Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cleo knew Wraith would arrive any minute. But she hadn’t expected him to bring anyone with him.
She let the curtain fall back in place and walked to the door, taking a glance at the dish on the counter.
She’d made a whole platter of lasagna. She was going to wrap up half for Jane, but there was still plenty for four.
She opened the door and smiled, waving as Wraith, Ace, and Cross walked up the stairs onto the porch.
“Hi. Are you guys hungry? I made lasagna.”
Cross grabbed the edge of the door and closed it.
“We need to talk,” Ace said.
Panic set in immediately. Things had finally calmed down, and now there was something else? Her mind went to the darkest place imaginable, and she grabbed Wraith’s hand.
“What’s wrong? Is it Jane? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened. Come on, sit down.” Wraith rested his hand on her back, guiding her to the couch. Ace took a seat in the recliner, and Cross stood next to him.
They were all acting so strange, even Wraith. He sat beside her, but his focus was on Ace.
Ace reached into his chest pocket, pulled out an envelope, and held it up. Even without seeing the front, she knew who it was from. She always used the same stationery, as if she had an unlimited supply. Cleo also noticed the seal was broken, which meant they’d read it.
Cleo tucked her hands under her thighs and shrugged her shoulders to her ears. She’d known this day would eventually come, especially since Addison had mentioned meeting up one day. Cleo hadn’t committed to anything, but deep inside she wanted to.
Ace waved the envelope. “You know what this is?”
“A federal offense. It’s against the law to open someone’s mail.” It was a fact, though she wasn’t serious. Cleo was trying to make light of a very uncomfortable situation. It seemed to work with Ace. Cross, not so much.
The corner of Ace’s eyes crinkled, and he nodded. “You can make a formal complaint after we talk.”
Wraith grasped her knee. “How come you didn’t tell me?”
She shrugged, and his scowl deepened. They were beyond keeping secrets from one another. Cleo would’ve told him, but with everything happening, there were more important things to focus on. You think he’s really gonna buy that bullshit excuse? It was worth a shot.
“We’ve had a lot going on. I guess it slipped my mind.”
Wraith’s jaw tightened. “Don’t trust me?”
She grasped his leg. “Of course, I do.”
“You don’t trust the club.” Cross’s accusation set a fire in her belly.
Why did everything have to revolve around Killcreek? She understood living with them made the MC a priority, but this had nothing to do with the club. Not really. Not to her.
“Why does it always have to be about your club?”
“Knox’s club and our brother,” Cross sneered.
Cleo wasn’t sure where her anger stemmed from or where she got the courage, but she finally said what so many had ignored for so long.
“He was my brother first!” she blurted.
She flattened her lips and drew in a breath. The last thing Cleo wanted was to get into a shouting match. Knox was important to all of them. But everyone should recognize that. Not just her.
Ace lifted the envelope. “When did she start writing?”
“Six months after Knox died.”
“Over a year?” Cross’s question came out sounding more like an accusation.
Cleo nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ace asked.
“I didn’t think I needed to. I mean, I had no idea he was an organ donor until I was called into the hospital’s office to fill out the paperwork as his next of kin.
He never mentioned it to me.” She scanned the men.
“Did any of you know?” She was asking all of them, but hyper focused on Cross.
If he’d told anyone, even in confidence, it would’ve been the VP.
Cross turned to the kitchen, dragging his hand down his jaw. It was her guess Knox hadn’t shared.
“I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret.” Cleo shrugged. “After he died, no one talked about him.”
Cleo noticed Cross drop his chin to his chest, but he remained silent. Knox was the first person she’d lost that meant anything to her. She’d never been exposed to death and thought not bringing him up was how most people dealt with grief. So, it was how she did.
Ace waved the letter in his hand. “And her?”
Cleo tightened her hold on Wraith’s leg and scooted closer. His hand came over her back, caressing her in a circular motion.
“When they told me about the organ donation, they asked if I was open to being contacted by the recipient. It was their choice whether they reached out. If she hadn’t, I would’ve never known.
I said yes.” Cleo swallowed the knot in her throat.
That wouldn’t be enough for Ace, Cross, and even Wraith.
They’d want everything. So, she gave it to them.
“A little over a year ago” —She pointed to the envelope— “Addison reached out to me. She sent a letter explaining who she was and how she’d received Knox’s heart.
” Her eyes welled, and her chest tightened remembering reading those words.
It was as if not all of him was gone. There was a part, his heart, that lived on.
“What did she want?” Cross asked with a venomous edge.
“Nothing, except…” A tear ran down her cheek. “She asked if I could tell her about Knox. She didn’t force me, and she said a few times that if I ever wanted to stop contact, I could, and she wouldn’t bother me.”
“What did you tell her?” Wraith asked.
“About our childhood and everything I could remember about Knox when he was young. I don’t have a lot of memories, but she seemed interested in what I had to say. I told her about how he loved riding his motorcycle and the one he was rebuilding when he died.”
“You tell her about the club?” Wraith asked.
Cleo bit her lip, nodding. She’d shared with Addison but was careful with her words. She knew Killcreek wouldn’t approve of her sharing anything about them.
“What did you say?”
“Just that he loved being a part of the MC, and how he once told me he’d never felt like he had a home until he found the club.”
The room was drowned in silence. It was short lived.
“You tell her the name of our club?” Cross asked.
Shit!
“Cleo,” Ace warned, narrowing his gaze.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Cross stalked forward, but Wraith shot up from the couch, shoving him back. He wouldn’t have done anything to her. Cleo knew that.
“Don’t you fucking come at her.”
Cross pointed at Cleo. “She told a fucking stranger about us.”
“I didn’t tell her anything else,” Cleo said, hoping that would ease his mind.
It didn’t.
His jaw squared. “You don’t fucking know her.”
She didn’t. Addison was a stranger. But…
“She has Knox’s heart.”
The best part of him.
****
She has Knox’s heart.
That one statement had him, Cross, and Ace struck into silence.
It lasted a few minutes. It was obvious no one, not even Cross, knew of Knox’s intentions after he died.
Cross was the first to leave the house. He hadn’t said a word but stormed out.
This would hit him differently with his strong bond to Knox.
Ace handed Cleo her letter and walked out the door, and Wraith followed.
Cross had his hands gripped on his waist as he paced in front of the motorcycles.
“This needs to end,” Cross said to Ace and pointed to the house. “No more fucking letters.”
Wraith understood his brother’s emotions were running high, but he wouldn’t let that come down on Cleo.
“She’s not giving up her only connection to her brother ’cause you can’t handle your fucking grief.”
Cross lunged forward, but Wraith was prepared. He straightened, waiting for Cross to strike, and for a brief second, it was going in that direction. Cross stopped a few inches from Wraith, the veins in his forehead visible.
“Fuck you, Wraith.”
“You’re not taking this from her.”
Ace moved in between the brothers. With Wraith’s sole focus on Cleo and her needs, hearing Cross’s demand put him over the edge. Still, he could sympathize with Cross’s position.
“We’ll figure this shit out, but I’m not gonna have two brothers fighting over fucking letters,” Ace said.
Cross was the first to back down and walk away.
He stalked to his bike without another word, mounted it, and started the engine.
Ace slapped his shoulder, walking to his motorcycle parked beside Cross.
This was a fucked-up situation with no one prepared for something like this.
For anyone else, this wouldn’t be a big deal.
But they didn’t allow outsiders in their business, and Cleo had cracked the door open for it.
Wraith turned back to the small front porch just as the door opened and Cleo walked out.
She clutched onto a plastic bag, but he couldn’t see what was inside.
She stopped at the stairs, eyeing his president and VP.
A few seconds later, Cleo rushed down the steps making her way to the bikes, bypassing Ace and stopping next to Cross.
“These are her letters.”
Cross stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging Cleo.
“I want you to read them.”
“I don’t need that shit,” Cross snapped, and his grip tightened over his handlebars.
“I know, but think of it more as looking into it. Maybe she’s doing something diabolical, and I’m just too na?ve to see it.” Cleo paused. “Or? Maybe she’s just someone who’s grateful to Knox for being given a second chance.”
Cross didn’t move to take the letters.
Cleo stepped to the side, bent down, and unlatched the saddlebag strap. Wraith was prepared to run interference if Cross refused. He didn’t. Cleo stepped back from the bike and they took off. She watched until they disappeared down the driveway, then walked back to him.
“How much trouble am I in?” She twisted her fingers, appearing uneasy.
Wraith snorted. “None.”
“Cross was really upset.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
He cupped her jaw. “You got nothing to be sorry for. Like you said, Knox was your brother first, and it’s about time we all remembered that.”
A brother to all.
Cleo wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his chest.
There was no way to foresee what would come of this. But…
That was the interesting part of life.
Un-fucking-predictable.