Sara hadn't outright rejected me, and coming from her a "think about it" was a positive sign. The fact that she hadn't shut me down instantly meant good news. Probably that she had to sort through the logistics of it, which wouldn't be easy, but we'd make it work.
The ride home was quiet. The sun was barely cresting the horizon and the roads were empty. My plan was simple—get to the shop and find Fox, then stake my claim before Lightning got in the way. The president would hear it from me directly, and after the conversation we'd had about Mandy I believed he'd understand.
But the shop was dark when I pulled up. There were no bikes in the lot, no lights behind the windows. Everyone was either still sleeping off whatever Lightning had dragged them into last night or scattered to wherever the morning took them. Fox's bike wasn't in its usual spot near the back door. There was no point in clocking in to work this early so I swung home.
The plan could wait an hour. A hot shower to warm up, a pot of coffee, and a fresh set of clothes would do me good before I sat down with the president. It'd help me clear my head and plan out how to talk to him, though I had less anxiety about talking to him about this than I did about telling him I skipped the run last night.
I rolled up to my spot and shut off my bike, but as I walked up the steps to my place I noticed the front door was unlocked. That should've been the first warning. I never left it unlocked, but my head was too full of Sara and the river and the plan to register ituntil I stepped inside and found Lightning sitting on my couch with one of my beers in his hand and his boots up on my coffee table.
"What the hell are you doing in my house?" I growled, throwing my phone and wallet on the tv stand as I walked past.
"Waiting for you." Lightning took a slow drink from the bottle and set it on the armrest. "You weren't at the ride last night." Cocky jerk had the nerve to belch and roll his neck like he was nice and comfortable.
"I had somewhere to be." I shed my cut and hung it over the back of the old leather recliner as I hovered over him, glowering. He had no right to be in my place, probably broke the door open to get in here.
"Yeah, I'll bet you did." He leaned back into the cushions and crossed one ankle over the other. "Funny thing happened while we were out. The Locust bar got hit pretty hard. Couple windows, some paint, a real mess. Whole club was there to see it happen. Whole club except you."
"I told you I had somewhere to be." My hands clamped down on the back of that recliner hard enough to crush it as anger started to bubble up.
"And when I rode past the Ducette place on my way home, Sara's dirtbike wasn't in the driveway either." Lightning tilted his head. "Where do you think she was, Crank?"
"That's none of your business," I told him plainly and there was no hiding the anger on my face as it twisted into a scowl.
"It became my business when you started sneaking around with a woman I told you to stay away from." Lightning stood up fromthe couch and set the empty bottle on the coffee table, making a few others perched there rattle against one another. "I know you're sleeping with her. Don't bother denying it."
"Get out of my house," I snarled, knowing I was about to lose control, and if I hit this guy I blew any chance I had of coming to Fox on good terms.
"In a minute. There's something you should know first." He crossed his arms and got a real smug expression on his face. "Did you know Sara has a kid?"
I'd heard the rumors a few times over the years, but I'd never seen proof of it, and she never said anything since being back. I dismissed it as nothing, but Lightning's words pricked my uneasy conscience, keeping my jaw locked shut.
"She's been keeping him hidden. Smart girl…" Lightning studied my reaction with beady eyes that made my skin crawl. "Oh and he's just precious, Crank… Short dark hair, dark eyes, looks like someone I know…"
"You're full of shit." My heart was in my throat racing like a jackrabbit. Sara wouldn’t keep something like this from me. She loves me. She said it herself before she ran off for four years… The facts started falling into place as Lightning chuckled at me sardonically.
"Am I?" He took a step closer. "Ask yourself why a woman who obviously wants you keeps pulling away every time you get close. It's not her daddy and it's not her brothers. It's the kid she's been hiding from you since she got here."
My jaw was locked so tight my teeth hurt. The room shrank down to his ugly face in front of me and my pulse was hammering behind my eyes. Sara had a kid? The thought alonewas enough to make my head spin, but my brain caught up faster than my anger. She'd been terrified and carrying something heavy every time we were together, and the conflict on her face every time she pulled away suddenly had a source.
She had a child, and she didn't know how to tell me because she thought it would drive me off.
"Get out," I snarled, this time pointing at the door. If he didn’t move now, I was gonna slug him.
"One more thing." Lightning held his ground, smirking at my response. He was eating it up, getting off on my anger. "He looks just like you, Daddy. You'd be proud."
I couldn’t stop myself. I put both hands on his cut and yanked him so close he could smell the stench of my morning breath. "The hell did you say to me?"
"Sara had your baby, Crank. And she never told you."
My fist connected with his jaw before the last word left his mouth. The punch came from somewhere deep and primal and it carried every ounce of rage and confusion and betrayal that had detonated inside my chest in the span of ten seconds.
Lightning's head snapped sideways and his body followed, stumbling backward into the screen door hard enough to tear it off one hinge. He crashed through it and landed on his back on the porch, skidding across the wood until his boots caught the railing.
"If you ever speak about Sara again, I will kill you." My voice didn't sound like mine. It was more of a roar than speech. My fist was throbbing, chest heaving, and the screen door hanging byone hinge was the only thing keeping me from following him out and finishing what I'd started.
Lightning pushed himself up from the porch and wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand and looked at it. Then he looked up at me with a wry grin and shook his head, laughing.
"That's assault on your VP," he said, straightening his cut. "But I'll let it slide 'cause you're emotional. As of right now, you're on strict orders to stay away from any outsider until further notice. That includes Sara. Those orders come from me, and if you defy them, I'll bring it to church and let the club decide what to do with you."
