“Chance used to refuse to ride with bandana’s and once was yelling so loudly he swallowed two flies,” Inglorious explained. My nose twitched as did Clio’s, and both together we said,
“Urgh.”
“Now you can tell they’re sisters,” Inglorious chuckled.
“Looking alike didn’t give it away?” Chance asked, rolling his eyes.
“Nah,” Inglorious said.
“I have a thing for lavender, so I brought you these. A gift from me to you,” I said and held out a gift set to Clio. Her eyes widened, and Clio snatched it greedily.
“I love lavender too,” Clio muttered.
“It’s all over the damn cabin,” Chance grumbled.
“And I brought this,” I said, and this was the present that made me nervous. Clio unwrapped a tiny baby grow and turned it around. Her mouth dropped open, and then Clio laughed. Chance let out a chuckle, and I relaxed. Written on the front was, ‘Mom says no, Dad says no, Auntie said yes!’
“I bought this to prove I wanted to be part of your life. That I’m truly sorry for misbehaving. If someone had said that to one of my kids, I’d have ripped their heads off. Clio, I want to get to know you and your family, and please forgive my actions and words yesterday,” I begged. Clio stared for a few moments while my heart pounded in my chest.
“And Chance and I looking for our remaining siblings?” Clio asked.
“My full support, one hundred percent. Several certain someone’s pointed out it was my pride stopping me from hiring a PI. They were right. Sadly, I wanted to be the one that found you, and I wanted to gather everyone under my wing. Maybe that’s because I’m the eldest, and I actually stayed with blood family, while who knows what happened to the rest of you. I wanted the credit of finding you,” I replied, being bluntly honest, and that hurt. Hurt deep inside to know arrogance may have caused my siblings’ pain.
“That’s harsh,” Chance said with a hint of surprise.
“But true, right?” I said.
“Fuckin’ true,” Chance agreed.
“Clio?” Bear said, and I ignored his presence. He’d been silent during the entire conversation.
“I’m thinking,” Clio said and reached up to clasp Chance’s hand. I sat silently, understanding pushing Clio would have negative repercussions.
“Take your time,” Chance encouraged. I felt Bear’s solid presence, his eyes burning in the back of my head. It took everything I had not to turn around and acknowledge the threat Bear presented.
“Why did you ride behind Inglorious?” Clio asked.
“For several reasons. One, I’ve never ridden and was intrigued, secondly because I wanted to get over my preconceived ideas. And thirdly, because, come on, Inglorious is way above the higher level of sexiness,” I said with a big smile. Clio laughed loudly and glanced across at Inglorious, who smirked.
“Okay, we can try again, but no more bullying or accusations. If you want me to be a part of your family, then you need to be part of mine,” Clio said.
“Can you explain?” I asked.
“Yes, you come around the clubhouse and meet my family. Hellfire’s my family, meet the staff at the tearooms, and when Dad and Mom get back from their wanderings, meet them,” Clio said firmly. I reached out a hand and touched Clio’s.
“In that case, I have one condition, well two,” I said, and Chance interrupted.
“You ain’t in no position to demand shit.”
“Chance let Thalia finish,” Clio said, and Chance glowered but subsided.
“Meet Kelly properly. Kelly’s been there my whole life; I can’t remember a time without him. And Kelly is the second most important person in my life,” I said. “Don’t judge Kelly by my actions; he’s a good man.”
“We can do that,” Clio said.
“And meet Grandmother. She’s suffering over what our parents did. Fear kept her silent, which isn’t a good enough excuse. But it did. And Grandmother is a good person and regrets not stopping our paternal grandparents. Grandmother was wrong and knows it. She could have told me at eighteen. But Grandmother didn’t, and we’ve this mess to contend with,” I said.
“Yeah, we can meet Grandmother, but please don’t expect me to welcome her with open arms. I suffered a lot of pain that ended when Chance came into my life. Your grandmother could have stopped that. My life sucked. It had moments of beauty, such as when Dad fostered me. But until Chance met me… life sucked. So please don’t expect a warm welcome,” Clio replied.