Page 9

– LYNN –

I feel the warmth of Deeds’s hand on my lower back and it keeps me rooted in place. These past few days I’ve been avoiding this piece of news for this very reason. When I saw a picture of Livi the thought of having a doppelganger crossed my mind, but when I met her? She shares family character traits which can only be gained through DNA.

“Tell me.” I don’t even recognize the distant, and monotone voice as my own.

Bee opens her laptop and says, “You and Zack share about twenty-five percent DNA with Livi, which is safe to say you’re her aunt, and Zack her uncle. I do have a theory what happened to your sister.”

I reach back to grab a fistful of my old man’s leather cut and grunt, “Okay.”

The screen of her laptop fills with different medical reports, and I do see some names I recognize flash by.

“Your parents were at the hospital for the birth of your sister. The rival MC got wind of it and attacked. There was a fire, and it spread quickly due to an explosion. It’s why they couldn’t save–”

My chest constricts and I hate being reminded of those details. My mother used to have a scrapbook filled with newspaper articles, and a few times a year she would get it out and go through it to remember what she lost. Even if she never got to live, my mother made sure she was remembered.

“I know that fucking part,” I snarl. “Skip over the part where they all said she turned to dust, didn’t survive, and yet I still have a niece out there while my only other sibling is Zack, and he clearly isn’t the daddy.”

Bee points at the laptop. “Betty Livingstone was pregnant around the same time as your mother and had a home birth…a baby girl. Thing is, Betty only had a few checkups early in her pregnancy.”

Anger gets the best of me. “Let me guess. That fucking cunt had a miscarriage or something and wanted the void in her life filled.”

Bee winces and I hate using the word cunt, but there’s no other description for someone who steals a damn baby from a loving family. Shit. I might not have lived if my parents would have stopped at two kids, but dammit this is my fucking family.

Deeds strokes his fingers up and down my spine, his voice is a mere whisper. “Breathe, darlin’.”

I know I should take a breath and calm the fuck down, nonetheless my blood pressure is rising by the second with my temper skyrocketing.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure they did. Although, there are no official papers of a miscarriage. Lowyn was the first officer at the scene when it happened at the hospital. I also saw his name pop up in a few reports about incidents involving the rival MC and Areion Fury. Lowyn was aware of the violence your parents were wrapped in due to the rival MC. The incident at the hospital must have rectified it inside his head to give the baby a non-violent upbringing.” Bee switches documents on the screen. “His wife…Betty…antidepression meds were subscribed…if she had a stillborn or was treated for whatever difficulties during her pregnancy…he could have used the fire to get rid of this part of his wife’s medical file.”

“Wow,” I sarcastically grunt. “Sure, for outsiders it might have seemed to take a baby out of violence, but our father and all the members have a priority to make sure family stays fucking safe. Besides, anyone knows depression isn’t something to underestimate. Shit. There’s nothing I, or anyone else, can say to rectify what Lowyn did. He had no right to steal a baby so his wife would come out of depression. That’s what you’re implying, right? He took my sister to replace the baby they lost. Leaving the first checkups of his wife’s pregnancy in her medical file to make sure they could pull it off if they suddenly had a baby through home birth.”

Bee nods. “Basically.”

I stomp my foot in frustration. “Damn him for being dead already.”

“You know Lowyn Livingstone is dead?” Bee asks in surprise.

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “In our house we all knew very well who Lowyn Livingstone was, and when I saw his name pop up in the obituaries it did sadden me a bit.” I glance at Deeds who’s still standing close beside me. “Because it was a car accident. He, his wife, and daughter died. Shit. Livi must have been eighteen when she lost all of them in one go.”

“Yeah,” Archer mutters and scrolls through the documentation on the laptop. “Livi inherited everything and was already perusing a career in law enforcement.”

Silence fills the room. I know Bee is right with her theory because for one it’s very fitting and ties all the loose ends together. On the other hand? There aren’t any other options because Livi carries the fucker’s last name and is my damn niece. There is no other explanation.

“So,” I sigh. “Now what?”

To my surprise my kid tells me, “Up to you, Ma. I stumbled onto this and talked it over with Dad before I reached out to my government contact. It’s our case, family business, and it’s a blood relative. Only the four of us in this room know about it because I put the DNA test under aliases.”

I don’t have to think twice. “I want to right this wrong. I want her to know I’m her fucking aunt. I want her to know the man and woman who she knew as her grandparents weren’t her fucking grandparents by blood, and that the ones who gave life to her mother were devastated by her death. We never forgot while she and her mother didn’t even know we existed. No one fucking knew. It ends now.”

Taking my phone out of my pocket, I hit the number of my bestie I have on speed dial. “Blue, it’s me. I need you and my brother to come down to the Broken Deeds clubhouse. I’ll explain once you’re here.”

I wait for her to let me know they’re on their way before breaking the connection. Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I reach for Deeds’s hand and link his fingers with mine. I don’t care if my hand is all clammy with sweat. My nerves are shot, my mind is running overtime, and my chest feels as if my heart is gonna leap out every damn second.

Connecting my gaze with Archer, I tell him, “I want you to set up a meeting with Livi. Bring her here. The clubhouse, your office. It’s time she met her true family, and the fact she’s not alone anymore in this fucked-up world.”

And it is a fucked-up world. I already knew this little fact, but the family mystery we just exposed? Someone has some serious apeshit on a stick and is poking a bear with it. Because who else could think of something crazy like this happening to your family?