Penny,” Jules says, wiping a smudge of dirt off Ben’s cheek as we head inside. “I haven’t been up to see her in a few days. It’s been crazy here. How’s she doing?”
I hand Ben off to Cap who whirls him around. “She’s doing better, especially now that Gary’s in jail.”
Speaking low so that Ben doesn’t hear, I keep one eye on Emma and Striker as Dee directs her to help hand out drinks. “Does he know?” I nod to her sister’s boy.
“Not all of it. He knows what his dad did, but he doesn’t know how bad it is, and I haven’t figured out how to tell him where his dad is or that he’s not coming home.”
Or that, now that he’s been found, all it will take is one phone call and he’ll wind up with a shank in his gut.
“Don’t sugarcoat it, Jules,” I tell her candidly. “And don’t put it off. It’s better if he knows sooner rather than later, and it’s better if he hears the truth from you instead of the twisted version Gary would give him.”
“Spider, he’s seven. How do I tell him his dad almost killed his mother, and that he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison or die there? Ben’s life is so messed up. I don’t want to make it worse. Not at his age.”
I squeeze her shoulder. “He can handle it better than you think. Kids find a way to work this shit out if you give it straight. It’ll fuck him up worse if you hold it back. Trust me on this.”
Jules turns and stares up at me. The knowing look she gives me tells me she gets it. I can see the memory of my father in her eyes, the regret. The disbelief that she and so many others never saw through the doting, fatherly façade.
For one horrible second, I think she’s going to pour on the sympathy and apologies, the we-should-have-knowns. But instead, she squeezes my hand and nods.
I squeeze back, grateful for her silence.
“Dex is giving you Bishop’s old room while you guys stay here.” She hands me a key. “I just finished cleaning it up for you before you showed up. You remember where it is?”
I nod, thanking her and pocketing the key. Bishop had been the Chaplain for White Springs until he was killed in a fight with the Bastards a few years ago.
“Listen, Spidy,” Jules asks quietly now, “would you take Ben to see his mother when she’s up to it? I have to handle some things in California for a few days.”
“Sure. I’ll—”
“Heeey. What have we here?”
I whip around.
Emma’s at the door to the clubhouse, a tray laden with drinks on her palm. Primer, one of the White Springs guys, has cornered her, grinning down at her like a wolf.
“You are a tasty little thing, aren’t you?” he says, reaching for her.
“Fuck me.” I march toward them just as Emma backs up against the wall and the tray and glasses crash to the floor.
“Back off,” Emma spits, and her eyes veer to me before, with effort, she puts her gaze on Primer’s. “Spider wouldn’t appreciate you touching me.”
It’s stupid, but that proclamation makes the beast in me purr with pleasure, even if she is just saying it to scare him off.
“Is that so?” He shakes his head. “Spider isn’t the type to lock a woman down. Use ‘em and lose ‘em’s his game. You’re no more his than Tequila or Dee—”
“Yes. She is.”
The words are out of my mouth before I consider the impact they’ll have.
Primer’s head whips around. His brows go up as he digests the sight of me towering in front of him. His eyes go from my face to my balled-up fists, two times the size of his.
Emma’s face crumbles with relief.
In one step, I close the space between us, seize her wrist, and yank her against me. Primer backs up a pace.
“Hey, I didn’t know, man. You should have kept a better eye on your things, man.”
Wow. My insides twist with a completely out of character anger.
One second, I’m eying Primer like a lion with a kill, and the next, I’m putting Emma behind me. Then, the next thing I know, the front of his cut is in my fists, I slam him up against the wall, and put my forearm under his throat, forcing his head back.
Several glasses clink as men stop to watch, and the entire clubhouse goes quiet.