Page 70 of Wait For Me

“They ruined my life!” She yelled back at him.

“No, I did that. I screwed up and ruined what we had. That was on me. Not them. You will not put that blame anywhere other than where it belongs.” He patted his chest. “Right here. Now, leave before we end things on an even worse note. You made your choice, go on.”

“Tripp,” she whined, but obviously she saw what we all did too. My father had grim determination lined across his face. He wouldn’t be changing his mind after her outburst.

“My daughter is sick. She’s going to need me right now. You’re not going to agree with that choice, so there’s no point in having this argument.”

June turned and stomped out of the house. Breakneck followed behind her, doing his job. She was still the threat in the area, and he would make sure she didn’t double back and attempt to cause trouble.

When I turned back around, my father eyed me warily. “I never intended for the two of you to know.”

“How did you think that would work? You’ve been dating her again for how long?” I asked.

“Two years, except the time when I saw her out with her husband.”

“Her husband?” He nodded. “Holy shit, what the hell? You know what? Never mind. I don’t even want to know what you were thinking. You need to get in touch with Davina about everything. She got a copy of all three DNA test results, so she knows that Kip is a relative, which leaves you as the father. Let her know that I would like to meet my sister sometime soon.”

“It sounds like you’re kicking me out.” Dad tried to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn’t.

“I am. You need to leave because I’m so infuriated with you right now, the things I want to say will do permanent damage.”

He hung his head low and walked to the door. Kip trailed behind him but looked back at me. “I’ll be angry with him later. Right now, he needs someone to be there for him.”

“Thank you,” I murmured to my brother as he followed our father out of the house.

“Come here, Twinkles.” Jared wrapped me up in his arms and held tight to me. It felt as though his arms were the only thing holding me together.

“What just happened?” I asked him quietly as the tears started. “I thought they had a great marriage.”

“From everything I ever heard, they did. You just heard the angry words from a woman who has been scorned. Her side of things doesn’t necessarily reflect your fathers. You should know that better than anyone.”

“Yeah, but still.”

“If you really want to know, try talking to Mack. I’m sure he knows everything. It’s hard to hide a fiancé in the mix when you’re club brothers who are as close as the real deal.”

“You think he knew?”

“I think, if he didn’t, Tripp might need to rip his own patch off because if he doesn’t Mack will do it for him.”

“That would be awful.”

“Maybe, but I think Mack already knows. From all accounts those two were tight long before your dad and mom got together.”

“Yeah, they were.” I sniffled against his chest. “This is a bigger mess than I originally thought it would be.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I be honest?”

“Always honesty with us, Twinkles. Even if it hurts.”

“I kind of hoped the baby was Kip’s and that it would rip Ash and him apart. I’m a horrible sister.”

“Nah, you just have strong feelings. It’s not like you had a cake waiting to be delivered, proclaiming him the father.”

“Damn, I didn’t think of that.”

Jared laughed and I joined him, though it was more of a reluctant chuckling on my part. “Everything will be okay,” Jared told me as his lips pressed against the top of my head.

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