“Who is she?” I demanded.
“She who?”
“She, the one Smoke tried to ask about before Archer cut him off. So? Who is she?”
He grabbed one of the chairs from the kitchen table and set it down in front of the bed. If I wanted to get up, I’d have to slide to the end and go around him.
Brooks sat down and faced me.
“Sheis Gina Russo. My biker brother’s Old Lady. The one I went to prison for.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. “When he died, I made her my Old Lady.”
“Youwhat?” I whispered.
“To protect her and the kid,” he explained. “Graves pissed off a lot of people. The club was beginning to fracture, and by becoming my Old Lady, I could protect her with my name. Even from inside prison no one would touch her. Plus, Old Ladies are off limits. It’s just part of the life.”
My heart began to pulse in my ears. “Your name was powerful enough to protect her from the inside?”
“Yeah. And with the help of Archer on the outside, Gina and her daughter were safe. I never slept with her, Poet.”
“Ripper,” I whispered. “How did you get that name, Brooks?”
He swallowed. “You don’t want to know.”
“No, I don’twantto know,” I agreed. “But Ineedto.”
His sigh was deep and labored, like he knew whatever he was going to tell me would forever change us.
“Jack the Ripper,” he said, his tone low.
His eyes were devoid of emotion.
“Enemies of the club knew my name. I had a reputation. That’s all I’ll ever say about it. You don’t get to know more. I’m sorry.”
My heart beat as though it was trying to escape my chest and my body was paralyzed.
I’d given my virginity to a ruthless, violent killer.
I’d fallen in love with a killer.
I was having ababywith a killer.
“Get out, Brooks.”
He stared at me for a long moment until he finally rose from his chair and walked to the door. He slipped on his boots and grabbed his hat.
The door clicked shut as Brooks crossed the threshold.
With his departure, he took my heart with him.
I fell over onto the bed, curled into a ball, and cried.
How?
How had it come to this?
My hand rested on my belly.
How had my heart not known the truth?
