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Chapter One.
August 2019.
Istared at the documents in my hand, stunned as grandmother rambled on, ignoring the fact I was standing in front of her dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe she was telling me this now, a year after Mom and Dad had died in a car crash. My world was falling around my ears, and I couldn’t understand much. Well, not after the initial words had left her lips. What I was being told was shocking, and hate welled inside me against my parents. How dare they have done such an awful thing? I rose to my feet as my grandmother tried to stop me.
“No, Grandmother, I don’t know what to do with this shit you just laid on me,” I spat, hurt in my voice.
“Thalia, please,” Grandmother said.
“Twenty-five years I’ve been lied to, all those years, and you’re as guilty as them,” I yelled. Grandmother dropped her head, and several tears trickled down her face.
“Thalia, it wasn’t my choice,” she said, her voice breaking.
“A year ago, Grandmother, you could have told me a year ago. Damn it, they’re alone out there; they don’t know!” I cried, pain in my heart. Shock wasn’t the word for what I was feeling right now. Righteous fury rose in me, and the only target I had was Grandmother. But it wasn’t fair to blame her for what my parents had done. And it was reasonable to blame her for keeping their filthy secret, for not telling the truth. It was also fair to blame her for not telling me a year ago when my parents had died on their boat.
“What are you going to do?” Grandmother whispered, worried and heartsick herself.
“Find them, Grandmother,” I said and walked away. For now, I couldn’t manage Grandmother’s pain on top of my own. Everything was far too raw, and I needed Kelly. Kelly was always there for me, my best friend in the entire world.
???
October 2019.
Bear crossed the street, heading towards Hellfire, lost in his own world. Chance had sent him out on a mission to fetch Clio the chicken satay that Clio demanded as she was craving them. Chance was panicking because they’d run out at home, and he thought he’d surprise Clio while she was at the tearooms. Bear had been amused at how the little woman had claimed and calmed his brother. Clio was a class act and held her own against the big Hellfire president. For now, she had Hellfire running circles as she carried the third legacy Hellfire president.
Well, the brothers assumed Clio was carrying a boy and that he would become president. Clio kept insisting the baby was a girl just to upset everyone, and Chance was amused at how the brothers reacted to that. Clio was six months pregnant and was now sporting a tiny baby bump. She and Chance had clashed several times over her resting, as Chance thought she wasn’t getting enough. Instead, the diminutive woman kept running at breakneck speed, much to Chance’s disgust. Her energy levels were off the charts, and pregnancy clearly agreed with her.
Bear’s stride stuttered as the content of his thoughts appeared. Clio’s long, brown hair and tiny body popped into his line of sight. She was frowning and motioning vigorously in the air with her hands as she spoke to the man standing next to her. The stranger held an amused but patient look as he strode along the street. Bear gazed at the bags in his hands and, knowing Clio would guess what they held, ducked into the shadows before she saw him.
Bear held his breath until Clio stormed past and sighed in relief that Chance’s surprise was intact. No point upsetting his brother by getting caught red-handed with Clio’s present. Bear chose the long route back to Hellfire.
???
Bear crossed the floor at the courthouse, as angry as they came. Banshee had been due to drop paperwork off at the courthouse. Tracy, his bitch ex, had been seen in Spearfish with Shee’s son, Troy. Shee had needed to check the paperwork and warrants were up-to-date, and Bear had offered to drop them off at the courthouse.
As Bear crossed the centre of the floor, voices filled the surrounding air. One caught his attention, and Bear gazed over and saw Clio arguing with a clerk. A man stood by her side as Clio made her point, punctuated by finger-pointing. Bear began to stride across to help when the stranger by her side wrapped Clio up in an embrace and pulled her close. Bear frowned, puzzled, and studied the man before fading into the background. The situation felt wrong, but he wasn’t sure why.
???
Clio nearly barged into his path, and Bear stumbled to get out of her way before he squashed her. Shee shot out a hand and helped the big man keep his balance. Clio kept her head low and stormed across the road, looking angry. Shee and Bear exchanged glances and stared after their head old lady. It was unlike Clio not to acknowledge them.
Bear began to make his way after her when he froze in horror. A man appeared and wrapped an arm around her, and dropped a kiss on her head. The stranger pulled her tight against him, and Clio wrapped an arm around his waist. Bear’s mouth dropped open as Clio and the stranger crossed the street and disappeared. The flicker of anger roared into a burning flame as Bear considered the intimacy between Clio and the stranger. Shee and Bear exchanged glances, their concerns written on their faces. Was Clio unbelievably, but incredibly, possibly cheating on Chance?
???
Bear sat on his bike overlooking the Black Hills. Lately, shit had been quiet and boring. After Chance claimed Clio, everyone expected other old ladies to follow, but it had been damn slow. Five months had passed since Chance’s claiming. He stared at the convertible parked near him in a layby and glanced back over the Hills. Leaning back, Bear considered the situations he’d seen Clio in recently.
Knowing how suspicious he was, Bear concluded that he was possibly paranoid. Clio had been raised in care homes for many years, so perhaps it was a foster brother. One that she was re-getting to know before she introduced him to Chance. There was a myriad of possibilities why Clio had been seen with the stranger several times. At least he’d had Shee with him when he’d last seen her, so Bear knew he wasn’t imagining shit.
Bear was so lost in his thoughts he missed the woman laughing until the car door slammed. He turned around and nearly choked on his own tongue as he saw Clio in the passenger seat with the strange man next to her. Before Bear could call out a greeting, the stranger put the car into gear and sped away. Bear stared after them, shocked. Why the hell would Clio be at a well-known lover’s spot with a stranger?
???
Three days later, Bear was riding through Spearfish and rumbled to a stop at the lights. He hated this set; they took ages to turn, and he’d just missed the green. His gaze drifted around, and his body stiffened. To his left and leaving a restaurant was Clio with the stranger again. Her head was tilted back, and her face lit in laughter, and Bear hated to say it… love. His gaze narrowed on the laughing girl and the man who obviously knew Clio. Clio’s hand rested on her stomach and the man’s covered hers, and then she laughed again and turned away from him.
Shit, this was worse than he’d thought. Clio was not only cheating on Chance, but the way the guy touched her stomach left chills running down his spine. Was the babe even Chance’s? Or was Clio playing Chance and everyone for a fool? Bear watched as they walked away, Clio’s hips swinging seductively, and Bear knew he had to confront her.
He stormed into the clubhouse an hour later, having ridden to cool his temper. Clio sat in an armchair, her nose buried in a book. A quick glance told him Chance wasn’t there, and only Pyro and Wraith were occupying the clubhouse. Bear strode over to where Clio sat and glared at her.
