Page 89 of Traitor

“I don’t understand. You look just like him. Even your mannerisms are the same. He was clicking the pen just like you do when you’re thinking. It made sense. You protect the club because your dad runs it. Are you sure you’re not related to him distantly?”

I shook my head. At least now I knew where her confusion stemmed from. She’d never been alone with Comedian; she’d been left alone with Grey. I felt a lot better, knowing that she’d never been in danger. That was why Torch had seemed confused and why Grey’s face had paled—oh, fuck.

I swayed on my feet as I moved for the door.

“Mike?” Lauren called. “Mike, please don’t leave me in these cuffs!”

I couldn’t catch my breath as I marched down the hall toward my mother’s room. My fist connected with the wood loudly three times before she answered.

“Mike, what are you doing here?”

I slammed the door shut behind me and gestured to the bed. “Sit. I’ve got some questions and I’m going to need you to be completely fucking honest with me.”

She immediately began trembling. “I don’t know what you mean.”

The jumping pulse in her neck said she knew exactly why I was here though. “I wanna know about my dad, Betsy.”

She swallowed with an audible gulp, just like a cartoon. “What is there to know about your dad? He’s rough around the edges, but he loves you—”

“My real dad,” I added.

My mother dissolved into tears. “Why are you asking me this? Your dad is Michael Sullivan. You know this.”

But, I didn’t.

Once Lauren said it, everything clicked. Michael Sullivan hadn’t shown up to my little league games, but Jamie Quinn never missed one. My ‘dad’ never gave two shits about me, but a biker Pres seemed to always go out of his way to keep me out of trouble.

“Grey’s my father.” I said it as a statement. My mother refused to look at me, but nodded slightly.

“Does Grey know?”

She nodded again. “You can’t say anything, Mike. If your fath—if Michael were to find out, we’d all be dead.” Her hand came up to cover her mouth as she wept and I knew that I should’ve gone over and comforted her, but she’d kept the truth from me for over three decades to save her own ass.

I could’ve had a different childhood entirely had I known. Instead, I’d spent the last ten years convinced that I was turning into Comedian. I’d been certain that his DNA was stronger than anything I’d gotten from my mother and I was nothing more than a ticking time bomb.

I left her sobbing on the bed and walked downstairs. I continued walking until I was outside, needing some fresh air and a life exchange.

“Mind if I join you?” David gestured toward the long wooden bench I was sitting on.

I nodded and continued staring aimlessly down the aisle. We’d stood here just yesterday; back when I was naïve enough to think that I could convince Lauren to stay. Back when I thought I knew who my father was.

“I thought you and your bride would’ve been sleeping in since your mom has Kaden.”

David chuckled. “That was the plan, but Lauren was screaming the entire fucking inn down. I thought she was in trouble.”

I jumped up. “Fuck, Lauren. I’ve still got the keys!”

He laughed again. “Relax. Beth had a bobby pin. I picked the lock. Next time though, make sure your girl’s decent before you restrain her, especially if you plan on bolting. That is more of her than I ever needed to see.”

Jesus, she was going to kill me.

“How’d you know how to do that?” I was surprised, more than anything. David didn’t seem the type.

“Have you really forgotten all the shit we got into growing up? Knowing our way out of cuffs kept us on the right side of the law. Don’t you remember?”

I nodded. “For all the good it did. I can’t even remember the last time I was really on the right side of the law. Probably somewhere before I turned eighteen.”

David leaned over and rested his forearms on his knees. “You’ve made a lot of sacrifices, brother. Surprisingly, not all of them have been selfish. You covered for me the morning after my wedding and again with the Landon thing. You saved my wife’s life and you turned Lauren into someone I can actually stand to be around. The good in you outweighs the bad, no matter what you think. And I haven’t said it, but thank you.”

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