Eric turned to face me, his movements slow and controlled. “I’m your father. I needed to know. Sometimes I hated seeing your life through other people’s eyes. Most days, I convinced myself a day like this would never come—a day where you sat next to me on a porch step, trusted me, and listened to me.”
“I don’t trust you,” I lied, the croak of my voice giving me away.
“Okay.” His lips twitched on one corner.
I looked out into the trees again, imagining a million pairs of wolf eyes staring back at me, or a hundred guns, pointed and ready.
“What did you do with the rest of the evidence?” I askedquietly.
“Gave it to Rubin.”
“Rubin?” I called in surprise, looking at him once again. “The kid has our club’s future in his hands?”
“I hope not. Not anymore, anyway.”
My scowl was deep as I shook my head, telling him I didn’t understand.
“Trust me, Drew. Trust him. The kid is smart.”
“And how the hell would you know that?”
Eric tilted his head to the side and released a slow, long breath of air from his lungs. “Gut instinct.”
“And Jedd? What have you got him involved with? Why the fuck is he in a cell and looking proud of the fact?”
“You’ve seen him?” Eric raised a brow, clearly surprised.
“You’re damn right I have. He’s my VP. You think I’m just gonna let him rot—let any of you just fuck off like a trio of vigilantes trying to bring down the bad guys, while me and my future wife raise a pretty little girl with pigtails for the rest of my life. I don’t think s—”
“You think it’s a girl?”
I paused, my heart feeling like it stopped for a second, and my eyes unblinking as I stared at him.
“I…” I hadn’t even thought about it. Not until now.
“A girl?” he asked with reverence lilting his voice.
My mouth opened and closed four times before my shoulders relaxed, and I shook my head. “I don’t know, Eric. I just can’t allow myself to believe it could be another boy for us to bring into this mess and fuck up with ego, bravado, and bullshit the kid doesn’t deserve.”
Eric’s face fell, and all the regrets I’d longed to hear him speak of were written across his face as he stared at me.
“I haven’t made many promises to you in your life, Drew. Never felt the need to. Never wanted to make one and break it or let you down. I’ve lived a life where the truth has been bothmy addiction and my tonic. I figured truth could be yours, too. I was wrong to do that. Truths are often twisted and ugly and sharp. They don’t always make things better. Sometimes truths make things so unbearable, you feel like you can’t breathe. A long life of mistakes has taught me that. The truth isn’t always a good thing. I drowned you in it for years, and then I hid behind lies I thought would protect you. I’m one big fucking mess of a father, and I can assure you, no one knows that more than me.”
I ran my hand across my forehead, not knowing what to say.
“But I’m going to make you a promise today.”
Looking up, I held his gaze and saw that never before seen emotion there again.
“Before your child is born, there won’t be a mess for you to bring them into. The mess will be gone. No matter who has to pay the price for it, the next generation of Tuckers are going to be born into a world of peace. The kind of peace you and I have never known.”
