I wish she was happier.”

Stone sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, me too.”

“Is it because she misses her mom?”

“Doubt it. She don’t like the fact I’m stricter than Sheena. She let her get away with too much fuckin’ shit. Bottom line, don’t want her endin’ up like her mother. Anyway, back to Vic the Dick. Motherfucker’s gettin’ out so I need to go over those rules again.”

Taryn mentally groaned. The man was like a broken record.

“Don’t want you goin’ anywhere without me knowin’. Not you. Not Baby Bird. You gotta go somewhere, I’m gonna be with you or one of the prospects will. If a prospect can do the errand you need done, then we’re gonna keep shit simple and send one of them instead. ”

“What about school? I’m worried Vic will find out where Wren’s attending and snatch him from there.”

“Hope to have him handled before that ever happens.”

Taryn blinked at that response. He had mentioned something along that vein before, but he never explained how he planned on doing that.

That worried her. “How are you going to handle him? And will whatever that entails land you behind bars again? If you get caught doing something you shouldn’t be, Sunny will have lost both parents to the prison system. ”

Stone rolled onto his back and pulled in a breath. “Yeah. Ain’t gonna do shit that puts Sunny in foster care.”

That was a relief.

She rolled toward him and traced one of his chest tattoos with her fingertip. He had so damn many, she swore it would take her a week to trace them all.

Bikers sure liked their tattoos.

And leather.

And badass-ery.

She was surprised when he grabbed her hand and interlocked their fingers together. They had never shared that kind of “intimacy” before. Yes, they had sex plenty of times so far, but holding hands was on a different level.

It was far from a “friends with benefits” scenario. That was how she looked at her sharing his bed. She never expected anything more.

She never expected him to want anything more.

Maybe he still didn’t, but Stone didn’t seem the type of guy to hold hands with women.

But him holding her hand actually felt…nice. Even normal. Not a word she’d associate with the whole situation up to that point .

Maybe he only did it to distract her. He certainly skirted around her question about what he planned on doing to Vic.

“You’re more violent than he ever was.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s your response? You’re not even going to disagree?”

Stone shrugged. “No reason. It’s the fuckin’ truth.”

Well, at least he owned it. But still… “That’s not reassuring.”

“Ain’t meant to be. Sometimes the truth can’t be ignored.”

“I’m asking you, Stone, please, don’t kill him. Or even have him killed. He’s still my son’s father. Despite what he did to me, I don’t think he’d ever hurt Wren.”

She was torn. Stone “handling” Vic would mean she and Wren could live the rest of their lives safe from her ex.

However, if she didn’t let Stone do what he wanted to do, would she always be looking over her shoulder? Worried Vic would be waiting around the corner?

While she didn’t want to continue living in fear, death was final. That wasn’t a decision she should make. For anyone.

Time would tell if asking for leniency was a stupid decision. With her batting record, this could end up being a huge mistake.

His jaw turned to concrete and his fingers squeezed hers. “What about you? You think he won’t do it again to teach you a lesson?”

“You already know that answer.”

“He might not hurt Baby Bird, but that don’t mean he won’t use your son as a pawn. If your ex snags him, bet you’ll do whatever he wants you to fuckin’ do to get your boy back.”

That was true. She would sacrifice herself if it meant saving Wren. “That doesn’t mean I want him dead. Maybe he learned his lesson inside.” She could only hope.

Stone snorted. “You mean the same fuckin’ way I did every fuckin’ time? Can tell you most people inside don’t change when they get out. Who they are at their core is who the fuck they are. Gonna take a major life alterin’ moment to really change.”

“Prison is a life altering moment.”

“Yeah, right. Your worry stems from him blamin’ you for all the bad shit in his life. And you have every fuckin’ right to be worried. He ain’t a reasonable motherfucker. Tellin’ you now, he takes Baby Bird, he comes within ten miles of you, all fuckin’ bets are off.”

“I can live with that.” Those words came out of her mouth, but could she? “But don’t forget, my request is not only about Wren and me, it’s also about keeping you from being arrested.”

She didn’t want Stone going to prison again because of her.

Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

In a perfect world, Vic would move on and go about his life, leaving her and Wren alone. If he did and caught up on the mountain of back child support, she might eventually consent to supervised visits.

But this world was far from perfect.

She stared at the man lying next to her. The one she just had awesome sex with. The one who had gone above and beyond for her despite being an outlaw biker. Despite hardly knowing her.

A man assumed by society to have no morals because of who and what he was versus a man assumed to have plenty for the same reason.

As the saying went, looks could be deceiving .

One man she felt safe with. One she did not.

One she trusted. One she did not.

At the surface, Stone should be the one she was afraid of, the one to distrust. But it was the man who looked “normal” on the outside who was now completely unhinged on the inside.

Crazy how upside down life could be.

But she was done talking about Vic. It was only making her more anxious about his release. Especially since she was questioning her decision.

“By the way, my viewers are still asking about you. They’re persistent.” In fact, some of her followers were more interested in Stone than her recipes.

“What’re they askin’?”

“You gave them an eyeful that morning a few weeks ago and they want more. A lot of them are still leaving comments demanding another glimpse. So I came up with an idea…”

One that might increase her subscribers, if he was willing…

Stone’s lips flattened. “This idea involves me, don’t it?”

“Well, we’re talking about you.”

He groaned. “What’s the idea?”

“I’m considering recording a video series on my YouTube channel where I teach you how to cook.

I would teach you different techniques and meals.

Maybe even how to meal prep. Not only would that drive up my viewer count but it’ll also prepare you for when you’re dealin’ with Sunny on your own again.

No more cereal and pizza for dinner. Wouldn’t you like to learn how to cook her a good meal? ”

“Don’t want to tie you to my club, babe. Could make it easy for your ex to find you.”

“Don’t wear your colors, or any identifiable clothing that ties you to the Kings.

You could go shirtless and show off those tats,” she suggested with a grin.

“You’d wear an apron, of course, and we’d make sure that you don’t show off the tattoo on your back.

We can give you a fake name. I can even come up with a catchy title for the video series. ”

Using their clasped hands, he tugged her on top of him. Of course, she went willingly. He cocked an eyebrow as he stared up at her. “Gotta be shirtless?”

“Of course. I can’t be hogging all this tattooed goodness. That would be selfish.”

“You sayin’ you don’t mind sharin’?”

It was one thing for him to be on camera, another to be sleeping with a sweet butt or any other women at the same time they shared a home and a bed.

She couldn’t expect him to be exclusive during this arrangement and wouldn’t ask him to be, but she had a feeling he wasn’t having sex with anyone else. She heard the whispers of the sweet butts and side comments from his club brothers.

No matter what he did during the day, no matter where he disappeared to, he always came home. He seemed to be the type of man that if he wanted to be loyal, he was loyal to the extreme.

“I don’t consider you appearing in my videos or live streams as sharing. I consider that dishing up some eye candy. So, are you willing?”

Digging his hands into her hair, he smiled up at her. “Whatever you want, babe.”

Whatever you want, babe.

She kind of liked the sound of that.

It also made that butterfly in her stomach flap its wings even faster.