Page 5 of Property of Raider
“Anything, you know that.”I nod because I mean it.There isn’t anything she could ask for that I wouldn’t do everything in my power to complete.
“Shea gets nothing and isn’t allowed to stay at the house or on the land.Promise me that when the time comes, you will stop making yourself small for her.”Her voice is sharp and demanding.
I nod yes, trepidation settling into my bones because I know Auntie knows something she isn’t telling me.I start to ask her about it when Rusher rushes in, his smile wider and brighter than I’ve ever seen it.
“I’ve picked my room,” he says, bouncing on the balls of his feet.“Can we start unloading things now?”
“Yes, honey, we can.Just be careful with the boxes,” I call as he rushes back down the hall and out the front door.
Auntie and I sit and chat for a while longer when Rusher’s worried call has me bolting for the door.
Making it to the front door, I find Rusher standing on the top step shaking as Shea sashays up the walkway with a slimy-looking man watching her ass as he follows her.
“Shea, why are you here?You told me you were going to be out of town,” I call, stepping in front of Rusher.
“Whatever do you mean?”she whines, folding her hands together and standing at the bottom of the steps.“Just let me explain.It wasn’t what you thought it was.”
“There is nothing to explain.You called and told me that Auntie was dying, that you were leaving and that if I didn’t get here to take care of her, then you wouldn’t be responsible for what happened to her.I am here.”I put my hands on my hips, glaring at her.“Why the fuck are you here?”
Her eyes go wide for just a second before narrowing slightly.“Don’t you dare speak to me like that.I will take it all away, and you will disappear.Do you understand me?”
Rusher steps up behind me and I can feel him practically vibrating with anger.Turning to him, I place a hand on his shoulder.“Why don’t you go inside and check on Auntie Lynn for me?See if she needs help starting dinner.”
He stands there, looking between us for a long moment.“Yes ma’am.”
Sighing in relief I turn back to my little sister still trying to figure out how she could have turned out to be this way.Shea is beyond cold and heartless.Playing the victim so well that even I fall for it every time she calls with her life falling apart.
“You know he looks more and more like his father every day?”she sneers, looking up at me.
I just arch my brow at her.“He does.It’s uncanny, especially since they have to same dual eye color.”
The guy standing behind her tilts his head to the side as his eyes run up and down my body.I cross my arms over my chest to hide from the gaze, unconsciously taking a step back to put more space between us.A predator look fills his eyes as a slow, creepy smile spreads across his lips.
Shea looks back at the man and then to me.Her eyes narrow at me, then she turns to go back to him and lays a hand on his chest before kissing him on the cheek.Without looking at her, he places a hand on her hip while running the other up her back into her hair, pulling her head back and kissing her.Rolling my eyes, I turn to walk into the house.Just as I make it to the door, I hear her heels on the path.
“Do not walk away from me.I’m done talking to you,” she hisses at me, coming up the steps.
“What Shea?What could you possibly want?”I ask her, throwing my hands up.“Once again, I dropped everything to take care of things.You said Rusher is safe to be back here, and Auntie Lynn needs me.”
She stands tall, running her hands down her skirt, then leveling her nasty glare on me.“Don’t forget that if you say anything to anyone about who Rusher’s father is, I’ll make sure that you will never see him again.I wouldn’t want to take him away from you, but a mother must do what she needs to do to take care of her child.Is that what you want?Not to see Rusher or know where he is and if he’s okay?”
“Why?You don’t want anything to do with him.You popped him out and, without so much as a good luck, took off for five months.Then you come back for a month or so and, like a fucking myth, you're gone.Each time longer and longer, leaving me alone in a place I don’t know anyone or have any fucking help to figure out how to take care of a fucking baby.Because according to you, if anyone knows about him, they would hurt us all,” I hiss back.
She laughs in a way that makes my skin crawl.“And with a snap of my fingers, you and he could both end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.I’m not the same scared little girl I was.I have pull and power now, so do not make me show you what I can and will do to make sure I have everything I want.”
I shake my head in disbelief.“You would use your own son, Auntie, and sister in whatever scheme this is to get ahead?Just go!We will stay out of your way.”
“I will do whatever it takes and sacrifice anyone I must to make sure the life and empire I’ve worked so hard for doesn’t go up in flames.Pretty little things like you, big sis, make that possible.”The sly smirk that crosses her face makes me want to slap her.
“She would definitely pull in just the right client,” the snake with my sister calls from his place at the bottom of the stairs.
Shea smirks, looking over her shoulder at him before turning back to me with a sinister smile replacing the smirk on her face.“I will stay away and out of your hairas long as you stay far, far away from the Kings of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.Do not play with me, sister.If you wish to continue to play mommy and do whatever it is that you, Auntie Lynn, and that little brat want to do, then stay fucking clear.You see anyone with a leather vest, you cross the street or walk the other way.You hear or even imagine a motorcycle, you play deaf.”She leans in, so we are nose-to-nose.“Do you fucking understand me?”
“You really are a piece of shit.Grew up to be no better than our fucking parents.I don’t know what happened to make you this way and, truthfully, I don’t really give a fuck.I will make sure we stay clear of anyone close to you or your schemes,” I spit at her, reaching back to grab the door handle.
“I’m not playing, Anastasia.If you go anywhere near those men, you will end up in the middle of my scheme, as you call it, and never knowing what happened to Rusher,” she calls as I push through the door, slamming it in her face.
Leaning against the door, I’m face to face with those two-tone eyes that rip my heart out every time I see them.I watch Rusher fight tears back with everything he has until I hold my arms open, and he collapses in them sobbing.We spend the evening listening to stories from Auntie, eating junk, and just enjoying life before we have to hit the ground running tomorrow getting the truck unpacked, things put away, and settling in for the week ahead.
