by Lane Hart
I spot Miles when he jumps out the window on the second floor and onto a dumpster lid before the last jump to the ground, obviously too impatient to go down the fire escape. He makes it to the SUV just as Reece comes running from around back. Both jump into the back cargo area through the hatch, and then we’re out of there.
“Was that…a real…baby?” Miles asks through his pants as he leans over the seat to get a look. “I’ll be damned.”
“She says he’s Torin’s,” Coop informs them from the front seat. “There’s a better chance that he’s mine…”
“Shut the fuck up,” I warn him.
The vehicle goes silent as we drive away from the chaos.
“Do you think we have to worry about retaliation?” War asks when he looks at me in the rearview mirror.
“No,” Lexi answers before I can. “My father’s dead. His men that are still alive don’t owe him any more loyalty. They’ll be too busy fighting over who gets to take over.”
“Why wouldn’t they want vengeance for his death?” I ask as I watch her press urgent kisses into his dark hair while she squeezes him to her chest.
“Because they’re drug lords, not a brotherhood. It’s all about the money and power, not devotion,” she answers without sparing me a glance. And I have no clue if she’s right or not about that.
“Hector came after me and my brother for killing his men,” I point out.
Finally, Lexi lifts her eyes to mine a moment before they go back to her kid. “Because that was an insult to him and he couldn’t let you get away with it,” she says. “Loyalty in the Cartel is inspired through fear, not love. Besides, I think he was trying to take over your territory by crippling you…” Lexi trails off after she voices her beliefs aloud, in front of my men, that I’m weak. The silence in the SUV is so intense that I can hear everyone breathing.
Fuck it all if she’s not right, even if I don’t like hearing it. Losing Kennedy and my son did bring me to my knees. I wasn’t able to do anything but mourn them and beat myself up with guilt. It’s why I had to walk away from leading the club. I didn’t think I was capable of coming back from such a blow.
But now? I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. The guilt of killing Hector is fading fast. And while the pain of all I lost is still there — a constant, crushing ache on my chest, I’m beginning to understand that it will always be with me. Now I just have to learn how to keep breathing despite it.
Because I do want to keep living.
My goal for so long was to kill Hector and then put myself out of my misery. Surprisingly, I’m not so sure that’s what I want anymore, though. I still have a job to do with the MC outing our rat, and, possibly, although I think the chances are slim, I may have a son who needs me to stick around and be his father.
“Coop, have Sax call in all the Carolina and Virginia charters. We’re gonna need their help keeping an eye out for a while,” I tell him. “Let’s go ahead and put some guys at the entrances on the entire beachfront strip until we know for sure.”
Cooper turns to look at me with his eyebrows raised at my command, apparently shocked by the fact that I’m still taking a leadership role even though my retribution with Hector is over. Finally, he offers me some napkins to wipe off the blood from my hands and says, “Sure thing, pres.”
Once I’ve wiped off as much of the crimson stain from my hands as I can, I pull out my cell phone from my pocket and hit the speed dial to call my stepsister.
“Let me guess,” Jade, our county’s sheriff by my appointment answers in way of a greeting. “You or your men have something to do with the shots fired at the salvage yard.”
“No clue what you’re talking about,” I lie, not sounding the least bit convincing. “We’re all still in Vegas.”
“Of course you are. But what do I need to know about it?” she asks.
“I’m guessing that, if there was a shootout, it could’ve been Hector Cruz and his men. An inside source told us that there’s some sort of inner struggle for power going on, and sometimes those things end in messy shootings…”
“Right,” Jade drawls. “I’m still on maternity leave, so at least I won’t have to clean it up.”
“How’s Makayla doing?” I ask, unable to stop myself from glancing at the baby cradled in Lexi’s arms.
“She’s great. Still not sleeping much at night, but she’s getting better. Knox is amazing with her and helps out a lot with the night feedings,” she replies.
I start doing the math in my head. If babies take about nine months to cook and Lexi’s son is three or four months old, then that means he was conceived about a year ago… So, it’s mathematically possible that the kid is mine. Still, what are the odds? And if he is mine, why the fuck didn’t Lexi tell me? Why did she move all the way across the country? Either she kept her mouth shut because she didn’t want me in his life or she kept her mouth shut because she found out I was married and didn’t want to fuck me over. Most likely she just didn’t want me around.
“Torin?” Jade asks into my ear. With a jolt, I realize I’ve been lost in my head for too long.
“Ah, yeah, sorry,” I say. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Yeah,” she says. “Is everything okay? How was Chase’s wedding?”
“It was great. Wish you could’ve been there.”
“No kidding,” Jade agrees. “So, I have to know. Is the asshole dead?” she asks.
“Oh yeah,” I answer without any hesitation.
“Good,” she replies with an exhale of relief. “I’ll be in touch with updates.”
“I appreciate that,” I tell her before I end the call.
“Everything straight with Jade?” War asks from the driver seat.
“Yeah,” I agree. “And even if the feds were to get involved in the investigation, Reece hired a few guys from the Blackjacks MC to hop on a plane in Vegas with copies of our IDs and boarding passes flying into Wilmington tonight. Our alibis are good and covered since the burner phones won’t ping any cell towers –”
“Who’s Jade?” Lexi interrupts to ask.
“My stepsister, and the sheriff,” I reply.
“Oh.”
“Where to now, boss?” Reece asks from the cargo area.
“Let’s keep the clubhouse clear for a few days just as a precaution until we have men out on the streets,” I say to the guys.
“Want to hit up the safehouse out on seventy-four?” War offers.
“Sounds good,” I agree. “It should be stocked, and it’s big enough for us all to be comfortable for a few days. Cooper, after you talk to Sax, call Fast Eddie and have him meet us there with his ‘tackle box’. Tell him War got a hook caught in his arm, and it went all the way through.” Cooper nods, then looks to War who is driving one-handed.
“I wrapped it with my sock and an ace bandage I had in here,” Cooper says. “How is it holding up War, you okay?”
“Gonna need cleaning and probably a couple of stitches,” War grunts. “It’s not as bad as when Johnny stabbed me back at the Aces bar. That shit hurt a lot worse.”
“I’ll let Eddie know it’s not too bad,” Cooper agrees. “Carefully,” he adds, glancing back at me and Lexi riding behind him. As he turns to his phone, I look back into the SUV’s cargo area to see how my other two brothers are holding up, packed in so tightly with their guns.
Reese is pressed up against the back glass, disassembling his machine gun. “You two didn’t get hurt, did you?” I ask them.
Reece snorts derisively but doesn’t say anything.
“We were never in any danger,” Miles tells me. “We were shocked as hell when we saw what Hector pulled on you guys, but we held it down just fine. Speaking of which, what are we gonna do with them?” Miles asks when he leans over the seat again to look at Lexi and the baby.
“No clue,” I mutter.
Chapter Thirteen
Lexi
Great. So not only am I still a prisoner, but now my son is too.
Words can’t even express how relieved I am that Liam’s okay. My father was insane, so seeing him holding my heart and soul in his arms nearly destroyed me. I don’t know if he’s been cruel to him or been starving him. And I had no idea what my father was planning to do when he showed up with him. Apparently, he wanted to trade me for Liam instead of coughing up Torin’s money that he blackmailed him for.
Thank god he’s dead and I no longer have to hide my son from him. Liam seems happy and healthy, other than being a little fussy. At least now Torin knows that he’s a father so he can decide what he wants to do. That’s the part I’m mostly worried about.
Now what happens?
“He’s dead?” I ask aloud just to get confirmation that my father is actually gone.
“Ah, yeah,” Torin says, glancing down at the stains on his hands. “Are you really gonna miss him?”
“No. The world’s a better place without him in it,” I say. “But this means that I inherit all of his money, right? I can pay you back.”
One of the guys sitting in the cargo area speaks up and asks, “Do you know where his bank accounts are?”
“I think so,” I answer.
“Then, with some direction, I could find them. And with a death certificate, you should be able to access them, maybe before his goons do,” the guy says to me. “What do you think, Torin?”
“Worth a shot,” he agrees. “I can get the death certificate from Jade if you can start contacting the banks and ask them to freeze the accounts or whatever.”
“If…if you get the money, will you let Liam and me go?” I whisper to Torin.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he says without making eye contact with me, eyes focused on the road in front of us. “Not until we get a DNA test.”
“Oh,” I mutter.
“And none of you better say a fucking word about this shit to anyone until we have some answers,” Torin warns the men.
They nod or speak their agreement, and then the SUV goes silent for the rest of the drive to what they referred to as the “safehouse.”
“Can we trust you with this location?” Torin turns his narrowed green eyes on me to ask.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Are you gonna tell anyone about this place? Can we trust you?” he asks.
“Yes, of course,” I reply. “Who would I tell?”
“I dunno,” Torin asks. “Who would you tell?”
“She’s fine,” War says from the front. “She’s a mother. I don’t think she would do anything to put that kid in any danger. Hell, she didn’t even tell you about him.”
“I wouldn’t,” I agree. “Jeez, what kind of person do you think I am?”
“Hector Cruz’s daughter,” Torin grumbles.
“I’m nothing like him!” I yell so loudly that Liam starts to fuss. I put him on my shoulder and rub a hand over his back to soothe him. “I am nothing like my father,” I say calmly. “And if you don’t know that by now, then you never will.”
Not another word is said until War parks and everyone climbs out to head inside. I’m about to go through the front door of the sprawling ranch home set deep in the woods when Torin clasps his hand on my upper arm to stop me, turning me to face him. The glass door shuts with everyone on the inside except for us.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks when he lets me go to cross his thick arms over his chest. Glancing down at Liam, who has drifted off to sleep, he says, “If he really is my son, and I’m not saying I’m convinced he is and I won’t be until a test proves it, but if he is, then why didn’t you tell me?”
“What would your wife have said if I had shown up on your doorstep pregnant?” I ask, and he blanches at the mention of his dead spouse, as expected. “That’s why. I had unknowingly caused enough problems for you by the time I found out. I didn’t want to cause any more. That’s why I left, before my father realized I was pregnant. I didn’t want him to use the baby against you like he was using the video.”
Looking away from me, Torin blows out a breath and says, “I’m still not sure I believe you.”
“Then take the test, today or tomorrow. Whenever you want,” I tell him as I raise my chin. “Because the result will be a positive match. I’m certain of it.”
“We’ll see,” he mutters before he walks around me to open the door. He holds it open like a gentleman for me to walk through after he just called me a liar.
“You will see,” I agree before I go in. “In the meantime, I don’t know how long I’ll be staying in town; but even if it’s just a few days, I’m going to need to get to the store and buy some things for him. And since you kidnapped me without letting me grab my purse or anything else, you’re gonna have to front the bill for supplies and my trip home.”
“Fine,” Torin mumbles. “Now get your ass inside,” he says.
“We can’t stay long,” I tell him. “He’s going to be hungry soon. Have you ever been around a starving baby before?” I ask.
“No,” he answers through clenched teeth, and I realize that everything about Liam is going to remind him of the son he lost.
“Sorry,” I say. “We just…we need to go to the store soon.”
“Go inside, let me get cleaned up and make some calls, then we’ll head out. Okay?” he asks.
“Okay,” I agree before I finally make my way through the door he’s holding open.
“Besides, how much can a kid that little really need?” he murmurs.
“You’ll see,” I tell him with a grin.
…
“Jesus, fuck,” Torin mutters when the shopping cart reaches maximum capacity again. He’s already hauled one load out to the SUV, the one with diapers, wipes, shampoo, formula, distilled water, bottles and a portable crib. Now the cart is full again, this time with some clothes and toiletries for me, a car seat, clothes for the baby, and blankets. “Do I need to go check out with this stuff and come back?” he asks just as Liam belts out a loud cry, the beginning of his demands that I feed him.
“No, this should be everything,” I tell him as I bounce Liam on my shoulder to try and get him to stop crying while we make our way to the checkout. “I know it seems like a lot, but really this is just the necessities.”
“It’s fine,” Torin says as he pushes the cart up to the shortest line. I have to say that seeing someone big and intimidating like him wearing his leather cut, standing in a store with his hands curled around the handle of the red shopping cart is sort of surreal.
“You don’t do much shopping, do you?” I ask him.
“No,” he grunts. “Ken…” he hesitates before saying her name. “Kennedy did all the shopping.”
“Did she also cook and clean and do all the perfect wife responsibilities too?” I ask him softly.
“Yeah, she did,” Torin answers with almost a smile lifting the corners of his lips. “I was lucky to have her.”
“She sounds wonderful,” I tell him honestly.
“She was,” he declares.
I saw the picture of her on the news, a beautiful blonde woman smiling brighter than the sun. It sounds like she was amazing, so what I can’t figure out is why Torin came and watched me dance topless every night for a week. He can deny it all he wants or say that he was there on business because he owns the club, but he watched me. I saw him each time. And he wanted me that last night. Maybe the drugs in his system lowered his inhibitions and control, but he wanted me even though he had a gorgeous fiancée getting ready to become his wife.
Perhaps it was nothing more than a case of cold feet and I just so happened to be the one who received the attention at that moment. It’s no secret that I’m the opposite of Kennedy, at least in our looks.
Liam’s screams pick up until he’s at eardrum-shattering levels while we wait in the checkout line. People start to look at us, and Torin starts to fidget nervously.
“Can’t you make him stop?” he snaps at me.
“Sure, I can,” I tell him. “As soon as I
feed him. But someone had to delay the trip to the store…”
“We had important calls that had to be made,” Torin replies through gritted teeth, loud enough to be heard over the screaming. “You made a phone call, too, remember?” he adds.
“Yes, thank you!” I say, dripping sarcasm. “I made one call to check on my friend and babysitter, Joanna after my father stole my son from her. You had four other men capable of making calls for you,” I point out with a huff as I bounce and shush, bounce and shush my son. Our son. “Here, just give me the keys so that I can go to the car and make him a bottle.”
“No,” Torin snaps without any further explanation.
“No?” I repeat with a scoff. “Why not?”
He doesn’t answer, just eases the cart up a few inches when one person in front of us leaves with a scowl in the direction of our crying baby.
“Why not, Torin? He’s hungry.”
“It won’t be much longer,” he huffs.
“Seconds feel like hours when he gets this loud,” I point out. Holding out my free hand, I say, “Give me the keys.”
“No.”
“Oh, my god! You are such a pain in the ass!” I shout at him.
“You can wait,” he says.
“No, he can’t.”
“How do I know you won’t drive off and leave me?” he asks.
“Wh-what the heck?” I ask in disbelief. “You think I would steal your car? Seriously?”
“That’s not what I mean,” he grumbles.
“Then what?”
“If you leave, and he is mine, I may never see him again,” he replies in a rush.
“Oh,” I say in surprise. “But you don’t think he’s yours.”