“Fine. But I don’t give Maverick up until I get a DNA confirmation. If he’s really my blood, then send me a lock of his hair, and it will match with mine. If not, your son is toast after this scheme.”
At his words, I choke out, “Done.” I want to retch, thinking of him harming Mav.
“Have it tomorrow. Go to the market and give it to a cashier named Sonya. I’ll call you when I get the results.”
“Let me talk to my son.”
“Fine.” He speaks to a few people, and then my heart shatters in a million pieces as the small voice comes over the line.
“Ummm…Daddy?”
“Mav!” I shout. “Shit, are you okay? We love you, Mav, we’ll get you home. I promise you, son.” I ramble until Puppet’s demented laughter comes over the line.
“I’ll be in touch.” He hangs up.
Handing the phone to Bethany, I turn away from her. She has tears coating her cheeks, and it’s more than I can take. I puke up my toast from earlier in the nearest trash can. My body won’t stop shaking either; it’s to the point where it looks like that shaking disease folks get sometimes.
Dainty arms wrap around me from behind, her face pressed into my back, just holding me. She’s giving me her strength and I need every bit I can get. I couldn’t let her be the one to speak to Puppet, to allow him to taunt her like that.
“It’s okay, Nightmare. He bought it, and that was the first step.”
“Twist will never forgive me. I’m trading one son for another,” I reply, shaking my head, sick with myself.
“No, we’re doing what we have to, to get our son back. They brought this on us, we never asked for this. Now we do what we have to in order to protect Maverick, even if that means giving up a club secret.”
“You realize my brothers can kill me for this?” I turn, finally facing her so she can see the sorrow in my eyes. I may get Maverick back, but there’s a good chance I’ll be taken from both of them.
“Listen to me, if that happens, we’ll run.”
“No, we won’t. I ran one time in my life when my father was killed. Never again.”
“Then we’ll face them together. They won’t kill you, and, if they do, I swear, Night, I will make it my life’s mission to put every one of them in the ground.”
Not gonna lie, my girl’s a goddamn badass. She’s so sexy when she turns into this overprotective alpha female.
“I love you, Bethany. You know that, right?”
She nods. “I know, Night, and I love you, too, with every breath in my body. I love you and our son. I always have.”
Pulling her to my chest, I place my lips on her forehead, pressing a kiss there and smelling her hair. It brings me comfort, enough so my shakes subside and my head clears a bit more. I have to do this; there’s no other option. She’s right, and if my brothers can’t understand it, so be it. That’s a cross I’ll bear if I have to.
I’ll do anything for my family, for my daydream.
I broke my rules for you.
-Love Quotes
Surprisingly, Twist doesn’t try to kill me, as I was expecting. Neither do my brothers. I had forgotten something very important about Twist, that his little girl and first wife were murdered. So he understands why I had to tell his secret. He’s prepared to help. Sadie’s terrified, but I think she knows Twist is way too psycho to let anything happen to her or their son, Cyle.
Everything goes down according to plan. I get a hair sample from Cyle with Twist’s blessing. I drop it off at the store with Sonya like Puppet instructed and then we wait.
I don’t know how Puppet pulls it off, but he has results within twenty-four hours. I shouldn’t be surprised; the man has obviously been around awhile and wants to know if this boy is part of his family. I was ignorant to think the Iron Fists were stupid. You don’t get a reputation like they have by being total dumbasses. It’s the last time I underestimate anyone—ever.
The time comes for us to actually meet up. I’m a wreck inside. We’ve thought about the absolute best ways to go about everything. We’ve even argued with Puppet over where to meet. Eventually, we come to an agreement, and my woman is vibrating, she’s so wound up. Can’t say I blame her; I think we all are. Not only does this involve Mav, but there’s a chance people will die today.
Bethany follows me in her car, Twist and Cyle ride behind in 2 Piece’s truck, and a swarm of our brothers follow behind them. We’ve agreed that the brothers will stay back, along with Puppet’s club. They are here to escort us to and from the meeting point and be ready to come in if it goes south and we need them.
The meeting point is at a scenic overlook on top of a mountain. There aren’t many in this area of Texas, and we happen to know the State Troopers travel this route frequently if we need them. We got lucky with Ares’ old Prez being in good with the Troopers. They weren’t dirty-dirty, but they looked the other way a lot for our club. This is a time we may need to have some law on our side.