The Biker's deadly obsession

Chapter six

Bailey's pov

"Mama?"

Lily's small voice shattered whatever moment Jax and I had been drowning in.

I cleared my throat and tried to remember how to form words. "Hey, baby. You're up."

Lily stood in the doorway, her stuffed bear clutched against her chest.

She looked between Jax and me with those too-observant eyes.

"Mama, who is he?" Lily asked.

Its the question I had been dreading.

I looked at Jax and he was already watching me as if asking permission without words.

I nodded, giving him my approval.

Jax pulled out a chair and sat down so he was at her eye level instead of towering over her.

"My name's Jax," he said softly. "I'm your dad, Lily."

The silence that followed felt endless.

Lily's eyes went wide. "My dad?" She repeated.

Jax nodded.

“Yes baby. I am your dad." He said, his voice surprisingly gentle.

"Mama said you were far away." She looked at me, confused. "You said he couldn't be with us."

"He couldn't," I said carefully. "But things changed and now he is here."

Lily stared at Jax like she was trying to memorize his face.

"Are you going to stay?"

The hope in her voice broke something in my chest.

Jax's jaw tightened. "Yeah, kid. I am going to stay." He replied and I felt my eyes water.

Lily's face split into the biggest smile I had seen in months. "I have a dad," she whispered, like she was testing the words. Then louder: "I have a dad!"

She launched herself at Jax, wrapping her small arms around his neck. He froze for a second, like he didn't know what to do. Then his arms came up, holding her carefully like she was made of glass.

When he looked at me over her head, his eyes were suspiciously bright.

I turned away and busied myself with my coffee, trying to ignore the ache in my chest.

“ Come, let me feed you breakfast.” Jax offered and Lily willingly followed him.

I watched Jax patiently feed Lily and something warm and terrifying unfurled in my chest.

This was dangerous. Letting Lily get attached to him and letting myself see him like this.

But I couldn't look away.

Jax's phone buzzed.

When he checked it, his expression hardened.

"I need to step outside for a minute," he said and disappeared onto the porch.

Through the window, I could see him pacing, phone pressed to his ear. He seemed angry for some reason.

When he came back in, his face was carefully neutral.

“I need to go out for a while." He informed me and my stomach dropped.

"I just need to take care of something." He looked at Lily, then back at me.

“It's safe here, just don't answer the door for anyone." He instructed.

He hesitated like he wanted to say something else, then pressed a kiss on Lily's forehead and left.

After Jax left, Lily wanted to play so I set her up with some coloring books Jax had somehow acquired. She sprawled on the floor, humming to herself while she drew.

To kill the boredom, I decided to explore the house.

The cabin was small, two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Then I realized a third door I hadn't noticed before.

I tried the handle, it was unlocked.

Inside was a typical small office and what looked like a safe built into the wall.

The safe was also open.

My heart hammered as I stepped closer.

I pulled out the first box and opened it.

Inside were bank statements, wire transfers… All with my father's name.

They were showing money being moved, accounts being drained, signatures that looked like his but... they were forged.

My hands shook as I dug deeper.

Evidence of my father being silenced, of me being framed as the traitor.

I sank into the chair, my hands clutching my head desperately.

"Oh god," I whispered.

What if he had been telling the truth? What if everything he'd done had been to protect me?

What if I'd been wrong about him?

A sound behind me made me freeze.

I turned slowly, expecting to find Jax but there was no Jax.

Instead, Reaper stood in the doorway and he had a gun pressed to Lily's head.

My world stopped and my first instinct was to rush to her, snatch her from him.

"Don't f*****g move. One wrong step and she dies."

Lily was crying silently, tears streaming down her face and her small body trembling.

"Reaper." My voice came out surprisingly steady. "Let her go. She's four years old. She has nothing to do with this."

"She has everything to do with this." He smiled and it was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen.

"She is Ghost’s bastard,just like you're his whore."

"I'm not…” I tried to protest.

"Shut up." The gun pressed harder and Lily whimpered. "You don't get to talk. You don't get to do anything except listen."

My hands curled into fists at my sides. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" He laughed. "I want what I have always wanted, Bailey. You."

The words hit me like ice water.

"I was there first," he continued, his eyes burning into mine. "I was there before Ghost.

I loved you, I would have given you everything. But you never even looked at me. You only saw him."

"Reaper…"

"I watched you fall for that weak piece of s**t.

I watched you give yourself to him, watched you throw yourself away on someone who couldn't even protect you." He sneered.

"You chose wrong, Bailey. You chose a man who abandoned you, who let you suffer and left you to raise his bastard alone."

"Don't call her that." My voice dropped to something dangerous. "Don't you dare call my daughter that."

"Why not? That's what she is. A reminder of your bad choices." He leaned closer to Lily, and I saw her squeeze her eyes shut. "Don't worry though, I'll send this little bastard and that bastard Ghost to hell. Then I'll claim you as mine. The way it should have been from the start."

The smile on his face made me sick.

"You're a monster," I whispered.

"You made me a monster!" Reaper snapped.

"You and your rejection, your love for a man who didn't deserve you. You did this, Bailey. This is your fault." He yelled.

"Are you sure you're capable of doing that, Reaper?"

Jax's voice cut through the room like a blade.

I hadn't heard him come in but there he was,his gun pressed against the back of Reaper's head.

"Drop it," Jax said quietly. "Or I paint the walls with your brain. It's your choice.”