I still slept in the barn. I couldn’t go back to sleeping on the couch when temptation wasright there. And I certainly couldn’t risk either of them seeing the reaction my thoughts and dreams gave my body. But I did make a point to help Caroline tuck Samantha into bed and hang with Caroline until she was ready to go to bed too before I left them for the night. I wasn’t sure if Caroline understood my reasoning for leaving, and I had adeadbolt installed on the bedroom door so she didn’t have to keep moving the chair in front of it, but I knew it was for the best.
Each day, Caroline and I took Samantha for a walk along the surf. Sometimes she would take her bubble wand, sometimes she would bring a pail to collect seashells in, and sometimes she would just run until her little legs gave out and she would catch a ride back home on my shoulders.
As Samantha played, Caroline and I talked. I didn’t hold her hand as I wanted to, keeping a small distance between us. These were more in-depth conversations. I told her a little more about my work and past marriage, and she told me about the mental exercises Dr. Akamu gave to her to help her not be scared when I wasn’t around. I hadn’t realized the extent of her uncertainty when I wasn’t nearby. I thought it was nerves, not terror.
I made a point of introducing her to the club. I might not like the guys being around her, especially the younger ones, but I never wanted Caroline afraid to be near them without me there. As much as it grated on my nerves, Saga was a big help with that. I ended up having to swallow my pride and create a schedule with him so he was at least around the house when I was at work. I hated leaving my girls, but I couldn’t shirk my other responsibilities either.
Caroline started to use her phone too. It took some lessons, as she’d never used touchscreen technology before and she ended up butt dialing a few random numbers, but she was getting the hang of it. Shelovedtaking pictures. I created a shared album between the two of us so she could also get all the pictures of Samantha I’d taken over the past month and a half.
I took both of them out more, taking them for some grindz—food—and local cuisine. I wanted to show them more of my island than just Bacon’s house and the doctor’s office.
Things between Aloiki and me still weren’t back to normal, but I was too busy to care. He would never apologize, because itjust wasn’t in his DNA. Hell, I’d only ever heard the words “I’m sorry” uttered from his lips once, and that was to Lu. I had no hope of getting an apology. I honestly wasn’t waiting for one either.
I did not have sex with a Club Cunt or any of Yooko’s employees at the next party, nor the one after that. I also didn’t almost shoot one of my club brothers in the face, so, you know, improvement.
Yooko even gave me a thumbs up while one of his male employees, who could only be described as a twink, hopped up and down on his dick. I flipped him off and continued on my way. I did not need Yooko’s, Lucifer’s, or anyone else’s approval.
While my overall attitude might have improved, my knitting skills had not. I might even be getting worse, much to Caroline’s amusement. Her smile when she saw my piss-poor results was theonlyreason I continued to try.
I couldn’t even argue that I was distracted by her, and that was why my needlework sucked. Because I still tried to practice in private while I was at work when Caroline wasn’t even around, and my results were still the same.
When one of my potholders came out looking like a dick, I knew it was time to quit. But I didn’t, because it was something Caroline and I could do together. She often opened up more when she was knitting than when we were walking down on the beach or talking over a meal. And I wasn’t ready to give that up.
My phone rang earlyone morning while I was braiding Samantha’s hair. I was prepared to ignore it, my hands tangled up in long, black locks, but a small hand reached into my back pocket to pull it out. I turned my head over my shoulder andraised both my eyebrows at Caroline. She gave me a saucy smile before answering the phone and slipping it between my ear and my shoulder.
I crooked my neck to hold it while playfully glaring at her. It was far too early in the morning for phone calls. Samantha hadn’t even finished her cereal yet. After much trial and error, we finally had a winner. Honey Nut Cheerios with raspberries was her favorite cereal combo.
“Howzit?” I said into the phone. I hadn’t seen who was on the other line before Caroline put it to my ear.
“Why the fuck isn’t Aloiki answering his phone?”
I blinked. “I’m sorry, it’s almost like you haven’t known the man since he was eight years old. Did you seriously just ask me that question?” I asked Kayl in return.
A snort came over the line. “Look, I need to talk to him. Where is he?”
“Down at the beach with Lu,” I answered evasively. I certainly couldn’t say that he’d taken Lu for a sunrise surf and was likely fucking her on the sand right now. There were little ears present.
My eyes followed Caroline as she headed back over to the stovetop. Dr. Akamu recommended her starting to cook small things, and for herself only. She wanted a spinach and feta omelet for breakfast, and while it went against my core to have her cook it herself while I just stood here with my thumb up my ass, I was not going to go against her therapist’s suggestion. And if it turned out that Caroline actually did like cooking, that the act itself made her happy regardless of if it was for herself or others, I would never stand between her and a spatula again. I made myself useful by trying to braid Samantha’s hair for her instead. We were going down for a swim lesson after breakfast, and Samantha did not like when her hair got caught up in her goggles.
Kayl let out a string of curses. “Well since he can’t be botheredto answer his own phone, I guess I’ll just have to tell you. I found the redhead you’ve been looking for.”
My spine stiffened, and I immediately dropped Samantha’s hair to step away from her. Caroline saw and frowned, but did not voice a question.
The downstairs of Bacon’s house was open, compared to the variety of different rooms on the next two floors. I easily slipped over the invisible threshold into the living room before I lowered my voice. “Is it Rory?”
Rory O’Malley, an Irish-Hapaonce known as “Skipper”, had been the club’s original Nomad. While other landlocked clubs had a Nomad who either traveled between other chapters or liaised with a variety of clubs throughout the nation, we were waterlocked. Skipper lived on a houseboat and had traveled between islands to ensure all was well where our club didn’t have a foothold. For the first nine-ish weeks that the club had been formed, Skipper hadn’t been around much, and that had been by design.
It was common knowledge that Rory had been holding a torch for Lu for years, even when he had been married to a woman named Aaleah, and had been extremely jealous of Aloiki for his relationship with Lu. After Lu had walked away from Aloiki for his continued dangerous work with Kahoku, she moved to the Mainland with Nishi. For weeks following her departure, Aloiki had fallen into a drunken stupor, and had been in no condition to heed Kahoku’s next call. It was on that mission when he was absent that Aaleah had died, and Rory openly blamed her death on Aloiki.
Years passed. Aloiki left Kahoku’s group and the activist lifestyle, until Elrik Jameson had called him up one day about Bloody Scorpions MC being spotted on O‘ahu. Which led to Aloiki and Lu’s very public reunion, the conception of her child, and the creation of the Royal Bastards O‘ahu Chapter. Many of us Originalshad worked with Kahoku at one point or another, and some of them even left working with Kahoku to join us. Rory was one of them, claiming he was over what had happened with Aaleah as well as his feelings for Lu.
He’d lied. The day Lu discovered her pregnancy, Skipper had tried to propose they run away together. Aloiki hadn’t just taken his road name and cut, he’d also taken Rory’s right hand in a public demonstration of what happened to any of us, brother or not, if they touched or disrespected Lu as his Ol’ Lady.
I had personally dumped a one-handed Rory back onto his houseboat. He’d also been beaten, and Aloiki had shoved Lu’s used pregnancy test down his throat. No one expected him to survive the night. However, when we checked his boat a few days later, we’d found blood but no Rory.
The night Aloiki’s house had been attacked and destroyed, we’d captured the Bloody Scorpions who had opened fire on a home with our Prez, his pregnant Ol’ lady, and his two-year-old niece. I’d gone a little nuts when I discovered Pualani had been in the house at the time of the shooting, but she was fine. Aloiki had squirreled Lu and Pua away before he attacked the Bloody Scorpions singlehandedly, because in true Aloiki fashion, he’d forgotten his phone.
After we turned most of the Bloody Scorpions into chum, utilizing the woodchipper we’d stolen from the construction crew still working on the barn at the time, one of the two remaining informed us that a redhaired man had paid them to attack Aloiki’s home, and claimed the redhaired man worked for a man named Kahoku.