Page 21 of Secret Betrayals
He glares at me like I’m the scum under his shoe. “It’s afactthat when we were born, she called the club more than once and was told you’d call back, but you never did. The first time she called, she was told you were out on a run and would be gone for a few days. Then next, you were at another club and would be for a while. Then she… It doesn’t matter.”
He pauses. Then spits it out like poison.
“What does matter is this. Not long after one of her calls, your ol’ lady called her back, leaving a message on mymamma’sphone. Theputtanatold mymammathat you already have an ol’ lady and a kid on the way. And I quote, ‘Some bitch trying to trick Talon into claiming her would not happen. She said, ‘You could give two shits about some bastards some slut was trying to pawn off on you.’ According to my uncle and grandfather, mymammawas a wreck for a long time. You sure as fuck can’t blame her for wanting to give up. To give up on letting the father of her children know they existed when he didn’t give a shit to find out why she kept trying to contact him.”
He shakes his head, fury bleeding into every word. “No, I’m sorry. Mymammadidn’t give up after your ol’ lady's call. SHE FUCKING TRIED A-FUCKING-GAIN. Do you know what happened? Hmm,Dad?”
I glance at Gabriella. Her face is blank. Cold. Like she isn’t feeling what I am. Feeling like this conversation isn’t tearing her open from the inside. Like it’s not killing her, like it’s killing me.
His voice cuts back in. “They didn’t take a message. They told her to stop calling. That last call destroyed her. She wanted you to know. She needed you to know. She did everything to tell you. And you threw her away like she wasnothing. Youignored her like she wasnothing. That realization changed her. She was a fucking wreck foryears.”
I don’t move. I can’t. His following words gutted me like a blade to the ribs.
“We know what kind of man you were. Two years with you, and you still couldn’t keep your dick in your pants. You think she didn’t know about the women? The blowjobs behind closed doors? She walked in on you andHeather. And you have the balls to call her names?” His voice drops, cold and lethal. “Naw fuck that, and fuck you.”
That last part echoes through my skull like a gunshot. And I feel every ounce of it. The venom. The fury. The truth. His brother moves in, whispers something I can’t catch. But the kid—my kid—shakes his head.
“No, Malikai, fuck him. He doesn’t get to talk shit to or aboutmamma. She tried, and this piece of shit ignored her. He’s sitting here acting like a fucking bitch because of their fucking rules, and you know it. He’s acting like he gives a shit now. No, this motherfucker needs to look at the kids he abandoned in their eyes. See what we think of him, and know that we think he’s a piece of shit. So, no, I won't lay off him, and now is the perfect fucking time. He deserves this smoke. Every fucking puff of it.” He growls out.
He leans in closer.
We lock eyes. There’s no bluff in his stare. He wants me to feel this. And I do. Every goddamned bit of it. Gabriella’s eyes finally meet mine. There’s a flicker—pain, maybe. Regret. But it’s gone too fast. Replaced with steel. She says nothing. Doesn’t defend me. Doesn’t soften what our son just laid at my feet.
Then the boy pulls out his phone and sets it on the table.
“If you want to hear the voicemail, I saved it.”
Gabriella’s face finally changes. Her jaw tightens. She knows exactly what message he means.
“Don’t know why I kept it,” the kid says, quieter now. “Maybe to remind myself what kind of man my sperm donor really is. So don’t act offended. Don’t puff your chest and pretend you care. You’re pissed because the truth hit you in the face. Becauseshedidn’t need you. And we sure as fuck didn’t either.”
He leans in, the final blow sharp and deadly.
“So. Fuck. You. Dad.”
Then Gabriella says his name—“Sebastian.” Quiet. Tense. It’s unclear if she’s warning or trying to calm him. Doesn’t matter.
He needs to cool his shit. Because I’m this close to losing mine, I get his anger. I deserve his hate. But the disrespect? That crosses a line, a line most men never come back from.
And maybe I didn’t say it out loud, but the calmer one—Malikai—looks at me, eyes hard. “You’d be dead before you lifted a finger.”
Gabriella sighs like she’s dragging the weight of the world behind her. “Enough. We’re not going to fix years of pain in one conversation. We have business to discuss.”
And just like that, we’re back to business. Like she didn’t just wreck my whole fucking world.
The man she brought with her finally speaks. “Sebastian. Malikai. Sit.”
They do. No backtalk. Just a look between them and a nod. That respect they have for him? It pisses me off all over again. Irrational? Sure. Still don’t give a fuck.
Gabriella nods, giving him the floor.
“There are two reasons we’re here. The first—Don Barone sent Gabriella. The second… is obvious.” His eyes flick to the boys.
Gabriella’s tone is clipped, professional. “We’ve reviewed the contract. We’re increasing your commission by five percent. The work your club has done remains satisfactory, despite recent incidents.”
“Recent incidents?” I ask, jaw tight.
“You have a thief. Or a mole. It could be the same person. It could be several. We’re still investigating.”
