“Just the doctor’s rounds. You did the test?”

“Yeah, Sash. I did the test. Time to explain things.”

“I already explained. I’m not going over this again. It’s done. We’re no longer the same people anymore, so just leave it.”

I clench my jaw. “Then there’s nothing else to fucking say, is there?”

I head out to the car park and climb on my bike. It’s a beautiful machine, all chrome and custom painted along the fuel tank. The power of the machine between my legs as I start it up reminds me who I am and what I’m about. As I rev the engine, I feel my anger melt away a little. A ride will clear my head, so instead of turning right out of the hospital entrance and heading back towards the clubhouse, I take a left and head for the ring road. The traffic is busy but moving, and I lane split to keep my wheels spinning. The urge to hit the open road and not look back is overwhelming, but the Untamed Sons are not without enemies. Leaving the territory without a properly planned route is dangerous, and I have no intention of calling my road captain, Titch, and asking for those details. Instead, I just ride aimlessly around Kessington until I feel the rage leaving me enough to return to the clubhouse.

Zack, the kid on the gate, lets me through and I pull my bike into my space near the front doors. As I kick down the stand, my head is full of the shit that happened at the hospital. I’m more convinced than ever that something more went on between Sin and Sasha, but getting anything out of her is impossible.

I stride across the tarmac and into the clubhouse to find the common room almost empty. Fury is sitting in the corner, staring at nothing.

“Where the hell is everyone?” I ask him.

His eyes raise to meet mine and I see the moment his demons back down in them and he comes into the present.

“A run.”

“Why aren’t you with them?”

“They don’t trust me to be… calm.”

He doesn’t say this with any malice, but just states it as a fact.

I trust my brothers, though, so if Fury didn’t get an invite to the party, there’s a good reason for it. I arch a brow, blow out a breath and then head for the bar. Melody slips behind it, flicking her red hair. She doesn’t ask what I want to drink, just reaches for the top shelf Scotch and pours me a good measure before sliding it in front of me.

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

She beams at the praise, ducking her head, so her hair curtains her face. These bitches are like little girls, seeking daddy’s approval. It’s pathetic.

I knock the drink back in one go and slide the glass back on the bar. When Melody moves to pour me another, I shake my head. She’s nothing like Sasha was at her age. She was bold, ballsy and didn’t take shit. These club bunnies just roll over every time someone speaks to them.

“I’m done.”

I push up from the bar and head to my office and once I’m in the quiet of the room, I let my mind go back to that day—the day Sasha left me. I ignore the quagmire of pain I’m wading through and try to recall exactly what the fuck happened in the run up to her walking out.

And the only thing I can remember is I sent my brother on a protection detail—to take care of Sash while I was out of town for the afternoon.

Fuck. Did I push them together?

10

Sasha

Lily-May wakes for a few hours and is fussy. I’m shredded watching my child suffer. Every whimper breaks my heart. Every tear tears me apart. The pain I see in her eyes is like a knife to the gut. If I could trade places with her, I would in a heartbeat.

Sitting at her bedside, watching her toss and turn, gives me too much time to think about the past and what happened. I told Rav I would get a paternity test done if he did the test for Lily-May, but I haven’t done anything yet. It doesn’t feel good to have gone back on my word, but I’m fucking terrified of finding out the truth. My skin hasn’t stopped crawling since Rav brought it up. She can’t be Sin’s. He doesn’t get to dirty any part of my daughter. If Rav isn’t her dad it would break me even more. Sin took so fucking much. I won’t let him take this too. The truth will give Rav or Sin power in her life, and I will kill Sin before I allow him anywhere near her.

I close my eyes, trying to calm my cantering heart, and push out the dark thoughts creeping into my mind. If she’s Sin’s, it won’t change anything about how I love my daughter, but for her sake I hope her father isn’t a monster.

There’s a knock on the door and both me and Lucy glance towards it. Through the glass, I can see the outline of someone I never expected to see here.

Nox.

He doesn’t wait for us to grant him access, but pushes inside as if he owns the place.

Lucy comes to her feet, stepping between us, a circus ringmaster standing between the lion and the audience. Her intention is sweet, but unnecessary. I’m not scared of Nox.

His eyes crawl over my face as he takes me in. I feel like he’s trying to pull all my secrets from the deepest of my vaults with that look. I keep my shutters pulled firmly down.

“No, no more Untamed Sons,” Lucy says, although I hear the tremble in her words.

Nox’s eyes move over her body with a lingering look that has his mouth quirking at the corners, pulling into a smirk.

“And who are you?”

Before things get out of hand, I intervene, stepping forward.

“What are you doing here?” I demand.

His expression turns serious. “I want to talk.”

I arch my brow at him. “Now you want to talk? You weren’t that open to the idea the last time I saw you.”

“Shit changes.”

He stares at me, his gaze hard and unyielding until I glance away. I don’t like the way he’s looking at me, as if he’s seeing past the bullshit to the scared, broken girl underneath.

“I’m kind of busy, Nox.”

My hand goes to my daughter’s stomach and he watches the movement with an unreadable expression.

“It won’t take a second.”

I don’t want to leave Lily-May, but he’s not going to get out of my hair until I talk to him, so I let out a huff and mutter to Lucy, “Stay with Lil.”

Tingles fill my stomach as I follow him out of the room, my eyes locked on the Untamed Sons insignia filling the back of his kutte—a crowned skull wearing a pair of wings, the top rocker reading ‘Untamed Sons’, the bottom ‘London’. What the hell does he want to talk about?

He leads me out into the corridor and then out of the main entrance to the outside seating area. There’s no one about, so he signals for me to take a seat on the bench furthest from the entrance. I do, but only because I want this shit over fast, so I can get back to my daughter.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about things since I saw you last.”

“Did you come all this way to tell me that?” I snap at him.

“Sash, I know you. I’ve known you pretty much my whole fucking life. We grew up in this club together.”

Cold swamps me at his words.

“So what? Shit changes.” I throw his earlier words back at him, which earns me a frustrated glare.

“I know you’re hiding something about what the fuck happened between you and Sin.”