Page 16 of Devil’s Torture

He barks out a laugh, and I notice how rusty it sounds. I almost frown, but I keep my face as neutral as possible.

I never thought he’d show back up. I have no expectations when it comes to this man; not anymore.

Before Rune straddles his bike, he looks at us for another long moment. “I’ll be back,” he sounds sincere, but I’ve heard that line before. I believed it then. I’m not sure I believe it now. “You should both know that I’m not leaving town again. I won’t.”

It’s only after he fires up the bike and pulls away from the curb that I wrap an arm around my daughter’s shoulders and pull her against my side. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathes out. “I feel like I know him, at least who he was back then, but he had no idea I existed until a few minutes ago. It’s not like I can blame him for being shocked.”

I squeeze her shoulders and sigh, “You’re a good kid. Have I told you that today?”

Her eyebrows pull together as I lead her inside. “Not yet. You’re really falling down on the job, huh?”

Even though the last few minutes were the longest and heaviest of my life, I’m relieved it finally happened. He knows about his daughter.

He came home.

I just have no idea what will happen next.

CHAPTER 4

RUNE

I have a daughter. I have a nine-year-old daughter named Dawn. She’s beautiful. She looks so much like her mom, but there are bits of me in there too. She has my eyes.

That was more than enough for me.

The moment I saw her, I knew. I asked the question anyway because I needed to hear the answer, not because I wasn’t aware of the truth.

I missed it all.

All of it.

Bexley pregnant. Dawn being born. The sleepless nights required to keep a newborn alive while the entire house learns to thrive in a brand-new situation.

First words.

First steps.

First piece of heartfelt art where no adult can properly identify the subject matter.

First day of school.

Nine years of memories. I didn’t even know I was missing out on them.

I knew I was missing out on everything with Bexley, but knowing about Dawn puts the last ten years in a completely different perspective. It wasn’t just time with my Old Lady that was taken from me in the name of protection, it was time with my daughter.

It wasn’t easy getting on the back of my bike and riding away from my girls. And they are mine; that much I know to be true even though I was blind to the truth of the last ten years and everything I missed.

All of it, the totality of the last ten years and everything I barely even know now, is too big. Too much. I had to get on my bike and go.

The only place I knew to go was the clubhouse. Not because it’s some sanctuary to me, not anymore.

I need answers from my club. From my brothers. From my Prez.

My fury hits the main room of the clubhouse before I do. It slams against the Devil’s Saints emblem on the door and into the heart of the place where I once thought my family had my back.

With a scan of the room, I see quite a few brothers enjoying a drink. There are club angels, but I don’t even bother looking at them.