Chapter Twenty-One

 

Maddox

 

I can’t say I’m shocked when I pull up at War’s house to pick up Audrey, and he comes storming out with her on his heels. Fine, if he wants to hit me, I’ll give him one shot. Maybe that will give him some sort of satisfaction.

Turning off the car, I get out and walk around to meet him in front of the hood.

“Who’s your father?” he snaps at me.

“Huh?” I grunt, since I was expecting a physical blow, not a psychological one.

“Who is your father?” War repeats slowly. “Was he really a Savage King, or is that some bullshit you made up?”

“I’m sorry!” Audrey exclaims when she runs up beside her brother. I can tell by the pleading look on her concerned face that she must have accidentally spilled the beans. I’m sure she didn’t do it on purpose, and I can’t be mad at her for telling him my secret that I should’ve brought up a long time ago.

Figuring War wouldn’t believe me if I simply tell him, I pull out my wallet from my pocket and then remove the tattered old piece of paper that’s been folded into a small square. “Here,” I say when I offer it to him. “See for yourself.”

“Maddox, you don’t have to do this!” Audrey says, reaching between us and swiping the paper out of my hand before War. “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything, but I was angry at him and ranting, and when I was saying how much the Savage Kings meant to you, it just slipped out!”

“It’s okay, baby,” I tell her. Giving her a sad smile, I reach for her hand to pull her closer to my side. “Besides, it doesn’t matter now.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” She looks up at me with her big brown eyes.

“I’m sure,” I reply before I gently remove my birth certificate from her fingers and hold it out to War again. He’s so busy glaring at my other arm around his sister that it takes him a while before he finally snatches it from me.

Audrey and I watch silently as he unfolds the paper and then his eyes start to scan the words. When he gets to the important part, his golden eyes bulge before they lift to glance between the two of us again.

“Seriously?” he asks. “Deacon was your father?”

“According to my mother,” I respond. “By the time I found out, he was already dead, so I couldn’t ask him or get a DNA test. And while my mom lied to me about it for years, I don’t think she would’ve put his name on my birth certificate unless she was certain,” I explain. “She changed my last name from Fury to Holmes a few weeks later, when she married the asshole who raised me. My stepfather didn’t want the inconvenience of having to deal with another man in our life...”

“Jesus,” War mutters. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Why do you think?” I ask. “You and everyone else would’ve gone easy on me. I wanted to earn my patch, not just be handed one because of a name I was born with.”

“So Torin and Chase don’t know yet?” War asks.

“Nope.”

“But Reece does?”

Nodding, I tell him, “Reece found my birth certificate and Change of Name documents when he was searching through my background. I asked him to keep it between us and told him that if I patched in, then I would tell everyone. So, he did.”

“Wow,” War mutters before he turns around and starts to walk back into the house. When he’s a few feet away, he stops, remembering he’s still holding my birth certificate. He comes back and hands it to me before disappearing inside.

Blowing out a breath, I tell Audrey, “It feels good to finally tell someone else.”

“I feel awful,” she says, burying her face against my chest.

“Don’t. It’s not a big deal,” I assure her. “I was going to tell them…so now is as good a time as any.”

Tilting her head back to look up at my face, she says, “My brother’s a dick.”

Smiling, I place a quick kiss on her lips. “He’s just trying to protect you. Maybe you should tell him that you stole my innocence, and see if that helps his opinion of us being together,” I tease.

“I will if you think it will help,” she replies.

“No,” I say, with a shake of my head. “Let’s keep that embarrassing detail between us. I would never hear the end of it if the guys found out that a sweet little girl like you popped my cherry.”

The smile slips from my face when I realize I won’t be seeing the guys again to even give them a chance to rag on me. That part of my life is over.

Brushing that depressing thought aside, I decide to change the subject. “So, I called my mom today.”

“You did?” Audrey asks excitedly. “How did it go? Was she happy to hear from you?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I respond. “And she wants us to come visit…”

“Us?” Audrey repeats with a broadening grin.

“Yeah. Us. I told her about you.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” she says, standing on her toes to kiss my lips. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I told her we would maybe visit when you finish up the semester.”

“That sounds perfect,” she replies. “Now, how about we go home and start our own Thanksgiving tradition?”

“That is a great idea.”