Letting Go (Thatch 1)

I felt dizzy . . . I felt sick . . . I was so fucking confused. “No he’s not. He can’t . . .” I trailed off.

“Your mom said LeAnn got pregnant, but by the time she tried to tell you, Ben had died and you were always with me. She said LeAnn disappeared for a long time to hide her condition, and after Keith was born, she gave over custody to your mom—she even said to ask Charlie if I didn’t believe her.”

My head swung back to look at Grey, shock covering my face. “You’re telling me Charlie knows? My own fucking sister has known for two years that I have a kid and didn’t say anything? You knew I had a fucking kid, with LeAnn of all people, and didn’t say something to me? I’ve been thinking he was my brother all this time, and you’ve all just kept this from me! Was it some sick joke you were all in on?”

“No, Jagger, please stop yelling at me!”

“Well, Jesus Christ, Grey! How do you expect me to react to what you just told me?”

“I’m sorry, you have no idea how sorry I am, but I just found out—and like I said, I couldn’t tell you! Not only had we just found out that it was LeAnn who was doing all the Ben stuff and breaking into the warehouse, but your mom said what LeAnn had been doing to us was because she’d been trying to get her family back together. And it made sense, Jagger! It. Makes. Sense. And then

I found out that your mom wasn’t lying about LeAnn disappearing for that time, and your mom was threatening to disappear with Keith if I told you! Do you see why I couldn’t tell you? It killed me, but I had no choice. I’ve been doing everything I could to find out what happened, and find a way for us to get Keith from your mom once I realized how horrible she really is. That is why I kept it from you, all I wanted to do was help you and help Keith so your mom couldn’t leave with him.”

At some point in her explanation, I’d begun pacing, and didn’t stop for another couple minutes after Grey had stopped talking. I just listened to her cries as I tried to wrap my mind around everything. That my mom had gone after my fiancée. That Grey had kept the fact of the money from me. That she’d kept the truth about Keith from me. The fact that Keith was actually my son, and not my brother.

I stopped pacing, and without turning to look at her, I asked, “How long were you going to continue giving her money? Because you can’t honestly believe that she would’ve just stopped coming to you. Or that she would’ve stopped trying to hold this over both our heads.”

“I was just trying to buy us some time.” Grey sounded like all the life had been drained from her. She sounded exhausted in a way I hadn’t seen since right after Ben died.

“What else are you keeping from me?”

She looked up at me, and I knew my question had hurt her. “Nothing! There is nothing else, I promise. But what are you keeping from me? I understand that you didn’t know about your son. But I just found out that your mom has been doing this for years, why didn’t you tell me that? What else do I not know?”

“Nothing. I don’t have a relationship with my mom for a reason—or with her boyfriends or husbands. I didn’t tell you about her because I wanted to protect you from her.”

“And what do you think I was doing!” she yelled back, her voice breaking at the end. “I was trying to protect you.”

“By paying off my mom, and keeping the truth about Keith from me.” I nodded a few times and bit the inside of my cheek before turning and walking toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

Just before I hit the door, I turned to look at her, still sitting on the floor. “Whether or not you thought you were protecting me, you have no right to keep something like the fact that I have a child from me.”

“Jagger!” she cried out when I opened the door and stepped outside, her voice still calling after me as I got into my car.

I took my phone out of my pocket, shut it off, and tossed it onto the passenger seat as I pulled onto the street and headed toward my mom’s house. The more I drove, the more confused I became over the whole thing and realized nothing about LeAnn having a son—my son—made sense. LeAnn would’ve said something when she tried to get me back before Grey and I had gotten together. Shit, she would’ve said something when she tried to break us up those countless times. With all her games and lies, I knew without a doubt that having my child was something she would’ve used against me.

Pulling up in front of Mom’s, I glared at the Escalade parked behind Charlie’s car as I stepped out of the car and walked up to the house. A car pulled up to the house, stopping quickly, and I knew without turning around that Grey had followed me here. But I didn’t care to acknowledge or wait for her. My mom, sister, and fiancée had all kept something from me—and I would’ve never imagined that their betrayal would hurt so bad. Not bothering to knock, I opened the door and let myself in, my eyes immediately hitting Charlie as she stepped out of the kitchen. She turned around when she heard me, and a smile broke across her face.

“Hey!”

“Where’s Mom?”

Charlie’s eyes widened when she heard my rough tone, and she pointed toward the kitchen. “Are you—”

“Where’s Keith?”

“Sleeping, what’s—”

“Mom!” I snapped. I couldn’t let myself move from the front door. I knew if I got too pissed off, I would need to make myself leave. Just before I heard my mom’s voice, Grey came running up behind me, and I jerked away when she touched my shoulder.

“Yes, honey?” she called from the kitchen, her tone making it seem like my coming to her house was the most innocent action in the world.

“Jagger, what’s wrong?” Charlie asked before her eyes drifted to my side. “Grey?”

“Oh, Jagger, my sweet boy. Why didn’t you tell me you were planning to stop by?” My mom walked into the living room, a gentle smile on her face, like every time she was around anyone other than me.

“How could you?” I growled. “How could you all keep this shit from me! Why did you go after Grey like that when I told you to stay away?”