5. Finn
Finn
Three days later, Kate was still jumping at every loud sound or bang.
It had been a long wait at the motel, but Reaper wanted the full table present before church was called, which meant waiting for brothers to get back from runs and club business.
Three more days stuck in that motel room.
Three more nights of Noah barely sleeping.
I sat at the table in the back room, fighting yawns as the brothers rolled in one by one, leather creaking, smoke already hanging thick in the air.
Noah had screamed half the night before, and I’d spent hours pacing the motel room with him against my chest so Kate could get some sleep. She was no use to the kid exhausted.
Reaper stood at the head of the table with Riot at his side, shades on as always. They waited for everyone to settle before they took their seats.
“The girl claims the kid’s Ghost’s,” Reaper said flatly. “She’s running. We need to decide what that means for this club.”
Spider leaned back in his chair, arms folded. “Means trouble. We don’t know her. Don’t know who’s chasing her. We gonna risk the whole club over a maybe?”
Riot’s voice cut clean through the room. “Ghost can’t confirm, so proof’s what matters.”
All eyes shifted to me. “She’s not running from strangers,” I said evenly. “She’s running from her parents.”
That pulled a few frowns.
Reaper’s expression hardened slightly. “Explain it to them.”
“Her stepfather’s in debt. Big debt. Gambling, loans. She didn’t give us every detail, but it’s serious.” I paused briefly. “She mentioned the name Volkov.”
Spider swore under his breath.
A prospect frowned and asked, “Who’s Volkov?”
Riot leaned back slightly in his chair. “Russian outfit. Loans. Trafficking. Guns. Whatever makes money.”
The prospect shrugged uncertainly. “So?”
Keno barked out a humourless laugh. “Another club crossed him a few years back.”
“Lost six patched members in a month,” Spider muttered.
Keno nodded once. “Wives. Kids. Houses burned. Anybody they thought could hurt.”
“Jesus,” the prospect muttered.
Reaper finally spoke. “Volkov doesn’t care about rules. Doesn’t care about patches. Doesn’t care about family.”
“She also mentioned Rosewater,” I added.
“Ghost contacted me around that time,” Reaper said flatly. “Said he was renting a place in Rosewater for a woman and kid. Told me he’d explain when he got back.”
Spider frowned. “And?”
Reaper’s jaw tightened slightly. “He never got the chance.”
The room stayed quiet for a long moment after that. Brothers thinking, weighing risk and thinking about Ghost.
Spider leaned forward slightly. “So, they think the baby is a payday.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Kate says they want Noah. Not to raise him but to use him.”
Keno swore under his breath.
“She thinks they’ll either ransom him to us, Lucy’s parents, or sell the story.” I rubbed a hand over my jaw. “Caleb Kane’s secret kid, Dead Knights and Kane heir. They think there’s money in that.”
Spider shook his head. “So, she brings family drama and serious threats right to our door.”
“She brought Ghost’s son,” I corrected.
I reached into my kutte and pulled out the folded paper Kate had handed me earlier that morning. I laid it flat on the scarred table.
Noah’s birth certificate. “Name’s Noah Kane,” I said evenly. “Father listed as Caleb Kane.”
The atmosphere shifted immediately.
Spider scoffed. “Paper don’t mean blood.”
“It’s a start,” Riot replied calmly.
Reaper picked up the paper and scanned it. “Dates?”
“They line up,” I replied. “Conception fits before Ghost passed.”
Keno looked at me hard. “You believe her?”
I thought about Kate curled protectively around Noah every night. About the panic in her eyes every time somebody knocked on the motel door and the way she barely slept unless she physically saw Noah beside her.
“Yeah,” I said finally, “I do.”
Spider grunted. “I’m still not buying it.”
“So, we test it,” Riot suggested. “Quietly.”
“And if she’s lying?” Spider asked.
Riot’s expression didn’t change. “Then we deal with it.”
“And if she’s not,” I said, “then her parents are trying to cash in on Kane blood.”
Murmurs rolled around the room. Reaper’s gaze landed on me.
“She’s your responsibility,” he said. “You stay on her. You arrange the DNA test.”
“Yes, Pres.” I folded the birth certificate and slid it back into my kutte.
A new voice spoke from farther down the table.
“But Lucy . . .” The prospect hesitated like he already knew he shouldn’t be speaking. “We never really talked about where she came from, Pres. Why would they ransom the baby to her parents?”
The room went dead still, the kind of stillness that means someone just stepped where they shouldn’t. Keno’s eyes widened slightly, Spider froze, and even Riot shifted a fraction beside Reaper.
Wrong question. Wrong fucking time.
Reaper didn’t answer straight away. Didn’t even look at him. When he finally moved, it was slow and deliberate, his gaze locking onto the prospect.
“You don’t need to know.”
The kid swallowed hard but pushed anyway. “I just meant, if her family’s got that kind of reach, shouldn’t we?—”
“They’ve got more than reach,” Keno muttered under his breath.
Reaper’s head snapped slightly towards him. Not enough to call him out but enough to remind everyone who was speaking. Then, his attention went right back to the prospect.
“Lucy walked away from that life,” he said evenly. “She doesn’t go back.”
The prospect shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah, but people like that don’t just let someone walk?—”
“Well, they did,” Reaper cut in sharply, his jaw tight. “And she’s here. With me.” Reaper leaned forward slightly, hands braced on the table. “And no one in this room,” he said, voice low and deadly calm, “is dragging her past back through my door. Got it?”
The prospect nodded quickly. “Yeah, Pres.”
Reaper held his gaze another second just to make sure it stuck, then he straightened. “Church is done.”