Page 135 of Jackass

“We ran your DNA,” I said bluntly.

“How?”

“Broke in, took your toothbrush and comb,” I said.

“Son of a bitch,” he hissed, turning away from me and slamming his hand against the wall.

I watched his movements. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

“Did you know?” I asked.

He looked up at the ceiling, not answering for a solid minute. Blade and Gunner stood quietly by the door. They wouldn’t interrupt or get involved, unless they had to. They were only there to have my back.

“I suspected. You look so much like her,” he said to the ceiling. “I didn’t know anything until I walked into your clubhouse. I knew Sammy cheated. I just didn’t know with who.”

I growled when he said her name. “Don’t call her that. You lost that right the first time you laid a hand on her.”

He looked over at me and nodded.

I waited.

I found if you stayed quiet long enough, people would inevitably fill the silence.

“I was six years old. One day, she had a round belly. She used to tell me my baby brother lived in there. The next day, she was gone. When she came back, she was thin again. She never mentioned you to me again. Not until the day she died.”

I closed my eyes. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear this or not.

“She called me. Told me he was out of control. He cheated again, and she called him out on it. They were fighting. She was hiding in the bathroom. I told her to hang tight. I was on my way. But I was too late. He shot her.”

He ran his hands through his hair and blew out a breath.

“She was barely alive when I got there. He was gone. I’d already called the police on my way over. They got there rightafter she passed. I told them what she told me, and they found him and picked him up.”

“How’d they get it to stick on your word, if you weren’t there?” Gunner asked.

I looked over at him, angry he got involved, but his eyes were on Derek. My brother never looked up from the floor.

“Dying confession. That actually holds a lot of weight with the courts. That, combined with the various police reports over the years and the fingerprints on the gun he left behind.”

He looked over at me. I stared at him, in a silent battle of chicken, refusing to be the first to look away.

“Before she died, she told me I had a brother. Said she gave him away so my father couldn’t hurt him. She apologized for not giving me away, too.”

“You never looked for me?” I asked.

“No.”

I stood from the bed. Folding the papers, I slid them into the inside pocket of my cut and walked to the door. Blade opened the door, and Gunner walked outside. I nodded for Blade to follow and shut the door and locked it.

I turned back to Derek and leaned against the door. I stood there, glaring at him. He watched me. Waited, with resignation on his face.

“You put your hands on my woman. You beat her so bad she landed in the hospital. She almost lost my child. After everything you witnessed, everything you experienced with that bastard, why would you do that?”

“Children learn what they live,” he repeated.

“That’s it? That’s your excuse?”

“Have you ever lost it, Jack? Ever just blacked out and lost control? You may not believe me, and I am sure she won’t either, but I loved her. I loved her so much. The first time I met her, I knew I wanted her in my life forever. When she told me she was pregnant, I lost my mind. I knew immediately she had cheated on me. Not only cheated, but got pregnant and was trying to pass it off as mine. I’m not proud of what I did. When I learnedshe was in the hospital, I was disgusted with myself. That was why I never looked for her when she left.”