Page 87 of Shine: Sins of the Father
I follow Reckless to our bikes, and we pull out.
Daytona and Cole are back; their bikes parked out front.
When I climb from mine, Reckless cocks his head. “What’s that look? You plannin’ something?”
“I’m going to ask Daytona if I can stay in town a while.”
Reckless grins. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Walking through the door, I see my president at the pool table, shooting a game with Cole. When I approach, they both look up.
“Can I talk to you a minute, prez?” I ask.
“Sure.” He lifts a chin at Cole. “Give me a minute.”
We walk into the hallway that Fiona led me down last night.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I want to know if I can stay here in San Jose for a week or two.”
Daytona grabs my arm. “This about that chick? ‘Cause she’s still Wolf’s daughter, Shine.”
“She had a baby.” I drop the bomb. “My baby.”
“What the fuck?”
“Calm down. She never named me as the father. Wolf doesn’t know.”
“You don’t know for sure it’s yours, either, Shine.”
“Maybe so, but I probably am.”
Daytona sucks in a long breath. “All right. You’ve got until Cole gets tired of you. I’ll have to talk to him. I’ll tell him you just want to spend time with Reckless. Hell, I don’t know what I’ll tell him.”
“Thanks.”
He stares at me. “So, you’re a father, then. You’ve wanted that for a long time.”
“Yeah.” I drag a hand through my hair. “This wasn’t exactly the way I thought it’d happen. I already missed so much. The kid’s six-months old, prez. He was born back in February.”
“How do you feel about all this?”
“I’m trying to figure that out. That’s why I need some time here.”
“And she never named the father, huh?”
“Reckless says no.”
“Reckless? Did he know about this?”
“Yeah. He wanted to tell me. He tried to get Fiona to do that. He thinks she’s just trying to protect herself and the baby.”
“What about Donnie Ray? He finds out you’re here, he might show up. If he ever finds out about this kid…”
He doesn’t have to finish the sentence.
“There’s no way I’m letting him anywhere near them.”
