He snaps his mouth closed before his eyes drift to mine. I don’t say anything, understanding what Greer is saying. But there won’t be a time in my life when I can just let Theo go. Not now. No matter what happens, he’ll always have a seat at our table and a space in my heart. I’m just not wired to treat him like a stepping stone before moving on to the next kid. I don’t wantto look back in years to come and see a trail of kids I left behind. I want them to know I stand beside them always.
And now I’m thinking about fostering more kids already. I shake my head at myself as Greer leaves to check on the arrival of Theo’s mom.
Once she’s gone, I move closer to Havoc so I can lower my voice. “What’s the part you didn’t say?”
He sighs. “Club business, Delphi. You know that.”
“That boy there is mine. I don’t give a flying fuck what anyone else says. You found your family.” I poke the patch on his chest, declaring him president, before turning to point at Theo. “And I found mine. Keeping stuff from me when it’s about Theo or me will put us right back to square one. I’m trying so fucking hard to trust you all, but with this, I won’t bend, Havoc. You wouldn’t either if he were yours.”
“You don’t get it, Delphi. He is mine. He’s mine because you are. All the old ladies and brothers are mine. That means I’ll protect you with my dying breath, even if that protection comes in the form of keeping secrets. You can’t get incriminated for something you have no idea about.”
“Grrr, you make it really hard to hate you, you know?”
“Thanks,” he drawls.
“I get what you’re saying. I do, and I can respect that. But if you think I have questions, then you better believe Theo will have them. And I can’t navigate that being left in the dark.”
He grits his teeth, looking for a minute like he might strangle me, before he sighs and gives in. “You don’t say anything to the other old ladies. They don’t need to know the details.”
“I promise.”
He leans down so his mouth is next to my ear. “G did track her down, but she wasn’t unconscious. She was fucking her dealer and his cronies to earn her next bag.”
“Okay, so how…” my voice drifts off as it connects the dots.
“Created a distraction. As soon as they thought their warehouse—where they house their shit—was in danger, they flew out of the house, leaving her behind. She was shooting up when Con walked in.”
I swallow at the mention of Con’s name. When he turned up at the trailer earlier and saw the state of Theo, he stormed right back out again. And now I know why.
“He helped her OD?”
“Seems Theo isn’t the only kid you’ve got wrapped around your finger. Con’s got a sweet spot for you and the boy.”
“He has a sweet spot for all the women. I think there’s something there. Something happened to him. I’m not sure what, but I can sense it’s bad. I guess now we know what his trigger is. Are you going to punish him?”
“For what? Being loyal and protective? That’s what we want in our prospects. I’m not happy he didn’t get the okay from me first. Going off solo is not what the MC is all about, but he’s young. He’ll learn.”
I nod, glancing over at Theo before turning back to Havoc. “I’m not giving him up. I don’t care what has to be done, what I have to pay or sacrifice, I’m keeping him. Think you could put all your presidential badassery to good use and get both his piece of shit parental units to give up their rights to him so we can adopt him?”
“You couldn’t just ask for something simple like a kidney, could you?”
“You wanted me to put my faith in you. This is me doing just that.”
“Me and my big fucking mouth.”
I grin up at him. His lips twitch as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“Kruger is fucked.”
“I’ve seen you with Nevaeh. Don’t pretend you’re any different.”
He doesn’t react to that, but we both know it’s true.
“Delphi?”
I spin at the sound of my name and hurry over to the bed.
“Hey, welcome back.” I reach for his hand as Havoc steps closer, his hands fisted at his sides.
