Temper (Knights of Fury #3) - Chantal Fernando Page 0,77

closes it, looking like a fish. “I’m not scared of the world. And fine, I made a mistake with Abbie’s father, but that’s why I didn’t tell him I was pregnant. I left, because I knew it was best for Abbie, and I didn’t want her growing up around that environment. And now she’s gone and found herself a criminal biker anyway, so she’s basically put herself into the same environment.”

“I don’t think those two things are the same,” I say, scowling. “And Grayson told me he never knew you were pregnant, but when exactly did he find out about me then?”

She stills, as if realizing her mistake. “When I called him to ask him to go and check on you.”

I blink slowly, my lips parting. “So you’re telling me...you called him up, and told him he had a grown-ass daughter that he never knew about, and that he needs to go looking for me because I was alone in L.A. with a bunch of bikers?”

“Basically,” she says, lifting her chin. “I did what was best for you. He wasn’t the type of man to play the father role, and I should have never gotten pregnant by him; it was an accident. Not that I regret you, Abbie. Both of you girls are my greatest gifts, but I wish I gave you both better fathers, and that’s on me. I protected you, okay? I did what I needed to.”

I don’t even know what to say right now, but I feel bad for Grayson. I just assumed he found out after my mother left him about me and chose not to be in my life. But he never knew. Maybe he would have stepped up if he was actually given the option to be a father.

To know he was one.

But she took that away from him.

“What did he say when you told him about me?” I press, needing to know these details now. I’m angry at her, so angry, but it’s not going to change anything now. This has really showed me a side of her that I don’t like at all.

“He was shocked,” she admits, wincing. “Very angry. He didn’t believe me at first, but then he did, especially when I told him your birthdate and sent him a picture of you. You have his—”

“Eyes. I know.”

“How do you know?” my mom asks.

“Because I’ve met with him. A couple of times now,” I admit, jaw tight. “Could you imagine if the roles were reversed and someone did this to you? You’d be devastated. I don’t know how you justified this, Mom. How did you sleep at night knowing you were keeping me a secret?”

“I was doing what was best,” she says, and I can see in her eyes that she truly believes that. “And you met him? Neither of you mentioned that.”

Yeah, and I wonder why. She is the one who kept us apart—why would we go running to her with any information?

“He deserved to know,” I tell her, my voice raising. “If he wasn’t good enough to be a father, then you should have been more responsible when you were sleeping with him. But you weren’t, and half of my DNA is his. You don’t get to play God and decide who gets to be in my life.”

“He’s a drug dealer!” she screams back at me. “Yes, I should have been more responsible, but I wasn’t, and I wasn’t about to bring you down to his level.”

“At least he has been somewhat honest,” I fire back at her, watching her flinch. “You can say whatever you want about his character, but it’s not him who has lied to me for my entire life.”

Just when I thought I couldn’t be shocked anymore, the woman comes up with this information.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Why didn’t he just tell you that when you saw him?” Temper asks, arms around me as he strokes my back. “I don’t get it. He easily could have told you he only just found out about you, and then you wouldn’t have been so angry.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want to be a dad. Maybe he was in shock,