“Cali?” He choked out her name, cutting me off. “Did you…say…Cali?”

I pressed my lips together but nodded.

“Lis is alive?” He was panting hard, his hand pressed against his chest as if he was struggling to breathe.

I cupped his face in both hands. “Garret, look at me,” I commanded. His eyes snapped to mine. “Take a deep breath, okay? You can’t pass out on me. Not now, not ever. We have to get back, and I can’t carry your ass out of here on my own.”

“B-back?” Tears glazed his eyes, but he seemed dazed.

“To Cali,” I told him with a small smile, figuring I should wait until we got on the plane before I mentioned Justice. “She’s waiting on you.”

“You aren’t playing with me, are you, Nova?” His eyes pleaded with me. “I don’t know if I can survive this if you’re not being real right now.”

“I wouldn’t play that kind of game with you or anyone else,” I promised softly. “When you came down with Dad and the MC, they told you she was dead, right?” He nodded, a single tear spilling down his cheek. “Well, they lied, Garret. They thought it would be safer for everyone to think she was dead, but she’s not. Now, get your ass out of this bed and grab a few things. We have to hurry.”

My foot felt as if it were the size of a watermelon as we walked to where I’d left the Jeep. Garret moved like his ass was on fire, and when he realized I was slowing him down, he grumbled something under his breath and tossed me over his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you just stay back at the apartment?” he snipped, increasing his pace toward the Jeep. “You should have at least woken Ryan and had him come with us. Do you realize what he’s been through?”

“I don’t need a lecture right now,” I bit out. “I’ll come back for Ryan, but right now, there’s not enough time to handle all that.”

He set me on my feet outside the vehicle and took the keys from my hand. “The only reason I’m not pressing the issue is because it will only keep me away from Lis longer. Get in. I’m driving.”

My foot wouldn’t allow me to drive, so I couldn’t argue. Instead, I climbed into the passenger seat and gave him directions to the airport. It wasn’t until we were in the air that I explained everything to him, ending with Justice’s sudden entrance into the world.

“Wait,” he choked out. “I have a daughter?”

“Come on, Garret,” I chided. “You knew she was pregnant.”

“No, I didn’t,” he denied. “I swear to you, I had no idea.”

“She told you,” I reminded him angrily. “The night she explained who she was, she said she told you everything. And after she confessed she was pregnant, you just left.”

“Oh God,” he groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I turned everything off that night. All I remember was her saying who she really was, and I kept replaying in my head over and over again all the fucked-up things I’d said to her over the years on social media. Then I left, got wasted, and the next thing I knew, you were slapping me across the face, trying to knock some sense into my dumb ass.”