Page 108 of Forbidden

Chapter Twenty

Hannah

So dinner wasn’t a disaster yet, but it hadn’t really started. I hadn’t gone into complete meltdown when Brad walked in the room, though the coldness between Brad and Dad was noticeable. I would even say the coldness was shared with Cyrus, who for some reason wasn’t his normal self around Dad.

Layla said Tatz was causing trouble—clearly she had downplayed how much. I had never seen such a cold side to Cyrus—sure, he was a biker and it was natural for him to have that character in him. But usually around Dad he was relaxed and he was comfortable. But right now, he was acting like he was in enemy’s territory.

Was that what he thought of us now? Enemies? Had Tatz already done too much damage?

I saw the way Cyrus was standing a calculated distance away from Dad, Tyson and Brad, as if ready to pull his gun within a second. While Mum and Meg, Layla’s mum, made small talk, it was clear the boys needed to talk privately.

I looked at Layla; couldn’t she do something? Cyrus looked like he was one second from walking out on the tea and the brotherhood peace.

Layla rolled her eyes. She had told me not to expect miracles. Dad was living up to his name as Reaper and not giving an explanation for his behavior or lack of appearance around the club.

Dad wasn’t known for explaining his actions or giving anyone an insight into his decisions—unless you were Mum.

I had never felt more tension in the air than when Mum’s and Meg’s small talk ran out and it felt like us against them.

Layla went to walk toward me, maybe to make it seem so it wasn’t us against them but Cyrus grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his side, as if he was positive that if she wasn’t there Dad would shoot her or something. Now that I took it in, he had Alfie behind him as well, who was on his video game. Meg was also at his other side. Well, someone had to break the ice.

I was expecting it to be Dad but the look in his eyes told me he didn’t like being this disrespected in his house. It was a typical Dad thing. When he invites someone into his house it’s like him opening a side he never reveals to anyone. Everyone knew he treated this place like a fortress.

For him to let someone in—well, to him he considered it a big deal. So for Cyrus to be treating him this coldly, it sent Dad into automatic defense mode. I also noticed how Brad’s attention wasn’t really on Cyrus, but on me. It was like every time I looked at him, I found his eyes on me.

Then he would look away.

I guess that was as much communication as we were going to have tonight. I was surprised he actually came. Mum must have sweet-talked him.

“Okay, that’s it,” Meg snapped and stepped away from Cyrus. “Cyrus, if your hand itches toward your gun one more time, I’ll be personally taking it off you!”

I think everyone was surprised by Meg’s outburst. So that was where Layla got her attitude from and that tone.

“Clearly there is a misunderstanding,” Meg spoke on behalf of both of them. Here I was thinking Layla’s mum was a quiet church mouse.

Cyrus scoffed. “A brotherhood misunderstanding maybe,” he muttered under his breath. Okay, I wasn’t sure if that meant he was saying there was a misunderstanding to the brotherhood peace or if there really was a misunderstanding, because there really was one.

“Reaper wouldn’t invite us here, Dad, if he had a real issue,” Layla backed up her mum.

Cyrus’s eyes went from Layla to Meg then back to Reaper. “It’s amazing what a woman can convince you to do. I know that’s how I ended up here.” Cyrus’s eyes snapped back to Layla, indicating clearly that it was Layla’s words that had got Cyrus here.

Okay, maybe I had really put her in an awkward position. I didn’t realize things were this bad. She must have, though, yet she let me put her and her family in this position.

“It’s my fault,” I spoke up, and it was. It was all my fault. I had coaxed Dad to hit me. I had caused Dad to be away from the club. I had somehow given the impression to Tatz that what happened between Dad and I was normal when it wasn’t. Again, it was my fault that Tatz was filling Cyrus up on all this breaking-the-brotherhood business.

“Stop, Hannah.” Brad’s words stopped me from speaking again.

My eyes went to his. Couldn’t he see what I saw? This was all my fault. “No.” I ignored him and looked at Cyrus. “It is my fault and I’m not going to let someone else take the blame for the mess I’ve created.”

I could feel all the eyes on me. Cyrus was most likely wondering how a girl could cause the problems he had with the Satan’s Sons brotherhood now. A few more heartbeats passed and I was wondering how I was going to explain this without admitting I was sick with cancer and was so furious with myself that I coaxed Dad into hitting me.

“I hit Hannah.” Dad spoke before I could get my words together and just like that, all eyes went off me and on to him. “In front of your Vice President.” Dad took a noticeable step away from Tyson and Brad, as if he was making sure if there were bullets going to be fired then they would get him and not Tyson or Brad. “I’ve spent every second in this house awake since I did it,” Dad pointed into the lounge, “in that fucking room, to make sure she didn’t disappear out my front door without me begging her not to.”

I was speechless immediately and had never felt so guilty. I had put Dad through hell.

“It’s not Hannah’s fault. It was mine. I hit her. End of story.” Dad was letting me off the hook and I didn’t deserve it. He wasn’t explaining what really happened and that was me pushing him to hitting me and I wasn’t about to let Cyrus think that Dad was the type of man to hit his daughters.

“I told him I was going to starve myself to an early grave.” I was not letting Dad put himself up for slaughter. “I actually said a lot of other things to get him to snap,” I admitted. Cyrus’s eyes went from Dad to me. “After what I’d said—well, if anyone deserved to get hit, I did.” I was looking at Cyrus and I could feel Dad about to talk, about to take the blame completely off me, and I wasn’t going to let him. “Tatz saw it and I think he may have got the wrong impression.”

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