My face itched and I brushed away the tears that were openly running down my cheeks. I’d only learned of this woman’s existence yesterday, knowing she was our mother, knowing that before I even wrapped my head around that fact, I had to remember she was long gone, was messing with my heart. Warren too if the way he clutched me was any indication.
“I’m so sorry, dad,” I said quietly. He looked at me, dipped his chin in acknowledgement. “But why didn’t you tell us the truth? Why make us think Danica was our mom?”
“When I lost her…I couldn’t talk about her, think about her. I didn’t want anyone else to either. I went insane if anyone dared say her name, so it became natural for people to think of Danica as being your mom. You even started calling her that,” his brow creased in a frown. “She was in your life longer than your real mom. I did your mom a disservice when I did that. She deserved to be remembered. Her kids should have known about her, known she loved you both, so much. She deserved better, but I let her down. I didn’t protect her.”
I’d never seen him look so devastated, no mean feat for our dad. He blamed himself for so much. Warren cleared his throat beside me, sniffed a few times before sitting back in the chair.
“What made Danica leave then? Why did she run from the club and hide away for over twenty years, just to show back up now, claiming to want to take Waverley away from danger. From you?”
“She said you killed Delaney,” I sat up. “She said she saw you do it, and she ran for her life, but that…doesn’t make sense if what you’re saying is true.”
“Of course I didn’t kill Delaney,” he was angry but saying her name so much was clearly overwhelming him, because he closed his eyes to gather himself again. “Once I got my shit together, and Dutch told me he was stepping down as Prez, it was like a switch flipped in me. It dawned on me I had responsibilities, people to take care of, you two, you needed me and moping around, depressed and reckless wasn’t helping anyone.
“So, I took over the club, I straightened out my crap. I was never going to be the person I was before, but I could be better. It was what she would have wanted. I needed more. I needed to know what happened to her. The cops never found whoever allegedly killed her. And that made me suspicious.”
“Oh fuck, don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me,” Warren put a hand on top of his head, scrubbing it back and forth through his unruly curls.
“No,” I whispered.
“She arranged it all, set it up, hired someone, lied to my face for years about what happened that night. She realized I’d found out before I could get to her,” King said, his face turning thunderous. “Somehow she got away before I got back home. She even left the two of you alone. You were fucking three years old, and she just left you. Because she never fucking cared about you, she only cared about one thing. Her fucking self.
“I’ve been searching for her ever since. She vanished into thin air. But I never stopped looking. And she knew that. I had private eyes and other brothers looking for her all over the country. A few times I got close enough I could almost taste it, but she always managed to disappear.
“And then things started going haywire here, with the Kingsmen. I couldn’t figure out what the fuck they were up to. The whole thing with Ranger. Nytro stepping up to his role.”
“Is that why you put the girl there, in the Kingsmen’s camp?”
King nodded. I wasn’t sure what he was referring to but I could figure it out. Danica had a spy in our camp, but King had one in theirs. I was still reeling from everything he’d said and how vastly it differed from what Danica told me.
She was a good actress, I’d give her that, but the hollow look in my father’s eyes, the anger and rage at what happened to his wife, it was written all over his face. He wasn’t making any of this up. Our aunt killed our mom because she was jealous. I believed that was the truth with all my heart.
“Then I got those photographs, the ones of Danica and Waverley.”
“Me?” I straightened up. No one said anything about there being photographs of me.
“Why do you think we brought you home?” my father raised his eyebrows at me.
“Wait…” Warren’s brow was creased. “What about the birth certificates, the ones you got with the pictures? They had Danica’s name on them, right?”
King looked at Warren for a moment, he looked annoyed then resigned. “I didn’t show you everything,” he told Warren, who’s brows shot up. “When Mace said this was about money, I think I know why but that isn’t important.”
“The hell it isn’t,” Warren shouted. “I’d say it’s pretty fucking important,” he slammed his palm flat on the table. “Where they fake, the birth certificates.”
“It was a threat, another one. She’s trying to be fucking clever. I don’t know all the details of what it’s about Warren, but I will find out. This isn’t the time to talk about it. Not until I’ve spoken to Mace and got the full story out of him.”
“This is bullshit,” Warren shook his head.
I had no idea what they were talking about right now but I was so overwhelmed by everything going on, I couldn’t even begin to register what it might mean. I’d have to ask Warren later when we were sure to be alone and discussing this mess.
“The threat to you both was very real. Particularly you,” King looked at me. “I didn’t like it that you were down there alone. But I knew it was what you wanted, that you were happy away from us. You were thriving Waverley, you were doing everything you’d always said you wanted toand I couldn’t have been prouder of you. I had no idea the things you’d suffered before you left, and I wish to fuck I had because…” he brushed his beard again. “None of that matters now. It took just one picture for me to send War to get you without a moment’s hesitation, Waverley. I knew you wouldn’t like it, I knew you would see me as the bad guy, like you have for most of your life but I was not letting what happened to your mother happen to you.”
King suddenly got to his feet, and I sat back in the chair, tilting my head back to look up at him. This was where he was going to storm out. He’d told us everything he was willing to and now he would leave. But that wasn’t what he did. He came around the table and he grabbed me, pulled me out of the chair and wrapped me up in his arms.
I swear my heart stopped, my hands hanging at my sides as I was held against his chest. My eyes filled and tears spilled over as my father held on to me. Slowly I lifted my arms, I couldn’t get them all the way around him, he was so large, my balled up fists pressed tight against the cold leather of his cut. Warren moved behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders. He was still pissed King wasn’t telling the truth, but he knew what this moment meant. It barely lasted a minute, but it felt like a lifetime, it meant everything to me.
King pulled back, his eyes were red but no tears fell. He stepped away and went to the huge window, overlooking the front of Ballistic’s house.
“Now I know it was a mistake, to bring you back here.”
