He started, his body tensing at my explosion of anger. Yeah, even Mason was wary of my temper.
“I knew Luce would be safe no matter what the fallout of all Nik’s bullshit was, because I had you protecting her.”
He shook his head. “You couldn’t have known that for sure.”
“I did. Don’t you get it? I knew, because I know you.”
He stilled at the intensity of my confession. After a moment, he let out a heavy sigh and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Why did you risk it at all by bringing her over the border? Even if I agree to concede that you’re right about Luce being safe, there’s still the threat it was to the club. It’s not like you, not even for her. She might have a hold on you, but it’s never trumped the club before.”
Fuck. He didn’t get it. I had to give him the missing piece to everything. “She’s pregnant with my kid.”
I’d never seen him so shocked in all the time that I’d known him. “What?” he choked out. “You got proof?”
“Yeah. Sonogram.”
“And you know for sure that it’s yours? I mean, you know how she is and—”
“It’s mine. The last couple of years she’s only been with me. We’ve been seeing each other on the down low. And that rep you’re talking about? That was years ago when she was desperate and scared because of Nik. She hasn’t been that person for a long time.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“She’s sorry, you know that? She regrets what happened between the two of you. She can’t make peace with it either. Not until you forgive her.”
“Cole,” he growled.
“I get it, all right? I get why you slipped up back then. We were at odds, moving into enemy territory actually. My rage was at its worst in those days and I was jeopardizing things for us, so much so that you were considering making a break from me so that you wouldn’t get dragged down with me and kicked out of the club and everything. On top of that, you were struggling with your… predilections. You’d searched long and hard to find a woman who could handle what you dealt out back then. You knew Tasha had that edge. And then, when she came onto you in a real desperate fucking moment, you snapped. I know you hate recalling it, because you’re not that guy. It was a mistake and I get that. That one slipup doesn’t negate everything. You’re still the loyal guy you’ve always been.” I took a beat then told him. “I forgive you.”
We locked eyes.
For one of the very few times in our long friendship, I actually saw emotion blanket his face.
A long, intense silence stretched between us. Finally airing all that painful shit was a lot to absorb and reconcile.
He pulled up a stool beside me and offered a heartfelt nod that let me know he appreciated my gesture, that it’d go a long way to repairing things between us. Of course, there were still the women in our lives that we needed to settle things over.
“This is what you’ve always wanted, but never thought you could have.”
My own family.
I chugged back more of my Jack. “It’s all on the line.”
“The timing is… problematic, yeah.”
I downed the rest of my Jack.
As I went to reach for the bottle to refill my glass, Mason’s hand clamped down on mine, stopping me.
My gaze snapped to his.
He smiled. “I really don’t think you would’ve been given this gift just for it to be taken away.” He squeezed my hand. “It’s gonna be okay.”
I knew him well enough to get that it wasn’t just hollow comfort that he was offering.
Nah, he was telling me in his way that he’d have my back on this, that he’d actually step up and help me to protect everything I was so afraid of losing. When this war hit, when we struck, that list would include the thing he loved most of all. My baby sister.
“Yeah?” I tested. I had to be sure, given the animosity and distrust that’d lived between us for way too long.
“Yeah. I’ve got you, brother.”
I smiled. “Right back at you.”
15
~Natasha~
WARLOW WAS A WORLD AWAY from city life.
Quiet. You could actually walk several blocks without encountering a soul. The traffic was almost non-existent. Even walking around downtown, no more than two cars had driven by at one time. It was a welcome reprieve from the claustrophobic packed-into-one-tiny-patch-of-land layout of the city. Homes and businesses, alike, were afforded the space they deserved, not all squeezed in next to one another.
Quaint. There were what I deemed the “old school” stores, like a butcher, baker, a hearty pub, a wholesome diner, not just a series of megastores and malls. There were even specialty stores, like antique shops, jewelry stores and, fortunately for me, a maternity clothing store. It gave the town a real personality.
Friendly. People actually smiled and waved as you passed them by. The hustle and bustle of city life had robbed most people of basic human decency and manners like that. It was refreshing to experience such warmth. And, a little odd, to be honest. Like a lot of things for me at the moment, it would take some getting used to.
Safe. You’d think a town that’d become the home to a MC would pose a danger or something. But it was most definitely the opposite. Their presence actually quelled criminal activity, the intimidating rep of the club cutting any potential instigators to the quick. The members loved their town and took the protection of its inhabitants very seriously.
It was something even I had begun to feel personally. Ever since Slade had laid out my importance to taking down Nik and the Strikers MC and what I was willing to do to help them make it happen, the Steel Titans attitude toward me had shifted in a monumental way. Obviously, all the distrust and animosity from the past hadn’t automatically
