"The truth, mostly. Simplified, age-appropriate, but truth. I don't believe in lying to my kid." I pause. "His mom left when he was three. Couldn't handle the club life. I told him she's working far away, which is true as far as it goes. Last I heard, she was in Seattle with husband number two."
"That must have been hard for both of you," Claire says softly.
I shrug, uncomfortable with the sympathy. "We managed. The club helped. They're family."
Claire hesitates, then asks, "Last night, when we first met... you said you had an old lady. But just now you said Eli's mom left. Did I misunderstand something?"
I'd forgotten about that lie. The quick claim I made to reassure her I wasn't looking for payment in the form of her body.
"No, you didn't misunderstand," I admit, meeting her eyes directly. "I lied. I don't have an old lady."
She stiffens slightly, wariness returning to her posture.
"I'm sorry," I continue quickly. "When I said that, I was trying to make it clear I wasn't expecting... anything from you. In return for helping. I thought saying I was taken would be the quickest way to establish that boundary."
"Why tell me the truth now?"
"Because you've been honest with me. About everything. Seems like you deserve the same." I lean forward, elbows on my knees. "I'm not proud of the lie, but I want to be clear. The reason behind it still stands. I'm not helping you to get something from you."
She nods slowly, some of the tension easing from her shoulders. "I appreciate that. And the honesty now."
"No more lies," I promise. "Ask me anything, I'll tell you straight."
A small smile touches her lips. "Anything?"
"Try me."
"How did you really end up in the club? You look like you might have been military, no?"
I grimace. Another assumption I should correct. "Never served, actually. Wanted to, but couldn't. Criminal record." I see the question in her eyes and continue before she can ask. "I was a bouncer. Had a tendency to take things too far when guys got handsy with women. Last fight nearly put a guy in a coma. Almost went to prison for it."
Her eyes widen slightly. "That's how you got your road name? Rage?"
"Yeah. Had trouble controlling my temper back then. Still do sometimes." I rub the back of my neck, uncomfortable with the admission but committed to honesty. "King saw something in me worth saving. Gave me structure, purpose, brothers who'd call me on my shit. Then when Eli came along, I had to get my head straight. Can't be a ticking time bomb when you've got a kid depending on you."
"And now?" she asks quietly.
"Now I channel it. Use it when it's needed, keep it locked down when it's not." I meet her gaze. "I haven't lost control in four years. Not since Mariah left and I realized Eli was watching everything I did, learning how to be a man from my example."
Claire absorbs this, nodding slowly. "Thank you for being honest. Even about the uncomfortable parts."
"Like I said, no more lies." I lean back in the chair. "Your turn. What did you want before the Eagles? Before Tommy?"
Claire looks surprised by the question, as if no one has asked about her dreams in a very long time. Maybe no one has.
"I wanted to open a second-hand clothing store," she says after a moment, her voice so quiet I have to lean forward to hear her. "I know it sounds silly—"
"It doesn't," I interrupt. "Why that?"
A smile touches her lips. "I like the idea that just because something was used once doesn't mean it can't be beautiful and useful again." She touches her bruised cheek. "I used to volunteer at a thrift shop in high school. Loved giving old clothes new life, helping people find things they could afford that made them feel good about themselves."
There's something in the way she describes it, a genuine passion that lights her up from within. It makes me see beyond the bruises to the woman she must have been before Tommy Reeves got his hands on her. Younger and hopeful.
"That's not silly at all," I tell her. "That's a solid plan. Practical, meaningful."
"It was, once." She looks down at her hands. "Then I met Tommy and everything changed. He didn't like the idea. He said it wasn't ambitious enough. Said I'd be better off helping him with club business."
My jaw tightens. Classic controlling behavior. Isolating her, diminishing her dreams, making her dependent on him.
