Page 38 of Ky

“Where’s Finn?” I croak, my voice gravelly when I speak, but I ignore the pain in my throat.

“He’s at your place with Ella. Apparently Mariah has gone out for the night,” she calls out, as I’m already headed in that direction before she finishes speaking.

"Thanks," I say, already halfway out the door, the rest of her sentence swallowed by the sounds of others around me.

I crave Finn’s presence, to look into his innocent eyes and see his precious smile. My thoughts go to where Mariah could be right now, shaking my head since she doesn’t seem to give a shit about her own son.

But before I could see my son, I needed to clear my head. To get away from everyone and everything at the clubhouse. But as I throw my leg over my sled, I hear Everleigh’s voice calling out to me.

“Ky, wait. Please.” Her voice is pleading, and no matter how much I want to, I can’t ignore it. But if she thinks she can get me to forgive my father for what he did, she’s got another thing coming—but despite the conflicting emotions inside me telling me to keep walking, I stop and wait for Everleigh to catch up.

She sounds a little out of breath when she speaks, and I narrow my gaze at her. She has always been the picture of health, and I can’t help thinking there’s more at play here than any of us know.

“Your father is dealing with a few things. Please don’t take what happened in there to heart.”

I chuckle, but it’s far from humorous. “Don’t take to heart the fact my father was about to choke me if you and Tiny hadn’t come in?” Her eyes widen, and a tear slides down her cheek. Ican’t stand when a woman cries, and I turn my head, staring down at my steel capped moto boots.

Everleigh links her arm with mine, forcing me to the picnic tables we have scattered around the backyard. The cool night air goes a long way to clearing my head.

She lowers her head, and I can tell she’s at war with her own thoughts, but slowly lifts her head to look at me. Unshed tears shining in her green eyes.

“There’s something I want to tell you. But you have to promise not to tell Lukas or Lily,” she says, and my stomach knots at her grave expression. I drop my ass on the bench at the picnic table.

Do I really want to know?

Do I want to be the one holding back secrets from my siblings? But if it’s bad, then hell yeah, I’ll protect them

I take a deep breath. “Okay, you’ve got my promise. What is it?”

I watch Everleigh for a minute as she paces, before sitting down next to me. She’s about to tell me something big, I can tell, and I’m bracing for impact. If something’s wrong with my dad, I don’t know how much more shit I’ll be able to take.

“I found a lump in my breast last week.”

A long, thick silence fills the air, thick with tension, after she’d told me her news. Whatever I was expecting her to say to me, it definitely wasn’t this. Before I could think further on it, I take her hand in mine, as she lowers her head. “I’m going in for a biopsy tomorrow to see if it’s benign or cancerous.”

“Shit! Everleigh, I’m so sorry. I honestly don’t know what to say,” I reply lamely. But that explains so much. The way my pops flew off the handle, something he never would’ve normally done. He’s been completely out of it for the last week, and the timeline fits.

“I know he’s acting out of character, but cut him some slack. I know he didn’t mean any of what happened back there if he was in his right mind.”

Just then, my pops walks out, remorse written all over his face, as his eyes take us both in, focusing on the bruises already forming on my neck. Sitting next to Everleigh, he wraps her in his embrace, and I suddenly feel like the third wheel.

“You told him, didn’t you?” he says, no judgement in his tone. Not even anger.

“I did,” she replies softly, burrowing deeper into his arms, and I jump to my feet.

“I’m so sorry, son. I don’t know what came over me,” he explains, and I look at my father, who until moments ago, was the strongest man I knew. But now, seems to be beaten down by everything that’s happened. His eyes lower to my neck, and I could fucking swear I saw tears in his eyes.

The man never cries.

I clear my throat, still painful. I finally face the man who is my father, man to man.

“I can’t do this right now. I know you’re going through hell, but I just can’t forgive and forget my own father almost choking me.” I stand, making to remove my cut. “If you want my patch…” I start, but I don’t get to finish what I want to say as he quickly cuts in.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” my President, and my old man growls. “What happened in church probably doesn’t really show you, but I’m proud of you, son. I haven’t said that nearly enough over the years.”

A ball of emotion lodges in my throat, and I was finding it hard to swallow, I recoil slightly when he goes to wrap his arms around me and hug me tightly to him. I told him I can’t forgive and forget just yet, and I was telling the truth, but I still love him. He is my father, after all, and I always will.

We pat each other’s backs, and with that, things were again right with the world.

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