Page 36 of Outlaw

He chuckled again. “I can’t believe you didn’t remember her when you saw her name. And she didn’t say anything to you? She might have been a kid, but she was twelve when Demeter died. She’d spent six years of her life at my stables with him. And she worshipped the ground you walked on.”

Holy fuck. This was not real. How could Branwen be her?

My gaze went to the office building she’d walked into.

She had known who and what I was. So, she did know me. She recognized me in Vegas. She could have found me before. Shelied about it. She’d kept Stevie away from me on purpose. That marriage license was the only reason she had shown up at my door.

“I don’t think I ever called her by her name before. The first time I met her, I nicknamed her. The name just didn’t register. The last name rang a bell though. But it was a lifetime ago when Demeter worked for the family.”

The surge of anger was being met with sheer fucking shock as I tried to replay every interaction with Branwen in Vegas that I could remember. Had she mentioned it, and I missed it? Or had it been during one of the spells where I blacked out from the opium and booze? Why hadn’t she said something when she came to get me to sign the divorce papers?

She’d probably expected me to see her name and realize who she was…but I hadn’t.

“She’s good now?” he asked. “I kept a check on her until she was grown. Made sure her aunt had what she needed financially to provide for her. I only checked in on her one more time when she was around twenty-six, I believe. She had a secure job at a dairy farm and was dating the owner’s son. Seemed serious from the report I got back. I was surprised to hear she hadn’t married the guy. From the pictures I’ve seen, she turned into a real beauty.”

Garrett hadn’t forgotten her. He’d checked in on her. Made sure she was okay. Out of loyalty to her father, who had been one hell of a trainer and bookie. One of the best the family had ever had.

The day he’d dropped dead from a heart attack was brutal. I held her while the paramedics came, and she sobbed hysterically. The funeral was the last time I had seen her. She’d rushed to me with tears streaming down her face and told me she had to go live with her aunt.

I knew nothing about her life after that.

I wasn’t the same person I had been then. Life had changed me. Made me darker, colder, and detached. I didn’t get involved. I didn’t show affection.

It seemed it had changed her too. She had grown into a liar. A cruel one. She had planned to keep my child from me and let another man raise her.

“She’s good,” I finally said.

Looking over at my daughter, I knew I wouldn’t put my hands around Branwen’s neck because of her. But she was going to pay for this. The betrayal stung, but my grief over the four years I’d lost from Stevie’s life was greater than anything else. No excuse or apology could give that back to me. Or to my daughter. She had wanted a dad. She had wanted one, and I couldn’t be one because of Branwen.

It wasn’t just me she had stolen from, but our daughter too.

Seventeen

Branwen

From the first day that I’d laid eyes on Hudson Wolfe, he’d reminded me of a Ken doll. His blond hair, cut short and neat; smooth jawline, always shaved; golden skin; green eyes; and a runner’s fit body. When he had smiled at me the first time, I held my breath, waiting for the butterflies that I had yet to experience with any male except Linc. They didn’t come.

The disappointment was swift, but I kept waiting. Hoping that the closer we got, the more my feelings would grow into something passionate and exciting. They didn’t.

I hadn’t let my inability to feel these things stand in my way. Hudson was exactly what we needed. He was stability, comfort, and security. After having been a single mom to a baby and toddler, where I had struggled to supply for us, that had sounded wonderful. Much more powerful than silly tingles and butterflies.

Stepping into Hudson’s office as he walked in behind me and closed the door, I knew I had been selfish. He was such a good man, and I had taken advantage of his feelings for me. I was never going to love him the way he deserved. He was successful and attractive. There were so many women who could love this man properly. There was probably one out there that he would give those damn elusive flutters to, and I’d almost robbed her of that. My butterflies had been claimed at the age of six, and I was starting to accept that they would always be Linc’s.

“God, I’ve missed you,” Hudson said as he walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

He was only four inches taller than me at five foot ten. His height wasn’t something I’d noticed before. But after I’d been around Linc and his six-foot-three stature, muscular build, and even his beard, Hudson seemed weak. Almost feminine. That wasn’t a fair comparison, and I knew I should stop comparing them.

I had only been gone for three days. Would anyone ever miss me again like Hudson had? Thoughts like that didn’t help. This wasn’t about me. It honestly never had been. Since the moment my precious baby girl had been laid in my arms, my life had revolved around her. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted her life to be full.

When she went to take her driver’s test, I wanted to be there with her. When she got ready for her first date, I wanted to do her hair and help her choose what to wear. When she went to prom, I wanted to take pictures and tell her how beautiful she was. When she said yes to the man she loved, I wanted to go shopping with her for the perfect dress. And when she held her baby in her arms for the first time, I wanted to be there with tears of joy in my eyes. All the things I’d never had. It was what I dreamed of, what I was determined to give her. I had thoughtthat Hudson would be the way to have that ideal life.

But Hudson had never looked at Stevie the way Linc did. As if he would take a bullet for her. The pride, love, and awe in his eyes was what I wanted her to have and I hadn’t considered that Hudson wasn’t going to give her that. I had thought I could give her that all on my own. I’d built her future on her needing me, and I had been wrong.

I should have known better. Because at each of those moments when I hadn’t had a mom, I also hadn’t had my dad, and it had been a hollow ache in my chest. I had needed and wanted him too. Not just a mother, but my father as well. Linc might not be the best man, but he was her dad, and I knew he would protect her and love her.

Taking a deep breath, I laid my hand over Hudson’s and prepared myself for what I had to do.

“I lied to you.” I said the words while he still held me and my back was to him.

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