Page 6 of Dagger's Target
But looking at this grainy picture, something shifts inside me. A protective instinct I didn’t know I had in me surfaces. Katrina wasn’t gonna be doing this without me. My kid was going know me as more than just a part-time parent who shows up half the time.
I stare at the sonogram for a few more minutes, tracing the outline of what will be my kid with my finger. The paper already has creases from being folded in Katrina’s purse. My chesttightens as I think about her carrying this around, looking at it when I wasn’t even aware I’d helped create life.
Makes me wonder what she felt when she found out. Was she scared? Freaked?
“Shit,” I mutter, shoving the sonogram back in my pocket and reaching for my cigarettes.
The flame from my lighter dances in the breeze as I cup my hand around it, drawing in that first hit of nicotine. It’s not the best habit I have, but it’s something that helps calm my nerves when I need it most.
Grabbing my phone next to me, I dial Gunner’s name. Usually, he’d be here at the clubhouse by now, but I knew his daughter, Delilah, was sick with the flu.
“What’s up, brother?” he asks on the first ring.
“Got some news today,” I grunt, sucking on the cigarette.
“News about those pieces of shit? They dead?” Gunner asks. He, Hammer, and Malice were the only ones who knew the truth about my folks and siblings back home.
“Not that kind of news, not that I’d get that or care either way,” I tell him, speaking the truth, and he knows it.
“What news then?”
“Gonna have a kid.” The words are out before I can think of another way to put them.
“Come again?” Gunner demands, sounding disbelieving.
I quickly give him a rundown on what happened, and when I’m done, he lets out a long, low whistle.
“Fuck, brother,” Gunner says, finally after processing everything. “So this woman just drops this bomb on you and walks out again?”
“Pretty much.” I take another long drag, watching the smoke spiral up into the afternoon sky. “According to her, she just wanted to let me know, not ask for anything. Said she can talk to me through the pregnancy or call me after the child is born.”
“And you believe that?”
I consider his question, thinking about Katrina’s face when she told me. The way her eyes couldn’t quite meet mine, not from deception—from fear. I think about her words, the ones she spoke of how she wanted her child’s father to know about them, that she wasn’t going to be like her mother.
“Yeah, I do. That’s what’s fucking with me. She genuinely seemed like she was giving me information and expected to walk away. Like she thought I was gonna be good with that.”
“You’re not good with that,” Gunner points out the obvious.
“Fuck no, I’m not. I have questions.” More questions than I thought I would or could have. “She had this news for two weeks before telling me.” It could have been a hell of a lot longer, but that’s two weeks I went without knowing I had a kid coming into this world.
“I get what you’re saying, Dagger.” Out of anyone, he would get me the best.
“Dagger.”
I turn in the direction of Hammer’s voice calling me, my phone to my ear. “Hey, Prez needs to talk to me. I’ll catch you later.”
“All right, call me if you need me.” That’s another thing about being a part of this club, my brothers have my back, no matter what.
“Catch you later,” I grunt and hang up as I hop off the table and make my way to Hammer. “Everything good, Prez?”
“You tell me.” He grunts, jerking his chin toward the doors. “Cy just gave me a file on a woman named Katrina.”
Fuck. He worked faster than I thought he would. However, he was supposed to get me, not Hammer.
“Let’s go to my office, brother, we’ll discuss this there,” Hammer grunts, motioning for me to follow him.
The walk to Hammer’s office is short, and I find Cy sitting in one of the chairs, his eyes coming to me.
