It’s Thunder who puts two and two together first. He sits forward, palms flat to the table. “Vanna and Cas. Christ, no wonder the kid looks so much like him.”
“What the fuck?” Like all the others, eyes come to me. “How long have you known, Mace?”
I hold up my hands. “Not long. Yeah, I may have misled you a bit. I know I’d implied I’d known her for years, but in truth it’s not been long at all. That she is the wife of a good fuckin’ friend was not a lie.” One of the best, I add in my head.
“Did he know?” Judge snarls. “You brought her here, Mace. Did seeing her tip him over the edge?” He glares at me accusingly.
“Why did you bring her here?” asks Sparky.
“Christ, Mace. You thinking you made a fuckin’ mistake?” Bomber looks distraught.
“He’s got a fuckin’ tumour,” I remind them sharply, defending and controlling myself at the same time. “Whether or not seeing Vanna and Cas triggered something, it was going to get him at some point.” Wasn’t it? “And first, I didn’t bring her, she came here herself. And second, you saw him,” I respond defensively. “He had no fuckin’ idea who she was. Told her she wasn’t his type if you remember.” But that’s another of my ‘what-ifs’ coming back to haunt me. Is there a chance seeing Vanna and Cas had fucked with his mind, made things worse or accelerated them?
“Why the fuck has she turned up now?” Buzz asks quite reasonably. “Why, after all these years?”
“Money,” Hellfire snaps. “Bitch needs money.”
Shaking my head and frowning at Hell, I take a moment to explain the trouble she’s having with the boy, how he could do with a guiding hand.
“Saw that my fuckin’ self,” Rusty says when I’ve finished my summary.
“It was Liz’s ride he touched and started,” Pyro begins, his hand cupping his chin. “That sounds like it could have been a cry for help. Kid wanted his father’s attention any way he could get it.”
“Didn’t work,” Judge remarks. “Got him sent off the compound instead.”
“Why didn’t you tell us, Prez?” Hell sends an accusing look my way, before frowning at his son.
Demon snarls at his father. “Yeah? I can just see us now, seated around the table with Lizard in attendance and discussing a wife and kid he didn’t even know he had.” His tone is the epitome of sarcasm. “Tell him his kid might go to juvie or into the system? Laid that on him nice and thick? How would that have gone down, Hellfire?”
“Lizard’s not here,” Thunder starts, looking like he’s gathering his thoughts together, “and we sent her away from the club. Say the worst happens and the kid gets taken away and put into the system, or goes to juvie. What if Lizard gets his memory back and finds out we could have done something to prevent it? I couldn’t look my brother in the face and say I did nothing. If that kid stays with his mom who’s clearly at the end of her wits, unless someone steps up and helps out, that kid’s going to go from bad to worse. We all know, we’ve fucking lived it.”
“Juvie for me.” Sparky raises his hand. “One stupid fuckin’ mistake and I was sent down.
“Foster care.” Cad raises his head. “Didn’t even do anything to earn that punishment ‘cept exist. Worked out in my case, but I was one of the lucky ones.”
“Juvie then prison,” admits Buzz. “But it wasn’t all bad, learned my accounting skills while I was in there, as well as how to kill a man with my bare hands.”
“Useful skills, both.” Cad winks.
Prez glares. “Here are the two things to decide on. First, do we tell Vanna about Lizard and how ill he is, and second, do we help out with the kid?”
“She still loves him,” I tell them, in case they need additional persuasion. “That ring on her finger was given to her by him, and she’s been faithful since the day he left.”
Hellfire stares at his son. “You don’t think Lizard is coming home, do you?”
Demon looks at me, and I wince, then listen as he tells them, sadly, “There’s a fuckin’ lot that can go wrong. Reading between the lines of what the neurologist was telling us, it’s hard to say this, but his chances are little better than fifty-fifty.”
That pronouncement makes up Hell’s mind. “Then you can’t keep the wife out of this, especially if she’s still carrying a torch for him. What if you were unconscious, possibly dying and facing a life-threatening operation? Vi would want to be there.”
Demon gives his dad a sharp nod. “My thoughts exactly. She’s never asked for support from Lizard. Never wanted him to pay up for something he believed wasn’t his. If Lizard had his memory, he’d be devastated at abandoning her and his kid. My vote is that we step up and do for him what he can’t.”
The debate goes on. Wills asked what would happen if Lizard woke up and found out what we’d done and still denied his wife and kid. But despite that, on balance, there seemed to be only one thing to be done. The vote is unanimous as we agree to bring Vanna up to speed with what’s happened to her man.
When an additional suggestion is made that I should be the one who breaks the news, I suspect it’s part punishment for bringing her here and confronting Liz with a teenager who looks so much like him, it could have caused him to collapse and slip into a coma.
When the others leave, I hang back, wondering how the fuck I’m going to find the right words.
Prez puts his hand on my shoulder in passing. “You okay with this Mace?”
I shrug. I have to be.
“Want my advice? Sleep on it first. Give her one last night of peace. She’ll still have time to get here before the operation, and you’ll have time to decide exactly what you’re going to say.”
His counsel is good. I take it. I’m not anticipating destroying someone’s world with any pleasure.
As I take myself off to bed, I avoid the sweet butts, knowing I’m too tired and drained to want to bring my cock out to play tonight. I pause outside Skull’s old room, wishing I could enter and just hold Shayla. Not fuck her, I don’t want to do that, but just have her company during the long hours ahead.
I’m exhausted, but know I’ll probably not sleep.
It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted a woman for anything other than sex, or, for as long as I can remember.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Vanna
Getting a call at five in the morning is never one that’s going to bring good news. Knowing it’s too early for telemarketers, I gingerly pick up the phone and answer the call from an unknown number, hoping someone’s dialled the wrong one.
“Hello?”
“Vanna, it’s Mace.”
“Has something happened?” I sit up in bed.
“Vanna, I need you and Cas to come to the compound.” There’s a difference to Mace’s voice, a catch in it, as though he’s finding it hard to speak.
“What’s happened?” I ask again, my gut rolling, knowing the only reason he’d call me this early has to have something to do with Lizard. “Has Liz had an accident?” Or, perhaps, it’s not bad news and hopefully I ask, “Has he remembered something? Does he want to see Cas?”