His (Hers #5) (22 page)

“You take orders from criminals now? You get walked all over by everyone, huh?” Arden mouths off as I help an injured Lyric off of the ground and towards the entrance to the cave. I do my best to ignore his words because I can’t let him get to me. I can’t let his bullshit fuck with my mind since that is all he wants to do. I pause, and I take the high road.

“You call them criminals. I call them family. I don’t need blood family, I got all that I need,” and without turning back around, I walk Lyric out of the cave and leave Chrome, Ryker, and Judge to do whatever they please with the two timing Veronica Reed and the brother I wish I never knew, Arden Parker. Or Kenneth Jack. Whatever he wants to go by these days.

All I could do was hold this poor girl as she cried. A crying woman is not something I’ve ever had much experience with because my ex-wife never dared to show an emotion, and well, Seven… crying really isn’t in her vocabulary. I want to laugh at the little funny I made, but I can’t bring myself to even crack a smile.

She weeps and begins to whisper.

“I didn’t mean for your family to be dragged into something like this.” As if any of this is her fault. “I was on the steps, coming to help Seven with the baby and then something was over my face. It knocked me out.”

“Those people had a personal agenda against me and Seven. It has nothing to do with you. They saw an opportunity and cashed it in. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I am just glad we got to you in time before they did anything stupid. I hope you can forgive both Seven and I for dragging you into this.” I try and rationalize, but my mind is all over the place. Her breathing slows and soon she is sleeping in my lap. I am sure she is exhausted from the whole ordeal. How many people would use a kidnapping to catch up on their sleep? Fuck that.

While I sit and wait for Chrome, I think about Seven and the fact that I’ve let her rule the roost of our relationship. Arden’s words echo in my mind, calling me a bitch and saying people walk all over me. Being insecure, I wonder if he may be right. Is that really what I have become?

I like to think of myself as a reasonable man. I put out what I want to get back in the world. I haven’t gotten everything I consider mine by rolling over and taking one for the team. Especially when it came to catching my stubborn ass wife and keeping her all this time. I am a smart man who knows which battles to pick and which to let go. The reality of it all is, my brother doesn’t know anything about me and he never will. He was never interested long enough to build a relationship then or now.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, under Lyric’s head and I ignore it. I don’t want to bother her now that she is finally able to rest. I’m sure the entire ordeal has been exhausting. I know I am more than ready to get home and leave this shit behind us.

Chrome emerges from the stairs quickly making his way for the truck with no one in his wake. I don’t know if I want to know what happened back there, but the nagging fact that my brother was a large part of this almost makes me need to ask.

“Don’t ask.” Chrome says while he gets into the truck. “Just know that neither will bother you or Seven again. I just can’t tell you any more than that.” He offers without any further discussion of the topic.

“Ryker and Judge?” I ask.

“They will meet us back in Woodstock sometime tonight. I’m gonna hit the road to head home if that is cool with you?” I just nod as we make our way back in the direction of the highway.

Levi

Present

Somewhere on the drive back to Woodstoc,k my phone finally stops vibrating. My only assumption is the battery died. Chrome’s phone flashes occasionally, but remains on silent, as does the rest of the truck for the drive back. I don’t want to poke a bear because he is in some kind of mood. His hands white knuckle the steering wheel and I catch him speeding over and over again.

He lets out a deep breath as we finally reach our exit from the highway.

“You gonna let it out before you explode on Star, dude?” I laugh, and try to break the nasty silence that is filling the air.

“I hate letting people go.” He says without thinking about his answer any further. I can tell he didn’t want to let that out, but he had to.

“You let them go? Why?” I ask. I’m unsure if I really want to know why he did what he did, but I am silently grateful my brother, no matter how fucked up or distant he is, didn’t end up somewhere in the Falls.

“You remember that old Kenny Rogers song, the Gambler?” Chrome asks and I answer.

“Yeah?”

“Sometimes you gotta know when to fold ‘em and walk away.” I never took Chrome for much of a deep thinker, but whatever he had going on within his head was far deeper than he would ever want to share with me. So, I just leave it.

“Your house or mine?” I ask as we try and figure out where the crew would be camped out.

“I’m willing to bet everyone is held up at your house, babies and all.” Chrome replies as the truck turns in the direction of my house. I am relieved I will finally be home with my wife and girls. It isn’t like we have been gone long, but any time away from them seems like an eternity.

“You know, Star really loves that y’all named your daughter Willow. She’ll never tell you, but it’s probably the most touching thing anyone’s done for her.”

I shrug.

“It’s all Seven’s doing. I wanted to name her London since because that is where I finally got Seven to start fuckin’ chasing me. It holds some special meaning for us, but I think Willow fits perfectly. I’m glad it could help Star get some closure, not that having Magnolia back doesn’t help.” I think about being away from either of my daughters for that long and it is like a knife to the heart. They are my world.

The truck finally comes to a stop, and Lyric stirs.

“Where are we?” She quietly asks with a sleepy voice.

“My house. Seven should be here waiting for us all. I’ll get a doctor up here first thing in the morning to check you out and make sure you are okay. Nothing more than some bumps and bruises, right?” I ask.

“I think I may have a broken rib, but that’s it. They didn’t rough me up too bad. But that bitch kicked me in the ribs pretty fuckin’ hard.” I want to laugh at how much she is like Seven in so many ways. But damn, it would be really inappropriate to laugh right now.

“We’ll make sure we get you all checked out.” I reassure her.

Just as we kill the lights of the truck, Paisley and Diesel come barreling out of the front door of my house. Why the hell are they here? Why are they running?

“What the hell?” Paisley screams at us.

“What?” Chrome and I say in unison.

“Why don’t you fuckers answer your phones?!” she screams again. What the hell?

“Calm down, Paisley.” Diesel says from behind her as he wraps his arms around her and pulls her petite body close to his. “There was an accident. Seven and Star are at the hospital and it doesn’t look too good.”

Like that, my entire world comes to an end.

The beeps and sounds of the hospital are noises I never wanted to hear again. I never thought I would hear again. Now, I am sitting here with burning eyes as my wife fights for her life in a hospital bed. I continue to tell myself Seven is a fighter, trying to reassure myself that everything is going to be okay when I know deep down… it isn’t.

The doctors and nurses speak in whispers around me, like I am some kind of spectator on the sidelines. Like a child who doesn’t understand the weight of what is happening. What has happened. What Vince did to my wife.

Seven is a fighter whose fight has been taken away from her. Her body isn’t responding to any of the treatment and while we all hold vigil at her bedside, I pray that whatever happens is for the better because there is no way on this Earth that I can live day-in and day-out without Seven by my side.

“Why are you giving up?” I ask her, whispering into her ear as I cry dry tears. I couldn’t squeeze out another actual tear if I tried. They dried hours ago.

“I swear Seven… if you leave me behind to raise your daughters, you will never forgive yourself. Fight me. Fight me for them. You don’t want me to fuck their lives up. I need you to be here and teach them how to be strong independent women. I need you to raise them to be fucking badasses like you. I need you. Fuck! Stop! Just come back to me!”

A hand gently touches mine, Star nods at me and encourages me to get up and leave for a little bit. Take a walk and clear my head. Nothing is going to wake Seven up right now and there is no use beating myself up over all of it. I don’t want to leave her, but I know if I don’t get out of this chair soon, Chrome will probably physically remove me from the hospital altogether.

“I love you, Seven.” I say before I turn and make my way for the hallway of the ICU. And take a break to get my own shit together. For Seven and everyone around us.

“I did it, Seven. I killed him. I shot him. I’ve lived with this secret for far too long. Going behind your back. Lying to you as I smiled and shared all these family holidays with you. I know one day when you wake up, you will never forgive me and that is okay. I can live with that because it is what I deserve.” Star’s voice quietly speaks through the hospital door. I can hear the sniffles as she cries, but I give her the time she needs with Seven. Clearly, she chased me out of the room for more than just some time to myself.

“He was a monster and he would have never let me go that day. I am not sorry for what I did, because I wouldn’t have Magnolia or Rainbow if I didn’t do what I did. Given the situation, you would have done the same. But he is your brother, your flesh and blood, and that will never change. Our bond of sisterhood has never been blood even though there were times I wanted it to be. I’m a shitty friend and I know I shouldn’t be unloading this all on you right now. But if something happens to you, I need you to know all of this. There are so many things I needed to say over the years that I just kept to myself.” The beeps and machines echo through the room, and I just stand there and process the weight of it all.

I don’t blame Star at all and I never will. I am sure Seven wouldn’t either. My god, I wish she was awake, I wish she could listen to this. I just wish she would come back to me. But maybe this time… is really it.