Bossed Up (Iron Vex MC Book 2), стр. 22
“Have you found him yet?” I ask, hoping he has. I need this monster off the streets, away from our daughter.
“Hi, I’m Rachel.” The woman interrupts our conversation, causing Stoney to tear his hand away from mine.
“Boss,” I introduce myself, but then again, she probably knows who I am.
She smiles lightly, but anyone can tell this girl feels awkward as fuck. “This is my fiancé, Cowboy.”
“Fuck, I thought that was a rumor.” Stoney cackles in amusement.
“Is it really so hard to believe someone can stand being with me?” I cock a brow, getting an amused chuckle from him. Though, I don’t miss the way Rachel keeps her eyes focused on our interaction.
“Rachel’s my woman,” Stoney says with the biggest smile.
“And it’s obvious you have a type,” I let out a laugh, and see Rachel release one as well, but as I laugh a rearing pain shoots through my side.
“Shit, baby. You okay?” Cowboy comes over to my side, taking the other seat that’s open on my alternate side.
“Mhm, just hurts to laugh too hard,” I murmur, trying my best not to let everyone see me this messed up. There isn’t any hiding the bruises, but damn, if I can hide how weak I am I will. I look over to Stoney, “You said you wanted to know what happened?”
He nods, “Yeah. I wasn’t given very many details.”
“I’ll give you the CliffsNotes if that’s cool?”
He gives me a curt nod, “Yep, that would be better.”
“Went there to grab lunch for Ricochet and I. The door was open, so I walked in. Knew something wasn’t right so I rounded the corner and saw one of the guys there dead. Knelt down, tried to see if he was alive but he wasn’t. Your boy, Spark, came at me from behind. God,” I roll my eyes, “He’s a cocky fucker. Thought by threatening me I’d give him what he wanted.”
Stoney narrows his eyes, “What happened next, Tala?”
I vividly remember the way everything went down, but I’m not giving him every gritty detail. He doesn’t need to know what was done to me. “He pressed a blade to my neck and said if I didn’t vow to be an ally to his club, he’d do what my father did to Kathryn, to our daughter.”
“Slimy piece of shit!” Stoney slams his fist down on my coffee table.
“It was only a bunch of threats before the beating started to happen, but I didn’t align myself with him or his club. I’d never do something like that.”
I feel Cowboy’s gaze on me, but I’m not going to say a damn thing. Stoney doesn’t need to know his arch nemesis raped me. “That’s it?” Stoney questions, almost like he’s assuming something else happened.
“That’s it.” I lie through my teeth. Enough people are pitying me right now for being beaten as severely as I was. I don’t need pity for another reason.
“I’m gonna get his ass, and when I do, he’ll suffer more than he’s ever made anyone else.” Stoney promises me.
“Correction. We’ll. Whenever you have him, do me a favor and don’t fuckin’ touch his ass until I’m there. I have my own bone to pick with him.” Cowboy hisses in a dark tone I’ve never heard from him.
“Agreed . . . but, Tala, I had an idea. An idea that if . . . if Spark was to ever come by and dig into shit legally, it would be a way to protect her. You open to hearing it?”
Furrowing my brows together, I nod. “What do you have in mind?”
Stoney looks over to Rachel, “Babe, can you get the kit out of your purse?”
“Of course.” Rachel digs her hand in the purse that’s slung over her shoulder and pulls out a plastic bag, handing it over to Stoney. He rips the bag open and reveals one of those store-bought paternity tests.
He clears his throat before he begins speaking. “There’s no easy way to say this, but our family situation is complicated. Destiny is our daughter, the three of us, as unconventional as it may be. You and Tala have been raising her, and I’ve only recently become involved. Now . . . Tala and I have come to a custody agreement, which will stay out of the courts ‘cause I’m not lettin’ anything get in that shithole. But, I need to ask you a question, Tala, to know if my plan will work.”
“Okay, what’s up?” I ask him.
“Who did you list as Destiny’s father?”
“No one. I said I didn’t know.”
Stoney smiles brightly, “Good.” He rips open the paternity test, reads some directions and swaps his cheek, securing the swab in the plastic baggy the box came with. “Cowboy, you’re gonna fill out your info on the sheet. Obviously, that’s my DNA, but your info is gonna match up with it. So, as far as that lab is concerned, your DNA will match Destiny’s. When the report comes back, Tala, you go to the state and get her birth certificate changed. You put Cowboy’s name down there, ‘cause knowin’ Spark, he’s checkin’ that shit on the regular. If he has one of his boys, hack into shit, he might back off when he realizes I’m not the father.”
“That’s genius.” Cowboy mutters, looking to me with a glimpse of hope in his eyes.
“Maybe, but I doubt this fucker will back off. He doesn’t seem the type who gives up easily.” I say to the group.
Stoney hands me the DNA test with the swab and I might be going crazy, but I’m looking at this like the peace offering it is. “Thank you, for doing this.”
He nods, “It’s not . . . not a big deal. As long as you keep up your end of the deal.”
“I’m not going back on my word, Stoney. I mean it. And again, thank you for this.” I look down at the DNA test that’s now in