Something caught my eye, and for a second, I hadn’t understood what I was seeing. When I realized what it meant, I thought my fuckin’ knees were going to give out.

By the time Brenna woke up, I’d been sitting at the kitchen table for hours, stewing. When she ran from me, I didn’t even hesitate before I followed her. I was beyond fuckin’ crazy at that point. It all went downhill from there.

I fuckin’ lost my shit.

So, when I left her, I just rode. I didn’t have any place to be. I wasn’t headed anywhere but away from the fuckin’ mess I’d left behind. It took me a few hours before I realized that Casper wouldn’t have gone in the house. He took his lookout post pretty damn seriously, so he would’ve just camped out on the porch. I didn’t want to deal with the questions, so I just texted Casper to check on Brenna. He’d take care of her or call someone to deal with it. I couldn’t deal with anymore shit.

My son. Fuck.

I turned my phone on silent and pulled back onto the highway.

Vera and I decided that Trix shouldn’t see me, so I called her and let her know that she got to have another sleepover that night. She didn’t know what the hell was going on, and I could tell by her voice that she wanted to come home, but she couldn’t see me this way. My face was bruised, and my eyes were so swollen from crying that it was a chore just to open them. I didn’t want her to see me like that. Not again.

Pop and Grease took off not long after I got done telling my story, and they must have gone to the clubhouse because shortly after, a guy in a button-down and slacks showed up at my front door. The lawyer. The reason Dragon had been in my papers.

He was really good-looking. If I were looking for another suit-wearing breadwinner, he would’ve been at the top of my list. His hair was a sandy brown, but it was cut short, almost shaved. He had light brown eyes and sharp cheekbones, and if the whole lawyer thing didn’t work out, I figured he could probably be a salesman…or even a model. He had that look. The minute he opened his mouth, the salesman idea went out the window though; the guy was a dick. He also wasn’t what he appeared to be because when he rolled up the sleeves on his dress shirt, he had tattoos covering his arms to the wrist.

We sat down with Vera, and I signed a bunch of papers for him, agreeing to the paternity test and handing over Trix’s birth certificate. When we were almost finished, another thought occurred to me, and I jumped up from the table so quickly that my head spun. I ran into my room. I knew the rest of the paperwork I needed was in there somewhere. When I finally found it, I raced back into the kitchen where Vera and the attorney were talking quietly.

“Here, can you get this one changed, too?” I asked him, handing over Draco’s birth certificate.

“Ah, I’m not sure. I’ll see what I can do.”

This guy seemed so far out of his element. It would have been funny if he weren’t holding my life in his hands.

“Well, they were twins. It seems like if you could get Trix’s changed, it shouldn’t be hard to change Draco’s, too.”

“That may be the case, but…well, does it really matter at this point?” he asked me callously.

“Yes, it fucking matters!” I tried to get my emotions under control, but this guy was just rubbing me the wrong way. “Please just try and get it changed.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he repeated as he gathered his papers and nodded to Vera before walking out of the house.

“He’s not real friendly, but he’s kept the boys out of a hell of a lot of prisons the last five years,” Vera told me as she got up from the table. “He’s good. If he can’t figure it out, he’ll find someone who can. Don’t you worry, baby. This’ll be over soon.”

“Wait, only five years? I thought I recognized his name! He’s new?” I asked in alarm.

New lawyers were always on a sort of probation for as long as the club felt they needed to be. There was too much at stake to trust anyone right away, even lawyers could be bought off.

“Yeah, but his pop was the old lawyer. Wanted to retire, so Slider brought his boy in. Worked out well for everyone. You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about,” she told me as she stepped around me, looking for her purse.

I didn’t believe her, but I nodded as she got ready to leave. It was getting dark outside, and all I wanted to do was climb into my bed and pretend that the house wasn’t quiet and lonely anymore.

“Casper’s outside. Never left, poor kid. He’s probably starvin’. I’ll call ya in the mornin’, and we’ll figure out what to do with the baby. Okay?”

“Okay, thanks for coming. Give Trix a kiss for me,” I told her as I hugged her good-bye.

It had been hard to let Trix sleep somewhere else for one night, so two days was torture. I just wanted her home.

After Vera left, I quickly made Casper a sandwich and brought it out to him.

“Hey, Brenna! You didn’t have to do that. I’m fine,” he told me as I set his sandwich and potato chips in front of him.

“You’ve been here all day. You must be hungry by now,” I teased him.

It was nice that he wasn’t looking at me like I belonged in a sideshow. He took the swollen face and ratty hair in stride.

“Eh, it’s no big deal. I don’t mind.” He took a few bites of his sandwich, and we sat there in silence as the night turned darker.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come in the house earlier. I figured you would want privacy. Didn’t need me up in your face all day, so I just sat on the porch and waited for you to come out. I didn’t even think to go in the house—”