Page 23 of The Secrets We Keep

Candy shushes me and continues toward the guest bedroom. She opens the door and leads me to the bed, depositing me there before kneeling in front of me. I try to sit up, but my head swims. Candy unbuckles my belt and unzips my jeans pulling them from my hips and taking my briefs with them.

“Candy no,” I mumble, smacking her hand out of the way.

“It’s okay,” she replies huskily. “I just want to suck your dick, baby.”

“I believe my son said no,” my dad’s voice fills the small room.

I roll my head to the right and find him standing in the doorway to the room, his eyes angry and trained on Candy.

She stumbles to her feet and looks down at the floor. “I was just helping him to bed,” she says innocently.

My dad steps further into the room, advancing on her. He’s still intimidating, even in his fifties. “I saw you guide him this way and have been standing by the door. I heard what you said, and I heard him tell you no. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Candy winces but before she can speak in her own defense, my dad starts again. “Get the fuck out of this clubhouse. Grayson can decide your punishment in the morning, when he’s not fucking trashed andyou’re not trying to take advantage of him.” Candy scoffs and my dad steps closer. “I said. Get. The. Fuck. Out.” He barks.

Candy jumps and rushes from the room leaving me with me cock out. My dad shakes his head in disappointment and walks over to the bed. He helps me get my clothes back on and sits me up. He leaves me just for a few minutes to get water and coffee for me, hoping to sober me up a bit.

“Your brother messaged me saying that you probably needed to talk to me,” he says in explanation for being at the clubhouse this late. It’s only then that I realize I drank the entire day away. It’s dark out. “I’m glad I came, otherwise you’d be having something big to explain to Sophie. You really need to kick Candy out of here. She’s been pushing you since you became president and she’s not taking the hint. Everyone sees it.”

“I know,” I grumble. “I didn’t want that, though.”

“I know. This is why you can’t let alcohol rule your life, son. It causes fucked up things to happen, things that can be avoided when you’re sober. Things that would devastate your woman.”

My dad was never a partier when it came to the club. He would drink a few beers, but he never got drunk. Club sluts are notorious for pushing up on drunk club members, and my dad never wanted to disrespect my mother. He was probably one of the only faithful club members of his generation.

“So, what happened that Ro thought you needed me?”

I sigh and take a drink of the coffee he brought me. “Eric attacked Sophie while she was at work, he poured fresh coffee on her arm and shoved her to the ground. Rowan and I went to the hospital to check on her and I brought her back to the clubhouse. Eric was here laughing it up with everyone. I confronted him and the other two assholes from Tennessee and then spent the evening with Sophie and Asher. We had church this morning to dish out the punishment for the guys. When I told Eric that he wasn’t welcome in Silver Springs ever again, he flew off the handle,” I continue as I swipe my hand over my face and take another few drinks of my coffee. “He made a comment about me being so stupid that I don’t even realize that my kid is right in front of me.”

My dad whistles through his teeth and sits beside me on the bed. “What the fuck? Asher?”

I nod. “The guys in church all got quiet and when I asked them why they told me that they thought I saw how much he looks like me. I crashed out. I confronted Sophie and she told me it’s true. Asher is my son,” I croak.

My dad wraps an arm around me and pulls me into his side. “That’s huge news,” he says softly.

“She said that John forced her out of town. That he threatened her, the baby and me if she didn’t go.”

My dad hums. “Listen Gray, John could be anasshole. He treated Sophie like shit, even before she left. He blamed her for her mother dying. He was obsessed with Sophie’s mom. He also was dead set on having a son. He wanted someone to leave his legacy to. He couldn’t leave it to Sophie. She wouldn’t have wanted it, anyways.”

“She could have told me. I would have left with her.”

“Hey, I’m sure she knew you would, but she had to have been terrified. She was eighteen and pregnant, her own father was threatening her. Do you think she wanted to even chance it? John had a far reach in this club. He knew members from every charter. It didn’t matter where you went in the states, he would have been able to keep tabs on you,” he says as he gives my shoulder a squeeze. “John had wanted you to take over this club from when you were little. He tried to knock up multiple club sluts to have an heir for the club, but it never happened. He must have been shooting blanks. He was desperate to pass this club onto someone, and he chose you. It sounds like he was willing to do anything necessary to keep you and Sophie and Asher would have pulled you away.”

My mind whirls with all this information. Most of it isn’t really new information to me, besides John trying to knock up club sluts. My dad is right, though. John would have been able to keep tabs on me anywhere I went, which I’m sure he did to Sophie and Asher. Asher.My son.

“I can’t believe I missed out on the first six years of my son’s life,” I croak.

“Let’s just make sure we don’t miss out on any more of Asher’s life. Or Sophie’s. Make this right, son.”

18

SOPHIE

I smile to myself as I put the small leather cut into the gift bag along with one of the positive pregnancy tests. I took eight, just to be sure. This wasn’t in mine and Grayson’s plans, but after thinking about it, I know he’s going to be happy. At first, it’s going to be a shock, but when the shock wears off, Grayson is going to be excited. He’s going to be such an amazing dad because he learned from the best.

I put the giftbag on my desk and turn toward my closet, trying to figure out what to wear. It’s the beginning of summer and the humidity is already kicking up, so I pull out a pair of denim shorts and a black ribbed tank top. I get dressed quickly and am putting the last of my makeup on when my bedroom door flies open.

I whirl around and find my father standing in the door frame. He looks pissed, more pissed than normal, and that’s saying something because my father is always angry with me. My breathing picks up while I wait for him to speak.

---