Tirone (The Night Skulls MC #2)(49)

“Bring him in,” I commanded.

“Laius, what did I just ask you? He’s not ready. Give him some time. Give both of us some time.”

“The things I have to say can’t wait. I won’t touch him, I promise.”

“Can he make the same promise, though?” Fort asked in disbelief.

“I’m not afraid of my own son, Fort. I said bring him in.”

Jo threw her hands in the air in exasperation and plopped down on a chair. I sat on the edge of the bed, facing her. Fort, mumbling, went to his room. Then yelling started. A minute later, he was hauling Rex’s ass in here.

I stared into his eyes as if I was staring at myself in a mirror, the hate in them too familiar. I understood what he was going through, how he felt, because I’d once felt it, too. That kind of hate changed you forever. Altered you into a ruthless, raging beast. I didn’t want that destiny for him. Or me. I never thought, after all I’d been through, I’d see that look I’d given my own father in my son’s eyes.

“Sit, Rex,” I said.

“I have nothing to say to you,” he grumbled.

“I do.”

Fort nudged him. “When your prez tells you to sit, you sit.”

Rex almost broke the chair he grabbed to sit his ass down. I stared at Fort to leave. He shook his head. “You sure?”

“I can take care of myself, and my ol’ lady is here. As far as I remember she’s the one who yanked the knife out of his hand.” I bit my lip on a smile and gazed at her with fascination. “She got my back.”

“It was just a reflex,” she said.

“To protect me.” It was so sweet and so fucking hot.

Her eyes rolled toward the window. I chuckled. “We’re good, Fort. I’ll call for you when we’re done.”

Disapproval contorted his face, but he shut the door anyway.

“What do you want to say that can’t wait, Laius?” she asked.

“When my grandparents came from Italy, they settled in New york. Things weren’t easy for them. Grandpa ended up doing a few runs here and there. The Italians, the Puerto Ricans, the Irish…”

I gained her attention. “My father was a lazy son of a bitch, so he wanted in. He tried, but he wasn’t cut for it. No one wanted him to run for them, so he moved to East Texas, met my mother and started a family.

“I didn’t know much when I was a kid, but year after year I learned what kind of monster he was. He beat the shit out of my mother and me.” Now, I got Rex’s attention, too. “I watched the same scenario happening over and over, hating him a little more every day until there was nothing left but hate. The second I got a spine, I hit back. He gave me my first scar that wasn’t the last.

“I swore to myself I’d never turn into that fucker. No matter how angry I’d become, I’d never hurt my own. I begged Mama to leave, to take me and go back to New York. I was good with engines. I could have gotten a job to take care of her, but she wouldn’t listen. She’d even defend him. She’d kick me out whenever I stood up for her or myself.” The memory struck me as if it were yesterday. “I left that house when I was fourteen.

“I worked at a garage in Queens. Then I was a Hang Around at a club, rode my first bike and never stopped. I was so fast, got a reputation for it. It wasn’t long before I was running, too, like Grandpa, first for the club and then for the fucking mob. The money was good. The pussy was fancy. I didn’t like what came with them, though. I’d seen enough to know the mob was never to be trusted. All that they say about loyalty and honor means shit when greed and thirst for power take over, and that is all there is.

“I decided to move back to Texas, not East, but to Houston to start my own club and hopefully convince Mama to come with my two-year-old sister and live with me. But then I met Madeline.”

Jo’s face blanched, and her eyes glistened. “You met my mom in New York?”

“She was…the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She took my breath away. I went to that restaurant she worked at every day just to see her face. Then I manned up and went to talk to her.” I’d never forget the way she looked at me. It was pure fear and yet a cry for help seventeen-year-old me didn’t understand. “She was scared shitless when I did. I found out why when my ass was kicked that night and my bike was stolen from me.”

“Declan Larvin sent his men to teach you a lesson,” she mused.

I glanced at Rex. “That’s what you get when you try to take something that ain’t yours.”

His nostrils flared at me, but he didn’t say a word.

“I didn’t know she belonged to him,” I continued. “When I did, I had to keep my distance. I was young. I didn’t have a crew or a club, and he had everything. That’s when I left to Houston to go on with my plan. Starting my own club was dumb, though. The city had three main MCs, and the rivalry was blazing. They wouldn’t have let me survive among them, and Mama still wouldn’t leave that dick, so I prospected for the Night Skulls.

“On one of our travels, we hit New York, and I saw Madeline again. That time she had a bruise on her face.” I leaned back with a sigh. “And she was fucking pregnant.”

A tear dropped from Jo’s eye. Rex’s hand raced to hers and squeezed her fingers. “Hey, you okay?”