Page 19 of With Spite

Bells, who was also one of my club brothers, was a good man.

I liked him a lot and loved him for my sister.

I also knew that he could stick up for himself, but Heidi didn’t want to go through the hassle. She’d seen what my mother put Candice and Romina through on a daily basis.

She didn’t want to have to deal with her shit.

Which was understandable.

My mother was why I kept things casual.

One, I didn’t want to bring a woman into a situation that she’d be miserable in—I’d seen enough of the fights between Candice and Hampton, as well as Harvey and Romina.

Two, my mother clung to me since I was her “baby.”

It would be so much worse for any woman that I dated.

Third, I didn’t like my mom and dad’s relationship.

If I ended up with a life like my dad had, I’d shoot myself.

“She did,” I confirmed. “She was still working hard when I left at three.”

“You should’ve gone over there to help,” Candice admonished. “If you let your mom run her off on the first day—or even the first week—she’s going to just force y’all to work more.”

“Agreed,” Heidi grumbled.

“Even worse that she has asthma,” Harvey interjected.

“She has asthma?” I asked, surprised.

“She does.” Harvey groaned. “She told Mom that she couldn’t do anything super physically demanding, and there Mom is, forcing her to do all kinds of shit. She’s going to sue our mother.”

“Good,” Heidi grumbled. “Maybe they’ll force her to shut the damn place down.”

“One could hope,” I mumbled as I got up and reached for the phone.

The damn new girl was a pain in my ass.

Literally since she’d knocked my bike over today, forcing a screw to tear a hole in my bike seat.

Yet, I wasn’t going to let one of my club brother’s sister get fucked over.

Or die while working at our family’s store.

Overworking her was one thing. Going against her medical needs was another.

Mom picked up on the second ring. “Oh, look who’s calling. My favorite baby boy.”

Since I was on speaker, my entire family heard.

Candice gagged.

Romina flipped my phone off.

Heidi downed half a cup of wine.

My brothers both rolled their eyes.