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“No,” I said. “You’ve read the notes, there’s nothing outright threatening, and the flowers too. But the truck that came for Leo this morn—”
“Truck?” he demanded, and his eyes went to the toy I’d thrown down earlier. “Someone’s sending stuff for my son?”
I went to pick it up and put it on the counter, “This arrived today, I’ve been freaking out about what to do, I’d go to the police, but they’d probably tell me I was being oversensitive or paranoid like they did when I went about Stacy.”
“What kind of sick fuck leaves stuff like that?” he spat out. After glaring at the blue truck for what seemed like forever, his eyes met mine, “About your sister, do you even know or suspect who might have done something to her, now that you can’t throw those accusations at me?”
“No,” I said when forced to admit the truth. “But I know it’s the family curse.” The curse stole my mother when I was a kid, and now I just knew the curse had claimed my sister too.
“What curse?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Diesel shrugged and dropped it, but I knew he wouldn’t drop it for long. “I want Leo to know that I’m his father.”
His blue eyes slammed into mine and I sucked in a deep, startled breath. My eyes went wide with shock, but of course he’d want Leo to know. Diesel had a right to know his son, but I didn’t want to lose my son.
“And then what?” I resisted the urge to squirm under his intense scrutiny.
His blue gaze was dark and assessing, as if he was trying to decide whether or not to end me and take Leo, or simply play nice. For now. “And then we’ll see.”
See what? Was that a threat? Did I need to hire an attorney? And if I did that, would it piss the giant biker off? With more effort than it should have required, I tore my gaze from Diesel and focused on my son. “Leo, can you come here for a minute?”
He stopped mid-run and looked at me with a wide smile that I felt deep in my heart. “Comin’, Momma!”
My heart raced as he galloped across the yard, wondering if this was one of the last times I’d get to hear him call me that.
Chapter Five
Diesel
“Leo,” Ellie sighed as if the weight of the world rested on her delicate shoulders. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.” She said nothing for a long time, and I wasn’t sure if she would push the words through her full, pillowy lips.
Ellie cleared her throat, seeming to come out of the fear-induced trance she was in, and leaned forward. “Leo, this is your father.”
The air was tense for a long moment as Leo studied me carefully. His blue eyes logged every detail before he gasped. “My daddy? I have a daddy?”
Ellie flashed a hint of a smile at his excitement before she nodded. “You do.”
Leo’s blue eyes, the exact shade as mine, turned to me wide with shock and excitement. He had the same shaggy blond hair, and when his lips curled into a smile, he had the same hint of a dimple in his right cheek that hid under my days’ old scruff. “You’re my dad?”
The intensity of the emotion I felt in that moment slammed into me like a fucking bullet, slicing through the skin and settling deep in my chest. “I am,” I managed around a big lump in my throat. “My name is Lucas, but most people call me Diesel.” Was it okay to tell my son my nickname? I snuck a glance at Ellie, who looked like the devil was knocking on her door, and back to my son.
“Like a car?”
My heart felt full at that one simple question, and I crouched to his level. “That’s exactly right, diesel like a car.” I balled up my hand and held it out, laughing when he wrapped his little hand around my fist. “You’re pretty smart.”
He blushed adorably. “Cool.” His gaze bounced back and forth between us and then a brilliant smile lit up his face. “I have a daddy!” He rushed into the yard running back and forth screaming, “I have a daddy!”
It wasn’t the reception I expected, but it was more than I could have hoped for. I thought maybe Stacy had badmouthed me when I didn’t reply to her messages, and it would have been what I deserved from her perspective. But this, his joy and excitement over having a father, felt better than I expected. “Wow.” My heart was full, but when I stood to face Ellie, there was sadness and fear in her eyes. “Ellie.”
She shook her head and looked away, swiping tears before Leo made his way back to us. “It’s fine,” she whispered.
Leo came back and stood in front of me. “Where you been?” he asked with the seriousness of a kid three times his age.
It was a fair question. “I didn’t get the message from your mom that she was growing you.” Was that the right way to put it to a kid his age? I had no fucking clue. “I just learned about you today and I came right over.”
“You talked to my mommy?” The question was aimed at me, but his gaze was on Ellie. “My bio mommy, right, Momma?”
