The Way Home (Lights of Peril Book 2) (13 page)

“There isn’t any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit.
What goes beyond is what you see, beyond what you know.
”

--Ernest Hemingway

“Husband?
Did you just refer to Ace as your husband?” I want her to deny this, so I can act as though I didn’t just hear it. This is not happening. No way is this happening. This breaking discovery just so happens to make
me
the other woman. It makes me an adulteress. No wonder the woman has hate set in her eyes. I would hate me, too. I would cut a bitch if any other woman came near Hem in the same manner I was near Ace.

I lean my body against the cold
and sterile hospital wall, instantly cooling my heated skin and giving me the support I need to remain standing. It doesn’t matter to me at all that I wasn’t considering spending forever with Ace, even if that’s what he wanted from me. My stomach is twisting.

I’m the other woman.
He’s fucking married
.

“Yes, I did.
We’ve been wed three months now and I just found out about you two weeks before he left me at home with his bratty sister, Sarah, and his old, decrepit grandmother, Netta, so he could come play house here. Quite the happy honeymooners, aren’t we?” Her gaze searches me and I feel like an errant child who is about to get detention for bad behavior. I would deserve no less than a strong slapping from her hand.

I look to Ace who stands there
staggered. He has nothing to say for himself. He’s shocked, I can see that, but he should be saying
something
.

“You’re married
, Ace?”

She puts her hand to her chest in a play of
surprise, but she’s seething. “Ace, you didn’t mention me? I’m hurt. Can we go home now? You seem to have a ‘situation’ in Cali, and since I’m supposed to be your
wife
, maybe you can explain
all this
on the way back.” She’s referring to me as an object, not a person. Again though, it’s no less than I deserve.

“You misunderstand
. Ace is my friend.” I am unsure who I’m trying to convince; me, her, or Ace. Sounded good though.

“
You fuck all your friends? Bet that makes you pretty popular with the boys, don’t it? Maybe since you are fucking so many of your other friends, you could stop…”Okay, I raise a brow. Did I deserve that?

“Shut up
, Sylvie! Shut the fuck up! This is not about you. I’m not fuckin’ anyone. Let’s go.”

She looks to him and
grimaces. Then she’s back at me. “I just granted a warning I suggest you use it, pretty girl. You’re just gettin’ the one. Next time I see you talking to Ace, or even looking at him, I’m going to scratch those pretty green doe eyes out of your fuckin’ head.”

Wow, where do people learn to speak like that?
Her mother must be so proud of her skill with public speech.

Ace finally looks at me
and holds my gaze. His face is laced with total regret. Observing her standing here, looking like me, acting like a demon-bitch just having crept out of the dredges of the social circles of Hell, I would say he has a lot to regret.

“
Hey, Sadey, looks like you could use another drink.”

I
beat Cherry here. I called her on the way to Peril to fill her in on what is happening with Ace. Like me, she hadn’t a clue that he was ever married. As close as those two are, she was my only hope for more information. Though at this point, if she would have told me she was his ex-wife, it wouldn’t have made a difference.

This big damn secret he’s been hiding is finally out in the open for everyone to see and judge.
My verdict is already in. No need to deliberate. He’s an asshole for making me a home-wrecker.

“Yep
. I do believe I could use another.”

Margaritas
are flowing and I’m about half into my fourth one. I don’t care about anything right now. I know I should, but I don’t. I am pissed off at the whole friggin’ world.

“Married, huh?
He’s actually married? I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Sadey, but married? That’s what his whole big secret was? That’s why Shame and the boys are livid with him? Are you sure they even know about it? I mean, why would they care? Hell, I would think Shame would be relieved that he isn’t having to watch that Ace doesn’t make his moves on you.”

Oh
, Cherry, marriage did not stop Ace from making moves on me, believe that. This woman drives me nuts. She’s nice, but so damn naïve when it comes to Ace. She wants to believe that he’s perfect. Cherry has a thing for him; I get that, so I don’t blame her. I need to be careful of her feelings for him when I take my foot and shove it up his ass.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore
. I’m bored with it. I don’t care, I don’t want to care. Nope, I am going to sit here and enjoy my drink.”

She’s not giving up on his innocence.
“I trust him, Sadey. I don’t trust anyone I really don’t. When all that happened last year, I told myself that I would never allow myself to care about another man, ever. Ace is more than just a man and you know it. I know you do. His heart is rich and he doesn’t deserve anyone’s ferocity. He’s alone and I’m sorry to say this, but until someone offers proof that somehow he’s the bad guy in all this, I’m with him.”

“You love him, don’t you?
You can tell me. He’s my friend. I won’t be upset. Cherry. You’re human and we can agree, Ace is hot.” She needs to admit her feelings for him. It will help her move past them, especially being that he’s married.

“
Fine. Yes, I love him.” She won’t look at me through her admission. She’s waiting for my response.

“Damn,
it feels good to be right about something once in a while.”

Cherry looks so sweet when she’s worried
. Wish I didn’t see her looking so sweet so damn often. “Ummm, honey, look.” Oh for the love of all that is good and calm, now what?

Hood is pissed.
He comes in, slamming his saddle bag onto the bar two stools from where Cherry and I are drowning our sorrows. I appreciate her help in this, too. I hate to drink alone.

“Sadey.
Cherry.” He only nods as he says our names, as if this is a proper hello. “Have you seen Ace or his bitch around?”

Hood isn’t a member of this Club
. Neither is Ace, but they may as well be; always causing drama in their wake.

I just want to enjoy some quiet time without screaming babies, married men, or
freaked-out jealous women. “No. Why? Are they coming here? ‘Cause I don’t want them in here.”

“Relax, woman.
He sure as fuck won’t be bothering you anymore. Of all the things in addition to the other shit he’s bringing around, the fucker is married. She’s a piece.”

“Yep.
Married.” I’m past tipsy. Not a good look on me, I’m sure.

“Watch my drink
. I’m going to use the bathroom. When I come back I need someone to tell me that this is all just a bad dream and I’m going to wake up from it soon.” Cherry smiles and nods, but hell, I’m serious.

Walking down the hall after my attempts to pull my shit together in the bathroom
, I hear the raised voices. Gunner is
beyond
pissed.

Gunner is the big brother to almost every woman in the
club. He doesn’t date. Says he doesn’t have time since his hands are full, dealing with all of us and our drama. To a point, I don’t disagree. He really does watch over all of us, including Mace. I don’t know who he’s talking to because he hasn’t given anyone a chance to speak through his fury.

“No, nothing touches them
! Hem would be fuckin’ livid if more shit touched any of these girls. I don’t believe what you’ve been saying and when Shame catches wind of this, he’s gonna to go ballistic. He wants to go and see it for himself, verify this bullshit first, before it comes
here
.” Gunner thinks he’s whispering, but he’s about five octaves higher than a whisper.

“This isn’t ideal
, man, I get it. What happened that night, fuck, it was our only choice? You weren’t there, remember? You all got there later, after the play was already made. More trouble was threatening everyone here, everyone Hem loves. You don’t know how that night started, or ended, so how about you just deal with Shame. If he goes to California, then you need to go with him. He will need help. He will need you to help him keep it together.”

Now that I know Gunner is talking to Hood
, I know that Hood is pleading with him. I am so damn sick of being left in the dark. Men seem to think women are stupid, but if we ran this shit, we wouldn’t be doing it with violence. We would just have a freeze-out and stop talking to each other. End of story.

“I need to go, fuck
, damn it. I gotta go talk to Shame.”

Gunner has cut Hood off and won’t let him finish
speaking. I’m not drunk enough to not know that something big is coming here or that it will find Shame in California.

Since I’m done eavesdropping
, I need to locate my drink serving pal, Cricket, so he can give me a ride home. Cherry is staying here tonight. Since April is pretty much living with Honor, she doesn’t want to be alone after learning that Ace is married and the woman he’s married to is a scary she-witch lurking in the shadows for her next target.

Walking down the last hall to the bar, I see Ace
is here and he’s talking to Cherry. He’s doing all the talking and by the looks of it, he is being gentle and sweet. She is leaning into him as his hand is wrapped around her neck, cradling her close to his chest. He’s saying his goodbyes, and now that I got her to admit her feelings for him, I know she’s not ready. She doesn’t want to let him go.

He’s bending down a
nd kissing the crown of her head. He hasn’t an inkling of how she feels about him, and with her recent history with men, I don’t suspect she plans on ever telling him. I wish he loved her the way he loves me. They would be good for each other, in all ways.

“Sadey, can we talk now?”

I must have lost a few minutes during my daydream of Ace and Cherry because I hadn’t noticed when he removed his hands from her and started walking towards me. I don’t know what to say to him or how to respond to his simple request. I just nod and let him close the distance.

“I don’t want to talk out here
. Can we go to Shame’s room, please?”

Chicken shit. R
ather than go to Hem’s old room, which he’s probably still scared of, he offers to go to Shames room. Shame is with us, in the living room, and will kick his ass if something rough comes my way. If I were Ace, I would be much more afraid of the pissed living dragon, rather than the dead ghost.

“Okay
.” The alcohol is running through me. Mace has told me that even as a kid I had a tendency to lose my shit under duress, so I take mental note to keep it cool.

Walking to Shame
’s room feels symbolic to walking the plank. Once we get there, I take a deep breath because I know I’m about to let all my anger out on Ace. He’s the target of all of this. I don’t
want
to keep cool.

“Sadey, I’m sorry.
I know I didn’t tell you the truth about me being married. There’s just so much going on. You should have been told. I wasn’t sure of what your reaction would be. I don’t love her. You can probably see why I don’t. She was something to fill the void...”

“Shut up, Ace.
Let’s just leave the fact that you didn’t trust me with that information and focus on the fact that you’re a chicken shit. You had your hands on me, you had your hands
inside
of me, and you are
married
. In doing all of this, you’ve made me no better a person than a club whore.”

“She doesn’t mean anything to me, Sadey.
You don’t understand what it was like for me as I was leaving you that night. You were going to marry
him
. You never saw me, Sade. You thought of me as someone to fill his spot until he figured his shit out. It worked for you, I thought it would work for me, too. Sylvie and I knew each other as kids. She wasn’t always like this. She used to be nice and fun and she was a good friend. Life happens; it changes people. You of all people can appreciate that.”