Chapter Two
Jack
Present Day
“You ready to go?” I looked down at Beck as she sat scribbling on a piece of paper.
“Almost. I just have to finish this list.”
“Well, hurry up. We need to get back before Blade does. He’s gonna kick my ass when he finds out.”
She laughed at me. She knew I was full of shit. Blade knew I was taking her shopping today.
After everything that happened with Grant, and then her mother, Blade didn’t want her going out alone. He was an overprotective bastard, but then we all were when it came to the Prez’s niece.
“Ok, Jack, I’m ready.” She grabbed her list and her purse and followed me outside.
“Keys,” I demanded, holding my hand out to her.
“What?
“Keys. I’m driving,” I said, wiggling my fingers at her.
“Do you even know where we’re going?” she asked, handing them over.
She knew she wasn’t driving, but she had to give me shit.
“Nope, but you can give me directions. Why do we have to go out of town, anyway?”
“Because with the amount of stuff I need to get, I want to go to Walmart. It’s cheaper,” she asserted, shrugging her shoulder.
I walked across the lot and stopped at the car. Before I opened the door for her, I looked at her.
“You’re a fucking millionaire,” I challenged.
“That means I can’t be frugal? Besides, they have a few things I can’t find at Manny’s. I want Micah’s birthday to be special, and that means making his favorites.”
“Good thing you bought this monstrosity, then.” I opened the door for her to climb into her new Ford Expedition. Jogging around to the other side, I slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Although, pretty sure the only thing Blade’s gonna want to eat is you.”
Shaking her head at me, she laughed. “You really are a jackass.”
The drive to Walmart took just under an hour. Sometimes I missed the hustle of living in Little Rock, but I couldn’t deny that Diamond Creek had a charm all of its own.
We walked into Walmart and grabbed two shopping carts.
I stuck close to Beck. Walmart wasn’t like Manny’s. You couldn’t see from one end of the store to the other.
There wasn’t a chance in hell I would let her out of my sight in this huge ass store. Blade trusted me to keep her safe, and that was exactly what I planned to do.
We turned the corner into the bread aisle, our carts filled to almost overflowing, and came face-to-face with my woman.
Sammy stiffened when she saw us as the little girl with her smiled brightly.
I remembered borrowing her car to drive Beck home the day Grams died. She’d had a car seat in the backseat, and with everything that happened, I had forgotten to ask her about it.
I didn’t know she had a child.
I froze when the little girl called out, “Mommy, look, Daddy’s here!”
I couldn’t move or think. I was stuck on the little girl’s words.
She looked right at me when she said, ‘Daddy’s here.’
I looked over at Sammy, down at the little girl, and then back at Sammy again.
“What the fuck, Sammy?” I rasped.
“Daddy said a bad word, Mommy,” she tattled, looking up at Sammy.
The little girl had done it again .
She called me daddy.
I looked down at the little girl, then back at Sammy. I couldn’t do anything but look between the two of them.
“Hi, Samantha,” Beck said.
I turned toward Beck. I still couldn’t say anything. My brain wouldn’t function.
“Hi, Beck,” Sammy croaked, never taking her eyes off me.
She stood there, as frozen as I was.
I watched as Beck squatted down in front of the little girl.
“Hi there. My name is Beck.”
“My name is Charlie,” the little girl replied.
Her name was Charlie, a nickname for Charles. Was she my daughter? The tight grip I had on the handle of the shopping cart made my knuckles turn white.
“Charlie, do you know my friend here?” Beck pointed over at me.
“Yup, that’s my daddy.” She beamed.
I still couldn’t move. What the hell was wrong with me? Thank God Beck was here. She seemed to function just fine. Beck was having a conversation with the little girl.
“How old are you, Charlie?”
“I’m four,” she said and held up four little fingers.
Wait, she’s four? I looked over at Sammy. She stood there, wringing her hands.
Suddenly, I was no longer frozen. I was pissed.
“Is she mine?” I growled.
Sammy stood there wide-eyed, biting her lip. I waited for her to answer.
“Sammy?” I snarled. “Is. She. Mine?”
“Jack, calm down.” Beck stood and walked to me.
She placed her hand on my arm, and I shook it off. I stepped around her and stood in front of Sammy.
“Answer me, Sammy,” I demanded.
She just looked at me. She didn’t say a word, but she nodded.
“What the fuck?” I whispered to her, conscious of my daughter listening next to me .
My daughter.
I had a daughter.
Fuck.
“Jack,” she whispered back to me, “I can explain.”
“You damn well will explain.”
I turned my back on her and stared at my little girl. My hands ran through my hair. I looked helplessly at Beck.
“What the hell do I do?”
“Why don’t we all go back to the clubhouse? You two can talk there.” She looked over at Sammy, waiting for her to agree.
“I-I need to take Charlie home first, then I can go to the clubhouse,” Sammy hedged.
“Fuck that.”
I reached down for my little girl. Scooping her up, she threw her arms around my neck, and I walked away. Leaving both women behind me.
“Jack, wait!” Sammy cried.
“Jack,” Beck called out.
I could hear them following behind me. I ignored them both. No way in hell would I wait. I was taking my little girl home. I strolled through the front doors, straight to Beck’s SUV.
“Jack, stop!” Sammy cried.
I reached to open the door and felt a hand on my back. I couldn’t hold my temper and growled at the woman behind me.
“Jack, knock it off. You can’t just take her.” Beck stood behind me.
Sammy cried next to her.
“Like hell I can’t. She’s my daughter. She belongs with me,” I snipped.
“Jack, she needs her mother,” Beck reasoned sympathetically
“She doesn’t need a mother that lies to her.”
Yes, I was being an asshole. I rarely lost my temper. Most of the time I was pretty even-keeled, so I didn’t know how to control the rage I was feeling right now. I would probably feel bad later, but right now, I wanted her to hurt.
“Daddy. ”
Charlie’s quiet voice broke through the haze. I looked at my daughter. With tears in her eyes, her little lip quivered. I closed my eyes, holding her tight.
“What is it, baby girl?” I asked softly.
“Mommy is crying.”
I looked back at Sammy as tears slid down her face. Handing my daughter back to her mother, I turned away as she hugged her tightly to her body.
Anger wasn’t an emotion I handled well. I placed my hands on the SUV and tried to temper the resentment coursing through me.
“Samantha,” Beck uttered. “Why don’t I ride with you, and Jack can follow us to the clubhouse.”
“No,” I countered, “We’re all riding in your SUV.”
“Jack, Charlie needs to be in a car seat.”
Shit.
She was right.
I took a deep breath.
Sammy just stood there and said nothing. She didn’t walk away.
I had to give her that.
“Fine. Ride with her.” I pointed at Sammy. “Straight back to the clubhouse. I’ll be right behind you.”
I pulled into the lot at the clubhouse behind Sammy and Beck. Climbing out of Beck’s SUV, I slammed the door behind me.
I marched over to Sammy’s Toyota and opened the back door. Reaching in, I unhooked Charlie from her seat and hoisted her onto my hip. Heading for the clubhouse, I didn’t bother to wait for the two women to follow me inside.
I stepped into the common area, followed by Beck and Sammy. There were a few brothers milling around, playing pool, and drinking at the bar .
King sat at the bar. Hearing me come in, he turned around on his stool. He raised an eyebrow at me and looked at the little girl in my arms.
“Hey, Prez, I want you to meet my daughter, Charlie.”
“What the fuck, Jack?” King stood from his stool and walked over to where I stood. “You have a kid?” He looked behind me at Sammy and his eyes narrowed at her.
“Apparently so, though no one bothered to tell me.”
“Jack, don’t be an ass. You don’t know the circumstances.”
I looked at Beck and couldn’t believe what she’d just said.
“You, of all people, should understand how pissed I am right now,” I challenged. “Any sympathy you have should be for Charlie and her alone. Thank God she only had to live four years without her father, not twenty-five.”
“Jack, I understand you being upset, and I absolutely feel for Charlie. That doesn’t mean you get to be an ass to Samantha in front of your daughter, though,” she said as she tipped her head toward Charlie.
I looked at my daughter. She just stared at me with her great big blue eyes, so much like my own. All at once, it hit me. She knew who I was. She knew I was her daddy. I may not have known about her, but Sammy had made sure she knew about me. That thought tempered my anger a bit.
“Charlie, honey, can you hang out with your Auntie Beck for a few minutes while I talk to Mommy?” She looked at me and then over at Beck. She smiled and nodded.
“Come on, pretty girl, let’s go get a snack.”
I placed my daughter on her feet. Beck took her hand and led her toward the kitchen.
“Don’t worry, Samantha, I’ve got her. She won’t leave my sight,” Beck called when Sammy stepped forward.
I watched Beck walk away with my daughter. Once they were out of earshot, I rounded on Sammy. King stood beside me, and we both glared at her.
“What the fuck, Samantha?” King growled and stepped forward .
I placed my hand on his arm. King had our backs, always. I couldn’t let him intimidate her, though. If he did, I’d get no information out of her.
She just stood there, her eyes swinging between King and me.
“Jack, can we talk in private, please?”
Right then, the front door opened, and Blade strolled in.
I could see him easily reading the tension in the room. He eyed King and then Sammy, finally landing on me.
“Everything ok, brother?” he asked warily, looking back at Sammy.
“Not even a little,” I replied.
I watched the emotions sweep across Sammy’s face.
Shame.
Anxiety.
Fear.
It was the last one that hit me. Over the last two years, since I found Sammy living close by, I had seen that same fear on her face many times. Whenever something or someone caught her by surprise, terror washed over her. I needed to know why. I needed to get answers.
“Hey, Sam, you ok?” Blade stood between her and me. He was my best friend, but he wouldn’t hesitate to knock me out if Sammy told him she was afraid of me.
“I’m ok, Blade,” she told him, her eyes on the floor. He lifted her chin and studied her face.
“Sam.” He waited for her to lift her eyes. “Are you ok?”
“Jesus Christ, Blade, she’s fucking fine,” King bellowed, and Sammy jumped.
Blade turned on King.
“What the fuck is going on? I walk in here and you two are glaring at her. The girl looks terrified.” He crossed his arms over his chest, blocking Sammy. “Where’s my old lady? You were supposed to take her shopping today.”
“She’s in the kitchen, having a snack with my daughter,” I informed him.
I knew the moment my words sunk in .
He dropped his arms from his chest.
“Your daughter?” he asked.
“Yea, just met her today. At Walmart, of all places.”
He turned and looked behind him at Sammy.
“What’s going on, Sam?” Blade asked her pointedly.
“Jack, can we please talk in private?”
“No,” King snarled. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell him he had a daughter?”
I realized then why King was so angry. When I told Beck she should have understood why I was angry, I didn’t realize that King did too. His brother, the local sheriff and Beck’s father, only found out about her a few months ago.
The sheriff missed out on two and a half decades with his daughter, but King also missed out on all those years with his niece.
I needed to de-escalate this quickly.
“Sammy, let’s go up to my room and we can talk.”
“Jack—”
“Prez, I appreciate you having my back, but she’s right. We need to talk privately.” I squeezed his shoulder, letting him know I had this.
Taking Sammy’s elbow, I guided her out of the common room to the hallway.
“Do you want to check in on Charlie?” I asked, stopping in front of the doors to the kitchen.
“Could we please?” She offered me a grateful smile.
“Yea, come on.” I pushed the door open and followed her into the room. My daughter sat at the table with Beck, eating cheese and crackers.
“Hey, baby, you doing ok with your Auntie Beck?” Sammy asked, crouching down next to our little girl.
“Hi, Mommy. We havin’ a snack. Auntie Beck told me I could have anyfin’ I wanted. I knew you wanted me to have somefin’ helfy.”
Sammy smiled at our daughter. “You’re right, baby, you did a great job picking that out.” Sammy looked up at me briefly before she turned back to Charlie. “Baby, I’m gonna go talk with Daddy. Will you be ok hanging out with Auntie Beck?”
“Yes, Mommy. We havin’ fun. I like Auntie Beck. She’s nice like Auntie Carrie.”
Who the fuck is Carrie? I stared down at Sammy, willing her to look at me so she would see the question in my eyes.
She didn’t.
“Ok, baby, you be good. Daddy and I will be back soon.” Sammy kissed Charlie’s head and stood.
She turned around just as Blade walked into the room.
“Hi there, little one. You must be Charlie,” Blade said before he took a seat and kissed Beck. Charlie just stared at Blade. “I’m your Uncle Blade, and you know what I heard?” he whispered.
“What?” she whispered back, or tried to anyway, only it wasn’t quiet.
“Well, Auntie Beck here told me that an uncle’s job is to take his niece for ice cream.” Charlie’s eyes got wide, and her little mouth turned up in a grin. “And the best part is, uncles don’t need to ask Mommy and Daddy.” He winked at her. “What do you say? Wanna go on an uncle date with me?”
“Blade, I don’t think—” Sammy started, but Charlie’s excited voice cut her off.
“YES!”
She scrambled from her chair and rushed around the table, grabbing Blade’s hand. She tried to pull him from the chair, but he was too big. She made a valiant effort, though. Blade and Beck stood up, and Blade held his hand out to Sammy.
“Keys, Sam.” He dared her to say no.
“Blade, you can’t—”
“Sammy, let them go. Blade won’t let anything happen to our girl.”
She looked up at me and sighed. Shoving her hand into her pocket, she produced her keys and handed them to him.
Leaving Blade and Beck with Charlie, I escorted her to my room so we could talk.
I needed to know why she never told me about my daughter. I’d wanted this woman since we met five years ago. Two years ago, when she came back into my life, I decided I wanted her as my old lady. I’d been trying to wear her down with not much success.
I didn’t know she’d been lying to me, keeping my daughter from me. I knew I needed to hear her out. I just hoped whatever her reasons were, they were good enough to forgive her for the time I’d lost with my daughter.