Page 40 of Frenemies

“What the fuck–”

I stopped and zeroed in on him.

It couldn’t be. Could it?

Maverick had a son. The last picture I saw of my cousin, he couldn’t have been any more than five and was wrapped up in tin foil with meatloaf written across it.

One hell of a Halloween costume, if you ask me, but that was men in my family. The club came before everything else.

“Keenan?”

Last I heard, there was some big blowout up north. I didn’t even know if my uncle was alive, let alone my cousin.

“Gotta say,” Keenan leaned against the wall and kicked his ankle over the other. “You’re not really living up to the prodigal son image my dad painted.”

I sighed and threw my arm over my face. “I get that a lot.”

How desperate were the boys? Pulling in my cousin? What deep dark hole did they find him in? It didn’t matter. Keenan shouldn’t have come in the first place. If he thought I was unwelcoming, just wait until he met Jax.

“This is quite the place you’ve got.”

I snorted. “Yeah, it’s the fucking plaza.”

“Better than some of the rehab places I’ve seen.” Keenan pointed out.

I let out a long breath. I was not doing this. Not with him.

“Go home, kid. There’s nothing for you here.”

“Okay.” I heard something metal screech across the stone floor, “I’ll sit right here. You let me know when you’re done feeling sorry for yourself.”

Smug little prick. What the fuck did he know? As far as I knew, he got out of the life, came to Beast for help. And where did the asshole put him? Ashen Springs. Son of a bitch knew I wasn’t dead and didn’t say shit. So why the fuck was he trying so hard now?

“I thought you wanted to live some apple-pie life with your girl?”

“I do,” Keenan said. “And I am. Mina and my son are very happy.”

I peeked out from under my arm. “You have a kid?”

Keenan nodded.

All the more reason he should leave.

“Go home to your kid, Keenan.” I didn’t get to see Maddox take his first steps, but Keenan could. He had a chance at having what I lost.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He sat back in the chair and folded his arms over his chest. “You’re family.”

Oh, he wanted to play that card, did he? Alright, if my cousin wanted to talk, we’d talk.

“You want to know about family,” I growled and pushed myself up to sit. “Why don’t you go talk to my brother? Jax has a real thing for family.”

“I heard about that, and I’m sorry. But the only thing you’re doing by hiding in here,” Keenan waved his hand around my cell. “Is abandoning the only real family you have.”

That made me snicker. “What’s your girl’s name? Mina?”

“Yeah.”

“Sooner or later, your perfect little picket fence life with Mina will go up in flames.” I pushed off the bed and strode across the room. “Do yourself a favor and forget you have any ties to the Mathers name.”

---