Page 22 of Next Level (Royal Bastards MC: Oakland Chapter #1)

SURPRISE

R ed…all I can see right now is red.

I have so many questions…

Garrett is my half-brother?

Who knew?

Did Ma know about the money?

Did Ma know about Garrett?

How could my dad not tell me?

Ma wants to talk to George first. She fucking knew…

How could she not tell me?

I need to get away from here. I need to think. I storm out of the room, shirtless and my pants not all the way fastened, with Cherry hot on my heels, begging me to stop.

Ma knew!!

When I hit the main room, the guys are still at the bar.

Chewy is the first to see me, and he’s out of his chair in a flash. “Prez, what happened?” Lifting his hands when I near him, he shouts, “Woah, brother!”

Cherry’s yelling at him to stop me.

Dawg is fast for his size and is in my face in seconds. “Breathe, brother. Hold on.”

My brothers don’t see me snap often, but lately, with all this shit going on, I’m losing it more often than I’d like. I feel out of control.

I push him out of my way, but he doesn’t let me pass. Massive arms engulf me, pulling me into a bear hug. Chewy. The motherfucker.

“Brother, speak to us. Tell us what’s going on.” Dawg is still in my face, trying to break through my madness.

Cherry is frantic next to us, ranting about what she just told me. When the part comes out about Garrett being my half-brother, everyone stops talking. In shock, Dawg turns to face Cherry, but Chewy’s grip doesn’t falter.

The room erupts with all the men yelling out questions. Cherry starts to cry and becomes frantic.

Chewy growls in my ear. “Your girl’s scared. Pull yourself together.”

When Cherry comes into view, I freeze. She’s trembling, wearing only her bra and panties—she’s half-naked.

That has me seeing red for a whole different reason. Pure male instinct. Protect what is mine. My Blossom.

Chewy lets me go, and I move toward Cherry, but she backs away, scared. Dawg moves between us.

I try to calm down. “Give us a minute,” I say through clenched teeth. My brothers surround us, not moving.

I yell, “Jay, get her a blanket!” He must have already known because instantly, a throw is handed to Dawg. When Dawg goes to move closer to Cherry, my rage comes back.

“Get the fuck away from her,” I seethe.

Cherry is crying. Dawg is in shock.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.

With my eyes still closed, I try to say calmly, “Blossom, I’m not going to hurt you , but I will hurt them if any of them get near you while you’re half naked. Please let me hold you.”

When I open my eyes, they lock with hers. My face relaxes, and I try to rein in my anger. She needs me right now. I’ll deal with everything else later.

I take a step toward her, and Dawg stays between us. I move next to him, grabbing the blanket. She silently gives me permission to approach her, and in seconds, she’s in my arms.

I wrap the blanket around her and nestle her into my chest. Looking around the room, I see all my brothers standing around in shock.

Yeah. Shit just got real.

She’s mine. My Blossom.

After everyone calmed down, I told Dawg to get in touch with my ma and have her come down here. I took Cherry into the room and got her dressed.

I apologized for how I had reacted and assured her that I would never hurt her. I was upset with the situation and needed to know if my ma knew.

So we’re now out in the main area, sitting on the couch, and Cherry is in my arms. Her hair is wild, but she’s clothed now. Members are mingling around, trying to give us space. Dawg, Chewy, Zoom, and Lazy are sitting around us.

Dawg is passing around a blunt to chill everyone out. Cherry even takes a hit, surprising me.

An hour passes before my ma walks into the clubhouse. Dawg told her to come alone because I needed to talk to her. Ma’s not stupid, reading the room as she walks toward me.

“What happened?” she demands.

“Ma, sit.” I motion for her to sit across from me.

When Ma sees Cherry, her eyebrows raise. “Who’s this?” She points to her.

Cherry tries to sit up straighter, but I don’t take my arm from around her. Instead, I pull her tighter to my side.

“Ma, this is Cherry.” I pause. “My girlfriend.”

This takes my ma and even some of my brothers by surprise.

My ma scoffs. “Stop playing. You’ve never had a girlfriend in your life.”

My face hardens. “Well, I guess today is going to be full of surprises.”

Ma sits down next to Dawg and says, “So what’s so urgent?”

“Well, Cherry just told me some very interesting information.”

Ma looks back and forth from Cherry to me. “And?”

I decide to rip off the Band-Aid and just blurt it out, “Garrett is my half-brother.”

Ma bursts out laughing. “Fuck off.”

I release Cherry and lean forward, letting her know I’m dead serious.

“Seems good ol’ dad had a kid with Letti and had been sending money to him for years.”

Ma’s face goes from amused to shocked. “You’re being serious?”

Maybe she didn’t know.

“So you didn’t know?” I ask accusingly.

“How the fuck would I know? Did she tell you I knew?” Ma asks, looking all crazy, pointing at Cherry.

“No, I am. I don’t see how you couldn’t have known. Dad was sending money to a trust account until the day he died.”

This has all the members gathering around us.

Earlier, Cherry was rambling fast and rushing as she tried to calm me down. I think the only part most of them caught onto was that Garrett was my half-brother.

I begin to tell her and everyone else what Cherry told me. The room is so silent you could hear a pin drop.

I keep my gaze on my ma, watching for any reaction that she knew and wasn’t going to say anything.

By the time I’m done, everyone in the room is in shock.

Lazy, of course, is the first to break the silence. “I can’t speak for all the brothers, but I was pretty damn close with your father, and I didn’t know about Garrett or the money.”

Ma stares at me, looking completely devastated. “I knew he fucked around with her, but I thought after she got married and had a kid, he stopped.”

I know she’s hurting just as I am from hearing this news, but I can’t comfort her just yet.

She shifts her attention from me to around the room and then back at me. “Why not tell us?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I guess no one will know, seeing good ol’ Dad took that shit to the grave with him.”

Cherry speaks, but her voice is barely audible. “What about talking to George?”

Dawg chimes in, “We need to find him.”

My head was spinning with so many questions running through it. I need to think. Fuck, I need to be deep inside my Blossom.

I stand up, turn to Cherry, and grab her hand. “I’m going to head to the house. I need to think and be alone with Cherry.”

Pulling her up and into my side, I face my ma. “I love you. I’m sorry I accused you of knowing. My head’s all fucked up.”

Ma gets up and tearfully admits, “I’m sorry for your father. I didn’t know, son.”

I release Cherry to give my mom a hug before returning to the warmth of Cherry at my side. I need her to ground me right now because I’m going to come unhinged if I don’t. I’m never like this. I’m always levelheaded.

JimmyJew, our treasurer, moves in front of me. “I’ll look into this trust and make sure it’s legit. I know we never paid out any money to any trust. So if your father was paying this money, he was doing it on his own.”

“See what you can find out, and we’ll regroup tomorrow. I need to get my head straight.”

Dawg, knowing precisely what I need, says, “We got this. Get lost, my brother. We’ll be here tomorrow.”

As I walk through the men I call brothers toward the door, I can feel their concern for me because they, too, have been lied to.

Cherry doesn’t say a word to anyone, she just smiles and holds on tight to me.

My Blossom.

My grounding.

Mine.