Page 35 of Wyatt (The Black Roses MC #5)

Chapter sixteen

Maizie

“ C an I just say how much I love seeing you here with Wyatt. It’s like you guys always belonged together, and now you finally are,” Lucy comments as we’re sitting on the back patio of the clubhouse.

The guys have a giant waterslide set up behind the clubhouse and we’ve all been enjoying having some fun on the thing.

Wyatt walked us out to the backyard, and Colby’s eyes went as wide as saucers when he saw the giant blue-and-yellow monstrosity set up in the back.

He thought it was someone's birthday, not just a regular Sunday afternoon. But that’s Wyatt.

He loves being able to do things like this just to see Colby’s reaction.

I told him he was setting the bar so high that by the time his birthday actually rolled around, he’d be expecting a trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Wyatt simply shrugged and told me that was actually a good idea.

“You haven’t missed an opportunity yet, why start now?” Charlie says next to Lucy and Mia.

“Shut it, sister. You’re just as thrilled as I am,” Lucy tells Charlie.

“And you never miss an opportunity to gloat like you were single-handedly responsible for our friend finally letting her guard down and admitting to her feelings,” Mia adds, and I laugh.

“Where would I be without you?” I ask Lucy in an overly sweet tone.

“Bored and at home without the glowing skin of someone who’s getting that good dick on the regular,” she says with a knowing smirk.

“Jesus,” Charlie breathes out. “I thought you were bad when you beat everyone at pool or darts, but we’re never going to hear the end of this one, are we?”

Lucy shrugs but doesn’t comment.

Gramps comes walking out of the clubhouse with Elaine on his arm.

“I didn’t know your grandma was coming,” Charlie says to Mia. “Those two have been seeing an awful lot of each other.” She nods at the couple as Gramps leads Elaine to where we’re sitting.

“Hello, dears. Mind if this old lady joins you?”

“If this is what old looks like, then sign me up,” Lucy says. “How are you, Elaine?”

“Oh, lovely. It’s a beautiful day to spend time with family and friends, and Arthur promised me some delicious BBQ, even though I told him Americans hold the blue ribbon for best BBQ, not the Brits.”

Gramps laughs as Elaine takes a seat next to me.

“Wait until you taste my ribs, Elaine. You’ll be eating those words.” Gramps smiles and nods at us in greeting. “I’m going to go supervise my son and grandson,” he says and walks to where Ozzy and Trick are manning the grill.

Freya walks out moments later with a bottle of chilled wine, followed by Tanya with a giant charcuterie board.

“Good Lord, have the guys been hogging the slide?” Freya asks, watching Barrett climb up and topple down, followed closely by Cash.

“They’ve been sharing like good little boys,” I tell her.

“Colby is just taking a break.” I look over and find him and Wyatt standing a bit farther from the crowd with Pepper.

Wyatt has been trying to get the dog to train with Colby so that he listens to my son just as well as he does with Wyatt.

It’s been…slow going. Mainly because all Colby wants to do is run around and play with him—the dog, not Wyatt. Though sometimes Wyatt, too.

We talk about Freya’s workload and how that’s going with the wedding planning.

“Honestly,” she starts, staring at her ring. “We aren’t in a hurry. I don’t have much family other than my parents. My dad still isn’t a hundred percent on board. He thinks I threw away my career by moving back to Shine and opening a family law practice.”

Freya was a US attorney who put one of the worst mob bosses on the East Coast in prison.

When her life was being threatened before the trial, the Black Roses were tasked with protecting her.

She’d grown up here and was actually shot in this very clubhouse when she was still in high school.

The hit was ordered by the boss she put away, and she spent the next fifteen years working toward her goal of prosecuting the worst of the worst. But when she and Ozzy reconnected, there was no stopping them from falling in love again, and she decided to lay her roots back in Shine.

“Well, I for one am glad to have you back,” Mia says. “And I know a few women who are, too.”

Freya has become one of the best family law attorneys this town has ever seen. Many of the cases she takes are pro bono, and she’s helped several women get themselves and their kids out from under horrible situations here and in surrounding towns.

My phone dings with a text, and I grab it from the table.

Unknown Number: Hey .

My brows dip. Who…

Unknown Number: It’s Nolan .

What the fuck?

Nolan: Hear you’ve been fucking one of the Black Roses .

Me: What do you want?

The noises around me fade into the distance, and the only thing I hear is blood rushing to my head and the way my heart sounds like it's going to pump out of my chest.

Nolan: To make a deal with you. My kid for information .

Me: I told you he’s mine.

I swallow and look around. The only person who seems to notice that I’m in distress is Elaine. But she doesn’t talk to Nolan, so it’s not like she would have told him anything.

Nolan: We can let the courts decide that. I don’t think they look too favorably on a mother who kept the existence of a child from the father for six years.

Me: You fucking asshole. You knew I was pregnant.

Nolan: Did I? Can you prove it?

What the fuck was I supposed to do? Send him a certified letter? When Nolan told me to get rid of it, I took that as he didn’t care one way or the other what the hell I did.

Nolan: Your friends haven’t been very nice to mine. In fact, a few of my brothers went missing a while back. Then they burned down our most lucrative business when one of their women was taken back to her family. We want answers, and you’re going to get them for me.

Me: I don’t know anything about that.

Nolan: But you’re going to find out. If you don’t, I go to the courts and take my son. You aren’t the only one with connections in that town. My parents are loaded and will do whatever they can to get their grandson where he belongs.

I stand abruptly, my chair toppling backward.

“Maizie?” Lucy asks, staring at me. But I can’t answer her. My breaths are coming too fast, shallow and erratic.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

“Wyatt,” someone calls, and he races over as I’m in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.

“Baby?” he says, coming straight to my side as the tears begin to fall down my face.

“He’s going to take him,” I say between panting breaths.

“Who? What are you talking about?” Wyatt says, turning me toward him and holding me by the arms. Good thing, too, because I’m about to sink to the ground.

“His father. Nolan Dawson.”

I feel like absolute shit. I’ve never had a panic attack before. Sure, I’ve been scared and felt helpless at times in my life, but that was on a whole other level.

Wyatt whisked me away to his room in the clubhouse and left me there, promising to be right back. When he walks into his room again, he has a glass of water and hands it to me.

“Trick and Tanya took Colby to their place with Pepper. Said they were going to have a sleepover.”

“Good. That’s good. Colby loves Tanya,” I reply woodenly.

“Do you think you can tell me what’s going on now?”

I blow out a deep breath, but don’t answer.

“Maizie. I need you to tell me what’s going on. I know you're scared, and I know you’ve kept this from everyone for so long, but it’s time you came clean. About all of it.”

Wyatt stands on the other side of the room, leaning against the dresser. His arms are crossed over his chest, and though his words aren’t angry, per se, they sure as hell aren’t warm.

“Are Elaine and Mia still here?” I ask, and Wyatt nods. “I need to tell this story, but I need Elaine and Mia to hear it, too. It involves all of us.”

Wyatt nods again and opens the door, extending his arm to signal that he’s following me out.

When we emerge from the hallway, everyone is gathered in the main room of the clubhouse.

Mia and Charlie are sitting on the couch next to Elaine, Ozzy stands behind Freya—who has taken a seat on one of the bar stools next to Gramps—and the rest of the brothers are scattered around the space.

None of them has looks of anger or disgust on their faces, so I guess that’s a good start.

My friends look at me with worry in their eyes, along with Elaine, which makes me feel even more awful for having kept this from them.

Lucy walks up to me with a glass of amber liquid. “Here, sister, looks like you need this.”

I give her a nod in thanks and toss back the whiskey. “I don’t know where to start,” I say to the room.

“Do you want me to get rid of the guys?” Ozzy asks. Not him, just the other brothers. This involves his club, and he takes that responsibility very seriously.

I shake my head. “No. It needs to come out. I’ve lied to you all for long enough.”

Wyatt leads me over to one of the barstools, and I take a seat with him standing next to me.

And I begin my story.

“I saw Nolan in a bar in Boston when I was out celebrating with some girlfriends. He remembered me, and I always had the biggest crush on him in high school.” I look at Mia. “Sorry I never told you.”

She shakes her head. “It’s okay.”

“We had a night together,” I continue. “A few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. I knew I couldn’t take care of a baby, go to school, and afford to live in Boston, so I came home.

My parents kicked me out when I came home pregnant and unwed, refusing to tell them ‘who ruined their daughter's life,’ and I went to live with my grandmother. I didn’t want her to have to support me and Colby any more than she already was, so I got a job at Thorn and Thistle.

I never told anyone who Colby’s father was because when I told him I was pregnant, he wanted me to get rid of it and I… I didn’t want to.”