Page 17 of Scythe's Salvation
“There’s no doubt Chance is his,” I reply, “he was the only guy I’d been with, but I’ll do the damn test if only to take him to court for back child support. I don’t want him around my son, but I also won’t go against an official decree.”
“Can I see that?” Scythe asks, holding out his hand. “This is the guy who plans to run for sheriff, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s what rumor on the street is,” Amara replies.
“So, maybe he’s wanting to present a happy family unit. I’m sure there are people in this town who will remember that he skipped out on you when you were pregnant.”
“It was the talk of the town for quite some time,” I report. “It was scandalous and everywhere I went someone was pointing at me and whispering.”
“What does Chance know about his father?” Scythe queries.
“The bare minimum because of his age,” I admit. “He knows his father left, but that’s all he knows. Dammit, what am I going to tell him?”
Damn Timmy! He fucked me over when he left, because my foster parents kicked me out, leaving me destitute until Amara and her family took me in and made me part of their family, of course. Now that I’ve got a hot guy interested in me, who also likes my son, he’s back, like a viper or something else just as poisonous. Well, fuck him! I’m not the same person I was all those years ago. Too many experiences under my belt as a single parent make me one momma bear that won’t tolerate her cub being fucked with, even if it’s his biological father.
“How soon do you need to comply?” Amara questions. “I didn’t read that far down the page.”
I snicker because she went for the highlights and didn’t look for the details. “Ten days.”
“You need an attorney, babe,” Scythe says. “Let me see if our club attorney will help you out. He’s a shark.”
“I’m going to need one of those, I think, so thank you,” I reply. “Just give him my number, please.”
“We can do better than that, I’ll text Brick and see if he can come out to the clubhouse. I suspect the club will wanna know what the hell this fucker’s ultimate game is,” Scythe states.
It doesn’t take long before Scythe’s club president responds to him. I nod when he says we can meet the attorney at nine in the morning. I don’t have any clients until that afternoon, so it should be okay. “Thank you, Scythe, I think you’ve saved my ass,” I tell him as we help clean up the kitchen.
Memaw’s rules are if you eat, you help clean up, so even Chance is loading the dishwasher after Amara rinses off the dishes.
“Let’s not get too carried away, babe, but I think this will be a good thing in the long run,” he says.
Later that night, long after Chance is asleep in his bed, I sit alone in my living room, a glass of wine in my hand. Who am I kidding? It’s the whole bottle actually, because today’s news hit me right between the eyes andnotin a good way. Memories from the time Chance was born up until now scroll through my head as I continue to either sip or chug at my chosen beverage for the night. I know I’ll probably regret it come the morning, but right now, I need to be numb. Even if it’s alcohol induced.
Scythe texted me a little while ago to let me know that the club’s IT guy, Hawg, as well as two other people I don’t know, Beast and Selah, are doing a deep dive into Tim’s life. As he said, it was better to see what was behind the curtain so to speak than to be surprised in court. I kinda love that he used a Wizard of Oz phrase, even if he wasn’t aware that’s what he was doing. Itdefinitely shows me that he’s one of a kind and I’d be fortunate if he wanted me and Chance in his life.
As the liquid in the bottle gets lower, so do my inhibitions and it’s a good thing that my phone is now on the charger, because I want to text him and tell him I need him. I’ve never felt as safe as I did earlier when I was in his lap with his arms wrapped around me. Wanting to feel something similar, I grab the throw from the back of the couch and swaddle myself inside. Obviously, the wine is winning because as sleep comes toward me, all I can think about is I’m a warm and toasty burrito.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Scythe
I’m still seethingas I enter the clubhouse. It seems like this Tim Jones fucker has an agenda when it comes toourtown andmywoman. Yeah, I’ll admit that to myself for the time being, especially since I haven’t kissed her succulent lips or had my hands on her delectable body, but make no mistake, Tamara and Chance aremine!That means I’ll throw everything I have at that asshole who’s trying to tear her down.
Again.
I’m no idiot and while the majority of us were eventually homeschooled at the clubhouse to keep from getting into fights on a daily basis, some of the town’s scandals still reached our ears. While I’m a few years older than Tamara, I remember hearing about a girl whose boyfriend ditched her when she found out she was pregnant. Since the club tended to pick up strays, so to speak, I distinctly recall hoping that someone took her in. But I never expected that the ‘wayward female’ I heard about so many years ago was Tamara.
She’s definitely busted her ass to make something of her life and I’ll be damned if that bastard will come strolling in like he’s king of the world and reduce her to who she was before. I could tell during my time at Amara’s family home that the two of them share a deep bond. Plus, the fact that I went through what amounts to the Spanish Inquisition from both Hester and Amara hammers that fact home.
“Hawg!” I bellow as I cross to the bar and hold out my hand for a beer. Once it’s in my grasp, I take a few deep swallows, and continue yelling for Hawg as I meander toward his room that’s set up to rival the command center at NASA.
He’s got multiple monitors mounted to the wall, and they regularly flick through the cameras that now cover the entirety of our expanded property. Plus, two of them are typically running searches depending on the club’s needs. I know he was doing a deep dive on Timothy Andrew Jones, and after seeing Tamara’s reaction to the court summons she received, I’m eager to find out what he’s sussed out. Well, him, Beast, and Selah, who’s a damn whiz when it comes to the computer.
She’s already done some shit that has our investments earning even more than they did before. Butcher says she’s a financial genius, but she’s not afraid to delve into the dark side when necessary.
I’m of the opinion that it might be necessary at this point. As I breach the doorway of his office, I see he’s wearing headphones which makes sense because the music’s already playing in the common room. We may no longer party like we did before all the ol’ ladies started showing up, but we’re still bikers and love our rock and roll.
