Page 28 of Twisted Fate

“I don’t know, babe. He’s not really supposed to talk about crew business with you, and you know that. You know a lot of the Psychos wanted you dead for knowing too much.”

“Yeah, until I killed Liam, Tristan, and then my own fucking dad. Slash…”

“Look, I’ve known Slash for a few years now, and I’m telling you that Skeet wasn’t wrong about him. Skeet won’t say it out loud because he’s a tough cunt and all, but he’s fucking scared of you.”

I doubted Skeeter Maddox was scared of me.

That didn’t even make sense.

I peered up at him and snorted in disbelief.

“How is he scared of me?”

“You’re the only person who can break his heart completely. Not to mention you’re too strong and brave for your own good. You’re a good target for any enemies they have, because you mean something to their leader and second in charge. You’d also do stupid shit in order to keep them safe. They could blackmail you into meeting them to save the others, and you’d go because you’re too fucking brave. Skeet is terrified of you getting hurt because of him, and he always has been. You became close to him knowing who he was and what type of life he led, so don’t ask him to change now. Either love him for who he is, or let him go. He won’t give the crew up, and to be honest, it’s selfish of you to even ask that of him.”

My eyes narrowed as his words slapped me in the face, his eyebrow raising as I fumed silently, his voice flat as he asked, “So, if Skeet told you to cut Caden off because he’s trouble, you’d do that, just because you love him?”

I paused before frowning.

As if.

“It’s different.”

“How so?”

“Because Caden and you guys are all I have. That’s not fair.”

He sighed, putting an arm around my shoulders and kissing the top of my head.

“The crew’s all he has. You didn’t ask him to give up one person, you asked him to cut off his entire family for you. You’d be upset about him asking you to cut Caden off, so imagine if he asked you to walk away from all of us for him. How would you feel?”

Fuck.

“Pissed off, and I’d probably stab him,” I mumbled, an impatient sigh leaving him again.

“Then admit you were wrong to ask him that. I love you, but get off your fucking high horse with him. He sees you less than any of us, and he doesn’t get upset or jealous, he just deals with it. So maybe you should just deal with the fact that he has a life that doesn’t revolve around you.”

“Thanks, Ty.”

“For what?”

I glanced up at him with a timid smile.

“For knocking me off my high horse.”

“You want to go apologize to Skeet then?” He asked bluntly, earning a snort from me.

“Not particularly.”

“But you will anyways,” he replied, jumping off the bench and helping me down, being sure to lock up before walking towards my car.

He leaned on my open window once I was behind the wheel, his tone sounding annoyed at me, but calm.

“He’ll be at the shed, the afternoon fights start in an hour. Don’t be a bitch to him.”

“Alright. You want to meet me there?” I asked softly, his face becoming soft almost instantly as he leaned in the window and gave me a kiss.

“Of course I can. Drive safely.”