Page 6 of Bone's Destiny

“I see my little miss is scolding you.” Cobra approached with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m not scolding Uncle Bone. But he needs to know I missed him.” She wiggled to get down. “Will you be at the farm later?”

“I’m not sure, sweetheart.” I bopped the tip of her nose with my finger. She didn’t need to know I had no intention of going to the house. The news would probably upset her, and I didn’t want to be around for her tears. A woman or little girl’s tears made my soft side come out and made me weak.

“Go with Momma, so I can talk to Uncle Bone.” Cobra gently nudged her along. She went but looked back at us suspiciously. She was a Knight through and through. “Brother, it’s good to see you.” He extended a hand, and I shook it.

“Yeah.” I tried to be agreeable not to cause a scene. Despite my reputation of being an asshole, I wasn’t here to upset anyone. However, it wasn’t lost on me that one person wouldn’t be thrilled to see me, but she didn’t have a choice.

“Follow me.” He jerked his chin toward the hallway.

I nodded to the others, acknowledging them. I’d never been a social person. They wouldn’t expect me to greet them with hugs. Especially not Karma. It was better to keep my distance and not make the situation any more awkward than it already was.

Cobra and I had talked on the phone several times a month. The miles between us had been good for both of us. The time away had tempered my bitterness toward my older brother. Hell, I even felt better about my other brothers and sister. After I’d found my birth certificate and learned I had a different mom, I built a fortress around myself. I’d made Lady M promise not to tell my siblings because I wasn’t like them. I was the black sheep. Of course, she assured me nothing would change, but how could I believe anything she said?

All these years later, I no longer feared the day the entire family discovered the truth of my origin and saw me as beneath them. For more than twenty years, I hated everyone. Blamed my siblings for our parents’ deceit. Tried to fuck up Cobra’s life so he’d hurt as severely as I had been hurting. I wasn’t sure I could ever let go of the pain from my parents’ betrayal.

Perhaps if I knew the whole story, I could. Maybe the healing process would begin if my dad owned his infidelity like a man and told me where my real mom had gone. Shit, I doubted Lady M would ever tell me the truth. The embarrassment and shame she likely felt would destroy her if the whole world knew what my old man had done. Guessed that was why she denied he had cheated every time I had asked about it.

Why the fuck had I even come?

Cobra stopped in a private spot and turned toward me.

“What’s up? Spectre told me about the chick you want me to take back to Montana?” I shook my head. “Since when does the club hold women captive?”

“Technically, we aren’t. You are.”

“Uh-uh. My chapter doesn’t do shit like that.”

“Think of it as more of a rescue.”

I tilted my head. “Say what?”

“I’ll explain later. Dad’s with Mom right now. She’s been anticipating your arrival.”

My stomach churned. “Oh yeah?”

“What’s going on with the two of you? For as long as I can remember, you all have had a volatile relationship. Don’t you think enough is enough? She could’ve died.” His jaw twitched the way it did when he was angry. “Whenever I ask either of you if something happened, I get nothing.”

“So stop asking.”

“Shit, brother. I’m having another kid, and Hustler’s got one on the way. I don’t want any bad blood flowing through the family. If something happened, fix it.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” I snapped.

Cobra blinked in surprise. “What happened?”

“Bone?” Our father’s voice came from behind us. “It’s good to see you, son.” He reached to hug me, but I rejected him and went back down the corridor.

“What the fuck, Bone?” Cobra hissed.

“Leave him,” Dad told him. He was as much to blame for my bad relationship with Lady M as she was.

Granted, when I was a teenager and even into my twenties, I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea that I didn’t have the same mother as the others. I’d only known Lady M as my mom.

But over the last decade, I became obsessed with the sick desire to know thewholetruth. I had even threatened Lady M to come clean, or I’d ruin my brothers, but she’d called my bluff. I’d been so fucking pissed and took out my rage on Cobra and Karma. Destroying their relationship had felt good. I hadn’t cared about them or thought twice about the consequences of my actions until I learned about Nova. Christ, I would’ve left them alone had I known Karma was pregnant.

Stitch turned the corner and almost bumped into me. “Whoa. Hey, brother.”

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