Chapter 6 #2
So I continued before she could ask questions that I wouldn’t answer. “We were on one side of the law. You grew up here. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors over the years.” Most of which were bullshit but there was some truth at their core. “We weren’t good men.”
“You were a criminal.”
“Yes.” There was no point in hiding the truth from her. She deserved to know. “I’ve done things I’m not proud of. I’ve done things I am proud of but would land me in prison.”
“Have you ever hurt an innocent person?”
“No.” Nothing like the kidnapping that had happened to her.
Maybe that was why we’d justified our actions. Killers killing other killers. Thieves stealing from other thieves. But every man I’d gone after had had as much blood on his hands as I had.
“Not all of the brothers can probably say that. We weren’t Boy Scouts.”
“But you never hurt someone who was innocent.”
“Not that I know of.”
“All right,” she said. “Do you miss it? The crime?”
“Nah.”
“You miss the camaraderie.”
“And I miss Draven.” Another confession. I missed him more than anyone knew. My own father had abandoned me a long time ago, and Draven had filled his shoes. But I wasn’t his son, and grieving him had become something I’d done in silence. Alone.
“Who’s Draven?”
“Dash and Genevieve’s dad. He was the president of the club for a long time. He offered up his life to the Warriors to protect his kids.”
Cass’s eyes widened. “I remember reading about his death in the paper. They reported that he committed suicide.”
“He didn’t,” I said through gritted teeth. One of the greatest injustices was that the world thought Draven had committed suicide to avoid a prison sentence when really, he’d made the ultimate sacrifice.
“Oh. I must have missed that in the news.”
Christ, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. “It’s not public knowledge. Maybe keep that to yourself.”
“Sure,” she agreed and somehow I knew whatever I said tonight would stay between us.
“Bryce puts as much truth in the paper as she can but leaves out a lot when it comes to the club.” She’d protect Dash’s secrets—our secrets—forever.
“Ah.” Cass nodded. “What about Marcus Wagner? The old police chief? Was that story true?”
“Yeah. He killed Genevieve’s mom and tried to frame Draven for it.” That son of a bitch would never see the free world again, but prison seemed too good. I’d rather see him in hell.
“Mom and Dad talked about it for months whenever they’d call me because of the movie crew last year. They saw the director and actors around town every now and then.”
“Presley is married to Shaw Valance.” Maybe she knew that already.
I wasn’t sure how much contact she’d had with anyone here in the past six months.
Regardless, there wasn’t much news around town that didn’t spread like wildfire and Presley marrying a famous actor had burned through the streets in days.
“I know. Dad teases Mom because she has a crush on Shaw. They see him now and then whenever they come to see Scarlett. Mom texts me every time.”
“Shaw’s a good guy. Good for Pres.”
Cass shifted, rubbing her side.
“You okay?”
“It’s fine. Things are beginning to get a little bit cramped in there.” There was joy on her face as she took in her belly.
It was hard to see so I dropped my gaze to the carpet. It was too difficult to see her excitement and deny that there wasn’t something—not excitement, but a curiosity of my own—buried deep.
The room smelled like her, like citrus and sweet pears. Fresh and soothing. The night we’d been together, I’d buried myself inside her and my face in her hair to breathe in that scent while I’d made us both come.
My cock jerked beneath my zipper. Fucking hell.
“You said you were lost,” she said, bringing me back to the conversation.
“Yeah. I guess I haven’t known what direction to go since the club.”
“Is that why you’re moving?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then you’re moving because of me.”
“Do you really want to run into me around town like what happened tonight at Stockyard’s?”
“There are people in the world who manage to have a child together and coexist in the same town. I’m sure we can figure it out.”
“It’ll be easier if I go.”
“Easier on who?”
“You.” I met her gaze. “It’ll be easier on you.”
“And not you?”
“No.” Leaving Clifton Forge would be brutal. Saying goodbye to Dash and Emmett and Isaiah and Presley, everyone, would cut deep. With the club gone, they were the only family I had left.
“Do you want to know why I think you came here tonight?”
“Clue me in because I’m not exactly sure.” Just like I wasn’t exactly sure how magnets worked. That was how I felt about Cass, pulled toward her, but I couldn’t articulate why.
Her eyes softened. “Whether you’re ready to be a father or not, this baby is yours.
You belong to her like she belongs to you.
The loyalty you had to your brothers, to your club, is in your blood.
And it’s searching for a new connection.
It’s screaming at you to find a new place to channel it. That place is here. With her.”
Thank fuck for the chair beneath my ass because if I’d been standing, I would have dropped to my knees.
How did that make so much sense?
“Draven always warned me to be careful around smart women. His wife was smart. He loved her completely, but he always said his life would have been easier if she hadn’t been smarter than he was.”
Cass’s soft lips spread into a smile. “You loved him, didn’t you?”
“He was the father I never had.”
“I’m sorry you lost him.”
“Me too.”
“And your real father?”
“Not in the picture. Never has been.”
“I’m sorry, Leo.”
She could have taken that fact and run with it. Most women in her position would have thrown it in my face because I’d done no better. But Cass wasn’t like most women. I’d known it the night we’d met. She kept reminding me with each conversation.
I shrugged. “Don’t pity me.”
“Why not? My father punched you in the face tonight because he loves me so much. Every kid, no matter how old, should have a guardian. He’s mine. My mom too.”
Cass would be that guardian to the baby.
Maybe . . . maybe I didn’t want her to carry that load alone.
“I don’t know what I expected when I came here tonight, but it wasn’t this.” Sharing my past. Talking about the club.
“That’s because you’re too busy trying to fit me into the mold of the women you normally hook up with to realize that I’m nothing like them.”
“You never say what I expect.”
“Good.” A smile toyed on her mouth as she stroked her belly. “That makes me feel mysterious and a little bit sexy, which is far from how I actually feel at the moment.”
Oh, she was a damn mystery. That was a fact. And if she thought she was anything but sexy, she needed a new mirror.
Cass was the most alluring, captivating woman I’d ever met. It was the reason I’d sat beside her at the bar. One glance at that hair and those eyes and I’d been entranced, addicted and desperate for a touch.
One night hadn’t been enough.
Goddamn, but I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to push her into that bed and kiss her breathless.
This was not the direction my thoughts should be headed, again, so I stood from the chair and paced to the closet, the farthest possible space in the room from Cass on her bed.
“I haven’t told anyone I’m moving,” I said. “I haven’t even officially accepted my job offer.” I’d wanted to tell Dash and Emmett first before calling Bruce in Dallas.
Maybe because I wanted them to talk me out of it.
“That’s because you don’t want to move.” Cass voiced the truth I wouldn’t.
I don’t. Texas wasn’t where I belonged. And if I stayed here, I didn’t want to run into my kid at the store one day and have her look at me like I was a stranger.
I took a deep breath. “You said you’d have me.”
She nodded. “We will.”
“I don’t know what I have to give but . . . I’d like to be part of this.” I wasn’t even sure where those words were coming from but they were honest.
“Okay,” Cass said.
“That’s it? No argument? No punishment for my behavior?”
“My dad hit you in the face tonight. It was oddly satisfying to watch.”
I chuckled and rubbed my jaw. “Glad you got to see it then.”
“Me too.” Her hand drew another circle on her stomach. “She’s not just mine, Leo. I might be an only child, but I’m very good at sharing. But we’re going to need to move these conversations to the daylight hours.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Apartment hunting.” She yawned. “I’ve got an appointment at nine to meet a landlord.”
“How about you cancel it? Sleep in.”
“I sort of need a roof over my head.”
“Then take mine.” The words hurled past my lips.
“Huh?” She pushed herself up to a seat.
I gulped. Christ, what was I doing? “I’ve got a big house with three extra rooms. You could stay there for a while. Save some money. We could get to know each other.”
Cass blinked as her eyebrows knitted together.
“Yeah, I can’t believe I just said that either.” This woman was scrambling my brain.
“Want to take it back?”
“No,” I said without hesitation. “I mean it. If you want to save up, not live alone, you’re welcome at my place. You can check it out first if you want. Tomorrow.”
She continued to stare at me, her head tilting to the side as she tried to figure me out. When she did, I hoped she’d share the wealth.
I held my breath, not sure if I wanted her to say yes or no. Yes. No.
Yes. She was going to say no. I could feel it.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Really?”
“Change your mind already?”
“No. Just . . . you never say what I think you’re going to say.”
She smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”
I hoped so. Not just because it was unnerving as hell but because I wanted to know her. “I’ll get out of your hair. I’m home all day tomorrow. Text me whenever you want to come over.”
“I will.” She shoved off the bed and followed me to the front door, hovering in the frame as I pulled on my ice-cold boots.
“Night.” I waved and started for my truck but she stopped me.
“Leo.”
I turned. “Yeah?”
“If you hurt me or my daughter, I will cut you out of our lives faster than you can blink.”
There was the guardian. There was the fire.
“Fair enough.” I dipped my chin. “Good night, Firecracker.”
Her breath hitched.
Maybe she wasn’t the only one who could shock the other.