Chapter 7
Graves POV?
The office door closed behind her, and just like that, she was gone. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. I stared at the empty doorway, half expecting her to come back. Maybe she’d ask another question, or shout, or just do something.
Instead, there was nothing. Just silence, the same damn silence I’d lived with for twenty-eight years.
“Fuck.”
My voice was low. Stella put her hand on my shoulder, I covered it with mine, needing the touch, needing something real, because it felt like the ground had vanished beneath me.
“I told her.” The words felt empty. I told her, and she walked away, not forever. Not yet, but she still left.
Fear hit hard. Brutal.
For twenty-eight years, I imagined this moment, finding her, meeting her, telling her the truth. I thought that once she knew, everything would work out. That she’d understand, that she’d see I never stopped searching.
Instead, she’d looked hurt, confused, lost, and I’d been the reason.
“I should’ve told her sooner.” Saying it left a bitter taste. Rage sighed and leaned against the wall.
“Maybe.” He said dryly.
I shot him a look. “Helpful.”
He shrugged. “You asked.”
Fair enough, but I didn’t have to like it. Silence settled again, then Stella squeezed my shoulder, and I looked up.
“She didn’t say no.” She said quietly. The words hit harder than I expected. I frowned. “What?”
“She didn’t reject you,” Stella said softly. “She asked for time.”
Hope flickered. It was risky and fragile, but it was still there.
“She’s overwhelmed, Graves.”
I looked toward the window, then the car park, then thought of Cleo. My daughter. All I could think about was whether she’d come back, and if I’d scared her too much for that to happen.
“I don’t know how to do this.” My words were rough and honest.
Rage barked a laugh. I glared at him. He looked a little guilty, the little shit.
“You know what’s funny?” he said.
“I swear to God…”
He cut me off “You’ve spent twenty-eight years looking for her.”
I narrowed my eyes, and he grinned. “Now you’ve found her, but you’re acting like you’re afraid to talk to her.”
Stella laughed, even Chains chuckled from the doorway.
Traitors. Every damn one of them, but the worst part? He was right.
For the first time, I wasn’t afraid of losing a fight, failing, or dying. I was afraid Cleo might decide she didn’t want me.
I was scared my daughter might not want me.
And there was nothing I could do.
----
Chains POV
The clubhouse was quiet. People were still outside, talking and laughing, but it didn’t sound the same anymore.
I sat alone on the porch steps with an untouched beer beside me. My mind kept going back to Cleo and the look on her face when Graves told her the truth. The hurt on her face, confusion, disbelief, and the way she’d looked at Graves, like she wanted to believe him but hated that she did.
I understood that look. Trust was risk, especially when your whole world had just changed.
The smart thing would be to stay out of it, let Graves handle it, let Cleo process everything. Let things settle.
I knew she was Graves’s daughter. I knew Wade had only been gone four months. I knew I had no business feeling anything for her beyond concern.
But knowing that didn’t stop the pull. It didn’t stop me from replaying her face in my mind. It didn’t stop me from wanting to be near her.
The smart thing would also be to stop thinking about Cleo, that wasn’t going well either. I thought of Tommy’s sleepy face, the way he climbed into my lap like it was nothing. I remembered Skylar’s shy smile and Cleo’s soft laugh.
Hell.
I was in trouble.
I heard boots coming closer. I didn’t need to look up.
“You’re brooding.” Rage stated.
I sighed. “Go away.”
“No.” He sat down next to me. Annoying bastard. We didn’t speak for a minute, then he looked out at the road.
“You like her.” Not a question. A statement. I immediately considered pushing him down the stairs.
“I like lots of people.” I huffed.
Rage snorted. “Sure.”
“I do.” I looked at the fucker, he was smirking.
“Chains.” He said seriously.
I closed my eyes. There was no point in arguing. He already knew.
“She’s my sister.” The reminder landed hard. I looked away.
“I know.” I whispered.
Rage studied me. “Do you?”
I clenched my jaw, because that was the problem. I did know. I knew exactly who Cleo was. Exactly who Graves was, and why this was a terrible idea.
She was his daughter. Wade had only been gone four months. I should have kept my distance from the start.
None of it changed a damn thing.
“I haven’t done anything.” I stated.
“Never said you did.” He shrugged.
I huffed a humorless laugh. “Good.”
The night felt long and warm. It was quiet, too quiet. Then Rage spoke again. “You know what bothers me?”
“Can’t wait.” I smirked.
“Tommy.” He chuckled. That surprised me enough to look at him. “What about him?”
Rage smirked. “The kid likes you.”
I groaned, actually groaned because he wasn’t wrong. “He’s six.”
“Exactly.” Rage grinned. “Kids know things.”
“That’s not how kids work.” My voice raised, just slightly.
“Bullshit.” Rage laughed.
I shook my head at him, the idiot is impossible. I smiled anyway, then Tommy’s voice echoed in my head.
Dad had a truck.
The excitement is fading, the sadness in Cleo’s eyes. Wade had only been gone four months, and here I was thinking about his wife. His kids.
Thinking about things I had no business thinking about. Guilt weighed on my chest. She wasn’t ready, maybe she’d never be ready, and that was before adding Graves into the mess.
Worse, I wasn’t sure I could stop wanting to be part of it.
Rage must have seen something in my face, because his expression softened. “Chains.”
I didn’t look at him. “Leave it.” For once, he listened.
We sat in silence, watching the road and the darkness. We kept looking toward where Cleo had gone, because neither of us could stop thinking about her.
And for the first time in years, I found myself wanting something impossible, that looked a lot like a woman with honey-brown hair and two kids.
And that scared the hell out of me.
----
Graves POV
A week later, I was no closer to knowing what Cleo was thinking.
Seven days of checking my phone, of wondering if she’d changed her mind. Seven days of replaying every word of that conversation.
I was in the office pretending to read paperwork. Pretending, really, because I’d been staring at the same page for fifteen minutes. Across from me, Chains worked through club accounts or pretended better than I did.
The phone rang. I ignored it, then the phone rang again. Chains raised an eyebrow. “You gonna answer that?”
I shot him a look. Then picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
Silence. Then,
“Hi.”
Everything inside me stopped. Cleo. I closed my eyes, relief hit so hard it almost hurt. She called, actually called.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Chains immediately looked away, giving me privacy or pretending to. I appreciated it.
“Am I calling at a bad time?”
“No.”
Too quick. I cleared my throat.
“Not at all.”
A small silence followed. I could hear nerves in her voice, the uncertainty, but she hadn’t hung up. That meant something.
“I’ve been thinking.” I leaned back. Listening. Waiting.
“I still want the DNA test.” Hope flickered. It was risky, fragile, and beautiful.
“Okay.” I said, hoping she heard the sincerity in my voice.
“And…” She hesitated. Long enough that my stomach tightened.
“I think we should talk.”
The words settled heavily. Not because they were bad, but because they meant everything.
A chance.
“I’d like that.” Another pause.
“The kids will be with me.” Of course they would. The realization hurt more than it should have, because she didn’t have anyone else.
She’d been carrying everything alone.
“How about the park?” she asked quietly. “Neutral ground.”
I understood exactly what she meant. She wasn’t ready for the clubhouse. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she was ready for me. But all I could think about was Cleo, trying, and that had to be enough.
“The park sounds good.” Silence. Then an idea struck me. “Stella can bring Lola.”
A brief pause.
“You don’t have to do that.” She whispered quietly.
“I know.” My voice softened. “But we’d like to.”
Another silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just emotional. Two people trying to figure out how to be something else.
“Tommy would like that.” The small smile in her voice loosened something in my chest.
“Skylar too.”
I smiled. “Then it’s settled, when?”
“Sunday.” she hesitated. “One o’clock?”
“Okay.” I smiled. Another pause. Neither of us is ready to hang up.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Graves.”
The name shouldn’t have made me smile, it did anyway. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.”
The call ended, and stared at the phone, then looked up. Chains was watching me.
“So?” He smirked.
I tried to stop the smile. Failed. “We’re meeting tomorrow. At the park. To talk.”
To start figuring out what came next.
Chains nodded once, a small smile tugging at his mouth.
For the first time in a week, the weight on my chest eased when Cleo called. It wasn’t forgiveness. It wasn’t acceptance. It wasn’t family.
Not yet, but it was a chance, and after twenty-eight years, I’d take a chance with Cleo.
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