Final Ride: Hellions Motorcycle Club (Hellions Ride Book 9) (5 page)

Shannon nods. “I think I would like that, Frisco.”

With those words, I drop my head and walk toward the door, making my way to the porch. While she wakes up and dresses, I will make sure it’s safe for us to go out.

“Frisco,” Roundman answers on the second ring.

“Brother, thinkin’ about a ride.”

“Figured you would,” he replies lightheartedly. “Cruise A1A. Tripp and Rex aren’t far from ya on a load south. You leave in ’bout an hour, and they’ll be on your six with about a twenty-minute window of space between ya.”

“Thanks, brother.” I look out at the palm trees lining the drive to our hideaway.

“Be safe. You can head north anytime you’re ready. Coast is clear, brother.” That’s the assurance I need that Fury is done. I knew the club was handling the takedown while I was getting my daughter secured, but to hear it from Roundman, I know I can relax a little. “Coast is motherfuckin’ clear,” he repeats, somehow knowing it’s what I need.

With the games those Fury fuckers played under the control of Vic, there is no way we could leave a solitary one behind without concern for later retaliation. I will see the fuckers in Hell. Until then, my brothers and me will sleep fucking fine.

“All right, I’ll make arrangements …” I pause.

“Got something else on your mind, Frisco?” Roundman asks, reading me like a book.

“Arrangements?” I give him my one-word reply that is also a question.

“Got her en route here. You sort your shit with the girl, and we handle it how you want, brother.”

I blow out a breath of relief. The Hellions, my family, always taking my back. They didn’t just ash out Tilly; they brought her home. They made arrangements for me to give my daughter a chance to bury her mother.

No matter the past, Tilly was the mother of my child, and I want Shannon to have a proper good-bye for her mom if she so desires.

Shannon’s family—what she’s known—has been taken from her. Fury MC is no more. After everything Paul ‘Vic’ Watson put us through, there is no way any single one of them is still breathing. Despite that, will Shannon be able to see for herself how good the Hellions are? Will she understand they can be her safe place? Or will she always remember what we cost her?

“Roundman …” I start, unable to continue because something twists inside me and my chest tightens. Fear of the unknown, disappointment that I left Amy, and maybe a mixture of the two build into this intense guilt until I can only hang my head as I wonder if Amy is okay, which is why I’m unable to ask.

“She’s hangin’ in there, Frisco. Amy’s still comin’ to work and goin’ home like every other day. Can’t say she hasn’t had an episode. Can’t say she has. Danza had Mary Alice and Sass checking on her.”

“Thanks.”

“Take the time you need with your daughter. We’ll hold shit down here for ya,” he says before we both click off our phones.

I know the club will look after Amy. After all, she’s made her own place in the fold, even without me. I should explain Amy’s situation to Shannon. I should call Amy and explain my situation to her.

There is another woman in my life—my daughter. How will Amy take it?

The more I think about it, the more I know I need to reach out. But I don’t. I don’t know why, but I don’t. I can’t. It’s all too much.

Don’t … Just Don’t

With stops, it takes fourteen hours to cross over the state line. After the cruise up A1A, along the Florida coast, I learned two things. First, Shannon hasn’t spent as much time on the back of a bike as I originally thought. Second, I haven’t had long rides with anyone in my bitch seat in a long damn time. This made for the ride home to be one where I hit the back roads rather than the interstate, and I allowed multiple stops so Shannon wouldn’t get home with her legs turned into jelly.

South Carolina, we cruised through, passing the sign for Folly Beach. Shannon gave a tug to my cut, and I couldn’t help wondering if her mom ever told her about our weekend trips there.

Anytime we left Haywood’s Landing, just the two of us, Tilly relaxed. I saw a different woman. There wasn’t a crazy war inside her to pull me from my club. We were simply two people in love.

It was all a charade
, I have to remind myself.

“Frisco?” Shannon asks as I park at the visitor center and shut off the bike.

“Not much longer,” I reply before she says anything more.

I need to breathe. I need space.

I look toward the restrooms then back at my daughter. Her eyes meet mine, and there is a deep desperation in her pupils, a longing to connect.

The pressure is too much.

“Take a leak. You got five minutes. You don’t come out, I’ll come in,” I order roughly.

She blinks in shock.

I haven’t been sharp with her. However, being so close to home and knowing everything is about to change, I can’t help the tension radiating off me.

“I don’t mean to scare you. Just ready to get home, okay?” I get as close to an apology as I can.

She simply nods.

Taking off at a fast clip, I leave her standing by the bike and head into the men’s room.

She doesn’t know it, but we have a tail. My Hellions’ brothers are parked on the other side of the U-shaped parking lot that surrounds the building with the South Carolina state flag proudly flapping in the wind. The white crescent against the indigo background above the palmetto tree symbolizes the beauty and history of this state.

Hitting the sink first, I quickly splash cold water on my face as the memory assaults me. Having Tripp and Rex here at my back, I can finally take a moment for myself.

“You know, their flag dates back to the revolutionary war,” Tilly proudly explains while we tuck our helmets away to head into the restrooms.

“You know South Carolina has no helmet required over the age of twenty-one? So, while I find the history lesson not necessary, it is necessary for you to decide if you are gonna stow your lid when we get done takin’ a leak, or you’re gonna wear it. Don’t care either way. Doesn’t make you less of a woman to protect all your smarts there, teach,” I joke.

She playfully smacks my arm. “The crescent came from their uniforms,” she continues, not missing a beat.

I drape my arm comfortably around her shoulders. “Sexy as fuck when you wanna give me a history lesson. Later, I’ll give you a lesson in Sex Ed, baby.”

With a pinch to my ass, she glides away toward the women’s side.

I look in the mirror at the reflection staring back at me, the very mirror I looked into all those years ago after splashing cold water on my face, trying to get my hard-on to go down.

How am I going to do this? Does Shannon share the same love of history her mom did? Were they able to travel?

The thoughts of Fury MC riding off with my daughter cuts deep, and I shake off my questions. What’s done is done, and the road before us is a path of our own making.

At the exit, I look at my bike and find Shannon’s not there. For a moment, fear hits me. Is she gone? Did she take off?

With a slight nod from Rex, I confirm she’s still in the restroom.

Time ticks by. The anxiety is getting to be too much. I need to get her to my place. Like a caveman, I need to be in my territory.

Fatherhood, the hardest job I never had until days ago.

I need a drink, a cigarette, a night with a hooker, and the chance to blow some shit up. The drink to calm my mind, the cigarette to let me think, a hooker to pretend this shit isn’t real, and the chance to blow something up for all the fucking time I lost.

“Shannon!” I bellow. “Got two, darlin’, then I’m coming in.”

“Don’t you dare!” she squeaks back.

“How do I know some man ain’t in there trying to feel you up?”

“What are you gonna do if there is?” she goads in what I think may be her attempt to joke with me. Only, I can’t take that chance.

Sliding the knife from my pocket where it stays clipped, I flip the blade open and march into the restroom.

Black hair swings around as her dark eyes meet mine. The humor is quickly gone as she zeroes in on the weapon without the slightest tremor.

“Yeah, baby girl, you should know your old man knows how to use a blade. Don’t poke the bear.” I smile as I flip the blade closed after confirming she is alone.

“Lesson learned.” She nods. “The old man doesn’t like the idea of me being with men. Got it.”

Laughing, I tell her, “I’ll say that we’re making progress.”

“We’re definitely doing something, Frisco.” There is sadness in her tone as she finishes. “I just don’t know what.”

“I’m not trying to scare you, Shannon. It’s been a long ride. I just want to make sure we both get home and have a chance to get to know each other.”

“I get that. I just don’t know what any of that will mean,” she replies.

Well, that makes two of us.

“Frisco,” she says, her tone somber. It’s like a kick in the teeth. “Did you and my mom joke? Were you overprotective of her, too?”

“Don’t.” I reach out and take her by the hand. “Just don’t, Shannon. The past I had with your mother is something I don’t think either of us is ready for.”

She jerks her hand away. “Don’t coddle me. I’m not a little girl.”

My eyes meet the fierce glare of hers that is so much like mine yet like her mother’s I almost want to smile at the challenge.

“Don’t, Frisco, just don’t.”

Fair enough, daughter dear, fair fucking enough.

The rumble of his Harley alerts me and, like a love-sick fool, I rush to the porch. Then, what I see kills me inside.

Frisco isn’t alone. There is a woman on his bike.

Adrenaline rushes through my veins as my mind tries to comprehend what my eyes are seeing.

Right in front of me is the man who has saved me from my own demons with another woman wrapped around him, while I stand on his porch like some idiot. It’s like a train wreck I don’t want to watch, yet I can’t seem to look away.

I can’t make out her features from under my helmet. Yes, she’s wearing
my
helmet. The helmet
I
took out of the box and have always been the only one to wear.

Bringing my hands to my lips, it’s almost as if I can still feel our last kiss. Only, it’s been days since we have even spoken, much less touched. And apparently, a lot has changed.

Panic rises. Rushing inside, I hear him yelling my name as the engine quiets.

“Dammit, Amy! Fuckin’ come here!”

Hell no. There is no way I’m going out there to see my replacement. Shit, I can’t even say I have been replaced. I’m not his ol’ lady. I’m just his houseguest. I’m some fucked up obligation.

I am stupid. So fucking stupid that I ever stayed in the first place.

Fight or flight … What the hell do I fight for? This isn’t my home, he isn’t my man, and I damn sure can’t call myself a Hellion. That leaves me with one choice: I must leave.

I try to hastily make my way to my room to start packing. I have money saved. I can start over. Where, though? Where do I go? Why haven’t I planned for this? Why did I let myself get so comfortable here?

“Amy.” His voice comes out heavily as he tries to calm his breathing.

I don’t turn around. I keep my back to him as I stare at my closet without opening it.

“Shit is changing.”

To those words, I can’t help thinking,
That’s obvious
.
I can see my replacement has arrived.

“Been dancin’ around shit far too long.” The rumble in his deep baritone has me wanting to climb into bed and simply let him talk me off the edge once again, like he has many times before. Only, I can’t. He’s the reason for my pain, my fear, and my situation. That’s a lie. It’s my fault. There is no one to blame here, but me.

My knees go weak. I don’t speak.

“You’re mine,” he continues. “Been mine for a while now … Years. Tonight on, you’re in my bed, on my bike—”

“Like her,” I snap before I can catch myself.

His heat is at my back before I can turn around. Then he snakes his arms around my waist, pulling me back to his chest tightly.

“Hot. That shit is hot,” he growls before placing a kiss on my neck. “Love you jealous, baby. Got some shit to sort.”

“Got some shit to explain,” I tell him harshly.

“Yeah, that, too. First thing, need you in my room, my bed. That’s where you are going to stay. My daughter is gonna crash in here. Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we move your clothes, and we go get her shit women need.”

His daughter?
Did he just say,
his daughter
? What the hell is going on?

“I think …” I stumble over my words. “I think I should go.” I pause and turn my head to look at him. “Yeah, I should stay with Sass.”

“Don’t,” he warns, leaning in to kiss my forehead. “Just don’t.”

“Don’t, what?” I shove him away. “Don’t leave the home that’s not mine? Don’t, what? Go to my friend’s house? My friend who doesn’t go almost an entire week without calling, texting, or even fucking replying! You got shit to sort, Frisco; that’s for damn sure. So do I.”

His lips crash down on mine. The kiss isn’t soft. It isn’t slow. It’s demanding. The way his tongue forces its way into my mouth, the way he commands and controls, it has me easily submitting to his will. This kiss is a seal. It’s a declaration.

When he pulls away, my lips tingle, and my tongue is begging for more.

“Love that mouth, darlin’. Had a shit couple of weeks. We have shit to handle here. I’m not your friend. I’m your man. You are my woman. We have spent too much time looking the other way from what we both know, we both feel. That kiss proves that.” He blows out a frustrated breath. “Took a trip. Had club shit that tied my past and my present. Got a kid, Amy. I got a daughter. She’s eighteen, and she’s named after my enemy. Her mom died in front of me. Got shit to sort; you get me?”