Page 106 of Scar

Steel raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“Scar has offered to build me a house. I know you have your little communities being built with your communal backyards, but that’s not going to work for us. We need more privacy. Do you have a plot that’s more secluded we could use?”

“I’ll have Demo look into it,” Steel promised. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” Tally told him without faltering. “I would appreciate it if you put the word out amongst the members that just because Scar is able to touch me and I am able to touch him that it does not meantheyare able to. Have you ever asked yourself what it feels like for him when you touch him? Touch for him isn’t just ‘uncomfortable’. It’s painful. A simple pat on the shoulder for you is like a white-hot branding iron to him.”

Steel was silent for a long moment. “I’m not sure we realized the extent of his…condition. For that, I apologize, Julian.” To Tally, Steel added, “Of course, I’ll put the word out.”

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “Then we accept your terms.” She leaned forward over the desk, her hair half out of its braid, to shake Steel’s hand.

Apparently word had not gotten out yet to the club, the ol’ ladies, or the club kids about the details of Scar’s touch-sensitivity. As they walked out of Steel’s office, Tally and Scar hand-in-hand, a small figure came charging at them. Scar stepped in front of Tally automatically—and then had to scramble to catch Scotty as the teen threw himself into Scar’s arms.

“Uncle Scar!” he cried out, clinging to him. “I knew you weren’t in Heaven! I knew it!”

* * *

For several weeksfollowing Scar’s return to the club, things were relatively normal. Demo found a plot of land that worked for both Tally’s and Scar’s needs and Cage got them on the schedule to start excavating.

Simone and Tom went back to Atlanta with Scar and Tally so that they could work on getting their home packed up and sign with a realtor. Tom and Keys were officially partners in their security gig. Keys was planning on breaking ground on a new building, after finalizing the sale of the property across the street from the club’s. Tom and Simone were still looking for a house in Mount Grove and were staying in one of the trailers the club kept on property for anyone unfortunate enough to need a home or a safe place until they found something they wanted. Financially, they also needed to wait until their home in Atlanta sold before they could purchase in Mount Grove.

With Tom taking over the business side of Keys’ startup, Keys was able to devote his full attention to the actual building of a true security system. He planned on using Scar as the guinea pig to see just how secure it really was when it was ready.

Jasmine and Sophia’s duplex was now finished, and the club threw a huge party to celebrate the two couples’ new home. It was at the party that Sophia’s parents announced their retirement at the end of the year. The vast number of businesses and property in and around Mount Grove would be split equally between their three adult children. Amongst other assets, Sophia would be getting the diner in town, a community staple, as well as the building which housed Dr. Rutenberg’s office and a used book store.

Sophia walked right up to Tally and said, “Looks like I’ll be needing a new chef!”

It wasn’t that simple and there were a lot of logistics to go through, but Tally was leaning towards partnering with Sophia to run the diner.

Scar eventually met Tally’s mom. To say the meeting went poorly was an understatement. The woman was completely terrified of Scar and had even tried to call the police to ‘rescue’ her daughter. Thankfully, Tom and Simone were there to also help smooth things over.

Tally did not tell her mom that her dad was dead, nor had she told her that Tally was the one who killed him. As Steel said, what was discussed in the confines of his office would remain there. Only in the privacy of their bed did Tally let herself mourn the father she’d lost, not the man he had been.

Keys was keeping a close eye on what was happening with Primis. He was able to tweak the records enough to make it look like Henry Meacham had embezzled the startup money from his in-laws rather than using money gifted to him by his wife. While the Feds had spoken to Tally’s mom numerous times, it did not look like they were pursuing any legal action.

Scar took Tally to the rehab center Pumpkin was recovering in to meet him. While both Pumpkin and Scar had been hurt during the incident at the bridge in April, neither had known about the other’s condition until several weeks later. The club had kept Scar’s death from Pumpkin, though not purposefully, and had informed him when the doctors believed he was strong enough to handle it.

The news of Scar’s resurrection had been equally as shocking. Pumpkin was working hard every day to get better so he could return home to his son. While Frankie was doing an exceptional job caring for SJ in Pumpkin’s stead, Pumpkin was highly motivated to make a full, or close to a full, recovery. What he didn’t know was that the club was also building him a house. In the second housing section the club members could claim now stood a single-story modular home for Pumpkin and SJ. It was the club’s Congrats on Not Dying gift to Pumpkin.

Per Tally’s promise to Steel, Scar did start to see Dr. Rutenberg. Tally went with him, both to get him there and to translate. Dr. Rutenberg was completely fascinated by the dynamic of their relationship and how they functioned as a couple. Tally made it very clear to the doctor that he was there to help Scar get past his trauma, not to judge or evaluate their relationship.

What Tally didn’t know was that Scar had started visiting the good doctor at night in his home to work on a surprise for her. Dr. Rutenberg agreed to help Scar so long as, when it was over, they could start working on boundaries during their official sessions.

Scar’s time as a prospect would eventually end. Not that there was much of a difference to his time as a prospect to his time as a member. Viktor and Darrin, the club’s other prospects, definitely had the shorter end of the stick, but neither of them dared to voice a complaint. Neither had been around to meet Scar before, so they were understandably intimidated by him and his reputation now. Tales of Scar had been a big topic of conversation during the two months the club thought Scar was dead.

Having been an only child all her life, Tally had never thought she’d have nieces or nephews—and now suddenly she had too many to count. She and Scar would not be adding to the club kid count anytime soon, and that was okay for them.

Scotty did not seem to be grasping the concept that Aunt Tally was blind. “But she has eyeballs!” he often argued.

It wasn’t until Tally removed her prosthetics that Scotty got it. He would come by Scar and Tally’s apartment in the mornings to help her pick out which eyeballs she would wear that day, which helped him wrap his mind around the fact that her eyes were as fake as Uncle Pirate’s leg.

Sissy and Scissors’ wedding was fast approaching. The brides were equally excited to start the new chapter of their lives. Sissy dragged Tally completely into the wedding planning, which also helped her to get to know the other ol’ ladies better and without the formality of a Getting to Know the New Girl meal.

Lucky was an emotional mess when it came to his little girl’s wedding. He was trying to be strong, but everyone was seeing through it. The brothers were stocking up on tissues for the Big Day. Bear was almost as bad as Lucky. He’d known Sissy the longest and had even been at the court dates when Lucky had received guardianship for Sissy and then Scotty, as well as the day of their adoption. He’d been Uncle Bear far longer than the club had been around. Anytime the wedding was brought up in Bear’s presence, he turned into a blubbering mess and started telling stories about Sissy growing up and how little she’d been.

Ivy was sticking around through the wedding. To everyone’s surprise, Steel allowed Ivy into Church one July meeting to share her news: she was starting a club of her own, except this one would be nomadic and women only. Steel then called for a vote as to whether to allow Ivy’s new club to be allied with theVia Daemonia. The vote was unanimous.

Non CrasMotorcycle Club was born.

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