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“What are you are doing here?” Loa hisses. “You did this, didn’t you?” She turns toward Rhea.

“Yes, I did. He’s our brother.”

“He’s not!” Loa stomps her foot like a child.

The man, I’m guessing is their father, clears his throat. “So, you must be Hawking. I’m James.” He has both arms crossed over his large belly. His look is one of disgust as he takes in my white T-shirt and worn out grease-stained jeans. “It seems my daughter was spot on when she was describing you.”

“Oh yeah, and how was that?”

“That you’re nothing more than street scum. Biker trash.”

I hear the gasp that comes from my mother. Typically, I’d play this one of two ways. I’d either beat the ever-loving shit out of the guy, or I’d make a joke about it. I’d give nothing more than to wipe that smug look off his face and spill some blood down the front of his Armani looking dress shirt. But I’m not going to do that. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to cause any more stress for my mother by going after him. Besides, he seems like the type of dick-head who would press charges on me.

I sigh, knowing that I don’t want to give him or his snot-nosed daughter any more of my time. “I’ve been called worse. Kinda goes with the territory when you’ve been riding bikes longer than you’ve been walking. But today isn’t about me. It’s about my mother, and the fact that today is the first day of the rest of her life.”

He drops his hands and shoves them into the pockets of his slacks. “Listen, kid, this is a family affair and my wife doesn’t need any more help. Loa and I are taking care of everything just fine.”

I ignore him. “Mom, I believe you want your clothes folded before they’re packed away. Let’s get that taken care of, shall we?” I walk over to the bed where Loa is standing with her hands clutched around a robe. I pull the bag towards me and turn it upside down, dumping the contents onto the bed. Rhea laughs, and I use all my willpower not to follow along, but I’m trying to act like the adult here.

“How dare you,” Loa growls next to me.

“Mom?” I turn my back on Loa, making sure that my mom can’t see her. I can tell she’s intimidated by the tension in the room, but it’s all bullshit, and I refuse to allow my mother to cower to her daughter. Alcoholic or not, she gave Loa life, and that’s never something a child should forget.

“Listen, kid.”

“No,” I say over my shoulder, eyeing him. “There’s no listen, kid. This isn’t your place–”

“You’re fucking lucky I don’t have your ass hauled out of here or this place sued for allowing you any access to my wife.”

“Mr. Calhoon–”

“No, Martha, I got this.” I turn towards the bastard and give him my full attention. Crossing my arms over my chest, I purposely flex my biceps. Rhea comes towards me and helps my mother fold her clothes. “I’m not going to get into the logistics of things, I’m sure that can be saved for another day, but seeing as my father is no longer living, and since I’m the first born, I have every right to be here. Some might say that the last person to have any rights is you.” I nod in his direction.

“You don’t know shit.”

I take a step towards him, and immediately feel Tessa’s fingers grip my elbow. My body is vibrating with the need to knock this guy out, but I’m going to use my words and not my fists. “I know that when Rose Gentry left New Mexico, she did it married. I know by Loa’s age that there a good chance she was still married when she gave birth to her, not to mention there’s an even better chance that when you two took your vows, they didn’t mean shit because she was still legally married to my father.”

His eyes widen at my confession. He takes a step to the side, but I stop him. There’s no way he’s going to go after Rose. I’m not one hundred percent sure that what I told him is true, but I’ll have Dyke look into it tonight to make sure.

“Daddy?” When my gaze falls on Loa, she seems confused.

“Mom never mentioned anything about being married before,” Rhea confesses. “Just that she once had a son.”

My head whips around towards her and my mother. Rhea has her arms wrapped around Rose’s body. Her head is buried in her daughter’s shoulder, shaking. I turn towards James. It doesn’t matter the reasoning why my mother did what she did all those years ago, but the fact of the matter is that I’m sure he’s treated my mother like shit their entire relationship.

“You need to leave.” I bring my gaze towards Loa. “You can follow him if you aren’t going to act like a supportive daughter.”

“You can’t do that!” She stomps her foot again.

“I can and I will. Your father has been nothing but a son of a bitch to Rose. She’s been in here for months and not once have I heard that he’s been here to visit her. Even before here, they haven’t lived as man and wife in years. He has no rights to her. He lost those the moment he started treating her like shit.”

“You don’t know anything.” Loa stomps her foot again. Such a child.

“I know enough.”

“Oh yeah, and where did you hear it from?” She points to her sister. “From the lying, drunk? A real solid source there, brother.”

“That’s enough,” Martha steps in. “I don’t need my patient under all this undue stress. You all need to leave.” She steps towards James and Loa, using her hands to usher them out.