Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,102
with both of them in it, especially Mason.
In the driver's seat, Mason shook his head. "Not Livia," he said. "Arden."
Now that surprised me. "Arden? How so?"
"Let's just say she got me thinking."
"About what?" I asked.
"Family," he said. "Meaning my own."
"Oh?"
"Listen, there's something I want to tell you. But it stays between us, alright?"
I nodded. "Sure."
"About Willow – and my brothers, too – the fact we've got no parents. Well…the thing is, some of it's my fault."
That didn't make any sense. "But how could it be your fault?" I said. "You're the one who kept the family together."
"Sure, when I wasn't tearing it apart."
As I listened, he went on to tell me that just before his mom announced she was pregnant with Willow, Mason had caught her cheating on his dad.
I stared from the passenger's seat. "You don't mean in the act, do you?"
"No. But pretty damn close. I mean, shit, I caught the guy yanking up his pants coming out of my parent's bedroom."
I shuddered at the image. "Gosh, I'm so sorry. So, what happened? Did you confront her about it?"
"Her and him," Mason said. "As far as the guy, I told him if I ever caught him around the house again, I'd kick his ass. And worse. And you can guess how my mom loved that."
I bristled with outrage on Mason's behalf. "Yeah, but she was married – to your dad. What did she expect?"
"I'll tell you what she expected – to not get caught." He gave me a long, meaningful glance. "Or to get pregnant."
And just like that, the pieces slid into place. "Oh, my God. You don't mean Willow has a different dad? Does she know?"
Mason gave a bitter laugh. "Hell, you don't even know."
I hesitated. "Sorry, I'm not following."
"Lemme back up," he said. "My parents. They had this love-hate sort of thing. My mom – she had a real wild streak. And my dad – he had a temper, not all the time, but it would build up, you know?"
I knew the type, not from my own family, thank goodness. With real sympathy, I said, "That sounds really explosive."
"Got that right," he said. "Anyway, they'd get together, split up, and do it again a few months later. But the last time they got together – maybe a year before Willow was born – they seemed to be making a real go of it."
"But wait, you just said she was cheating."
"Yeah, well. I guess Mom got bored."
Ouch. "So she took up with someone else?"
"Yeah. This fighter from Miami. A real has-been."
From Arden, I already knew much of the story. Still, I was dying to hear Mason's version.
He continued. "But to her? The guy's a celebrity, someone exciting to see on the sly." With a sideways glance, he said, "You'd be surprised how much that means to some people."
I wouldn't be that surprised. After all, I'd known Mason long enough to see that fame could be a real aphrodisiac. Wherever Mason went, women stopped to stare, and not only because he was so ungodly sexy. "So the fighter – that's who you caught with your mom?"
He nodded. "And that's what busted up the family."
"But wait, how could that be your fault?"
"Oh, you're gonna love this," he said in a tone that suggested otherwise. "See, my dad, he gets suspicious, thinking my mom's up to her old tricks. And he starts asking questions."
I could only guess where this was going. Bracing myself, I said, "You don't mean he's asking you?"
"Who else would he ask?" Mason gave a hard scoff. "See, I'm not a kid anymore, right? So he's asking me 'man-to-man' if there's anything going on."
I couldn't even imagine how awkward that would be – or what I'd do in the same situation. "So…you told him?"
Mason's voice grew quiet. "Yeah. I told him. Not flat-out, but let's just say I didn’t cover for her." Mason shook his head. "And hell, he probably knew already."
"But then it's not your fault at all," I said. "And even if you did tell him, that's your mom's fault for cheating, not yours."
"Maybe. But you haven't heard the rest."
I frowned. "There's more?"
Again, Mason nodded. "So later that same night, my mom announces she's pregnant. And my dad – he flies off the handle, because he knows damn well it's not his kid."
The way he talked, he'd seen this with his own two eyes. "And you were there?"