Chapter Fifteen
Hudson came back out for me, he didn’t say anything but he was tense.
King had stared at the van for a good few minutes before turning and going back inside without so much as a nod in my direction.
It set the tone for this gathering. Warren drove the van into the garage and the door went down.
My hands were shaking as I went up the steps.
I wished like fucking crazy Rosa was here.
Then I got ahold of myself. I didn’t need Rosa backing me up.
I had my own back for the last five years.
I’d walked back into this MC with my head held high.
I’d faced all of my demons, and then some and got through it.
I wasn’t about to let my dad, or anyone else shake me enough to turn me into some weak ass bitch.
Hudson gave me a smirk as he watched me, as if he had seen the rollercoaster of emotions rushing through me, and my back straightening up with the resolve to take my dad on. I stopped him before we went through the door.
“What is he going to do about Mace?”
“All he said was bring him inside,” Hudson sighed. “King doesn’t give anything away.”
“If I need to get between them, I will.”
“Don’t doubt it,” Hudson said. “But,” he stopped me this time before I could enter the house.
“He’s the enemy in this house Waverley. We’ve explained what he did for you, told him a lot about what went down yesterday and about Danica but no matter what happens in there, you will be expected to abide by King’s decisions. He will kick you out if you don’t.”
I gave him a withering look. For a second he contemplated pushing it but wisely decided not to. There was no point. I stalked into the house. It hadn’t changed, not one little bit and I could smell Rosa’s perfume.
There were photographs of Cassie and Ransom on the walls, at varying different ages. One of Ballistic and her on their wedding day. I’d always rolled my eyes at that photo because even on his wedding day, Ballistic wore his cut. Like hell I’d let Hudson do that.
Fuck, who said anything about marrying Hudson. Jesus.
There were two large living rooms in their house, one was where Rosa did her work as a self-employed accountant, the other was a more traditional living area. Hudson led me past both rooms to the dining room. There was a massive table in here that seated ten people.
Rosa had always been the social type and if she invited people over, she wanted them to be comfortable.
Ballistic was not in the room but I could hear him talking to Warren.
Hudson touched my elbow briefly then walked out, leaving me alone with King.
He was sitting in one of the chairs, not at the head of the table, in the middle.
I cursed Hudson for abandoning me, but guessed King told him he wanted to speak to me alone. And, Ballistic wouldn’t want to bring Mace into his house. I was concerned for a moment about what they might do to him while I was in here, but I trusted my brother and Hudson.
If King told them to hurt him while he kept me busy, I’d never forgive any of them.
I didn’t wait to be told what to do, I pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. His eyes moved over my face and body in a quick sweep, making sure I was okay? Maybe.
Before I could open my mouth, Warren came into the room. “He’s secured.”
King nodded and Warren sat down. It was clear this had been agreed before I came inside. He’d left a seat between us, I wasn’t sure what that was about, but wouldn’t voice my concerns either.
“I’m gonna guess he hasn’t said he’s thrilled you’re safe and told you he moved heaven and earth to get you back?”
King and I looked at Warren, my brows were raised, dad just looked like he was used to this. I was sure no one expected an answer. But I gave one anyway.
“Nope.”
“Well, he is,” Warren went on with a cheery smile on his face. It was forced as all hell but he was trying and I appreciated that.
“The two of you give me heartburn.”
Warren laughed in surprise. That was the last thing either of us expected him to say. His lip twitched as he scanned both of our faces. But then he sobered and ran a hand over his beard.
“This is difficult for me to say, but it needs to happen.”
All joviality went out of Warren. We both waited because that was the best thing to do where our dad was concerned. Hudson’s warning ran through my head. I couldn’t give him shit in front of Mace, but Mace wasn’t here. So it was no holds barred.
“Given what she told you while you were there, there are some things you need to be made aware of,” he continued.
“Like an Aunt?” I asked, putting both hands on the table.
“Yes,” he said. “You have an aunt.”
“Had,” I corrected.
“No, have,” he said, lifting his dark eyes to mine.
“Are you telling me Delaney is alive?”
He winced at me using her name and for the first time, ever I think, my dad genuinely looked upset.
“War told me what she said to you. About what happened twenty-five years ago when they ran from the Kingsmen. Some of it was true. Some of it was a pack of utter bullshit, but I’d expect no less from Danica Walker.”
He’d let some emotion show there. Shit, he really hated our mother. He turned to War.
“You were right, there are things I’ve kept from you. I know you and Hustle have been trying to figure out what it is, but I’ve kept it a secret for a reason. A deeply personal reason.”
Danica told me he’d killed her sister. Was it remorse for what he’d done? Was that what he was referring to?
“Everything about them turning up at the club and why it happened was true, just that there were two of them.
Delaney was younger, barely nineteen. Nothing like her older sister.
Danica was brash and intolerant, expected more than what she was entitled to.
Delaney was quiet, she was horrified by what her family was willing to do to her and she internalized it a lot.
But once she realized she was safe, she opened up.
“She made friends where her sister repelled people. She joined in with club life where Danica tried to railroad everyone into doing what she wanted. I wasn’t the only person Danica tried to get her claws into. What pissed her off most of all, was Delaney. She was jealous of her.
“Not that such things matter, but the truth of it was, Danica was far more beautiful than Delaney but the ugliness inside of her turned everyone off. Everyone except Delaney. She stood up for her sister, got us to give her more chances than she deserved, because Danica was the one who got them to safety, who brought them to us. She was always grateful to her for that.”
He was quiet for a moment. I wasn’t sure I was actually breathing. My father never spoke like this. He’d never been this descriptive or honest about anything to do with his life before he became President, before we were born.
“Danica really lost her shit when she realized Delaney and I were getting closer.”
“What?” I breathed. Warren reached out and put his hand on mine, silently telling me to keep quiet too.
“I fell in love with Delaney. Shit hit me unexpectedly,” he shook his head.
“Never thought I’d have an old lady, let alone fall for a woman.
But she was different. She was strong, didn’t let people walk all over her but she had this lightness to her, she found joy in a lot of things.
Despite the bad deal life handed her. You remind me a lot of her,” he looked my way briefly.
I wanted to ask why the hell he’d killed her then given the way he was talking about her. Then I remembered I didn’t believe Danica. I chewed on my lip, seeing how my father was suddenly struggling with his emotions. Something huge was coming.
“We got married, moved off the compound, had a house nearby. We were happy. Delaney was the sunshine to my storm. I loved her more than I have ever loved anything in my whole life. And when she got pregnant,” he looked up at both of us one after the other, letting us draw our own conclusions to that pretty impactful statement. “We were thrilled.”
Warren’s mouth dropped open, he looked as if he was at a complete loss for words.
“Delaney is our mom?”
“Was,” he corrected me.
Oh my God, is he going to tell us she died in childbirth? I didn’t know what to think of that, what to think of any of this. Our whole lives we’d been sold a complete lie about our mother.
“You had just turned one when she died.”
A sob erupted from my throat. Warren got up and moved next to me, pulling me into his arms. His hands were trembling too. “What happened to her?” Warren asked.
“Mugging gone bad,” he said but I could already tell that wasn’t what happened. It wasn’t easy for anyone to get near an Old Lady, never mind mug one.
“The place where she was found, Delaney would never have been there. Danica told the police she’d asked her to babysit you, said she had to go meet someone. It was all bullshit. Delaney would never have left you two with her sister.
“Over the years she had come to see her for who she was. A cold hearted, jealous fucking bitch. She hated Delaney had what she wanted. Hated she’d married me, a man destined to take over the MC.
We had our house, our babies, we were happy, and it tore her vile black heart to shreds seeing Del get what she wanted. ”
King hadn’t moved a muscle while he told us his story.
A part of me wanted to reach out to him, to hold his hand and let him know how much I loved him, because it was clear this hurt.
He’d practically wiped out Delaney’s existence because he was so upset by her death.
He’d even forbidden people around him from talking about her. From telling us she was our mother.
All this time, I’d thought our mom abandoned us when really, she’d been murdered? I was so conflicted about demanding to know why he lied and feeling heartbroken for what we’d lost. It went a long way to explaining why he found it so hard to show his feelings, particularly towards me.