Page 158 of I Will Revel in Glory (Death by Daybreak MC 3)
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asks, and I just smile.
“She’s alone and scared, Cade. I don’t appreciate her hitting on my man, but I also don’t blame her. Not today.” I lean against the wall beside him and sip my juice as he studies me like an alien creature.
“You’ll cut a woman’s head off one day and then give a club whore money the next?” he asks, and I sigh.
“Morality is complicated,” I explain, continuing to drink my OJ. Cade watches me for a minute and then exhales, like he’s made a decision about something.
“Come with me,” he says, and then he pushes off the wall and heads around to the parking lot, making his way with long, steady strides toward the front gate. I almost have to jog to catch up with him, surprised to see a woman with reddish brown hair and a small boy waiting just inside the compound.
The woman looks nervous, but also like she’s been here before. Her eyes light up when she sees Cade, and she smiles.
“Mom,” he says, offering her a small hug and a pat on the back. She kisses his cheek and then pulls back, pushing the boy forward a small step. For a second there, I almost panic. I get that the woman is Cade’s mother, but who is the boy? Please don’t let it be his son. I’m too jealous for that. I’m way too fucking jealous.
Hypocrite, right? But like, who is this kid who looks to be a carbon copy of Cade Grainger?
“Say hi to your brother,” she says gently, and the boy moves up to Cade when he squats down, offering him a familiar hug and a shy smile. He can’t be more than maybe … five? Six? I’m not good with guessing kids’ ages.
Cade stands up and glances back at me, beckoning me forward with a jerk of his chin.
“Gidget, this is my mother, Raelynn.” He holds out his hand to indicate the woman. She looks to be in her early fifties which means she must’ve had Cade too young. Then again, I’m not in the position to judge anyone. Cade is, what, thirty-two? So if his mother had him when she was my age, she would be fifty on the dot. I look down at the kid. “And this is my little brother, Matthew.”
“Hi, Matthew,” I say with a slight smile. It must come across more as a feral grimace than anything because the kid shies away and Grainger chuckles.
“Mom, this is my …” Grainger takes a moment to decide how to describe me; our eyes meet in a clash of heat and understanding. “My old lady.” He turns back to her and then he … smiles. It’s tainted with a healthy dose of fear and worry for what’s to come, but it’s a real, true genuine smile. It makes my heart sing in ways I never could’ve imagined. “We’re expecting a baby.”
“Oh,” the woman says with another soft half-smile of her own. “Congratulations, Gidget.”
“Thank you,” I say, tucking my hands into my pockets as Grainger digs into his back pocket and pulls out a faded brown leather wallet. He extracts a huge amount of cash—all hundreds, I think—and passes it over to his mom. Her eyes widen slightly when she sees how much money he’s given her.
“Take this and get out of town. I don’t have a good feeling about this fire … or anything else.” He reaches up to scratch at the side of his head as he studies her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you in the hospital,” she says, but he just shakes his head at her.
“Doesn’t matter.” It does; I can hear it in his voice. “Just take that and leave town for a while, okay? I’ll call you when it’s safe to come back.”
She nods at that, reaching up to tuck a strand of her mussy hair behind one ear. There’s a timid, almost skittish look about her that’s the exact opposite of her son.
“Thank you,” she says, lifting up the money and turning to look at me. “Both of you. We appreciate it.” She puts her hand on Matthew’s back as he peers up at me with umber eyes that are disturbingly reminiscent of his older brother. “Stay safe, son.”
“I will,” Grainger promises her, and then Raelynn and Matthew are being let out of the gate by the on-duty guards. Cade watches them leave, his expression a strange, distant sort of thing. When he turns to me, I find my heart warming up toward the asshole even more.
“Please tell me that really is your brother and not your son,” I say, and he cocks a brow at me.
“Fucking really?” he queries, running his fingers through his red-brown hair and messing it up just enough that I can see that hidden tattoo near his hairline again. I want to kiss it so bad that it almost hurts. So … I do. I move forward and put my palms on his chest, rising up on my tiptoes and, when he leans down to kiss me, surprising him by gently putting my lips against his ink and sighing. Cade tightens his arms around me and holds me against him. “He’s my brother, I assure you.” He allows me to step back and then sighs heavily. “If he were my son, I sure as hell wouldn’t leave him with Raelynn. My mother’s much better now than she used to be, but she’s no saint.”
