Stone: Speed Demons MC

Chapter One

Dagger

My Leesy hadn’t changed at all.

Watching her lying in bed with her chest gently rising and falling in sleep and her hair fanning out across the crisp white of the pillow reminded me of her at eighteen, except her face wasn’t bruised before, and her body wasn’t broken.

Back then, I wouldn’t have allowed anything to touch her because she was mine, and I protected her with everything I had. Laying my life down for Elise would’ve been my honor. If I were honest with myself, it still would be, because, in my heart, she was mine.

She always had been.

You see, Stone men loved hard, fast, and forever.

I’d loved another, but that love consisted of respect and mutual understanding. Elise was the only woman I ever gave my heart and soul to. The other woman in my life showed me beauty and gave me everything, and it probably saved me at the time, but underneath it all, Elise had always been there. It was why my marriage fell apart and why my other love found what I couldn’t give her with another man.

I didn’t blame her one bit. In fact, I wanted it for her. Adele was a good woman, a great ol’ lady, and a wonderful mother. She supported me for longer than she probably should’ve. She deserved happiness, even if I couldn’t be the one to give it to her.

The woman lying in the bed before me, all bruised and battered, had always been my ‘one.’ It wasn’t something I wanted; if anything, it had been a curse, but it was just the way it was for me. Elise Bell was as much a part of me as my blood and bones.

A sound from the door pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up to watch Sophie quietly enter the room.

She shot me a smile, ever the capable, confident doctor. “How’s she doing?”

My stare involuntarily slid back to Elise. “No change.”

“It’s good she’s sleeping,” Soph assured me. It will help her heal. When she wakes up, she’ll be in pain from her injuries. The longer we can keep her under, the easier it will be for her.”

“It’s been days,” I pointed out.

“It has,” she agreed. “But it’s been the meds keeping her asleep, not her injuries. They’re beginning to leave her system now, so I suspect she’ll start coming around tomorrow.”

My heart jerked at that fucking thought.

While Elise was asleep, at least I could pretend nothing had changed. It was easier to carry on with the knowledge that everything could stay as it was, and that, over the years, she hadn’t committed the biggest betrayal of all by keeping the most important thing in existence from me.

My girl.

The problem was that my heart already knew what my head didn’t wanna admit. I could see the truth in the almond-shaped slant of Sophie’s eyes, which now I noticed were just like her mother’s. Still, the color was all mine—a light, golden brown that, in a particular light, could pass as amber.

A Stone family trait.

Sophie looked like my mom, too. Her lips were the same shape as my ma’s and Freya’s. Her skin had the same golden olive tone.

For once, I didn’t relish the truth. In all honesty, I was terrified it would destroy my faith in everything I’d believed about Elise, because, in my eyes, there was no bigger betrayal than somebody fucking with my family, especially my kids.

If Leesy had kept my own flesh and blood a secret, I knew something inside me would break. I wouldn’t be able to believe in anything again. So, just for a while, I didn’t wanna know. For now, I wanted to live in ignorant bliss because the damned awful truth didn’t bear thinking about.

“What’s her prognosis?” I asked Sophie, who was listening to Elise’s heart with her stethoscope.

“She’ll recover physically, but the beating she took will probably affect her in other ways.” Sophie glanced back at me. “You’ve got the video of her husband doing this?”

I jerked one nod.

“Good.” Soph stood to her full height and turned toward me. “The police will need all they can get to build their case, that’s if Colt isn’t already on it.”

My jaw clenched; the mere mention of that name putting me on edge.

The sting of Colt’s betrayal had eased since he’d left, but it hadn’t gone completely. It was probably worse ‘cause Freya followed him. I got why she’d jetted; I hadn’t given her much reason to stay, but I took solace in the knowledge Freya hadn’t given up her medical training and that she had Hendrix and his club at her back.

The chair beside mine scraped across the tiled floor as Sophie took a seat. She turned her face to mine, cocking her head to one side. “Tell me about her.”

My heart went out to her.

Sophie had found out just hours ago that Leesy was her mom. It was natural that she’d be curious about her. The problem was, I knew about as much as she did. I was still in goddamned shock myself, and my head spun with so many questions of my own I couldn’t think straight.

“We broke up a long time ago, Soph,” I stated quietly. “But the girl I used to know was sweet, kind, and honorable.”

She cleared her throat nervously. “Do you think you’re my father…?” Her voice trailed off, then she whispered, “Our eyes are the same.”

My throat thickened with all the pent-up emotions burning inside me since the second we found out Elise was Sophie’s mother. “I dunno, sweetheart. In my heart, I’ve never wanted anything more than to be your dad. But a part of me can’t believe she’d keep something like that from me. The girl I knew would never have done that in a million years, so I can’t help feeling an element of doubt.” I took her hand and patted it reassuringly. “But then, the Leesy I knew would’ve never given you up. She would’ve fought tooth and nail for you, so who the fuck knows?”

“I think you are,” she whispered.

I nodded slowly. “I felt an affinity for you the second we met and liked you immediately, I thought you had a special way about you. Maybe because you’re a lot like her,” I nodded toward the bed, “or at least how she was back when she was mine.”

Tears sprung to her eyes. “That’s beautiful, John, but also heartbreakingly sad.”

One side of my mouth quirked up. “Fell in love with her when she was sixteen years old. Waited for her until she was eighteen. Leesy was the town’s sweetheart, the prom queen, and a pageant princess, but didn’t give a fuck about breakin’ a nail or gettin’ down and dirty in the mud. Saw her fight another girl when she was seventeen who’d called her friend a slut, and let me tell you, my sweet gal had a mean right hook. She was no prissy princess but still had somethin’ almost regal about her, so I called her my duchess. Everyone who met her loved her because she shone her light on ‘em and radiated pure warmth. It was ingrained in her.”

Sophie smiled sadly, staring toward the bed. “I wonder why she gave me up?”

“Well. Ain’t that the million-dollar question?” I muttered, looking up as the door creaked open again to reveal Colt.

My hands clenched into fists, the way they always did when he appeared in my vicinity, but I stayed in my chair and ignored him.

“How’s Elise doin’?” he asked, making his way toward the bed. “She still out?”

Sophie nodded. “She is for now, but I’m reducing her meds, so she should wake up sometime tomorrow.” She smiled up at my ex-brother. “It’s nice you stuck around for her.”

I let out a derisive snort.

Colt’s stare slashed toward me before he turned back to the doc. “She’s a decent lady and deserves to have someone look out for her. She’s saved a lot of women and kids over the years. It’s only right she gets the same. She’s well thought of at the Bureau.”

“Well thought of enough to be left unprotected around that fuckhead of a husband?” I challenged, my tone laden with simmering anger. “Well thought of, but still allowed to get involved in fucked-up shit that shouldn’t touch a decent woman?”

“It was her choice, and it started years before I joined the Feds,” Colt countered.

“Right,” I muttered. “But still, here we are.”

Colt’s eyes narrowed. “As soon as Elise is awake, I’ll arrange to have her transferred out of state to a safe house.”

The thought of him spiriting her away after what she’d endured burned a hole through my gut.

“You’re not takin’ her anywhere,” I rasped, sweeping a hand toward the bed. “If this is your fucked-up idea of protection, then it’s best I look out for her and keep her safe.”

“She’s a key witness in a federal investigation,” Colt argued. “Without Elise, there is no case. All the evidence we’ve gathered over the years is just circumstantial without her input. There’s probably a price on her head already.”

I felt a muscle tic in my jaw at that nugget of information. “Over my dead fuckin’ body. She’s not leaving my sight, so sit your ass down and tell me everythin’.”

“You know I can’t,” Colt protested. “I’ve already said too much.”

“Why was she mixed up with him?” I lowered my voice out of respect for Elise, but Colt couldn’t mistake the rasp of fury. “If there’s an ounce of loyalty toward me left in you, you’ll do the right thing and tell me everything.”

Colt cupped his nape with his hand and heaved out a breath. “From what I’ve been briefed on, Elise was first approached by the FBI back in the nineties. An agent’s sister was trafficked, so he started investigating on his own time. He recruited Elise back then.”

Something jerked inside my chest. “You’re tellin’ me she’s been gatherin’ intel for thirty years for the FB—fuckin’—I? Jesus, how the fuck are those assholes still on the streets?”

“The original agent was murdered,” he explained. “We think by Bear Rawlins. It was tagged as a street robbery gone wrong. They caught the supposed assailant and locked him up, except he died in jail. The Bureau didn’t even know the agent was working the case, so it dried up, and Elise was stuck. Then, a few years years ago, she contacted the FBI again and told us everything. She said she’d been gathering evidence. Coincidentally, the trafficking ring was already back on the Fed’s radar by then. They recruited Stafford when he was still in college. He came back, befriended Henderson Junior, and slowly infiltrated. It’s taken him this long to get into the mayor’s inner circle.”

I scraped a hand down my face. “And now he’s down the Cell pissin’ blood.”

Colt held up his hands jokingly. “Meh, he can handle it. You’re not that fuckin’ tough. I’m more concerned about his cover being blown. At least with his face all fucked up, he can go back to the mayor and say he escaped the clubhouse after you fuckers tortured him for intel. You’ve been pullin’ vehicles over for months now, so that could explain how you captured him and got hold of Elise. He’s just gotta be uber fuckin’ convincing about it.”

I brought a hand up to rub my beard, a habit that helped me think.

Coming home, after being captured and tortured, to discover Elise recently married and nowhere to be found started a chain of events that I lived with to that day. The town gossips took great pleasure in telling me how she was told I was killed in action and that she had married Robert Henderson weeks later.

The way my chest cracked open was a pain I’d never been able to forget. The thought of going home to Elise was what kept me alive when I was captured. When I finally made it back to Hambleton, I wished they’d killed me because there wasn’t a life for me without her.

I went out to drink my sorrows away and met Adele. I got her pregnant the first night I met her. She came to me weeks later and told me I’d knocked her up. I did the right thing because I wanted kids so badly, and I needed something to keep me grounded, something that would love me unconditionally. I married Dell because why not? My girl had left me, and Adele gave me a semblance of a life back, and for a while, I was content. One kid turned into two, then three. She wanted a girl, so we tried and got Freya.

It all came so easy for me, except it was with the wrong woman, and after a while, my soul couldn’t stand it. I’d always been honest with Adele and told her about Elise on the night we met. She always knew, but I think she hoped that what she gave me would be enough, and it was, for a while.

But ultimately, the heart wants what the heart wants.

Over the years, I’d discovered Elise had been manipulated into marrying Henderson, but it didn’t make a difference. She should’ve had more faith in me. Still, what was done couldn’t be undone, and her betrayal ate me up for a long time.

Now, Colt had shone a light on the situation from a different angle, and with the existence of Sophie, I realized there was a lot more to the story than I knew. Questions had swirled through my mind for the two days I’d sat and watched over Elise, willing her to wake up and tell me what the fuck was going on. I needed her to explain about Sophie and how she even existed, and I needed to know if she was mine, and, if she was, why Elise had given her up without giving me a goddamned clue?

Luckily, I wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

The following day, I was still in that damned chair, watching and waiting.

My first indication that Elise was about to wake up came from her breathing. It became more shallow, choppier, as if her mind was stirring and recalling the beating that had knocked her unconscious.

Elise was a beautiful woman, even though her alabaster smooth skin was covered in cuts and bruises. Her blonde hair was thick and styled to show off the angle of her cheekbones and the full lips that used to curve into a dazzling smile every time our eyes caught. She didn’t look a day over thirty-five, despite being in her early fifties. Even battered and bruised, her light shone through.

I knew this would affect her, and she’d need time to get over being abused. Elise was sensitive to her core and felt everything tenfold. This would play on her mind for a long time, though it went without saying I’d help her through it. We all would.

But first, I needed answers.

Elise’s long fingers suddenly twitched, and she let out a low moan.

Within a second, I was there, sitting on the bed and reaching for the glass of water on the nightstand.

“It’s okay, Leesy,” I murmured, gently lifting the back of her head and guiding the straw into her mouth. “You’re safe. I’ve gotcha.”

Her eyelids fluttered as she took a small sip of water and swallowed, before croaking, “Is this a dream?”

“No, Leesy,” I replied gently. “It’s no dream. You’re at the clubhouse. Your husband hurt ya.”

After a slight pause, she visibly winced. “I remember. How bad is it?”

“You’ll be okay,” I assured her. “Henderson gave you a concussion and dislocated your shoulder. Cracked a couple’a ribs, too.”

Elise’s head fell back on the pillow. “Brett. Where is he?”

“We’ve got him here,” I assured her. “We’re tryin’ to work out the best way forward for everyone.”

“He’s not who you think, Johnny,” she whispered, tone thick with desperation. “Please don’t hurt him.” Her hand reached blindly for mine and squeezed.

“We know everythin’,” I replied flatly, threading our fingers together. “Colt’s here. He told us everything. Why didn’t you say anythin’, Leesy? All these years, I could’ve helped.”

Her eyes slowly opened, and she leveled me with a look. “What could you have done?”

“I could’ve looked out for ya.” I nodded toward her face. “Maybe we could’ve avoided this.”

One eyebrow cocked. “You think this is an isolated incident?” She gave a brittle laugh. “This is a regular Tuesday.”

I closed my eyes, trying to tamp down the tidal wave of fury crashing into me.

“It’s okay,” Elise said softly. “I made my choice thirty years ago, a choice I had to live with.”

“No, you didn’t,” I argued. “No woman should have to live with that treatment.”

She studied me with eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. “He held all the cards, Johnny. Once I committed, I had no way out, so I made the best of it by watching and learning. Somebody had to look out for the people he was hurting. I couldn’t save them all, but I could gather enough evidence to eventually put him and his sick friends down. Plus, he had something of mine, something precious. I couldn’t leave until I found her.”

My jaw clenched, and I stared at her coldly. “Her? Do you mean your daughter?”

Elise’s eyes rounded with shock, and all color drained from her face. “W—What?” A hand went to her throat, and she released a tiny sob. “How—How do you know?”

The sterile scent of the room, mingled with warm air, wrapped around me as I sat by Elise’s bedside. Her chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, a testament to the emotions coursing through her.

“We didn’t realize at first,” I stated huskily. “It was only when Sophie started treating you that she noticed the similarities between you both.”

Elise’s gaze hit mine, a frown knitting her brow as if trying to work out an impossible puzzle. “Similarities?”

I jerked one nod. “It all seemed trivial at first, but then the pieces began to align. You have the same blood group, which is pretty damned rare. You’ve got identical moles and birthmarks in the same place. If I remember correctly, your mom had them, and Sophie’s daughter does, too. She began to put two and two together, her adoption and the fact her birth mother was from Hambleton, and she approached me. I told her to run a blood test, more to rule it out than anythin’—”

The moment it hit home, her breath hitched, a quiet gasp filling the room with tension. “She’s here?” Elise struggled to sit up, her movements hindered by injury and exhaustion. “My Constance is here? She’s called Sophie?” Her eyes widened and filled with tears. “Do you mean Doctor Sophie?”

A familiar tightness constricted my chest, and the name ‘Constance’ made my gut sink. It was my mom’s name. She called her baby girl after my mom.

I reached out to stop her from hurting herself. “Settle down.”

“Settle down?” she shrieked in a voice raw with a lifetime of pain. Her jade green eyes grew wide, brimming with emotion. “I’ve looked for her for more than thirty years, and you’re telling me to settle down? Are you crazy? Where is she, John? I need to see her.” She pushed the comforter back and slowly began to shuffle.

“Get the fuck back in that bed!” I ordered, gently pushing her down.

“Don’t you dare boss me around, John Stone,” she retorted, trying to shove me away. “Help me out of this bed. I need to see her. I need to talk to my daughter.” The trembling fingers of one hand clutched the comforter, now a crumpled mess. Her head jerked, and she began to shake all over, probably from shock at the overload of information hitting her from all angles.

A heavy weight settled in my gut at her reaction.

I’d gone too far. Elise just woke up from being beaten by her husband. I should’ve held back until she’d recovered. “Calm down, Duchess,” I pleaded, rubbing her shoulders. “The last thing you need is to fuck up your recovery.”

“Screw my recovery, John. I’ve stayed with that monster all these years, trying to find her. Now you’re telling me she’s been here all along?” Her fingers dug into my arm, and she wailed, “I need to see her. Now!”

“She hasn’t been here all along,” I said, trying to reassure her. “Just a couple of years.”

Elise let out an agonized cry.

I reached out to comfort her, but my hand stopped halfway when I saw how much her entire body shook. My heart almost stopped at her emotional state.

Leesy’s skin had lost all color and felt clammy. She shook like a leaf in a hurricane, the movements so jerky that if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought she’d been electrocuted. But what really worried me was her breathing. She gasped for air so desperately I thought she was about to suffocate.

I held her by her arms. “Elise. Calm the fuck down. We’ll get it sorted.”

A hand flew to her chest, and a lone tear streaked down her face, her breathing becoming even choppier.

“It’ll be okay, sweetheart,” I said reassuringly, but doubt gnawed at me. I knew I had to stay calm if I had any chance of getting the answers I needed. Still, seeing her so damned broken made all the old feelings of protectiveness rear up. I couldn’t help myself; my arms slid around her, and I pulled her into my chest. “It’s okay, Duchess. I’ve got you.”

For a second, I could pretend we’d gone back thirty years just because of the way she felt in my arms. This was us, the way we always were. Back then, I couldn’t keep my hands off her. I always had the urge to touch her in some way, even if it was just my fingers trailing down her back or a gentle brush of our hands.

Every time we connected physically, something about Elise grounded me. She was the moon, and I was the earth, and we were pulled together by a force of gravity that had sparked to life the very first time we locked eyes.

I rubbed my hand down her back, trying to calm her trembling, but it didn’t work. My throat constricted because it was so easy to fall back into the habit of worrying about her. Elise was strong as a woman could be, but she still emitted an air of vulnerability, and it sucked me in, even though I should’ve been immune to it.

“Hey, lay down,” I whispered, easing her onto the mattress. “You need to try and relax.”

“I—I can’t.” She wheezed loudly, her eyes rounding with panic. “I—I can’t catch my b—breath.”

My gut panged as the realization hit me that Elise was really struggling to breathe. I reached out to feel her chest, my blood running cold at the feel of her heart almost thudding out of her chest as she gasped for air.

Something was very fucking wrong.

I stood and quickly made my way for the door. Grabbing it, I went into the corridor and turned for the bar when Sophie’s voice called, “John, is everything okay?”

My sigh was one of relief as I watched her hurry toward me. “Elise woke up, but she can’t breathe,” I called over to her, a thread of desperation threading my tone. “She was okay and talking one minute, then she began to shake, and now it’s like she can’t draw breath.”

Sophie sped up, pulling her stethoscope from her neck and rushing past me into Elise’s room.

I followed, babbling as I closed the door behind us and headed toward the bed where Soph was already murmuring soothingly to Elise as she bent over her, listening to her chest. “I dunno what happened, Doc. I told her about you, and she started to react like this.”

Elise let out a loud sob.

“It’s okay,” Sophie murmured to her. “We can talk later. I need to get you calmed down first, Elise. Can you take a deep breath for me and hold it for a few seconds?”

Elise grabbed Soph’s hands and tried to breathe slowly.

The doctor craned her neck. “John, get Kennedy for me. I need some help, and she’s a first aider.”

I nodded, turning for the door again.

A part of me didn’t want to leave. I felt sick that she was in such a state and couldn’t help thinking I was the asshole responsible. Though, in my defense, Elise was usually the type of woman who took shit on the chin, and okay, so she was emotional, but never to the point where she couldn’t goddamned breathe.

After going to grab Kennedy, I sat outside in the corridor with my head in my hands. I tried to get my brain around all the bullshit affecting the club over the last few days.

The revelations Colt told us were eating me up. I’d assumed so much about Elise, but now I was seeing I may have fucked up badly, which was typical of me. I jumped to conclusions and paid the price afterward. Except if the price this time meant I’d lost thirty years of my daughter’s life, I didn’t know how I’d deal with it.

I looked up at the footsteps echoing down the corridor to see Kit heading toward me. I gave him a chin lift, which he returned.

“How long’s Kitten gonna be?” he asked, leaning on the wall next to me.

“I dunno,” I muttered. “Depends how long it takes Elise to settle down.”

“What set her off like that?” He nodded toward the door. “Mrs. Henderson always seemed pretty put together to me.”

“I told her about Sophie,” I said sheepishly.

Kit slowly closed his eyes, banging the back of his skull gently against the wall. “Jesus, Pop. She’s woken up from being beaten, and you went and screwed with her mind?”

“Had to, Son,” I said defensively. “She was panicking, talkin’ about Henderson havin’ somethin’ precious of hers. She obviously meant Sophie. Thought I was puttin’ her mind at rest.”

His eyes caught mine and held. “Is Sophie ours?”

My heart warmed because, in that one question, Kit had told me he’d accept the doc if it turned out that she was his sister. “You know what, Son? As much as it’d kill me to have missed so much, I really fuckin’ hope so.”

“I wouldn’t hate it either,” he remarked softly.

My heart leaped as the door opened, and Sophie emerged from Elise’s room, followed by Ned.

Kit took his woman’s hand and tugged her into him. “How is she?”

Ned leaned up and stroked his hair back. “It was a panic attack, but she’s better now.”

My eyes met the doctor’s. “Did she say anything?”

Sophie frowned slightly. “We had a quick talk. She kept telling me Henderson took me from her, and she’s been looking for me ever since. She was making herself more upset, so I gave her a light sedative to calm her down.” She turned to study me thoughtfully. “I don’t understand. I was adopted. Elise must’ve signed off on it.”

“What did Lois tell you about the adoption,” Kennedy asked gently.

“Not much.” Sophie’s eyes glazed over as she thought back. “She used to tell me about Hambleton and how unforgiving the town was. That was why she moved away when I was born; she didn’t want the stigma of adoption touching me.”

An uneasy feeling weighed down my stomach. “Hambleton’s always been snobby about single moms. A lot of the population came from Salt Lake City, so there are religious undertones throughout the town, but I’ve never heard anyone bad mouth adoption. If anythin’, the Jesus nuts think adopting a kid’s a godly thing to do.”

Sophie paled slightly. “Why would my mom lie about that?”

It went quiet briefly while we all thought.

“We should look at your adoption papers, Soph,” Kennedy suggested. “We’ll contact the agency that handled your case and see if we can access your records. Sometimes, the women who give their babies up leave contact details in case the kids ever want to get in touch. Maybe Elise did.”

Sophie worried her lip with her teeth. “That’s just it. I can’t find any adoption papers. When Mom died and I sold her house, I turned the place upside down. I also made inquiries when I first moved to Hambleton, but nothing came up.”

The uneasy feeling in my gut turned into a painful stab of nausea as Elise’s pain-filled voice echoed through my mind.

I’ve looked for her for more than thirty years... Where is she, John? I need to see her.

My heart plummeted, my throat thickening with emotion as everything fell into place.

I was so dazed I didn’t notice my eyes filling with moisture as I stood and cupped my hand around Sophie’s neck, looking into the eyes I knew in my gut were made by me. “She called you Constance.”

Soph’s brow furrowed questioningly. “Constance?”

My eyes flicked between hers. “It was my ma’s name.” I watched closely as awareness fell over her face.

“Oh,” she whispered, her gaze bright with shock. “I need to tell Danny.”

“Hey,” I prompted, forcing her focus back on me. “Before you go, I want you to know I’ve never been happier about anything in my life. I don’t know how it happened, Sophie, and I know we’ve got a lot to talk about, but I gotta say, my heart’s fuckin’ singin’ with joy.”

Her tear-filled eyes bored into mine. “I need to know what happened.”

“I’ll talk to her,” I acquiesced. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Kit appeared behind Sophie and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Me and Kitten will take you to the bar. Atlas will be worried.” His stare lifted to mine. “Will you be okay?”

“Yeah,” I assured him. “Gonna go sit with Elise. Hopefully, she’ll be able to talk.”

“Don’t stress her out,” Sophie ordered. “She’s had a traumatic experience, and she needs to rest.”

My lips twitched at the authority in her tone. “Relax. I’ll go easy.”

Soph nodded and turned toward the bar, flanked by Kennedy and Kit, who slid his arm across her shoulders as they headed up the corridor.

Smiling softly, I watched her go, suddenly noticing how much she reminded me of my mom. It was unbelievable how I’d missed all the similarities over the time I’d known her. However, it was no secret how I’d always felt a kinship with her.

The instant we discovered Elise was her mom, I knew she was my daughter. Maybe a tiny part of my subconscious even knew before. I’d missed so much, but I was also over the moon.

When we were together, Elise and I talked about our kids for hours, picking names and talking about how we’d parent them. I’d always felt like we’d thrown away something beautiful after we parted ways. It was plain to see that we had missed out, but Sophie existed, so we also hadn’t.

With trembling fingers, I pushed the door open, took a breath, and walked inside. My heart began to thud in anticipation of the looming conversation, my stare going straight to the figure lying on the bed.

Elise lay motionless, her chest rising and falling with her steadied breaths. Her pallor was almost as white as the sheets, marred only by the dried tracks of tears that had carved their way down her cheeks. She seemed so fragile, the spirit that once upon a time oozed from every pore now gone, leaving behind a vulnerable woman.

Taking the same chair I’d sat in for the past three days, I relaxed, cracking my neck from side to side. A hand rested on each arm, my gaze remaining on Elise.

“Is she mine?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer in my soul.

“Yes,” she croaked, eyes still closed. “She’s ours.”

I closed my eyes, trying to contain the ache in my chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For her,” Elise replied softly. “To keep her safe. I know you believe everything’s black and white, John, but grey areas exist, too. It’s not as easy as truth or betrayal; sometimes you have to lie to do the right thing.”

“Why didn’t you trust me?” I murmured imploringly.

“Because you didn’t trust me,” she whispered. “He made it that way.”

“Henderson?” I scraped out.

She gave a single nod.

“Tell me,” I ordered. “I need to know the truth.”

At last, her eyes flew open, and she barked out a humorless laugh. “Forgive the cliché, John, but you can’t handle the truth.”

“Try me,” I retorted. “Stop playing all these stupid fucking mind games and tell me what happened.”

Her gaze rested on me. “I’ll tell you everything, but we have to go back in time, back to the beginning.” Slowly, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and rested her hands on the soft comforter. “Are you comfortable?”

“Yeah, Leesy,” I stated, sitting back in the chair.

Her eyes glazed over as her mind went back in time. “Good.” She smiled softly. “Then let’s begin...”