Tack’s mouth got tight again.
“We good on that?” Shy prompted when Tack said nothing, and Tack jerked up his chin. “Good,” he finished on a mutter.
“That other shit, brother, we gotta have words,” Tack declared.
“You’ve said your words, Tack. You got other words, I’ll listen. But, mark me, I’ve heard every word you’ve said the last four days.”
“I think you get me,” Tack returned.
“Oh yeah, I get you,” Shy agreed.
Tack studied him. Then quietly, he stated, “She’s my only daughter, man.”
“And she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, Tack,” Shy shot back instantly.
“I’m seein’ that,” Tack murmured, his lips twitching.
Shy didn’t find one f**king thing amusing so he clipped, “Well, brother, finally.”
“I was pissed as all f**k when I said that shit to you about not knowin’ what love is,” Tack explained.
“Know that,” Shy returned. “Also know four days have passed since you took it back.”
“Three days passed before you showed me you walked the walk, not just talked the talk,” Tack retorted.
Fuck, he had to give him that.
Shy said nothing.
“You know me. She knows me. You knew the way I’d react and that’s why you both hid that shit from me,” Tack continued.
“Yep,” Shy confirmed. “And you know me, brother, and, outta respect for you, you know I would never, not f**kin’ ever go there with Tabby unless it was real. I get your reaction. I just don’t get that days have gone by and you haven’t seemed to get why we would move to manage it.”
“Yesterday, Tyra explained some things to me,” Tack shared.
“Thrilled, brother,” Shy replied, and Tack’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re missin’ this,” he warned low, “but I’m wavin’ a white flag here, Shy.”
“I’m not missin’ shit,” Shy bit out. “It has not been lost on me, since I’ve been f**kin’ there watchin’ her girl Natalie lay into her about us and, seriously, man, that woman has got a mouth on her. It was not easy not tossin’ her ass out the way she talked to my woman, but Tabby felt it was time for a f**kin’ intervention so she wouldn’t f**kin’ let me. I’ve been there too, dealin’ with her worry that her girl has not returned one single call she’s made and, brother, she calls that bitch every day to smooth the waters and she’s got nothing. I was also there to overhear my brother givin’ her shit, testin’ her to see if she’s on the rebound from that guy and usin’ me.”
Tack’s eyes flashed but Shy was far from done.
“I was there, watchin’ her take her brother’s shit when he f**kin’ called and laid into her. I was there, watchin’ her worry ’cause you and your woman would not speak to her. And I saw her pissed off and in pain yesterday when she saw what you were doin’ to me and she was stuck, torn between her man and her family. Honestly? I do not give one f**k what you or any member decides to do to me. What I give a f**k about is that you’re puttin’ my woman through the f**kin’ ringer a year after she went through the f**kin’ ringer and, brother, I am not down with that. So wave your goddamned white flag, but if Tab isn’t feelin’ you, I won’t feel you.”
Tack’s eyes were intense but his lips were twitching again when he muttered, “She’ll feel me.”
“I suspect she will,” Shy agreed. “You’re a hard act to follow. Luckily, when I got my shot at beauty, I had a blood father who showed me the way with the way he treated my mom and a brother of the cut who showed me the way with the way he treated his family and his old lady. Until recently,” Shy stated, and saw Tack’s jaw get hard so he knew the man didn’t miss his meaning. “Then I had to wing it,” he finished.
Tack unclenched his jaw to share, “Your point is made, brother.”
“Good.”
“You don’t have a family, a daughter. When you do, you’ll get it,” Tack went on.
“I hope to f**k I will,” Shy told him and watched Tack’s head jerk with surprise, and he didn’t quite hide his look of fatherly pain. The thought of his girl as a woman was clearly something he had not quite processed, even if she had once been engaged.
So Shy lowered his voice and reminded him, “She’s not your little girl anymore, not like that. She may always be your little girl in some ways, brother, but not like that. You gave me the chance, I would have told you, this is solid. We started out and it was friends. That wasn’t what I wanted, it was what she needed, so I gave it to her. We built on that. The foundation is laid and it’s the kind that holds fast. This is it, brother. We’re livin’ together. Soon’s we can do it, we’re movin’ to a better f**kin’ place so I can provide her a decent home. I’m puttin’ my ring on her finger, I’m givin’ her babies, and when she’s laid to rest, that ring I give her will still be on her finger. I see you’re accepting this now, so you need it all and there it is. I was a part of an us and I was happy. Some motherfucker killed my parents and took that from me, so life forced me to become nothin’ but a me. Now I’m an us again, and that’s what I’ll be with my woman and the family we make until the day I f**king die.”
“Christ, Shy,” Tack whispered.
“I think now you totally f**kin’ feel me.”
Tack’s head tipped to the side. “The Club doesn’t factor into that?”
“You know you’re my family, Tack, but don’t bullshit me. You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about and you also know, you find her, you’ll give up anything to keep her. You walked through bullets to do just that and when you walked through that hail of gunfire, brother, you were not thinkin’ of Tab or Rush or the Chaos MC. The only thing on your mind was Cherry. So I also know you understand what the Club means and, when it comes to Tabby, you get me.”
Tack held Shy’s eyes.
Then he said quietly, “I wanted that for her. That other guy was a good man but I couldn’t know, way he was raised, if he would give that to her, and I wanted just that for her.”
“Then lucky you, that’s what she eventually found,” Shy replied instantly.
Tack again held Shy’s eyes. Then he jerked up his chin and stated, “Guess we’ll see if Tabby feels me, then you and me can mend fences, brother.”