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Turning to face him, he pales slightly as my ire is focused solely on him now. “And who the fuck are you, anyway? And don’t give me that shit about swearing, since yourwifeis the home wrecker in this scenario.” I pause at her surprised look and smirk darkly at her. “I was the faithful one, Lillian. You’re the home wrecker by opening the door and letting him in.”
“I told you–”
“Don’t even try that, Lillian. We both know you never said a word about being upset or unhappy about me being a part of the club. Hell, you always had fun whenever we went there for parties. We were even in the final stages of getting the blueprints done for our house when you decided to start cheating on me.”
Dipshit clears his throat and stands a little taller. “I’m Preston Cole. I own the car lot downtown. Lillian wanted to be married before our little Mae arrived,” he says as he looks down at her. She smiles shakily up at him before looking back at me.
Fury rises in me at what he’s implying, and the little bitch says nothing. Doesn’t correct him.
“You were going to try to prove I was an unfit parent and takemydaughter from me. Weren’t you?”
“Like I said, the clubhouse isn’t—”
“Just shut the fuck up, Lillian. I’m tired of your lies. You were actually excited when we met with Timber to build a house in the compound.” I turned toward Cole, who seems like he might be realizing things aren’t measuring up with what his dearwifehad told him. “You can have her. Just be careful that she doesn’t cheat on you, too.”
I turn to open the door, but don’t miss her hurt face. She’s not the one hurt in this scenario. She doesn’t get to pull that shit. And if she’s thinking I’d fight for her after what she just pulled, she’s dead wrong.
Before I shut the door, I turn back to her. I have to get it off my chest, otherwise, I’ll never forgive myself for not saying it.
“Just so you know, Lil. I would have left the club for you and Mae. All you had to do was tell me.” Once again, she falls silent, the shock evident on her face as Preston looks between us nervously before I shut the door. Ending that chapter of my life.
“Three months later, she came back here to see me. Told me she’d messed up. Fell for Preston’s lies. He cheated on her, and she wanted me back. I told her to go pound sand, and to never come around here again.” I sigh heavily, not wanting to tell the rest, but needing to get it off my chest.
“For the first few years, on major holidays and the anniversary of her birth and death, I’d end them all the same. Me staring down the barrel of my 45. After a few minutes, I’d put it away. Never pulled the trigger, not even to play Russian roulette. Even though I wanted to be with her again, I knew she’d be pissed as fuck if I did something like that.”
A small gasp has me looking up at Levi. She fully crawls off Dragon’s lap and kneels on the couch cushion between us before placing her hands on both sides of my face, almost as if she was making sure I couldn’t look away.
“If you ever get that feeling again, come and find me. I will help you through it or anything else that may be bothering you enough to do the same thing.”
“It’s been… fuck, almost twenty years since I did that, so I doubt I’ll be doing it anytime soon.”
“Still, if something does happen, promise me you’ll find me before you even think of picking up a weapon. You hear me, Jaxon?”
The fact that she used my first name made my chest tighten further, and that’s when I see the fear in her eyes.
“I promise, kiddo.”
Her body visibly relaxes and then she pushes me back slightly before crawling into my lap, hugging me tightly.
“Can I see little Mae’s picture?”
I pull back from her and reach inside my cut for the laminated picture I always keep on me. Hell, I have one in my wallet too, as well as on my nightstand.
“She’s so pretty,” she whispers as her fingers trace over the picture.
“That she is. My little Mae Rose.”
“…Is … Is it okay if I get a copy of this? I’d like to put it up in our house. …If that’s okay with you?” She gnaws on her lip. I’m not even sure if she knows but her gnawing on her lip is her biggest tell that she’s nervous or stressed. I stare at her in shock before wrapping her in a tight hug.
“Yeah, kiddo, I’ll get one printed off for you.”
I hadn’t even realized Thor and Dragon had left until I hear the click of the door latching. Levi pulls back and wipes the tears from her cheek.
“When it’s just us or us at the house, can I call you Jax? Or would you prefer I still call you Smoke?”
The tightness in my chest from reliving my memories seems to evaporate as I look down at my sister.
“You can call me Jax—you don’t even need to call me Smoke if you don’t want to. Even here in the clubhouse. You’re my sister, so you can call me whichever you prefer.”
