Page 35 of Protected

He always got depressed around this time. He missed his wife—so much so that there’d been times when he thought about ending his worthless life and joining her.

That thought made him release a humorless laugh. She was probably laughing too since they both knew there was no way they’d spend eternity in the same place. With all the bullshit he’d done over the years, there was no doubt that when he died, he was going to hell.

Without a word, a pretty, leggy brunette and an equally beautiful, tall chocolate sister approached him. The only thing they were wearing were smiles before they started dancing for him. The high-tempo music they were moving to had themwiggling and jiggling before they started taking turns giving him a lap dance.

They both had tits and ass for days, and any other time, Wolf would’ve considered taking one or both of them to a private room. Not tonight. Tonight, he wasn’t interested. Instead, he poured another drink, planning to get drunk enough to forget reality, at least for a while.

He hefted the almost-empty bottle into the air and caught the attention of the topless server. She nodded in acknowledgement as she set drinks in front of a couple of his men.

“Let us take care of you, daddy,” the black woman said while the brunette went for his belt buckle, but Wolf slapped her hand away.

The only person he wanted sucking his dick tonight was dead.

He waved both women away just as the server approached, wearing a barely-there red thong. She had a pretty face and nice boobs, but she was a little too skinny for his taste. That didn’t stop him from running his hand up her long leg as she set a bottle of tequila and a platter of appetizers on the table near him and Elder. Then she smiled prettily before moving to another table.

As Wolf bit into a potato wedge, he glanced around the VIP section. There was an oval stage in the center where two naked women were performing on two strip poles. Three long, huge loungers covered in red velvet with high backs were positioned on each side of the stage. Even if he wasn’t enjoying the gorgeous women, his men who were whistling and tossing money, were enjoying the show.

Elder started laughing, and Wolf looked over to see him staring at something on his phone.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, eating some of the popcorn shrimp that were also on the platter. His head was spinning, and he had a nice little buzz going.

Still grinning, Elder turned the phone so Wolf could see the message. Apparently, the liquor was finally taking effect, because Wolf couldn’t make out a single word.

“My nephew, Sean, asked if you had a lovechild who lives in Atlanta. He saw some guy last night at a fundraiser who looked familiar, and he just figured out why. He said the dude looks a little like you. Says he could be your kid.”

“I don’t have no damn kids,” Wolf growled as anger stirred inside him when he thought about the son he once had. The son who betrayed him in the worse way possible.

Wolf shouldn’t have been surprised, though. After Mina died, Junior was never the same. He did what he was told to do out on the streets, but there was always a silent tension between them just below the surface.

Wolf should’ve known sooner that the bastard had been up to something, but he’d missed it—and the Kingz paid heavily for that oversight.

Elder was still laughing until a photo popped up on the screen. Then he studied it for a few minutes before turning the phone to Wolf again.

“I have to admit, the guy does look a little like you around the eyes. You sure you haven’t been spreading your seed around? We could use some more Gs,” he said, referring to the low-level members in their crew. There was never enough of them to do their bidding.

“Well, you won’t be getting them from me,” Wolf growled, and ate one of the jalapeño poppers followed by another.

He didn’t have any kids, and there was no way in hell he planned to create anymore, especially without his queen. Thelast thing he needed was some baby-mama drama landing on his doorstep. Nope. Never gonna happen.

Elder sat forward, still staring at the screen of his phone. “I don’t know, Wolf,” he said slowly. “There’s something about this guy…”

Wolf held out his hand. “Let me see that picture again.

When Elder handed him the phone, Wolf enlarged the photo and squinted. He studied the man’s face and kept going back to his eyes. Eyes that were familiar, but there was no way.

No way he could be….

He shook the thought free. Clearly, the alcohol was making him see something that wasn’t there, because the kid who came to mind was dead. He’d seen to it himself, but still…

“Who is he?”

“Sean doesn’t know.”

After studying the photo a few minutes longer, Wolf’s curiosity was piqued. He handed Elder his phone back.

“Find out who he is. I want to know everything about him, from who his parents are to everywhere he’s lived and worked. Get me some answers.”

Better to nip his curiosity in the bud instead of wondering.