to keep his voice level, but the tension in the room had grown thick.
“That’s it,” Cecilia said with a shrug.
“You think it’s smart to go around tellin’ people that your pop’s an Ace, especially in San Diego?” Leo asked. It was the first thing he’d said to her since she got back, and she stiffened, which made me tense.
Cecilia’s hand gripped my thigh before I could say anything.
“I wasn’t out at the bar boasting about my daddy being in a motorcycle club,” Cecilia said through her teeth. “Liv was one of my best friends, who I’d known for years. Our families came up a few times.”
“From what I remember, once you were drunk, you weren’t too careful about what you spread around the bar,” Leo said, his voice flat.
I was on my feet before he’d finished speaking. The only thing that stopped me from hopping over the table was the baby in my arms.
“You ain’t helpin’,” Dragon barked at his son. “You got shit to say to Cecilia—you bring it up when we’re not discussin’ shit more important than your high school drama.”
“Sit, baby,” Cecilia said to me quietly, tugging on my belt loop.
“And I’d have a word with Lil before you do it,” Casper said, staring Leo down. “Think she might have something to say about it.”
I slowly lowered myself back down into my seat.
“So, they knew you were Casper’s,” Grease said.
“I didn’t specify who my dad was,” Cecilia said with a shrug. “But, I mean, we have the same last name, so it wouldn’t be a jump to figure it out.”
“’Specially with the last name Butler,” Grease murmured, running a hand over his beard. “Been a number of years, but I’m bettin’ those stories are still circulatin.’”
“What stories?” Will asked in surprise.
“Our uncles were notorious,” Casper said dryly. “And so was your great grandmother.”
“Gram?” Cecilia said in disbelief.
“Still waters,” Grease said, his lips tipping up in a smile. “Your gram was a badass.”
“Well, we knew that,” Tommy said.
“I’d like to hear this story,” Eli said, nodding his head. “But what does that have to do with what’s goin’ on now?”
“Could be nothin’,” Dragon said. “Just tryin’ to get all the information.”
“You think Liv hooked up with you because she knew who you were?” Casper asked Cecilia gently.
She jerked back in surprise and paled. She was silent for a long moment, before shaking her head. “No.” She shook her head again. “No, we met at work way before she got with Cane. That came later.”
“Could he have been usin’ her to get to you?”
“They were together for years. He was playing a really long game if that was the case,” she replied.
“Did he hit on you?” Lu asked quietly. “Before or after he got with your friend?”
“No way,” Cecilia said with a nervous laugh. “Never. It was always Liv. He worshipped her.”
“Alright then,” Dragon said. “We’ll take your word for it.”
“Even if he didn’t plan it,” Casper said, leaning back in his chair, “opportunity dropped in his lap.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Well,” Casper replied, “he’s got his people up here, makin’ friends with members and then stealin’ from us, and he’s got my daughter down there, close as he can get her, carrying his child.”
Cecilia’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Can we not phrase it that way? It makes it sound like I had sex with Cane.” She shuddered.
“Sorry, Bumblebee,” Casper said with a bark of laughter. “Still, we retaliated up here and he woulda had the perfect set up to fuck with you, and if you tried to fuck him over down there, he had the means to retaliate up here.”
“Smart,” Forrest said to himself with a huff.
“So, now what?” I asked. “The man’s dead.”
“Now we take care of the rest of ’em,” Dragon said.
As the group tossed out ideas about how we’d take care of the Free America Militia, Olive woke up and started to squirm.
“I’m going to take her back to the room,” Cecilia said as she took the baby from me. “You guys don’t need me for this.”
“Always need you,” I teased quietly.
“Come find me when you’re done,” she said with a small smile. “I’ll hopefully be the one napping.”
“Lucky,” I said, squeezing her hip as she stood. “You want me to wake you up when the food’s ready?”
“Sure.”
I watched her walk away until I couldn’t see her anymore, and when I turned back to the table, I met Leo’s eye. He wasn’t glaring, but his expression wasn’t exactly welcoming, either. Yeah, we were going to