Chapter Nine
King
I watched Grace and Colleen disappear out the back door, and Maureen asked, “What the fuck did you do now?”
Ravage chuckled, and I eyed him. “She reminds me of my aunt Roxy.”
I looked back at Maureen; she was watching Ravage as though she saw something I didn’t. I needed to tell her who he was. Maybe she would have some advice for how to tell Ravage the truth about who his mother was.
Who I was.
“Well?”
“We had a disagreement,” I told her, not wanting to discuss Grace with her right now. I didn’t want to get slapped again. Maureen didn’t pull punches when I fucked up. She may have just come into my life, but she acted like she’d always been there.
“Maureen is my aunt,” I told Ravage as he lifted the glass of tea to his lips. I waited for him to take a drink before I added, “And my sister.”
Maureen rolled her eyes at me as Ravage choked on his drink. “Don’t be an ass,” she scolded, grabbing a few napkins and handing them to Ravage.
“Are you from Alabama?” he asked.
“Arkansas.” I chuckled. “My biological parents are from Massachusetts. Maureen was married to my mother’s brother. He passed away, and now she’s married to my brother. Who’s also my uncle.”
“What the fuck?”
“You aren’t the only one with a fucked-up family, Ravage. We’ve all got our skeletons. But that’s a story for another time.” I looked over at Maureen. “Can I talk with you?”
“Of course. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just need to share something with you.”
“I’ll get out of your hair. Thanks for the sandwich, ma’am.” Maureen glared at Ravage, and he smiled sheepishly. “Maureen.”
“How long are you staying, Jackson?”
“Not sure yet.”
“You get hungry, you come see me.”
Ravage nodded and left the kitchen. Maureen turned to me and asked, “Who is he?”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about. Can we go to my office?”
Maureen nodded, and I opened the door for her to waddle through. I was excited to have a nephew. And I couldn’t wait to see how Dec handled fatherhood.
The trek to my office took a little longer than normal, and once again I wished Maureen would stay home and rest. I knew pregnancy wasn’t easy at any age, but with Maureen being almost fifty, it had to be taking a bigger toll.
I helped her into the seat across from my desk, and then I walked around and dropped into my chair. I didn’t know how to start the conversation. Should I start slowly or just blurt it out?
“King, do you want to tell me why that young man has the Murphy eyes?”
“He’s my brother.”
“What? How?”
“After Darcy left me with my grandparents, she changed her name and moved on. She became Gretchen Foster and met someone. She had Ravage a little over a year after she had me.”
“Does he know?”
I shook my head. “He thinks his mother is a woman named Jane Craven. He knows who his father is and doesn’t want anything to do with him. Any more than I do Sal.”
“What happened to Darcy?”
“We don’t know. All we know is when she delivered, Jane took her son.”
“What aren’t you telling me? Darcy wouldn’t just let someone take her son.”
“She let my grandparents take me,” I shouted, slamming my hand on the desk.
“Don’t you raise your voice to me, you little shit. She didn’t let them take you. She gave you to them. To protect you.” Maureen sat forward in her chair. “Now tell me the rest.”
“Jane threatened me. It was why she let her take Ravage.”
Maureen looked up at the ceiling. “Poor Darcy.”
“Poor Darcy?”
She dropped her head and narrowed her eyes at me. “Yes, poor Darcy.” I scoffed at the notion that my mother deserved any sympathy. “You’re a man. You have no idea how hard it is to give up a child. Darcy was forced to give up both of hers.”
“No one forced her to give me up. She could have stayed. She could have raised me herself.”
“You didn’t know your grandfather. He never would have let that happen.” Maureen swiped at her tears. “What about his father?”
“I don’t know exactly what happened there, but he walked away too.”
“He knew about him?”
I nodded. “He was there when Ravage was born.”
“Asshole,” Maureen muttered. “If Sal had known about you, he never would have walked away. He might have killed his father a lot sooner than he did.” She wiped her hands up and down her legs. “When are you going to tell him?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t know what to say. How to say what I need to so he doesn’t feel what I felt when I learned the truth.”
“Oh, King, you can’t prevent that. He needs to know the truth. He needs to know he had one parent who loved him and wanted him.”
I snorted, and she cursed me out. “Knock it the fuck off with that poor-me bullshit. You need to forgive her. And you need to forgive him. Sal has his faults, many of them. But this isn’t one of them.
He was a kid who had no idea he had become a father.
At least he didn’t walk away from you like Jackson’s father did. ”
Maureen was right. Sal hadn’t known anything about me, but he was the only person I had to take my anger out on. Him and Declan. But Dec had always been there for me. He kept my mother’s secret, but he never let me down.
I wasn’t ready to stop being angry yet, and I knew Sal would take it. He was desperate to be in my life, and if it meant taking the brunt of my anger, he’d accept it just to hear me talk to him.
I knew I was an asshole, but it was all I had right now.
“Now, let’s talk about what you did to fuck up with Grace, again.”
No way was I telling Maureen what happened last night. I prayed Grace wouldn’t tell her either.
After I was done talking to Maureen, I stayed in my office trying to get some work done. Really, I was avoiding everyone. Every time I saw Ravage, the truth gnawed at me. I knew I had to tell him. I just didn’t know how.
“Get your fucking hands off me, Mimic!”
I looked up just as the door to my office opened without a knock. Mimic had Grace by the arm and was practically dragging her through the door.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snarled at my enforcer as I stood up behind my desk. He should know better than to put his hands on Grace. He roughly pushed her into the chair Maureen had been sitting in.
“Tell him.”
“Asshole.” Grace moved to stand, and Mimic put his hand on her shoulder.
“Tell him,” he growled.
“Mimic, get your fucking hand off her before I cut the fucking thing off.” My voice held a hint of malice that I was sure neither of them had heard before.
Mimic removed his hand, and when Grace continued to stay quiet, he said, “She knows Chasm.”
“WHAT?” I shouted. I glared at Grace and then back at Mimic. “Get the fuck out.”
“Prez.”
“Out!” I hissed as I kept my eyes on Grace, waiting until I heard the door close behind Mimic as he left. “How the fuck do you know Chasm?”
Grace sat with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at me.
“I don’t know him. He came into the bar on the night of the shooting. I served him a drink, and we talked for a minute like I do with all my customers until the bullets started flying and he pulled me behind the bar.”
“The man you told Dec about?” She nodded. “Then why does Mimic think you know him?”
We sat in silence, and I watched the debate flicker over her face. She didn’t want to tell me.
“Don’t make me go ask Mimic. Or Colleen.”
Grace inhaled deeply. Her frustration was obvious as she didn’t just exhale; she huffed out an angry breath.
“He came into the coffee shop. When he saw me, he came over to say hello.”
I inhaled my own deep breath, trying to calm my temper. Grace was the only person on the planet who had the power to make me hard and angry at the same fucking time.
“Obviously there is more to it than that if Mimic is all riled up. What happened?”
“I asked him why he disappeared. He said he didn’t want you to know he was here yet. When I asked him why now, he said that he was sure Banshee had already spilled the beans. That was when Mimic called him Chasm.”
I stared at her. Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine. Her hands played with the frayed material around the hole in her jeans. She was holding something back.
“And?”
She closed her eyes, and I wondered how we got here. She couldn’t even look at me. We’d never had any problems being together when we were alone. All those times I went to her in the middle of the night, we talked and she let me hold her.
I’d fucked it all up by kissing her the day Jingles dragged her into the clubhouse when I thought Sinclair had taken her. I was so fucking happy to see her safe I couldn’t control my reaction. I’d needed to feel her in my arms, and the moment she was there, I’d needed to taste her.
She was an addiction now. It was all I thought about.
“I’m sorry, Grace.” Her eyes snapped up to mine. “I’m sorry for everything. Please, just tell me what happened.”
“He wanted me to give you a message. He said he was coming for you.”
“Was that it?” She nodded. I stood up and moved around the desk until I was in front of her. I sat on the edge and waited for her to look up. When she didn’t, I whispered, “Grace.”
“I can’t keep doing this. I can’t stay here.”
“I want you here.”
“But you don’t want me.” She stood up, and before she could walk away, I grabbed her hand. I spread my legs and pulled her so she was standing between them.
“I do want you, Princess.”
“I hate it when you call me that.”
“But it’s who you are.”
“I’m not,” she argued, her eyes on my chest. I tucked my finger under her chin and lifted her face so I could look into her eyes.
“I called him. I told him to get his ass up here. And when he gets here, I’m calling for a vote and removing him as president.”
“How?”
“The how isn’t important. Once he’s removed, I can claim you.”
She shook her head and pushed away from me. “Fuck you, King.”
“What the fuck are you mad about? I just told you I can claim you once Steele’s removed as president, and it’s still not fucking good enough?”
“You’re such an asshole.” She yanked the door open and walked out, stomping down the hallway.
I followed her down the hall, trying to get her attention.
“Grace! Would you stop for two fucking seconds and talk to me?”
I stepped into the main room, and Grace moved behind the bar. “Joey, go find something else to do.”
“You can’t order my prospects around.”
“Why the hell not? Last night you called me your fucking old lady.” Joey stood behind the bar looking between me and Grace, fear etched across his face. I wasn’t sure how he would make it as a Silver Shadow, but the kid had heart if nothing else. “I said fucking move, Joey.”
“Prez?”
“Go on. See if Maureen needs any help.”
“She went home.”
“Then go find something to do.” I waved him away, and he scurried out of my sight. Before I could say anything more, Eros and Indigo walked in with a woman I didn’t fucking know.
“Here we fucking go,” I groaned.