Page 16 of My Three S**y Bikers

“Son, you left her. You said that you had found me but didn’t bother to explain about how things had gotten with your stepdad. I wish he were still alive. So I could fucking kill him.”

“He was a coward. He did that himself,” I grumbled as I lied, thinking I really wanted us to change the subject.

“Aren’t you angry? Upset? Traumatized by it all?”

I took a deep breath thinking about the moment I became Scar, because Ken had attacked me with a broken bottle. To make me ugly. To give me something to remember him always. Mom had tried to heal my wound and explained why I couldn’t go to the police. As soon as Ken got a new job, then it would be okay. I would have been if he hadn’t killed her. I hated her for it because she should have left him a long time ago.

How could I tell Lucky that?

How could I tell anyone?

My stepdad had started beating her from the time she walked down the aisle with him. His ex had showed up at the wedding, warning Mom about her painful past, and Mom told her that Ken had been nothing but gentle with her.

Sure, he hadn’t hit her, but gentle was a bit of an exaggeration. The signs were there before he got physical with her. He did the same thing with me. All she was worried about was protecting him. My uncle told me all this before he died in a tragic car accident. He said that Mom had changed into a different person the moment she married Ken.

“Scar. Are you listening?”

I hadn’t heard a word of what Dad said because my mind had flashed back to the past.

“I was calling to you, and you were just staring into space.” His voice quivered with concern as he moved toward me and touched my shoulder.

My eyes met his. “I need some fresh air.”

He didn’t try to stop me as I left the garage. He’d built this place, and when I’d found him, I’d modernized it by putting it on social media and involving the MC in the circuits.

It had a complete change, and everyone here made me feel as if I belonged, not just because of Dad. It gave me a sense of purpose.

After Mom died, everyone her side of the family blamed me.

Drake, you should have called the police.

You should have stopped this from happening.

You’re so selfish. All you did was worry about your grades.

As soon as she was buried, I sold the car I’d bought with the money from working at Taco World during the holidays, and the money Nan gave me to travel was enough for me to live on for a while. I called Melinda before leaving, but her phone was disconnected. I gathered she was pissed from me not being in contact. I wanted to tell her everything that had been going on in my life, but somehow, the words never came out.

I bumped into her mom at the store once. She was drunk. She told me that Mel had some new man because I’d been a shit boyfriend. So I did what any self-respecting man would do. I moved on.

Her words had cut like a knife because I was left wondering if out four years together had meant anything to her. Then, it made perfect sense. We didn’t live far from each other. She must have known what had happened to Mom, but she didn’t even bother checking on me.

I needed to get some fresh air, maybe stay away for a couple of days. Too many fucking memories had flashed through my mind in the space of one week, and I’d kept them under lock and key inside my head for nearly a year-and-a-half, until Mel showed up and opened the box to let them all flood out.

8

MELINDA

Ihadn’t seen Scar yesterday or today. It was nearing the lunch time rush, and I hoped to accidentally bump into him as I entered the kitchen for an order. I wanted the tension between us gone. I had to make it work living here, and I couldn’t let anything get in the way, including skeletons of the past.

Lucky smiled as he came behind me. “Don’t worry, he’ll come around. I think he’s just feeling a little jealous, and he’s trying to figure out how to keep us from being evicted.”

Oh, yeah!

Everyone seemed so calm about it, so I didn’t think it was something to worry about. Erin and Lucky had dismissed it as empty threats when they’d told me about the situation yesterday.

I wrapped my arms around him. I didn’t know why I felt so emotional, but I did. “If it wasn’t for you, Dwayne and I would be sleeping in the parking lot of the gas station. I owe you…”

He moved his arms slightly down my waist, and for a moment, it was as if there was an attraction between us I hadn’t noticed until now.

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