Chapter Twenty

Raptor

SEEING GENESIS COMPLETELY thrown and not knowing how to feel or process the information that's been thrown at her from the couple claiming to be her birth parents is something I don't ever want to see again. She is so pale and her body is trembling as I hold her in my arms with Dylan right on the other side of us holding her at the same time. She hasn't said anything since we left the hospital room and no one's going to force her to talk because this shit is a lot for anyone to take in and Genesis needs time to process everything she knows right now. Especially after seeing Doc and having to get the swab done to complete the DNA test. I'm not sure if she's going to be ready to get the results of that test or what she'll do with the information if it turns out that she is in fact their daughter. All I know is that Dylan and I will have her back and help her through the situation the best we can.

Playboy pulls the silent SUV into the compound and parks by the door. He turns in the driver's seat after shutting the engine off and hesitates to say anything.

"You guys get her up to one of your rooms. Genesis isn't in the right frame of mind to talk to anyone or hang out in the common room. We'll keep an eye on Matie while you three work through this together," he finally says as Genesis buries her face in my neck and wraps her arms tighter around me.

"Please don't say anything to anyone," she murmurs, her warm breath fanning over my neck, causing a shiver to roll through me.

"No one will know anythin', Genesis. This is your business and you have the right to share it when you choose to. If you don't want anyone to know, then don't say anythin'. Sam and Shy won't share what happened when you got the call either. Those two women are some of the best secret keepers I've ever met," Playboy assures her, his voice gentle and kind despite Genesis still burying her face.

"Thank you," she whispers as Dylan opens the door and gets out.

I slide across the seat and climb out behind him with Genesis in my arms. She wraps her body around mine as I lift her a little higher. Placing a hand under her ass and one on her back, I start to walk toward the main door of the clubhouse with Dylan at my side and the rest of the guys surrounding us as kind of a shield so no one can get close to our girl. No, she's not gonna be hurt or attacked on the grounds of the compound. It's a silent way to let everyone know Genesis isn't up to talking to anyone once we make our way inside.

Stepping through the door, I find the common room full of people. Playboy makes his way over to Sam, Shy, Annabell, and the kids where they're sitting at a table toward the back of the room. Dylan and I head directly for the stairs and make our way up them. With Dylan in front of me, he leads us to his room instead of mine. I wait while he unlocks the door and steps back before heading inside. The room smells like him as I make my way over to the bed without having to worry about tripping over anything on the floor in front of us. Dylan's room typically isn't this clean so he's stepping up since things happened with Genesis.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I keep Genesis in my arms and wait for her to decide what she wants to do. Dylan closes the door and makes sure it's locked before he comes over to sit next to us. Resting his hand on her back, he slowly begins to rub up and down in a comforting manner. Neither one of us says a word despite so many wanting to fly out of my mouth. Instead, I look at him over the top of Genesis as she seems to melt even deeper into me.

"Sweetness, why don't you lay down and take a nap? I'm sure you're exhausted after everythin' you were just told. Wade and I won't leave your side at all," he tells her, his voice barely above a whisper as he leans in closer to her.

"Uh huh," she mumbles, her voice already fading into nothing as she seems to be falling asleep in my arms.

Standing up, Dylan pulls the blankets of his bed back and I carefully lay her down before we cover her up. Leaning over her, I press my lips to her forehead as she snuggles deeper into the pillow beneath her head. Dylan gives her a kiss on her cheek and stands up next to me. Together we look down at Genesis as she drifts deeper into sleep and forgets the world around her.

"I'll be back. There's a phone call or two I need to make," I tell Dylan, pulling my phone from my pocket because I need King's help.

"You callin' the foster family?" he questions me, his voice still low as we move away from the bed.

"Yeah. See if they knew anythin' about it. Then I want to find out if there's anyone else in the family to make sure no one else will come surprise our girl. I want to get ahead of this situation and keep the surprises to a minimum," I tell him as he walks me to the door and I unlock it before pulling it open.

"Yeah. This shit was a punch to the gut and I don't know how the fuck Virginia's parents got away with pullin' that fuckin' stunt. King knows what he's looked up so far. Don't give him any more details though. I know he'll want to ask you about what happened. We told her we wouldn't talk about it though," Dylan reminds me as I step into the hallway and he starts to close the door behind me.

With a nod of my head in acknowledgment of his words, I make my way down to the common room. King is sitting at a table with his parents and sister. Walking over to them, I don't look at anyone before stopping right next to him. Before I can say a word, King is handing over a piece of paper with a number on it.

"Figured you wanted to make a call to the foster parents to find out what they know," he says without giving anything away.

"Thanks. When Genesis is ready to talk about things, we'll let you know what's goin' on. She's not ready right now," I tell him as I turn to leave the table.

"That's understandable. Just make sure she knows we're all here for her, Raptor. She can talk to any one of us and we'll keep her secrets until she's ready to talk to everyone in the club," King says, an understanding look on his face as he sits back in his chair between his sisters.

"I will. Thanks, King," I say, turning and heading for the hallway.

I plan on making my way to the game room so I can have this conversation in private. Footsteps sound behind me and I know it's one of my dads without having to turn and look for confirmation. The game room is empty as I enter and head for the couch. Sitting down, I watch as my dad Wood closes the door behind him and makes his way over to sit next to me. With my phone in hand, I dial the number King gave me and put it on speaker as it rings.

"Hello?" a woman answers the phone, hesitation in her voice as she tries to figure out who's calling her.

"Hello, Mrs. Pratt. My name is Wade. You don't know me but I'm callin' on behalf of Genesis Camden. You raised her for the last few years until she aged out of the foster care system if I'm correct," I say so she knows that I know Genesis and why I'm calling her right now.

"Is she okay? Did something happen to her?" she questions me, genuine concern lacing her voice as fear fills her voice.

"She's as okay as she can be right now. I will tell you that she was attacked several weeks ago by a man named Ricky. She's been healin' from that run-in with him and has mostly healed at this point. That's not why I'm callin' today though. She was called by a woman at the hospital with information that her birth parents were there and her mom wanted to see her. Genesis went after a friend did a background check on them. Long story short, we've got a friend doing a DNA test for us to see whether these are really her parents or not. I'm callin' to see if you know anythin' about her birth parents, them bein' alive, or anythin' regardin' her bein' put in the foster care system when she was a baby," I tell Mrs. Pratt as her end of the line is so silent I can hear each breath she takes.

"I hope someone finds Ricky and beats the hell out of him. He's a no good piece of shit who deserves to be taken out of this world," Mrs. Pratt states, venom filling her voice as she gasps at her words and goes silent once again. "I'm sorry for that outburst. I've never liked him and I know he's the reason my daughter is missing. To know he put his hands on Genesis makes me so damn angry. She's never done anything to him and wouldn't hurt a fly unless she was provoked.

"Mr. Pratt and I were given the bare minimum about Genesis when we were called and asked to take her in. Her case worker refused to tell us anything more than where she was in her education, how much we'd be getting every month to raise her, and all the normal details we're given. Sometimes we're told about the birth parents. When my husband questioned the worker about Genesis' parents, she shut up and hung up the phone on us. I always thought it was suspicious but we didn't say anything. I wasn't going to do anything to have them remove Genesis from our home.

"We might not have been the best parents to her, but I tried to show her love in my own way. Melinda was our main focus because she was always getting into one thing or another. Genesis was a good girl and we knew we didn't have to worry about her causing problems or getting into fights," Mrs. Pratt answers me, her voice holding the guilt and remorse she feels. It's so thick I can hear it as I look at my dad and he shrugs his shoulders at me.

"Thank you, Mrs. Pratt. We'll figure it out here once we get the results of the DNA test. I just wanted to know if there was information out there to match the story Genesis was given," I tell her, wanting to get off the phone with this woman.

"Is she okay? Happy? I do have something for her," Mrs. Pratt says, extending the conversation with her questions as my interest is piqued with her saying she has something for my girl.

"She's happy for the most part. Like I said, she's healin' from the attack by that asshole. Genesis is more bored than anythin' else at this point. She wants to go back to work and the doctor won't clear her to return despite her just getting a promotion," I say, not wanting to give out too many details about Genesis in case I say something she doesn't want this woman to know. "What do you have for her?"

"Every dime we didn't spend on her when she was growing up, we put in a high interest savings account. It's literally sat in the account all this time collecting interest and multiplying. I have the account number and everything she needs to gain access to the money. She's of age to get it with the stipulations my husband put on it. That's one of the many reasons we've remained in contact with her. We care for Genesis and want to make sure she's okay. The last I knew, the account had almost a half a million dollars in it. That was a few years ago. My husband and I added money to it every month from our own pockets. Genesis deserves to have a good life and if this money will help her accomplish that, she needs to have it," Mrs. Pratt informs me, shock filling me as I look at my dad with confusion on my face and my mouth hanging open.

"Okay. Um, I'm sure she'll appreciate the money and what you've done for her, Mrs. Pratt. I'm going to have a friend of mine call you. His name is Kingston Stevens. He handles all of our computer stuff. He'll get the account number from you and then he can set things up for her here. I'm not sure where you're located, but I don't believe Genesis is up for a road trip right now," I inform her as my dad nods his head in agreement of what I'm saying.

"This Kingston is a trustworthy man?" Mrs. Pratt asks me.

"He is. I trust him with Genesis' life. He's made millions on his own and he's in his early twenties. He has no reason to take this money from Genesis. Every piece of paper attached to the account will be put in a folder and handed over to her without hesitation. She can call you and check that the numbers match so you know he didn't take anythin' from her. His room is filled with cameras so we can see every move he makes and listen to every call or person he talks to in that room. I love Genesis and wouldn't put you in contact with someone who is gonna hurt her," I promise Mrs. Pratt as I stand from the couch so I can talk to King about this shit.

"I'm glad to hear that she found someone who loves her. That's all Genesis has ever wanted. To be loved for the woman she is and supported in the ways no one did. Not even my husband and myself if I'm bein' honest. She's such a sweet, innocent, pure soul and deserves someone who will give her the world," Mrs. Pratt says her voice full of sadness.

"We'll take care of her, Mrs. Pratt. I'm sure it won't be long before Kingston calls you to talk about things. Thank you for lettin' me know about this," I tell her as she says goodbye and hangs up the phone.

"That's more information Genesis is gonna have to process. I can't imagine what's goin' through her mind right now with everythin' goin' on. Be there for her and make sure she's okay every day. I don't know how Genesis is when she gets overwhelmed but I'm sure she'll need to rely on Dylan and you more than before. Especially as she continues to heal and get ready to head back to work. Is Morgan gonna keep watchin' Matie for you guys?" my dad asks me as we start to leave the game room.

"As far as I know. At this point, unless I'm on a run or there's other club business I need to deal with, I'll be home when Dylan and Genesis have to go to work. Morgan would only need to watch him on the odd times I'm not available," I answer my dad, going up to Kingston and relaying the information Mrs. Pratt just told me to him.

"I'll get everythin' taken care of for Genesis. When she filled out the direct deposit shit for Enchantment, she had to give her bankin' information. I can just add this money to her account that way no one can get their hands on it. If there's anythin' else you need, let me know. I'll give Mrs. Pratt a call for the account number and let her know what I'm about to do. It's good that she's questionin' me to make sure I'm not gonna fuck Genesis over. If she didn't, I'd worry more about this situation," King says as he pulls his phone and heads for his room on the first floor where he does all of his work.

"Go back up to your woman, Son," my dad says as my mom and other dad come up to us. "We're not leavin' yet so we'll have time to hang out. Matie is takin' a nap right now in Morgan's room. Sam's in there with him. The ol' ladies are makin' dinner so you've got time. Dylan and you need to decide if you're gonna wait the rest of the day to talk to her about this or if Genesis needs to know now."

"We should tell her now. If King works as fast as normal, the money will be transferred to her account within a few hours. Genesis checks her accounts on a regular basis to make sure she's still got her nest egg and that she can pay her bills. The amount of bills has gone down significantly since we got rid of her apartment. She's always gonna worry about money though. After never havin' any and havin' to save every penny all of her life. I've seen her shoppin' before and she'd starve before puttin' shit back for Matie. That was the first time we bought her a kitchen full of food so she'd never go without food again," I answer them, my voice a whisper because this is personal and not anyone else's business.

"Son," my mom says, her voice breaking as her eyes fill with tears for Genesis.

"Don't feel sorry for her, Mom. Dylan and I will make sure she never has to do that shit again. We're gonna spoil the fuck outta her and Matie. Our girl will be taken care of and now she'll have her own money to ensure she never has to worry about that kind of shit again," I promise my mom, pulling her in for a quick hug before letting her go and leaving them in the common room so I can go talk to Dylan and Genesis about things.

Today has been a long as fuck day and I'm ready for bed. We still have to get through dinner, taking care of Matie until his bedtime, and then we can finally fall into bed at home and let sleep take the day away. Everything will still be there tomorrow and we can deal with it whenever Genesis is ready to talk to us about everything. For now, we'll be there for her any way she needs and will help her work through the shit in her mind when it comes to this mess she's now facing. Genesis is not alone anymore and she never will be again.