Page 10 of The Monsters Within

“I can’t,” he sighed.

“Why the fuck not?”

“She’s Steele’s daughter.”

Hold the goddamned fucking front door. I stared at King, my mouth open wide enough for God and everybody to just walk on in.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“Don’t make me fucking repeat it,” King said, rubbing his hands over his face.

I didn’t have words. My brain couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. How the fuck did we not know Steele had a daughter?

“How? I mean... when?”

“She told me the first night I met her,” he confessed as he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.

“You’ve known for two fucking years and you didn’t say shit?”

King and his fucking secrets.

“You never told me you were adopted.”

I gaped at him. “The two things aren’t even remotely the same fucking thing, and you know it. Bob and Karen are my fucking parents, and they always will be.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t insinuating they weren’t. But it threw me for a fucking loop when I heard you say that this morning. And the shrinks? You never said anything.”

I shrugged. “What was the point? It doesn’t change anything.”

“Brother, you need to fucking talk to us.”

“Hey, Pot, how you fucking doing?”

“Yea, I know. It’s why I told you about Grace.”

“You need to tell the others.”

I sat up, watching Rose. She was rubbing her legs. It meant she was struggling. I watched and waited. I couldn’t rush over there.

Not yet.

Mellie was pissed I was sitting here. She said Rose was already becoming co-dependent. I didn’t fucking care. I wanted her dependent on me. I wanted her to give me every fucking fear, worry and disappointment she had so she didn’t have to feel them.

I could carry the fucking load for her and I would do so proudly.

“I’ll call the officers in tonight. The rest don’t need to know. Not yet.”

“What are you gonna do?” I asked, my attention still on Rose.

“What the fuck can I do?”

I turned then. He was such a fucking Boy Scout sometimes. “You fucking claim the woman you’re in love with.”

“It’s not that fucking easy.”

“Why the fuck not? He clearly doesn’t know who she is; either that or he really is the douchebag I think he is and knows his daughter is here and fucking ignored her when he visited. So fuck him.”

“Is that what you’ll say to Montana when he finds out we have two legacies in our club? And Reaper? When he finds out they’re Golden, he’ll come for them.”