Page 9 of Legacy
“I can’t ask you to pay for our dinner.”
Legacy’s eyes crinkled. “I said my treat, Kate. And anyway, I have to buy you dinner. I want you to cook your famous roast lamb for me on Sunday.”
He winked.
Chapter Six
Legacy
“Did you get things with the boy sorted?” Not bothering to say hello, Pocket stepped in front of me.
I nodded, not elaborating at first, but I knew I would have to. I could hear him follow after me. His footsteps were even heavier than mine. Pocket wasn’t a small man. In fact, he was downright huge, but we called him Pocket anyway, as in pocket-sized.
“Legacy?”
I stopped, thrusting my hands into my pockets. I had promised Kate that I wouldn’t get the club involved, and part of me agreed with that. If the Savage Sons got involved, things would escalate quickly. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to involve myself. The Hunters were scum. And scum needed to be dealt with. Especially when they messed with someone I cared about.
“Yeah, well, it will be.” I shrugged and carried on walking. I had made it maybe three steps when he caught me by the sleeve.
“You need some backup?” Pocket wasn’t a violent man, although he could be if pushed. He didn’t enjoy it like some of the others, but he was a good man to have in your corner. Solid and steady.
I shook my head. “It’s not club business.” My eyes darted back down the way I had just come. The offices were down there. My father's office. As president of our chapter, I should have asked for his advice, and for the club to back me up at the same time. But I hadn’t. And it wasn’t just because I had promised Kate I wouldn’t. It was because it was private. My problem and not the club’s.
I left Kate and Conner on their own. Unprotected, uncared for. Taking this problem out of their lives would help make up for that. I hoped. After that, if they wanted me to leave them alone, I would. Kate was right. Sending flowers had been a coward's move; it had stopped her from moving on, from living her life as Paul would have wanted her to.
God, they had married so young. At the time, I hadn’t even thought about it because it seemed as if they had been together forever, even at that point.
“About the boy?”
“Kind of.”
A knowing look filled Pocket's eyes. “His mother then?”
I shook my head. “Conner's mother is a junkie. She lost custody of him when he was a baby. Paul and Kate took him.” My voice broke, and I cleared my throat roughly. “Kate has raised him since Paul’s death.”
Even saying the words out loud hurt. She had done it alone. All alone, with no help or support, no village. Kate's family was only marginally better than Paul and Conner’s had been. She had basically raised herself. And then, barely out of being a kid herself, she had her own ready-made family. But she never complained, never moaned about her lot in life. And not once had she given up on Conner.
Not like I had given up on them.
Pocket nodded his head like he understood, and maybe he did. What I’d gone through when I served wasn’t exactly a secret. Another was what had happened in the bar last year when Kate had stormed in and given me a piece of her mind.
“Kate’s the pretty firecracker, right?”
I nodded.
“She’s a stunner.”
Yeah, she was, but I wasn’t going to admit that. Not to him, not to anyone. Any red-blooded man would have found her attractive, even without knowing what a good woman she was, but I couldn’t think like that.
“Is she okay?”
“She says she is, but she’s bruised up and…” I couldn’t finish. I didn’t need to.
Pocket’s eyebrows shot down. Under his beard, his lips thinned.
“So, who are we going to hurt?”
“Hurt?”
