Page 28 of Finn

“No worries. I know what it’s like to be caught up in a moment.” She smiles, lighting a cigarette. “Harper doesn’t tolerate lateness, so we better get going.”

Mia nods and peeks up at me. “I’ll see you at the club later. Have fun. You’ve got this, baby,” I say, kissing her soft lips.

“Of course, she’s got this. Come on, Mia.”

They leave, and I smile, grabbing my keys. I need to get to the club. As much as I want to stay in this bubble I feel like I’m in when Mia is around, Brooks wants to discuss his plans.

The bubble pops as soon as I walk out the door.

Once we are all around the table, Brooks leans forward, looking around at us all. His eyes stay on Porter and me longer than anyone else, and I clench my fists.

“The only way to get to this prick is to get to what he loves,” he glances at Porter and sighs. “Sorry, Porter.”

“She made her choices,” he says, crossing his arms.

I haven’t given much thought to what this must be like for Porter. Not only is his daughter hanging around now, but his ex will be too. That’s a lot of shit to have to handle. An open wound I’m sure he thought was healed the best it could.

Brooks nods and continues. “We need to get Victoria here without Jim. We need to play on the mother/child angle.” His eyes slide to mine. “You’re gonna need to call her, tell her that her daughter needs her and only her. Tell her she has questions or a problem. I really don’t give a shit what lie you give. As long as it gets her here.”

I close my eyes, scrubbing my face. “And what happens if Jim is listening or refuses to let her come alone?” I ask, clenching my hands into fists as they slide to the table.

“You need to tell her that she’s talking to me. Tell her that, and she’ll come running,” Porter says, looking straight ahead.

“Why the fuck does she hate you so much?” Zane asks.

He looks over a Zane and clears his throat. “I drank a little too much,” he says.

I look around the table and notice Brooks, Enzo, and Riley shaking their heads.

“Bullshit,” Riley hisses.

Porter snaps his head toward him and narrows his eyes. “Shut the fuck up.”

“You realize when you act like you’re hiding something, it makes those of us who don’t know the story want to dig for the truth, right?” Kace says, crossing his massive arms.

“I thought we didn’t lie around this table,” Zane says, looking between them all.

“That’s for club business, not personal,” Enzo rushes out.

I shake my head and lean over the table. “Pretty sure in this situation, it is club business. If I’m making the call, using my girl as fucking bait, I should know the goddamn story.”

Riley laughs, nodding his head. “A little pussy and Finn’s baby balls have dropped and grown twice their size.”

I shake my head while they all laugh.

The laughter dies quickly, though, as Porter looks at me. “Vic, Mia’s mom, was the love of my life. After she had Mia, she suffered from postpartum depression. We didn’t know what the hell it was, and I didn’t pay close enough attention, so when she started using drugs, I didn’t notice. She was happy again, and that’s what I cared about. I don’t know what happened with Jim, why she picked the fuck up, took my daughter, and left. I have my suspicions, but nothing more.”

“What suspicions?” Kace asks.

He scrubs his face, running his hand down his beard. “Jim promised to keep her supply endless if she left with him.”

Fucking hell. If that’s true, Mia’s mom is more like mine than I ever thought. And if that’s the case, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to convince her to come. My mom would watch while my throat was slit open as long as the reward was a high. If Mia’s mom is still an addict, we’ve got a bigger problem than anyone knows.

I blow out a breath, trying to figure out how to explain that without telling them my past. “Do we know if she’s clean now?”

“No idea, but I fucking hope so,” Porter says.

Shit, so do I.

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