“Good job.” Slayer rested his hand on Adley’s shoulder, and he might have not noticed it, but she scooted a little closer to him.
I heard a phone ding, and I pulled mine out of my pocket but saw nothing.
“I think that was me.” Slayer grabbed his phone off the coffee table. “Oh, hell.”
Great. He was probably going to have to go to the clubhouse again, and he would be gone all day like he was yesterday.
“Can’t you just tell Wrecker to handle whatever is going on?”
Did the man really have to call a meeting every damn day?
“It’s not Wrecker.” Slayer’s head was bowed over his phone, and his finger hovered over the screen.
“Who is it then?” Adley asked.
Slayer looked up, and his face was pale. “It’s the lab.”
“Oh, hell,” I gasped.
“What do we do?” Adley wondered.
“It’s the results?” I had no idea he was going to get the results through email. Or maybe it was just an email to tell him that he could come in to get the results.
I was basically clueless through all of this. This was such a big deal, and for an email to basically change your life seemed crazy.
Slayer nodded. “I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Can I do it?” Adley asked.
“Uh, well…” I trailed off.
Slayer cringed. “What if it’s not…”
Adley sighed and held out her hand. “I can handle whatever it says.”
Slayer glanced at me.
I shrugged. “I mean, you would tell her right away what it says if you opened it, so I guess I don’t really see any harm in her opening the email.”
Slayer nodded and handed the phone to Adley. “Just click that link right there.”
Adley held the phone in her hand and sighed. “Here goes nothing.”
She tapped the link, and a new webpage opened. A graph with three large columns popped up, and we all stared at the phone.
“I have no idea what any of this means,” Slayer grumbled.
The first column had a bunch of numbers and letters. The second column said “Child” on top and then on each line had two sets of numbers. The third column said, “Alleged Father” and then had two sets of numbers on each line.
“Scroll down,” Slayer grunted.
Adley moved the graph down, and right there was the answer we were looking for:
Probability of paternity: 99.9998%
“You’re my dad,” Adley gasped.
“You’re my daughter,” Slayer whispered at the same time.
“Holy shit.” I slapped my hand over my mouth, and my eyes bugged out. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
Slayer chuckled and grabbed the phone from Adley. “I gotta say, I didn’t really doubt it, but seeing it in black and white makes this official.”
“So what happens now?” Adley asked.
“Well, I file this with the court and then it becomes even more official.” Slayer studied his phone for a second and let out a whoop. “You’re my daughter, Adley.”
I could feel the shift in the room now that we knew for a fact that Adley and Slayer were related. “This is amazing.”
Slayer smiled wide and shoved his phone in his pocket. “How about we celebrate?”
“Yes!” Adley hollered. “Can we get ice cream?”
“Sure,” Slayer laughed. His face fell, and he dropped his arms to his sides. “Except I forgot I have to go to the clubhouse this afternoon.”
“Oh,” Adley sighed.
Slayer smiled wide. “But you guys can come with, and when I’m done, we can go out for dinner and ice cream.”
“Really?” Adley gasped. “We can come with?”
Slayer nodded. “I should have brought you guys with me last night but I didn’t realize I was gonna be gone that long.”
“Yeah,” Adley muttered, “You totally should have taken us with you last night.”
Slayer laughed and pointed to the stairs. “Head up to your room and get dressed.”
“Do I have time to shower?” Adley asked.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. “What time did you have to be to the clubhouse?” I asked.
“Meeting is at four but we’ll get there a little earlier.”
It was just after twelve. “You should have plenty of time. Just save me some hot water.” I winked at Adley and she giggled.
She wiggled her eyebrows and giggled. “Maybe I will.” She jogged up the stairs with a wave over her shoulder to us.
Slayer pulled his phone out of his pocket and sighed.
“Looking at the test again?” I chuckled.
He nodded. “Sure am.” He dropped his phone on the coffee table then ran his fingers through his hair.
“So, what does it feel like?” I asked.
“Honestly?”
I nodded.
“It feels right. Before, we didn’t know for a fact she was mine, but even then, I could just feel that Adley was supposed to be in my life. I may have been twelve years behind on getting to know her, but now I can try to make it up to her for the rest of her life.”
“That’s great, Slayer.” I bent over and picked up a piece of loose tinsel. “I know it was a bit of a shock when she first got here, but it really does seem like you two are going to be okay.”
“Shock is an understatement.”
I draped the piece of tinsel on the tree and moved a couple of the ornaments around. “Well, hopefully now you can just get into a routine and just live.”
“Just live?” Slayer chuckled. “What does that mean?”
I waved my hand in the air. “You know.”
“No, I don’t.”
I turned on my heel and came face to face with Slayer. “Weren’t you just over there?” I gasped.
Slayer rested his hand on my hip. “But now I’m right here.”
“I am totally getting you a bell for Christmas,” I grumbled.
The heat from his hand melted through my clothes, and I leaned into him.
“I was thinking we could pick up where we left off last night,” he whispered.
“You mean when you kissed me and then disappeared and couldn’t even call to tell me that you were going to be late?” A smirk spread across my lips, and I rested a hand on his chest. “Is that what you’re talking about?”
Slayer’s other hand trailed up my arm and cupped my cheek. “Yup, that is what I’m talking about.”
“Hmm,” I hummed.
“Maybe I can help to make you forget about me leaving you when I really didn’t want to.” His thumb lightly swept over my lips.
“I guess it never hurts to try, right?”
“You are so right, sugar.”
Slayer’s lips covered mine, and I couldn’t hold back a moan.
“Even better than I remember,” he whispered against my lips.
My heart fluttered at his words, and I knew right then that I was getting in deep with Slayer.
His lips moved against mine, and his hand once again cupped my ass. He squeezed gently, and I moaned loudly.
“Slayer.”
“A month of you calling me everything under the sun, but you know my name and now, you moan it.” He nipped my bottom lip, and I let out a yelp. “You drive me fucking crazy, Wendy.”
I delved my fingers into his hair and cut off his talking with another kiss.
I was in control for half a second before Slayer took over and kissed me ‘til my knees were weak and his arms were holding me up.
“God damn, sugar. I’m a thirsty man, and your kisses are like water.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against his.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
My teeth sunk into my lip, and I nodded. I was just trying to breathe. Slayer took my breath away, and I was struggling to catch it again.
“I don’t know how long we have until Adley comes back down, sugar, so I think I better step back, and we can again pick this up
later tonight.”
He was right. We shouldn’t be doing this with Adley so close.
“Sure.” My voice cracked, and my breathing was short.
Slayer’s hand cupped my chin, and his lips lingered above mine. “Just one more kiss.”
The kiss was short, but I have come to find out quickly that even a short kiss from Slayer was amazing.
“I’m gonna clean up while you go upstairs.”
I blinked cluelessly. “I’m going upstairs?”
Jesus, a kiss from Slayer sapped every thought from my head except for wanting to keep kissing him.
He chuckled and took a step away from me. “You are, because if you don’t, I’m going to have you laid out on this couch in five seconds, and then, I know I won’t be able to stop even with Adley just a few short feet away.
For a split second, I almost dove onto the couch hoping Slayer would follow, but I knew I needed to get a grip.
I hitched my thumb over my shoulder toward the stairs and cleared my throat. “I’ll just be upstairs…uh…” I blinked rapidly. “I don’t know what I’ll be doing, but I’ll be doing it upstairs.”
Slayer’s bark of laughter followed me up the stairs, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Last night when I had fallen asleep, I had no idea what was going on with Slayer and me. Now, while I didn’t know specifically what was happening between us, I knew Slayer wanted me.
At least, for more than just a quick kiss in the kitchen.
Hopefully, he wanted me for a whole lot more than that.
*
Chapter Thirteen
Slayer
“How in the hell did we not know about Brinks and Cora?”
“Probably because they didn’t want us to know?” I shrugged and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Water?” Nickel asked.
I twisted the cap off and chucked it at his face. “I gotta drive later.”
Adley was chomping at the bit to head to dinner so I hoped whatever Wrecker had to say didn’t take all night.
I had finally gotten a grip after kissing Wendy, and we all showered and headed to the clubhouse. As soon as we walked in, Adley had told everyone that she was officially my daughter. I had planned on letting everyone know, just not the second we got through the door.
Wendy and Adley were camped out on the couch in front of the TV with the rest of the ol’ ladies gabbing about God knows what.
Nickel and I headed down the hallway toward church. I was surprised to see everyone there when we walked in.
“About time you fuckers got in here.”
Nickel held up his hands. “Hey, how were we supposed to know you guys were ready to go?”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “We were waiting for Wrecker to bellow church.” I sat down next to Maniac and leaned back in my chair.
“Congrats on Adley, brother.” Maniac held out his fist.
I bumped my fist against his and smiled wide. “Thanks, man.”
Wrecker nodded to me and sat down. “Told you that girl was not a problem.”
“You may have been right,” I conceded.
“Though that is probably going to be the easiest thing you’re going to have to deal with in the next twenty years or so,” Pipe laughed.
“You keep giving out parenting advice like you have five kids at home or something.” Nickel slugged him on the arm. “Last I checked, I’m the only one who has a kid.” Nickel nodded at me. “Well, now Slayer can say that, too.”
I held up my hands. “Hey, I’ve only been doing this dad thing for a couple of weeks. If I didn’t have Wendy, I would be fucking clueless.”
“Wendy, huh?” Freak asked. He wiggled his eyebrows and shook his head. “I should have known as soon as I heard that she was going to live with you, it wouldn’t take long before you had her in your bed.”
“Whoa,” I laughed. “No one said anything about her being in my bed.”
Clash raised his voice. “I don’t know what I would do without Wendy,” he mimicked me. “Swear to God, man, we’ve all been there before. Not the exact same path, but we’ve all got ol’ ladies. You might as well just stop denying it and get her pregnant already.”
“Are you trying to tell me Raven is pregnant?” Wrecker bellowed.
Clash jumped in his chair. “What?” He shook his head. “Raven is not pregnant. I was just… uh…”
Apparently, Wrecker was still struggling a bit with Clash dating his sister.
Wrecker held up his hand to silence Clash. “Let’s just get down to why we are here.”
Now that sounded like a good fucking idea to me. The sooner we discussed Cora and Brinks, the sooner I could head to dinner with Wendy and Adley.
“We all heard Brinks was shacking up with Cora, right?” Wrecker asked.
We all nodded. I think most of us were in shock that not only were they hooking up, but the fact that they kept it secret from everyone.
“I kind of knew he was hooking up with someone, but I had no fucking clue that it was Cora.” Clash shook his head. “It was when Raven and I were trying to figure out what the hell we were doing.”
“Are we really talking about my sister again?” Wrecker growled. He pierced Clash with his gaze, and even I never wanted to say Raven’s name out loud again. Wrecker stroked his beard and took a deep breath. “Back to Brinks and Cora.”
“I get that it’s pretty crazy they were able to sneak around right underneath our noses, but does that really have anything to do with the fact that Brinks is missing?” Maniac asked.
“Yes and no,” Wrecker replied. “Cora had been talking to Brinks while he was snooping around in River Valley.”
“Weren’t you keeping in touch with him?” Pipe asked.
Wrecker nodded his head. “Yeah, I was, but I wasn’t calling him every day to fucking chit chat.” Wrecker pulled out a piece of paper. “Cora told me the last time she talked to Brinks was the day before Adley appeared. She said they basically just talked about all the drama that is always going on with the club.” Wrecker rolled his eyes. “Apparently, we’re all good fodder for others to laugh and talk about.”
“So the only thing we learned from Cora and Brinks hooking up is he went missing nine or ten days ago.” Pipe shook his head. “Which we basically already knew.”
“We need to go back to River Valley.” Freak slammed his hand down on the table. “Wrecker could have picked any one of us. Someone in River Valley has to know what the hell happened to Brinks and where the hell he is.”
“You volunteering to go there and possibly disappear, too?” Wrecker growled. “We have fucking families and ol’ ladies. I’m not letting anyone go there without two other guys with him.” Wrecker looked around the table. “Yes, someone there has to know what happened to Brinks, but they’re not talking. At least, not to us.”
“I can’t really fucking believe that you want us to sit here when Brinks is missing.” Clash shook his head. “We gotta do something, man.”
Wrecker nodded to Freak. “Go get Cora.”
Freak huffed when he stood up, but he didn’t protest.
Everyone was stuck in their own thoughts and didn’t speak while Freak was gone.
Cora walked into church in front of Freak. She stood off to the side of the doorway, and Freak sat back down.
Her arms hung loosely at her side, and she looked tired.
She looked worried. “Ask me, Wrecker.” She also had an air about her that seemed like she was pissed.
Wrecker stared at her, a grim expression on his face. “I don’t want to have to go there with you.”
The same flat laugh from the night before fell from her lips. “There is a part of me that always knew it would come to this. He never really left me much choice.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “Betrayal was how our relationship was always going to end.”
“Tell me where he is, Cora.” Wrecker’s tone was deadly, and there had only been a handful of times I had heard him sound that wa
y before.
All eyes were on Cora.
“Tell me where Jenkins is,” Wrecker ordered.
Cora’s eyes open, a tear streaked down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away. Wrecker had asked her to betray her only family to find Brinks.
This was where we found out where Cora’s loyalty lied.
*
Chapter Fourteen
Wendy
“Oh, my God,” I sighed. “I’m so glad I only ate half of my steak and saved room for more ice cream toppings.”
Adley’s sweet giggle fell from her lips, and she beamed up at me. “I can’t believe I can put Oreos, gummy worms, caramel, and nerds on my ice cream!”
Slayer wrinkled his nose at the strange combination. He held a cup of vanilla ice cream in his hand and shook his head. “And here I thought I was getting a little crazy by thinking of putting hot fudge and strawberry sauce on mine.”
Adley raced to the other side of the toppings and poured a spoonful of sprinkles on top of her already overflowing cup.
We had enjoyed dinner at a chain steak restaurant and had wound up at a soft serve place that had ten different flavors of ice cream and hundreds of different combinations of toppings. I hadn’t seen Adley smile so wide before she had walked in. Her eyes lit up as she filled her cup with a blob of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, then turned to mound on toppings.
I cranked on the handle for the vanilla ice cream and laughed. “You really do live on the edge, Dwayne.”
Slayer growled at me calling him his real name. He moved close to my side and lowered his voice so only I could hear him. “You’re gonna pay for that later, sugar.”
I tipped my head back to look at him. “Is that a threat?”
He leaned down, and I felt his breath against my skin. “It’s a promise.”
“Dad!” Adley called.
“Uh, oh,” I laughed. “You better go see what Adley needs.”
Slayer boldly pressed a kiss to my neck. “You can see what I need later.”
His lips were gone as quickly as they appeared, and all I was left with was a shiver running up my spine. One small touch from Slayer, and I was basically a puddle on the floor.
Fallen Lords MC: Books 7-9 Page 23