Dark Destiny by Avelyn Paige
StoneFace
A shot glasslands on the counter in front of me, and Karma leans against the bar to my left. “Just wanted to say, respect for taking out that son of a bitch, Tucker. Wish I’d have done it myself, but if it couldn't be me, I’m glad it was you.”
Henry Tucker’s bullet had hit Karma in the heart, and he was damn lucky to be alive. “I’m happy to take on that stain for you and your girl. It had to happen, and now it’s done.”
Picking up our shot glasses, we clink them together, throw them back, and down the cold, burning tequila.
Leaning back, we watch the others having their beers while playing pool or darts. Leaning close, Karma advises, keeping his voice low, “You should’ve told us about your sister. It was bullshit we had to learn that in the courtroom.”
I nod. “Guess I always kinda felt like Reba’s story was mine. It kept her alive in a way, holding on to all that anger.”
Karma stays silent.
“I fucked up!” I admit to everyone in the room. The voices fade as the men and women in the club drop what they’re doing and give me their full attention.
“I should’ve told y’all about Reba, but she was my twin, ya know? It’s been like a part of me died right along with her. How the fuck do you tell people you’re only half a person?”
That question hangs heavy in the air, and nobody seems to have an answer. Finally, it’s TwatKnot who breaks the silence. “Do you have any pics of your sister? Was she hot?”
Hashtag pounds his fist into TK’s arm.
“What?” he cries. “It’s just a question.”
“Ignore him,” Judge says, approaching from the far side of the room. “We get it. Your situation was tough, and I don’t know that I’d have done anything different. Though I do know I wouldn’t have walked away from my club.”
I look down at my feet, feeling ashamed. That had been a stupid decision for sure.
“Regardless,” Judge continues, “you’re here now. Shit’s been settled. Like I told you in that visitor’s booth, we’re a family. We have each other’s backs, no matter what.”
And that’s when it all makes sense. When Elscher had done what he did to poor Reba, he had taken the only family I had. I made a second family of sorts while I was in the Marines, but one by one, I lost them, too.
When I’d joined the Black Hoods, it had been the lifestyle I’d been drawn to. I hadn’t even noticed that along the way, they became as much of a family to me as Reba had been. All this time, I had been pissed off, seeking retribution and pushing away the club. It wasn’t until now, letting that shit go, that I understand my family has been here all along. I just needed to shut the fuck up and notice them.
“Oh. And your friend, Buddy, is being taken care of as well.”
My heart lurches. Poor Buddy. That big bastard had known so much pain in his young life. He would be dead within a week if they were to send him off to the state prison.
“They were getting ready to send him off to prison, but our mutual friend, Miss Brooke Miller-Stewart, put a stop to that real quick. Said his mental capacity makes that dangerous for him, and they’re keeping him in solitary until his hearing. She says his original trial was a sham, with a public defender who didn’t know shit. She thinks she can get him out, man.”
Grinning, I slap Judge on the back. “You’re a good fucking prez, ya know that?”
Judge chuckles. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t thank me yet. Let’s wait for blondie there to work her magic.”
“Your attorney was hot, man. I’d steal a cop car if it meant spending time with her,” TK chimes in, getting a laugh from the rest of the room.
“That’s the only way she’d spend time with you,” Karma quips from beside me.
That earns a roar of laughter.
I wait until the room settles down and ask, “How do you know her, anyway?”
“I’ve known that girl since she was just a wee little thing. Her old man did a lot of good for this club. We had an agreement, he and I. Now he’s retired, and his little girl is a fucking shark in the courtroom. We’re lucky to have her.”
The door to the clubhouse opens, and my next question is cut off when I see Delilah walking toward me.
“What the fuck is that thing?” TK asks, pointing at her.
That’s when I finally see her. Snuggled into Delilah’s arms is my little Penny. As soon as she sees me, she lets out a yelp of excitement and squirms, wanting to be put down. Her nub of a tail wags, and finally, Delilah leans forward and places her on the floor.”
Penny is on me in an instant. Dropping to the floor, I grin as she climbs into my lap, showering me with kisses and her unconditional love.
“No, seriously. What is it?” TK repeats.
Delilah stands above us, a wide grin on her face as she observes our little reunion. “This is Rhett’s dog. Her name is Penelope.”
TK bursts into laughter. “You have a dog named Penelope? Do you put bows in her hair too?”
Glaring up at him from my place on the floor, I extend my middle finger, then go back to petting my dog.
“As a matter of fact—”
“Delilah,” I bark, interrupting her before she tells him about my newly acquired expert dog bow skills.
Delilah claps her hand over her mouth and stifles a giggle, which sends TK over the edge.
Falling back in his chair, he throws his hand up and slams it down on the table. The rest of us can’t help but join in as the two of them get a good laugh at my expense.
I run my fingers through Penny’s hair. “I’m gonna teach you how to rip a grown man’s balls off, okay?”
Penny opens her mouth, her eyes half-closed. Her heart is happy, and for the first time that I can remember in the last eighteen years, so is mine.
“Seriously, though,” TK says as the room grows quiet once more. “Your sister. Was she hot?”
“She was beautiful,” Delilah tells him. “Way out of your league.”
That one gets a chuckle out of me. Delilah’s been here two minutes, and has already learned to burn TK. She’ll fit in just fine.
GP leans in and says, “Hot or not, your sister must’ve been a hell of a woman to survive in the womb with a big bastard like you.”
I shoot another middle finger in the air, this one pointed at GP. But his joke doesn’t bother me. Just the opposite, in fact. It feels good to talk about Reba. In a weird way, it almost feels like I have a part of her back again. She’s not locked away inside me anymore.
And who better to share her with than Delilah, and this bunch of fuckers sitting here with me in this room.