Smoke and Steel (Wild West MC #2)(98)

We were a family, whether he liked it or not, and even if he didn’t like it, he should still treat people with respect.

As I mentioned, things had improved with Elijah, but mostly, I steered clear of him, not because I didn’t want to give him a shot (though, as mentioned, I was still holding a wee grudge), just because he’d been such a prick in the past, I was conditioned to doing it.

Archie was another matter.

She wasn’t sweet and gooey, like Kyra. She wasn’t edgy and full of attitude, like Marcy. She wasn’t hippie laid-back and mellow, like Li. She wasn’t honest, loyal and ambitious like me.

She was kind of all that (save the sweet, gooey, hippie and attitude parts, though she could be boho if that struck her fancy) in a chill way that always impressed me.

Seeing her standing there, making herself available when I was ready to talk, I knew I needed to make more of an effort with my stepsister. You couldn’t have too many sisters, but she was my sister, not by blood but definitely through family.

So I had to sort myself out.

“Hey,” I greeted, stepping aside for her to come in.

“Hey,” she replied, accepting my invitation.

“I’m packing some stuff in the bedroom,” I shared. “You want something to drink? You can hang on my bed while I keep at it, and we can talk.”

“Sounds good,” she agreed.

I got us both bottles of Topo Chico, and we headed to my bedroom, which was rife with empty and partially filled boxes.

“Obviously, I’m moving in with Core,” I stated.

Her eyes twinkled. “Dad mentioned that.”

“Today’s mission is packing my clothes, bathroom and vanity,” I told her. “Core’s doing something with the club now but coming later to load it up so we can take it to his place. I’ve got until the end of the month to move, so we have time. Though, I want to be with him, not here, and this is the important stuff.”

“Want help?” she offered.

“Sure,” I agreed.

She saw I was in the middle of dealing with my vanity, so she headed to the closet.

I felt uncomfortable and I worried she felt the same.

Time to get into it.

“What do you know about what happened?” I asked.

“I know your cousin doesn’t seem like a very nice lady,” she answered from the closet.

“Yeah,” I agreed to that understatement.

She came out with arms full of my clothes on hangers and went to a wardrobe box I had set up in the corner.

“And Dad says you all talked,” she went on.

I nodded, tucking my trays of makeup into another box.

I’d also shared with my girls last night.

They were my girls for a reason. As such, they didn’t make a big deal of the breakup (though there was some weeping when I shared about Core’s parents, and it wasn’t just Kyra), but they did make a big celebration we were moving in together.

This was because they knew me. They knew I wasn’t a chick who had her head turned by orgasms and male attention. They could tell by the extreme of the story of Core’s parents that we’d been dealing with something extreme in our relationship, and they left it at that.

Even Marcy.

Which meant a lot to me.

I didn’t have an issue with them not knowing the fullness of the story in the now, none of them. That wasn’t theirs to have. It was mine.

Now I had it.

And Core and I were beyond it.

Done.

“Haley especially.” Archie stopped on the way back to the closet. “I’m glad you two are going over for dinner. She’s feeling very motherly.”

I felt one side of my mouth curl up at that, but said, “She’s not old enough to be his mother.”

“You know what I mean,” Archie replied, her lips also curled up as she disappeared into the closet.

I knew what she meant.

Hesitantly, I remarked, “Core told me a lot about his club’s past, what things were like when they were Bounty. He also told me a little about Chaos.”

She came out with more clothes. “If you’re worried. Don’t. Jagger’s told me everything.”

From what little Core told me, Chaos had a dodgier history than Bounty.

Back in the day, Bounty were wannabe outlaws.

Chaos straight-up were outlaws.

Now, neither of them was, but the path to legitimacy had been thorny for both clubs.

Jagger being forthcoming caused me to experience a wave of relief.

I tucked my makeup wipes in the box.

Archie came and sat on the corner of the bed closest to me, so I turned to her.

I got straight to the point.

“Did you talk to Mom and Andy about Bounty before I got to them?”

She nodded but said, “Actually, Jag did. He didn’t get into specifics, he just shared they’d done some fucked-up shit they knew was fucked-up, but they’re on a path to redemption, they’re good men, and he hoped we could find a way to helping you realize that.”

Well, there you go.

“But also,” she continued, “Jag had already told Dad and Haley who Chaos used to be. The documentary touched on it, but he wanted it to be out in the open so they’d feel free to ask questions. He also wanted to make sure they knew where the club was now, and they’ve made oaths to each other as brothers they won’t stray from that path. He did this because he didn’t want them to have any worries about me, and by extension them, being part of the Chaos family.”