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“Yes,” I reaffirmed. “Is he here right now? I’m not sure how this reunion will play out, and to be honest, I’m scared to death. We didn’t exactly part under the best terms, and I… Well, Reid is going to be a surprise to everyone.” I hadn’t even told Dad or Grandpa about my son, afraid they would make me tell Tanner. I hadn’t been ready to tell him back then. Hell, I wasn’t sure I was ready now. But I had to be an adult about this and allow father and son to meet.
“Butch didn’t tell you?” Matt asked in a voice considerably weaker than it had been only moments before.
“Tell me what?” I asked, distracted by Reid as he squirmed in my arms. “Dad doesn’t tell me much about things that go on around here.”
“Tanner…” He trailed off, clenching his jaw hard as he sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “Tanner died last week.”
The bottom felt like it fell out of my world. I tightened my hold on Reid as I began to sway. “Wh-what?” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. “What?”
Matt caught me, one arm going around my waist, the other to support Reid, keeping him safely in my arms. “I’m sorry, Jos. I thought you knew.”
“He can’t be dead.” I shook my head, looking at my son and feeling the loss all the way to my bones. Reid’s dad was dead. He was never going to get to meet him, never going to get to know what a great guy he could be—when he wanted to be. Huge tears blurred my vision as I pressed my face against Matt’s cut, sobbing for what my son would never have now.
For what I had cost him.
Chapter 5
Colt
Once Kelli was questioned to everyone’s satisfaction, the others cleared out of the office. Hawk, Bash, and Spider were the only ones who stayed behind, and I took one of the vacant seats close to my brother-in-law’s desk as he turned the laptop to face me.
“It’s exactly like she said,” Spider assured me with a grimace. “Her pops won’t be too happy with her if he ever finds out about this.”
Kelli laughed tiredly. “He’s never been happy with me a day in my life. Don’t worry your sweet little hearts, boys. I can take care of myself where Calvin is concerned.”
For the next hour, I listened to the majority of her conversations with Royce Campbell and Derrick Michaels. Those greedy sonofabitches ate up every last detail she had to offer them, but Kelli was smart. She knew to get her money up front for the secrets she was spilling on her father. Starting with the second meeting, she ensured she was paid before telling one of Calvin Samson’s many indiscretions. And I was willing to admit that they were worth every penny the assholes paid for them.
Hitting pause, I turned my gaze on her. She was half asleep in her chair, but she was too cautious to allow herself to give in to her exhaustion completely. “Why?” I demanded, my tone unwittingly harsh after not using it for so long. After biting my tongue every time Bash got in her face. My knuckles ached from having clenched my fists so hard, watching my brother-in-law and Spider get close to her while they were so fucking pissed.
She had no idea just how much danger she’d been in while Spider talked to her so calmly. He was deadly when he was in that zone. It was when the predator in him came out, when he was measuring and calculating every movement, every thought, so that when he did strike, it only took one. For a big man, he could move with a speed that was beautiful to watch, but it made you thankful you weren’t on the receiving end.
Her head snapped up, and she blinked her eyes a few times to clear them of sleep. “Why, what?” she asked, confused.
“Why did you sell out your father?” I snapped, more than a little confused myself. Why go against her father, her flesh and blood? I had listened to her explain her reasons earlier, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around her dislike of her father.
She pushed her hair back from her face, rolling her eyes at me like I was stupid. “It was you or him. Oddly enough, I like you more than Calvin. Although I’m seriously rethinking that idiocy.”
Clenching my jaw, I pushed to my feet. Maybe I could have gone about forcing her to talk differently. Maybe she shouldn’t have been using me the whole fucking length of our relationship either.
But was she really? a sadistic-sounding voice asked in the back of my mind. She sold out her father—for me. All so she wouldn’t have to use me. She hadn’t betrayed me. She’d betrayed her blood at the risk of herself.
And what had I done?
Drugged her. Cuffed her. Given her no choice but to tell me the truth.
Guilt ate at me for the first two actions, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it completely because the end result had been the latter. Now, it felt like a raging river was standing between us. I either had to dive in and swim across to reach her. Or jump that gaping distance and grab back what was mine.
Stretching her neck, she turned her attention to the other three men in the room. “What’s going to happen now? You got what you wanted. I didn’t tell anyone shit about your MC. Am I free to go?”
“You’re free,” Bash informed her. “For now.”
She didn’t move as she assessed him fully. “Be more specific, dickhead. Am I free to leave whenever I want? Or am I under house arrest?”
“If you choose to leave, we won’t stop you,” Bash assured her. “But if you stick around, we’re going to watch your every move until we can be sure we can trust you.”
Her laugh was short and cold. “Like I want to stick around this god-awful place. The only person who even remotely matters to me here is Quinn, and if she finds out about any of this, she’s going to take Colt’s side.” She got to her feet. “Don’t worry, boys. I’m leaving. And I don’t ever plan on coming back to this shithole of a town.” Shooting me a dirty look, she walked past me and slammed the door behind her.
All I could do was stand there, suddenly frozen as the realization that Kelli was actually going to walk away from me hit me like a wrecking ball. I hadn’t expected this; although I should have seen it coming. She was pissed and hurting after what I’d done. Of course she was going to walk away without a backward glance.
