Craving Cecilia (The Aces' Sons 6)

Every man sitting at the table stared at him.

“His mother’s mother married his father’s brother,” Lu said nonchalantly. “They’re from a small town. It’s not as incestuous as it sounds.”

“And I thought we had a tangled family tree,” Tommy said with a laugh.

“They knew where I was from,” Cecilia said from the edge of the room, making most people in the group glance at her in surprise. Everyone knew we were in the middle of a sit-down, so they’d steered clear of the room. I wondered how long she’d been eavesdropping. I was actually impressed by her nerve—if Olive would’ve started fussing, it would’ve given them away instantly.

“Explain,” Dragon said, waving her toward us.

I stood from my seat as she got closer and put out my hand. As soon as she’d laced her fingers through mine, I pulled her close.

“Thought I told you to stay in the bedroom?” I murmured into her ear.

“I thought you knew by now that I don’t take orders from you?” she replied easily. She lifted her head and gave me a quick kiss right there in front of everyone before handing Olive to me and sitting down in my chair.

Lu must’ve noticed the stunned expression on my face, because she leaned over and drug a chair closer so I could sit. “Here, Chief,” she said in amusement.

“Thanks.” I dropped into it and, holding Olive against my chest with one arm, I laid the other across the back of Cec’s seat.

“Cane Warren,” Cecilia explained. “The head of the militia? He knew where I was from. Who my family is.”

“He knew your pop was in the club?” Grease asked.

“Yeah,” Cecilia replied, nodding. “It wasn’t a secret. I mean, I didn’t talk about it with Cane, but I’m sure I talked to his wife Liv about it. She was my friend for years, so of course it came up.”

“What else you tell them?” Dragon asked. I could see that he was trying to keep his voice level, but the tension in the room had grown thick.

“That’s it,” Cecilia said with a shrug.

“You think it’s smart to go around tellin’ people that your pop’s an Ace, especially in San Diego?” Leo asked. It was the first thing he’d said to her since she got back, and she stiffened, which made me tense.

Cecilia’s hand gripped my thigh before I could say anything.

“I wasn’t out at the bar boasting about my daddy being in a motorcycle club,” Cecilia said through her teeth. “Liv was one of my best friends, who I’d known for years. Our families came up a few times.”

“From what I remember, once you were drunk, you weren’t too careful about what you spread around the bar,” Leo said, his voice flat.

I was on my feet before he’d finished speaking. The only thing that stopped me from hopping over the table was the baby in my arms.

“You ain’t helpin’,” Dragon barked at his son. “You got shit to say to Cecilia—you bring it up when we’re not discussin’ shit more important than your high school drama.”

“Sit, baby,” Cecilia said to me quietly, tugging on my belt loop.

“And I’d have a word with Lil before you do it,” Casper said, staring Leo down. “Think she might have something to say about it.”

I slowly lowered myself back down into my seat.

“So, they knew you were Casper’s,” Grease said.

“I didn’t specify who my dad was,” Cecilia said with a shrug. “But, I mean, we have the same last name, so it wouldn’t be a jump to figure it out.”

“’Specially with the last name Butler,” Grease murmured, running a hand over his beard. “Been a number of years, but I’m bettin’ those stories are still circulatin.’”

“What stories?” Will asked in surprise.

“Our uncles were notorious,” Casper said dryly. “And so was your great grandmother.”

“Gram?” Cecilia said in disbelief.

“Still waters,” Grease said, his lips tipping up in a smile. “Your gram was a badass.”

“Well, we knew that,” Tommy said.

“I’d like to hear this story,” Eli said, nodding his head. “But what does that have to do with what’s goin’ on now?”

“Could be nothin’,” Dragon said. “Just tryin’ to get all the information.”

“You think Liv hooked up with you because she knew who you were?” Casper asked Cecilia gently.

She jerked back in surprise and paled. She was silent for a long moment, before shaking her head. “No.” She shook her head again. “No, we met at work way before she got with Cane. That came later.”

“Could he have been usin’ her to get to you?”

“They were together for years. He was playing a really long game if that was the case,” she replied.

“Did he hit on you?” Lu asked quietly. “Before or after he got with your friend?”

“No way,” Cecilia said with a nervous laugh. “Never. It was always Liv. He worshipped her.”

“Alright then,” Dragon said. “We’ll take your word for it.”