Page 16 of Found Through Fire

I nod in response. He has nothing to apologize for; he was just as lied to as I was.

“I didn’t know she was pregnant,” is all my dad says, still deep in thought. That didn’t help the calm that I was trying to keep.

Emotion threatens to overtake me, and my voice raises an octave. “Would it have changed anything? Or would you have just taken Willow like Mom thought you would? You broke her! You promised her that you would be there, and instead, youfucked around, knocked up a bitch that was a small step up from a club girl, and took her kid! You abandoned a girl that was barely legal with no options and left her to die!” I clench my hands into fists, fighting my instincts to punch him in his fuckin’ nose. “And the part that I don’t understand is that you didn’t even pay attention to me after you took me. You just gave me to your side piece and let her play ‘Mom’ while you walked away with your new title that you weren’t even supposed to have. You only got it because you knocked up the VP’s daughter.” My knuckles crack under the strain, and my voice cracks with the weight of my words. “She came back for me, and you sent her away because you didn’t want to deal with the fact that you’re a shit person that made mistakes.”

He opens his mouth to start spewing some bullshit about how what he did was “best for the club,” since that is his go-to defense whenever someone questions him. But I’m on a roll at this point, and I’m not in the mood to hear about how he is the “savior” of the club.

“This is how I see it. Now that I know everything, you’re strictly a Brother. You checked out from being my dad the second you got the position you wanted. You never cared about being a dad. So, I’ll just let us both off the hook for that one. I’ll have your back like I do all my Brothers, but that’s it. You can keep the Step-cunt and Maggie away from me, too,” I finish in a cold, indifferent tone. He doesn’t deserve anything else from me.

“Let’s calm down for a minute,” Red jumps in, trying to de-escalate the rising tension in the room. “I’m sure Griz had his reasons. He couldn’t have known everything. He had to make a decision, and he chose. It was the wrong choice, but we can’t go back and fix it now,” he says in a calm tone, but I can see the guilt etched onto his face.

“A bad decision? My mom’s dead! She wanted me the whole fuckin’ time!” I snap, forcefully shoving the photos of her familywith Willow holding the picture of me, one of the journals, and a few of the letters on the desk in front of us.

Griz looks at the photos, slowly picking one up. If I didn’t know the cold bastard, I’d swear I could see his hand shaking slightly. He stares down at it in silence. We all see the anger on his face slowly morphing to confusion, and settling on guilt.

“I understand that this club’s based on trust and loyalty of the Brothers. I joined, just like everyone else here. That means you should’ve shown just as much loyalty to me as you did Griz. You could’ve told me about my mother when I was old enough to understand. Fuck! You could’ve told me on my eighteenth birthday or when I patched in. But no! I think you kept that to yourself so you didn’t have to feel like shit for keeping her away. I think you even tried to lie to yourself. Maybe convince yourself that she was a shitty mom and that I was better off without her, even if you knew I wasn’t wanted around my ‘family’ here. You’re my Pres, and I’ll follow what you say and be loyal to the club for the rest of my life. I’m dropping this topic. But you, Griz, and the rest of the club that knew what was going on, need to realize that you fucked over a ‘Brother’ because you were embarrassed and selfish,” I finish in an indifferent tone.

Standing up, I gather my things and hold my hand out in front of Griz. He looks up to my outstretched hand from the picture that he was staring at for the last part of the conversation, placing it on my palm. Flame stands up with me, having my back like always.

“We’ll table this discussion for later. I need you guys to know that the fuckin’ Blitz is going to be visiting with his family. He just called to let me know that he’ll be paying a visit since he is in town. I hope you can hold your shit together, just until he leaves, and we can talk about it more after,” Red says as we turn to the door. We all stop and look back at him.

“Why’s the National President in town? He’s in Tennessee,” Flame asks. It’s not normal that we get a visit from National. Usually, they only do that when a chapter needs to be straightened out.

“He just said he was in town to visit family and figured he’d stop by for a few days for a visit,” Red replies, going back to looking at the computer, ignoring Griz completely.

I just nod and turn back to the door, dismissing myself with Flame a step behind me. When we get to my door and I open it, he looks at everything laid out around my room. “You need help?” he asks while taking it all in.

“Nah, I need to do it. Thanks, man,” I reply while I gently put down the things that I brought to the office with me.

“Yup. I’m going back to the shop to finish up. Hit me up if you need something,” he says as he turns and walks away, knowing that I need a minute after the shit that just went down.

Looking at everything, I walk to my bed and get comfortable, picking up the first letter that Mom wrote my dad. I may as well start from the beginning. I’m not sure how long I have before the party to welcome Blitz starts, but I’m sure the ‘Ol Ladies are planning something for him.

CHAPTER 6

WILLOW

“When are you planning on leaving today?” My dad’s voice comes through the phone. I’m in my room trying to pack for a trip that has an unknown return date. I keep my phone tucked between my ear and shoulder as I try to fit another pair of shorts into my bag.

“I have the plane set to go at 1:30, so I’ll probably be gone by the time you guys get back,” I reply, trying to shut the zipper. I could just bring another suitcase, but that would be like admitting defeat at this point. I’m just happy that when your dad has a company plane, you don’t have to worry about weight requirements for bags.

I usually try not to take advantage of my family’s money; I like making my own. But show me one person that would fly commercial for an international flight instead of private, and I’ll show you a fucking liar.

“Will!” Dad’s voice pulls me out of the battle that I am currently having with my luggage.

“Sorry, Dad. I’m still packing since I don’t know how long I’ll be gone,” I say, feeling guilty. He called me to check in again before I left. He won’t admit it, but I think it’s harder to be away from me for an extended period of time since losing Mom. I hatethat I’m not going to be with him and my idiots while they are still grieving.

“It’s fine, baby girl. We aren’t going to get back until tonight, so remember to text us before you take off and the second that you land,” he says, and I can hear some of the stress in his voice.

“I will, I promise. I’ll even call when I can, and text, but knowing Gig’s ass, he’s going to find some security camera that he can hack into so you guys can stalk me from afar,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.

“Sounds about right. Now, remember all of the rules, and be safe. I love you. Oh, and your spotter will meet you there the day after you land. I can’t send him until we’re done with this job.” We say our goodbyes and hang up.

Uncle Mark, Aunt Jaz, and Sophia left last night after dinner. I loved that they were able to spend one more day with us. I always love visiting with them. I hate that we are so far away now, especially since Sophia’s growing up so fast.

After the way I met Jaz, they decided to make me Sophia’s godmother. I didn’t think it was the best choice, but I went with it anyway. We had dinner, and I baked more cookies since the idiots ate the first batch. Uncle Mark seemed pretty reserved after finding out that one of his chapters caused so much pain to my mother and family. I reassured him that he had no idea, so he has nothing to feel bad about. I feel like he’s stuck between loyalty to his club and guilt for not knowing sooner.

He’s the National President of the Lost Knights, and I know that he takes it seriously. I have been at his clubhouse for most “family-friendly” events, or just stopping by to visit with everyone, and he has always made sure that his chapter stays respectful to the friends of the club, not just their own families. I think he was planning on stopping by the Hidden Hills chapter on his way back home, but that’s between him and his club.