Misfit (Death Dwellers MC #6) (46 page)

“Stretch, lemme tell you, I find out you lyin’ to me, you ain’t gonna like the repercussions too much. Under-fuckin-stand?”

“Yes.”

He could’ve pointed out that Fee was a grown woman, capable of making her own mistakes, but he knew better.

“If you wanna talk about what the fuck Cash did, I’m fuckin’ here anytime, hear me, Stretch?”

“Yes, Outlaw,” he responded. “Loud and clear.”

“Only fuckin’ thing my ass can tell you is what the fuck every motherfucker say—if Cash for you, the motherfucker can fly to Mars to escape you. You either flyin’ the fuck there, too, for some reason, or he flyin’ the fuck back.”

In other words, if it was meant for Cash and Stretch to be together, nothing would keep them apart. Not even Fee.

Several times over the next couple weeks, Fee pulled up Cash’s phone number to call him and attempt to change his mind. Just as quickly, she’d find Stretch’s number, before reminding herself neither of them had tried to call her, so she wouldn’t go out of her way to bridge the chasm, when her request was simple.

Tit-for-tat wasn’t a way to make a relationship work, but neither was hiding. Perhaps, if Kansas City hadn’t happened, she wouldn’t know what it felt like to have the freedom to go anywhere they pleased and not just a neighborhood bar. That taste of what it could be like gave wings to her dreams.

Dreams that wasn’t to be. Both Cash and Stretch seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. She’d attempted to sneak glances of them, but never had, so she’d decided to come to her apartment today, the first time since the breakup. She missed her own space. As much as she loved having people around, she needed time to mourn the loss of her guys openly.

“Ant Fee!” CJ called.

When she was leaving the house, CJ asked to come with her. Somehow, he’d convinced her to bring Ryder, too. By the time they arrived at the apartment, both boys had been ready for naps.

“Ant Fee!”

CJ’s second screech and Ryder’s whine got Fee moving. Ryan and Devon were a breeze to babysit. CJ was a handful on his own. She smiled. Much like his father.

Jumping from the sofa, she ran to her bedroom, finding CJ holding Ryder down, who struggled to move, a turn away from rolling to the floor if CJ wasn’t there.

Crap. She was usually a better babysitter than this.

Ryder released a frustrated wail, and CJ raised frightened green eyes to hers.

“Good job, bud.” She rushed to her nephews and scooped Ryder into her arms.

“Bitch ass baby,” CJ complained, huffing out a breath.

Holding back laughter, Fee pretended not to hear. “Come on. Let’s see what Meggie sent in that huge bag.”

“Him like airplanes,” CJ informed her, as if she didn’t know, running ahead and going to the diaper bag. He unzipped it.

Before Fee spoke, he poured everything out. She groaned. “Thanks, CJ.”

“Welcome, Ant Fee.”

After changing Ryder’s diaper and quieting him down, she arranged the blanket Meggie sent—with CJ’s help—and found baby crackers in a Ziploc bag—again with CJ’s help. He stuffed a handful into his mouth, then scattered some around Ryder. The baby followed his brother’s antics and grinned at the faces CJ made.

Satisfied they were settled and would keep each other entertained, Fee got to her feet, just as her doorbell rang.

“Coming!”

She opened her door to find Val, Zoann, Georgie Mason, and five children there. Zoann’s smile lit up her face and Georgie gave her a sheepish grin, her brow lifted.

It came to Fee that she shouldn’t know Cash’s sister.

“Ant Zo!” CJ screamed, saving her from the awkward moment. “Ant George! Bryn!”

“Jay,” Bryn said with a grin, so pretty with her mother’s black hair and her father’s blue eyes. Her little brother squirmed in their mother’s arms.

Georgie sat Chance on his feet. He, too, had black hair and blue eyes.

CJ hugged Bryn, then went to Zoann and did the same. When he wrapped his arms around Georgie’s legs, she ruffled his hair.

“Ro,” CJ called, just noticing Johnnie and Kendall’s son. “What you doing here?”

Leave it to CJ to ask a blunt question.

“Want to play, Rory?” Ryan asked.

“That would be a negative,” Val said, just as Rory started to move. The words made him freeze. “Your old man waiting on us at the park.”

CJ frowned. “’Law, too?”

“’Law with Meggie.” Val snickered. “Making another kid probably.”

Zoann elbowed him while CJ blinked.

“How him make another kid, Uncle Val?”

That wiped the smile off Val’s face.

“Asshole,” Zoann gritted, glaring at her husband. “He’s a small boy.”

“Outlaw tell him everything else, Puff. How I’m supposed to know he don’t tell him about fucking?”

“Val!” Fee, Georgie, and Zoann chorused.

Val cringed at Zoann’s narrowed eyes and raised his hands. “That came out wrong.”

“When I punch you, your teeth will come out wrong, too,” she snapped.

Clearing his throat, Val looked at CJ. “You can come with us, CJ.”

Nodding, CJ turned to Fee. At the ding of the elevator, Fee realized she hadn’t invited her guests inside yet.

“I go,” CJ said. “Ryder stay. Him a fucking brat.”

“CJ!” Zoann said sternly. “Behave. Understand? Otherwise, you’re staying with me and I’m telling Meggie.”

“Kay, Ant Zo,” CJ said, unfazed at the threat.

Georgie combed her fingers through her hair. “Val, will you be okay to bring Chance and Bryn to Sloane?”

“He would be,” a voice said from behind Val, “if I wasn’t here to get my children myself.”

Sloane Mason shouldered his way past Val and Zoann, and into Fee’s apartment, dragging Georgie with him. Everyone else followed him in.

Fee was too much in shock to apologize for her bad manners, as Sloane kissed his wife like they were alone.

“Jesus, you’re fucking pathetic,” Kiln grumbled from the doorway.

Everyone was inside, but no one had closed the door.

Kiln headed for Chance and lifted the boy into his arms.

“What’s it to you if I’m pathetic?” Sloane retorted. “Oh, I forgot. Your hand needs a rest, so you haven’t had company in a while to know what it feels like.”

Zoann chuckled. “You deserved that, Kiln,” she said, then smiled at Fee. “Surprise, baby. You’ve been so sad recently and I know what a fan you are of Sloane.”

Sloane’s eyes danced with merriment. His hoop earrings and dark hair added to his sex appeal. Besides, he was one of the good ones, who wore his wedding band with pride.

“I wanted to finally introduce you to him and his wife,” Zoann said.

“Oh, indeed,” Kiln chortled.

Zoann glanced from him to Fee. “You know them already?”

Sloane kissed Georgie again. “Time for me to get my children and go. Leave you ladies to your business.” As he headed to Bryn, he paused to kiss Fee’s cheek.

“Excuse me,” another voice drawled from the door.

Blond and gorgeous, the suited man had the most amazing Southern accent.

“Hey, Jason,” Georgie said.

Sloane stiffened. “Yes?”

“A crowd’s forming, sir. Pres sent me up. He wants me to stay with Georgie since you were spotted by some eagle-eyed fan.”

“Fuck. Fine. Let’s go,” Sloane said, unhappiness turning his mouth down.

“Bye, Puff.” Val kissed Zoann breathless, then escorted Ryan, Devon, Rory, and CJ out.

Still holding Chance, Kiln halted in the hallway, until Sloane kissed Georgie
again
. Finished, he swept Bryn into his arms, then paused in front of Jason. The bodyguard averted his gaze, reddening.

“Protect my wife,” he warned and stalked off.

Georgie stared at Jason. “Why does my husband dislike you so much?”

Jason shrugged. “I’ll be right outside,” he said instead of answering, and closed the door.

Ryder released a cry, reminding Fee he was still there.

“So that’s how Meggie got time to have a bedroom picnic with Christopher,” Zoann said with a wicked grin. “Bunny brought the twins to a checkup and you took the other two.”

“CJ took me,” Fee admitted.

“I’m sure. He’s a little rascal.” Zoann nodded to Georgie. “Do you two know one another?”

“Yes.” Her time with Cash rushed back and her sadness returned. She forced a smile. “Let’s sit down and catch up.”

Georgie went to the same chair Fee had sat on the evening she’d broken up with Cash and Stretch. One minute memories overloaded her system and the next her entire story spilled out. Georgie already knew by her responses, but Zoann didn’t. She sat on the sofa, her expression morphing from shock to outrage to sympathy. Somewhere along the way, Georgie had taken Ryder and now walked behind him as he crawled.

“I love Cash and Stretch. Did I do the right thing?”

Zoann slid to the floor, where Fee sat, leaning against the sofa and hugged her. “Yes. Cash isn’t relationship material.”

Umm. “Georgie’s his sister. Remember?”

“What does that have to do with anything? You’re
my
sister. Cash is a fucking asshole.”

“Only where romantic relationships are concerned,” Georgie inserted, her narrowed eyes daring Zoann to refute her.

“Agreed,” Zoann said without apology. “From what Val says he’s loyal to all the brothers. An explosives expert. A good guy.”

He was all that and more. Underneath that biker image hid a kind soul. “Why did you call him an asshole?”

“He hurt you, Fee. That makes him a great asshole,” Zoann answered.

Returning Ryder to the blanket, Georgie sat on Fee’s other side, closest to the baby. She grabbed Fee’s hand. “I’ve never seen Cash happier than when he’d been in Kansas. You and Stretch together made him whole.” She sidled a guilty look to Zoann. “That’s why I’m in town. Cash is in Houston at Jocelyn’s. His mom,” she added. “She called me asking what was wrong with him. He’s been drinking. A lot. So much that Jocelyn called our dad to talk to him, since Josh is still with us. Cash has to be bad off if she’s calling Dad for help. I wanted to check on you and Stretch as soon as I could, Fee. With a week off in the band’s schedule, here I am. I’m sorry, Zoann. I didn’t mean to deceive you but…I didn’t know who knew, so when you said you were coming here…” Her voice trailed off.

“I understand. I would do the same thing,” Zoann said with reassurance. She smiled at Georgie. “Thank you for caring enough about Fee to come to her.”

“I wanted us to have what we had in Missouri,” Fee whispered into the descending silence. Hearing about Cash’s state didn’t help her frame of wind. She wanted to round up Stretch, hop on the first plane and go to him. But then she’d fall back into a secret relationship and she couldn’t abide that.

“I understand your point, Fee,” Zoann said, “but that might never be possible.”

“Yeah, my brother’s as big a manwhore as Sloane once was and that hurts. A lot. I understand why Outlaw wouldn’t want you to feel that type of pain.”

“Isn’t it my choice?”

“Of course,” Georgie agreed, at ease with amusing Ryder and engaging in the conversation. “Cash is complicated. He has a long history with Stretch and loves him, but he loves you too, otherwise he wouldn’t have left both of you.”

Instead of settling Fee, Georgie’s words made her feel worse. Stretch had been caught in the crosshairs of her decision. That wasn’t fair at all. As Georgie pointed out, they had a history. Stretch had already lost a lot. To lose Cash, too, when he loved him so much.

“Follow your heart, Fee,” Georgie told her. “In the end, the decision is yours.”

“Yes, baby, if in your heart, your relationship must be acknowledged, then stick to your guns.”

“Nothing is too great to overcome as long as true love is involved,” Georgie said. She should know after all that she and Sloane had endured to find their happiness.