is hard, yes. But you need to concentrate on the good things and say fuck you to the bad.”
He gets up and gets two glasses and some lemonade, then pours us both a drink. “Much more civilized,” he murmurs as he slides it over to me.
“Thanks,” I whisper, swallowing half the glass in one go.
“Come here,” he says, pulling me against his chest and rubbing my back. “Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay. You have us, and we will fix whatever it is, okay? Who has upset you? Do you want me to go and kick someone’s ass?”
I smile against him, then start crying, because that’s how fucking messed up my head is right now.
“What’s wrong?” I hear Temper ask, panic in his tone. He comes over and pulls me away from Crow, lifting me up in his arms. “What happened?” he asks Crow, his voice now laced with fury. “I left her here with you for a few hours and she’s fuckin’ crying?”
“I don’t know what’s happened,” Crow says, staying calm. “She came into the kitchen and was drinking straight vodka from the bottle when I found her, and I was just asking her what’s wrong.”
Temper’s voice must have gotten everyone’s interest, because suddenly the kitchen is filled with the MC. Saint, Renny, Dee and Chains, and all with their eyes on me.
“Get out of here!” Temper yells at them all, his booming voice scaring the shit out of me. I’ve never heard him use that tone before, and that volume, and it’s like it came out of nowhere.
The men start to leave, but I say, “Wait.”
They might be scared of Temper, but I’m not, and I know he’d never do anything to hurt me. He’s angry for me, because I’m upset, and he wants them to give me space.
They all might as well know what’s going on. They’d hear about it anyway.
“I found out why Palmer has been asking about the MC,” I declare, looking at Temper’s face.
“What are you talking about?” he asks, putting me down and cupping my cheek. “What has happened, Abbie?”
“I spoke to my mom, and she told him to come and find me,” I explain. “Because apparently they’re old friends.”
“Okay, but why are you crying?” he asks, wiping my still wet cheeks. “Has he done something to you? Said something? Because I will fuckin’ rip him apart with my bare hands if he has upset you.”
“She also told me that he’s my father,” I blurt out, looking Temper right in the eye as fresh tears drop.
His eyes widen in realization, and he leads me out of the kitchen and into my room, closing and locking the door behind us.
“She told you that on the phone?” he asks, sitting down with me on the bed. “You never knew who your dad was?”
I shake my head and tell him the story from start to end.
“Come here,” he says gently, and hugs me tightly. “I’m sorry you had to find out about who your father is this way. You know it’s up to you what you do with this information, though, and you don’t need to decide right now. But I’m here to help you no matter what, okay? I have your back. We all do. And that doesn’t stop when you leave here. I’m always going to have your back.”
“My father is a drug dealer,” I say with no emotion. I’ve always wondered about him, and this is what he ended up being? “How the fuck is this my life?”
“You don’t have to acknowledge him if you don’t want to,” Temper says, kissing the top of my head. “And you know none of us here are going to judge you. Hell, if anything you probably fit in better here now.”
I laugh at that, wiping my face. “What are we going to do about him, though? If he comes here looking for me?”
“Whatever you want us to do,” he replies in all seriousness. “We can kick his ass for not being there for you if you like. Or we can threaten him.