Harley was the spitting image of Stud. Hair color, eyes, even the arrogant tilt of his head when he wasn’t happy. Star, on the other hand, took more after her mother. She was going to be dainty and petite, but her hair color was more the color of Calder’s, and so were her eyes.
She hastily turned toward the television when Calder noticed her staring at them, pretending amusement at the kids’ reaction to the game.
Her mind went back to when she had found out Candi was pregnant and was married to Stud. It hadn’t been long after Calder had been sent to rehab. That had been before Skulls had handed the Destructors over to the Stud. She still remembered how shocked she had been when Skulls had mentioned that Stud and Candi got married and she was pregnant. She had even jokingly suggested to Joker that he should have taken a paternity test before marrying her.
Candi was one of the biggest sluts she had ever known. She still had been when she was arrested the night she had kidnapped Star. The woman fucked any man who filled her needs for drugs. The only person she had ever seen her care about was Calder. It was an obsessive love. Even Crazy Bitch had seen that, what little she had been around them together. Candi had used the drugs to keep Calder within her control.
Stud let Star play another game before asking her to let Harley play. Star handed it over. When he lost, Stud told them it was time to go to bed.
Her suspicions that Star was Calder’s receded when he gave the kid a brief hug before turning off the television.
They said good night to Stud then left.
“Those kids love spending time with you.”
“I love them, too. Stud and Sex Piston are great parents.”
As they reached her car, she was glad she had told him she would follow him with her car.
The driveway light showed his somber expression. She didn’t immediately get in her car, caught off guard at the inflection she had heard in his voice.
“Stud and I were raised by our father. He was a racer like Stud. He raced in any state or country that had a track. Our mother tried to get custody of us, but our old man stayed one step ahead of the law. Just when they were about to catch up with him, she was killed while coming to pick us up at the police station. Ironic, isn’t it? If she hadn’t tried so hard to get us, she would probably still be alive. Our dad didn’t care. He was just happy he got what he wanted.”
She sadly watched him reliving his childhood.
“Stud started racing when he was fourteen. Every mistake he made, our father would go ballistic, forcing him to practice the maneuvers over and over again. He didn’t give a shit he could be hurt. He just wanted Stud to win, and he did.”
A bitter smile played across his lips. “When he tried to get me to race, I was smart enough to make myself scarce. There was no way I was going to put myself through that hell.
“A couple of the riders showed me how to work on bikes. They started coming to me when they wanted help. It gave me spending money, and when I was able to keep his and Stud’s bikes in good repair, he got off my case about not riding.
“He was winning every race, and so was Stud. When Stud told him that Reese was pregnant and they were getting married, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He had been keeping Stud’s winnings and only giving him chump change. Our father knew that was going to stop now that Stud was getting married and had a kid on the way.
“It was before a big race. Dad told me he wanted his tires changed. It had rained that morning and he wanted another set that had better traction. I was changing them when he and Stud were arguing. It was so bad I had to break them up.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “I forgot to recheck the nuts before the race. He was coming out of the last curve when his front wheel came off.”
“God!” Crazy Bitch muttered, reaching out to touch his arm, but he took a step back, avoiding her touch.
“He died because I made a stupid mistake, like I always do.”
She shook her head, trying to get him to see reason. “It was an accident.”
“A fatal one.” He sat down on the seat of his bike, staring up at her grimly. “It made the news. It even made the news that I was the one responsible for changing the tires.
“Stud and I had Dad’s body brought to West Virginia. After the funeral, we went to the Blue Horsemen’s clubhouse for a drink. Dad had belonged to the club before he started racing.