Tarin: Chapter 21
I’d been back home for twelve hours. Dad and Ilara, along with Hope, had been over to check on me. In fact, the whole club had been here. That was after Outlaw let them in the door. He didn’t do that until he made sure I had at least eight hours of sleep, and something to eat. He wanted me to stay in bed, but I couldn’t stand to lie there. He’d finally relented, and I was up on the couch in the living room.
Someone had cleaned up the mess made the night before from the fight. I was starting to feel the soreness getting worse, but I didn’t dare tell him that. If I did, he’d have me in the car and on my way to the hospital. Zara had come and checked on me. She promised to come back, but I told her to rest and we’d call if I needed her. She was looking worn out, and I thought I might have seen her grimace.
With my immediate needs handled, it was time to find out what had set off April. Was she just jealous of Outlaw picking me, or was there more to it? I turned to glance at Outlaw. He was sitting on the couch with me. Dad was in the chair across from us. I sighed. “You guys need to go and find out what the hell this is about.”
“What do you mean?” Outlaw asked. He had an innocent look on his face. Dad’s face wasn’t quite as innocent looking, but close.
“You know damn well what I mean. Go talk to that bitch, April. Find out if she’s just a jealous slut or was there more to it. She might be working with the person sending those texts and photos.” Both of them gave me startled looks. “Oh, come on, I’m not dumb, even if I’m blonde. It wasn’t that hard to think that. Besides, I want you to see what she looks like. Take a picture, will ya? I want to see how her face looks today.” I snickered.
“Jesus, I never knew you were that big of a badass, Tarin. Payne is right. Baby, she can wait until you’re on the mend,” Outlaw said as he chuckled.
“Well, I can’t. Today is the deadline for me to get the money together. No one’s contacted me again to say what I’m supposed to do with the money. Maybe because they expected her to bring me to them, or she just might have been devastated she lost out on you,” I told him as I gave him a kiss. He kissed me back. Dad was the one to break us apart.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, none of that. I want to pretend you two never actually have sex, you know,” he grumbled.
“Dad, I’m pregnant. That’s kind of hard to do,” I protested as I laughed.
“No, it’s not. Immaculate conception.”
“Like you and Ilara immaculately conceived the twins?”
He grinned then licked his lips. I made gagging noises which got both of them laughing. Once we sobered up, I pleaded with them. “Please, go find out. It’s driving me nuts. I’ll stay here and be a good girl.”
Dad took out his phone and typed out a message. “Don’t tell Ilara to come over! She has enough to do,” I told him.
“I didn’t tell Ilara to come. I texted Jessica. She said she’d be happy to come over earlier.”
I tried to get them to not send any of the ladies, but they refused to leave me alone, so I gave in. As soon as Jessica and Kiara arrived, Dad and Outlaw gave me a kiss and said they’d be back. I sat back to try and be patient as I waited. I needed to know if April was a separate threat or part of my blackmailer’s scheme.
Outlaw:
I wasn’t looking forward to questioning April. I never liked it when we had to get ugly with a woman, even if she was a bitch. However, she’d brought it on herself by taking Tarin. We needed to know if she could lead us to the person blackmailing my woman. We’d eliminated two of the six guys she’d said called her stepdad Mer as having anything to do with it. They’d been out of the country for weeks and their calls and emails hadn’t been that hard to hack into and check. It was taking too much time. The deadline was today. I’d been watching for a new text or a call to come in, telling us what to do with the money.
When Bear and I walked into the Gallows, the others were already there waiting for us. All of them had hard looks on their faces as they stared at April. I couldn’t hold back the “Fuck,” that came out of me when I saw her face. My jewel had fucked her up good. Both eyes were black and one was swollen almost completely shut. Her nose was bloody, crooked, and swollen three times its normal size. Her bottom lip was busted and a huge bruise covered her left cheek. I looked at the others. “Is that all from Tarin or did someone think she needed a lesson?”
Every one of them smirked. “That’s all our little badass. You’d better watch out, Outlaw,” Payne said with a chuckle.
I couldn’t help it. I snapped a photo of her face for Tarin.
April glared at him, then she looked at me. “Outlaw, tell them to let me go. You can’t do this. I know you’re mad, but I couldn’t help it. She took you away from me. I should be the one you’re marrying and having your baby with!”
“Bullshit! I would never marry you or have a kid willingly with you, April. If you thought otherwise, you’re delusional. I told you that and Bear did too. We don’t take bunnies for our old ladies.”
“So, we’re fine to screw, but that’s it!” she screamed.
“Yeah, it is. Not pretty but it’s the truth. You were told that when you asked to become a bunny,” Bull reminded her.
“Well, I changed my mind,” she whined.
“Then if you did, you should have left. Let’s get back on track. We don’t care why you thought you should be with Outlaw. We want to know what you thought you were going to do with Tarin after you took her? Was that your idea or someone else’s?” Bear growled as he walked closer to her. She shied away from him. I walked up to crowd her.
She looked around at all of us. Not a single one of us was giving her an encouraging look. She tried to make us feel sorry for her. “I’m sorry. I lost my mind when you said what you did at the clubhouse last night, Outlaw. I’ve loved you for a long time. I thought we were going to be together then she showed up out of the blue. Suddenly, it was like Bear had a daughter and one of you was expected to claim her. If that was the case, why did it have to be you?” she asked me. I saw her trying to tear up.
“First of all, you don’t love me. You only love yourself, April. Secondly, no one expected one of us to claim Tarin just because she’s Bear’s daughter. I claimed her because I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. There’s no one else for me. She’s it. I knew right away I wanted to claim her, marry her, and then have a family with her. Thank God, she feels the same. However, even if she wasn’t around, I wouldn’t be with you. What were you planning to do with her?”
“I don’t know. I went insane for a little bit.”