Page 118 of Irons

Travis rolled his eyes. “Like he would have cared? He didn’t give a shit about all that!” Travis had venom to his tone.

“True, but your grandparents would have, so she kept her personal life separate, and still does from some people, including Emma and Brock. She never had any trust in Emma because of the affair with Robert. She didn’t even tell Robert, she lost a lot of respect for him when she learned Emma waspregnant and he had been unfaithful. Your grandparents reacted the same, they were very disappointed in him.” Paula explained.

Travis stopped and put his hands on his hips. “And none for you? Dad wasn’t the only one still married when he began an affair.”

“Because your father had already stepped out on me a few times before I became involved with Tony. I’ve been faithful to both of my marriages and Robert was not.” Paula defended herself.

“Your saying my dad was a serial cheater at no fault of yours.” Travis wasn’t having it.

“He was a loyal and wonderful husband that never stopped loving me. Yes, he was unfaithful after nearly a decade of my neglect. Your father and I hadn’t been intimate since you were just an infant. He lived a decade with no intimacy because my focus wasn’t on anything but finding Bobby. I’m not saying his unfaithfulness to Emma was right, but I never held your father’s affairs against him. I was just as much at fault.”

It was quiet for a moment before Paula spoke up again. “I knew I neglected you, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I let myself realize how bad I was to you. I didn’t remember Tony’s visitation, or realize I hadn’t always set up childcare appropriate for you. I just figured Robert made sure you were always alright. I’m sorry for that, Travis. I look back now and it’s like my brain was in a fog for all those years.”

Away

Travis

I didn’t care to hear another thing from them. In my mind none of it mattered anymore. What did matter was Wrenly and Brock. They became the sole focus of my visit to Oklahoma.

As mom went on, all I could do was look at Clint and Wrenly. I knew I had to protect them, but if they thought they got to keep doing the things they did before an alliance with Creed’s Lake, they would be sadly mistaken. We might do things outside the law, but we take every measure to rescue someone first. Killing American citizens was a last resort, and it didn’t happen often. The last time was earlier in the year when we found the rogue Devil’s Rejects. We turned them over to Sniper and the Fallen Angels. We weren’t vigilantes, we worked inside the law as much as possible and our new divisions may break a few laws, but not many. Taking a woman and her children away from an abusive partner or parent was about as illegal as we planned. We considered helping the abused partner run away with their children as parental alienation. We would do what’s necessary to ensure their safety while in our care. It could even be considered kidnapping if there was a custody arrangement through the courts. I couldn’t say we wouldn’t take a life to save the life of innocent people, but we would try other avenues first.

I had to protect Wrenly, and that meant protecting Clint. It was a fucking mess, and the luck of their MC was going to run out sometime. I’d prefer it if Clint didn’t go down with the other members when that happened.

“I put you at risk, Travis. You could have been taken by people as bad as the ones that took Bobby. I ignored what was really happening and presumed you were always safe with family.” My mother went on and on. She was right, I never starved, was never sexually or physically abused, and a lot worse could have happened. I heard other operatives stories and they had it far worse than me, and I could forgive my mother’s neglect, but I’d never forget. I’d never trust her enough to tell her what I did.

I expressed that much, then left the old clubhouse with Wrenly. The last thing I said was to Clint, that I’d get in touch with him after Magnus made it into town. I couldn’t take another moment of it. I took Wrenly back to Clint’s where she ran inside to pack us some bags while I made hotel reservations. I decided to surprise Wrenly by reserving a suite in the mansion hotel we grew up hearing about as kids. Actually, I heard about it over and over again from that tiny blond with pigtails. It was where she was going to drag me kicking and screaming to make me marry her. It was by far the most money I ever spent on a hotel, but reviving her childhood dreams didn’t have a price tag. The main mansion only had four suites, and the rest of the suites were in the carriage house. I wanted to spoil her, and also take our minds off of our small hometown. I needed her to take my mind off all the shit I was dealt over the last two days as well.

That was done rather quickly, then as she was inside the house packing still, I called Brock. He said he was on his way to see Aunt Tricia about kicking his mom out of the house. My call came at the right time just as Brock was having doubts. Ofcourse he was worried about his mom’s future without him, but I couldn’t yet tell him my plans to take his mom to Indiana. The only way it would work is if she allowed Brock to become power of attorney. I knew she wasn’t likely to do it for his sake, so I needed to make my visit where I won’t give her a choice. She will do it, or I’d make things extremely uncomfortable for her. I needed Brock to think she was doing it for the right reasons.

I was able to calm his doubts then go inside to carry out our luggage for Wrenly. By no means was Wrenly ever helpless to do things on her own, but she did like it when I catered to her, just like other women enjoyed. Just like with Clint, she was new to my world and depended on me to make decisions and help guide her in helping him. I had to get him away from my mom and Charlie. If they declined the terms of an alliance with Creed’s Lake, their luck would eventually run out.

I knew the only way to satisfy my mom was to make some lies believable. She could never know what Creed and I did, neither could Charlie. Their offer for leverage was anything but leverage, but more like a threat. Give them information about Bobby, or else. That was the way I took it. They kept evidence against their own members as a way to earn loyalty. That wasn’t the way to do it, and they could punish me by using what they had against Clint to force my hand. I couldn’t say for sure that was definitely what they were doing, but something didn’t feel right. I didn’t think there was anything my mom could do to earn my trust. I did not want an alliance with them, but Creed seemed open to it, and I had to let them do their investigation and I’d just vote against it if I found a way to get Clint out of their MC. Convincing him would be the problem.

“You don’t want to talk about it, do you?” Wrenly asked as I drove.

“Not really. There isn’t much to discuss. I want to focus on helping Brock.”

“What about my dad? I need to talk about him because there’s so many scrambled thoughts in my mind.” She said.

“Go ahead.” I didn’t want to scramble her brain even more and scare her.

“I’m angry with him and also scared for him. I’m angry because he has lived a double life. One that could have hurt all of us and still could hurt us, not to mention himself. I don’t understand keeping evidence against each other. They could turn on him at any given time. Not only that, but I can’t see my dad as a murderer. It makes me sick to wonder how many crimes he has committed without any real protections.”

“I’d like to go in and destroy all that evidence, but how can we be sure it’s all destroyed? Plus, I don’t think they’ll accept Creed’s Lake’s terms. We don’t put hits on Americans that way. If we can use the law in the right way we do, and only serve their justice on Americans in order to save lives and its always a last resort. We are not vigilantes here on American soil. Yes, we have high value targets but only against enemies of our country.” I said.

“How can we make my dad safe?” She asked.

“Creed, Magnus, and I will think of something.” I reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Will Creed’s Lake protect him?” Wrenly asked.

“If we form an alliance, but how much do you trust Paula?” I glanced at her and dammit she was biting that bottom lip again.

“I trust them more than you do, obviously. I think once Paula finally learns what happened to Bobby she will be able tofocus on Evie and her non-profit. I do think she cares for you, Travis. I know that’s hard to believe, but I do think she was right. She lived her life in some kind of shock that numbed her of anything happening outside of finding Bobby. I would have done everything in my power to save my son. I can’t imagine if I had the opportunity to raise him for three years then he disappeared one day. I’d also become obsessed. I hate how she neglected you, but I can see how it could have happened. I focused on myself when I was grieving, and I neglected Matt. He wasn’t my main concern, and I know I hurt him. The guilt I feel over that just adds to the reasons why it’s hard to come face to face with him. I don’t regret leaving the relationship, but I do regret leaving the way I did. I think your mom kind of feels the same way. She doesn’t regret what she’s done to find Bobby, she may have saved a lot of families by building the non-profit, but she will always regret the price she paid by neglecting you.”

“You’re saying you don’t think she will ever turn against Clint?” I asked as I glanced at her.

“I don’t think my dad is stupid enough to put all his faith in Paula. He doesn’t even like her that much, but I think he trusts Charlie. I wouldn’t doubt it if my dad is the handler of the evidence. Otherwise, why did they have to go through him to get that thumb drive? They trusted him enough to consult him before they met with us tonight.”

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