The Wild Wolf Pup (Zoe's Rescue Zoo #9)(40)

“So maybe they’re different—”

“Different? God, Kitten, open your eyes,” I growl, losing my patience and my sanity, and losing it with the person who didn’t deserve this side of me. Still, I couldn’t help myself and unleashed the fury building inside my gut since the moment I stepped foot inside this apartment and saw my parents with my family.

“Baby,” she starts, closing the distance between us as she runs her hands down my arms, lacing our hands together. “My eyes were open and yes, your mother needs some work but your dad? I don’t know,” she shrugs. “He looked sincere. He looked at you and he looked at Eric…he cared.”

“Don’t you think for one moment those people came here with good intentions. They found out they have a grandkid, not too sure how the fuck that happened but whatever. Eric carries the Montgomery name, and that shit means a lot in my parents’ world. They look at me and then our kid and they don’t want him to turn out like me, they need someone to rule their fucking empire after they croak.”

I pull my hands away from Lauren’s and run them over my face in frustration.

“They figure they can mold him to be the perfect heir,” I continue, tearing my hands away from my face and pinning Lauren with a hard stare. “I don’t want them near Eric.”

“Riggs—” she starts.

“Lauren, it’s not up for discussion. I don’t want them near him or you for that matter.”

“So if they show up here again, then what? Slam the door in their face?”

“Yes, and if you have a problem doing it then call me and I’ll come home and take care of them.”

“Riggs, people change. Why don’t you take a few days to think about it, maybe even give your dad a call and hear him out? Give them the benefit of the doubt. Who knows, maybe finding out they have a grandson is a second chance for them—maybe they can right all the wrongs they did with you.”

I fell in love with Lauren for many reasons but mainly because of her heart. She’s good people, loves big and fights hard for what she believes in. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman but right now I wish her heart was a little bit smaller, her will to fight for what she believes in not so strong. I wish she’d realize not everyone is worthy of a second chance.

She closes the distance between us, wrapping her arms around my neck and peering up at me from the rim of her glasses.

“I’m not doubting you have your reasons for feeling how you do but I always wished my dad would’ve walked back into my life, that he’d realize what he walked away from and want to be a part of my life, especially after Eric was born. My dad isn’t coming back, Riggs, and while your parents didn’t walk away from you they came looking for you. Your father is the only chance Eric has of having a grandpa.”

Picking a piece of spaghetti out of her hair, I bend my knees, bringing me level with her mouth before pressing my lips against hers.

I take it back.

I wouldn’t change a fucking thing about her.

But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t change everything about my parents. If they had a sincere bone in their body, maybe I’d consider giving them the benefit of the doubt but my mother didn’t want to be a grandmother, she wanted to show Eric off like he was a prize filly. Then there was my old man, standing alongside ‘Mommy Dearest’ with the same useless expression his face carried when I was five and asked him to play catch with me. If he isn’t turning millions into billions, he has no fucking clue what to do with himself.

They’ll try to throw their money around, offer to put Eric in a fancy school and probably enroll him in fucking fencing classes. I know the consequences of being a Montgomery heir and I don’t want that for my son. I want him to be his own person, someone who creates his own destiny. If he grows up and tells me he wants to join the fucking circus, guess what, Kitten and I will be at every show cheering him on with big red noses.

My mother looked like she was about to have a stroke when she looked at me. It didn’t matter she hadn’t seen or spoken to me in years. She was disgusted by the ink that covered my skin and in the back of her twisted head she was probably scheduling an appointment with her plastic surgeon to see if they could be removed.

The tattoos on my skin tell my life story one she never took an interest in.

And if she knew the life I chose over the one she wanted for me she’d be appalled. If she knew Lauren was shot, or that Bones died because of some beef my club had she’d fucking lose her shit.

This is who I am.

And as Lauren takes me as I am, loves me for who I am, that’s all I need. The only man I need to be is the man that owns her heart.

I’m not a Montgomery.

Though, the trust fund they set me up with helped when I fucked that shit with the Chinese. Thank God for that fucking thing.

I slide my tongue between Lauren’s parted lips and take my frustrations out on her mouth. Cradling her face in my hands, my thumbs caress her cheeks as she tightens her hold on my neck and presses her body against mine.

That body.

My hands drop away from her face and slide down her curves, finding the hem of her t-shirt. I start to work the cotton up her body, breaking away from her mouth to pull the shirt over her head.

“Are you trying to shut me up?” Kitten asks as she reaches for the button on her denim shorts. Her breasts are heavy, full, and her nipples, those perky things were begging for Riggsy boy to play with them.