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“So what happened to them?”
“I did as she asked, I stayed away. And it turns out I had a baby girl. I already had another daughter. Her name was Hayley. And every day that I watched her grow I thought about the daughter I never got to meet. I wondered if she looked like me, if she had attitude like her big sister had. I’d heard that her Mama got married before she was born, that she was doing alright for herself. And I accepted that for a lot of years. But then I lost Hayley,” he tells me, his voice breaking slightly.
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” His story is tragic, no wonder he’s such a hard man.
“She was so young, I didn’t know how to deal. And I reacted to it by doing something real fuckin’ selfish,” he admits.
“What did you do?” I ask him intrigued.
“I looked my girl up. I went back on the promise I made her Moma and I found out what I could about her.On paper she had the perfect life, everything a girl her age would ever want. But I had this niggle in my gut that she needed more. That she needed me.”
His eyes well up and I squeeze his hand in mine.
“I fucked things up so bad with Hayley, and I guess I needed to be needed. So I set a plan in motion, one to help me get to know her better. I put someone in her life, so he could tell me about her. I just wanted to know simple stuff, like what food she liked, and if she got good grades. I just wanted to fucking know her.”
I look over my shoulder for Nyx, wondering why he’s opening up to me like this, Prez doesn’t seem like a talk about your feelings kinda guy, especially to a stranger.
“I got word that the people who killed Hayley, knew the club were interested in my daughter, and I panicked. I was so mad that he’d fucked up, when really, I should never have asked him to be in her life in the first place. I blamed him for my fuck up, and I punished him by sending him away. And I didn’t realize I was breaking my girl’s heart by doing that.” He looks at me guiltily, and I swallow thickly when I start to link everything together.
“You sent him away,” I check.
“Yeah.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, suddenly feeling off guard, with a strong suspicion there’s more to this story, something that involves me.
“This club is protective of its family. Daughters are off limits,” he tells me. “Nyx broke the rules.”
I take in a stuttered breath and my eyes turn blurry with tears.
“The woman you were in love with, the mother of the child. What was her name?” I ask him. Pretty sure I already know the answer.
“Joanne,” he says, watching my reaction as I back away from him.
“You’re… my…” His head nods back at me slowly, and I feel tears pinching between my eyes.
“I’m ya dad, darlin’,” he tells me, and I’m totally unprepared for the huge wave of relief that crashes over me, I close up the space I’ve made between us and throw my arms around him.
This is all so messed up. I’ve been lied to for my whole life. Yet all I can focus on is the fact that monster who has tormented me for so long isn’t my real father. Prez is clearly shocked at my reaction and remains still for a few beats, before his arms tighten around me and I feel him release a relieved breath.
“I thought you’d be mad,” he muffles into my shoulder.
“I don’t know how I feel. Honestly, I’m just relieved that I didn’t come from that evil man,” I sob and smile at the same time.
“Look, you don’t have to answer this now, think on it for a while.” He pulls me back, holding me by my shoulders so he knows I’m listening to him. “I want more than anything for you and the kid to stay here for us to make up for all the time I missed out on. But you gotta know,I’ve got enemies out there, darlin’. People who’d want to hurt you if they knew you meant anything to me. I’d let Nyx take you somewhere else, anywhere you wanna go.”
“I lived under the same roof as someone who wanted to hurt me,” I explain. “I’ve never felt safer than I have here. I want us to stay here.” I wipe away my tears and smile at him.
“You have no idea how shit I feel ‘bout what happened to you, if I’d have known what he was capable of I would have got you out of there a long time ago,” Prez tells me looking disappointed.
“I had a sister,” I distract him from his guilt. I don’twant to talk about my past now.
“You did, and I think Hayley would have really liked you,” he tells me with a proud smile and eyes full of tears.
“I’d really like to get to know you better, tell you more about her if that’s what you want,” he says.
“I’d really like that,” I nod back. “And Dylan, shit, he’s your grandson.” It all makes sense now. The way he’d treated me that night I came here. The way he’d held my little boy.
“Yeah, and I’d really like to get to know him too,” Prez tells me. “Look, I’m right next door, any time you wanna talk. We can take it slow, we got time now.”
