Page 28 of Filthy Secret

He twists the caps off, tossing them on the counter before he extends one of the waters to me. Wrapping my fingers around the cool bottle, I bring it to my lips and take a long pull. He does the same.

I don’t know if he’s trying to buy time, but I sure as shit want him to. I don’t think I’m ready for whatever it is he’s going to say. Placing the bottle down on the counter, I lift my gaze to his, holding his attention, then I sink my teeth into the skin on the inside of my cheek.

“I’m not going to say that it’s easy to think of you having had a baby with someone else, but I want this, legs. It’s always been us, and this is just the way life happens sometimes.”

I let out a heavy sigh and turn away from him. I can’t stand to look at his face. I’m a liar, and I don’t deserve his eyes on me. He doesn’t force me to look at him, though, not the way I thought he would.

Then I decide to give him some truth. “Grover,” I whisper, trying his name out again.

I like it so much that I plan to keep calling him that. From now on, Atomic is my past, but Grover, this man is my future. And I don’t care how cheesy it sounds. It’s the truth, and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Even if I’m a lying bitch.

“Yeah,” he rasps.

Turning my head slightly, I look at the back of Adam’s head on the couch, watching his Paw Patrol cartoon. He’s so perfect. He’s the best parts of Atomic and me, smushed into one perfect little brown-haired boy's body.

“I didn’t have a baby with anyone else,” I say. “I had Adam on my own. He’s always just been mine.”

That is the truth. He’s mine. He’s always been mine. I don’t know if I should claim that kind of ownership over another person, but Adam is everything good. I’ve kept him away from Ellen, away from my family, and I’ve tried to shelter him as much as humanly possible. Although, all that sheltering was blown out of the water when Ellen’s bullshit came knocking my door down and beat the shit out of me.

Atomic’s lips twitch into a smirk. He always looks like he’s got a little inside joke, probably something dirty, working inside of his head. It’s sexy and bad all rolled into one. He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, then releases it and lifts his hand, curling his fingers around the back of my neck with a gentle squeeze.

“Then he’s ours, legs. Yours and mine.”

That hurts.

But not because he wants to claim Adam as his own, because Adam is his, and I’m keeping it from him. The lie causes me physical pain. This can’t be good. And I’m afraid I’ve now dug a hole too deep to get out of at this point.

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

ATOMIC

Rose refuses to join us and waves as we leave the house. It’s a rented house, so the landlord told Ryan to leave whatever she wanted to, and he was sure the next tenant would be happy to use the items.

I explained the situation to him, man-to-man, and he seemed more than willing to allow her to break the lease without penalty with an added comment that she was one of the best tenants he’d ever had, and if she ever decided to come back to Arkansas, he would be more than happy to rent to her again.

It was nice, but she’s not coming back—ever.

Ryan and Adam are coming to Texas, and they are never leaving again. It’s where they belong. King has already set up a place for them to live, and we’re headed straight there. His woman is waiting on standby to help since her bakery is closed on Sundays.

I lead the way, with Rim following in her car as we all head for home. I haven’t forgotten that piece-of-shit pimp or her fucking sister, and I will take care of them. I just need to make sure Ryan and Adam are settled and safe.

That is my priority. The rest I can take care of in my own time. That fucker probably doesn’t even know where I’m from, let alone how to find us. Besides, he’s too much of a pussy to come anywhere near Pineville, near my club. He attacked a woman home alone with her child in an effort to intimidate her and force her into working her sister’s debts off. He’s a goddamn pussy and a coward.

I dare him to come anywhere near me or my club again.

He wouldn’t.

He won’t.

Which is fine with me because I know how to find him. It won’t be hard. Harmony Springs isn’t very big, and there are not many pimps who go by the name Golden Joker in the world. I’m more than happy to track his silly ass down and beat the shit out of him before I kill him.

Once I cross the Texas border and head straight for Pineville, I feel a sense of relief. This is almost over. Soon, Ryan will be where she should have always been, in my bed, a bed she should have never left.

I can’t deny that I feel a sense of uneasiness and jealousy at the fact that she left me, fucked a Nomad King, and had his kid. Even if it’s true what she says, that he never even knew the boy, I want him to be mine. If I look hard enough, I see traces of me in him, which makes me wonder if it’s an elaborate lie she’s told to protect herself.

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