“You little fucker.” I grabbed his cut and jerked his face toward me, making us nose to nose. “If you said nasty shit to Sugar, I will beat your motherfucking ass just as your dad would do.”
“I told her I didn’t give a fuck what she did and left.”
“What else?” I asked through gritted teeth, still holding the collar of his cut.
“What do you think? I found my mom in a sleazy motel with her boy toy. Art is too fucking young for her! He’s just using her just as she’s using him.”
I shoved him away. “Christ, you did not call him a boy toy to Sugar, did you?”
“Yeah, I did. But she said she loves him.” He shook his head. “It’s fucking ridiculous.”
I looked at Hero. It didn’t surprise me that much Sugar was in love with Art. She wasn’t the kind of woman to act on carnal desires alone. Maybe she had with Jack initially, but she wouldn’t with a Knight. She had the highest respect for the members and the club.
“Follow us.” I pointed forward so the others knew we were on our way again.
“I’m not going back there,” Maddox told me defiantly.
“Yes, you are. You’re going to deal with this like a man, like the future president of Knight’s Legion MC.” I didn’t wait for him to reply and rode off.
I understood Maddox’s feelings. No son wanted to catch his mom screwing around with a younger man who wasn’t their father, especially when their dad was Uncle Matt.
I’d found my mom in bed with Stephen before she left my old man. I remembered hating her for ruining our family, but it had been my dad I should’ve blamed for abusing her.
One day, she’d just up and left and didn’t look back. What kind of mother abandoned her child?Mine. She’d wanted a fresh start and nothing to do with KLMC, which had included me.
Now that I was a grown man with years of experience and maturity under my belt, I didn’t hate her. She’d done what she had to do for her own well-being. My dad had been a wife-beating prick since the day I was born. After eight years, my mom couldn’t take anymore. She had to leave to protect herself. I couldn’t fault her for it. Her story was similar to Tina’s. The only difference was, Tina hadn’t been married to her ex, and she’d faked her own death to get away from the hell she’d been living in.
Maddox’s anger was unwarranted, in my opinion. I would’ve done anything to have a mom half as dedicated and loving as Aunt Sugar. The kid had already lost his dad. Did he honestly want to push his mom away because she fell in love? Stupid kid, he was reacting emotionally the way I did. Hell, the way every Knight in my biological family responded to uncomfortable and unsavory situations.
Admittedly, I was stunned she’d want Art. I respected and admired my MC brother, but I hadn’t seen that coming.
But what the fuck did I know about relationships? Jack shit.
As I came upon the motel, police cars and ambulances were in the parking lot. I searched for Sugar’s car and Art’s Harley. When I found them, dread crashed down on me.
My brothers and I parked our hogs on the side, away from all the chaos.
Maddox took off, running at top speed. “Mom, oh shit, Mom!”
The rest of us ran after him. My dread turned to excruciating pain when I saw the medics carrying a gurney down from the second floor. When I saw the blonde hair, I knew it was Sugar.
An officer stopped Maddox before he got to Sugar. “That’s my mom.” He fought off the officer. “Get the fuck out of the way. That’s my mom!”
I grabbed him around the chest to hold him back. “Calm down,” I told him. “We’ll find out what happened.”
“Mom! Mom, I’m here!” he yelled, struggling in my arms as Sugar was wheeled past us and put into the ambulance.
“Son of a bitch,” Hero muttered and elbowed me as he pointed upstairs at another gurney. “What the fuck happened here?” he asked the officer.
“It’s a crime scene. The maid heard a woman screaming in the room and called nine-one-one.”
Maddox stopped struggling. “Is she dead?”
The officer looked at him with compassion. “No. But she overdosed.”
“What?” we all shouted at once.
“Not by choice, we don’t think. She was strapped to a chair.” He wiped the perspiration off his forehead. “The other guy was unconscious on the floor, gun wound.”