Reclaiming her ( Forgotten Sons book 1)

Chapter 8

Lacey

Standing in the study unpacking a box of books, I suddenly hear shouting from down the hall.

Thinking someone is hurt, I drop the book I'm holding and rush to the open door, taking a step out into the hallway. As I do, I am met with a solid wall of muscle, pushing me back into the study before closing the door.

Stumbling back slightly, I look up to see the furious face of Nate, a mix of emotions crossing him as he stares straight into my eyes.

" Lacey, I was going to do this slowly and be more..... tactful, but after seeing that little girl out there, I need to know. Why did you disappear all those years ago?" He rasps, the pain in his voice slicing through my heart like a kn*fe.

Suddenly, there is a loud knock on the study door. " Lacey! Viper! Is everything okay? Open the door!" Chase calls out, sounding worried as he continues to knock.

" We are fine. Give us a minute!" Nate growls back, his eyes never leaving mine.

" Uh, alright, man. Lunch will be here soon, so I'll just go and check on the girls." Chase calls back, hesitantly. Listening, I hear his footsteps retreat down the hall.

Stumbling back, I try to put some distance between myself and Nate.

" Nate, please, it's complicated, I didn't have a choice." I say as tears begin to gather in the corners of my eyes. A flicker of something crosses his features before he quickly regains his furious expression. " No choice? What do you mean you had no choice?" He growls as he stalks towards me, like a hunter cornering its prey.

Stepping back, my legs hit the desk behind me, forcing me to stop with nowhere to move. " My...my parents, they sent me away the moment they found out. They demanded I tell them who had got me pregnant so that they could make them pay for 'ruining' their daughter. I didn't want them to come for you, so I kept it a secret." I say, shakily as tears begin to stream down my cheeks.

" But ten years? not once in ten years did you think I would like to know I had a child? I would've helped you raise her. We, we could've done it together. I've never been scared of your parents, I don't care what social standing they had. Lacey, I had a right to know." He says, voice cracking with emotion.

" I'm sorry. They told me you wouldn't want a child, that any young guy wouldn't want the burden of a family, and I was doing you a favour. I guess after a while, I figured you would have moved on and maybe have a wife and kids, and us contacting you would cause trouble." I hear how bad the excuses are as I say them, but my parents had me genuinely believe that would be the case.

Closing the space between us, Nate places a finger under my chin, tilting my head up so that we are starting deeply into each other's eyes. The silence is suffocating as I watch the pain in his eyes. " You know I would never have thought of you as a burden. You were the only person I could ever truly be myself around and the only one I could talk to about anything. A baby, well, that would've just shown how much we were meant to be. For the past ten years I have been alone, I have never been able to move on from you. My dreams are haunted by the memories of us and the night we spent out under the stars. They were the only times I ever felt like I was worth anything other than the scum everyone else made me out to be." His confession breaks me, and I can't stop myself from bursting into tears, my whole body shaking uncontrollably.

Two strong arms wrap around me as I feel my body being pulled firmly against his own. We stay there silently, comforting each other until a voice pulls me back into reality.

" Mum, why are you sad? Is Viper being mean to you?" Cassidy asks as she steps towards us cautiously. Moving out of Nates' arms, I walk over to my daughter, leaning down to hug her. " No baby, Nate... Viper wasn't being mean to me. We were just talking about when I used to live here, and it made me a little sad." I say, trying to regain control of my emotions.

" Were you telling him about your parents? They didn't sound too nice from what you and Aunt Jackie used to say. I'm glad I never met them." Cass says, trying to make me feel better. " You never met your grandparents?" Nates voice suddenly cuts through, causing Cass and I to turn. " No, they always said they were too busy, but I just think they didn't like me because they sent mum away when she had me." Cassidy says, not really seeming phased by her own words.

Nate, on the other hand, looks like he could k*ll my parents, I mean if they weren't already de*d. Making his way over to where Cassidy and I are standing, Nate kneels down, positioning himself eye to eye with Cass. " I want you to listen to me really good, Cassidy. Those people were not nice people and I think they just hated the fact that you and your mumma are so incredibly smart and beautiful so they sent you away so that no one would realise how awful they really were."

Nate says with such conviction that I'm reminded of how bad his upbringing was. His dad being a feared bikie boss, seemed to give most of the people in town, including my parents, they idea that they could shun Nate and write him off as a 'bad kid' and 'future criminal'.

Cassidy smiles at Nate, and I realise this is the first conversation between my daughter and her father, and she doesn't even know it. " So anyway, I just wanted to tell you that lunch was here and I'm really hungry." Cass blurts out, making me laugh. I love how food always takes priority over everything else.

Letting out a husky laugh, Nate looks down at Cass warmly. " Well, I hope Blade ordered something good. You'll learn quickly that he has a weird idea of what 'good food' is, short stuff." Nate says as he stands and ruffles Cassidys hair.

" Hey! I'm not short!" Cass says, looking offended.

" Whatever ever you say, short stuff." Nate teases. Cassidy gives him a cheeky grin before sticking her tongue out at the man anyone else would be terrified of.

" Oooh, you're going to pay for that, short stuff!" Nates jests, before chasing Cassidy out of the study and down the hall towards the dining room. Something ignites inside of me at the sight, hope that maybe this move will be the best thing for my daughter and me.