Page 85 of Girth (Marked Skulls MC 1)
My dad finished talking on the phone and before he said anything, he reached for a cigar instead. Picking one up, he brought it to his nose and sniffed.
“You always did have good taste in picking the best ones,” he commented and proceeded to light it. He lit mine too and we sat back in our chairs.
He seemed to be in a relatively better mood now and I wondered if this would be the perfect time to talk.
“The boys told me that you left from the job site early today?” he asked. I knew this was coming. I knew the men would have ratted me out. Especially after the punch I threw at one of them.
“Yeah, I had some shit to sort out,” I told him, trying to keep it casual.
“Shit with some girl?” dad asked. Even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could sense him watching me closely. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Something like that, yeah,” I replied.
My dad sighed deeply and shook his head.
“Apparently, she had a great pair of tits,” he continued and I clenched my jaws. Usually, this kind of talk about a girl never fazed me. Not even coming from my father. But anyone talking about Kennedy that way set off a rage in me. I needed to control it though. Punching my father in the face, like I’d punched the other guy, would be the last straw.
“Yeah, whatever, we need to talk, dad,” I tried to distract the conversation.
“Who is this chick? You banging her? Of course, you are!” he stuck to the same topic. This time, he even leaned over towards me and thumped my arm like it was some great achievement.
“We don’t need to talk about her. We have other important things to discuss,” I corrected him.
My father was grinning. He seemed to be enjoying making me uncomfortable. And now, he could sense that there was something going on with the girl from the job site.
“You hiding her from me or something?” he asked and I released a mouthful of smoke towards him.
“There’s nothing to hide. I’m banging her and she turned up at the job site, asking why I hadn’t called her. You know how these women get!” I remarked. I was willing to lie about Kennedy if I had to. Anything so that my father didn’t find out about her or the baby.
“Yeah, don’t I fucking know,” he grinned some more.
“Okay, what’s going on with the threats, dad? You’re keeping me out of the loop,” I said.
My father sighed and leaned back in his chair. He seemed annoyed with this conversation already.
“Keeping you in the loop would mean listening to your crazy talk. I can’t hold your hand right now, Nico. I have other things to worry about!” he snapped.
I clenched my jaws, gripping the cigar in my hand tighter.
“You need to let me fix this. You’ve had it your way for a very long time,” I replied and he arched his brows at me in surprise.
“And you want it your way now? Fuck you, son! As long as I’m alive, this business and this family is going to be run the way I command it to. If you want to take over and pussy-wash it; you’ll have to kill me first. You have the balls for that?”
We were glaring at each other.
The conversation had quickly turned from Kennedy’s breasts to threatening each other.
I breathed in the smoke of the cigar and some of the ash fell on the floor.
“I need you to trust me. Just let me go over the plans I have in mind,” I argued.
My father shook his head in frustration, waving his cigar in the air too.
“Out of the question. Over my dead body,” he continued.
“Fine. Then I fucking want out,” I growled.
A silence fell over us, while the words sank into his mind. He was staring at me like I’d just turned a knife in his back. It was a difficult thing for me to say to him. I’d been brought up to be loyal to the family. There had been nothing more important to me in my life.
But now I had a baby on the way, and a woman who made me happy. Who made me forget about the violence I’d committed.
“What did you say?” he hissed.
“If you don’t let me fix this. If you don’t hear me out…then I have no choice but to leave,” I said, meeting his raging eyes.
“Your duty is to your family first!” he snapped.
“Yes, which is what I’m trying to do. I have a plan to make this work. To get out us of the mess that’s been building up over the years,” I growled back.
“Plan. Plans! You sound like a fucking architect or something. Fuck your plans and you’re going nowhere. You are my son and you’re going to follow every command I give you!” he raged and I jumped out of my chair.
“You’re just a crazy old man whose going to get us all fucking killed,” I grunted.
I could hear him continuing to rage while I left the room.
Why had I even bothered to come here?
Maybe I was still clinging on to the hope that I would find traces of the man I used to idolize as a child. He was my father after all, my family. As well as I knew that I needed to leave, I had a child to think about now…I couldn’t just go without giving my father a chance to change.
It wasn’t going to happen.
Chapter 19
Kennedy
Now that Nico was back in my life again, I had a productive Sunday. I spent the day stocking up my kitchen with groceries again, I cleaned around the apartment and seemingly got my life back in order. I even went out for lunch with Ava in the afternoon.
She seemed delighted to see me.
“You have some color back in your cheeks again, Kenni!” she remarked as we ate. My appetite was back.
“I’ve been busy. I even got some work done early in the morning. I’ve been slacking in the office lately,” I told her. Ava smiled.
“I know I’ve been hard on you…regarding Nico. But if he’s shaping up and taking responsibility, then I don’t have any complaints. I just want you to be happy, honey,” Ava insisted. After Nico had left, I broke down and called Ava. I needed to fill her in on what was happening.
I nodded my head, smiling gleefully. I
wasn’t expecting this either. I didn’t think that in a day my life would change so dramatically. Nico had really come through. I’d felt a connection with him the previous night. I’d seen in his eyes that he cared about me and not just because I was going to be the mother of his child.
“It’s not like I trust him completely,” I said to Ava, and she pursed her lips and looked at me sympathetically.
“And you shouldn’t, not yet,” she added.
“He’s disappeared on me, twice. He’ll have to do a lot more to win my trust in him, but for now, this will do,” I replied.
Ava sighed.
“Whatever his family is involved in…and you know I can’t discuss all that with you; Nico seems like a reasonable guy. From what you’ve told me, he really wants this baby. And with you. You’re lucky, not all women have it that way with a guy she barely knows,” she continued.
I knew she was right. I was feeling lucky indeed. Not only was Nico being sweet and thoughtful, he made me feel special. He was the guy who got away, but now I had him.
“I’m going to take it one day at a time,” I said and Ava nodded.
“He left last night and texted to say that we’ll see each other soon. I’m going to wait and see what he does next,” I added.
Ava got up from her chair and walked over to me. Within moments, we were hugging.
“What’s this for?” I asked her and she kissed my cheek.
“I’m just so happy for you! I’m going to be an auntie…you’re going to be a mommy. Everything is working out! We have to start thinking of names!” she was excited and giggling.
Since I found out about my pregnancy, now was when I was finally excited about it too. I didn’t know if I was ready yet, but slowly; I would get there.
A child was growing inside me.
***
When I returned to my apartment, to my surprise; I found Nico waiting for me outside my door.
“Nico!” I exclaimed, unable to hide the excitement from my voice as I rushed to him. I’d sensed that things had changed between us and I was hoping for the best. However, I wasn’t expecting to see him so soon.
