Page 46 of Falcon

“Did you see the gong near the front? That’s how we call them. It’s a thing with the club: kids eat first, no matter what. After that, it’s those who are sick or injured,” Penny explained.

“Then old ladies and finally the brothers. Trying to do it any differently insults the hell out of the brothers, and it’s not worth them sulking!” Rosie finished.

I nodded, thinking how strange all this was. Men who put women first. The concept was hard to grasp. Even before Dawson, Dad had been a selfish son of a bitch. Were these ladies snooping on me for some reason? I couldn’t figure it out. Nor did I understand why I’d been so open. If it got back to Dawson, that was dangerous. He’d kill me if he learned I’d opened my mouth, but I was so tired of him.

“My dad shunned me. Dad’s opinion is that I’m an embarrassment because I didn’t make Dawson a good wife. Whenever Dad saw me, he told Dawson he needed to beat the wife into me.”

I didn’t hear their gasps. The fear remained, but Dawson wasn’t close by, and something told me these people wouldn’t let him near me. I heard the tone of the gong being bashed and smiled. That was such a cool idea.

Moments later, kids stampeded into the building, all making a racket.

“I hope his liver rots, and Dawson dies a painful death,” Penny hissed. Rosie nudged her as the children began entering loudly. None of them was bothered by my presence apart from Jayes, who came running over.

“Falcon says we can take you to see me swim after we’ve eaten,” he announced, shot his arms in the air for victory, and dashed off again.

Guilt swamped me. Jayes had been so repressed; Dawson had controlled everything and ruled with fear. Because Jayes hadn’t been a bully like his nephew Jed, Dawson had tried terrifying him into being a thug. It hadn’t worked but had caused Jayes to retreat into himself. Now seeing him here made me realise how much I’d failed Jayes.

“Don’t be hard on yourself. Most of us have a story. Hell, Harley met Oakley as she ran away from her forced marriage. He shoved her on the back of a bike, meringue wedding dress and veil. My ex-husband tried to kill me and my kids by burning us alive. Mina was a shut-in. Her own sister terrorised her and murdered several people she loved. Over time, we beat the negative emotions because events were out of our control,” Penny said softly.

“Hell, yeah. Totally agree. Grace smacked her ex over the head with a leg of lamb and made headlines for that. Carmelle’s first husband was killed in front of her and her daughters, and then she was held hostage by a deranged asshole. Demi was born of incest and related to the madman who kidnapped Carmelle. Aurora-Victoria is a bona fide medium, and Rosie nearly destroyed an entire MC. As for me, I was wrongly sent to jail for killing a friend, and my boyfriend and own family turned on me. Hi, I’m Amberlea.”

I blinked at the smiling woman. “Say what?” I finally managed.

“Oh well, we’ll catch you up this afternoon. Some of us should have books written!” Oakley quipped with a grin.

“It sounds like it,” I said weakly.

“Welcome to the nuthouse.” Oakley grinned before leaving. Holy hell, what had Falcon brought me to? Should I reach out to the Parks? Everyone was insane here, by the sound of it. My eyes lit upon Jayes, who was smiling and talking to a couple of children. My boy was happy; that was worth whatever insanity these people offered.

Falcon

I was barely holding on. I needed to hit something, but that would fuck my shoulder up more. Ice held my gaze.

“She doesn’t realise she was raped?”

“No,” I replied. “I think it’s been beaten into Myka that men have certain rights. Which is bullshit.”

Both of us had heard Myka’s story. She was such a conundrum. Initially, I believed she was weak. Something I should never have assumed. Myka had been hiding her personality while seeking an escape from her life. She must have thought her dreams had come true when she learned about the Parks.

“Think she’s going to stay?” Ice asked.

“No. Not unless we take care of Dawson and his asshole family.”

“You planning to?” Ice studied my face.

“Am I claiming Myka? That’s what you’re really asking,” I retorted.

Ice smirked. He was five years older than me, and sometimes that felt huge. Ice was creating what I wanted. It didn’t matter that I was only twenty-two. I’d grown up around people who understood what family was and set about building it.

“Yeah.”

“I am. I’ve met Myka less than a handful of times, and I wasn’t very complimentary in my thoughts about her at first. But now I understand more. I can see her personality shining, and damn it, Ice, Myka’s mine,” I admitted honestly.

“Then good luck, brother. She’s wounded and is just realising she’s got wings to flex,” he replied.

“Oh, Myka can flex them as much as she wants, as long as she comes home. After all, I’m a Falcon,” I quipped, and Ice grinned.

Myka