Floating (15 page)

I know precisely why she words it that way. I’m damn glad she does. She’s sending a message to Verity, relaying this is Ronnie’s home, and she’s got people looking out for her. It’s not like back in Texas where it was just her and I, before I fucked everything up. No. Here Ronnie has an entire MC, everyone she works with, and all her friends to take up for her if she needs them to or not.

Smirking at her I nod. “Yeah, Priss, that’d be good. Tell him to check with Priest or Pipe, and see if he can send one of the prospects over to her place to keep an eye on her. I don’t want her over there on her own, yeah?” Tipping her head in agreement she takes my son, sitting him at the counter where he’s still in my peripheral vision. Good woman. She knows I won’t want him out of my sight.

Turning back to Verity I drop my voice, hopefully low enough that only she can hear. “Cunt, you have my kid, and don’t say a fucking word? You keep my boy from me for eight and a bit, fucking years by my count. You show up here out of the blue, no warning, no phone call, no fucking nothing? You’re a piece of work; you know that, right? What the FUCK were you thinking not telling me I have a kid?”

I’ll give her this; she has the decency to look a little frightened at the tone in my voice. She can’t fool me though. This bitch has a backbone of steel, and it’s only a matter of time before her mouth overtakes her expression. “You left, Nathaniel, or should I call you, Arrow, too.”

I stop her there. Right fucking there.  “You call me nothing. I don’t want to hear my name come out of that nasty fucking mouth of yours. I’ll give you a minute to explain yourself. That’s being real fucking nice, if you ask me. After you say your piece, I’m going TELL you how this is going to play out for you.”

Verity takes a deep breath and looks annoyed by my instruction, possibly even a little bored. “You left. After what happened you took off after that bitch…” Putting my hand up, I stop her again.

Seriously, she’ll never learn will she? There is no way I’m going to listen to her badmouth Ronnie. It’s not only undeserved, it’s just not going to happen.

“You watch your fucking mouth when it comes to your sister. I hear you call her one name, put her down in ANY way, and I walk out of here without a second thought, and I do it with my son. You got me?” She jerks her head up and down stiffly in response, but I notice she doesn’t agree with me.

Verity attempts to soften her tone, but fails miserably, as was to be expected with her. “You went after Veronica. You didn’t stick around more than a day after you had your cock inside me. What was I supposed to do? I found out six weeks later I was pregnant, and the father of my baby was off chasing a ghost. I didn’t know where you were to tell you. That was your fault not mine. I won’t be held accountable for the fact you were MIA.”

Nice to see some things never change. Verity would never admit responsibility for anything, even if it were, without question, her fault.

Most of the time when she and Ronnie were younger, she would try and palm off her misbehaviour on Ronnie. She made up elaborate lies in an attempt to redirect the attention from herself. It never worked, though. Ronnie’s parents were well aware their other daughter was a manipulative, callous bitch. Regardless of the fact Verity was caught time and time again, Verity never ceased to try and shirk the blame. Irrespective of her attempts to hide her involvement, people saw straight through her, and her lies.

Scowling at her, I bite out, “My mom lives across the fucking road from your parents, Verity. It never crossed your mind to walk to the other side of the fucking street and tell her she has a grandson, and maybe to call her son to let him know? You can’t be that fucking stupid to think I’d believe you didn’t know that was an option. You’ve had nearly nine fucking years to do the right thing. Why the fuck are you here now? What’s in this for you?” I wasn’t stupid. I was a lot of things, but that wasn’t one of them.

I know there is no way in hell this bitch would be sitting in front of me unless it benefits her somehow. She kept my son from me for eight years for a reason. Now, I damn well want to know what that is.

“Why should I have made the effort to let you know? You left, not me. I left Patterson when I was just over five months pregnant and never went back. I was the one that had to hear everyone talking about the slut that didn’t know the father of her baby. I met someone, after a while. I got married, and then divorced. I had a life to live. Patrick was a good replacement father to your son, and Kellen wanted for nothing. When I heard you and Veronica were living in the same town, it saved time and made sense that Kellen come to meet his biological father and his aunt.”

If you hadn’t picked up on it, it was fucking hard not too, every sentence pretty much started with “I”. Not we. Not my son, or us, it was only “I”. She is still a self-centred bitch, making it just another addition to the list of things that haven’t changed about her.

I can honestly say the people of Patterson weren’t far off the mark about her being a slut, though. When she was pregnant, if I’d been around, I can tell you I would have asked for a paternity test, the first chance I got, before taking her word for it. I am almost sure she’s fucked more people than I have, and that is saying something.

It doesn’t matter now, though, all of that is in the past. The kid is the spitting image of me when I was his age. Paternity results won’t tell me anything I don’t already know. It will be an unnecessary waste of fucking time. At the end of the day Kellen is mine. He’s my son, and his mother is a fucking bitch who, regardless of what shit she’s trying to pull, is going to be moving to Blackwater immediately, or she’ll be leaving my son with me, permanently. I can only hope she takes that option, fucking off back to whatever rock she crawled out from under.

And Kellen’s aunt?...

She is fucking mine, too. If I can protect her from the effect this upheaval will surely cause, I am going to, with everything in me. Ronnie is the last person who deserves to suffer needlessly at the hands of a situation not of her doing.

Crossing my arms over my chest I lean back in the booth and give Verity a hard stare. “My boy wouldn’t have needed someone to step in and look out for him, if his father was given that chance, Verity. Wouldn’t have mattered that you’re his mother, I still would have been there to help raise my son, if I’d known.” Opening her mouth to speak, it snaps closed quickly, when she finally looks up and sees the glare I’m sending her way. “Good choice, keep your mouth fucking shut and listen. You had plenty of fucking time to talk and didn’t. Now, it’s my turn.”

Flicking a quick glance toward Kellen, I see him happily shoving ice cream and topping in his mouth. A small grin tugs at the corner of my lips. I can’t help it. The kid is fucking cute. Focusing on my boy’s mother again, I say, “I want to know my son. I want time with him. For that to happen you need to be in Blackwater. I don’t know what your financial situation is, and I don’t fucking care, either. You need to pack your shit up, and my boy, and find yourself a place around here to live. You can’t do that, you leave my boy with me, and I’ll take care of him. Your choice. I’d prefer never having to lay eyes on you again, but you’re his mother. I won’t take him from you unless you, or he gives me good reason to. Mark this though, bitch, you gave him my name, he’s my son, and if you try taking him from me, I can assure you, I’ll rain holy hell down on your ass the likes you’ve never seen before.”

Scare tactics aside, everything I just said is true. If Verity thinks now that I know of Kellan’s existence, I’ll let her leave with him, she’s fucking wrong. Not. Going. To. Happen. “Another thing. You stay the fuck away from Ronnie. You don’t speak to her. You don’t approach her. You leave her fucking out of whatever shit you’re cooking up in your head. You try to use her to your advantage, somehow, I promise you won’t like the results.” Scowling at her again, I add, “I want to make this real fucking clear, Verity. You try to come between your sister and me, like you did years ago, I will fucking end you. No questions, no talking, no excuses, I won’t give a flying fuck whether you’re my boy’s mother, or not. You can take that shit to the bank because it’s not a threat, it’s a fucking promise.”

Sighing deeply, and resting my now uncrossed arms on the table in front of me I finish up by saying, “I want to meet my boy properly. Where you staying?”

I’m not prepared for her answer, and when she gives it, it fucking infuriates me.

“I purchased a house over on Knight Drive, yesterday. The furniture will be delivered this afternoon, and Kellan has been enrolled at the local school here in Blackwater. As for not caring about my financial situation…”

I cut her off again. Talking about her finances is too in depth for the sort of relationship I intend to have with her. We don’t need to go into the details, and I won’t. Needless to say, I’ll do the right thing by my boy though. “I’ll transfer $40K into your account, tomorrow. Give me the details, and I’ll make it happen. I’ve got no problem supporting my kid, Verity, it doesn’t matter that you didn’t give me the chance, until now. I’ll be taking care of everything he needs from here on in. I’m not fucking supporting you, though. You need to find yourself a job, or some shit to take care of yourself. You’re not getting shit from me.”

Cackling like the fucking witch she is, she scoffs, “As I was going to say before, don’t concern yourself with my financial situation. I received a lovely settlement from my divorce; it’s more than I could spend in quite a while. If you feel the need to prove your manhood by transferring the money, I won’t stand in your way. Forty thousand is a drop in ocean compared to what I already have at my disposal, however. So, don’t expect a thank you for something that you should be doing regardless of circumstances being what they are.”

Fuck, she’s a cunt.

Not only is she living in Blackwater already, she wants to flaunt the fact she’s got money to try and belittle me. What she doesn’t know is I own a third of Chasers along with Cage, and Tank. Money is a non-issue for me, and I have plenty to spare. I live fucking well these days, and could buy and sell her cheap ass ten times over, if I had too. Not that I would. I mean who would want to saddle themselves with a heinous bitch like her? Not fucking me, that’s for sure.

“Fine, whatever Verity. If that makes you feel better, have at it. This is how this is going to work though. We’ll share custody.” She goes to speak, but I put my hand up to stop her before she can bitch me out. “No, shut the fuck up and listen, just listen for once. I want fifty-fifty custody of my son. I’ll fucking get it, too. That part is not up for discussion. You push this, and I’ll take it to the courts and petition for full custody. I won’t take over joint custody straight away; I’ll ease him into it. I know the boy has to get to know me, learn trust me, and I get that. No matter what you think, I’m not fucking stupid. I’ll stop by and see him every day for a week or so, working up to taking him out to do shit with him. Hopefully, it won’t take too long to start overnight visits, and then I want him one week on, one week off permanently. You do this, you make this work, and you leave Ronnie alone, and we won’t have any problems between us. You make waves, I mean it, one little fucking ripple, and I’ll have your head on a spike at the end of town, as a reminder that no one fucks with my family. You got me?”

Verity looks like she’s considering her options. There’s nothing to consider as far as I’m concerned. She’s lucky I haven’t fucking pulled my 9mm out of the back of my pants, shooting her fucking dead already. Mediating her voice and reply, she responds, albeit quieter than she was talking before, “I have no problem with you having him overnight straight away, Nathaniel. I wouldn’t be here if I did. I see no reason for you to be a pussy about it, putting it off, and mollycoddling him like that isn’t necessary. Kellen will adapt and learn to like you. He’s very simple like that. It doesn’t take a lot with him to win him over.” I don’t like the way she’s talking about my son. It makes my skin crawl causing an uneasy feeling in my gut.

Simple? That boy eyes the world in a critical, wary fashion, already. It’s as if he’s an old soul trapped in a young kid’s body. He’s far too knowing for his age, there’s nothing SIMPLE about that. It makes me wonder what the poor kid has endured, living with this bitch for eight years. What she’s put him through with her selfishness. Verity is temperamental on the best of days. On the worst? Who fucking knows? I was lucky enough to not have to deal with that shit, up until now.

Sliding toward the end of the booth Verity halts my progress by placing her hand over mine. “I have one condition, Nate.” I hiss out a breath at her use of the name I only allow Ronnie to use. The feel of her skin on mine reminds me how very different she is from Ronnie. She isn’t deterred by my almost violent removal of my hand from under hers. “I have no problem after you fulfill my condition, signing legal paperwork affirming everything you’ve just said. I will have the papers drawn up to state; you have Kellen every second week for seven days, and half of all school holidays if, and only if, you follow through with the condition.”