“Get your shit, we’re leaving.”
“The hell you are!” her mother crows.
“Shut up, Mother. You’ve done enough damage for one evening,” Ruthie says softly.
“No, if you leave here, I’ll never see you again,” her mother pleads.
What kind of man does this bitch take me for? “She just told you she’s pregnant with my child. Currently, she’s the safest one in this fucking room. So, you’ll sit your ass back down and keep your trap closed. You got what you wanted from that announcement.” I glare at Ruthie. “Now.”
She jumps up, scrambles to the side table by the couch to grab her purse and returns to my side. I can hear Rowan crying, but it sounds like it’s coming from a greater distance. My head is full. Boiling anger bubbles too close to the surface. I grab her arm and pull her away from the table. “Does Blue know?” I ask wondering how deep this deception went.
“No one knows around here. We left Los Angeles when I was ten and cut all the ties we could, changed our last name, kept a low-profile. The divorce was ugly. As you can imagine, not everyone was a fan of the shit he wrote about. It made things dangerous for us.”
“No fucking kidding. I can’t believe you kept this shit from me. That you let me sleep with you knowing—”
“I am not my father.”
“You think the club will see it that way? If you’d come out at the start yes, but girl, you kept this quiet for years.” I shake my head. “Fuck! You got us both into some shit. Give me the keys.”
She hands them over without protest.
I focus on the drive. I slam the car into park when we reach her house. Silence stretches between us. We get inside and I back her against the wall, wrapping my arm around her throat. “All this time, you got me groveling over some bitch giving me head when you’ve been hiding this? Did it get you off? Were you laughing at me?”
“No,” she croaks.
I tighten my hold in warning. “You speak when I tell you to and not before. Nod, so I know you understand.”
She gives a quick nod.
“I don’t do trust, especially not with bitches. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and my fucking seed. You got my kid inside you right now and I find out this bullshit?” I shake my head fuming. “I don’t even know what the fuck to do with you right now. If you were anyone else, you’d be dead.”
She blinks up at me.
I see the shock in her eyes. “We keep the club safe at all costs. How the fuck am I supposed to take you on now, huh? How can I trust you to keep my shit secret?” I rest my forehead against hers.
Her eyes flicker with emotions.
“Speak,” I breathe the word out with fire and venom.
“‘Cause I kept this shit quiet all my life. I’d have taken it to my grave if it wouldn’t come back on you. I been trying to tell you this entire month.”
“That’s why you been funny? Cause you knew this shit was going to be a problem?”
She nods. Tears slide down her face.
I want to choke her and comfort her in that moment. “You playing me, little girl?”
“It would be easy if I didn’t give a fuck. Can’t change my DNA, no matter how much I wish I could.”
I knew that feeling. “No more secrets?” I study her from beneath lowered lids.
“No more,” she agreed.
“My father killed himself after he killed my mother.”
She gasps as she goes pale in the face.
And I’m just proving how like my father I am. I release her, disgusted with myself. I step back and take a deep breath.