I thought Tylee wanted the same thing. I thought she had her flaws, but in the end she would put love over everything.She’s changed – and not for the better.I didn’t think this would happen when we got married. Wyatt’s irritation bothers me, but I’m in no position to argue with him and utterly resentful of my vulnerability.
Does he think I want to be in this position? I need to know what’s going on with my family and my ex-wife…
“Tylee has fucked off somewhere,” Wyatt says. “She has the kids with her and I’ve tried calling everyone, including Selma to ask about her.”
Selma. That’s my mother, and one of the most frustrating women in my world. I hate the idea of Wyatt talking to herwithout me. Selma can be… tricky. She hates every Shaw she’s ever met too because she thinks that gambling is the devil’s vice. (She doesn’t mind liquor as much, but she hates it too.)
“What did she say?”
“That she hasn’t seen Tylee. Then she started crying and worrying that Tylee would drown her babies one by one.”
I hate that I feel a chill.
“My mother has a way of making me feel better,” I mutter under my breath.
“Sorry,” Wyatt says. “Tylee wouldn’t do that, but I was very specific with Selma that if she wants her holiday money from the club this year, she’ll tell us if Tylee comes through with the kids.”
“Great.”
“We have no idea where she is, Isaac. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear.”
He comes right out and says it instead of dancing around it, but that doesn’t make the news any easier to hear. My ears burn.
“And the Zeb situation?” I project a sense of calm that I don’t feel. Where the fuck is Tylee and more importantly – where the fuck has she put my children?
I learn all the details about Zebulon’s trouble and what they learned about the bikers. Zeb will be fine. He’ll be at Ruger’s house by now, and once he’s there, we’ll have everything that we need to get the first crates of weapons out of San Diego. Once they get back up to St. Louis, I’ll have to get on my ass and contribute something unless I have a better plan for how to get enough money to keep up my expenses for the rest of the year.
I miss the kids. And I can’t stop thinking about everything that I’ve gone through with Tylee over the years.
Our relationship is over. I know it now.
I asked her so many times if she knew anything about Magnum’s situation. She looked me straight in the eyes and lied to me. I gave my whole life up for Tylee because I thought we would grow old together. I used to hate admitting it, but now I can’t avoid the truth – I can’t grow old with her.
Not just that, this might split the club. The Shaws are family folk. They’ll choose Tylee over me and where does that leave me and the kids? They’re more important to me than anyone or anything. More important than any revenge.
I want to hold them again. Max, Kyler, and Aimee. I miss each of them in a different way. I don’t know how the fuck I’m going to make this work with Tylee, but when they grow up, my kids will know that I fought hard for them and did everything that I could to keep them safe and happy.
Each time Tylee and I brought another kid into the world, I had plenty of questions, believe me. I knew that she always took a few months off after giving birth when she was just too burnt out to do anything other than watch Real Housewives all day and give bottles. Anna explained to me that it was post-partum depression, which I could understand just fine.
I couldn’t understand why she nearly scratched my eyes out and called me a bad father when I questioned her going to the bar on Max’s birthday. I shouldn’t be surprised when Wyatt takes me aside after everything with just Hunter, so I know it’s serious, and he tells me what they suspect.
“We didn’t want to reveal this publicly,” Hunter says. “But I did my own independent research after what Tamiya said… and…”
Wyatt is far too impatient to let Hunter ease me into the bad news.
“Tylee might be stepping out on you with some biker in St. Louis. We don’t know his club affiliation or anything like that.”
Hunter gives Wyatt a look that suggests “I’ll handle it”. They might not share blood, but Hunter and Wyatt are just as much brothers as Hunter and his identical twin, Ryder are. They can be eerily aware of each other’s thoughts without saying much. I wouldn’t feel uneasy with it if this weren’t already such heavy, unpleasant news.
She ran off with my kids and for all I know they’re holed up in some motel with her and some pedophile biker bastard. My chest hurts. It takes everything to hold back a violent outburst or an impulsive escape on the back of my bike to spray bullets through every biker club I can find between here and Chicago.
“We’re looking into him,” Hunter offers reassuringly. “Her having help would explain a lot, and it might mean that she’ll want to… put the kids somewhere safe.”
Like where? Everybody in this room knows that Deborah Hollingsworth Shaw remains fiercely loyal to the Rebel Barbarians, especially since her son Wyatt took the reins from Harlan Shaw as the club president a few years ago. Her and Tylee are pretty close, but she would put the kids and the club over her daughter’s schemes any day of the week. Most of their fights end up being about Deb taking either Wyatt or Ethan’s side too much.
“I don’t understand how she hasn’t turned up yet.”
“If she has a gang of bikers covering for her, it adds up,” Hunter says.