I’m unsure in that moment what is worse. Her admitting having stopped loving because of my actions. Or. That she is acting like she isn’t human. Had I broken her?
Silence fell over the room.
“I need to go.” Autumn said, clearly not prepared to fight with us over whether she loved or not. “I do have plans with Nate later. And I need to get moving.”
“Our cousin?” Jacob questions.
“Nate and Fate are in town.” She said, getting her leather jacket off the back of the chair. “And this time our business won’t sour.” She looked between us. “Good night. Thank you for tea Dad.”
And then she just fucking walked out. Like I wasn’t even there! Like I hadn’t just declared to her I would stop her relationship.
The front door closes and I turn to Hawk.
“You going after her or am I?” I wasn’t prepared to let Autumn think our conversation had ended.
Hawk shakes his head. “I think we have a bigger problem here.” Jacob and him share a look. “Autumn’s been pushed too far and that’s on me.” He then looked at me. “Her mother had bipolar Cage. Autumn has depression. But her moods are something we can’t control. I think my action of removing her from the club has resulted in her going cold.”
“Autumn doesn’t have bipolar!” I snapped at him.
“No. But she hasn’t been the same since Mom died.” Jacob speaks up.
“She’s shut down.” Hawk started rubbing his chin. “Autumn and I have been distant for sometime now, I don’t know how to help her.”
I just stand here as Jacob and Hawk go back and forth with what they can do to manage it—to get Autumn to feel again.
Hearing all this for the first time.
Jacob cleared his throat, catching my attention. “Bet you want to run now and suddenly she isn’t your problem anymore.”
“Yeah you’re right.” I compose myself. “It makes me want to fight harder for her.” And I locked eyes with Jacob. “You can’t scare me away from her. She’s fucking human. So what if she had problems. I still love her. My love for her isn’t conditioned.”
I knew the moment I stepped out of the house that morning I left her in bed I had fucked up. I had been trying to undo that damage since that day.
“We need to get her away from people that will help her self-destruct.” Hawk looks between us. “Like Nate and Fate and this Logan boy, they are all symptoms of the numbness. She isn’t thinking. We need to get her back into the club.”
“I can control Nate and Fate. But as for this Logan he is a wild card.” Jacob pulls his phone out.
“How do we know to trust Nate and Fate? How you planning on controlling them?” I asked Jacob.
“Nate and Fate will understand.” Jacob said.
“Logan I can control. I’ll get Aaron to call him to the table. Get him away from Autumn.” I run my hand through my hair.
“But what’s stopping her from following him?” Hawk asks.
I locked eyes with him. “Me.” And I had never meant one word more. I just hoped that Autumn still felt something for me.
14
Autumn
Nate’s phone kept ringing and he kept blocking the phone. Finally turning in the front seat to look back at me. “Does your brother have a problem with us hanging out?”
I shrugged.
“Well he hasn’t stopped calling me.” Nate muttered clearly annoyed.
“So why are we here? On the east side?” I asked, and looked at the two bedroom flat that we were parked in front of. The street was empty. Nate and Fate had already scanned the area for cameras. There wasn’t any. So that told me they were up to something.
