UnLove Me - The Angels Warriors MC Complete Trilogy Box Set (28 page)

The drive from work is long; I wish we had a good hair salon to work at here, but we don’t- at least no place I would actually get my hair done at. I started working at Haylix Salon in Calgary just before I found out I was pregnant. Hilary’s cousin, Hayley, owns the place with her best friend Alix.

When I get home, I see that Vinny’s already here. I smile as I walk into the house. I really hope he isn’t moody tonight. I had a good day and want to leave it that way.  He’s been a moody shit since the night he proposed, always snapping at me and constantly picking for a fight.

He keeps telling me nothing’s wrong, so I’m putting it off as if he’s having my pregnancy mood swings instead. I did read that sometimes the man will get that way; even gain weight with a pregnant woman too.

“Vinny, tell me what is going on!” I demand, standing in front of him.

He rubs a hand over his face before looking at me. “You might wanna sit down.”

I gulp. “Um, okay.” I take a seat on the couch, and he comes to me.

“Eden is back in town,” he tells me, kneeling at my feet and grasping my hands.

I almost blurt out, ‘How did you find out,’ but thankfully I keep my mouth shut and just look at him in shock.

“Does Jasper know?” I blurt out, because right now, I’m scared that anything I say will give me away.

He shakes his head. “No, I’m not sure how to bring it up to him. Her leaving hurt everyone, even you.” He stares at me as if I’m gonna burst out into tears, or maybe even rage. “Until I can think of a way to go about this, promise me you’ll stay away?”

I frown in confusion. “What do you mean, stay away? She’s my best friend, and she’s back,” I retort.

“She’s not, not anymore, Lilly. She’s been gone nine years,” he tries to tell me gently.

“I’m not staying away, and you can’t stop me,” I tell him.

He sighs. “Fuck, Lilly, I haven’t told Angel yet. Can you at least wait until I do that?” he asks me impatiently.

“Nopes. I don’t give a shit about Angel. Eden’s back, and that’s all I care about.”

“You don’t make shit easy. You know that?” he says.

I smirk at him. “What fun would that be?”  He shakes his head and kisses me softly.

I pull up to Kayla’s house and wait for her to lock up so I can take her to the doctor. “Hey,” I say as she climbs in the truck.

“Hey,” she says quietly back.

“You’re sure about this? Keeping the baby?” I ask her.

“Yes, Vincent, I am,” she says, sounding mad.

“Sorry, just had to double check,” I say, letting out a huge sigh.

“I understand, Vincent. I do, and anyways, Brandon and I have started dating. He also knows about me being pregnant, but he promised not to say a word. He actually wanted to come with me today, but I didn’t think that was right. My baby’s father should be the one there for these appointments,” she tells me.

I’m happy for her, for moving on, and I like that she’s dating a brother. I trust that man with my life. If only I could work up the courage to tell Lilly about this shit.

The appointment goes well. Dr. Carson was a little shocked we chose her over Kayla’s usual doctor, and I couldn’t very well tell her I don’t want my other baby momma finding out about this one. Kayla just said something about her being highly recommended, so she wanted her to deliver the baby instead.

Nice save.

We heard the baby’s heartbeat, and it was amazing. Made me think about last week when I went with Lilly to her appointment and heard our child. I’m gonna be a dad.

I drop Kayla off to her place after leaving the doctor’s office and head to work.

I’m in the office when the phone rings- not the shop phone, but our line for Angels Warriors. Picking it up, I clear my throat before answering. “Hello? Angels Warriors.”

“Yeah, hi, um, I need to talk to someone about protection,” a small quiet voices responds.

“Of course, can I just ask your name?” I say politely.

“Eden Blake.” I almost drop the damn phone. I knew this call might come. I’ve been trying to think of a way to tell Jasper. Looks like now I don’t have to.

“Uh, hold on, okay? I’m gonna hand you over to my higher up,” I tell her. I want to yell at her. Why has she come back now, after all this time? Oh, that’s right, now she needs us. Now she wants us in her life. I will do what I have to, to protect her, but I’m not sure if we can trust her. I mean, fuck, we don’t know shit about where she has been for nine years or why.

Walking out to Angel’s bay, I hand him the phone with a grim look. I know the moment he hears her name on the phone because his whole body goes completely still, and I swear it looks like he’s going down memory lane.

“Why do we have to play with a girl for, Jasper?” I asked him, angry that he was making me go with him to some four year old’s house.

“You’ll see. She’s fun. She’s not into dress up and dolls like the other girls are. She likes bikes and cars and rocks. She’s cool. Trust me,” Jasper told me, grinning.

“Why can’t you just go play with her by yourself?”

He shrugged. “Because she needs friends, and she’s awesome. Plus, one day, when I’m older and actually like girls and kisses, I’m gonna marry her.”

I shake the memory off and clench my fists. After reading that fucking file from Paula, I’m pissed at Eden, but, at the same time, I want to go to her and get my best friend back. Eden could have told us; she could have come to us at any time.

She just ran away, up and left us all.  We all were fuckin’ searching for her, too, while she was just out there hiding from her father all by herself, just to end up right back in his clutches after we thought he was fuckin’ dead.

I think back to the reactions we all had after Angel got off the phone with her. Fuck, I wanted to run right to her and choke her for taking off on us, and then hug her and let her know I’m glad she’s back.

When Angel hangs up, he’s pissed. I pass him the folder and let him read through shit. Afterwards, I walk into my bay and get back to work.

Closing time is finally here, and we’re packing up to head over to Eden’s place.

“You telling me that she’s been back in town a few months now, and we are just finding this shit out now?” Reaper says, sounding pissed.

“Gotta calm the fuck down, man. We’ll do her no favors by going into her house all pissed at her,” Angel says.

“Fuck that! She was my best fuckin’ friend! She left, didn’t tell us what the fuck was going on. We could have protected her!” Reaper yells.

I toss my cig on the ground and crunch it under my boot. “Let’s ride over. Maybe she’ll have some goodies from her mom’s recipe collection for us to eat,” I say, swinging a leg over my bike.

Reaper stomps to his bike, looking like he’s contemplating on kicking it over. He’s so angry. He gets on and rides ahead of us.

“I think he was hurt more than I was, and I was the one that was dating her,” Angel says grimly.

Reaper and Eden were always really close. Ever since she jumped him at the playground when she was seven, they were stuck together like glue.

The ride to her house doesn’t take long. It’s the same house that we all played over at often growing up, the same place that Eden once took a garden snake and shoved it down my pants when she was eight.

“Hey, Vinny, come here! I wanna show you something!” I heard Eden yell.

“Coming,” I shouted back. I made my way over to the garden in the back yard to check out what Eden was staring at.

“He’s so cute,” she cooed.

I chanced a look over her shoulder and saw it was a snake. “Oh, hell no!” I said, stepping away slowly. Eden knew I was scared of snakes, that little brat.

Eden picked the snake up and stared at its face, smiling hugely when the snake’s tongue slithered out. “What’s the matter, Vinny? Scared of an itty bitty ssssnake?” she said, mocking me.

“Eden? Are you scaring that boy?” I heard Eden’s mom shout from the back porch.

“Nope, just playing with my new friend,” Eden said sweetly, holding up the snake.

“Vinny, son, come here please. You can help me weed out my flower garden.” Grateful to just get away from Eden and that damn snake, I took off quickly, not even giving a crap about having to weed.

We’d been going at the weeding for a few minutes when I felt something go down my pants. Standing up, I turned around and saw Eden smirking at me. “What did you do?” I demanded.

Her smile widened, and she backed away. I noticed the snake was gone from her hand. “Where is it?” I asked, getting angry. Suddenly, I felt it, the slithering movement in my pants.

“Help me!” I screamed, shaking and terrified.

“You remembering the snake incident?” Reaper asks, smirking.

I punch him in the arm. “Shut up,” I say, glowering at him.

He laughs. “Good times.”

I say one name, and he shuts up real quick. “Mrs. Shepard.”

“Fuck you, Vinny. Don’t even go there,” he growls, and I just shake my head. I don’t know what in the hell we’re about to walk in on. Jasper’s about to see Eden for the first time in nine years.

We walk up to the front door, and Angel’s looking nervous. When she opens the door, she’s hiding her face behind her hair. That isn’t the Eden I knew; the one I knew was always so lively, constantly showing off her face, saying she was beautiful—she doesn’t even seem to recognize any of us. She ends up recognizing Angel, but she doesn’t even hug him or anything. It almost looks like she wishes it wasn’t him at all.

What the hell is up with that? I would think she would be excited to see him, that she’d jump into his arms or some shit, not back away and look disappointed.

We go into the house, and we all stand around, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I decide to go hang out with the kid sister. At first, Eden doesn’t seem to want me around her, and I have to say, that really fucking hurt.

“Well, hey there, kid,” I say smiling as I go to sit in the chair next to her.

She looks at me questionably, as if thinking before she speaks. Most kids right away blurt out whatever is on their mind, and usually it’s rude. “Well, hey there yourself,” she says, mimicking me.

“What’s your name?” I ask her. I already know it, but it’s good to get the kid talking, to get to know her.

“I’m Glenna. My big sister calls me G-baby, though. What’s your name?”

“I’m Zippo,” I say, putting my hand out, hoping for a hand shake.

She takes a look at my hand, thinking. She finally reaches out and shakes my hand. “Can I call you Mr. Zip?” she asks me.

I let out a small laugh. That’s a new one. Never got that name before. “Sure thing, G-baby,” I say, winking at her.

“Did you know, when you are like, super old, even older than you are now, all those tattoos are gonna be all gross and saggy with your old man wrinkles?” she says seriously.

I grin. “Probably, but that’s okay. At least I’ll still think they look cool,” I tell her.

“Yeah, that’s good. Don’t care what other people think. Best way to live,” she tells me, grinning.

For someone so little, she sure is a smart kid.

“What are you working on?” I ask her, looking to the books on the table.

She groans and pouts. “Math homework. Mr. Zip, I’m telling you, if I didn’t think Eden would ground me, I wouldn’t bother doing it.” She reminds me a lot of her sister at this age. They don’t favor much in looks, but they both have blonde hair.

“Let me take a look, see if I can help you,” I say, scooting my chair in closer to hers.

After helping her work out a few problems, she finally gets it, so I leave her to it, grabbing a brownie from the counter. I walk back out to the living room, to see if Eden is talking.

Pushing through the swinging door, I freeze. Eden has her shirt pulled up her back, and I can see the ugly marks left behind from her father. Looks like she was fucking peeled open. When she turns around, I finally see what she was hiding behind her hair. Her face! My God!

When Angel tells me that Lilly knew the whole fuckin’ time too, I’m pissed. I hear Lilly call through the front door, and I go to it on a mission. I fling it open and stare down Lilly.

“You knew before I told you. You knew this whole time, all these years?” I ground out, already knowing the answer to my own question.

“I can explain,” she rushes out.

“Really? You fuckin’ think so?” I grab her wrist harshly and drag her through the kitchen.

“Auntie Lilly!” Glenna squeals in delight. She starts to come to Lilly for a hug.

“Not right now, sweetie. Be right back,” Lilly says quietly, following behind me as I drag her out the back door. As soon as we step outside, I shove her away.

“Why did you never fucking tell me!” I yell at her.

“I couldn’t, Vinny. I just couldn’t,” she says, trying to calm me down. She moves in to wrap her arms around me.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch me!” I seethe. “When I told you about Eden being back, that was when you should have opened your fucking mouth and told me you knew.” I look away from her, trying to keep my anger in check. She is pregnant with my child, and my ring is on her finger, but she fuckin’ knows how I feel about liars. She might as well have just twisted a knife in my back. It kills me because, as much as her lie hurts, the secret I am keeping from her is so much worse.  If I’m feeling this way toward her about her lie, how is she going to feel when my secret comes out?

“Please, let me explain,” she begs.

“How long have you fuckin’ known she was back living here before I told you?” I demand to know.

“Since day one, while you were on another case, I helped her move in quietly,” she says, looking down to the ground.

I grab her arms, wanting to shake some sense into her. “And the night she left?”

“I was with you that night, but Mom told me when I came home the next day. Vinny, let go. You’re hurting me,” she whispers.

I step back from her, dropping her arms. “I can’t believe you fucking kept this shit from me! We’re living together! Fuck, we’re having a kid together, yet for years, fucking years, you kept that from me? From Angel? All of us?” I scream at her. “We’re done, Lilly. We are fucking done, and this time, it’s permanent.”

Tears are streaming down her face as she tries pleading with me. “Eden made me promise. She begged me not to tell you guys. She found out about…”