“Bee’s.”
“Bee has atherapist?”
“Yeah… We figured it was for the best. She has some trauma. I’ll explain everything soon—”
“You’ll explain everything now. I can imagine some of the trauma Bee has, so we’ll revisit that soon. You can start with what’s wrong with your mother?”
Dante sighed as he placed some chopped fruit up in front of Axel. “I’m making him some toast. What does he like on it?”
“Just butter. So?”
A pained look flashed across Dante’s face, but he quickly masked it before he answered me.
“Kitty is… She doesn’t leave her room much anymore. I’ve had Doc look her over, and she seems okay. She won’t go to an official doctor for a proper test, so there’s no way to be sure that there’s not something going on inside, but physically she seems fit and well. It’s mentally that she’s struggling. Since Crash died, she’s given up. She spends all day staring at the ceiling. She’ll occasionally come out, but she doesn’t enjoy spending time with anyone.”
“Well… It’s a shame, but I’m not surprised,” I said, accepting the cup of tea Dante held out for me and wrapped my hands around it.
“No?” he asked with some amusement.
“I always said she was weak and relied on the muscles of her sons and the status of her old man. Now she’s lost most of those…” I shrugged.
“I remember what you said,” Dante grinned at me, shaking his head at the memory.
“I take it she’s in her room now?”
“Yeah. This started back at the other house. Vienna and Shark had to all but drag her back here once the renovations were completed.”
“I’m sure this place is full of memories. Some she might not have wanted to remember. You certainly made a … choice when you decided to get it built as an exact replica.”
“The plans were from Crash,” he shrugged, cracking an egg open in the pan. “We just built on his ideas. He always said he wanted to expand this place, and with all the drama going on, it just seemed easier to keep his original plans since the materials had already been ordered. I didn’t really care one way or the other. Kitty was always going to have her memories, whether or not she was in a new building.”
“I suppose.”
“The other house is sort of used as dorm rooms now for prospects, or members without old ladies to go home to. The prospects have permanent rooms, the others are just made up for whoever needs them.”
“There’s still spare rooms here as well, I take it?”
“There is. But we’re more selective about who stays here. The bar belongs to everyone in the club, but my home is my home. I’m not adopting Crash’s free-for-all policy.”
“After Macbeth, that’s understandable,” I said quietly, taking a sip of my brew. I watched as he placed the toast in front of Axel, along with some scrambled eggs, and began making aeroplane noises as he spooned some eggs towards Axel’s mouth.
“Listen,” I said, getting to my feet. “I’m going to let you two bond on your own for a few minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see Kitty. Maybe knowing her only grandson is in the house might cheer her up a bit.”
“She knows he’s here, Rachel,” he shrugged. “I took him into the room last night. But if you want to give it a go, be my guest.”
I nodded my response and left the two of them giggling when Axel grabbed some eggs in his little fist and tried shoving it in Dante’s mouth, mimicking the plane noises.
I didn’t exactly want to do this, but it didn’t sit well with me knowing Kitty had all but given up on her life. Lord knew there was no love lost between us, but that didn’t mean I was comfortable with the thought of her suffering.
I jogged up the stairs, my memory kicking in as my feet automatically steered me toward the room that had been Kitty and Crash’s before the place was blown up.
The house was definitely an exact replica. Even down to the carpets and the wallpaper. The only difference I could see was that Dante’s bedroom was no longer at the end of the hallway. Instead, there was a smaller bathroom, and then the corridor branched off into a T shape—which was the extension I saw when I arrived.
I’d have to explore the new quarters at a different time. And find out where Dante was sleeping, I suppose. Since that would also be where I was sleeping.
