Page 74 of Tech

“You shouldn’t be here, Brook; you should be resting,” she murmurs, her head looking behind her as she moves something.

I nod. “I know, but something didn’t sit right with me and hasn’t for weeks now.” She furrows her brows at me. “When I called you a patch chaser, you flipped—slapped me—then looked extremely guilty and shocked, and I want to know why.”

She shakes her head, her eyes going to Breaker, and then back to me. "You should go home, Brook.”

I tilt my head, ignoring her command. “I heard the stories; you were accused of trying to trap Eagle, and he screwed Tats' mother as punishment, only to find out a month later you actually were pregnant and so was the clubwhore he cheated on you with.”

Her tears fall. “I thought it was a false positive, and everyone, including women I thought were my friends, accused me of trying to trap him; they called me a patch chaser but he’s the one who chased me.”

I walk closer to her as her eyes cloud with memories, feeling Breakers' eyes on my back as he listens to Carol.

“I love my husband so much, but I think he’s silently punished me over the years. He still believes I trapped him even to this day.” She looks at me. “He cheated on me; he slept with someone else in front of me, keeping eye contact, while his father held me in place.” My eyes widen in shock. I mean, that’s just sick and cruel. She scoffs, “He told me if I wanted to keep my baby, then I had to marry him, had to accept his patch and put what he did behind us, and he’d put what I so-called did behind him, yet he never did. He still brings it up in arguments while I kept my mouth shut with the pain he put me through, all while looking after Tats, who is an amazing man, reminding me that he could have been my husband’s.”

My eyes tear up, and I ask, “Nina?”

She shakes her head. “Got in my head. She knew about my past because of James. When he was sixteen, he thought he loved her, and he opened up to her, not realizing some of the stories he heard weren’t stories. I saw an opening to get him out of the club like I wanted to before the doctor confirmed my pregnancy. I didn’t want him to be like his father, to physically hurt someone the way my husband did to me. When he met you, I saw how sweet he was, but Nina said all the right things to make me panic when she showed up out of the blue. Everyone thought we were in contact over the years, but we weren’t, I lied, thinking James would go for it….”

I sigh. “She told you he was abusive, right?”

She nods. “And that they slept together after you two got together. She told me she was pregnant to boot, so I pushed her on him because I thought she’d convince him to leave the club. I thought he was in love with her and was using you to hurt her like his father had done to me with Snatch, and then I saw how you truly felt about my son, and I had this urge to protect you…and that’s when I gave you the check. You calling me a patch chaser, it hit the mark, and I snapped.”

My heart fills with compassion for her, and I know I should be screaming and shouting, but all I can think of is this woman has been treated badly by a man I look at like a second father, and I really want to punch him in the face.

She loved him enough to join the club for him, only for him to throw it back in her face, and she’s done things to try and protect her child.

“I’m so sorry I kept her in your life, Brook. I-I’m so-so sorry she tried to have-have your baby—my grandbaby—killed,” she whispers, her tears coating her cheeks.

I rush over to her, taking her in my arms, holding her tight, her arms wrapping around me.

“Well, this isn’t what I expected to see,” James says, breaking the moment a few minutes later, and I groan.

“Sarah failed….”

Carol snorts, squeezing me to her.

We hear him state, “Angel, Sarah is a shit liar. I thought you would have learned that after you both tried to sneak into my computer system to order boxes of glitter for the club?”

I grin wide, pulling back, and Carol laughs, holding my hand.

That was a good day. He may have caught me, but I still got the delivery sent. The common room looked like a disco ball for days, upsetting large, growly men who kept getting covered in glitter every time they touched a surface.

Yep, good day….

I look at James and see him point at Breaker. “I expect to see you in the ring later, brother; we’ve just found out she’s pregnant, and then I find her gone. Not okay.”

Breaker groans, dropping his head, making me grin.

Carol squeezes my hand, causing me to look at her. She whispers, “I was wrong. He loves you, darling. Please don’t punish him for my actions.”

I smile, squeezing her hand back.

“Carol?” Eagle questions, and I look his way. His eyes are sad, but he also seems confused, and I look back at Carol. She’s straightened her shoulders, and determination surrounds her, and it hits me.

She was walking out the front door before she saw me, holding something….

“Oh no….” I whisper as James’s hand goes around my waist, pulling me back to him, and his momma goes to the door.

“Angel?” he asks, but I shake my head as I watch her fake confidence for what she’s about to do.

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