She shook her head.
“When did it happen?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“A couple of weeks ago? You mean to tell me you’ve been screwing my dad right under my nose and I haven’t even known about it?”
“We haven’t been screwing.”
“What do you do? Make love? Is that it? You’ve been making love to my dad? I’m sorry if I wasn’t saying the right words you needed to hear. Have you been making love to my father all the time?”
“No!” She yelled the word. “I get it. You’re angry. Hell, I even know you have a right to be angry, but I never wanted this to happen. I never led you on, Bishop.”
“We’re married.”
“In a marriage I didn’t want. You can blame me, by all means, blame me. It might even do you good to point the finger at me and tell me what a horrible, disgusting person I am for falling for your dad. You think I don’t know how weird this is?”
“The first time, were you drugged?”
She wanted to slap him. “Yes. How can you even ask me that?”
“Forgive me, but if you were forced to sleep with him, why are you so happy to go and kiss him now?” Bishop climbed off his bike. “Look at that. You’re my wife. You belong to me. You were supposed to be mine, and instead you’ve been going behind my back with my dad.”
“And what about all the women you’ve been with, huh? Are you forgetting about them? I’m supposed to just put out for you and deal with the fact your dick could be a rotting thing because of how many women you were with? The first time I was with your dad, Milly drugged me. I don’t remember most of it. I only recall the morning after and vague flashes of memory of what happened. The second time was the night of the party. The one where you disappeared, and I watched you. You were more interested in getting your dick wet than being with me. Why are you so angry with me? We weren’t together.”
“Because you were supposed to be mine. You’re the one thing my father couldn’t have, but he’s got it anyway. You’re my wife, and I was willing to give you everything.”
“No, Bishop. You were willing to marry me and for me to give my child over to your dad. You couldn’t handle what had happened. You and I, we’re not supposed to be together.”
“I love you.”
She sighed. “No, you don’t.”
“So now you’re an expert on love?” he asked.
“I’m no expert, and I don’t claim to be either, Bishop. I wish there was something more I could tell you, I really do, but I can’t tell you lies. I know I love you, I do, but I’m not in love with you. Just like you don’t love me. If you did, you wouldn’t go hunting for all the women.”
“I’m a man, Robin. It’s what I need. It’s what we do.”
“Your dad doesn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You know the truth. He doesn’t go sleeping with every woman who will look his way. He’s been loyal to me since finding out I was pregnant with his baby. You can hate me. I will accept that. You’ll always be my best friend and I will always care about you, but I will never love you. I can’t love you.” She stepped up close to him but didn’t lay a finger on him. “We haven’t told my father yet.”
“Do you love him?”
“What? My dad?”
“No, Preacher? My dad. Do you love him?”
She opened her mouth, closed it again, and smiled. “I honestly don’t know.”
Bishop opened up his jacket and pulled something out of one of the inside pockets. She didn’t get a clear look at it.
He held it up to the light. It was the gold wedding band. “Is this why you left it outside of my door?”
“I didn’t think you’d seen it.”
“I had, but I didn’t realize it was your wedding ring.”
“I hope you know I didn’t want to hurt you. I don’t ever want to hurt you, Bishop. You’ve got to see this is wrong between us. You and I, we weren’t going to work.”
Bishop didn’t say anything for the longest time. He stood, the rain pelting down all around them, and she waited.
She didn’t know what to expect, but he finally looked up.
“You know, I’m not going to ever understand what you see in him. He’s older than you, and it’s just gross.” She laughed. “But, if you love him, like, really love him, then I know I can stand back. I don’t have a choice because I don’t get to have you. I will never get the chance to have you.”
“Well, isn’t this a touching scene.”
Robin tensed up, and Bishop grabbed her, pulling her close.
Out of the shadows of the house, she saw the man she recognized. He wore a leather cut detailing his leadership of another club.