Stryker’s Fight by Erin Osborne
Chapter Nine
Sally
AMELIA LET ME head home after the morning rush at the bakery. I’m still shaken up after the encounter with the assholes who seem to come in on a daily basis. Stryker couldn’t have shown up at a worse time this morning. He made the entire situation a thousand times worse. I’ve never heard him talk to me that way before. It was like an entirely different person inhabited his body. The way he talked about me and demanded coffee and a bagel was horrible. When he said I could flirt and fuck on my own time, I was crushed. If that’s how he truly feels, then I don’t know what the hell I need to talk to him about other than the baby I’m currently carrying. Any relationship between us is null and void at this point.
I couldn’t move when the men came in. They scare me bad enough my entire body froze in fear. It’s the same thing that happened the first time they came into the bakery. These men are absolutely vile and disgusting at their blatant flirting with me is worse than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. Being forced to work the streets brought me into contact with a ton of assholes who degraded me and made me feel as if I was less than nothing. These men make me feel even worse than they ever did.
Watching Stryker leave the building and then dodge the jerks attempt to plow into him, I was silently cheering him on. However, when he took off after the trio, my fear sky rocketed even more than when they were all in the bakery. The possibility of him getting hurt or worse fills me with dread and makes my decision to be with him even harder. Today I’m getting a first-hand look into his life when he’s in Sergeant at Arms mode. Stryker is imposing on a good day. When he’s in the fully immersed in the role he fulfills daily, Stryker is one of the scariest men I’ve ever witnessed in my life.
Rich rushed in the storefront to make sure we were okay. After assuring him we were, he made his way back outside to rest against his bike for the duration of my time to work.
“Sally, you don’t look so good. I know you have an appointment coming up for an ultrasound. Help me with the morning rush and then call it a day. I don’t want you stressed out any more than you already are. I’m here whenever you need to talk,” Amelia tells me resting her arm around my shoulder.
“I don’t need . . .,” I begin to tell her.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you and Stryker. There’s something there and I have a feeling this baby is his. I also have a feeling he doesn’t know about said baby based on what he said and how he acted in here. You two need to talk about things and figure out where you go from here. Whether you’re with him or not, he deserves to know about the baby. All I know is it’s not fair if he can’t make a decision about what he wants to do. Can I ask you why you were looking for a job when I know you’ve been in town for a long time? Yeah, the town talks and I’ve heard things,” Amelia tells me, her voice slightly shaky as she looks at me.
“I’ve been living with Stryker since moving to Benton Falls. He moved out recently because I can’t give him what he needs in the way of opening up. We were sharing a home, a bed, and he was helping me with my daughter. Natalia’s dad was killed before I found out I was pregnant. I haven’t been able to let him go until recently and now there are other things to consider when it comes to being with a man like Stryker. So, I want to move out of his house and make my own way in life for the first time in my life. It’s important I can take care of my two babies without needing to rely on anyone else to help me,” I answer her honestly, giving her more of myself than I usually do.
“Well, I have an apartment that came with the bakery when I bought the storefront. It’s a two bedroom and there’s not much to it. You’re more than welcome to it if you want. As long as you can give me some time to clean it up and make sure it’s ready to live in. You can do what you want up there and paint or whatever you need to make it a home for your little family,” Amelia offers me, shocking me.
“Thank you. I’d like to accept your offer,” I tell her with a smile on my face, because this is the second thing Amelia has done to help me.
For the next hour and a half, Amelia and I are busy as hell. While I’m filling coffee orders and bagging up the treats customers order, she’s busy filling the display cases with new items. When I get backed up with orders, Amelia steps right in to help me. There is no anger when I get slowed down or backed up. She simply helps me out and then goes back to the kitchen.
While she finishes filling the case up the last time before I leave, I make myself busy wiping down tables, sweeping the floor, and doing whatever else I can to help her out while she’s here alone the rest of the day. However, no matter what I do, her words ring through my head. For the most part, it’s no different than anything the other ol’ ladies and Shadow have told me. I need to have a conversation with Stryker and fill him in on everything I feel and about the baby. Then, we can go from there and make some plans about how co-parenting is going to go if he chooses to be in his son or daughter’s life.
“Sally, you can head out now. The place sparkles and I know you’re stalling for time. Get out of here and relax. Spend some time with your daughter and have a conversation with Stryker at some point today,” Amelia tells me.
“Okay. I’ll do what you want. I’ll be in first thing in the morning though,” I warn her as she begins to laugh her ass off.
Grabbing my purse, phone, and keys from under the counter, I make my way out of the bakery. Rich follows me to the house so I can shower the day’s events off me before heading to the clubhouse to see if Stryker is there and to get Natalia. The ol’ ladies have been staying close to the compound and clubhouse while their men are out doing what they do. I only hang out there for short periods of time and then head to Stryker’s house. I don’t want to be there when I’m not helping the ol’ ladies put something together since I’m not an ol’ lady.
After showering the day away, I dress in a pair of jeans and tank top. I’ll change once I get home into something cooler, but I’m okay for right now. Brushing out my hair, I leave it down to dry in the air. Normally, I toss it up so it’s off my face and shit, but I can’t be bothered with any of it today. I’m ready for a nap, but the conversation I need to have with Stryker is important and needs to happen sooner rather than later. No one is going to have a reason to make him believe I was hiding this for some nefarious reason. The reality is I’m scared of what he’s going to say to me when he finds out.
Rich follows me to the clubhouse and parks his bike at the end of the line. Stryker’s bike is here as my nerves kick in. Now I know this conversation is going to happen whether I’m ready for it or not. Wiping my hands down my jeans to get rid of the sweat, I make my way inside the common room. Gwen is sitting on the couch with one of her daughters in her lap. I don’t see Natalia around as I look for her bubbly little body. She’s usually yelling and racing to me as soon as I walk through the door no matter where we are.
Walking over closer to the couch, my baby girl is passed out on the couch next to Gwen with a small blanket covering her little body. She’s out cold as I run my hand over the top of her head. Natalia doesn’t stir as I lean over the couch to place a kiss on her forehead.
“How was she this morning?” I ask her, my voice quiet.
“She’s been good as always. She passed out maybe forty-five minutes ago. Did you need to do something since you’re out so early?” Gwen answers me.
“Yeah. I actually need to talk to Stryker. Do you know where he is?” I ask her, my voice filled with nerves.
“They’re all here, but I don’t know where he is. All the guys came in and then disappeared. They could be in a meeting, or he could be in his room. Why don’t you go check it out and see if you can find him?”
“I think I will. Is she good here with you?”
“Yeah.”
Walking down the hall toward where Stryker’s room is, I don’t get very far before the door leading down to the basement opens up. I stop in my tracks as the men file out. They’re all covered in blood as they carry their cuts in their hands. Stryker is the last man through the door. He barely looks at me before heading straight for his room.
“Stryker, can we talk for a minute?” I ask him as he continues on toward his room.
“Not now. Why don’t you get a hold of your man?” he taunts me, his voice hard and cold.
Shock fills me as I stand rooted to my spot. After a minute I make my way toward the common room where my daughter is sleeping on the couch. Picking her up with tears in my eyes, I leave without saying a word to anyone. Rich follows me without a word and opens the door for me so I can put Natty in the backseat of the car. There’s nothing I can do to make him talk to me or believe I want absolutely nothing to do with that asshole who comes in every single time I’m working to taunt me and make me scared to death of him. Stryker can kiss my ass. I’m going to tell him about the baby the next time I see him and that will be the end of it.
Pulling into the driveway of his house, I take a few breaths as Rich parks behind me and gets Natalia out of the car. We walk up the stairs and I unlock the door for him. Walking through the door, Rich carries her to her room while I slide my flip flops off by the door and grab a glass of water. Silent tears have been coursing down my face since Stryker spoke his venom to me for absolutely no reason at all.
Instead of taking a seat on the couch to rest and relax as Amelia directed me, I head for my room after checking on my daughter. Rich not only put her in bed, he covered her up and made sure her favorite stuffed animal is in bed with her. Once I’m in my room, I begin packing my belongings. Stryker’s clothes still fill the closet and dresser, and his toiletries are still in the bathroom mixed in with mine. When I first started living here with him, I was amazed to see our things mingled together. Killian and I never lived together while he was alive. We spent time with one another and then went on our way. We’d talked about it, but things never made it that far.
Grabbing my duffle bags and any boxes I can find in the bottom of the closet, I begin packing my things away. I’ll only need a few things left out to get me through the time we’ll be moving. Rich pokes his head in the door and looks at me with his eyes wide open.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asks me, stepping just inside the door.
“I’m packing. I’ll be moving out in a few days hopefully. Stryker can have his home back and I’m not sure I’ll still need you to follow me around all the time,” I answer him.
“You’re leavin’ Shadowville?”
“No. I’m just moving above the bakery. I won’t have to leave the area to get to work or anything like that. I’m hoping Gwen can make it to the apartment to watch her there. I don’t want to have to go to the clubhouse for a little while,” I return with a small smile on my face.
“I’ll still be watchin’ over you. Anythin’ can still happen. And you know the guys are showin’ up there to see you on a daily basis. What if somethin’ happens and no one’s there to help you and Amelia out?” he asks me, making me realize I’ll still have to worry about the scumbags. “For the record, I know you want nothin’ to do with that twatwaffle. Stryker knows it to when he realizes you were frozen in fear. I could see it. It’s why I was on the phone with Slim when he pulled up. I let him know Stryker was there and he told me to call back if anythin’ happened. Stryker’s had a rough few weeks and it’s only harder because you two aren’t your normal selves.”
“I know. It still doesn’t give him the right to treat me the way he did at the bakery earlier and then at the clubhouse. I’m a person with feelings and he wants me to open up to him but he’s not giving me a reason to trust he won’t break me,” I tell him, continuing to pack my clothes in the duffle bags. “Do you know if there are any other boxes here for me to use?”
“I’ll look around. I’d say I’d call Stryker, but I’m sure you don’t want that.”
“No, I don’t. Thank you, Rich. You’re a good man.”
Until Natalia wakes up, I continue to pack my clothes and everything I can put up for the time being. As soon as she walks in my room, I give her all of my attention. We head outside to play for a while as Rich looks on. I play soccer with her and then we lay back on the cool grass looking up at the clouds rolling by. Natalia points out the shapes she knows, and I point out others that are absolutely ridiculous to make her laugh. My daughter’s laughter is all the medicine I’ll ever need. It soothes my soul and brings a smile to my face on an otherwise dreary day. Rich even laughs at our antics as he moves to the bottom of the porch steps.
When we finally make our way inside to cook dinner, Natalia helps me. She loves cooking and baking with me. Since I’m navigating motherhood on my own having no role models to look up to, other than the ol’ ladies, I do things my own way. There is no formula for a good parent. I’ve only had examples of bad parents. I want to spend time with my daughter while she still wants to be seen with me. If she wants to help me in the kitchen, I have no problem letting her stand beside me to learn how to cook and bake things. It could spark a desire in her to become a chef or baker. However, at the end of the day it’s the two of us and I’m raising her how I want to.
Tonight is a simple dinner of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. Rich joins us at the table, talking and laughing with Natty as we eat. After watching a movie with her in Stryker’s room, I give her a bath and put her to bed. Rich makes his way to the shower as I head to the bedroom to get ready for bed. We’ve had to work out a system so neither one of us walks in on the other one. Yeah, it might have happened before, but I’m not saying yes for sure. Climbing in Stryker’s bed, I pull the blankets all the way up to my chin and close my eyes. Sleep claims me quicker than I expected after having such twisted thoughts on everything.
