Page 60 of Sutton's CEO

I reached out and touched her arm. “It’s okay, Candice, he doesn’t mean any harm by it.”

“It’s not okay,” Candice interjected, but Knox interrupted her.

“I didn’t want to tell you this, Sutton. But I found out a few weeks back that Max has another family in Hollow Springs.”

I was stunned. “What are you talking about?”

Mark narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, ‘another family’?”

Knox ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair. “I mean just what I said. He’s got a wife of twenty-five years, three kids, two of which are married now and have kids of their own. And it’s not like he abandoned them. When I got in touch with the wife, she told me that he drives long-rig trucks and was out on a job. It’s just a story, Sutton. He’s been riding with the motorcycle club for as long as I can remember.”

My mouth was dry, and my hands were shaking. “How is this possible?”

Knox shook his head. “His wife when she found out he was in jail here filed for divorce. She’s devastated, and from what I can tell, the kids are angry as fuck. What Max is doing right now has nothing to do with you.”

Mark pulled me closer to his side. “Are you okay?”

I nodded numbly, but I was far from doing okay. I wanted answers. I deserved answers. I felt anger and hurt swirling in my gut. Max had been the one constant in my life. It made every memory that we had together feel tainted.

Mark gently brushed away my tears. I hadn’t even realized I had been crying.

“I want to talk to him,” I said through gritted teeth.

Knox blew out a breath but nodded. “Come back to the station tomorrow.”

He grabbed his cowboy hat and stood up to leave. “I’m sorry, Sutton. I didn’t mean to lay it on you like this. Honestly, I had hoped you wouldn’t find out. I really am sorry.”

I smiled weakly. “I should have known.”

“What are you going to do about Gabriel?” Mark was addressing Knox, no doubt assuming that something needed to be put in place legally.

“I am headed over there now. We don’t have enough to bring him in. But I can certainly put the fear of God in him.”

Mark reached his hand out to shake Knox’s. It was the first gesture of goodwill that I had seen between the two men. The arms that I had wrapped around him felt like an anchor to the only thing good in my life.

Candice cleared her throat. “I am just going to get ready for bed. It’s been a long day.”

When we had first arrived at the trailer, I offered to sleep on the couch so that Candice and Mark could each have their own rooms.

Mark quickly shut that down, informing Candice that she would be in the guest room and then blithely ignoring the fact that I had already placed her there.

I could tell that Candice was bursting at the seams to ask where he would be sleeping, not that she didn’t already know. But Candice loved seeing my face flame with embarrassment. I had a feeling that if it were anyone else besides Mark, she would have been teasing me relentlessly.

Which made it all the sweeter when I caught her giving my old pal Knox puppy dog eyes. Candice was a smitten kitten. I couldn’t wait to speak with her in private.

Mark kissed the side of my forehead as Candice slipped into the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured against my skin.

I was plastered against his side and he never once complained as he rubbed my back aimlessly.

“Why aren’t people honest with me?”

He tipped my chin up to gaze into my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“My mom, she lied to me about who my dad was. She knew that I suspected Max was my real dad. When he told me the story about my daddy being an old motorcycle club buddy, she allowed me to believe it.”

“She was a broken woman, Sutton.” He caressed my cheek with his thumb.

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