Chapter 22 LEXIE
LEXIE
Well, this got really awkward, really fast.
“Daughter?” Bear asked, his voice incredulous. “No, this is”—he paused— “Lexie. The caterer.”
Ouch.
“Oh shit,” Blade whispered. He turned to face me. “Alexandra Malone?”
I nodded. “That’s the name I was born with.”
His eyes widened. “Prez, this is who—“
“Enough,” Sinner said from across the screen, and Blade immediately stopped talking.
“Lexie.” Bear angled around my shoulder. “Is this true? Prez is your father?” His eyes softened and my stomach sank. I should have told him.
I knew my dad had been in the club back in the day. That’s why I’d avoided it for the most part. But I figured once he went to jail, that was it, and that there wouldn’t be too many people who remembered him.
I sighed. “That’s really Sinner Malone?” I asked, nodding toward the screen. I mean, there was a chance I was wrong and his blue eyes weren’t an exact match to mine.
“It is,” Bear said slowly, nodding his head.
“Then yeah. He’s my sperm donor.” I shrugged and wiped the tears from my face. It had been a weird day and I was feeling emotional. Definitely PMSing. I didn’t know the man and he didn’t know me. There was no need to get worked up.
“Sperm donor?” the man on the screen roared. “I’m your fucking father and you will show me some respect!”
Oh no, he did not. A fire lit in my belly, burning away my fear and replacing it with anger.
I sat up straight and pulled my hair into a messy bun. I always felt more powerful with my hair up. Maybe because my gran had always worn her hair in a bun and she could put the fear of God into anybody. Especially when she grabbed that switch from over the door.
“Sorry, old man.” I grinned, borrowing the phrase from Michael.
“You’re about fifteen years too late to play the father card.
” I turned away from the screen and squared my shoulders.
I wouldn’t let Sinner intimidate me. “As I was saying, I got a call about a catering job from another MC. I figured Maverick or Bear had referred me after the job I did here.”
Sinner slammed his hand on the table in front of him. “Why the fuck did the club princess do a job at her own fucking clubhouse?”
I didn’t answer, assuming it was a question meant for someone else.
Mav sighed, shaking his head. “Prez, no disrespect, but since when do you have a daughter?”
Baller laughed. “I’d guess since the 2000s?” He turned toward me. “You’re in your twenties, right?”
I giggled and nodded, grateful for the levity.
I mean, Sinner was being ridiculous. I had a few memories of meeting my father on a playground.
He pushed me in the swings and spun me around on the merry-go-round.
But that was before my mom left. When my grandparents got sick, I dreamed of him coming to get me.
Instead, I bounced from foster home to foster home.
I knew he was in prison, so rationally, I knew he couldn’t come and get me.
But he could have written a letter. Sent me a birthday card.
They still called him prez, so I was pretty sure that meant he was still the president. Which meant the man could afford a stamp and a piece of paper. But he’d done nothing because I’d meant nothing, and he couldn’t suddenly pretend otherwise now.
Sinner ignored Mav’s questions and asked another of his own. “Why aren’t you at home with your family?”
I scoffed and turned back to the screen.
“Are you joking? What family? Mom took off when I was five and I lived with my grandparents. Then Granddaddy got Alzheimer’s and moved into a home.
Gran got cancer the same year and died when I was twelve.
I was in foster homes until I aged out of the system at eighteen.
” I took a deep breath. In and out. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of upsetting me.
“I have no family.” Bitterness coated my tongue as I spat out the words. Bear pulled me tighter against him.
“Not true, baby girl,” he whispered. Tears welled in my eyes, and I turned my head to face the wall.
Maverick clapped his hands. “Okay, well, this is all great news. But perhaps we can save the family drama for later. We were already indebted to Lexie for saving Tracker, and now that we know she’s our club princess, well, that’s even better.
But now we need to understand what happened with the Diablos.
And Sinner, if you can’t keep it together, I will put you on mute. ”
I couldn’t help it. Laughter bubbled out of me until tears fell down my cheeks. Put him on mute. Jesus.
I wiped my tears and took a deep breath, feeling more like myself again. I’d needed that. Maverick offered me a small smile. “Go on, darling.”
Bear made one of his growly noises. Did he not like Mav calling me darling? Was I back to being more than the caterer? Ugh, I couldn’t deal with the back-and-forth right now. I cleared my throat. Time to get this over with.
“I got a call yesterday from a new client. Because it was with another MC, I figured they were friends of yours. I accepted the job and took down all the details. After I hung up, I realized I got myself into a bit of a pickle because my, uh, catering van, is still out of order.” I felt my cheeks flush and squirmed in my chair.
Except I wasn’t in a chair, I was in Bear’s lap.
And I felt something move. I squirmed again.
Bear’s arm tightened around my chest. “Careful,” he whispered.
Oh my. My face heated even more and I swallowed, trying to remember what I was supposed to be talking about.
Baller tapped his pencil on the table. “And then what? Did you call an Uber?”
“No. Well, I was going to, but Jordan called. He said he was checking on me. When I told him what was going on, he offered to be my driver.”
“Wait,” Mav interrupted. “Did you tell Jordan it was at another MC?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “And I told him you guys referred me. I think that’s why he offered to help.”
Bear snorted behind me. “Yeah, sure.”
Mav shook his head. “Prospect should know better than to go into another MC’s clubhouse.”
I shrugged. “Maybe he thought they were okay since you guys sent me there.”
Bear’s nostrils flared. “We didn’t send you there.”
“Okay, well I know that now. But not then.” I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see.
“And then what happened?” Mav asked.
“We went to the clubhouse and cooked. I was setting out the food when Bear called. And then Cyclops came in and...” I shuddered. “He, uh…” I dug my nails into Bear’s arm. “Made me sit with him while he ate. I think he had plans for… later.” I cleared my throat. “But Bear got there in time.”
“And I always will,” he added.
“What happened to Jordan?” Mav asked.
I shrugged. “I think he was being threatened when I was forced to go with Cyclops, but I didn’t see him after that. I hope he’s okay.”
The guilt was overwhelming. It was my fault he was even in the clubhouse, and now, well, I couldn’t even think about it.
“What was the clubhouse like?” Blade asked. “How many brothers did you see? Any surveillance?”
I scrunched my eyes, trying to remember. It had been at night, and I’d been mostly focused on the state of the kitchen.
“I counted ten in the main room,” Bear answered, taking the pressure off me.
“They asked me to cater for fifteen, so maybe the extra was for the girls?” I squeezed his hand in thanks.
Bear continued. “They had one other guy at the gate, but he might as well be a plastic dummy for how effective he was. The place was a shithole. No way they’d been living there longer than a few months.”
I sat up straighter. “Their kitchen was terrible, but it had the basics. I don’t know, maybe they were using their moms’ hand-me-down stuff.
The guys I did see were a lot meaner looking than you guys.
No one smiled, and I think their club girls were high.
I didn’t even see them after the food was ready. ”
Mav nodded. “Thanks, Lexie. That’s all for now. If you remember something, let your man know.”
My man?
Bear reached his arms under my legs, and I squealed as he abruptly stood, carrying me bridal style. “I’ll get her settled and be back.”
“Oh, wait!” I raised up in his arms. “I have something else I’d like to discuss.”
Bear’s head tilted as he looked down at me. “Pixie?”
“I would like to discuss Michael.”
“Michael?” He blinked. Maybe he needed a nap since he couldn’t seem to make an independent thought.
“Yes, as his legal guardian, I want to make sure we’re all on the same page with his living situation and school.”
“Legal guardian?” Bear’s eyebrows furrowed. “What the hell are you talking about? He doesn’t have a legal guardian. Not yet anyway.”
“Actually, he does. And it’s me. We worked it out while I was waiting to go inside your meeting. He called a guy named Lucifer and gave him my information to put on his paperwork.”
Bear’s mouth dropped open, and I had to stifle a laugh. I turned my head toward Mav, who I assumed was the decision maker on this.
“My spare bedroom has a twin bed, which likely won’t be big enough for a growing teenage boy. Do you guys have a full around here I can swap with?”
Bear shook his head. “You can’t be his legal guardian. Mav, help me out here.”
Mav threw his hands in the air. “I met the kid when he came in. I don’t know why you brought him, but there’s no way in hell he’s staying with me. If Lexie’s volunteering, I won’t stand in her way.”
I smiled. “I’m certified as a foster parent and regularly help with respite care. That makes me legally qualified to be Michael’s guardian, probably more so than any of you. But more importantly, he wants to live with me.”
Bear shook his head. “You met the kid for five minutes and you sure as hell aren’t old enough to be his mother.”
I shrugged. “No, but I am old enough to be his guardian. Besides, we bonded. We’re both the abandoned and unwanted children of a club whore and MC president. We get each other.”
Baller choked on his water and the rest of the guys looked away.
Bear shook his head. “Fuck. You want to be his guardian, fine. But you two will stay with me. No way I’m letting you move in with a sixteen-year-old hormonal asshole.”
“Hey! He’s not an asshole.” Oh wait, shouldn’t I be arguing with the part about us staying with him?
“We’re done here,” he announced as he carried me out of church.
“I can walk,” I told him, even though I secretly enjoyed being carried. After being nestled in his lap for so long, I wasn’t quite ready to be on my own.
“I know,” was all he said, but he didn’t put me down. I looked over his shoulder as he marched us from the room. The screen was still up, and I snickered at my father’s red face, silently screaming on the screen. Looks like he got put on mute after all.