How the fuck did she know what I could do? I didn’t even fucking know what I could do. At this point, I was ready to throw every last drop of whisky I could find down my throat.
Yesterday had been the kind of day I never wanted to relive ever again. After I’d made sure Charlie was okay and that Tenille would stay with her, I’d had to get back to help King. The number plate on the car that dumped Marx outside the clubhouse came from a stolen car, so that had been a dead end. After receiving that news, King decided we’d visit the last two Italians on our list. The night had descended into bloodthirsty mayhem while I carried out King’s orders. Turned out neither of them was the man we were looking for. All it had done was leave a bloody trail that would possibly have the feds crawling all over us. I’d then gone home to a roaring argument with Tenille who still refused to tell me where she’d been when Charlie fell. The way she fought me told me it was nowhere good. All of that without a fucking ounce of whisky in me.
The saving grace had been when I’d ended my shitty day at Monroe’s house. It had been an explosive battle with her to begin with, but she stood up to me and gave me everything I wanted in a woman.
I’d made it through the night without touching the bottle, but this morning was a whole other story.
I stood and shoved the glass back towards Kree. “Throw it away. And don’t pour me any more.”
She arched her brow. “You’re gonna listen to me when I say no?”
“Probably not, but you’re gonna stand your ground.”
“This is the worst plan. Just so you know.”
I was feeling agitated as fuck, so I needed to get out of there before I took it out on her. “Noted,” I threw back over my shoulder as I headed outside.
King came through the front door of the clubhouse just before I reached it. Narrowing his eyes at me, he said, “You look like hell. How’s your daughter?”
“She’s got a broken arm.”
“And your ex? Still fucking you around?” He’d drilled me on my family after I returned from the hospital yesterday, so he knew where I was at with them.
“Yeah.”
“Go home and sort it out, brother. I’m waiting to hear from Bronze today. He thinks he may finally have something on Ryland, which would be good fucking timing if he did. Until then, I’m just gonna lay low. We can do without you for a few hours.”
I nodded. “Call me if that changes.”
As I headed home, I wondered if it was the best move. With Tenille being so damn hard to deal with, and me being this agitated, the situation was just asking for trouble.
Charlie glanced up from the kitchen counter where she sat eating a bowl of cereal when I arrived home. Frowning, she said, “I thought you had a busy day on today.”
“I thought so, too, but plans changed. Where’s your mother?”
“In the shower.”
I dropped my keys on the counter and sat with her. “How are you feeling?”
She rolled her eyes. “You already asked me that this morning. I’m fine.”
I ignored her attitude. “And I’m gonna keep asking you.”
After finishing her cereal, she placed the bowl on the counter. “Yeah, well I’ll probably start ignoring you.”
“At which point we’ll have an issue.”
Tenille joined us in the kitchen, her hair wrapped in a towel on her head. “What are you doing home?”
“I figured we had some stuff to go over.”
She stiffened. “We don’t.”
I stood. “Tee, let’s start over here. I lost my temper with you yesterday, but I don’t want us to go on like this. I don’t want us to be angry with each other.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t either, but I’m feeling like I’m out in the cold here.”
I frowned. “How?”
“You’ve got your new woman, and you’ll have Charlie here with you. I’m not going to be a part of it all soon. I just don’t want to feel like I have no say.”
I glanced between Tenille and Charlie. “What do you mean that I’ll have Charlie here with me?”
“She hasn’t told you yet?”
I checked my patience, but fuck it was hard with the way she drew this conversation out. “Told me what?”
“I want to come live with you for a while,” Charlie blurted out.
“Here? You want to live here, with me?” I wanted to believe what I thought was being said, but I was sure I’d fucked it up somewhere. Charlie hardly knew me.
Tenille dropped her arms. “Yes, with you,” she snapped. “She wants to come and live here with you and your girlfriend.” I didn’t miss the nasty tone she took when she mentioned Monroe.
“Mum,” Charlie said, “I never said I wanted to live with Monroe. Why are you being like this?”
Tenille turned on her daughter. “Well, what am I supposed to think? You seem to really like her.”
Charlie’s chest puffed out like it did when she was about to go to war with her mother, so I stepped in. “Okay, you two, enough.” I needed to tread carefully if I didn’t want to alienate Tenille. “Look, I’m all for Charlie coming to live here—”
Someone knocked on the front door, interrupting us. Charlie slid off her stool and said, “I’ll get it.”
I watched her leave before pulling Tenille close. “We need to discuss this without Charlie in the room. Can you hold off until later?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“We also need to discuss our divorce,” I said quietly. Her jealousy over Monroe led me to believe this would be a touchy subject, but it was one I had to bring up. I felt like a complete bastard doing it to her, though.
She blinked rapidly a few times before pulling out of my hold. “I was wondering how long it would take you to mention that.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “Fuck, Tee, this whole situation is screwed up. Have you heard from Craig?”
“He keeps calling me, but he’s back driving in Western Australia, so he can’t get here.”
“Gibson keeps sending him over there?”
A strange look crossed her face at the sound of Gibson’s name. I would almost have labelled it as fear. I wondered if I’d caused her to feel that way towards him. Not a bad thing if I had. I wanted her to understand how dangerous he was.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Have you decided to leave him?”
I fucking hoped she’d say yes, but Charlie came back into the kitchen before she could answer me. And with her was Shane Gibson.
My body tensed, and a murderous urge came over me. I fought hard to contain it. If Charlie hadn’t been in the house, I doubt I would have been able to control it.
I reached for Charlie and pulled her behind me. No fucking way was I allowing her near him again. “What the fuck are you doing in my house?”
He kept coming towards me. “Hello, Aiden.”
“Stop fucking walking,” I barked. “Turn the fuck around and go out the way you came in.” I balled my fists by my side.
“That’s no way to greet me after all these years, son.”
I clenched my jaw. All I wanted to do was take the last few steps to where he stood and take to him with my fists. I wanted to kill the motherfucker, but not while my daughter was in the house. “I’m not your fucking son, Gibson.”