Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79169 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Of course.”
I left the office still feeling frustrated and hurt, knowing nothing I could do would change anything.
What was done was done.
All I could do now was try and turn things around before Cat’s birthday was a complete and total disaster. After seeing how upset she was when she got in the car, it felt like an impossible feat.
But when I reached the car, it seemed things had taken a turn.
The little girl I’d left pouting was now smiling ear to ear, and I had no idea why.
15
VIPER
We’d just finished up the burial service for Bear when my cell started ringing. I looked down at the screen and saw it was Rebecca but silenced the call, sending it to voicemail. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to her. I did. I’d wanted to call her for several days but now wasn’t a good time.
The brothers and I were just finishing up Bear’s memorial run, and we were about to start the preparations for dinner and the bonfire afterwards. I figured I’d touch base with her later when I was back at the house, but then she called back a second and then a third time.
Fearing something was wrong, I stepped away from the others and answered, “You got Viper.”
“Viper?” A voice that certainly wasn’t Rebecca’s asked, “Who’s Viper?”
“Cat?”
“Mm-hmm.” She sounded a little confused when she asked, “Is this Thatch?”
“It is.”
“Then, why did you say it was Viper?”
“I’ll explain later. Does your mom know you have her phone?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Does she know you’re calling me?”
“No. She’s in the school right now.” Cat sighed. “She’s mad.”
“Mad about what?”
“Daddy sent me a present.”
“To school?”
“Mm-hmm. It was for my birthday, and Mom’s mad about it.”
“Oh, I see.” I didn’t blame Rebecca for being pissed. I was pissed, too. “What did he send you?”
“A teddy bear and some candy.” Her little voice sounded downright pitiful as she told me, “I didn’t want it.”
“Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t.”
“He sent me a letter the other day, too.”
“He did?” I might’ve known that if I’d had a chance to return Rebecca’s calls, but with everything that’d been going on with the club, I just hadn’t had the time. I had no idea what this motherfucker was up to with all the letters and gifts, but I knew it wasn’t good. “He sent it to the house?”
“Yes, sir. Momma told Grandmomma that he really sent it for her and not me.”
“Ah, is that right?”
“Mm-hmm. I don’t like it when Daddy sends me stuff.”
“I don’t like it either, kid.” I was done with this fucking asshole. He’d been fucking with Bec and Cat for long enough. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she’d had a pretty shitty day, so I tried to turn things around by changing the subject. “Did you say that today’s your birthday?”
“Mm-hmm. I’m seven today.”
“Well, that’s awesome. Happy birthday, kid.”
“Thank you.” She was silent for a moment, then said, “You haven’t called Momma.”
“Yeah, I know.” I brought my hand up to my chest and pressed the bandage Doc had used to cover my wound. “I’ve had a lot going on.”
“Oh, so you’ve had some bad days, too?”
To say that I’d had some bad days was an understatement.
I was still recovering from my gunshot wound, which I’d made worse by waiting so long to get patched up.
I didn’t have a choice.
So much had to get done. After locating the trackers, we waited on Billy and his boys to show up. Even with everyone lending a hand, we had one helluva time getting things sorted at the lot. By the time we’d made it back to the clubhouse, I’d lost a good deal of blood and felt the worse for wear.
Doc gave me all kinds of hell about it, but he managed to get me cleaned up, and after a handful of stitches and a good night’s rest, I was on the mend. The club spent several days trying to get back to normal by putting this mess with the Broken behind us and decided it was time to have Bear’s memorial run.
Our fallen brother wouldn’t soon be forgotten—nor would the mistakes I’d made that ended up costing him his life.
I wasn’t getting into all that with Cat, so I simply replied, “Yeah, you could say that. But things are looking up. I just got a call from my favorite seven-year-old, and it’s her birthday.”
“When are you coming to our house?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to your mother about that, but we’ll work something out.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see ya soon, kid.”
“All right. Bye, Thatch.”
“Bye, Cat.”
After I hung up the phone, I stood there thinking about that fucking asshole, Trevor, and the stunt he’d pulled by sending all that shit to Cat. The more I thought about it, the more I believed Rebecca was right.