Page 12 of York

“She said she finally got a tip about where to find me.”

“But?” he asked.

“But there was something she wasn’t saying.”

“Well, when has a woman ever shown up in the vicinity of this club without some kind of trouble on her heels?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, sighing. “I guess I’ll figure all that out today.”

“Look, I get it’s a shock. But it’s an honor to be a dad. Treat it like that. You should get going.”

With that, he turned and made his way out the back door.

Alone, I sucked in a deep breath.

I agreed with him.

Was there shock? Of course.

Had I given having kids a lot of thought? No.

But now that I knew I had one, shit felt immediately different. There was a weight pressing on my shoulders, a sense of responsibility I hadn’t anticipated.

My mind raced with thoughts of not only what I’d missed, but what Runa had been missing out on. Judging by that car she was driving, money had to be tight. I could have been easing that burden. Lord knew, I had more money than I needed, especially because I still lived at the clubhouse. And the club provided most of the food we ate too.

Runa should have been getting child support all along. And actual support with the whole parenting thing. Not that I knew what to do, but I would have figured it out.

And what about Runa?

She’d have been young, alone, raising a baby. When I met her, she’d been, what? Maybe twenty-three, twenty-four?

And while we hadn’t exactly done a ton of talking, I did know that she worked odd jobs to fund her camping, hiking, and exploring lifestyle.

What had she done once she found out she was pregnant? Gone home to her family? Did she even have family? Had she done the whole parenting thing completely alone?

I had no idea.

But they were all things on the top of my priority list to ask.

I grabbed something quick to eat, grabbed cash, locked my gun under my bike seat, then started off toward the zoo.

Nerves jittered up my spine, wrapping around my stomach, chest, and throat with each mile I drove closer to the zoo.

What the hell did you even say to a kid that age? One who didn’t know me from Adam? The club kids did occasionally speak to me, asking me random shit like my favorite cartoon character or if I’d ever eaten a bug. But they knew me. They saw me every time they hung out at the club.

Would Denali speak to me at all?

Would she, worse yet, be afraid of me?

I wasn’t exactly the most approachable man. It worked in my favor for my job. But I was tall, broad, muscular, bearded, and tattooed. That was scary shit to a kid, wasn’t it? Would I look like every villain in the movies or shows she watched?

I shook those worries off the best I could as I drove up to the zoo and found a spot before walking up to the gates.

I hadn’t seen her car pull in, but I caught sight of Runa as she walked between a set of cars to start to make her way toward me.

Then, there she was.

Denali.