Right now, I have a meeting to tend to and a possible son to meet.” I can feel the look of disgust I have as it lines my face. How dare she keep a secret of this magnitude from me, even if he isn’t mine? I have and have always had the right to know, and she of all people I would expect to understand that. “Go!” My elevated tone has her exiting my sight almost instantaneously.
As the door opens, I see the boy, the man she claims to be her son standing beside Gunner. I watch as they share a brief look before his eyes widen and he shuns her. As he turns his own repulsed look away from her, our eyes momentarily connect and I can feel myself gasp as I’m taken back at least twenty years; he’s a mirrored image of my younger self. The shock is almost too much to bear, and I feel myself slump backward and into my chair.
Chapter Eleven
Bella
I know he requested, or rather demanded I go home, but I find myself driving without a destination for several hours as I bawl. I can’t go back, not now, possibly ever. I’ve betrayed Rogue’s trust and am unlikely to ever gain it back. Not to mention, my own son snubbed me on sight; the same as he’s done for many years now. My precious boy that I only ever wanted to protect and had nothing but the best of intentions for all involved; but I doubt they will ever see it that way.
The thunderous roar of a bike closes in on me before passing me by, eventually coming to a complete stop in the middle of the road; causing me to smash on my brake pedal. Rolling my window down, I call out, “What the fuck, PeeWee? You’re gonna get us both killed!” I begin to wipe my dampened cheeks with my hands.
Lighting a cigarette, he dismounts his bike, and I’m stunned at the audacity as traffic slowly piles behind each of us. Approaching me, he leans down into my open window while propping himself against my car. “Look, Bella. I don’t know what’s going on, and frankly it’s none of my goddamn business, but I need some fucking fuel if we’re gonna keep playing this little game of runaway bride.” He blows out a plume of smoke.
“Get on your bike. Cars are beginning to honk and you’re gonna get yourself arrested or killed,” I impart.
Looking behind me, he smiles and waves before turning his back and flipping the other group off. “We can do this all day,” he shifts his focus back to me, “but I’d rather not have to kick a ton of ass, or explain to my president why I’m behind bars and couldn’t keep watch on you. That would almost certainly be a death sentence for me, and, well, I’m not done living. So, turn around and into that gas station back there, or I can hog tie you and strap you to the back of my bike. Your choice,” he calmly explains while still puffing his tobacco as the onlookers grow more restless by the second.
“Fine,” I spit out, “but you might just find yourself in hot water for giving a shit about me.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take seeing as I wasn’t relieved of my detail duties, ma’am.” He taps the hood of my car. “Now, let’s do this.”
Grudgingly, I turn my vehicle around on this small two-lane highway as the crowd we’ve gathered honks and hollers out profanities. “Yeah, yeah. Fuck you, too,” I mumble from inside as I drive past them and pull into the parking lot of the convenience store. Turning my car off once I pull into a parking space, I inhale deeply then slowly let it leave my lungs. In my rearview mirror, I watch as PeeWee shuts down his bike and marches around it, grabbing the gas pump and inserting it into his tank. Even with his sunglasses snugly in place, I can feel his displeased gaze directed at me. “Yeah, you can take a flying leap as well,” I mutter into the silenced vehicle. As I sit here, I begin contemplating my future and what I’ll do if Rogue sends me packing. I sold my house, quit my job, all in the hopes that I’d finally have the future I’ve desired so long with the man who holds my heart in the clutch of his hand. “I’ve started over before;