Page 45 of Puck (The Lost Boys MC)
“So, start from the beginning and take me through what happened,” Stone said.
I girded my emotions and froze my heart over a bit so I wouldn’t get emotional, because whenever Lori teared up, I always did the same. I listened to the story of her diagnosis with postpartum depression and how she self-medicated. I swallowed my tears back as she talked about dipping into her husband’s stash to get high. I put our plates together as she talked about how her husband took the fall for her when drugs were discovered, landing him in jail instead of her. I even listened with a broken heart and passed out plates of food while she talked about fleeing the country in order to protect her children.
She was a strong woman that hadn’t been hardened by the life she had led.
Honestly, it was inspiring to hear.
“Jared?” Stone asked with a chuckle.
I set Puck’s plate down in front of him. “Did you guys not know his real name?”
“No, they didn’t,” Puck grumbled.
Lori gasped. “What? Jared’s a strong name! Your father insisted on naming you that.”
Puck’s voice fell flat. “Hence why I changed it.”
Lori reached for his hand. “Your father isn’t to blame for this. All he was trying to do was provide for his family the best way he knew how. Kind of like what you and Ruby are doing right now.”
He wrenched his hand away from her touch. “What me and my sister are doing is different.”
“Jared, respect your mother,” Stone said in a mockingly deep tone.
Which caused everyone to fall apart at the table.
Except Puck.
“So,” Stone said after toning down his laughter, “why is the cartel still after you after all these years?”
Lori shrugged. “I guess because I know the names of their suppliers. Their dealers. When I say that my husband was far up in the chain of command, I wasn’t joking. I know a hell of a lot more than any one person should.”
“Do you know names and locations, Mom?” Ruby asked.
Puck scoffed as he tossed a piece of cut steak into his mouth.
Lori sighed before she continued. “I do, yes. I know their names, some of their locations, and how they all bring that shit into the States.”
Stone chuckled. “Wow. Then if you’re telling the truth, we can really hit them where it hurts. You know, cut their funding for all of the weapons they want to buy.”
Puck growled. “It is true. It did happen. Ruby and I lived the torture. You can stop questioning her now.”
Lori’s eyes fell to her lap. “I’m so sorry for what I put you two through. Honestly, I am.”
Ruby reached out for her mother. “We know, Mom.”
But Puck looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, you’ve told us.”
“Puck,” Ruby hissed.
Then, he stood to his feet. “Sorry, I know you want the flowery and happy reunion, but I just can’t. So much has happened and we lost too much to—”
“Help! I need some help!”
My ears perked up at the sound of my father screaming at the top of his lungs. He barreled through the front door and came to a stop in the kitchen and I gasped.
“Daddy! What the hell happened to you!?” I exclaimed.
I rushed to his side as he nursed a bloody nose. Both of his eyes had been blackened and he held his stomach as if one of his ribs had been hurt in the process. Puck pulled his chair our from the table and placed it in front of my father before I sat him down, ready to clean him up in an instant.
But Ruby placed her hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got this. I’m studying to be a paramedic.”
And after looking over at Puck, he nodded his head. “She’s good. Let her tend to him.”
So, I moved and she took my place. “Daddy, what happened? Where’s Rowan? Where are my brothers?”
He drew in a deep breath before he coughed up blood. “We were ambushed. Kieran, he’s—”
He coughed relentlessly and worry pooled in my gut. It wasn’t until Rowan stumbled through the front door that I got my answer.
“Kiean’s been shot by the cartel,” he choked out.
Before he collapsed onto the hallway floor with blood dripping from his lips.
Twenty-Five
Puck
“Ruby!” Notch exclaimed as he rushed down the hallway, “what do we got?”
My sister shook her head. “We got two black eyes, a bruised rib, and blood coming from his throat on Clancy, and then over here we’ve got a broken nose dripping blood down Rowan’s throat, contusions against his abdomen, and a possible dislocated shoulder.”
“And Kieran’s been shot!” Brigid shrieked.
My head whipped in her direction and I saw tears streaking her face. Her hands trembled ferociously and my heart broke for her. I rushed toward her, wanting to scoop her into my arms and take her back to her bedroom so she didn’t need to see any of this.
