With Rock’s okay, I take five of the men with me to Jenna’s place, including two in one of the club’s vans. We pull up just as the sun is setting.

Which is gonna be useful for the next couple of hours.

I text Jenna as we’re climbing the stairs and she opens the door, white-faced and frightened. “Noah’s in my bedroom,” she whispers as she lets us in.

“How is he?” I murmur, drawing her into my arms. For a moment, she collapses against me, and I realize how tightly she must have been holding her emotions in, waiting for me to get there.

“I think he’s okay,” she says shakily. “He didn’t see… what I did.” Her breath hitches and she pushes down a sob. “I made him run to the bedroom and close the door. He was scared of the loud noise, and I just told him I slammed the front door really hard.” She manages a wobbly laugh. “I guess I should be glad he’s still young enough to believe me when I tell him unbelievable things.”

“Sshhh,” I whisper, grazing my lips across her forehead. “Let’s go check in on him, okay?” I lead her through the living room, past the brothers who are already starting to work on cleanup. Jenna averts her eyes and shudders slightly as we pass.

Pushing open the door to her bedroom, I wait for her to walk through it and then close it behind us. Inside, Noah is sitting in the middle of the bed, a small, frightened-looking animal, clutching Chip-Chip.

I sit down on the bed and give him a smile. “Hey, buddy,” I say softly.

Noah doesn’t say a word. He just crawls over and climbs into my lap.

I look over at Jenna and raise my eyebrows. Her expression softens as she watches us. I put an arm around Noah and slide myself back against the headboard. He leans into my chest and closes his eyes.

“Wow,” I mouth at Jenna.

Jenna slides up beside me and takes my hand. The three of us stay like that for a few minutes, not speaking. Soon, I hear and feel Noah’s breathing even out. He’s fallen asleep. I look over at Jenna, and I see she’s realized it, too.

“He’s… had a pretty rough day,” she murmurs.

“Sounds like he’s not the only one.”

She laughs softly and nods. “Yeah, even for me, this is not going to go down as one of my better days.” She glances over in the direction of the living room. “What’s going to happen to… him?” she asks, a note of fear in her voice.

“The men will take care of the body,” I tell her.

“What about the police?” Her lip trembles. “I don’t want to go to jail, Cas.”

“Sshhh, Jenna,” I say, tightening my arm around her. “It’s gonna be okay. The club’s got… well, let’s just say the club’s got a reasonably good relationship with law enforcement around here. Sometimes they can be encouraged to look the other way.” I think for a moment. “And as far as I can tell, Hurt isn’t someone who had a lot of relatives who’ll be asking around about what happened.”

“Are you sure?” she whispers.

I nod and kiss the top of her head. “Don’t worry, babe. It’s gonna be alright.”

We sit like that, quietly, for a couple of minutes. Jenna clings to me tightly, and I wait until I can feel the tension in her body begin to ebb out of her. Finally, when I feel like I can’t put it off anymore, I take a deep breath.

“Jenna, I need to tell you something,” I begin. “I probably should have told you over the phone, but I wanted to do it in person. It’s about your dad.”

I tell her about the text I got from Angel, and what I found when I got to the address he sent me. “I didn’t recognize the address at first, until I got to the house. The place was trashed, and your dad is gone.”

“Oh, my God,” she breathes. “Do you think he’s been kidnapped?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “Either that, or he realized that the Spiders were coming for him and got out in time.” I look over at her stricken face, and my chest constricts. “Angel’s out looking for him,” I add quickly. “If he’s out there to be found, your brother will find him.”

What I don’t say — and what I sure as hell hope she doesn’t ask me — is what will happen to him if the Spiders find him first.

Jenna begins to cry softly. I don’t know what else to do but hold her, and let her. The sun goes down, and it grows dark, until the only light in the little room is the tiny lamp on the bedside table. Time passes, and I hear the brothers moving around in the other room. Finally, the front door closes for the final time. They’re gone, and we’re alone.

I must fall asleep, because when I wake up the three of us are still lying on the bed. Noah’s curled up into a little ball, his thumb having drifted into his mouth at some point. I stand and pick him up, then carry him to his room and tuck him in.

When I come back, Jenna’s awake. She gives me a small smile as I kick off my shoes and climb back into bed with her. “Hey, there,” I murmur, kissing her softly.

“How’s Noah?” she asks, glancing toward the door.

“He’s good. Out to the world.” I chuckle. “Oh, to be young again, and be able to sleep like that.”

“He really seemed to need you to comfort him,” she says slowly. There’s a strange expression on her face.

“Sometimes a boy needs a man to look up to, I guess. It must be rough on Noah sometimes, not having a dad.” I glance at her. “Not that you’re not doing a great job with him, Jenna. You’re a terrific mom.” I stop for a moment, considering my words. “Besides,” I continue. “Now that you’re my old lady, Noah’s my responsibility, too. We’re a family. Right?”

Jenna’s reaction isn’t at all what I’m expecting. Her lip trembles, and then suddenly she bursts into tears.

“Hey, hey!” I say, alarmed. I take her face in my hand and turn it to mine. “Jesus, Jenna, I’m sorry!” I guess the stress of the day must still have a hold on her. Not surprising; it’s not every day you have to kill a man in your own living room.

“No, no,” she sobs. “It’s… it’s not you…” She shakes her head furiously. “Cas, oh my God, I’m such a fool. I’m so sorry…”

“Jenna, calm down, baby. It’s okay,” I soothe. “Tell me what’s wrong.” There’s a strange germ of an idea forming in my head, but I force myself not to jump to conclusions. “Come on, Jen,” I urge her, pulling her back into my arms. “Talk.”

Finally, she manages to calm herself enough to speak. Jenna pulls herself upright and draws away from me, until she’s facing me and we’re no longer touching. She pulls her legs in tight and hugs them against her chest.

“Cas,” she whispers as she looks at me. Tears continue to stream down her face. “You’re Noah’s father.” She takes in a shuddering breath and squeezes her eyes shut. “I should have told you. I should have told you so long ago… I’m so sorry.”

It feels a little like I’ve been punched. Of all the things she could have been preparing to say, this one leaves me speechless. For a moment, it’s like the words can’t quite penetrate my brain.

Holy hell.

Noah’s mine? I’ve been a father for four fucking years, and I never knew it?

In a daze, my mind goes back to that summer when Jenna and I were first together. All that time since, all the months and years after she left, I’ve been just living my life, with no idea I had a kid. And Jenna’s been doing it all on her own. The pregnancy, the birth, raising him… without anyone to help her.

Why did she never tell me?

Damn Jenna and her pride. As long as I’ve known her, she has the toughest time accepting any help from anybody. Another girl would have come home and leaned on her family during the pregnancy, and the birth. Not Jenna, though. My chest aches a little bit to think about how alone she must have felt through all of it.

But why not me? Why didn’t she ask the father of her child to help her?

Because she didn’t want to push you into it. The answer comes to me immediately. Jenna would never want to think you were with her just because there was a baby on the way. She’d rather be alone than be a charity case.

I haven’t said a word since she told me. I’ve just been sitting here silent. I look over at Jenna to see she’s opened her eyes again. She’s looking down and away from me. Her jaw is tense, her posture rigid. I realize she thinks I’m angry with her. And to be honest, I am.

But the anger I feel isn’t anything compared to the other things welling up inside me.

Joy. Pride. Love.

A little fear, if I’m honest.

Holy fuck. I’m a father.

I have a son.

And Jenna Abbott, the one woman who ever made me slow down and think about settling down, is his mother.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, even though I sort of know the answer. I need her to tell me why.

She looks down at her hands. “Because we told ourselves it was a mistake back then. I never wanted Noah to think he was a mistake. I never wanted anyone to think he was a mistake.”

Jenna takes a deep breath and forces herself to meet my gaze. She puts a careful hand on her stomach.

“And this isn't a mistake either.”