“Alexandra?” Sinner’s voice cracked as he called her name. I mean, I guess that was her name. I thought back to the contract we’d both signed, but fuck, I hadn’t paid much attention to anything other than the veggie burgers.
She nodded, the tears falling faster.
Sinner stood up and banged his hands on the table.
“Fuck!” he shouted, and Lexie jerked. After several long seconds, he sat back down and stared into the camera with a look that could break the screen. “Bear, do you mind telling me what the hell you dragged my daughter into and why the fuck she’s sitting in your lap?”
22
LEXIE
Well, this got really awkward, really fast.
“Daughter?” Bear asked, his voice incredulous. “No, this is”—he paused— “Lexie. The caterer.”
Ouch.
“Oh shit,” Blade whispered. He turned to face me. “Alexandra Malone?”
I nodded. “That’s the name I was born with.”
His eyes widened. “Prez, this is who—“
“Enough,” Sinner said from across the screen, and Blade immediately stopped talking.
“Lexie.” Bear angled around my shoulder. “Is this true? Prez is your father?” His eyes softened and my stomach sank. I should have told him.
I knew my dad had been in the club back in the day. That’s why I’d avoided it for the most part. But I figured once he went to jail, that was it, and that there wouldn’t be too many people who remembered him.
I sighed. “That’s really Sinner Malone?” I asked, nodding toward the screen. I mean, there was a chance I was wrong and his blue eyes weren’t an exact match to mine.
“It is,” Bear said slowly, nodding his head.
“Then yeah. He’s my sperm donor.” I shrugged and wiped the tears from my face. It had been a weird day and I was feeling emotional. Definitely PMSing. I didn’t know the man and he didn’t know me. There was no need to get worked up.
“Sperm donor?” the man on the screen roared. “I’m your fucking father and you will show me some respect!”
Oh no, he did not.A fire lit in my belly, burning away my fear and replacing it with anger.
I sat up straight and pulled my hair into a messy bun. I always felt more powerful with my hair up. Maybe because my gran had always worn her hair in a bun and she could put the fear of God into anybody. Especially when she grabbed that switch from over the door.
“Sorry, old man.” I grinned, borrowing the phrase from Michael. “You’re about fifteen years too late to play the father card.” I turned away from the screen and squared my shoulders. I wouldn’t let Sinner intimidate me. “As I was saying, I got a call about a catering job from another MC. I figured Maverick or Bear had referred me after the job I did here.”
Sinner slammed his hand on the table in front of him. “Why the fuck did the club princess do a job at her own fucking clubhouse?”
I didn’t answer, assuming it was a question meant for someone else.
Mav sighed, shaking his head. “Prez, no disrespect, but since when do you have a daughter?”
Baller laughed. “I’d guess since the 2000s?” He turned toward me. “You’re in your twenties, right?”
I giggled and nodded, grateful for the levity. I mean, Sinner was being ridiculous. I had a few memories of meeting my father on a playground. He pushed me in the swings and spun me around on the merry-go-round. But that was before my mom left. When my grandparents got sick, I dreamed of him coming to get me. Instead, I bounced from foster home to foster home. I knew he was in prison, so rationally, I knew he couldn’t come and get me. But he could have written a letter. Sent me a birthday card.
They still called him prez, so I was pretty sure that meant he was still the president. Which meant the man could afford a stamp and a piece of paper. But he’d done nothing because I’d meant nothing, and he couldn’t suddenly pretend otherwise now.
Sinner ignored Mav’s questions and asked another of his own. “Why aren’t you at home with your family?”
I scoffed and turned back to the screen. “Are you joking? What family? Mom took off when I was five and I lived with my grandparents. Then Granddaddy got Alzheimer’s and moved into a home. Gran got cancer the same year and died when I was twelve. I was in foster homes until I aged out of the system at eighteen.” I took a deep breath. In and out. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of upsetting me. “I have no family.” Bitterness coated my tongue as I spat out the words. Bear pulled me tighter against him.
