Page 27 of Fox (Road Rebels MC 4)
“Can we tone down the language with Emery around?” Hawk asked.
“Emery’s asleep,” Sydney said. “I’m gonna get Harlow something to drink. She’s still pretty scared.”
“You said Harlow’s life had been threatened. By who?” Talon asked.
“The fucking Saints?” Mac asked.
“No,” I said. “The KG9’s.”
“Her father defending those assholes, too?” Hawk asked.
“No, but I’ve been dealing drugs with them,” I said.
The entire room stopped. I watched their faces morph from anger into confusion into a blank sort of austerity. I knew I’d done it. I’d stepped in shit I’d no longer be able to wipe off myself, so I drew in a deep breath and started in on the story before they could interrupt.
“That was how I pedaled all those drugs when we were still dealing them. I made some temporary deals with the KG9’s to help me sell the drugs we were bringing in, and in exchange for using them, they got to take a small cut of the profits. Not much, anywhere between ten and twenty-five percent, depending on what they wanted at the time. The extra money not only allowed me to keep up my life but my father’s as well. It’s how I’ve been paying his medical bills and his nursing home expenses.”
I looked around the room and saw Harlow standing in the doorway of my bedroom. She was cupping a mug of something as the steam rose to her face. She was eyeing me carefully, listening with her ears wide open as her eyes studied me closely. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. To draw from whatever strength she had that was keeping her legs from caving underneath her.
Because underneath Mac’s stare, I felt like Jell-O.
“When Snake announced the plan to clean us up a bit, I had no idea how the hell I was gonna keep affording my father’s bills and shit. Yeah, I distanced myself from him, but you guys know why. I’m all he’s got, and taking away the drugs left me with no way to upkeep my own bills, much less his,” I said.
“We told you what we were gonna do,” Talon said. “Opening up a new bar and shit.”
“And new bars take how long to be profitable? Six months… sometimes their first fucking year? With the money, we’d get from… the other things… I’d have no way of keeping my father in the facility he’s in. They’d throw him out onto the fucking street before I could find him another place I could afford. Then he’d just… die of abuse. You know how those damn places are. Especially you, Mac.”
I turned my eyes toward our stern leader, but he didn’t budge. He didn’t nod or acknowledge anything akin to sympathy for me.
I was fucked.
“That why you asked to unload my share?” Talon asked. “And Mac’s?”
“Yeah. I told the KG9’s this would be our last hoorah, but they weren’t ready to end our little arrangement. Expected me to just start getting the shit from another source. That was why I was at Chester’s that night. The night I met Harlow. I was scouting for another supplier,” I said.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Snake asked.
“My dad is what’s wrong! You assholes left me no fucking choice. Didn’t give me any fucking explanation for why we were dropping the drugs. I mean, you did. But… fuck. I’m not walking around here with some brand new shining bike or rolling in the fucking dough. Where the hell did you think the money I earned was going!?”
“What happened next?” Mac asked.
I sighed and closed my eyes, not able to look Harlow in the face.
“My go-to with the KG9’s told me to call him immediately. Asked me if I had made arrangements yet. We got into an argument about timeframes and shit, and he threatened Harlow. Said he’d enjoy paying her a little visit if I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain.”
“So that’s why you peeled off so fucking quick,” Hawk said.
“Didn’t think that rust bucket of yours could go that fast,” Talon said.
“I’m sorry, guys. It was a shitty side situation that was driven by the need to care for my dad. And now, Harlow’s in trouble. And I’m in trouble. And I’ve got no fucking idea where to go from here.”
The room fell silent and my eyes connected with Harlow again. Tears were rising to her eyes as they grew wider and wider. My heart sank to my toes. I’d brought this innocent little creature into this world of pain and hurt. This was why I kept women at arm’s length. This was why I didn’t open myself up to these types of connections.
This was why I fucked women that didn’t intrigue me.
“You’re a fucking idiot!” Mac fumed.
“You mean to tell me that now we gotta bail your sorry ass out of some street gang as well as deal with the DEA breathing down our fucking necks?!” Snake asked.
“And I thought I was the stupid one,” Hawk said.
“I don’t know how the fuck we’re gonna get you out of this, Fox. What the fuck is wrong with that blank head of yours?” Talon asked.
“That’s enough!”
Everyone whipped their heads around as Harlow pushed off the doorframe.
“That’s enough,” she said.
I watched as Harlow walked over to all of us and stood in front of me, putting herself in the line of fire amongst proud, hard men that towered over her small form.
“I have no clue who any of you are. You’re not important, and you’re not special, and you’re not influential in the community. But Fox cares about each and every one of you. He’s been balancing whatever charade he has been for this long because he’s been trying to take care of people he cares about. His father, for fuck’s sake.”
The guys had their eyes trained hard on her as I pressed my chest against her back. I felt her lean into me, drawing from my strength as she drew in a deep breath. I didn’t know where this was going and I didn’t know what she was gonna say, but she had their attention.
And that was all that mattered.
“He came to you after not knowing what else to do, and you guys berate him? What kind of fucking family is that? Now, Fox has accused my father of some things I still can’t wrap my head around, but even my own fucking father held his arms out for me when I screwed up. So that makes all of you worse than him, saying the things you just said to Fox. You wanna be worse than the way you perceive my father?”
None of the men moved, and Harlow took a step forward.
“I asked you guys a question,” she said.
“No, we don’t,” Hawk said with a grin.
“Not particularly,” Talon said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Good. So why don’t we start with acknowledging the fact that Fox just came to you with a shitty situation he just admitted to not being able to get out of. Instead of continuing to dig himself this shithole, he came to you guys. While trying to protect me. If I can come to care about Fox in the span of a few days, then I know you guys care for him. So stop being assholes and start being family,” Harlow said.
“Care for him?” Mac asked.
“You got a problem with that?” she asked.
The guys were stunned with the way she was talking to them as she held her ground. She stood tall and proud, controlling the situation with a side of her I hadn’t been privy to yet. Her innocence w
as melting away, and in its place was a strong, capable woman that made my heart hammer in my ears.
I was impressed, to say the least.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” Snake said.
“Can’t believe what?” I asked.
“That you… that you fucking went off and fell in love with the daughter of the asshole we’re trying to get rid of,” Snake said.
Harlow turned around and looked up at me, her big doe eyes shining brightly. I threaded my arms around her and pulled her close, her hands sliding up my broad chest. The room faded into the background as a smile crept across her face, lighting up her features as I drank in her beauty.
“That’s a pretty strong word you just used,” she said.
“It’s appropriate,” I said.
“What?”
I leaned my forehead against Harlow’s, our breaths intermingling as my hands splayed across her back.
“I love you, Harlow.”
And even though she didn’t say it back, I could feel it surging throughout her body. She nodded her head against mine, our lips ghosting one another’s as we stood in the middle of the lodge. How this woman had entranced me and pulled me in within a few days was beyond me, but I was tired of fighting it. I was tired of trying to be reasonable, and I was tired of trying to manipulate the loose ends in my life into the pattern it was supposed to reflect.
I allowed myself to let go and swim around in the warmth of the woman in my arms. I allowed myself to drink in her strength and her perseverance. I allowed myself just a second of vulnerability. A fleeting moment of weakness where she was holding me instead of the other way around.
Then, she turned in my arms and faced the group again.
Chapter 24
Harlow
I knew I loved him, too. As I stood there in his arms, covered by his strength and his protection, I also came to another conclusion. I knew he was speaking the truth about my father. There was something deep inside of me that had never been settled about what my father did, but as a child, I wasn’t willing to acknowledge it. I wanted to paint my father as a hero. As a man who swooped in at the most desperate of times and saved those who society wouldn’t save. But then there were moments in my life that made me question what he was doing. Moments when his protective nature spun out of control, and he would hire private guards to follow me around.
