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My mom smiled. “So we found.”
“Woah. That doesn’t explain you ending up with Dad and sticking around for fourteen years.” I tapped on the table. It didn’t make any fucking sense.
“I fell in love with your father.” Her voice was soft and her gaze staring at the space behind me like she was watching a moving playing on the wall. “They tried to pull me out, but they forgot that I knew things that they didn’t want a motorcycle club to know. I threatened to tell, hoping they wouldn’t call my bluff. If I’d admitted to what I was doing there, the club would have killed me.”
It was a harsh reality, but it was true. More so back then than it was now. We had cleaned up our act, learning how to make money out of legitimate businesses had overtaken our need to run drugs to survive.
“I handed in my badge. They left me alone.” She shrugged like it was nothing. Like she hadn’t made one of the hardest decisions in her life, simply because she fell in love with the wrong man. “When I had you, Hands started drinking more and more. It spiraled out of control and I was beginning to get scared. He hit me a few times. Always told me I was spending too much time on you and not giving him the attention he needed.”
I frowned. “I don’t remember you spending a lot of time with me. You were there, but not like the other kids with their parents.”
She swallowed harshly and water brimmed her eyes, “I felt like I had chosen this life. I’d given up everything, my parents, my family back home. I felt that I needed to make him happy to make it work. So I put him first.” The tears trickled down her cheek and Judge placed his large hand over hers, squeezing it gently.
I felt sick.
It was like everything I’d believed in my head had been tossed into a burning fire and I was watching it go up in flames.
“The first time I saw him hit you was the day I found out I was pregnant with Delaney. And I knew then, I wouldn’t put another child through what I’d put you through.” She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. I couldn’t speak. I was entranced, I was angry.
But surprisingly, not with her.
“I told Dealer I was leaving. He understood. But when I tried to take you with me…” she paused and shook her head, “…Hands threatened to kill the both of us if I tried.”
I threw my chair back and it crashed against the wall, barely missing Eagle who jumped out of the way. “The bastard didn’t even want me! He spent more time abusing me than he ever did talking to me!”
A sob broke from my mom’s chest.
“You were his legacy,” Optimus muttered before turning to look up at me.
I seethed. My breathing was heavy and I could feel my own tears begin to attack.
“You were his link to the club. He knew he was on thin ice with Dealer, the only reason he was allowed to stick around was because everyone wanted to protect you. Your mom had already walked out, they weren’t about to take your dad too.” Op shook his head. “He knew it.”
I braced my hands on the table and hung my head.
My mom sniffed. “I went to Judge. He’d already had ideas about starting a club, and with my knowledge and connections in the MC world, the FBI jumped at the chance to let me back in.”
“Lane isn’t his then?” Leo pointed to Judge.
Judge chuckled loudly, the sound reminded me of Santa Claus. “And she isn’t my Old Lady.”
My brothers and I all stared at him wide eyed. “Oh, come on. You really think an old man like me could pick up a beautiful woman like her? Not that I wouldn’t mind with a tight ass like that.”
“Bro,” I warned, screwing up my face in disgust. “That’s my mom, man. Keep your dirty comments to yourself.”
I saw her face brighten as I spoke, and I knew just that one comment had meant more to her than anything.
“Unless we’re all gonna sit around and start crying and sharing our feelings, can we get on to why you felt the need to tell us all this? When you could have just as easily continued with your lives and not risked being ratted out and hunted down by every MC in the country?” Slider’s words sobered us all.
He was right. There was a reason they were here. We could take what they’ve told us and ultimately destroy them.
“We're asking you to help us one more time,” Judge said solemnly.
Optimus sat a little straighter. “You're kidding right?”
A young woman stepped into the room, walking around the table and standing behind Judge. Black straight hair framed her face and dark brown eyes watched us cautiously. She was tall but slim, her denim jeans and T-shirt hugged her body firmly.
“This is Hadley, she needs someone to watch out for her, protect her,” Mom explained, smiling over at the girl.
