Five

Laid with her head pillowed on Happy's bare chest, one of his arms anchoring her to him even in his sleep, Tasha felt as if she hadn't so much as batted an eyelid in hours. Usually such restlessness was only an issue when her husband was on the road. Otherwise, the warmth of his body and the steady reassurance of his heartbeat was enough to help lull her into her own slumber.

Not tonight. Not knowing her little girl was probably crying her hurt into a pillow just down the hall and ... She tensed, lifting her head to listen in the darkness. It was probably nothing, but Happy's hand was already sliding over her hip, warm and protective. She could have swore ...

"Easy, darlin'," he managed, his voice rough with sleep. "What's wrong?"

"I ... I thought ..." Tasha trailed off, letting her head slip back down to rest on Happy's shoulder with a sigh. "Shit. I guess I just can't switch off tonight. Sorry."

But he was already wider awake and shaking his head as he held her, strong fingers now trailing slowly through her hair and his lips finding her temple. "You don't gotta be sorry for ..."

"Hap?"

He shushed her, not waiting like her to be sure of what he must have thought he heard, but already throwing back the covers and reaching for his jeans as soon as his feet hit the floor. Now Tasha heard it too and for sure this time. Raised voices - one angry and tearful, the other just angry.

At the sound of shattering glass, Happy reached for his gun and ordered her to stay put. It didn't matter. She was halfway down the stairs in front of him before he could say another word, still trying to tie the belt of her robe.

Happy had to grab his wife when she reached the kitchen to keep her from cutting her feet on the shattered remains of a glass. At least it seemed like his step-daughter had been the one to throw it, presumably at the head of the wild-eyed young man glaring at them all across the room.

"What the holy hell do you think you're doing in my house?" Tasha demanded, the heat of her temper almost certainly fuelled by the fear she had to have felt at what they might have found. "You're not welcome here, Travis. Not anymore."

"This is between me and Lily – you stay the fuck out of it, I mean it!" he raged, dashing his hair out of his eyes with his forearm. "Lily, sweetheart ..."

"Stay out of it? Stay out of it? After what you did to my daughter, over my dead body will I let you come crawling back here, expecting forgiveness with some pathetic excuse."

Travis Hooper, with beads of sweat on his forehead, ignored her and took a step towards Lily as she wiped at the tears slipping down her cheeks. "Lily, come on," he tried desperately, his handsome face contorted with the effort of his pleading. "This is me. I love you. Please, let's just go home and we can talk about ..."

Tasha snorted, moving to her daughter's side and taking her hand to squeeze her fingers in reassurance. "You'll never love anyone as much as you love yourself. What the hell is there to talk about, other than your latest in a long line of screw-ups? You know, I actually can't decide what makes me madder – the lies, the cheating, or you laying your hands on my little girl. I suggest you don't stick around to find out."

Perhaps sensing that the older woman's presence was not going to get him anywhere, Travis roared in frustration, his hands raking through his hair. "You shut your damn mouth, woman! You're really going to lecture me on love and loyalty? Neither of those sounded like they were too high up your list of priorities when you were screwing your old man's best friend – was your beloved Kozik even cold?"

Seeming stunned by the venom in his tone, never mind the cruel words, Tasha practically recoiled from the young man she had once accepted into her family. But before she had a chance to collect herself, her furious husband was in front of her. Even half-dressed and twice their unwanted visitor's age, he cut an imposing figure.

"Bad enough you lay a finger on Lily, break her heart, but you think you can come into my home and disrespect my wife like that? Get the fuck out while you still got the chance, you jumped-up little prick."

The fact they were in their home was probably the sole reason there wasn't already blood on the walls.

"I'm not leaving without my fiancée ..."

"You wanna count your ass lucky you ain't leavin' without your legs!" Happy snarled, grabbing him by the throat and propelling him backwards towards the door. "I said get out and I fucking meant it. Don't come back either."

"You ain't even her father!"

"I'll tell you something - I'm more her father than you'll ever be her husband, shit-head."

Struggling to free himself from the grip he was still held in, Travis huffed and swore in frustration. "Get your hands off me, man. You can't keep me from her forever."

The biker's eyes narrowed dangerously, his fingers tightening until the younger man was gasping for air and clawing at his hand. "Oh, I'll keep you from her all right," Happy warned, his voice lowered menacingly. "Even if I have to put you in a goddamn hole to do it. Now, get the fuck out."

Shoving Travis out the door and slamming it behind him, he turned to find Lily stood there staring at him with wide, tearful eyes. He braced himself for the storm, but instead she ran to him and threw her arms around his waist. Nothing could take the fight out of him quicker and he heaved a sigh as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Shh, no tears, monkey," he told the girl he would always love like she was his own, the old childhood nickname creeping in. "Asshole ain't worth 'em."

With the broken glass cleared away and her heart aching to see her daughter curled up on the couch and looking so lost, Tasha quickly wrapped fresh chunks of ice from the fridge dispenser in a soft washcloth and returned to her side to examine the still darkening bruise marring her cheek.

"I don't think it's as bad as it looks, mom," Lily managed, dropping her gaze to her hands and the ring she was nervously twisting. "He ... I don't think he meant to, not really. He just lashed out. It was a mistake, you know? In the heat of the moment ..."

Tasha could hear the pleading, almost hopeful tone in her little girl's voice and she understood, sympathised even, but she had to shake her head firmly at that. "There are mistakes and then there's this. He hit you! And damn hard, by the look of it. You do not have to make excuses for him."

"But ... I just think maybe if we hadn't been rowing, maybe if I hadn't pushed ..."

"Lily," her mom started, setting the ice aside and cupping her tearful face in her hands. "Please, baby, don't talk like this shit is your fault. You're smarter than that. Look, I know growing up around the club maybe didn't always set the best example of what's normal. But, sweetheart, you know what those guys can be capable of and I can tell you now – your dad? Happy? We've had real blazing rows in our time and neither of them ever, ever hit me."

Seeming to take a moment to process that, Lily shifted to lay with her head on her mother's lap and Tasha gently let her fingers trail through the waves of her long blonde hair. She might have wanted answers, but she didn't want to push for them. Interrogation had never been her style with her kids, instead giving them the space to come willingly to her with whatever might be troubling them.

"You still miss daddy," came the quiet observation from slightly out of the left field. It was a statement, rather than a question.

"Every day," Tasha nodded, a rueful little smile tugging at her lips. It was true. For all the truth in that old adage that time was a healer, she had learned the hard way that there were some things you just never got over.

"When I was little, I was always kinda scared I might start to forget him. But I didn't. Not the important stuff."

"Like what?" Tasha asked just as softly, keeping up her slow stroking of her daughter's hair and revelling in the chance to reminisce with her. However bittersweet it was.

"His hugs. How his eyes lit up when he smiled. How much he smiled. I guess I was too young not to just take it for granted but, looking back, I can really see how happy we must have made him – how much he loved us."

"So very, very much," her mother told her, her own eyes shining at the memories. "God, Lily, the first time your dad held you in his arms ... He was this big, tough biker and you were so tiny, but you just about brought him to his knees. And the look on his face, it made me fall in love with him all over again."

"Everyone always talks about how I have his eyes and how much Leo looks like him," Lily said tentatively. "Does it ... hurt? Seeing him in us, I mean?"

"Oh, baby, no," Tasha soothed. "I wouldn't change that for the world. You and Leo are the proof of what me and your dad had, how much we loved each other and how much we both wanted you."

"What about Happy? Do you think it's weird for him?"

"Happy has loved you two your whole lives," she smiled. "And he's never wanted to try to take your dad's place, but you know he'll always be there to be as much of a dad as you want him to be. You only have to look outside to see that, Lily – he's out there in the dark chain-smoking again and pacing a hole in the drive, all because someone hurt you and he can't work out if killing him would make you feel better or worse. His exact words."

"It probably would be easier if I could hate Travis," Lily whispered, fresh tears welling up in the too-bright blue eyes that were so like her father's.

That sinking feeling was back again and Tasha braced herself for the answer to a question she wished she didn't have to ask – one she was relieved Happy wasn't hearing the answer to right now. "This wasn't the first time he hit you, was it?"

Lily hesitated, then shook her head as she broke down in tears again.

to be continued ...