Own the Wind(68)

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*ck 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*ckin’ 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 motherf*cker 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*cking die.”

“Christ, Shy,” Tack whispered.

“I think now you totally f*ckin’ 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.”

“Yep,” Shy replied, and Tack’s lips twitched again.

He turned to the door, opened it, then turned back to Shy and shared, “Givin’ you honesty, thought that business with Tab over the Club was bluff. The way you bore down on her mom, I knew.”

“Rush or you speak to that bitch again, I’d advise reiterating my message, because I was not f*ckin’ joking.”

Another lip twitch, then, “I think she got that, brother. Not sure anyone missed that.”

“That’s good, ’cause Tab isn’t real hip on her mom, but I don’t think she’d like what I have planned.”

“Probably not,” Tack muttered then his eyes locked on Shy’s. “Gotta say it, my duty, gettin’ you know it without me speakin’ the words but, you have a girl, you’ll understand.”

“Say it,” Shy invited.

Tack’s eyes stayed locked on Shy’s two beats then he said quietly, “Make her happy.”

Shy held his gaze as, for the first time in f*cking months, he began to breathe easy.

There it was. Tack just gave it.

His blessing.

Shy took it by jerking up his chin.

It was then, Tack straight out smiled a half a second before he disappeared behind the door.

Shy sucked in a breath.

He let it out, muttering, “Jesus.”

Then he pulled out his phone to call his brother.

* * *

“I’m good, Lan, thanks. It’s cool you’re willing to come up, but I’ll be okay,” Shy listened to Tab, who was curled in the couch beside him, her head in his gut and talking on the phone to his brother. “Though, you wanna come up, Shy would love to see you and I promise, I won’t cook. Restaurants and takeout the whole time.”

Shy grinned.

There it was.

She was good.

“Right,” she whispered. “Thanks, Lan. You wanna talk to Shy again?” Pause then, “Okay, I’ll tell him. Later.” She touched the screen, lifted her head, and looked at him. “Lan says he’ll call you later.”

“Cool,” Shy muttered.

She tossed the phone to the coffee table, settled with her head on his gut again, and aimed her eyes to the TV.