“What’s she talking about, Juice?” Shooter’s brow furrowed.
“Sammy,”—Juice reached for my hands—“who’s Oliver?”
He ran his thumb over the back of my hand. My knuckles hurt from trying to punch him in the face, but it was nowhere near the pain that pierced my heart. I’d been keeping the truth to myself for so long. Once I told him, I wouldn’t be able to take it back. I didn’t have a choice.
“Oliver is my son.” I exhaled a jagged breath as Juice’s eyes widened.
“You have a kid? I didn’t know.” His fingers closed around mine. “Why do the Savage Bones care about that? Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pull you into anything.”
Shooter cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “What else aren’t you telling us?”
“Settle down, bro. She’s dealing with a lot. Her kid’s been taken by the Savage Bones because of us, because of me.” Juice pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. “I promise we’ll get him back. They’ve sunk to an entirely new level. If they want a piece of us, they can try to take it. But pulling your kid into this… fuck… that’s low.”
I wanted to rest my cheek on his chest and lean into his strength. Would have given anything to wake up and realize the past few hours had just been a horrific nightmare.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” Shooter said, his voice low.
“Go see if you can find her something dry to put on, will you? Ashley or Rae probably have something that will fit her.” Juice smoothed his hand over the wet strands of hair plastered to my cheek. “I’m going to grab Thunder, and we’ll figure out what we need to do. Will you be okay in here for a few minutes, or do you want to come with me?”
Shooter had left the room, but his words still hung in the air. He was right. There was something I hadn’t told them yet.
“Juice,”—I pulled back, still caught up between the confusing desire to hurt him so he could feel what I was feeling and holding onto him for dear life.
“What is it?”
“Shooter’s right. There’s something I haven’t told you.” My stomach twisted and turned until it formed a tight knot. I didn’t want to tell him, especially not like this.
He leaned down, putting himself at eye level with me. “I know we lost touch, but you’re still the best friend I’ve ever had. You can tell me anything, Sam.”
Nodding, I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. “It’s just that… Oliver’s not just my son. He belongs to you, too.”
CHAPTER 5
JUICE
I stared at Sammy.She sat next to me at the conference room table. Not even three feet away, it felt like three football fields. We used to know everything about each other. How could we have a son together? A son I hadn’t known about until fifteen minutes ago?
Thunder kept talking, but I didn’t hear a word he said. His lips moved. Other guys around the table nodded. Sammy looked at me, her big green eyes begging for something I wasn’t sure I could give her. A high-pitched ringing noise buzzed in my ears.
“What do you think, Juice?” Thunder asked.
I felt like I was back in school again and had been caught playing on my phone when I should have been paying attention to my teacher. “Um, what do I think about what?”
“He shouldn’t come tomorrow. He’s too much of a risk.” Lightning crossed his arms over his chest.
“Cut the man some slack. He just found out he’s a father,” Thunder said.
I cradled my head in my hands, hating how weak I felt, especially in front of Sammy. “Sorry, can you run that by me again?”
Thunder clapped me on the shoulder. “Juice, stay where you are. Everyone else, be ready to ride at seven.”
The guys got up, the conversation between them too low for me to hear. Something wet nudged my arm. I looked down to see Sirius next to me. With all hell breaking loose, I’d completely forgotten I’d brought him with me to the club.
“It’s going to be okay, boy, isn’t it?” I leaned down and rested my head on top of his. After Sammy and I lost touch, my MC brothers had become the closest thing I had to family. I didn’t know what it felt like to have a blood relative. Everyone I’d been related to had been lost to me over the years until I was all on my own. Overall, that was for the better. But now I had a son?
“Who’s this?” Sammy held her hand out for Sirius to sniff.
“This is Sirius.” At the sound of his name, Sirius wagged his tail. “He’s half wolf, half sled dog, and all puppy.”
