Page 105 of Forbidden

“So, how much damage has Tatz badmouthing us caused?” Tyson asked and I heard the way he spat out the word ‘Tatz’.

“Don’t ask her that, Tyson. She has already told us more than she should have.” Reaper finally spoke and uncrossed his arms. “What you did for Hannah, getting her out of the room…”

“Not a big deal.” I cut him off. Reaper wasn’t the type of guy that said the words ‘thank you’, so I wasn’t expecting him to say them now. My eyes went to Tyson. While Reaper wasn’t expecting me to reply, I felt like I had to give them more of a heads up. This timeit wasn’t because of Hannah—this time it was because I didn’t want Tyson going in blind.

“Enough damage has been done for Cyrus to call the meeting. Then, if the vote passes as a yes, a state meeting will be held to decide if the split from Satan’s Son is a state issue or just a town issue. Then, as you know, if it is a state issue, a country vote is called and then a national one.” I knew they knew the order of how these things worked, but they had to know how serious Tatz was about ending the peace.

“Told you to stay in the club’s eyes,” Tyson snapped at his father. “Now we have all this shit to deal with. After what I did the other week with them you know shit can turn bad if they turn to a warring club.” Tyson was letting his fury out on his dad. “When you want to fuck up, Dad, then you definitely make sure to do it from every possible angle!”

I didn’t need to know what he did the other week because I knew he was the Sergeant of Arms. He dealt with punishments. That was Tyson’s job. So it normally involved violence and blood.

“I think Hannah’s health comes before the club.” I spoke before Reaper ended up shouting back at his son. Both pair of eyes went to me. “Hannah isn’t well. You all know that now. But as for her disappearing, I can assure you that won’t be happening. So I think it’s best that things go back to normal till she finishes punishing herself.”

“Punishing herself?” Tyson repeated the words back to me, his hand going in Reaper’s direction. “He is the fuckhead that hit her in the first place. We all knew if Dad ever hit Hannah she was gone. You can’t stand here and say she won’t disappear and we all fucking know that’s the only thing she has been thinking about while being locked up in her room!”

I took a step toward Tyson. “Hannah baited and coaxed your father to a breaking point. Any man tested as he was would have snapped. Even you. Like I said, Hannah is punishing herself because she knows she is the reason she has that bruise on her face and is in a world of pain.” Was it unbelievable for Tyson to think maybe his dad wasn’t all to blame? “She won’t be disappearing because your dad broke his promise. He hit her because she asked for it. Simple. So if the promise isn’t broken, there is no reason for her to leave.”

Tyson’s expression dropped.

“Layla, it isn’t as black and white as that,” Reaper said and I could hear his own self-hate for what he’d done in that one sentence.

“I think you should focus on the core reason it happened in the first place.” My eyes went to Reaper. “Hannah isn’t well.” That was the reason of the fight. “That’s the core issue.” Just as I got those words out, our small gathering got larger when the girls returned.

I heard Eve telling her every detail of the party she was hosting. I even heard Hannah’s few disgusted remarks back to the ideas her twin was putting in place.

“Okay, you good to go, Hannah?” I asked, stepping away from Tyson and Reaper. As far as I was concerned, I’d held up my end of the bargain with Hannah. If anything, I overdid what was expected of me.

“Yep.” She came to a stop at Tyson’s side. “Can I have a word with Tyson for a second?”

I didn’t know why she would want to have a word with him. I personally didn’t want to have any more words with him. He clearly was blinded with what had happened between Hannah and their Dad.

Tyson was looking at her, completely stunned, when Hannah linked her hand with his and dragged him out the front door.

Great. Leaving me with three Wilsons who wouldn’t have got much sleep and were all sick to the stomach worrying about Hannah.

“Layla, I don’t know what you said to her, but thank you,” Eve said as soon as the front door shut. Like her dad, it didn’t seem right for Eve to be saying the words ‘thank you.’

“You have no idea how worried we were, Layla. For you to get Hannah out of the bedroom and speaking to us is a huge deal,” Abby added and took a step toward me. “It’s even more of a big deal because we know you know the situation.”

I could see it on Abby’s face; she hadn’t been sleeping, as she’d been spending every spare second she had fighting against the urge to rip Hannah’s door off its hinges.

“Like someone said, the situation isn’t black and white.” I glanced at Reaper, using his words on his wife, but not putting the blame so heavily on his side like he’d done. “Reaper reacted how any loving Dad would have when pushed to the breaking point.” I shrugged. “My dad would have reacted the same.” I wasn’t sticking up for family violence or saying it was acceptable; I was just explaining that, as Reaper had said, the situation wasn’t as black and white as some would think.

Abby glanced at Reaper and then nodded her head, her eyes returning to me. “Yeah, I think my dad would have done the same.” A small smile spread across her lips. “In fact, my dad wouldn’t put up with half the shit Kade has to put up with.”

“I know! What Hannah and Eve get away with is shocking. Like dragging Reaper into the cinema to watch chick flicks. My dad won’t look at the television unless it has a sports game on it. I literally took up an interest in sports so I could have a conversation with him about it.”

“Same! My father wouldn’t have let me leave the house wearing anything in Eve’s wardrobe!”

I laughed, nodding my head. “Good old Roach is old school.” I knew Abby’s dad better than she would properly know. “Yeah, the girls got lucky with Reaper.” I continued to smile at Abby. “Though, according to Roach, you and Kim got your way for your eighteenth party. He even mentioned something about his pub turning pink?”

Abby automatically rolled her eyes. “I had zero to do with that. Trust me, Eve takes after my sister! I had nothing to do with the pink bomb that went off in that pub. I actually spent the party in my bedroom.”

“Geez, now we know where Hannah gets it from.”

“Yeah well, Kade ended up showing up.” Abby smiled, and by the look on Reaper’s face, he had never been happier to hear his first name—which, if I remembered correctly, he hated being called by. Abby took a few steps to him and Reaper’s arms opened for her and she stepped into them.

It was like seeing a completed puzzle when you saw Abby and Reaper together. Neither of them was complete without the other.

---