“So you never left the club?” Maddie asked as the two brothers shook hands then bumped fists. She should have known they were friends on some level. They were brothers first, then club. They could pretend to be something different, but that wasn’t the case, not anymore. Maddie saw it as they looked at each other.
“Should have known you wouldn’t just leave the club,” Rusty said. “Did you know?”
“They’re brothers,” Pat said, as if that was an explanation.
Maddie didn’t know what to think. There was pain in her cheek and her knee, and she felt sick.
They arrived at the hospital, and Bull kicked up a fuss for the two of them to be seen, which she hated.
As it happened, there was a lot of blood spilling from her cheek, and Grant, well, he decided to faint for some reason. She knew it was fake because the moment he hit the floor, he looked at her and gave her a big thumbs up.
Nurses surrounded him, and she was shown to a bed with the curtain pulled all around it. Bull followed her.
“Do you want to go and see your brother?” Maddie asked.
“I will. The club will keep an eye on him for me. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Maddie.”
She held her hand up. “Please, not right now.”
“You can’t say anything about … what you saw.”
Maddie looked at him and nodded. “I know.”
“Everything I said, I meant it.”
“The part where I’m too fat to love.”
“No, that part, it was all lies. None of that is true.”
“Bull, I don’t know what to believe right now. I just want to … I want to get my face fixed and go home so I can sleep.” She gasped. “The dogs we were taking on walks, are they fine?”
“Yes. I called Hellen. The dogs returned to the shelter.”
“Good, that is good.”
“Maddie, I’m in love with you.”
“Bull, I can’t do this right now.” She looked at him and pressed her lips together. “I know what you said to Julio, but…”
“You’re still remembering that day at the diner.”
“Yes.”
“Maddie, I did it there on purpose.”
“So everyone could see my pain? See how humiliated you wanted to make me?”
“I never wanted to humiliate you. Never. I love you. I love you so damn much.” Bull sighed. “You’re going to hear it soon, anyway, so … Beatrice and Carl, they’re your real parents.”
Maddie frowned. “What?”
“They have been wanting to tell you for a while. They were young when they caught. Too young, and they had no choice. Your adopted parents, Neal and Delia French, bought you. They must have seen an opportunity,” Bull said. “I don’t know how it all worked, but they’re your real parents, and I knew breaking up with you, it would give them a chance to make things right.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I know. It’s a lot to take in.”
The doctor chose that moment to open the curtain, and Maddie was so pleased for the distraction. The pain in her cheek was nothing compared to the one in her heart.
****
One week later
“Maddie still doesn’t want to see you?” Grant asked, coming into the garage’s waiting room. A week ago, it had been a mess. It was still a mess but on a much larger scale.
Ending Julio’s life hadn’t fixed his problems, it had created more of them. Maddie hadn’t come back to him. She was still at that small apartment and working with Beatrice and Carl.
At least that little secret was out of the bag. Maddie deserved to know the truth.
Bull stared off into the distance, wishing all of his problems had been solved, but Maddie was more distant than ever.
“No,” he said.
“Look, man, she’s hurting.”
“I know.”
Grant sighed. His brother had made a full recovery after being diagnosed with a concussion. The club had taken it in turns to be with him every single night, and to always be by his side.
He’d been given back his leather cut, along with his VP badge. There were times Bull thought about removing it, giving it to someone else, but Grant was his brother.
“Are you still pissed at me?” Grant asked.
“I’m not pissed at you. I don’t know how to win her back,” Bull said. “I love her. I admitted it to that fucking cretin. What more do I have to do?”
“Bull, you told her that she wasn’t good enough to be yours. To some women, that’s a big fucking deal, and Maddie, I don’t think she’s had it easy, not ever. You hit her where everyone has hurt her. Including me.”
His hands clenched into fists, and Grant took a step back.
“Right, you don’t want to hear about me hurting your woman, like ever, do you?”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell me,” Bull said. He struggled to hold it together.
“So, let’s stick to much easier topics. What’s going on with William?” Grant asked.