Chapter 11
Lola’s jaw ached as he pulled onto the clubhouse grounds. His teeth clenched so hard that he thought one could crack from the pressure. He didn’t want to be here. He had been fortunate enough to avoid Mac for nearly a week. But today was church and he had no choice in the matter. His time had run out. Mac would demand an explanation of the ignored calls and texts.
Lola rolled to a stop beside the clubhouse. His gaze shot right to Mac the moment he pushed his kickstand to the ground. He knew it was inevitable, but the wounds were still raw. The lies and deceit cut deep.
He stepped from his bike and scanned the faces of the brothers scattered near the building. He cut his eyes back toward Mac sitting on the picnic table and strode past him.
“You’re gonna have to face me some time,” Mac called out, pushing to his feet but staying rooted next to the table, his hands resting on his hips in his usual domineering stance.
Lola pulled to a stop mid-step and rocked back on his heels and sucked in a deep breath. Nothing good could come from confronting him here. He glanced quickly toward the brothers near the building, who were well aware of Mac’s challenge, seeing how loudly he spoke. Did they know of Mac’s lies? Had they been a part of them? Fire burned in his chest. He clenched his jaw until a shiver shot down his body. He spun on his heels and glared toward Mac.
“We need to talk,” Mac demanded.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Well, then you can listen,” Mac said, closing the gap between them.
Lola could see the small group ease their way toward the other picnic table. They were curious. He knew it. They were brothers and they were tight, but they also didn’t know when to keep their noses out. Nothing he could do about that now. They would know soon enough, if they didn’t already. He turned his attention back to Mac.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Mac stated, again urging Lola to acknowledge him.
“No shit,” Lola spat, then on the release of a deep breath, he continued. “You lied. What gives you the right to just jump into my life and manipulate me?”
“How did you find out?” Mac asked.
“Does it really matter?” Lola threw in his face. “The point is, you knew, and I discovered it elsewhere.”
“What I did was because I love you,” Mac announced.
Lola couldn’t miss the elbow punches from the brothers. He squeezed his eyes only a moment to dig his feet in and push back.
“You love me? Then where were you when I needed you? And what makes you think I give a fuck now?”
“Because I’m your father.”
Silence fell over the grounds.
Well, there it was. The statement that should have come years earlier. Lola stood firm, his fists clenching and unclenching as his jaw tightened once again.
“Church. Now.” King’s voice boomed from behind Lola. Within seconds, King stood between Mac, and Lola. “Five minutes. Be in your seat,” he demanded of Mac, then he turned, walking back inside the clubhouse.
“So, all this was your doings, I’m guessing,” Lola accused, crossing his arms and shifting his weight to one foot.
“No. This is all you,” Mac told him.
“I doubt that,” Lola huffed. “Did you ever plan to tell me?”
Mac nodded. “When the time was right.”
“The best time would have been when I was born.”
“No argument there,” Mac agreed.
“Just go,” Lola snapped. He had heard all he wanted to. At least for now.
Mac moved slowly past Lola. “You gonna be here when we adjourn?”
“I guess we’ll see who I take after. If I leave, we’ll know it’s you.”
Lola cut a look toward Mac. He gave a single nod then disappeared inside.
***
Focusing on business had been tough for Mac. His mind was beyond the door, somewhere on the grounds. At least he hoped Lola was still on the grounds. Whether Lola forgave him or not, he thought Lola had come to love the club and would not threaten his patch by disregarding the rules.
The meeting room door swung open, and Mac stepped into the commons and glanced around. He released a breath. Lola was still there, sitting on the stairs. His back against the wall, he had one leg stretched across the step he sat on. He rolled his head to the side, looking at Mac, not even moving as Ghost ran up the stairs, easily bounding over the step where he sat.
“I’m still here,” Lola said as he dropped his leg to the floor and stood. Without another word, he walked past Mac and toward King, stopping face to face with him and crossing his arms.
“Sit,” King ordered then turned toward Mac. “You, too.” He jutted his chin toward the round table where Lola had already dropped into a chair. Without question, Mac strode to the table and pulled out a chair.
King moved to stand across from them.
“Listen up. I’m only doing this because I’ve been where each of you find yourselves now. Normally, you fix your private life yourself. That is, as long as it doesn’t roll over into the club,” he directed toward Lola, then focused on Mac. “You know, I’ve been where you are. I had a son I never knew about. You want to make up for time lost, but you can’t do that. You have to start here and now to build what time allows.”
His president was right. Time lost could not be gained. And Mac had missed a lot of time. He nodded. All he hoped for now was to be a part of his son’s life from now on. If he was honest with himself, Mac had feared the time when he would tell Lola the truth. He feared the consequences of losing him forever. A decision that had warred in his mind since he had learned the truth for himself.
King turned toward Lola. “I’ve also been where you are. I never knew who my father was until a few years ago. Your anger takes over, blaming him for things that he may not have had control over. Neither one of you knows how to react to the other. So, I suggest you remember the friendship you two had bonded before this revelation.”
Mac studied Lola. He only stared at King taking in his speech with no indication of his feelings.
“Sit here and listen,” King ordered them both. He leaned forward, placing both palms on the table, narrowing his gaze on one man then the other. “This is your one time to sit here as father and son and work your shit out. Because when you walk out that door, you’re brothers. Your ass is mine, and I won’t have a rift between a prospect and a brother.” He straightened and turned, taking in the room. “Everybody out.”
As the last of the men disappeared through the doors, King turned toward Lola. “Just so you know, Mac came to me while Cowboy was in surgery. I fully agree with his decision and the reasoning behind it. Take as long as you need.”
Left to the cold silence of the empty clubhouse, they sat for long moments, neither willing to be the one to give in first. Finally, Mac pulled out his wallet and removed a small photo. “I’ve been carrying this around since I discovered it in your Jeep.”
Mac slid across the table.
“So, everyone knew but me?” Lola asked.
“No one knew until today. King needed to know because at the time we didn’t know what evils we were about to face with the blind attack on Cowboy. I did what I did for your own good.”
“Spoken like a true father.” Lola sneered. He glanced down, taking his finger to the edge of the photo and pulled it toward him. “I thought I had lost this. I hadn’t seen it since . . . Well, you know when.”
Mac nodded. Not sure if he was glad that day happened or if he regretted it. “Young scrawny man crazy enough to challenge the Troops. I never expected you to survive the beating. I was searching your vehicle deciding whether to chop it or sell it. The moment I looked at that.” Mac fell silent, the nauseating memory rushing back. His gut twisted as it had that day. “The instant I recognized Anja and read the date on the back something shifted. I suspected you were mine. In truth I could feel it. I sat there on the ground next to you all night reliving memories and trying to discover where I went wrong. Why she had run away without telling me. But I wasn’t certain until I tracked her down and made a visit.”
“You saw my mother?” Lola leaned forward, folding his arms on the table.
“I did, while you were recovering from your injuries. She was stunned, to say the least. But the blame for our separation belongs to neither of us.”
“How’s that?”
“The minute I turned eighteen, I enlisted. We planned to stay in touch and marry when I returned. A few letters made their way to me and a phone call, then they stopped. When I came home, her family had moved with no forwarding address, so I had no idea where to begin searching. For all I knew, they could have returned to Russia. That’s where her grandparents were originally from. And at the time, I didn’t have the resources that I do now to have found her.
“When I walked into the room and saw the light come alive in her eyes, I knew, in my mind, what had happened. She confirmed it, although she didn’t need to. Her father took her away the day he discovered she was pregnant. They relocated to save face, saying she was a young widow.”
“That explains them having little to do with me,” Lola admitted quietly.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I loved your mother more than I thought was possible,” Mac said, staring at the photo Lola held.
Lola slid the photo back toward Mac. “Keep it.”
Mac smiled. He loved this photo. Many times, he had pulled it out and looked at it. One last glance and he slipped it back into his wallet.
“That’s why she made me promise to come here?” Lola guessed. “She could have just told me.”
“I believe she thought this way would save her the heartache of reliving the sadness to explain the events. I agree this is something you needed to face for yourself, to grow. To become the man we both know you can be.”
“And if I hadn’t shown up here?”
“I would have come after you.”
“So, you beat me to a pulp for a stupid mistake against Nova, discover I may be your son, sit with me to make sure I live, visit my mother for confirmation, then pull me in to prospect for your club?”
“Pretty much,” Mac confessed.
“I guess that proves you’re my father. You’ve already set out to run my life.”
Mac barked a laugh. His son did have a sense of humor.
“This is a lot to take in. But I like the road my life is on now,” Lola admitted. “I don’t plan to risk that. Even if that means I traded an easy life alone for one with a manipulative, overbearing father. My mother was the one who gave up her life dreams to raise me. I won’t have you or your woman disrespecting her.”
“No chance of that.” Mac stood and offered his hand in agreement, pulling Lola in for an embrace when he stood, accepting his handshake. Stepping to Lola’s side, Mac looped his arm over Lola’s shoulders as they walked to the door. This was not going to be easy, and this short conversation would only be the tip of the iceberg. But he intended to chip away at it as Lola came to grips with the truth. “We can figure out this father and son stuff as it comes. The main thing is that you’re here now.”
Mac pushed open the door. King, Brick, and Oz were on the porch, and King stepped toward them. “We good to go?”
Lola nodded, and Mac grinned. King cocked his head, studying Lola. “You realize that thing I said about no rifts, doesn’t pertain to Cowboy.” King grinned. “Annoy him all you want.” He slapped Lola on the shoulder.