Page 22 of Bruiser's Reckoning

“I’ve been digging deeper into your woman’s background,” he remarks.

“And . . .” I promote.

“And I have a feeling that she’s not actually Simon’s sister, well more like half-sister,” he states, getting my full attention.

“The fuck do you mean by that? What have you found?”

Cy twists on his stool, motions to the prospect working behind the bar tonight for two shots, and finally looks directly at me. “From what I’ve been able to find so far, the only record of her mother giving birth is to Simon. No other records. Nothing on about surrogates or anything else. What I did find was the father had a mistress, and that mistress died shortly after giving birth due to complications. Her father took her in. They had nannies and all that shit.”

“You’re thinking the mother is behind all of the shit?” I cock a brow and grab one of the two shots the prospect sat on the bar top.

“I’m not sure about that, but she’s not Gwyneth’s mother,” Cy remarks and throws his own shot back. “I looked more into the mistress and found family relations. You won’t believe who, though.”

“Do I even want to know?” I quip, feeling my good mood slipping away.

“This is the interesting part,” he states, leaning closer. “The mistress’s name was Gwendolyn Rose.”

“So, the father named his daughter after the mistress?” I glance back to the dance floor, checking on my woman, my gut twisting.

“You got it. Gave her a somewhat different name, but the same still. Gwyneth’s birth certificate doesn’t show that name, though. It’s Simon’s mother’s name on it. They hid this from the world. But I’m thinking you get the father alone, he’ll confirm all of this.”

“Right.” I nod, not liking any of this. “Now that you told me this, what’s the actual problem you said we have?”

“The fact is, it wasn’t the father who made the deal with Johnathan to get them out of debt. It was the mother, and I was able to hack into phone records along with email. Just this afternoon, she’s given her blessing to Johnathan to have Gwyneth, even if that means killing her son to get what he wants as long as he wipes the debt clear. Aresponse came in right before I came to talk to you, Johnathan has responded that he will take this offer.”

Shit. Shit. Fucking bullshit.

“Means we need to bring Simon in to protect him. Otherwise, his ass is as good as dead,” I snarl. I’m going to have to talk to Gwyneth about this. She’s got a right to know, but it’s going to suck having to tell her. Then again, it might not be so shocking considering how her mother treated her about the whole ordeal she had to go through for those months at that fucking spa.

“You got it. We’ve got church tomorrow at noon. I figured this could wait that long, though, I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Appreciate it,” I say, nodding. “We need to get someone on Simon tonight.”

“Sent a text to both Grady men, and they’ve got it under control for tonight and will bring Simon here to the clubhouse tomorrow,” Cy states and slaps me on the back. “Enjoy tonight with your woman.” He gives me that shit-eating grin he’s known for and walks away.

Returning my attention to Gwyneth, it’s all I can do to keep from going to her, throwing her over my shoulder, and taking her to my room for a different kind of dance.

I’m about ready to do just that when Clover takes the moment to wrap herself around me.

“Hey, baby, I’ve missed you around here,” the seductive note in Clover’s voice isn’t missed. “You wanna go finish what we’d started the other night?”

“Nope,” I tell her and push her off me without hurting her. “And for the record, nothing was gonna happen, so don’t go twisting words.” I may have been shitfaced and flirting. Hell, I might have let her blow me, but I wouldn’t have fucked her. It makes me an ass even to think I’d let her blow me. I’d been fucked in the head with all the shit going on. Between thoughts of my mom and blaming my woman, it was all fucked-up.

“Come on, Bruiser, you know we’d have a good time,” Clover purrs, stroking a finger up and down the front of my shirt.

“You might want to back the hell off,” I advise, spotting my woman coming closer.

“Why? Because of that woman you brought with you?” She huffs. “You know she’s not going to give you what you need? I’ve heard about how you like to fuck hard, Bruiser, she’s not gonna let you do the dirty with her. And you know it.”

“Back off,” I warn her one last time as Gwyneth gets to us.

“Is there a reason you have a skank wrapping herself around you?” she asks, looking at me. “If I knew you were bringing me here so you could fuck sloppy, you should have told me?—”

“Princess, don’t even finish that sentence,” I snarl, yanking her to me. One hand cupping her ass, the other going up to tangle in her hair. I dip my head down until we’re nose to nose. “The only pussy I want in is yours, baby, and you damn well know it.” I don’t give her a chance to respond because, in the next instant, I claim her lips with mine, tongue thrusting in her mouth, right there in a room full of people.

At the sound of catcalls and whistles over the loud thumping music, I break the kiss and meet her gaze once again. “Now, you either get back to dancing or you ready to get fucked by your man?”

Rather than answering me with words, Gwyneth does as she always does and goes for what she wants. Jumping in my arms, she wraps her legs around my waist as I grip her hips, her lips coming back to mine.

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