Yeah, they’ll be alright.
“You’re missed, sweetheart. My sister is demanding to see you,” I admit, the demanding words from my sister when I left this morning coming back to me, the only woman in the club aware of where Viper and I have gone, and Lake sighs as she gently traces Viper’s tattoo on his hand that’s on her leg.
“I miss them too,” she replies, “But I don’t want the girls here.”
“They understand, shorty,” Viper reassures her and she nods without looking up before sighing and looking back at me, stating, “The reason why she loses it every time you accuse her of using Ivy for a brother's patch to piss off her daddy,” she swallows and I lean forward as my heart races before she tears my fucking whole world around as she admits, “Daddy is dead, Venom.”
Fuck no, no, no.
I sit back in pure shock as she asks, “Did you ever hear about the firefighter who lost his life trying to save a little girl from a house fire roughly years ago?”
“Chase Wilson,” Viper says while I sit completely still, remembering the firefighter who gave me a few choice words on a day I was struggling, a man I mourned after finding out he died in a fire, a man I had no idea had money or a fucking daughter.
Raya was fifteen when the man died, and I’m beginning to put two and two together, but her words confirm it as she finishes, “That was her daddy, her stepfather is Gregory Averie, the club's lawyer.”
Fuck.
I stare at Lake with absolute shock, that year coming back to me, Ivy coming home crying on Raya’s birthday, the day Chase passed away.
Fuck me, her father passed away on her birthday, a birthday she doesn’t like to celebrate…
“Well, that explains a lot. The rumor was that the Hyenas were the cause of the fire,” Viper mutters, and Lake replies, “They were. She’ll be mad I told you both, but that is all I’m going to say. What you do with that information is entirely up to you, Venom. I will warn you, you’ve got a lot to make up for because every time you brought her daddy into an argument, you tore her heart out, reminding her he’s dead. That man was her best friend.”
“Thank you, Lake,” I whisper with pain, and she nods as she looks at me with concern, most likely seeing my pain.
“How’s therapy going, shorty?” Viper asks, helping to take the heat off me knowing I need to figure shit out. I zone out trying to figure out how to get Raya to forgive me for everything I’ve ever fucking said about her father, her dead fucking father.
“Kitten?” I say as I knock on her door, knowing full well she’s in, but also wanting to respect her by not using my key. “Please, kitten, I need to speak to you,” I choke, guilt filling me.
My emotions are going haywire. Angel is still refusing to do a blood test while screwing every man she can, and the woman I love, the woman I pushed away by being a dick. She lost her dad on her birthday, and I never put two and two together when she disappeared for three months.
“I was in contact with her mama…”
Ivy’s words come back to me, and I sniffle, knowing Raya won’t answer, and I place my forehead against her door.
I admit, “When I was twelve, my mama said I wouldn’t amount to anything, she said the club would destroy me and growing up being ingrained the club is everything. I couldn’t cope with Mama’s words so I ran off and started trying to set fire to some dry leaves in the park when this big man in a firefighter shirt gave me a lecture about the dangers of fire before he took a good look at me. He asked if I was Glock's son, and I said I was, and he told me whatever was said to hurt me, that burning shit wouldn’t help matters. He encouraged me to speak to my dad after giving me his number, so I could always call him when I felt like burning shit again.Chase Wilson, Raya, was one of the best men I knew, and the fact that I have wound you up for years over being a spoiled rich girl trying to get daddy’s attention makes me the biggest prick in the world. He would skin me for how I have treated you.”
I hear her footsteps, and I know she’s by the door.
I choke, “I’m so fucking sorry, Raya, I’m so sorry you lost your hero on a day you should have been celebrating.” Her sobs echo from under the door, making my whole body tense as I place my hand against the wood, and I slowly close my eyes as a tear falls, while her sobs tear me in two.
Chapter 14
Raya – Two Weeks Later
I gently brush through my wet hair in a trance, not really focusing on anything.
I feel like my world is slowly caving in, like I don’t have any control anymore. The only time I feel sane is when I work, meaning my body is gradually shutting down with exhaustion.
Back-to-back shifts at the firehouse for two weeks straight with law school in between, ignoring everyone in my life, except my mama and Gregory.
They’d storm into my apartment if I went radio silent with them, especially given what happened to me. However, everyone else, yeah, I needed a break, especially since Lake was admitted and Venom found out about my dad.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Raya, I’m so sorry you lost your hero on a day you should have been celebrating.”
I sigh as I drop my brush on my vanity table before my eyes go to the pictures on it, my dad front and center in his fire uniform, grinning wide in front of the fire truck, his icy blue eyes like my own sparkling with happiness despite the soot he’s covered in.
Venom’s words have been stuck in my head for two weeks, and it doesn’t matter how much I try to work to dislodge them. They’re stuck and hit me every single day.
