Page 22 of Stone

“I don’t understand,” she gasps. “I thought they were in a car accident.”

“It was no accident.” I enlighten her, regaining a harshness to my voice. “The car had been tampered with; they had been targeted and possibly because of me and my links with the Young Outlaws MC.”

Oriana

I reach out my hand to him and place it on the top of his thigh. “I’m so sorry.” He flinches, but when I pull my hand away, he covers it with one of his own, holding it in place.

God, I want to cry for him, for Sasha, for their loss. How utterly devastating this is for them both. Now that I’m here close to him, I can once again see the darkness pooled in his eyes. When I thought he was just a bad-tempered, nasty piece of work that didn’t like me one bit. I now recognize that it is simply due to his own internal pain, an element of guilt that is eating away at him, and his overpowering need to protect and care for Sasha.

“So, tell me about Sasha,” I say softly, hoping it will at least lighten the conversation.

“She’s pretty much perfect,” he tilts his head in my direction.

“She certainly is a beautiful child and converses well for her age, but what else can you tell me?”

“Not a lot to be honest,” he sighs, suddenly moving his hand from mine as if it burned. I pull away too. “I’ve only got to see her every other week when I took a trip up to Billings. I know she’s out of diapers during the day, she has a mountain of plushy’s and that she’s so fucking bright considering she’s only just three. She makes half the club members look like numb nuts.”

“You’re right. From what I’ve seen so far, in all aspects she seems to be well ahead with her general speech, co-ordination and mental skills. If she carries on this way, she’s going to be a little genius.” I giggle. “I know it must hurt to talk about it, but how was she at first, just after she lost her parents?”

“It was fucking hard for her,” Stone hisses. “She’d ask for them, cried. Woke up every couple of hours in the night calling for her mommy. Shit, Oriana, it broke my heart.”

“So, can I ask how you reacted to that? Did you try to explain?”

“What the hell does it matter?”

“Please, Mr. Stone. I’m not judging. If anything, I want to understand so that I can follow your lead. I wouldn’t want to say something that would confuse her. It’s a lot for a child to take in.”

“I just held her. Tried to explain in simple as possible terms that they loved her, that they were here,” he holds his hand over his heart. “And always will be, but that they asked me to look after her now.”

I gulp down, blink rapidly and stick my tongue firmly into the roof of my mouth to stop the tears. It works sometimes, you should try it.

“I didn’t have a fucking clue to be honest, I just wanted her to feel safe and loved.”

“You did good,” I nod at him. “With what you’re telling me, Sasha seems to be settling well here and only asks of her parents occasionally now. The younger children are, the easier they seem to adapt. Soon she will forget them and look at you as her parent.”

“I don’t want her to fucking forget them.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Jesus, his fists are clenched, his upper body tilted towards me. His face red, mouth in a vicious scowl, brow creased profoundly but this time with anger. “What I meant is that the pain of their loss will be forgotten, sadly much quicker than your own.” My attempt to explain is failing as not one muscle in his face relaxes. My fingers itch, wanting to caress his brow until his forehead is smooth, the anger and frustration gone. “There are a lot of things that we can do to keep their memory alive. Talk of them openly. If you have photographs, frame them, put them all around so she can see them. Then they will always be a part of her life.”

As his big hand rubs from the top of his head, down his face to the tip of his beard, it seems to wipe away the scowl that had been there.

“Although I don’t want her to forget Jacob and Savannah, I don’t want it to be painful for her either.” His fingers play with the edge of his beard.

“I’m sure you have happy memories of them both that you can speak of, especially her daddy. Fun things you got up to when you were both young?”

“She wouldn’t understand, she’s still a baby.”

“Like I said before,” I praise. “She’s so bright. I think she will surprise us both. The best thing we can both do is if she asks a question, we answer it as best and as truthful as we can. Of course, I don’t want to say something that would cause her to be confused, so we need to communicate with each other. I need you to speak up and tell me what you want from me when it comes to her general care.”

“You’re right,” he agrees. “Why don’t you go grab a note pad and we can work out a daily routine and what time you need for your college studies.”

Wow, some turn-around. Maybe he’s realizing that I’m not the enemy here. I’m here to help.

“Be back in a second,” I smile, jumping to my feet to get the pad of paper that I’d left on the kitchen counter. Once back in the same spot, I flick open the pad to a clean sheet and poise myself to make a start.

ChapterSixteen

Oriana

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