Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“Fuckin’ pricks,” I muttered. “So Effie has nowhere to go.” That was the bottom line as I saw it.
“Correct.”
“Rocket, it’s time we have this conversation.”
“You gonna leave Effie with Gina?”
“Of course not!” I snapped. “She’s coming with us. We’ll talk after she goes to sleep. Quietly.”
“That’s what I thought.” Rocket chuckled. “Go get your girl. I’m tired and in pain. I’m sure you are too. Let’s go home.” He didn’t look like he was in pain, but my ribs were screaming. I’d never admit it, but I’d really like to have one of those painkillers Bullet left us.
“Good.” I gave a curt nod before stalking back inside the house. Again, Effie immediately ran to me. “Ready to go, sport?”
“Where we going?” The girl looked at me with such trust, I had to wonder how she’d processed her mother’s death. She’d need help there too, but that was above my pay grade. We’d figure it out. “I’m taking you with me and Rocket. We’re going to his house and staying there.”
“You’re staying with me. Right?”
“Yeah, honey. Me and Rocket got things to talk about, but we’ll wait until you go to sleep. We won’t leave the house.”
“You promise?” Her chin quivered, but I could see how worried she was.
“I promise. You’re staying with me and Rocket. As long as you want.”
“Can I stay with you forever?”
I thought about that. I couldn’t promise her forever with Rocket. That was a day by day thing. Maybe even hour by hour. “I can promise you can stay with me. No matter what.”
“Doesn’t Rocket like me?” She looked forlorn. Defeated. That look tore at my heart, ripping it to shreds.
“Rocket doesn’t know you. But he doesn’t matter. It’s you and me. If he wants to be with us, that’s his choice.” Which was good advice to myself. I knew Rocket saw me as an amusement. Hell, he was probably just sitting back waiting to see what deficiencies I thought his club had and what I thought would be the best way to fix them so he could laugh at me and tell me how naive I was. That thought hurt as much as it infuriated me.
“OK. As long as you promise I can stay with you.”
“I promise.” And I’d make that stick. Even if I had to go back to the Iron Tzars. Of course, if that happened my heart really would be in tatters. Because the idea that I was really Rocket’s old lady had taken hold in my heart, and I knew that’s what I wanted.
All of that depended on the conversation we were going to have, though. After all, there weren’t many MC presidents who were capable of letting a woman tell them why his club sucked ass. I didn’t know these men like he did. All I knew was there appeared to be little cooperation when it counted. The lack of finding out what the relationship between Gina and Hammer had been was just another example of that. Falcon’s refusal to go after his president when he knew Rocket was in trouble was another.
I might not persuade Rocket things needed to change, but I was going to try. Because I could see something in Grim Road even Iron Tzars didn’t see. There was something about these men that made me think there wasn’t anything they couldn’t accomplish. But before all that, they had to work together. They had to trust each other, and they had to value the club and each other more than their secrets.
Yeah. Time to go find that fucking unicorn.
Chapter Ten
Rocket
I could tell Lemon was expecting a fight. I could practically hear her going over all her points and arguments she’d come at me with in her head as we made the short drive back home.
Home…
She’d been in my house less than an hour and already I thought of it as a home rather than a simple house. It was partially for that reason that I’d give her whatever she wanted. I know she saw Grim Road as a broken club, a place not of brotherhood but of secrets and lies. I couldn’t even say she was wrong. What she hadn’t yet realized was that we weren’t like other clubs. There were members of this group who would be shot on sight if it were found out they existed for what they might know. Well, she was about to learn. And I was eager to see the fireworks.
Once inside, I showed the girls where Effie’s room would be. There were only two bedrooms in the house -- which I mentioned for Lemon’s benefit -- and Effie seemed excited to have her own room. I’d have to take both of them somewhere to get a few essentials tomorrow, but for now, a few of the prospects had rounded up some shit like toiletries and such.