Page 56 of Property of Stone (Kings of Anarchy MC: Pennsylvania #1)

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Gonna say somethin’?”

“I’m processing it,” she murmured.

Stone closed his eyes and shook his head. “Not a lot of processin’ required. Just gotta answer yes or no.”

“It wasn’t a question but a statement.”

He released a little growl. “Woman, want you to stay and be my ol’ lady. But what I ain’t gonna do is fuckin’ beg. Want you to want it.”

“I mean, can I get a minute to think about it? This would be a major change to my life.”

His dark eyes flicked to the house before landing back on her. “Before you decide, need you to know somethin’ else. Somethin’ I don’t wanna talk about in fronta the kids.”

With him, it could be anything. But with his grim expression, whatever it was couldn’t be good. She forced herself to swallow. “Okay.”

“Told you about my brother, but there’s other shit you need to know before you decide to become my ol’ lady.”

Why did she feel the need to brace herself ?

He pulled a cigarette from inside his cut, plugged it between his lips, then dug around again until he pulled out a lighter. After lighting it, he blew the smoke up and away from them.

She hated that he smoked but that was minor compared to everything else the man did.

“Killed my own father.”

With fingers pressed to her lips, she whispered, “What?” Holy shit. She didn’t know what to expect but it certainly hadn’t been that.

He frowned. “Ain’t repeatin’ it.”

A rock dropped into her gut. “So then, why even bring it up?” She could’ve easily gone her whole life without knowing that.

“Want you to be one fuckin’ hundred percent sure ‘bout bein’ my ol’ lady. Don’t want you sayin’ yes, then realize you made a mistake down the fuckin’ road and can no longer stand to even look at me.”

Someone who murdered others without any remorse certainly didn’t make the perfect significant other.

Despite that, she was willing to hear him out.

It wasn’t like he was going out killing people because he was a psychopath and enjoyed it.

He had a good reason. Or at least a reason he thought was good.

Whether others would see it that way was a different story.

She agreed that Vic reaped what he’d sown after taking Stone’s daughter. She would’ve wanted to kill Vic herself if he had done the same thing with Wren.

But unlike Stone, could she go through with it?

How was any of this real life?

“Are you just going to drop that bomb and not explain?”

“Gonna tell you this once and once only. Fucker had been drinkin’ all night, his favorite hobby.

Problem was, he was a nasty fuckin’ drunk.

Got pissed easily and even over shit that never happened.

Broke my arm twice. Fucked up my older brother too many times to fuckin’ count.

My mother constantly lived in fear. For us and for herself.

But she was trapped. She couldn’t stay. She also couldn’t leave.

Fuckin’ trapped,” he repeated, his jaw working.

“He told her if she left him, he’d track her down, kill my brother and me as punishment while makin’ her watch.

So, she stayed and took the brunt of his anger.

To protect her own sons, she continued to be his punchin’ bag. ”

After taking another long drag on his cigarette, Stone blew the smoke away from Taryn and continued.

“Grew up thinkin’ that kinda shit was normal.

All fathers, husbands, were like that. A man was supposed to be the head of the household.

Rule the roost. As I got older, I realized my mother had no friends, wasn’t allowed to communicate with her family.

He kept her isolated and under his fuckin’ thumb.

” He took another pull on his cigarette.

His head jerked to the right before saying, “Got home after school one day to find her unconscious, naked from the waist down, blood smeared on her inner thighs, face unrecognizable. He done a fuckin’ number on her. Worst I ever saw.”

She struggled to breathe as the memory of what Vic had done flooded her. It was bad enough for her to be hospitalized, and he was saying what happened to his mother was worse than that.

His Adam’s apple rose, stuck there for a second, then dropped like a rock.

“Found the fucker passed out in his recliner with a vodka bottle in one hand and a baseball game on the tube.” He paused to take another pull on his cigarette, but once he exhaled a long stream of smoke, he simply stopped talking .

She waited anxiously to hear the rest. When it didn’t come, she prodded, “And?” That couldn’t be it.

“That’s where this story ends.”

She pulled in a breath. Bullshit. “You mean that’s where his story ends.”

“Yeah. Don’t need to hear the fuckin’ details.

Just like I ain’t gonna share what happened to your ex.

Just know they both got what was comin’ to ‘em.” He dropped the remainder of the still-smoking cigarette to the driveway and ground it out with his boot.

“Shoulda figured this out by now but got a thing about motherfuckers puttin’ their hands on females. I see that problem, gonna solve it.”

“Obviously. You solved it that day in the parking lot. You also solved it today.” She shouldn’t be relieved that Wren’s father was dead, but truthfully, she was. Was she a bad person for thinking that way?

At this point, she didn’t care if she was. Vic got what was coming to him, which was a generous helping of karma.

“Need to know if you’re gonna be able to deal with that kinda shit.”

She considered him. If she wanted to be with Stone, she needed to completely accept him for who he was and his lifestyle for what it was.

If she couldn’t deal with the way he handled problems, she needed to leave.

This was not a half in, half out situation.

That wouldn’t be fair to Stone, or even the kids.

She also needed to remember the man spent over a year in prison for her without expecting anything in return. If she hadn’t tracked him down, he never would’ve searched her out to collect. He would’ve simply done his time and moved on.

Who else would’ve stopped Vic that day?

So many other people witnessed what happened at the popular shopping center and not one other person stepped in .

Not one.

Stone wasn’t a white knight.

He was a dark King.

And, holy shit , she loved him for who he was. For stepping in to help a woman he didn’t know. For how much he loved his daughter, despite them butting heads. For how much he cared about a six-year-old boy who wasn’t his blood.

He didn’t have to open his house to her and Wren, but he did. He took on that burden without complaint.

Her heart ached simply at the thought of leaving him and Sunny. Of breaking up their unlikely family.

Of never waking up next to Stone again.

Of never feeling his mouth on her. Of never feeling his hand spread possessively pressed to the small of her back. Or his heated eyes raking over her, causing every part of her to tingle.

Or his elusive smile pointed her way, making her heart swell.

“Do I have a choice?”

One side of his mouth pulled up. “Not if you wanna be my ol’ lady. Gonna come with the territory.”

“Then I guess I’ll deal.”

Both sides of his mouth were now hiked up. “Good choice.”

She hoped so. Time would tell.

What a crazy last few months. She’d gone from a personal chef and single mother, trying to make ends meet, to running successful online cooking tutorials and soon, to becoming a biker’s ol’ lady.

“Will I get to wear a Property of Stone cut?”

He snorted softly. “Damn right you will. Gotta tell every other motherfucker out there you belong to me.”

“How do I tell the world that you belong to me? ”

He gifted her with one of those heart-stopping smiles. “By wearin’ that fuckin’ cut.”

At first she thought the cuts the women wore were oppressive.

Now she couldn’t wait to put his on. Would she wear it all of the time?

Of course not. But like his brothers’ ol’ ladies, she’d be fine with wearing it on the club runs.

And maybe around The Castle to remind the other women that Stone was off the market.

He was hers.

All hers.

And unlike Vic, Stone would do whatever was needed to keep her and Wren safe. Even if that meant going back to prison. Not that she wanted that.

The kids needed him.

So did she.

She tipped her head toward the house. “We should check on the kids.”

And once Sunny woke up, encourage her to join Taryn and Wren in the kitchen.

She could try to distract Sunny—at least for a little while—by maybe teaching Stone’s daughter to make cookies.

It would be a simple, but fun, bonding activity for all of them.

Taryn hoped it would lead to Sunny eventually feeling comfortable enough to talk to her about anything. Even what Vic did to her.

“Yeah.” When he offered her his hand, she took it, interlocking their fingers.

But instead of immediately heading toward the house, he once again yanked her into him, pressing their chests together and giving her another thorough kiss.

He squeezed her ass firmly, murmuring against her lips, “That’s mine. ”

“That’s yours,” she agreed, then leaned back enough to see his face. “You need to promise me something.”

“What? ”

“No sweet butts.” She did not want a repeat of what had happened with Vic. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever.

“Woman, ain’t fucked a sweet butt since the day you were brave enough to walk into The Castle, surprisin’ the shit outta me. After that, had no eyes for anybody but you.”

Holy shit.

She hadn’t expected that confession. But… “Having an ol’ lady hasn’t stopped some of your brothers from doing the same.” With all the time spent at The Castle, she had witnessed quite a few of them cheat time and time again. And they didn’t care who saw it.

She also saw some of the ol’ ladies fight with the sweet butts over it. Taryn did not want to deal with that drama.

In fact, she refused to.

“See this?” He pointed to his name patch with a long, tattooed finger. “What’s that say?”

“Stone.”

“Right. Ain’t my bothers. Know what Vic the Dick did to you. Ain’t gonna do the same.”

“You swear?” Could he really stick to one woman? “I don’t think I could deal with being betrayed again, Stone.”

“Babe, I fuck up, gonna hand you my knife and gonna let you cut off my fuckin’ dick, yeah?”

She shouldn’t laugh at that, but she couldn’t help it. “Yeah.”

“Just don’t cut it off ‘cause of some stupid misunderstandin’. Kinda would like to keep it attached. Can’t fuck you without it.”

She elbowed him. “Then don’t get caught in a situation that might be misunderstood.”

“But if you ever want one to join us…”

“Stone!” She tried to pull her hand from his, but he clutched it tighter .

On a chuckle, he said, “Always an option.” He tugged on her hand. “C’mon, let’s go.”

As they walked down the driveway, she asked, “By the way, how’d you get rid of the body?” He had mentioned he was in school at the time. That meant he had to be pretty young when it happened. How would a kid know what to do afterward?

“Which body?”

She had to lengthen her stride to keep up with his. “Your father’s.”

“Not sure what you mean. Far as I know, my sperm donor went out for milk and never came home. Guess he didn’t want the responsibility of a family no more.”

“Oh. I?—”

“Don’t ask that shit again,” he said softly. “About my father or Baby Bird’s. Ain’t anythin’ you need to know. Same as club business. If there’s somethin’ you need to know, gonna tell you. You don’t, I won’t. Better to be clueless in case shit ever goes down with the pigs.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

Good lord, she was really going to live the biker life.

Willingly.

It wasn’t a life she would’ve ever chosen, but it just happened to be tied to the man she did choose.

Some might tell her this would be a big mistake. Hopefully, she’d made enough of them to know that this time it wouldn’t be.

It seemed different this time.

The idea of spending the rest of her life with this man settled her soul.

Fate had led Stone to her in that parking lot. Fate had led Taryn to find him at The Castle.

She had to trust in fate.