Chapter 32 Leo
Leo
Being with my old lady in our home, I can finally let the weight of the last few weeks go. I’m home. I'm with my family. It’s what I killed to get back to.
“Where are the kids?”
“Roman’s asleep and Rayna’s in her room.” She steps back and asks, “You look hurt.”
I lift my hoodie, well aware of how bad I smell, and she rolls her eyes at the bandage.
“Another scar for the collection?”
“Just a little one.”
One day I'll tell her what went down, but for tonight, I just need to be with her.
“Dad said I needed to talk to you when I got back. What else happened while I was gone?”
She walks around the kitchen island and won’t meet my eye. “I told Cas I would talk to you when you got back. He shouldn’t have said anything.”
I frown. “About what?”
“Hear me out before you say anything. Okay?”
I nod, sliding onto a stool. My legs are heavy with fatigue.
“We adopted Wolf. His great uncle showed up just before your dad left and I signed the paperwork. You still need to sign before it’s complete and official.”
I know I’m tired but did I hear her right? “We did what?”
Adoption? That's huge and needed to be discussed before anyone signed anything.
“You heard, Leo. I did what I thought was best.”
“Without talking to me first?”
“I called his uncle, great uncle, to track down Annie. I thought if she knew Shane was dead, she would want to come back for Wolf. But her uncle was cold and told me to put him in the system!” She’s getting herself worked up, but she continues, “Like I said, I did what I thought was best. He showed up a couple of nights later with the paperwork and a check for a million dollars.”
I'll get back to the check later. “Adoption, though, Hol. Another fuckin’ kid, a kid who ain’t either of ours.”
“He was Shane’s and now he has no one!”
“I’m well aware, babe,” I seethe.
“What should I have done then? Sent him away?”
I need a smoke and a drink. Sliding off the stool, I tell her, “I can’t talk to you right now. This ain’t you picking out new shades or even a fuckin’ kitchen. This changes everything.”
“It changes nothing!” she argues. “We’ll raise him with Roman. It's not like you’re the one doing the day-to-day business with the kids. I am, and I'm okay with it. I don’t see what your problem is.”
“My problem? I'm now responsible for another child, what if something happens to me, you’d have three kids dependent on you all on your own!”
A tear rolls down her cheek but I'm too angry to care I've upset her.
“When everyone was running around, worried you weren’t going to make it back, I wasn’t.
I knew you’d come home. I got on with looking after the kids, I kept the house, I cooked the dinners.
I kept my eye on Harper best I could. I did all that because I knew you’d need peace once you walked through the door.
” Her cheeks redden with anger. “Why don’t you go sort out whatever you need to sort, cause there’s always something.
You think about how much of an asshole you’re being and when you want to talk, I'll be here.”
I don’t need to be told twice, and I don’t stick around to continue this conversation.
Most brothers are with their old ladies, only Luca and his chapter are in the bar grabbing a beer and kicking back. Walking behind the bar, I grab the bottle of whiskey and a glass.
“I weren’t expecting to see you for a while, thought you’d be with Holly,” Luca says as I join him at my table.
“So did I,” I mutter pouring myself a large measure.
I throw it down my neck and immediately pour another.
“Don’t tell me something has kicked off since we’ve got back.”
“I’ve got a new son.”
Arching his brow, he asks, “Come again?”
“While I was gone, Holly adopted Shane’s kid.”
“Why?” He snorts.
My brother’s lack of empathy turns my thoughts. “Because he has no one, Luc, she said it was either that or putting him into foster care.”
“And you’re not an asshole, and she’s a good mom, why are you so surprised she’d do this?”
I'm not. Fuck. Why did I kick off with her? I go to stand when Warren stops by the table, staring down at me.
“It’s been a long life, say what you’ve gotta say so I can get home,” I grunt.
“I wanted to talk to you before your old lady or your kid told you.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I wonder what the fuck else could have happened?
“Spit it out, Warren, my brother’s tired,” Luca orders.
“While you were gone, Rayna got past us and walked to town.” I flex my hands into fists as I listen. “I went with Holly, and we found her safe and well near her Grandma’s house.”
Pushing up from my chair, I tell Luca, “Get the full story outta him and then deal with him, please. I ain’t got it in me.”
Taking the whiskey with me, I step out of the bar and tuck it under my arm so I can light a cigarette.
Under the night’s sky, I inhale on my smoke and exhale long and hard.
Processing the shit we’ve been through, the last thing I need is it kicking off in my home.
I make my way to the house and find Holly sat on the couch.
She jumps up when I close the door behind me.
“You weren’t gone long.”
“I didn’t need long to realise I was wrong.”
Taking her hand, we sit on the couch. I sit back to relieve some of the pain in my side. I swig from the whiskey bottle and sigh with relief. Holly sits on her knees beside me and I cup my hand around her cheek.
“You’re an amazing mom, and you have a pure heart. If this is what you want, then it’ll happen. We'll raise him as our own, it wouldn’t work any other way with our two here, but we’ll make sure to tell him about Shane when he’s old enough.”
“You mean that?”
“I do. Go get me the paperwork.”
Once it is signed and the ink is dry, I sit back and Holly curls up to me. “The next time though, talk to me before you make us responsible for another child.” “It’s not likely, babe, is it. You wouldn’t have seen him raised by strangers when he’s a part of this club.”
I kiss the top of her head and hold her closer. “Probably wouldn’t have, you’re right, but still. Three kids and two under one. Shit's gonna be fun for a while, ain’t it.”
“It already has been,” she murmurs.
“Now you can tell me about Rayna walking to town on her own.”
She sits up and raises her brow. “Am I not going to be able to tell you anything?”
“What the fuck else is there?”
“Nothing, but...” she sighs. “She wanted to go see Seb, and I told her she had to wait for you to come home. She told me she was going over to see your mom, but she sneaked out and thought she could walk to Kristen’s.”
Because I know she’s safe and up in her room, I laugh, tiredly.
“It’s not funny, Leo. I've grounded her and she’s lost her phone for a month. She's been a nightmare. Did you hear that she told Warren her uncle was gonna kick his ass for letting her get past him?”
I can’t stop the smirk. It gets me a slapped arm, and I laugh. “It explains what Warren was going on about.” Lifting her hand, I slip her glove off and press my lips to the inside of her palm. “How much have you been blaming yourself?”
She snorts. “You’d think I would be, wouldn’t you? But I haven’t. I've given her full credit. She's never lied to me before, so I had no reason not to believe her when she said she was going over to your mom’s.”
“We’re gonna have to keep a closer eye on her, she’s growing up, and it seems she’s a clever little shit to add.”
“She can bring it on, between us, there’s nothing she could do that we haven’t, right?”
Smirking, I nod. “Right. Cause, babe, if she is worse, we’re fucked.”
“You will be, I have two boys to raise.”
Laughing, I pull her against me and hold her tight.
“What happened out there?”
“I’ll tell you some other time. All I want to do now is hold you.”
“I can deal with that.”
The backroom is full but when Luca and the Dog City chapter leave, noticeable absences will return, and the absence of our fallen brothers will be loud in their silence.
“We’re home. We fuckin’ made it.”
The table is pounded by fists until I calm them. “Before we move on, before we can move on, we’re gonna vote.”
“On what?” Myles asks.
“On whether you all think I'm capable of leading this club.”
Dad shoots up out of his chair and stares down at me. “Shit got out of hand for a while, but I gave you the gavel. There will be no vote.”
“Fuckin’ right,” Luca chimes in.
I hold Dad’s stare until he sits back down and nods.
“Okay, since that was wrapped up quick, it’s about time we get back to business.
We’ve got more empty chairs than we have with asses on.
It needs to change. We need to recruit. Only, it can’t just be anyone.
Whoever brings someone in has to have known them a long time.
My old lady was nearly killed in her own home cause we failed to vet him properly. ”
Zach says, “I’ll be sure to dig deeper than before.”
I nod and grin. “It goes without saying we’re glad you’ve stuck around, I hope your mom can find peace where ever she ends up.”
Holly took Rayna by her house yesterday to say goodbye. Kristen promised her she’d call all the time and that Rayna could go visit when she was settled. I’m empathetic to her grief but she better keep her word to my daughter.
“It never crossed my mind to leave. This is where I belong,” Zach says.
Brothers cheer and I smile. It is where he belongs. It’s his home.
“We’ve been through a royal fuckin’ shit time, brothers, but the road in front of us is clear. We’re gonna take over the Hog’s territory and I want Mason and Myles leading the set up of new chapters.”
“Sounds good to us,” they say together.
“A new era is beginning and from now on, we’re not gonna be caught out again. No brothers will fall and our families will be safe.”
They all agree and pound their fists on the table once again.
“Take a couple of days to rest and get your heads together, I then expect you back stronger than ever.”
I slam the gavel down and brothers flee from the room before I can change my mind.
“So I have a new grandson?” Dad says as he hangs back with me.
“Yeah, it’s what Holly wanted.”
“What about what you wanted?”
“She was right, he’s Shane’s boy. I couldn’t see him in the system and still sleep at night. This way we can always tell him who his father was.”
“As long as you don’t make it a habit to take on a fallen brother’s offspring, Christmas is fuckin’ expensive enough with the grandkids I already have.”
I laugh and embrace the dull ache in my side.
We head into the bar and JJ is draining a bottle of beer. “I would have thought you’d have gone straight to Harper,” Dad says.
“She’s with Alannah while I’m here.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s sleeping a lot, another few days and her meds should kick back in.”
Slapping him on the back, I head out and leave them at the bar.
After having nearly not survived, I have a new appreciation for my surroundings.
I’m going to build an empire unmatched to any other before it.
My dad passed down a legacy to me and Luca.
I’m going to grow it and pass it down to my sons.