“Well, she’s doing a bang-up job. I’m ignorant as ever.”
“Lucas, your sister apparently knew something. Something she kept from you for a reason. She is now telling you to take Hailey and run. She wouldn’t do that if nothing was going on?”
“I know,” I muttered looking out the window over the compound. I loved this view. Bikes all lined up. The small businesses my brothers and I started from scratch. The houses up on the hill that I helped Smoke build, all the fun times, the parties, laughter, celebrations. This was my home. Had been since I was seventeen years old when I started prospecting.
“Lucas,” Jess whispered. “I can’t tell you what to do. I want to but I can’t. This decision has to be yours. Whatever you decide, you will have to live with the consequences.”
“What if I choose wrong?”
“Depends on your choice. You stay and the club goes to shit, can you live with knowing that something horrible could possibly happen to Hailey, me or you? If you leave, can you live with knowing that you abandoned the only family you ever knew in their time of need? It’s not an easy decision Lucas.”
“I can’t let anything happen to Hailey or you. I just can’t.”
“And I will be pissed if something happens to you. I don’t relish the idea of raising this baby by myself. Hailey is your niece. I love that little girl, Lucas. You know that. She needs us both right now. Kitty’s letter was explicit.”
“I feel as if I’m being torn in half. Part of me wants to get you and Hailey the fuck out of here. The other part wants to stay and help my brothers. Either way someone is going to get hurt.”
“Your brothers can make their own decisions. Hailey can’t. She’s a baby. If you die, she has no one.”
I turned to Jess. “She will have you.”
“No, she won’t. I’m not her legal guardian. We’re not even married. Right now, in this instance you are Hailey’s only guardian. Not me, not Reaper, not this club. You.”
“What would you do?” I asked, already knowing her answer, but for some sick reason I needed to hear her say the words again.
“I’m leaving. There is no fucking way I am raising our child in this club. You already know how I feel about the Golden Skulls. My whole childhood was shit because of them. They killed my mother. I wouldn’t trust the Golden Skulls as far as I could throw them.”
“But you trust me?”
“No. I love you. There’s a difference. I can love you till my heart breaks but I will not stay for you, Lucas. I will not raise our kid around these people.”
“You don’t trust me?”
Jess sighed, sitting on the bed. “I trust that you will make the right decision for you. When it comes to my life, I cannot trust anyone who wears a Golden Skulls cut. I’m sorry Lucas I just can’t. I won’t ever forget my past.”
When I didn’t reply, Jess added. “Look. I think you already know what you are going to do. I think you already knew back in Louisiana when you brought Kitty into the hospital before Kitty had us traipsing all over the country on her wild goose chase. Maybe she knew that you just needed time to accept it. There is no shame in walking away. That takes courage and you have that in spades. You just need to accept your decision and do it.”
She was right.
I knew the moment my sister lay dying in my arms I was done. I stayed to get my revenge.
I got it.
Both Acid and Toxic were dead.
Nothing was holding me here anymore.
If I stayed, I knew I would end up like my father, mother and sister. Death was constant when it came to the Golden Skulls. No one was immune. Even the helpless and the innocent were targeted.
“Pack only what you need,” I said, my decision made. I couldn’t chance something happening to Hailey or Jess. I couldn’t. Walking towards the door, I opened it when Jess asked. “Where are you going?”
“I have to tell Reaper and Ghost. I can’t just leave without telling them why?”
“Are you sure that’s wise?”
“No but it’s the right thing to do.”
As I walked down the hall towards the stairs, I passed several of the brothers’ doors. I could hear some watching tv, some listening to music, some fucking. Life moved on.