His eyes slam shut and he mutters, “Momma.”
The slight woman jerks him into her arms, hugging him so tightly, I think she might have the power to break him. His massive, tattooed arms wrap around her, squeezing her back just as hard. Owen breaks from his stupor, rushing over to him, flinging his arms around both of them. Benjamin and Kai also approach, both wearing matching somber expressions.
I feel like a voyeur.
Watching something I’m not supposed to see.
A private family reunion that’s long overdue.
“I’ll go keep Filter company,” Nees mumbles from beside me. “You should stay, though. I think he’s going to need you.”
I glower at him for leaving me in the middle of—this—but he’s not bothered, quickly slipping away and out the door. The sniffles from Lindsay and Owen are heartbreaking. I imagine the discovery of finding out your oldest son is alive after over a decade has to be obliterating their minds right now.
Kai catches my gaze and frowns at me. “Who are you?”
“Chase’s boyfriend,” Benjamin blurts out. “If we’re to believe any of this shit right now.”
Kai drags his stare over me, assessing me in one quick sweep. His lips curl into an expression of disbelief. “Kind of small. The one outside was hotter. No offense, but you’re really not his type.”
I stiffen my spine. “No offense, but you really don’t know him at all.”
Benjamin snorts out a laugh.
“Hmph,” Kai mutters, flashing me a wicked grin. “Maybe you are his type. I forgot he always liked the mouthy ones.”
“Stop flirting with him or I’ll rip your head off,” Dragon growls, his teary eyes quickly hardening to the malevolent green I know so well.
“Boys,” Lindsay admonishes, though there’s a smile in her voice. “Though neither of you still live at home, house rules still apply.”
“No fighting in the house,” all three boys say at once.
Owen winks at me.
Of course Dragon’s family would be the new-age version of Leave it to Beaver. Of course they would.
Everything I thought I knew about Dragon is all wrong. It seems, every passing minute, he throws a wrench into what I think I knew and I’m revealed something a lot more…shocking or interesting or unexpected.
And I’m still here, craving to learn more.
It’s a strange thing to see.
Dragon being…Chase.
Sure, he’s still Dragon in all his tattooed, scary biker glory, but around his family, something inside him blooms. He blossoms into this guy who smiles at his mother—and not in that creepy “I’m gonna carve your heart out of your chest while it still beats” kind of way. His smile is filled with love. Again, I’m left wondering who he would have become had Night Giant not ripped him from his perfect world and shredded the innocent boy.
I thought he’d be guarded, but his mother has some way of pulling the truth out of him. And the truth flows like a never-ending flood. He tells them everything.
The ugliness of his captivity.
His escape.
Terror of being found.
How he became Dragon, Koyn and the Royal Bastards, his criminal life.
The second run-in with Night Giant, what he was forced to do—with Stormy and what he almost did to me. Lots of graphic torture highlights over his decade career as a lawless biker. Whatever else he can chatter on about like it’s normal chitchat, but it’s really fucking insane.
Dragon’s mouth just continues to expel this verbal vomit while everyone sits listening around him with a mixture of horror and shock. He eventually brings them to more recent events and his eyes land on me. The smile is back, sending curls of warmth swirling in my belly.
“Dragon,” I murmur, hoping he’ll end his verbal shit-show.
Kai snorts out a derisive laugh. “Dude. I can’t call you Dragon. It’s so lame.”
Dragon flips him off, but humor dances in his eyes. “Screw off.”
“Seriously, stop talking,” I warn, giving Dragon my meanest glare. “They don’t need those details.”
Benjamin smothers a laugh. Owen and Lindsay share a secret glance that I wish I could interpret. I shift in my seat, eager to get the hell out of here before Dragon starts blabbing about how wild our fuckfests get.
“Baby Prospect doesn’t want you all knowing how he whimpers—”
“That’s enough,” Lindsay huffs, saving me from her son’s torture. “We get the idea. You’re in love. Now, what brought you back to us after all this time? Mitch?”
You’re in love.
I nearly scoff at her offhanded comment. We’re not in love. I can barely tolerate him. We’re absolutely fantastic in bed together, but that’s it. Boyfriends, I guess. As much as two bikers can call themselves that.
Dragon sobers up, scrubbing a tattooed hand over his face. “I spoke to Night Giant.” He frowns, shooting me a pained expression. “Then I spoke to Mitch.”
“But he’s hiking. He and Taylor probably camped out,” Lindsay says, her voice quaky despite her hard expression meant to convince everyone around her that he’s safe.