I watch her throat work as she shakes her head, her guard coming down for long enough to let me see the vulnerability beneath. She’s scared. Not just scared, but petrified.

Why the fuck would she be petrified of finding out who the father is?

I don’t like puzzles, especially ones I can’t solve, and this only adds to my suspicion that something more is going on.

“It’s in the past, Rav. What difference does it make?”

“She’s two and a half years old. I have the rest of my life to be her dad if she’s mine, so yeah, Sash, it makes all the fucking difference.”

I watch her teeth grit before she loosens her jaw.

“Fine,” she concedes. “You do the bone marrow test and I’ll have a paternity test done. Deal?”

I nod. Then point a finger at her chest. “There’s more going on here than you’re letting on and you’re going to give me the answers, even if I have to drag them out of you.”

She lets out a frustrated breath. “There’s nothing going on here. Stop trying to find reasons and just accept it happened. I have.”

I stare at her, trying to get the lay of the situation and then my lip curls into a snarl. “Now’s the time to come clean if something else went on.”

She meets my angry gaze with a defiant one and mutters out a, “Do the test. They managed to squeeze you in this morning. I can’t guarantee another slot.”

Her hedging is pissing me off, but she’s a closed door to me. I shake my head.

“I’ll do it because that little girl in there is family, but we’re not done here. Not by a long shot.”

I stride up the corridor towards the nurses’ station and lean my elbows on the top of the reception desk. The nurse’s eyes raise to mine and I see a flash of fear as she takes in my size and my kutte. It’s a reaction I’m used to. Women swing between scared and interested by my kutte. This one is the former.

She swallows hard and asks, “Yes?”

“I’m here to do the test for Lily-May Montgomery.”

“Oh, right. Absolutely.”

She fumbles about with a stack of paperwork then leads me into a side room.

“It’s a simple procedure. We just swab the inside of your cheek.” She’s trying to reassure me, but I’m not in the mood for chit chat or small talk.

“Let’s just get this over with, yeah?”

She nods and orders me to sit at the side of the desk. I take my seat and wait while she gloves up and gets the equipment she needs out.

“Okay, open wide.”

I open my mouth and she scrapes the swab across the inside of my cheek.

“All done.”

I watch as she places the swab in a vial and smiles at me.

“It’ll take a couple of days for the results to come back.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I mutter, getting to my feet.

I push out the room and go in search of Sasha, determined more than ever to get my answers.

9

Ravage

Lily-May’s room is shut up tight, a bunch of doctors on the other side when I come back from doing the test. I can see Sasha’s back through the small pane of glass in the door. I’m contemplating entering the room when a voice behind me says, “They’ll be done in a minute.”

I turn, coming face to face with a small blonde woman who is glaring at me like I kill puppies in my spare time. She’s clutching a paper bag, two bottles of water on the chair next to her.

I let my gaze rove over her lazily, enjoying the way she squirms under my scrutiny, even though she tries not to. She’s got balls, I’ll give her that. Most people would be freaked the fuck out by me, but not her—at least not outwardly. She’s hiding her fear well.

“You’re Ravage, right?” she questions, her head tilted to one side as she takes me in. Her mouth pulls into a slight sneer as she straightens her back, but I don’t miss the fear dancing behind her eyes and the tremble in her hands.

I don’t answer her, instead firing back my own question.

“And you are?”

“Lucy. Sash and Lily-May live with me.”

So, this is the bitch Sasha has been hiding with? I can see why. She’s strong and has an edge to her. I’m not sure why I’m supposed to give a fuck, or why she’s introduced herself, but the woman isn’t finished yet.

“She just got herself back together. Back off and stop giving her shit.”

“And what the fuck has it got to do with you?” I pull my lips into a sneer, baring my teeth. “Who’s going to stop me? You?” I snort.

“Sasha is my friend, and I was the one who had to pick up the broken pieces. Leaving you nearly fucking killed her.”

The accusation in her voice has my anger flaring. “She was broken? I was the one she walked out on without a word.” I grit my teeth. “I’m only here because that kid in there might be mine. I don’t give a fuck about Sasha.”

That’s a lie, but it’s one I’m going to keep telling myself. I fucking hate her, but I also care about her, and that’s the fucking problem. Things would be easier if I didn’t.

Lucy glares up at me, her eyes shooting venom. “You and that fucking club destroyed her, and we both know Sasha isn’t the type of woman to break easily. You should have seen her. She wouldn’t eat, she cried all the time. I was the one who glued her back together while she was dealing with her pregnancy. You think you’re hard done by? You should have lived through what she had to. So yeah, I have every fucking right.”

“She fucked my brother,” I hiss at her. If we weren’t in a public place, I might have let my temper go fully. As it is, I’m struggling to keep a tight rein on it.

She laughs at my words although I see a hint of fear dancing in her eyes as her gaze shifts around the hallway.

“Is that what that bastard said?” she demands, then shakes her head. Disgust crosses her face. “And you believed him, didn’t you?”

“There’s a kid in there that could be either mine or my brother’s. Do you need a lesson in fucking biology?”

“I hope he rots in hell. Fuck, I’d send him there myself.”

“What the fuck? Are you threatening my brother?

“Your brother is a piece of shit, Ravage. And trust me, if I ever see him it won’t be a threat.”

Sin is a bastard, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let some bit of skirt threaten him. I step into her space and I watch the fear flicker in her eyes as she tries not to shrink back in her seat.

“Watch your fucking mouth.”

We’re so busy smarting off at each other that neither of us notice the door opening and the doctors filing out until Sasha demands, “What the hell is going on?”

I give her friend a dark glare before I turn to Sasha.

“I was just getting to know your housemate.”

Sasha’s eyes slide towards Lucy and again, I glimpse her discomfort and uncertainty for a moment before the walls come back up. She was never this closed off to me before. I hate that she is now because it makes it hard as hell to read her.

I jut my chin towards the room. “What’s going on?”