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“Did you know Lore was his mother?”
The grin disappears, and he nods. “He lived most of his life with his father. Lore has always been a free spirit. She never wanted to be tied down, not even with a kid. Tobias loves her. I think he was grateful she didn’t drag him from place to place. Lore had visitation and would see him a few times a year. His father is a good man and never once stopped her from seeing him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dane screws up his nose and looks down at the floor before his gaze meets mine. “Wasn’t my place. It was Lore’s or Tobias’, and neither shared that information with you.”
Not sure what to say, I scrub a hand over my face, my fingers tracing the scar that trails into my hairline.
“Go home, Dirt. Sleep on it.” He points at Kade. “Go on down to the ICU, remove your cut. We don’t need Lore making a fuss.”
Kade nods and walks away from us.
“You should have told me.”
Dane levels a glare at me. “Go home.”
He walks back into the room where Kat and his babies are, shutting the door. Striding back to the elevator, I ride it to the ground floor. There’s still some of the MC waiting outside. I point at Zeke, who saunters over to me.
“How’s Tobias?”
“No change. I need you to go upstairs and stand guard outside Dane and Kat’s room.”
“I thought Kade was doing that?”
“Don’t make me ask you twice, Zeke.”
With a slight nod, he walks past me to the elevators.
Tomorrow, when I’m feeling more charitable, I’ll make it up to him, but right now, I don’t want to explain to him or anyone how I let a woman get under my damn skin.
Chapter Three
DIRT
Thoughts of Lore won’t let me sleep. I’ve tried taking a warm shower, drinking half a bottle of whiskey to drown my thoughts, and even closing my eyes and counting sheep. Yet, here I am, staring at the ceiling and wondering what she’s doing.
The night we met, I walked into a bar, and Lore was standing on a table, wearing skintight jeans, a black tank top, and hair down to her ass. She was dancing, singing, and making a spectacle of herself. Her eyes met mine, and when I drew closer to her, she swayed and tumbled backward, leaving me no choice but to catch her as she fell.
Lore laughed, draped an arm around me, and said, “Is your name Catch? Because I’ve been hooked by your charm.”
It was the corniest line I’d ever heard. Lore could always make me laugh. Well, she did in the beginning. Toward the end, all we did was fight.
Over everything.
The club was different back then. We were outlaws, breaking rules, running guns, whores, drugs—anything to make a dollar. Dane has fought hard to get us out of that life, and the MC now feels like a country club. Sure, we still have our fingers in a few illegal activities, but we are slowly becoming dignified. It’s no longer a club I recognize. We’re in business with the Abruzzi Crime Family, and sometimes I feel like we shouldn’t trust them. Not Salvatore Agostino, who’s married to Dane’s sister, Emily, but the Abruzzis. They don’t always play by the rules.
Back then, we were at war with other clubs, and every ride spelled danger. Lore asked me to leave, but I’d fought hard to be Sergeant at Arms, to have a place at the table, and the thought of separating from the only family I’d ever known was unfathomable. The MC was more than just a brotherhood—it was a way of life, and I couldn’t abandon it.
It was a sacrifice I was unwilling to make. I loved Lore and still do, but I couldn’t leave behind the MC and the camaraderie of my brothers.
Did I make the right decision?
At the time, yes.
If I could have kept her, I would have, but Lore wanted out of the MC. It was wild back then. Over the years, I’ve made decisions with Lore in mind, even though I knew she’d never come back. The house I own is small, but it’s on a decent amount of land, and I always hoped she’d return and we could build onto it or simply turn it into a home.
Seeing her brought back all the memories, good and bad, but mostly good. Lore had a wicked sense of humor, and when she loved you, you could tell. She had a way of making you feel like the only man in the room.
