Page 23 of Redemption

“Could you imagine what this conversation would be like if I was Lex’s dad? Or Shep?”

Her hands shake as she sets the cue on the table. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to meet the woman who thought she could take my daughter-in-law’s place. You helped create quite a mess, you know that?”

“I can explain-”

“No, you can’t. And I don’t want you to. I just want you to know something. If your goal was to get Lex to leave Colt so he’d be here full time and come to you, you failed. Colt won’t be coming back to Black Valley anytime soon. If ever again.”

She pales. “He’s not?”

“I gotta say, you got lucky. Lex left him, but he’ll never be yours. But if she ever comes out here, you better hide because you won’t be around too long after she sets eyes on you. On top of that, you screwed up. My son’s really fucking pissed, and there’s no way in hell he’d ever consider fucking you now.”

“I know you won’t believe it, but I like him.”

He laughs. “No, you thought you could get an old lady title. All you bunnies do. But I can tell you right now, you better never step foot in Griffin’s Beach. You’re public enemy number one, and every old lady in my clubhouse wants blood. Yours. And no man in Griffin’s Beach will touch you with a ten-foot pole.”

“They’re that upset?”

Standing, he hovers over her, his face above hers. “Colt isn’t the only one she’s left, and that has a lot of people really pissed off. It’s currently aimed all at Colt, but the moment they spot you, it’ll shift. So, I’d stay here, little girl.”

He walks back to Chicago and sits down. The woman stands where he left her, her chest heaving as she takes deep breaths. He scared her, and she fucking deserves it.

“What’d you say to her?”

“That she’s going to be in a world of hurt if she ever steps foot in Griffin’s Beach. And that she’ll likely never see Colt again. Her plan failed.”

“What’s going on, TK?”

He lets out a slow breath and takes a drink from his beer. “I wish I knew. All I know is Colt created a mess for himself, and it’s cost him everything. But if he wasn’t out here for Diane, what the fuck had him so hellbent on being here all the time? At least with her, there’s a reason. A shitty one, but still.”

“You’re looking for a reason?”

“Yeah, I am. I think it’s also for me.”

“What do you mean?”

Leaning back, he looks around the room. He’s spent far too much time thinking since Karmen sought him out. “Do you ever wonder if it’s the club? The reason why we have so many failed relationships?”

Chicago laughs. “I know it’s the club.”

“But then you look at the successful ones, and what’s the difference? Same club. Same patches. Same threats.”

“Man, if I knew, I probably wouldn’t be divorced.”

TK watches Psycho who caresses Lacey’s cheek and moves her long, red hair over her shoulder with his other hand to kiss her neck. She beams when she’s with her husband, and even with all the shit going on with the club, they’ve never had a real issue. Not because of the club, anyway.

“I do,” he says.

“You do? Well, enlighten me, oh wise one.”

He nods towards the fellow Sergeant at Arms. “Guys like us who put the club first. All the time. No matter what. And then there are men like him who would walk away for his woman. He’d die for this club, but his wife takes top priority.”

“I never thought of it like that.”

“We let the club consume us. Take over our thoughts and way of life, and we neglect everyone else in the picture. For me, I took for granted she’d still be there after I got the never-ending list of club shit done.”

“TK?”

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