“Samson is…” She paused, seeming to think about how to answer, or maybe her head was hurting too badly to understand the question. I didn’t care which it was. I stood over her, patiently waiting for her to answer.
“He was my mother’s lover,” she finally said, lifting her gaze to stare at something over my shoulder. “He’s… He’s my father.”
That answer surprised the fuck out of me, but I kept my face completely blank. If she was Samson’s daughter, then no wonder she was helping that fucker out by spying on us.
Shit.
“But I hate him,” she went on after a small pause, so fervently I didn’t doubt her even for a second. “I hate that sonofabitch more than any other person on the planet. I would have killed him myself years ago if I knew I could have gotten away with it.”
“Why is that?”
“There are a hundred reasons I could think of just off the top of my aching head,” she growled. “Like how he treated my mother before she got sick. How he still treats her. My mother loved that slimy bastard when his own wife couldn’t even stomach the sight of him. But would he marry the woman who loved him, when the one who hated him only wasted his money on facelifts and tummy tucks? No. Because my mother wasn’t the type of woman who could help
him get his Senate seat.”
The passion in her voice, on her gorgeous face, was the most I had ever heard or seen from her in all the time I had known her. The love she felt for her mother shone like a beacon from her eyes.
“So why help Samson by spying on the club?” I demanded, hardening my heart again when I realized I had begun to soften toward her a little. “If you hate him so much, why would you help him?
“Because he threatened to stop my mother’s care if I didn’t,” she said in a voice that was clouded with pain. “My mother has Alzheimer’s.”
That was the first I had heard of it, but then again, this was the first time she had even mentioned her mother. Until now, I hadn’t even realized she actually had family that was alive.
“She has round-the-clock care in one of the best nursing homes in the entire state. But her disease is progressing faster than even her doctors expected. On her good days, she can barely even remember who I am. Her bad days, she can’t remember how to use the fucking bathroom.” Despair filled Kelli’s eyes, and she lowered them before I could read more of her emotions. “Calvin is paying for her nursing home, but he’s also paying for the experimental drugs that are giving her more good days than bad ones.”
“He was holding your mother’s life over your head to get you to find out all you could on me and the club,” I bit out, not a question but a statement.
She nodded, then moaned at the sudden movement of her head. “Yes,” she muttered after she could focus her eyes again. “But he’d been getting fed up with me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he finally cut my mother off.”
“Why?”
She turned her gaze up to the ceiling, refusing to meet my gaze as she gritted out her answer. “Because I was feeding the mayor and his pervy crony nothing but bullshit. I didn’t have anything to offer to them that could be used against you or the club. Instead, I was feeding them details about Samson’s dirty dealings, and Michaels was going to use it against my father so he would have no choice but to back him in his bid for the governor’s seat.”
“You what?” My voice rumbled, unable to hide my shock this time.
She lowered her lashes, grimacing in pain at how loud and harsh my voice was, but when she opened them again, I saw the truth shining out of her eyes. “I didn’t betray you, Colt. As much as I love my mother, I couldn’t do that to you or the club. It would have hurt you and Quinn, and I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt either of you like that. So I had to come up with a contingency plan. The mayor wants to be governor, and for that to happen, he needs other politicians to back him up. To agree with him when he wants to have his own way and convince everyone else to think just like him. My father has a lot of clout in this state and in Washington, DC. If anyone could get the mayor what he wants, it would be Calvin Samson. Every time I’ve met with Michaels and Royce Campbell, I’ve given him dirt on the senator. Not you or the MC or anyone else.”
“But what about your mother?”
“Do you think I gave him most of that shit for free?” she laughed, then grimaced again when the sound caused her physical pain. “The mayor said he was coming into a big cash flow soon, but I told him I wanted the money upfront at each meeting. I’ve got my mother taken care of. She will be just fine.”
I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. There was too much shit going on for me to just take her at her word.
“Why did you meet with Bubbles?” It was something I had been wondering about more than I had been curious about Samson. Why the fuck would Kelli meet with that cunt and not tell me? She knew we had been looking for the ex-sheep. She knew what Bubbles had done to my sister. “She nearly cost Raven Max.”
She blew out a long sigh. “Samson doesn’t know yet that I’ve been double-crossing him. Michaels wasn’t ready to let that little cat out of the bag. My father called and said he had a contact I needed to check up on. I had no idea who it was. All he gave me was a time and a place and told me to meet up with one of his contacts. I didn’t know it was Bubbles, had no clue who she was until she introduced herself. I spoke to her for all of ten minutes before I left.”
“What did she say?”
“She bragged about being my father’s newest lover. Apparently, she thought he was better in the sack than Kevin had been.” Her lips twisted in disgust. “She didn’t have much to tell me, other than what to watch for and which brother was the easiest to get the most information out of.”
“Which is who?” I had a feeling what name she was going to give me, but I needed confirmation.
“Warden was on the list. She said he liked to talk after he got good head.”
Warden never had been able to keep his mouth shut after he got his dick sucked.
Damn it.