by Shyla Colt
“So, you stayed silent for the greater good?”
Ellen nodded. “And he helped, paid the bills, got me set up and on my feet.” Her eyes grew glassy. “He was there when I had you.” Her mother released her hand and reached into the box, taking out a picture.
Joey’s hand shook as she reached out, grasped the square and brought it to her. He was big and broad-shouldered with a shock of chocolate-brown hair he kept pulled back off his face, and kind hazel eyes. He had an oval face full of angles and the full lips she’d inherited. His long thin nose matched the one saw in the mirror daily. There was no doubt this man was her father. Tears rolled down her face. This was where she came from.
“This is Joseph Trent, better known as Wanderer, president of the Crazy Eights.”
“The president?” Joey’s voice cracked and she shook her head. “He left you on your own this entire time?”
“No.” Her mother shook her head. “We get a monthly stipend and anything I’ve ever needed has been taken care of. They understood why I left. There were no hard feelings or excommunication. Technically, I’m still a member of the family, but they understood I didn’t want my father anywhere near you.”
“So, you didn’t just leave because of—Wanderer?”
Her mother nodded.
“Have you been in contact with him?” Joey asked.
Her mother glanced away.
“Are you kidding me?” Joey said. The betrayal hurt.
“He used to come around when you were younger,” her mother said.
“And now?”
“Now we talk on the phone regularly and get together every couple of months.”
“Why would you keep this from me?” Joey asked, floored. Her mother had never been the secretive type.
“For you, Joey. I wasn’t going to pull you into this life out of the blue.” She shook her head. “Don’t you understand, you’re the president’s kid? That comes with a lot.”
“Oh, bullshit!” Joey tossed the picture down on the bed.
“There are enemies, protocol and titles.” She shook her head. “All things that need to be applied to protect you now.”
“Why? All of sudden he gets a wild hair up his ass and wants to claim me?”
“When he found out about Moose.”
“Oh-ho, I see.” Joey laughed. “This is a case of whose is bigger? How dare some lowly biker claim me!”
“He just wants to—”
“No. I don’t want to hear any more, Mom. I think you’ve covered for him enough, don’t you?”
Her mother clamped her mouth shut and shook her head. “This is why I made the decision to come to you one on one. He wanted to walk in like a bull in a china shop—”
“I’ve never known you to be the lie-there-and-take-it type.”
Her mother clenched her jaw. “Are you saying I am now?” she asked, speaking through her teeth.
“If the shoe fits…” Joey shrugged.
“You listen to me, little girl. I understand you’re pissed at me and you have every right to be. But if you think for one second I’ll stand for disrespect, you’ve lost your mind. I raised you on my own, wiped your ass, fed and clothed you. The fact that we had help doesn’t change any of that. Am I taking up for your father right now? No, but I see where he’s coming from. He wants to make sure you have an out. A claim that will save you if things go wrong with Moose. Something I didn’t have.” Her mother’s voice cracked. “I can’t be upset with him for that. So don’t ask me to.”
Joey bowed her head, taking in all the newly gained information. “What do you want me to do, Mom?”
“Whatever you feel is right. I’m not here to sway you either way. Your dad fucked up big-time. I’ll be the first to admit that. I’ve been saying it to him for years. Originally, we made the best of a bad situation, but then we let it go too far to ever fully recover smoothly.”
“So why the one-on-one?”
“Because I wanted you to hear everything from me. Firsthand, not secondhand, diluted or without a mother’s love. Wanderer knows he can’t step in now and be your father. But he wants a relationship with you.”
“Did he send you to do his dirty work?” Joey sneered, disgusted with the man who helped create her.
“No. He doesn’t even know we’re having this conversation,” her mother said.
The ire lifted minutely.
“You don’t have to know all the answers now, Josephine. It’s a lot to process. Take your time, digest it. Then, make your list of questions and come back.”
“What’s all this?” Joey gestured to the bed.
“Parts of my life I kept to myself. Some that involve Wanderer and others that are from a family. It’s time you knew where you came from,” her mother said.
“Is he—Grandpa still alive?”
Her mother scowled. “Yes, the old bastard is too mean to die.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about him. He’s on his last leg and mostly too drunk to know what the hell is going on these days.”
The blank tone made Joey want to wince. Her mother had been through hell and saddled with the responsibility of a child. “Mom, I’m sorry.”
Her mother sniffed and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “No, it’s my fault for not telling you sooner. I didn’t want to rehash it and that was wrong on my part.” She walked over to Joey and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tightness formed around her eyes and her temples. After that what could she say? “I don’t…” Joey shook her head.
“It’s okay. I wasn’t expecting you to say anything right now. I’m sorry I kept this from you.”
“Are there any other skeletons that might jump out of your closet?” Their gazes met and she conveyed a silent message. The time to air dirty laundry was now. One more massive breach of trust and the relationship they’d formed over the years would be severely damaged.
“No, that’s it.”
Joey nodded, ready to take her mother’s word. If her father’s return divided them, he would win. She couldn’t let that happen.
Chapter Eight
Joey hung up her cell. Moose being called away flooded her with relief. She wasn’t ready to share her revelation, and there was no way she could fake being all right.
“Everything okay?” Her mother said over the rim of her mug.
“Yeah, Moose just had to head back to the club to take care of a few things.” She looked over the pictures on the bed. Her mother’ stories had brought them to life. Too upset to drive, she’d decided to stay awhile. They agreed to leave the topic of her father on the back burner. Seeing images of her mother in all her glory, young, happy and svelte, helped ease the sting of betrayal. “Where’s the club located?”
“On the border of the west side, they have a decent-size club off Stone Street. I haven’t been there in years.”
The words lit a fire inside her. “I think I’m ready to be alone now.”
“I understand.” Her mother squeezed her hand.
Joey stood up. She’d bring the fight to her father. A plan began to shape in her head. She’d confront him. Bring the fight to his doorstep. Waiting around for him to show up out of nowhere would drive her crazy. Two can play this game, old man. After a slightly strained goodbye, she got into her car and made the drive out to the west side. Her stomach knotted and she went over the conversation in her mind. What does one say after so many years of secrecy and lies?
While part of her understood why, the other part was mad as fuck. How could anyone abandon his daughter and her mother for this long? The first year or two when he took over the presidency? Okay, she’d give him that. The rest of the time however, was unaccounted for. She clutched the steering wheel tightly as she pulled up in front of a gated building.
A massive man with tan skin and hair as dark as midnight swaggered across the parking lot. The muscles on his arms rippled as they swung. Unsure, she remained in the car and rolled down the window. They didn’t know who she
was yet. There was no telling how they might treat her.
“Sweetheart, I think you’re lost.” He flashed a bright-white grin that softened the harshness of his angular face. The white rectangle under the club’s emblem of a yellow eight ball announced him as Sly.
“Oh no, Sly, I’m exactly where I should be. I’m here to see Wanderer.”
His eyebrows flew up and he tilted his head. “I can’t say you seem his type. He’s not a man one disturbs for the hell of it.”
“You go in there and tell him Joey is out front.”
Sly furrowed his brow.
“You can turn me away, but it’ll be your ass that gets reamed for it.” She shrugged.
He glanced away and patted the roof of her car. “All right, stay here.”
While she watched him stalk away, she released her death grip on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. Would he come out here to see her? Her chest grew tight and her palms began to sweat.
Sly left the clubhouse alone. His face was set in an unreadable expression.
Her heart plummeted. She put on her game face, wiped the moisture from her palms and sat up straight.
Sly opened the gate.
Joey pulled into the parking space he waved her toward. She rolled up her window, cut the engine and stepped out of the car. Careful to stand up and utilize her six feet, she prayed he didn’t notice the tremors descending on her body.
“Apparently you have pull,” Sly noted.
She shrugged.
“I’ll take you back to the office.”
She followed him inside the building and it was like entering another world. Twice the size of the Mayhem’s club, it seemed to swallow her whole as she entered. Leather couches sat against the wall along with booths. Two large pool tables sat side by side in the far corner on the room. The crack of cue balls coming together melded with the rock and roll coming from speakers. The room was full of bodies that ranged in age and size. Their eyes followed her as she walked behind Sly, but no one spoke. I wonder what Wanderer told them? They entered a long hallway and the noise receded.
At the end of the hall, a lone door stood open. Time grew sluggish. Blood rushed in her ears and each step felt harder than the last as an invisible weight descended. Sly stopped in front of her and her pulse raced. She curled her fingers into fists, digging her fingernails into the flesh of her palm to keep herself steady.
“Here she is, Boss.”
“Thanks, Sly.”
Sly stepped back and she slowly approached, gripping the door frame as she took Wanderer in. Silence engulfed them. Energy expanded as if trapped by an invisible bubble. Their gazes met. Green bored into brown. He appeared larger in real life. His shoulders filled out the black t-shirt that molded to his muscular arms and black leather vest. Streaks of gray stood out in his dark hair. I bet this life makes you go gray early.
Wanderer sighed, leaned forward, placing his forearms on the desk. “Come in and close the door.”
She remained frozen to the spot.
“Please.”
The request set her into motion and she stepped forward, pushing the heavy wooden door behind her.
“Take a seat, please. I didn’t expect this.”
“I didn’t like the idea of being a sitting duck.”
“That’s a bit harsh,” he said.
“No, being blindsided by all of this…” She waved her hand to indicate the pictures that covered the wall, a physical timeline of the club’s growth and development.
“Couldn’t see a way to soften the blow.” Wanderer shrugged.
“No, because suddenly you couldn’t keep your life, opinions and legacy to yourself, which is laughable, considering I’m damn near thirty and it worked fine for you all that time.”
He gritted his teeth. “Okay, I deserve that.”
“And more. I’m not done, so you might want to brace yourself,” Joey said allowing the rage that had built up to seep out.
“If anyone else talked to me like that…” Wanderer’s jaw jumped.
“Yes, but I’m not just anyone, am I?” She crossed her arms under her breasts.
“No, and you’re definitely your mother’s daughter.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing…” She paused. “I don’t even know what to call you.”
A spark of hurt flared up in his eyes before he tamped it down. “Your choice.” His voice sounded gruff.
“Wanderer.”
“That works.” He nodded.
“Are we going to sit here and keep pretending everything is fine, or map out how this is going to go down?” Wanderer was an imposing man, but she couldn’t afford to be timid. This fight was too important. It would set the stage.
“What are you expectations here, Joey? I know you’re not ignorant of the way things work. Your mother made it a point to keep you informed. When you started seeing a member of Mayhem, you forced my hand.”
“I didn’t force shit.”
“You need to watch your mouth. You talk to me like that in public and there’s going to be a problem. You have the right to be mad. So I’ll give you leeway for now. That’s not going to last,” Wanderer said.
She bit back her automatic response. He wasn’t some guy from suburbia and she couldn’t approach him as if he were. “I understand,” she said.
“Good, now if you can hold your tongue, I’ll explain.”
She gave a curt nod.
“When you weren’t in the life, speaking up was a choice. One I decided against, because it allowed you the freedom your mother and I didn’t grow up with. Once you took up with Moose, I couldn’t stand on it. Letting you go around flying his flag and ignoring mine would be a smack to the face. As you can imagine, I’m not the type to take that lying down.”
“Why? No one knows.”
“The community can be small and one good look at the both of us and it’s easy to put two and two together. I learned a long time ago leaving loose ends untied is a bad idea.”
“Are you saying this could start a war?” Her chest constricted and she gripped the arms of her chair tightly.
“I’m saying it could ruin the friendly setup we’ve held for years.”
“I don’t want that.”
“Neither do I. No one wants to go to war. It’s ugly, and there are always casualties on both sides. Yet, respect is everything. I need you to understand how important that is. Respect and fear keep you safe and on top of the heap. I can’t lose from either angle. I’m in charge of more people than you and your mother.”
“So once again, they come first. Isn’t that how this has been set up from the beginning?” she scoffed.
“Do you have any clue what would’ve happened to me? What might still, once this comes out? Procreating with another brother’s daughter without consent or acknowledgement? That’s a bloodletting offense.” He shook his head. “I don’t know if your mother explained her father—”
“She did,” Joey said. If he was trying to change the topic, she wasn’t about to let him.
“Then you know how literally that man takes those words.”
“But you’re the president.”
He shook his head. “Clubs are founded on rules. If they aren’t followed and reinforced, it all goes to shit. If we don’t approach this situation a certain way, I’m fucked. As is, it could make me shaky with the older members. People here remember Stargazer well. A breath of fresh air in this charter, she was well-loved. Old ladies are going to want to see my ass handed to me.” He shook his head.
“Are you saying you don’t deserve it?” She sucked on the inside of her cheeks, daring him to say yes.
“No, I should’ve manned up a long-ass time ago. And I sincerely apologize for that.” He leaned across the desk and took her hand. “I would change it if I could. But the past is behind, and I’m looking toward the future.”
His words were logical, but they did nothing to soothe the hole ripped in her heart. “So what? You expect me to give up my ent
ire life now?”
“No. But I do expect you to claim your proper title and acknowledge us. We need to plan this out carefully.”
“Plan what?”
“Moose’s request to court you. Shit, we need to come up with a damn good reason why I let you go outside the crew.”
“Don’t you think you should worry about telling people I exist first?” she asked, not able to follow the frog-leaping his brain was doing.
“They all know you exist. They just don’t know I’m your father.”
“Uh huh, and how are you planning on spinning that?”
“I’m going to tell them I saw you recently and it became damn clear where your lineage lay.”
“You planning on painting my mother in a bad light again?” She ground her teeth together.
“No, I’m going to set the record straight about that too. But you should know, we don’t judge here. Not her.” He shook his head.
“That’s something at least, because she sure as hell doesn’t deserve that.”
“I know.” His voice lowered and he dropped her gaze.
Good, you should be ashamed, asshole. “How do we plan on doing this, do I have some fucked-up version of a quinceanera?”
Wanderer snorted. “Now that you get from me.”
Despite her anger, the words planted a tiny bulb. At the end of the day, this man was her father. His blood ran through her veins and overall, he wasn’t a bad man, just one who had made a thoughtless decision that locked him into a lie.
“Then this…partnership should be interesting,” Joey noted. “What’s the first step?”
“Tonight I’ll round everyone up, tell them about you and let the fallout happen. When it’s settled down, we’ll bring you in and let you get to know everyone.”
“Okay, so I’ll let Moose know to hang—”
“No.” Wanderer shook his head. “This is club business. Nothing is discussed until we have our shit together.”
“You expect me to lie? That won’t fly.” She shook her head. “Look where it got you and Mom.”
“Fuck, your mouth is sharp enough to cut diamond. Since we’re being blunt, I know he’s not your old man. You’re lucky I’m respecting the relationship at all.”
