Nasty Bastard (Grim Bastards MC Book 4) (17 page)

“Addy, how did you know that being with Brew and living at the clubhouse was the right choice for you and Cam?”

She stops in her tracks and turns to look at me. “Brew and I aren’t going to live here forever. He bought a house right down the road. As soon as it’s ready, we’re moving out of here. I love the club, but it isn’t the kind of place I want to raise my nephew.”

Hmmm, that’s not exactly what I meant. Still, it doesn’t sound promising. “So, you don’t want Cam around the clubhouse, around all the brothers?”

“That’s a hard question. There’s no simple answer either. I do want Cam to understand what the club is all about. To be honest, I wouldn’t be upset if he chooses to wear a Grim Bastards cut someday. For right now though, I want him to be a kid. To me, being a kid shouldn’t include things like seeing a guy get blown in the common room,” she answers with a slight smile then adds, “Why do you ask?”

“Layton wants me to stay.” I spit the words out in a rush, afraid of her reaction. “He’s talking about us getting a house together.”

“Of course he is,” she says with a nod, her smile growing.

She reaches out and grabs my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “Do you love him, Gidget? I’m not talking about the love of a little girl that you felt all those years ago. I mean, as a woman, do you love him?”

I nod, telling her something that I still haven’t told Layton. “Yes, I do. I’m not sure if that matters though. Parker has to be my first priority.”

Before coming back to Trenton, I never would have shared something so personal with anyone. Now, though, Addy is my friend. There’s no point in calling her that if I can’t come to her for advice and vice versa.

“From the very beginning, Brew always treated Cam like he was his own. I see Smoke doing the same thing with Parker. So if your son is your only worry, then let it go,” Addy says with a nod of her own, as if she just gave me the answers to all my problems. “I know you are going through changes right now, but if you let him, Smoke will be by your side every single step of the way.”

“I’m scared,” I tell her honestly. “I don’t know if I can handle being hurt by him again. It nearly killed me the first time.”

Giving my hand another squeeze, she starts walking toward the kitchen again. “Give him a chance, Gidget. Hell, give us all a chance. I know you had a fucked up family, but we can be your family, if you let us.”

I’ve been alone for so damn long; having them all by my side sounds wonderful. I haven’t felt like I was a part of a family since before my mom died. No one even seemed to care about me but Lettie, not even my aunt or Richard. Now, I feel a family growing again. Not just Layton, but Trix and Addy, too. Hell, damn near everyone here has gone out of their way to make me and Parker both feel welcome.

“I’ll try but no promises,” I say with a fake smile, following her into the kitchen. “Thanks for listening, Addy.”

I walk straight to Parker and lean down to give him a kiss on the cheek, trying to pretend the weight of the world isn’t on my shoulders. “Good morning, big guy. Are you enjoying your breakfast?”

“Yeah, momma. Granny Lettie made me pancakes, and they’re so good.” He has a huge smile on his syrupy face.

Granny Lettie, huh? When did that happen? Guess Parker has already made up his mind about staying here. He finally has a big family to show him love, something he didn’t have when we lived with his dad, whose parents barely took the time to call and check on him.

“Eat up, and we’ll go outside and play.” Placing a kiss on the top of his head, I turn away and walk to the coffee pot.

Just as I grab a cup, Lettie walks up beside me. “I hope that’s okay, Parker calling me Granny? I’ve felt like you were family ever since you were a little girl. It just made sense that he’d call me Granny, but I completely understand if you don’t want him doing it.”

I place the coffee cup down and pull her in for a hug. “I don’t mind at all. In fact, he couldn’t ask for a better Granny for him than you.”

Lettie gives me a quick kiss on the cheek then pulls away. “Your momma would be so proud of the woman you’ve become.”

She walks away with a big smile on her face, not even waiting for my reply. There’s no way she could know how much her words mean to me. They do, though. They mean the world.

I finish making my cup of coffee, grab a plate and fork, then walk over to the table and take a seat beside my son. “I haven’t had pancakes in forever.”

Addy pulls Cam from his highchair with a shake of her head. “Lettie makes the best in the world. Wish I had time to eat some.”

“Are you gonna eat with me, Momma?” Parker asks with a mouthful of pancake. “I’ll share with you.”

I can’t hold back laughter as pancake flies from his lips “What did I tell you about talking with your mouth full?”

He swallows his food down in an exaggerated gulp before saying, “Sorry, Momma. I forgot that rule again.”

“Since you’re here, I’m gonna help get Cam ready. Help yourself. There’s plenty for everyone,” Lettie says with a grin and walks out of the room with Addy.

I give her a smile as they leave the room. My smile slowly fades as Smoke walks in, before the door even has the time to shut. Thoughts of my parting jab fill my head as he heads my way. For a split second, I’m afraid he is going to say something about our argument. Of course, he doesn’t. Instead, he places his hand on the top of Parker’s head.

“Mornin’, buddy,” Layton says, giving Parker’s head a quick rub.

“Good Morning, Smoke,” Parker replies, again forgetting to swallow before talking. “Granny Lettie made me pancakes.”

Layton lifts his brow at my son’s choice of words then says, “Looks good. You better eat up.”

He sits down beside me and wraps his arms around me then whispers, “I was worried you had run off and left me. I went up to the nursery, and you and Parker weren’t there. I hoped like hell that I’d find you in here.”

Leaning into his arms, I decide to give Addy’s advice a chance. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Layton.”

“We need to talk about all that shit you said this morning, Gidget. That wasn’t the end of the conversation, not even fucking close. As soon as Parker’s asleep, we are gonna talk this out,” he says in a hushed voice, tightening his arms around me.

Back in the day, when he got pissed, he would blow up. It didn’t matter who was around or what we were doing. He never hurt me, but he sure in the hell didn’t hold back any hurtful words. Seeing that he has grown out of that makes me think Addy is right. I need to give him a chance, give us a chance at being happy.

I nod against his chest and whisper, “You’re right.”

I pull away from him and turn back to the table. Parker will start to wonder what’s going on if we stay huddled together whispering all through breakfast. I pick up my coffee and take another sip. Lettie sure does know how to make a good pot of coffee.

When my coffee cup hits the table, Layton wastes no time in taking my hand in his. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

Seeing the worry on his face breaks my heart, and knowing that I put it there makes it even worse. “This morning, I was thinking about all the bad things that could happen, instead of how much good has already happened with Parker being here in Trenton. I wasn’t considering how much he has already grown to love everyone here. He could have the family I always wanted him to have if I quit worrying about the ‘what ifs’.”

Before he can respond, I turn to him and tell him my biggest worry. “I’m afraid you will get tired of us, or at least tired of me. If that happens, Parker will get hurt.”

“I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you or him, Gidget. I’ve learned from my mistake. Pushing you away was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, and it won’t happen again. You are the most important person to me, and now Parker is, too. Just give me a chance to prove my words are true.”

This time, he cuts off my response, and what he says blows my mind, “I’ll do whatever it takes to show you I’m all in.”

I reach up and place a quick kiss on his lips. “Just keep loving me.”

A cocky smile spreads across his face. “Not a problem.”

Smoke

I lead Gidget into the common room, looking for Boz. Of course, he’s there, with Trix sitting to his left and Hack to his right. We head right for them. Taking a seat across from them, I pull my woman into my lap.

“Where’s Brew at?” I ask, wrapping one arm around Gidget’s middle.

“He and Addy went for a ride, since Lisa took Cam and Parker to the park,” Trix says with a smile. “I think Addy was gonna try to sneak in a trip to the mall.”

Trix and Gidget start talking about shopping, while we brothers shoot the shit. Well, we attempt to in between Hack’s vibrating phone. If that were me, I’d throw the damn thing against the wall. It’s always going off. Unless it was Gidget blowing my phone up, then I wouldn’t mind. He finally just turns the fucking thing off.

I would normally laugh at the aggravated look on his face, but the reality of having Gidget in my arms again feels too fucking amazing. Knowing that everyone here knows she’s mine is the best feeling in the fucking world. Before long, I want her wearing my colors. Wonder how damn long she’ll make me wait for that.

Gidget taps my arm then moves into the seat beside me, where she can be closer to Trix. Even after she moves, her hand rests on my lap. It’s like she can’t stop herself from touching me, and I fucking love it. My arm snakes around her shoulder, hopefully letting her know that I can’t stand not touching her either.

I start to motion for the prospect to bring me a beer, but stop when I see Violet walking my way. Fuck, she better not start her shit, or her stupid ass is gonna be gone for good. Hell, if she pisses Gidget off, she may find herself buried six feet under.

She struts right up to the table and stares right into my eyes. “I texted you and said we needed to talk, but you never called me back.”

Gidget starts to pull away, but I tighten my arm around her. “Already told you, we ain’t got shit to talk about.”

“I’m telling you, we have to talk,” she says, looking to Gidget and narrowing her eyes. “I’d prefer to do it in private, but I can announce my news to everyone if you want.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I growl, feeling my woman’s body go taut under my arm.

She looks at me with a smirk on her face, before reaching in her pocket, pulling out a plastic stick, and throwing it down on the table. “I’m pregnant.”

“Sound’s like to me, you need to find the father and be telling him,” I growl, feeling my anger boiling over.

She tilts her head to the side, sticking her bottom lip out into a pout. “It’s yours and you know it.”

Hack laughs, shaking his head back and forth. “Last party we had, I laid you across the bar and fucked you in front of everyone. By the time I was done, there were six brothers waiting on their turn.”

“You fucked me in the ass, so you couldn’t have gotten me pregnant,” Violet retorts, placing her hands on her hips.

“Didn’t your Momma teach you any manners,” Trix says, as she pushes herself from her seat.

Hack crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Violet. “Only because your pussy was sloppy from taking on half the club earlier in the night.”

She just shoots him a glare and turns back to me. “I’m telling you, the baby is yours.”

Gidget’s body starts to tremble, so I pull her closer. She jerks away, placing her hands on the table, and stands up. “Why are you so sure it’s Smoke’s?”

Her eyes shoot daggers my way, before she looks over to Gidget and asks, “I’m not sure who you are, but I know you don’t have any place in this conversation. You need to keep your fucking mouth shut.”

Reaching out, I grab the whore’s arm and drag her to me. Staring straight in her face, I let her see and feel my anger. “If you ever talk to my woman like that again, I’ll forget you have a pussy and knock you the fuck out.”

I scare her enough that she gets tears in her eyes. She tries to jerk her arm away, but I hold tight. “I’m sorry, Smoke. I didn’t know she was your woman. How was I supposed to know? I’ve never even seen her before.”

“I don’t have to explain shit to you,” I roar, ready to knock her fucking teeth out.

She smirks in Gidget’s direction, obviously not realizing the danger she is in. “Besides, you didn’t act like you had a woman when you were fucking me last week.”

Before I can slap the fuck out of her, Boz opens his mouth for the first time and makes sure she knows how pissed he is. “It don’t matter who the fuck she is. She’s sitting right here with us, the officers of the club. It wouldn’t matter if she was just another club whore; you treat her with respect.”

I am about to stand up and throw her ass out, but I don’t have time. Gidget has walked around me before I can get out of my chair. She’s up in the bitch’s face, giving her hell. Fuck, my woman is gonna make one hell of an old lady. I’m so damn proud that she’s got my back, after everything I’ve done to her.

“Let me handle this shit,” I growl to Gidget, looking back at the bitch that’s fucking up my life.

She steps back, giving the whore a violent shove. Violet almost falls on her ass but catches herself against an empty chair. She keeps shooting daggers my way as Trix shakes her head and walks around to her.

Trix grabs a fistful of Violet’s hair and yanks her up until they are eye to eye. “I’m in charge of you whores here, and I make all the fucking rules. Rule number one, don’t fuck with the brothers.”

“Rocky,” Trix calls over her shoulder, bringing him to her side. “This bitch says she’s pregnant, and it’s supposedly a brother’s kid. You know what that means.”

He simply smiles as he grabs the skank’s arm. Rocky pulls her down the hall, kicking and screaming the whole fucking way.

As soon as Violet is out of sight, I lean down to whisper in Gidget’s ear, “It’s not mine. I fucking promise it’s not.”

She looks up to me, anger still flashing in her eyes. “I’m not a fucking idiot. If you used to use a condom with me, there’s no way you’d go bare with a club whore.”

Ignoring my attempt to pull her into my lap, she looks over to Trix. “What are you doing with her?”