Rev It Up (Black Knights Inc. #3)(64)

“Franklin is…” Boss shook his head and glanced over at Shell who was biting her lush bottom lip and wringing her hands as tears coursed, unchecked, down her cheeks.

“Frank didn’t know any—” she began as realization dawned on Boss’s face, realization quickly followed by rage.

Well, good. Now we’re both on the same goddamned page!

One minute he was glaring at his former CO, the next instant his head snapped back on his neck as pain exploded like a frag grenade in his jaw.

Boss might be big and clumsy-looking, but the sonofabitch had reflexes like a cat. Evidenced by the fact that Jake hadn’t seen the left hook coming.

“You swore you wouldn’t touch her unless you planned to make it legit!” Boss thundered, taking advantage of Jake’s momentary astonishment to plant a hard palm in the center of his chest and shove him across the room. It was like being hit with a two-ton wrecking ball, and he tripped over a chair, sprawling on his ass.

Glancing up in time to see Boss steaming toward him like a freight train, the hand raised in the air by that bright blue cast clenched in a big, meaty fist, he scrambled to his feet and assumed the standard bent-knee stance, ready to absorb the kinetic energy of one very pissed off, 245-pound man. Then Becky suddenly launched herself onto Boss’s back, clinging to him like a feisty blond monkey. She screamed something in Boss’s ear that Jake couldn’t understand, but whatever it was, Boss stopped dead in his tracks.

His face was a thundercloud, his chest working like bellows, but he no longer looked ready and willing to kill Jake on the spot.

It was at that point that Shell stepped into the breach. “Frank didn’t know anything about it,” she said, wiping at her tears with a trembling hand. And yeah, now that the killing rage was waning and cognition returning, Jake was beginning to clue in to that salient little fact. “No one knew but Steven. And he took my secret to his grave.”

She hiccupped, glancing around the room at the shocked faces before shakily lowering herself into a chair. She covered her eyes with her hands as her shoulders heaved, but no sound escaped her lips. Which was more awful than if she’d been blubbering.

But no matter how hard he looked inside himself, Jake couldn’t seem to find any sympathy for her. His heart, once so full of love, felt like a giant void.

Several seconds passed where no one moved or dared to breathe. It was a real pin-drop atmosphere. And now that his adrenaline was wearing off, his jaw felt like it was sitting on the side of his head.

Word up, Boss packed one helluva punch. He wouldn’t be chewing right for the next month.

Lifting a hand, he checked to make sure that, yes, his lower mandible was still located on the front of his head.

“Why, Shell?” Boss finally asked, taking a step toward her.

Yeah, Jake wanted to know the answer to that question himself. Not that it really mattered, since there was no explanation she could give that could possibly justify her actions…

Shell just shook her head, stopping Boss from taking another step. The big guy frowned, his face so full of pain and shock and betrayal that Jake couldn’t imagine what he must look like.

“Okay,” Boss said, nodding jerkily. “Okay. We’ll talk about this later.”

What the f*ck ever! Jake wanted an explanation now. Like, right now!

And he opened his mouth to demand just that at the same time Boss glanced over his shoulder at Becky, who was still attached to his back. “You gonna stay back there all night?”

“You gonna do another Mike Tyson impression?” she countered.

“I’ve got it under control,” he told her. But before she could climb down and Jake could demand his explanation, Nurse Susan reappeared in the open doorway.

“Well, it seems we didn’t need your blood after all, Jake,” she said, her face wreathed in smiles before she caught a glimpse of Becky and Boss and raised a brow, frowning. She shook her head and turned to Shell. “You’ll be happy to know that your son’s appendix didn’t rupture. The surgeon was able to cut away the adhesions and remove it cleanly, so we don’t foresee any future problems. Franklin is in recovery. You should be able to go see him in about fifteen minutes. And if all goes well, you can take him home tomorrow evening.”

“T-tomorrow evening?” Shell sputtered, wiping at the tears on her cheeks. “So soon?”

“Laparoscopic surgery doesn’t require a long hospital stay. And Franklin will heal faster at home, provided you keep him from getting too boisterous.”

“I’ll tie him to the bed if I have to,” she promised, her voice thick with emotion. “And thank you.” She smiled shakily at the nurse before turning to stare at Jake beseechingly.

What did she want from him?

Forgiveness?

No way. He’d always considered himself an easy-going guy. He wasn’t one to hold a grudge. But if she thought he would just say, That’s okay, Shell. It’s no problem that you hid my kid from me, she had another thing coming.

Three years.

He’d had a son for three years. And because of her duplicity, her selfishness, he’d missed that first step, that first word, that first…everything.

And in that moment, he understood why people said love and hate were two sides of the same coin, because the void that’d become his heart filled up once more.