Redemption Duology
Author: Christine Michelle
Date: 2022-04-13 00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Contemporary Romance
Description: The Aces High MC - Cedar Falls Series Books 1 & 2 in a boxed set. BOOK 1: REDEMPTON WEATHER We had a bright future ahead of us, and the world was ours for the taking. Then the storms started coming. First, there was the one that took my family. Then, there was the one that took my husband. That's how I ended up in Cedar Falls, and that's how he found me on my doorstep. If only the past would let go of us so that we could be happy. BOOK 2: SMOKE AND THE FLAME She burned so brightly that I became the ash at her feet before rising in her arms as a new man. A better man. A biker, firefighter, brot
Publisher: Moonlit Dreams Publications

Table of Contents

Title Page

Reading Order for my MC World

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

The End

Smoke and the Flame

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

JDRF Donation Thanks

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Redemption Weather

Aces High – Cedar Falls #1

Christine Michelle

Copyright © 2018 Christine M. Butler / Christine Michelle

All rights reserved.

Scanning, uploading, copying, and/or any distribution of this book, either electronically or otherwise, is illegal and punishable by law without express written permission from the author/publisher.

Help support authors you love by only purchasing legitimate copies of their work through trusted sources.

Any similarities to persons, organizations, or places written about within these pages is purely coincidental, as this is a work of fiction.

Reading Order for my MC World

I am constantly asked if there is a specific reading order for the Aces High and S.H.E. Series books. This is as close to a reading order as you will get because I purposely make each book in a way that they can stand alone. For optimal reading enjoyment you can read them in their numbered (publication) order within each series. If you’re wondering which series to start with the best I can tell you is the timeline order.

The Dakotas and S.H.E. Series run concurrently, and have crossover characters. The Charleston Series also takes place at this time, but you don’t see crossovers in the same way (only cameo appearances from characters in other chapters). The Cedar Falls Series takes place about ten years in the future from where the Dakotas, S.H.E. and Charleston all start out, with the exception of Evermore (book 4 of Cedar Falls) because that one takes place over a long period of time that starts around the time of Angel Girl (S.H.E. Book 1).

Confused still? Well, I’m going to throw you an extra bone here to add to it. The books are operate on various levels of heat, violence, and MC involvement. There’s the MC lite books which are more family dram. Then there are the MC Mild books that I like to think give just enough heat, action, and whatnot mixed with family drama to satisfy people on either side of the literary fence. Then there are the MC Wild books that may have trigger warnings attached for people who need them. They do not hold back on violence, sex, and are heavily involved in the crazy side of the MC world.

Read them this way, if you want to follow along the timeline then read them this way:

Aces High MC – Charleston (MC Lite – family drama)

(this is the only series in the MC world that MUST be read in order)

The Other Princess

A Love So Hard

(titles coming soon in the series)

The Princess and the Prospect

The Killing Ride

A Twist of Fate

Aces High MC – Dakotas (MC Mild)

Dancing With Danger

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

(titles coming soon in the series)

Cherries and Cream

The Restart and the Remedy

Learning to Bend

S.H.E. (MC Mild)

Angel Girl

JoJo

(titles coming soon in the series)

Keys

MiMi

Tash

Legs

Stoneridge Raiders MC (MC Wild)

(series coming soon, will be introduced in The Restart and the Remedy – Dakotas, book 4; and was spoken of briefly in Proven - Cedar Falls, book 2)

Grave Mistake

Burning Bridges

Forgotten Souls

Harbinger’s Fury

TEN YEARS LATER…

Aces High MC – Cedar Falls (MC Lite/Mild)

Redemption Weather

Proven

Smoke and the Flame

(titles coming soon in the series)

Evermore

Wren’s Wings

Through the Ashes

The Witchling

Aces High MC – Tallahassee (MC Mild/Wild)

(series coming soon)

Crushed

Echoes of Everything

Court’s Justice

Tricky Ride

Aces High MC – Sierra High (MC Wild)

(series coming soon)

Bad Beat

Snake’s Bite

Stone Solid

Battle Plans

I hope this helped everyone who had questions. As you can see this world is not a small one, and besides the books that are already available there are many more that are already planned out. If you have further questions, please feel free to go to my Facebook page and ask there, as it will be the easiest way to get a hold of me. *Order of specific titles not yet released may change slightly prior to publication.

https://www.moonlitdreams.org/mc-world-books

Chapter 1

July 12, 2015

We had been arguing a bit more than usual lately, but he’d never failed to come home before. Sitting in my living room, body twisted so that my chin rested on the back of the couch, I stared blankly out into the vast darkness beyond my house. Once in a while a flash of lightning would allow me to see down the lonely stretch of gravel drive leading from the old farmhouse I’d inherited from my parents almost to the place where the drive should meet the road if it weren’t being swallowed back into the darkness before my eyes could follow the path. The fast-paced tink-tank sound of the rain hammering down on the tin roof that covered my large expanse of porch was normally something I found soothing and would lull me to sleep as it had since my childhood.

Tonight, that rapid-fire tink-tank sound held neither promise of sweet dreams nor any respite from the worries that invaded my mind. Walker and I hadn’t left it at a good place this morning when he took off for parts unknown with his club brothers. He’d been born into the life of the motorcycle club that he was now a full-patched member of. His momma, having been one of the club’s sluts, and his daddy – only known for certain thanks to DNA testing – had been one of the club’s brothers in the Aces High MC. They’d originally been with the Tallahassee Chapter down in Florida before Walker came here to help start the new chapter in Sierra High, Georgia. Walker had known his whole life that he’d become a part of the club, and just as soon as he was old enough he’d prospected and bided his time until he got his wish. I came into the picture three years later when he was 22 and I was only 19. We’d clicked from the first moment we met and we’d been damn near inseparable in the ten years since. The past eight years of which we had spent as a married couple in addition to me being his old lady in the club’s eyes.

Our problem was that we both wanted to start a family about five years back. We had been casual about trying for a baby in the first year, serious as hell about it the second year, and by the end of the fourth year we had both begun to grow frustrated for our own separate reasons. He didn’t like having to save up on the baby batter for a week before I was ovulating. He really did not appreciate being called from work to come service me like a prized racing stud when the time was right.

I didn’t like that he’d grown resentful of the ways the professionals had told us to increase our chances. My heart ached two days ago when I’d been ovulating and he’d flat out refused to stay home from a club run the guys were supposed to be going on. My dreams of holding a sweet little baby in my arms were dimming; the ones of carrying one in my own belly were almost gone. It’s true, I was only 29, and the doctors had confirmed my body was not the problem so technically my dream should still be alive.

My husband was angry and resentful that his body apparently was the issue though, and he couldn’t give us this thing we both wanted so badly. I was fully aware he’d given up on the prospect of expanding our family about a year back despite the fact that I hadn’t. I got mad at him for not following the doc’s orders on how to keep his sperm count up. Now, he just refused to show up at all, and that left us in a horrible place.

That was why I brought up other possibilities that morning. Our doctor explained that we would be fantastic candidates for IVF treatments. Walker scoffed at the idea saying he wasn’t making a baby in a petri dish. He would not even discuss raising someone else’s kid, through adoption, with me either. We’d both blown up, he’d left, and now it was just past two in the morning, and for the first time in our marriage Walker hadn’t called, texted, or come home.

A boulder of anxiety sat in the pit of my stomach as I worried and fretted about whether to face his possible ire by calling his club brothers to make sure he was okay, or if I should just wait and hope all he was doing was blowing off steam with his guys. The storm heaved angry moans as winds blew through creaking trees and determined bolts of lightning slammed down creating such a resounding cacophony of thunderous booms it left me with raised hairs on my body and more anxiety swelling deep inside me.

I texted him again. I never called this late at night in case he was riding and it distracted him. Not that I thought he’d be riding in this weather since he had his bike and not his truck today. Besides, I’d already attempted to call earlier in the day, numerous times, and I had been sent straight to voicemail each and every time. That was a devastating blow in and of itself. Walker knew how important this particular day was to me. He knew I’d have a hard time, especially with another storm blowing through, yet he chose to remain silent.

Me: Babe, please, let me know you’re okay. Storm’s bad out here.

I waited.

The storm beat down the land around my house; one particularly loud thunk told me a large branch must have fallen on the roof somewhere. I prayed there wouldn’t be any damage, because I’d been saving money in case Walker agreed to the IVF and I knew he’d see to a new roof on the house before agreeing to use the money for making a baby in a goddamn petri dish.

Thirty minutes since I’d sent the text, and the storm raged on around me. The tink-tank of the rain on the tin roof had become more of a frenzied maelstrom of unrelenting noise. Thunder was clapping through the night every two minutes or less, and still all I heard was the silence from my phone. The boulder in my belly grew heavier. I relented and decided to text Snake who happened to be Walker’s closest brother in the club.

Me: He has never not come home, texted, or called by now. Please, just tell me he’s somewhere safe and he’s okay. I’m not asking for details. This storm is scary, big shit fell on the roof, and I’m worried he’s out there in it on the bike since his truck is here.

Five minutes passed.

Snake: He’s fine. Hunkered down since he has his bike.

Me: His phone broke?

I didn’t send that last message. I knew better than to put our business out there to his brothers and get them involved even if I did also consider Snake to be my friend. Honestly, it didn’t matter though, because I also knew that Walker had to communicate with Snake somehow and he still hadn’t contacted me. I finally let go of the pent up emotion that had been building and let loose the deluge of tears that ran in hot, wet rivers down my cheeks to soak the front of my night shirt. It was Walker’s t-shirt, the one that smelled the most like him.

Ten minutes of tears later.

Snake: He let you know he’s good yet?

Me: No. Thanks for telling me though.

It was almost three in the morning now. The boulder of anxiety and worry that he’d been hurt out there somewhere was eased only to be replaced with the latest crack on my heart. Staring into the darkness beyond my window I couldn’t help but feel the sky had opened up this turbulent mess of booming thunder, white-hot lightning, and swamping rains just for me. Shouldn’t the world shake and cry for you when you realize your heart cracked so wide open that you think it will never heal again? I already knew things were bad between us, but the storm, the night, the significance of everything culminating on this particular day seemed to cry out to me that my marriage was also coming to terrible, inevitable, and sad ending.

My parents were gone now for six years, my little sister with them. They were taken in a car accident during a storm much like this one. Lightning struck a tree just up ahead of them when they were driving home. My dad swerved to miss the brunt of it when it split and fell, but the slick roads and sloppy shoulder sent them down over the embankment and straight into the swollen river below. The car had rolled down the 75 feet to the water and entered top down. They never stood a chance of making it through that.

Rain continued trailing down the windowpane in time with the tears that streaked their salty paths down my cheeks. Walker was out in this mess somewhere, and didn’t bother to let me know he was safe. He had to remember what happened, because he had been there with my older brother, Keith, and me when it all went down. That’s how I knew, deep in my gut, that we were finally over; because the man I’d loved all these years would never leave me to worry during a storm like this one. On this day, the anniversary of my family’s deaths, during a storm so similar to the one that had taken them he couldn’t be bothered to contact me? The fact that he had left me to grieve alone and worry about him on top of that spoke volumes. His cell going straight to voicemail for me while Snake was able to get a hold of him was even more telling. Then there was the fact that Snake would have said, “he’s here, don’t worry,” if he had been in sight somewhere.

Two headlights suddenly lit up the view outside my window. They were sitting high enough that I knew it was a truck coming up my drive. I thought about turning the porch light on for whoever it was, but then I remembered the power had gone out hours ago. Walker hadn’t brought the generator up to the house from the shed out back earlier, because he stormed out on the heels of our fight instead. I had candles, though I hadn’t bothered to light any. There were flashlights stowed here and there around the house too, though they were scattered and I hadn’t bothered to grab any of them either. I didn’t have it in me to get off this damn couch and out of the window. I watched as the shadowy figure navigated in the dark from the driveway to the porch. Then I listened as the doorknob was tested with a jiggle, and then once found unlocked, turned fully to admit the stranger into my house.

“Babe, you need to lock the fuckin’ door.” Snake hissed those words out irately before he attempted to scan the dark, shadowy room. “What the fuck? Poppy?” Concern laced his voice now. “How long’s power been out here, babe?”

“Don’t know,” I answered with a scratch in my voice from disuse or possibly the emotion that had tainted it with a gravel-like quality I didn’t like all that much. “Most of the night, I guess,” I added apathetically.

“I know you have a generator, babe. Why don’t I hear one running?”

“Walker never brought it up before he left. When I went to use it to plug the fridge in, it wasn’t there. Still in the shed, I suppose. It’s a might too heavy for me to drag up here now that the yard’s a damn pond and with the winds the way they have been,” I explained as I went back to staring out the window. Lightning lit up the sky, and therefore my face since I was looking directly at it. Snake sucked in a deep breath before cursing out, “fucking hell!” A light from his phone shown as he angrily stabbed at the screen for a while. Then he tucked it away again and before he spoke. “You mentioned something heavy fell on the roof? I came to check, doll. I can use my phone light, but if you have a flashlight that’d be better?”

“Should be one in the drawer there, behind you,” I told him as I sort of half-assed pointed to the little desk that sat in the entry way of our house to catch all the crap from our life as we walked through the door. Mail, keys, and pieces of this and that littered the desk on any given day.

“Fuck!” I heard him exclaim a few minutes later, and when I went to investigate I saw what had caused his reaction. The branch, or whatever had hit the roof with a loud thunk earlier, had done damage. Rainwater was leaking in all over the bed in the master bedroom.

Maybe it was the weirdness of the night, the stress I’d been under, or maybe I’d finally just snapped and gone plain crazy, but when I saw how sad my carefully chosen duvet cover and shams looked as a soggy mess under the steady trickle of water I laughed. I laughed so hard Snake trained the flashlight in his hands on me.

“Babe?” He questioned gently.

Once I swallowed my laughter back down I just shrugged. “No one’s using it anyway, why not?” Why not, indeed? Why not let the sky cry down on my sad marital bed in my even more miserable house, and add more despair to the burden I already had to bear tonight? Why not?

“Poppy, let’s get you back downstairs. I’ll get the boys out first thing to help patch the roof when we can assess the damage in the light of day.”

“Sure, why not?” I asked again knowing that nothing really mattered anymore. My husband couldn’t give me a baby, and he hated me for that like it was my own fault. My husband didn’t come home, didn’t call, text, or care that six years ago that very day I lost most of my family to a similar storm. He didn’t care I’d be worried. He no longer cared a tree attempted to fall through our roof, into the bedroom that seemed to be at the root of all our problems these days. I should have been sleeping peacefully in that bed when it happened instead of waiting up in the living room for a sign that he was safe and alive. He didn’t care that the house now wept over our bed, the same way I wept – damn near nightly – over our tumultuous relationship. So, why the fuck not invite his brothers to assess damage to our roof when that should be his job?

“Poppy,” Snake gently called my name again when he reached the bottom of the stairs behind me a few moments after I meandered my way down in my fog of why nots.

“Hmm?” I made the questioning sound lightly as I took my position, cocked sideways on the couch with one foot under my butt as I twisted to stare out into the stormy nothingness of the night once again.

“Poppy, are you doing all right, sweetheart?” He asked, voice soft and gentle like I was a stray dog he was trying to coax in for its own good.

My focus remained on the vast black emptiness outside before I closed my eyes, took in the tink-tank of the rain on the roof and the somewhat lighter whooshing of the wind through the trees. The rumbles of thunder were noticeably fewer and farther apart now too. The storm was abating, and would leave fresh soaked land and swollen creeks and rivers in its wake, but what it couldn’t take away or leave behind was my heartache or a cure for it.

“No, Snake, I’m…” The words I’d been about to say died on my lips as the low-riding headlights of a sports car pulled into my drive. The driver did not get out, and only paused long enough to allow for the bulky shape of a large man to unfold himself from the vehicle. He leaned in, words were obviously spoken, and as he slammed the door shut the car peeled out in reverse, backing down my drive at a dangerous clip considering the conditions. As it pulled onto the road distant lightning lit the sky just enough for me to see that I knew that car, who was driving it, and none of it equated to good things with that in conjunction with the man who walked through my door being my husband.

That car belonged to a woman I had once called a friend, and her signature perfume wafted in on the wind before my husband could make it through the door fully enough to close it behind himself. Snake was a shadowy figure near the stairs still, shaking his head at my husband. I almost wished for light so I could see the emotion playing out on his face. Then again, I didn’t think I could stomach seeing any more evidence of how, and with whom, my husband of eight years, my man of ten, had spent the night while I’d sat here with rivers of tears and a belly full of worries waiting to hear his voice or see his face again.

How did you walk away from the one person your heart had ever sung for? No matter that it had stopped singing, because it was still impossible to learn how to unlove someone you thought would be yours for a lifetime.

I didn’t move from where I sat twisted on the couch. There was nothing left to move to.

“You’re one stupid son of a bitch,” I heard Snake hiss out on a whisper. The whispering wasn’t exactly effective considering there were no ambient noises now that the storm had moved on and the destruction left in its wake waited quietly to be cleaned up and made new again.

“Poppy?” Walker called out to me. I didn’t move, and didn’t make a sound in response. “Why are you sitting in the damn dark, darlin’”

Walker hadn’t called me darlin’ in years, and the use of it now hurt worse than I could imagine, because I had to wonder if it was only because he’d used it on someone else that night. I sat there, and I couldn’t speak, because this odd numbness settled into my bones, shutting me down a little bit further with each moment of my life that ticked miserably by. At least, I couldn’t until he attempted to move closer to me.

“Stop,” I managed to choke out. “When we got together my best friend at the time made a play for you, and you swore to me you would never come to me with another woman’s perfume clinging to your skin again. I believed you did the right thing back then and fended her off like you told me.” I unfolded myself from the couch and I looked at the shadows of the man I used to love, thinking it was probably for the best that shadows were all I could see. Then, as if I’d made God angry somehow and tonight was all about my punishment, the lights flicked once, twice, and settled back into their original on position.

Walker looked as though he’d been struck down by the shroud of anguish that clung to him as he took in my obviously emotional and disheveled state. I was certain I was nothing much to see. I’d dressed nice and applied my makeup carefully earlier today when I went to visit my family on the anniversary of their deaths before another killing storm blew in. My husband had always gone with me before. This year I’d been alone. Six years to the day ago I thought I lost everything. I found out in the remnants of another storm that I had one more thing to lose.

“Jesus, Poppy, it’s not what you think. She was the only one that hadn’t been drinking, and I needed a ride.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I needed my husband. I needed the man who swore to love and protect me until death do us part, for better or worse, and all the other lies you told me.” My voice never raised much above that whisper. “Today, of all days. Tonight, of all nights.” I saw it dawn on his face as his brows crinkled up, nose scrunched, and then I watched his shoulders fall with the weight of what he’d done.

“I forgot,” he spoke softly, words filled with remorse that meant nothing to me anymore.

“Went to the cemetery to see them by myself. First time. Barely made it back before the storm, because I waited so long for you to show up. You never answered my messages, picked up my calls… Power went out. You never brought up the generator, so I just sat here,” I pointed to the spot on the couch I’d just vacated. “I waited. I worried. Storm got worse. I texted again. Finally, checked with Snake to make sure you were breathing somewhere so I could let the knots in my belly loose. A damn tree fell on the house. Roof’s leaking on the bed we used to share.” My body vibrated with a glut of emotion that was beginning to break through the momentary numbness I’d experienced at seeing who dropped my husband off in my driveway.

“You finally blow in after the cemetery, after the storm, after someone else came to check on me, and when you do its in the car of the woman whose friendship I obliterated for you. In the car of the woman whose scent is still clinging to you as you walk into my home.” I stood there and watched him watching me while noting that Snake hadn’t moved from the bottom step across the room yet. Both men stood still as statues as I ended my recap, but I wasn’t done.

“I’ve loved you for ten years. I’ve loved you through losing my best friend because of you. I’ve loved you through losing my family. I’ve loved you through being hurt about not getting a baby right away when we decided to try. I loved you even when you gave up on trying. I loved you through you not being able to accept that your body was the reason, and I even loved you when you refused to listen to the simple things you could do to increase our chances. I even loved you through our fight yesterday morning about trying IVF. But I cannot continue to love a man who doesn’t want my love and can’t – for whatever reason – give it back to me anymore. I thought I could continue to deal with it, but tonight proved I was wrong to think that. I was so wrong, and what we have can’t be fixed, because I got your message loud and clear this time. It’s unfixable.”

“Poppy, please, don’t jump to conclusions. I was at the clubhouse. Any of the guys could tell you that. She just happened to be there too,” Walker stated.

I glanced beyond him to Snake and back to Walker. “She was the only one who could drive?” He nodded. “Then how’d Snake get here? He doesn’t seem drunk to me.” Walker’s shoulders stiffened.

“I wasn’t ready to see you yet when he was leaving. I hadn’t planned on coming home tonight. I was gonna stay at the clubhouse to clear my head, but then Snake got here and texted that I better get my ass home any way possible. He made it a 911 text.”

I scrutinized Walker at this point, giving him a head to toe once over that made me wince in spots. “You smell like another woman, your hair looks like someone’s been running their hands through it, there’s lipstick on your shirt and your neck, and you forgot the most important day of the year when I needed someone to hold my damn hand while I reflected on all that I’ve lost, and all that I’ll never have, because you gave up on making it happen for me.” Tears spilled fresh rivers down my cheeks then. “You couldn’t come home because you needed to clear your head about me trying to find a better way to have a family with you, and this is the state you come home in?

“Even when you forgot the importance of this day I still sat there in the window, waiting, watching, hoping and praying you were okay. I’ve been praying you had club business that kept you. Praying you weren’t dead like them. Not on a day like today. Not the day I lost everything else. Please, God, not again.” I swiped angrily at the tears on my face when I offered that piece of my heartache up to a man who clearly didn’t deserve it any longer. The refrain that had been tripping through my thoughts all night set my emotions on fire once more.

“I think this’ll be worse though,” I lamented. “This will break me even more because I ended up losing you finally too, only I’ll still see you walking around town and it won’t just be a figment of my imagination like it was when I lost my family. You’ll really be there, maybe walking down the street with my ex-best friend on your arm, and instead of trying to tell myself that you’re dead and gone like I did with the rest of my family I’ll just have to remind myself that you’re no longer mine. No matter how broken that leaves me in the end, it’s what I know will happen now.”

“Poppy, no!” His voice sounded almost as broken as my heart.

“Can’t fix this by myself,” I pointed to him and the state he was in. “And I certainly can’t fix what you’d rather ignore while you go seeking happiness elsewhere.”

“Poppy,” This time it registered that my name was somewhat slurred. I turned my back on him. “Get what you need to take to the clubhouse for now. I’m sure they can find room for you since you planned to stay there anyway. We’ll work everything else out later when you aren’t drowning in everything you found entertaining tonight while I sat here heartsick and worried to death.”

“Please, Poppy, don’t do this.” He cried. Literally, cried.

“No,” I said as I glanced back over my shoulder.

“No, what?” He asked.

“No, I’m not the one who did this. We may have had our mutual issues to work out, but you’re the one who dropped the ball on our lives yesterday in order to party. You’re the one who only came home when your brother told you to. You’re the one who sent me to voicemail, ignored my messages, and couldn’t even let me know you were alive for the first time in ten years. You’re also the one who came to our home looking freshly fucked, smelling like my ex-best friend, wearing lipstick that certainly isn’t mine, and having her drop you off in my driveway.” I watched as he swiped at his mouth thinking I’d meant that the lipstick was there when I had been referring to what I saw on his neck and shirt. “I meant what was on your shirt, but good to know she was on your lips too. And that is why I am not the one doing this. You did this to us, and right now, I need you to leave. Get your things and go.”

“Come on, man, let’s go pack you a bag. You can crash at my place if you want to avoid the clubhouse.”

“Seriously? You think it’s cool she’s kicking me out of my house?” He asked Snake. I didn’t bother correcting him, in that moment, that it was not his house as I had inherited it from my dead family – the one he’d forgotten all about today.

“Walk, listen brother, that woman – you got any love left for her in your heart – you’ll do what she asked for now. She was broken tonight when I got here. You add to that misery for her right now and you are not the man I thought I knew.” Snake scoffed. “And I’ve already seen enough tonight to make me question that shit anyway.”

“You believe I’d cheat on my wife?”

“I believe you’re wearing enough evidence and the way you chose to come here tells a story you aren’t sober enough to deny right now. Let’s get you a bag and get you gone so Poppy can get some rest, man. She had a rough fuck of a day, and then was up all night worried. That shit is no good, you give two shits about your woman, you come with me now and give this to her.”

“Of course I care, she’s my wife. My life,” he corrected.

I wasn’t sure my heart could crack into any more pieces until that moment. If only he’d treated me as if that’s what I was.

Chapter 2

I wouldn’t have been able to sleep on my bed even if it hadn’t been soaked through by the rains last night. It would have smelled like him. Instead, I snagged a blanket out of the hall closet and wrapped up on the couch. I slept, briefly, but my ever-rampant thoughts continuously woke me.

What would I do now? I’d met and fell in love with Walker Smithson when I was just 19 years old. I’d had one other boyfriend before him, in high school, and that was it. Everyone I knew these days was tied to Walker and the club. Hell, even my older brother Keith was a member of the club, though he’d transferred to Cedar Falls, West Virginia to follow some girl there after our family died. He wanted me to go too, but I couldn’t give up the house. He couldn’t stay and see it, and the memories it held. I got that. We just dealt differently with the loss of our family. Now, I wondered if it wasn’t time to let it all go and start fresh myself.

That thought became more and more the way I was leaning as I considered the fact that the only friends I had in this town anymore were associated with the club and being that he was the brother and I was just the old lady, I’d seen what would happen. I’d be the one ousted – as it should be – and while I understood the way their world operated, it would leave me even more alone than I already was. It might have been different if we’d managed to have kids together before we got to this point, because then I’d still be welcome around as the baby momma so long as I didn’t cause any trouble for Walker and his boys, or any of his future women.

I sat thinking these thoughts, sipping my coffee in my broken house and dwelling on my broken relationship and the fact that I’d probably never have a chance at my own family now. That was a tough reality to swallow since it was the one thing I’d wanted more than anything since losing my parents and sister. I still yearned for babies. I yearned for a family of my own. I missed what I once had with my parents, my brother, and little sister. I still wanted to build that again for myself. I wanted to pass along my mother’s recipes, my father’s wisdom, and my sister’s sense of humor to my children. I had planned to do all that with the man I loved. Now that he would be out of the picture, I wondered if I’d ever get a chance at any of it, and I hated him a little bit more for bringing even more loss to my life.

I heard the telltale sound of pipes blazing up the drive and saw Walker riding up on his Harley with a few pickup trucks trailing behind. Why I thought I would at least get a reprieve today was beyond me, but that’s apparently what I got for thinking. I got surprised yet again.

Walker was first though the door while I continued to sit on my couch in nothing but an over-sized t-shirt and panties while I sipped my coffee. Walker’s eyes flared at the sight of me so I wasn’t surprised when the first sober words I heard from him in 24 hours were to order me around.

“Baby, you need to go get dressed. Guys are here to work on securing the roof.”

“Okay,” I stated as I sat my mug down on the coffee table. “That explains why the guys are here, why are you?”

He blinked at me. Once. Twice. And once more before he spoke again. “What do you mean, why am I here? I’m here to fix the leak with the guys and I fuckin’ live here besides.”

“Shit!” I heard Snake hiss out as he came charging through the front door. “Sorry, Pop. He doesn’t remember a whole lot from last night.”

I moved my eyes from a bewildered Walker to Snake then. “So, how did he explain to himself how he looked this morning?”

Snake winced. “He remembered, vaguely, being here. Figured it was you, I guess.” Snake offered as Walker snapped his attention from me to Snake.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Walker sneered out.

“It means,” Snake started, but I interrupted.

“Do you remember leaving here angry yesterday when I told you I wanted to have a conversation about giving IVF a try?”

“Yeah, and I thought I’d made it clear that shit don’t fly with me,” he stated coolly. It was clear he didn’t remember anything I’d said last night, because no way he’d talk to me that way today if he knew I’d told him we were through last night.

“Walk,” Snake hissed out, trying to contain his friend.

“Yeah,” I murmured sadly. “You made that crystal clear when you walked out saying you had better shit to do with your time.” I watched as Snake shook his head in what was clearly disappointment while Walker stood there getting worked up. “You remember much of your day after that?”

“What I did with my day isn’t really relevant since I worked,” he ground out.

“You had the day off yesterday,” I reminded him.

He stared at me again like I was a stranger. “On a Friday? No, the fuck I did not.” Walker glanced between Snake and me, and judging by our faces he realized he was missing something vital.

“Pay attention, because you miraculously managed to block out our heart to heart from early this morning,” I told him. Then I proceeded to fill my husband in on how my day went, how my night progressed, how he came to be in our house between the hours of four and five in the morning, and how I asked him to pack a bag and stay gone awhile. I literally watched as his knees buckled and he went down to the floor, eventually managing to plop his ass down while he processed what I’d just summed up for him.

“I did not sleep with anyone else. I would not do that. I couldn’t have,” he was mumbling. Clunking sounds were coming from the roof above me which meant the other guys had went ahead and got to work on the branch embedded in there.

“Why didn’t you fill him in?” I asked Snake.

“He wouldn’t have believed me. I tried to tell him about who drove him home last night and he laughed and called me a liar. I’m really sorry, Poppy. I tried to get here before he did, but got held up by Prez this morning.”

“That makes two of us, Snake,” I muttered, because I was sorry to have to go over all this again too.

“Poppy, we fought, but that’s not the end.” Walker finally told me. “I’m really sorry I lost my shit and forgot what yesterday was. I’m even more sorry – the likes of which you will never know – that I worried you like that. I swear baby, I never got your calls or messages. I would have been here. You say I got a ride from Tanya, but I swear I don’t remember that at all. I would have never brought her to this house in any capacity. You have to believe me.”

“I wish I could, but you did. Saw her car, with my own eyes, smelled her perfume all over you, and saw the lipstick on your shirt and neck. If not hers, it was some other woman’s who was not me. None of it was good, Walk. All of it was heartbreaking which is why I really need you to go. I need space. You took yours yesterday and did what you did with it when the only thing I’d done to inflame your temper was ask to try one last thing in order to have a family with you. What you did, and didn’t do in that time actually deserves my ire and since you got to do whatever you wanted when you needed space away from me…” I left the rest open ended until I saw he wasn’t getting it. “You got your space free and clear, now I need mine. I need to sort myself; and I need to do it without you here.”

“Poppy, we’ve managed to work through everything so far. Don’t quit on me now,” he protested.

I laughed.

“Really, Walk? Working through everything now encompasses you getting pissed at me for wanting to try every available option before I give up on having a baby forever? Not just getting pissed, but getting so angry that you walked out during storm prep on a day we were forecast to get a whopper of a nor’easter, the same day a similar storm took my family from me six years past, and you didn’t give a goddamn. We all saw where your walk took you. It took you to the one woman who tried to ruin us in order to get you for herself in the very beginning of our relationship. Yeah, my cracking, dying heart last night really felt how we managed to work though everything when I was worried sick about you while you were busy cozying up to another woman enough to have just fucked hair and lipstick all over you when you finally showed up after receiving texts from your buddy. I won’t even get into the fact that you miraculously received his texts, but none of the ones I sent you.”

Walker pulled out his phone, and searched through it again looking completely puzzled. I held mine up with the string of texts I had sent him yesterday as proof. I watched his mouth drop open then as he glanced down at his phone and seemed to be putting two and two together.

“I won’t even ask who had access to your phone yesterday, Walk, considering you don’t even let me touch it.” He swallowed thickly then.

I huffed out the deep breath I managed to pull in and then I looked my confused and despondent husband in the eye. “You need to leave. I need for you to go. You need to go and try to remember why you allowed some woman – who wasn’t me – to be all over you at some point last night. Why some person obviously screened my calls for you, and you allowed that to happen to, because I know for a fact you never let anyone touch your phone. You need to figure out why you’re so against trying to have a baby with me. You need to figure out why it was so easy to forget the worst day of my life yesterday, and you need time to consider that you made last night the second worst night of my entire life. And I need time to decide if I can move beyond any, or all, of that.”

“Fuck!” He hissed out quietly.

“Fuck!” He yelled out the second time as he kicked off the floor and stood. Walker looked from me to Snake and back again. “Poppy, I have fucked up – a lot – but I have never, not for a single minute, stopped loving you. I need you to remember that.” I took in his steely gray eyes with the faintest hint of blue to them that could be warm and loving when they locked with mine while we made love or could be cold and fierce when he was angered by something. His hair that needed a cut a couple weeks ago, and since he didn’t get it had started curling a bit at the edges, was something else I would commit to memory with just my eyes, as I would never find myself running my fingers through it while we chatted in bed again.

The slight hint of stubble that graced his face and neck was something I had both loved and loathed over the years. Beard burn from stubble was always a hell of a lot worse than the time he’d grown out a full, well-trimmed beard. I had loved his beard. The guys had teased him about it, or some such, and he’d shaved it off never to grow it again. Who cared that I had liked it. Those large hands of his that went with his equally large framed body dragged through his hair in frustration as he catalogued me while I did the same. I would miss the comfort and safety I’d found inside those strong arms, beside that barrel of a chest, when I listened to his heart thump-thump, thump-thump, just beneath my ear as I leaned into him. I could hear the ghost of that sound now.

The ghost of that sound intermingled with a strangled version of my name from his lips as I turned and walked out of the living room and back into the kitchen where I didn’t have to watch him walk out of our front door for the last time. It pained me to admit this to myself, but even if he hadn’t had evidence of another woman on him when he came home last night, I had reached my breaking point. The fact that he was no longer interested in having a family with me – no matter how we had to go about that – and the fact that he had forgotten something so damn important to me, I had found the straw that always proverbially broke the camel’s back. Only this time, that straw was breaking my already battered heart.

Chapter 3

One thing became painfully clear over the course of the next two months, and that was the fact that I could not stay in Sierra High, Georgia one moment longer. I could not face the aftermath of what those two terrible stormy nights had taken from me. First my parents and sister, then my husband, all were casualties of one storm or other. In there own ways they were all gone to me now. My heart was in tatters and despite the fact that Walker’s last words to me had been, “Poppy, I have fucked up – a lot – but I have never, not for a single minute, stopped loving you. I need you to remember that.” He hadn’t really meant those words. He certainly hadn’t been living by them during our separation. I knew this because he hadn’t come for me. He hadn’t called, messaged, written a letter, or attempted to contact me in any way, shape, or form since the day I told him to leave. I also heard the talk in town about how he wasn’t exactly being chaste during our separation either. Apparently, he’d given each and every one of the club whores a workout they wouldn’t soon forget.

If that was love, I supposed I was better off without it. As expected, the friends I thought I once had were a rare sighting in these parts. They left me to my own devices and my own misery. The only person associated with the club who had been by to see me after the first month came and went was Snake. Every time he showed up his face seemed a little bleaker than the last time. My thoughts turned to him once more as I noticed his Harley creeping up the drive while I stuffed another piece of my old life into yet another box. Not unlike the emotions I’d boxed up and hidden deep, even from myself.

The door opened and the smile Snake had been wearing on his handsome face dropped off with his next step. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I asked without a hint of emotion to my words while I sealed the box I was working on with packing tape and watched as Snake took in everything around him. It had been a week since his last visit here and as he was beginning to understand a lot could change in a week.

His eyes bulged at the sight before him. Boxes, packed ones, were everywhere. There weren’t a lot of unpacked boxes left, because almost everything had been done. I’d worked the last day of my two week notice on the jobs I needed to give notice for the week before, and all of my other work was done remotely from home anyway so I’d had plenty of time to get shit done. Snake finished his scan of my empty – that is to say boxed up – house and he set panicked eyes back to mine just as quickly.

“Poppy, what the hell?” He asked again. “I was just here a week ago,” he started. I waved his statement off.

“I’ve had the time, and it’s time. I can’t…” I glanced around the house I had grown up in, the house I now owned because of tragedy, and the house where I had been alone and swallowed up by memories for two whole months without so much as an apology from my husband. “There are too many ghosts here for me now,” I stated simply.

He nodded his head sagely. “You find a place closer to town?” He asked as he swallowed thickly, knowing full well I hadn’t, because if I had he would have heard about it by now through the wonderful southern grapevine. I just shook my head.

“Fuck, you two have the worst timing of any couple ever.” His statement was laced with a goodly amount of frustration. I moved the box I’d just sealed up aside and stared at Snake, trying to puzzle out what that meant. I didn’t have to make the attempt long, because Snake stalked over to me, kneeled down to my level, and lifted my chin with his fingers so that we were eye to eye and I wasn’t missing a thing. “He’s coming for you today. He had a plan, he’s worked on it, and he’s ready now.”

I laughed.

Snake tipped back on his heels, shocked by my outburst.

“His last words to me were supposedly filled with hope, promise, and the fact that he had always loved me, Snake.”

“I know, I was there for that,” he reminded me while his brow was still furrowed with question.

“Uh-huh, and then nothing. Those were literally his last words to me.” I stated simply as I moved slightly away from the man and pulled another folded box to me and started putting it together to hold the last of my things.

“Nothing?” Snake questioned as he watched me continue on with my chore.

“Nothing,” I confirmed.

“I’m not getting you, babe.”

I cast my gaze back in his direction then. “I mean, nothing. I haven’t seen him once since then. I didn’t hear from him once since then, not even to check on me, or to tell me that he was okay. Everyone else from the club stopped coming around or talking to me about a month back, and I figured it was because I was out completely now since I was no longer with Walker, but the conversations I overheard in the grocery store made that explanation a little more complicated.” He just stared at me and waited for me to fill him in on those conversations. “Seems none of the women wanted to come around me because they were uncomfortable after having seen the way Walk was tearing through the club whores left, right, and center over the previous month.” Snake’s wince let me know there was merit to those conversations I’d heard.

“Poppy, I think he should be the one to explain, but he was working out whether or not he should let you go to be happy and find someone who could give you the family you want easier, or whether to fight and try again to give you what you want even though he didn’t agree with how to do it.”

“And the answer to his dilemma was found in club whore pussy? We’re still married, Snake. I asked for time apart to sort my feelings, and his response was to ignore me, our problems, our vows, and fuck everything with tits.”

Snake dragged his hands down his face in frustration. “I didn’t say he went about his time constructively.”

“I haven’t touched another man since my high school boyfriend before Walker ever came to town,” I spoke on a sigh as I pulled the latest box closer to me. “We may have been separated, but we were still married, Snake. We were still under the vows of marriage, and I was still taking in his last words to me when he never came back, called, or did anything but let me find out from strangers, and former friends, that the reason he never came back, called, or anything was because he was too busy buried balls deep in other women. I have to say, as a way to show you love someone, that falls pretty damn flat.”

“He wasn’t with anyone the night of the storm. He’d passed out a bit on the ride home with Tanya. She pulled over, and made it look like what she made it look like to get under your skin. She admitted it to one of the girls.”

“And instead of coming to me with this news he makes it true by fucking everyone else?” I asked again not getting angry just stating the facts. I had already done angry when I first heard the rumors, and as a result I had a few less things to pack up since they were smashed beyond all hope of fixing them.

Snake shook his head. “He was angry that he was living in the clubhouse, because you threw him out based on her lies instead of believing him that he wouldn’t fuck around.”

“But then he did, and that was only a small part of the reason I threw him out, Snake. That night…” I felt the emotion I’d boxed up creeping back out at about the same time I heard another, familiar, set of pipes coming up the drive. “He broke me that night long before he showed up and I saw the evidence that had been planted on him,” I explained.

“I know, Pop, I know.” Snake finally muttered in a defeated tone. “Fuckin’ idiot still doesn’t realize what he was throwing away because of his pride,” the man stated plainly as he stood up from where he had been kneeling beside me on the floor. “You want me to stick around for this? I have a feeling things are gonna blow when he sees the state of the house,” Snake offered.

I just shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter anymore. Nothing does,” I told him, and he gave me a worried glance then as the front door opened, and the exuberant voice of Walker boomed out, “Poppy, baby, time to talk!” The words were coming out of his mouth as he pushed through the door. The exhilaration and exuberance left him as soon as the sight before him took hold.

“What in the fuck, Poppy?” He yelled then, anger turning his words red hot instead of glazed with the playful happy tone of moments before.

“Walker,” I muttered as I finished putting the last book in the box I’d been packing and started taping it up. Walker came over to me, snatched the tape, and threw it across the room.

“What are you doing? What in the fuck are you doing?” He was yelling, but more in a panicked tone than in anger at that point.

“Walker, have a seat, and…”

“On what?” He asked incredulously. “It’s all gone.” The last came out scratchy with emotion.

“It is,” I agreed, only I was talking about more than the furniture and personal items. “Everything that belonged to you, I hauled out to the shed and locked up. I was going to arrange a day for you to come pick it up. I wasn’t certain if you’d need to get a storage unit or if you already found a new place.”

“Found a new place? Poppy, I wasn’t even aware I should be looking for a new place,” he explained, words still choked with the tears that shimmered in his eyes.

“Really?” I asked. “You broke our marriage vows and you thought you were coming back here to me?” I asked in a serious, if quiet tone.

“I did what?” He snapped back while turning an accusatory glare Snake’s way.

“Don’t look at your friend like that. He didn’t tell me anything. I heard about it every time I had to go to town for groceries, to pay a bill, and while I was at work. It’s why the clubwomen stopped being friends with me. They weren’t comfortable talking to me while keeping your secret; only they were so keen to gossip about it in public that I heard it everywhere anyway. Heartbreak was bad enough to deal with. The loneliness of not having anyone, not one single person, care about me enough to check on me other than Snake since you’ve been gone was bad enough, but coupled with the humiliation that you were out there fucking every woman who would spread her legs for you…”

I shook my head as I felt my entire body starting to quiver with the pent up pain, anguish, and anger I thought I’d been boxing up along side my possessions. I stared straight into his eyes then. “When I said no one came to check on me, that included you. Not one single phone call, text, or appearance in two months while I had to hear about what you’d been up to daily, and you strolled in here expecting things to be the same and to just fall into the place you finally decided you wanted?”

He swallowed hard. “Poppy, I…” he started, looked at the floor, then back to me before he tried again. I saw the moment he decided to spare himself and let his frustration loose on me. “You didn’t believe me! You kicked me out because of some lie Tanya perpetrated again while I was passed out. I never slept with anyone, and you kicked me out for it. I was pissed.”

“I didn’t kick you out for that,” I told him, my words quiet to his angered booming ones.

“You…” he started before my words sunk in. “You what?”

“I decided I needed space to think before you ever rolled into the drive with her. I was at the end of my rope, hanging precariously that morning when you walked out on a conversation that was important to me, before we could even have that conversation. Then you didn’t show for the cemetery. Then it stormed and you never called or cared that I would be worried considering a similar storm had taken my family on the same day years before. That night broke me in a way you will never understand, because I realized that no one who loved me – truly loved me still like he once had – would put me through that on that night of all nights. You could have rolled in with Snake instead that night, and the result would have been the same. I would have still needed space.”

“Poppy,” he started, in a calmer voice.

“Your last words to me were to remember that you had never stopped loving me, but you did stop. You stopped before you spoke them, and you made it clear you had stopped with what you did during our time apart. You weren’t showing me you still loved me over the past couple months. You were sleeping with other women. You weren’t doing whatever it took to come home, because you were too busy utilizing your bed in the clubhouse. You didn’t call, send messages, send letters, or come to me. You didn’t check on me, not once to make sure I was okay.”

“Snake kept me updated.”

I laughed.

“Snake kept you updated? Snake wasn’t trying to save our marriage. Hell, he acted more like a husband trying to make sure I was okay than you. He checked on me, made sure I was eating when I wasn’t. He made sure I was sleeping, when I wasn’t. He made sure I had ice cream stocked so that at least I could eat something while drowning in my own misery. That man – your friend – could have won me back with his behavior. Had you done any of those things yourself, you could have won me back. Instead, you continued to be a selfish bastard after me kicking you out for being a selfish bastard. You expected that being selfish and not giving a shit what was happening with me would win you my favor? You expected that I’d ever step foot in that clubhouse again knowing that you fucked every goddamn skank that walked through those doors? Just the thought that you would put me in a position to have to potentially run into one of the whores you were screwing while we were still married shows how little you cared. Did you really expect me to be sitting here waiting with breath held for you to come charging through the door once you got it all out of your system, even as you embarrassed and disrespected me?” I asked, legitimately wanting to know.

He said nothing, just hung his head in front of me. “You put all your effort into breaking everything further. I told you when we first got together that I would never be able to live with a man who could be with another woman while he was with me. I reiterated that message when we went through it with Tanya the first time. Separated and taking time to sort ourselves out didn’t mean you had a free pass to easy pussy while I was sitting here devastated that the love of my life couldn’t even pick up a fucking phone to see if I was okay. Hell, I couldn’t even have managed to look at another man if he was throwing himself at me, let alone sleep with one, because my heart was too broken to breathe some days let alone hit that level of activity.”

“Poppy, shit,” he started then lifted his head so I could see the tears that were running freely down his face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately.”

“Well, that makes two of us,” I informed him as I stood and moved to go across the room and collect the tape he’d thrown there. I ran my fingers across the hole he’d managed to put in the wall where it hit, and I just felt the whole situation draining me further. Something else I’d have to fix before I left.

“I’ll patch it up for you so you don’t have to worry about anything else, Pop,” Snake offered from across the room.

“Fuck man, I’m standing right here,” Walker spat out at him.

“Not blind, brother. Also know you’re the one that caused the damage. I’m just trying to patch it up so it’ll stop bleeding out all over the place. Been trying to do that all this time, but you wouldn’t pull your head out of your ass and listen to any-fuckin’-body.” Snake shook his head. “A year ago we had a talk, and I told you then that this outcome was your future if you didn’t put that pride of yours aside and realize what you had in front of you instead of dwelling on the obstacles.

“You didn’t listen then. Six months ago, I pointed out shit was sliding further, bleeding more, and that your woman never smiled anymore. You didn’t fuckin’ listen. Told you a month ago your woman lost weight, wasn’t eating, and barely hanging on, and instead of coming to her you got pissed that was ‘in your shit again’ and took one of the club bitches to your bed.” I winced at that, because hearing Snake say it made it so much worse, especially knowing he did that on the heels of hearing how poorly I was dealing with things.

“The guys – the ones without women – have been envious of you for years. You got the best of them right there.” Snake pointed at me. “That woman is gold, and we didn’t have as much history as we do I’d be all over picking up the ball you dropped, brother. She deserved a fuck of a lot more than you gave her. And make no mistake, because I won’t allow you to think differently, I watched as she tried, repeatedly, to bring you back to yourself over the past couple years. After things went bad I watched, as you did nothing but make it worse. I can’t watch that shit anymore. It’s not right. It sure as fuck ain’t fair to her. You are my brother, but I’m fuckin’ human and I won’t stand by and watch her bleeding out for nothing any longer. Enough is enough, man.” Snake turned to me then. “Poppy, you need help with what you got going on here, you have my hands at the ready, includes patching that shit for you so you don’t have another thing to worry over.”

“Thank you,” I told him honestly, and sort of wished I hadn’t heard him tell my husband that he’d go for me if there weren’t so much history. There was a time I would have went for Snake too, but that time was about five minutes before I’d met Walker, and I wasn’t one to look back and ruminate on what could have been. That way lays madness.

“This is your family’s place,” Walker finally said, looking around at all the boxes. “What are you doing?”

“Walker, I’m leaving. I can’t stay here, because all the memories are ghosts that are haunting me instead of comforting me like they once did. We’ve had two bad storms since…” I didn’t bother saying since the night we split. “We’ve had two bad storms and it almost killed me to go through them here alone in this house.”

His face scrunched up with emotion as tears once again fell down his cheeks. He stared at me through them and then glanced around again. “I did this,” he muttered on broken words. I didn’t confirm or deny that sentiment. It was, for the most part, true. He had done this. “I broke the place you loved. I took that along with everything else, and all because I couldn’t get over the fact that I was the broken one and not you.” Well, that was a slap in the face. At my reaction Walker held out a hand to calm me. “No, you don’t understand. If it had been you, I would have been okay with not having kids, or doing whatever we had to. When they told me it was me, I felt like I’d failed you. I failed us. My body is broken, and can’t give you what you wanted. What we wanted. I couldn’t handle being the one… not being man enough…”

“You’re a fucking idiot then!” I yelled, finally, for the first time in months. “You’re not broken. You’re sperm count was lower than normal is all. If you had listened to the doctors and done one fucking thing they suggested we could have had a baby by now.” I started ticking the things off on my fingers. “Wear loose fitting underwear,” ticked off with my forefinger. “Stay out of hot tubs and the like,” I ticked off with my middle finger. “No climaxing the week before I ovulated,” I ticked off with my now empty ring finger, and that’s when all hell broke loose.

“Where are your rings?” He shouted.

“This is not about my rings. This is about how your stupidity broke our marriage. You broke us because you couldn’t handle being told you needed to work harder at something.” I huffed out. “Unbelievable.”

“Where the fuck are your rings?” He demanded on a shout again.

I ignored his shout and stomped into the kitchen and pointed to the note I had written that was stuffed into an envelope on the counter along with the boxes that held my engagement and wedding bands. “There,” I yelled as I pointed. “I was going to have Snake drop them off to you since I didn’t want to stop by the clubhouse and chance seeing you with one of the whores who were more important to be with than your own fucking wife!” I screamed at him.

“I think maybe you should be going, man, before this turns ugly.” Snake stated calmly to my husband.

“Where are you going?” Walker asked me instead.

“That’s not your business anymore. You lost the right to ask me that when you forgot your wife and your vows to her.”

“Where the fuck are you going?” Walker shouted again.

“You didn’t care where I was, how I was, or what I was doing for two fucking months while you screwed everything with a pair of tits, Walker. You don’t get to waltz in here and pretend to care now.”

“I’m not pretending,” he stated on a defeated note.

“Well, it’s too late to start caring again,” I informed him.

“It’s never too late,” he answered back.

Chapter 4

Saying goodbye to the people and to the place you’d known your whole life should be hard. It should be wrought with emotional hugs, kisses, and a huge fanfare seeing you off on your next journey. It should be all of those things, but for me it meant my brother coming to town with a moving truck, and Snake helping him load it up. Snake was the only person there to hug goodbye. The realtor had come by while we were busy to put the for sale sign up in the yard. The tears came then, because it was a sight I never thought I’d see or be ready for. The fact that I was ready now spoke to how broken I was inside.

When I hadn’t responded to Walker telling me it’s never too late he had turned on his heel and walked out of our house for the last time. Two days later I watched from the window as he brought his own truck and loaded up the things that belonged to him that were in the shed. He never approached the house and I never bothered to leave it. I watched as the man I thought would be my everything climbed into that truck when he and Tank were done filling it and drove away. It was the last time I saw him. Now, I stood watching a woman hammer the for sale sign into my family home’s yard and I wished for the briefest of moments that things had been different and Walker had come to me before he broke things so irrevocably.

“You ready, sis?” Keith asked me. I looked at my brother, who was wearing his MC kutte stating his name was Chief now, and I had a moment to think to myself that I needed to remember to call him that from here on out. I’d forgotten he earned the moniker because our Cherokee roots came out full blast in him when he was born. He had the high, pronounced cheekbones, darkly tanned skin, midnight hair, and deep brown eyes that our father had given him.

Our father had been nearly full-blooded Cherokee with a white woman thrown in the mix a few generations back to muddy up the line, as he used to joke. Our mother was of Irish and Scottish descent, and I took mostly after her. I got my dad’s warm brown eyes, but that was all I’d inherited from him. The near on red, curly hair I had been graced with my entire life was straight from my mother’s gene pool, as were the freckles across my face, shoulders, and chest. I tanned, but in doing so the freckles ran amuck and reproduced all over my skin. I was not in any danger of being dubbed some crazy Native American name as my brother had been. Instead, I usually was forced to prove my heritage to anyone who hadn’t been around since forever to know who my parents were.

“I’m ready,” I finally responded, as thoughts of my heritage drifted away. My hands were shaking as my brother took them in his and pulled me in close for a hug.

“I know this is tough, but I think getting away from this town, and all the memories is going to help you heal finally, lil’ sis. I promise this isn’t the end of your life, it’s the damn beginning.”

I had no choice, but to believe in the words my big brother spoke. It was all done now anyway. My house was up for sale, cleaned out, and everything I owned was stuffed in the back of a moving truck heading for a new town. Cedar Falls, West Virginia may have only been a bit more than a six-hour drive, but it was a world away. I’d only been there twice since my brother moved there after our family was killed. Both of those times I had gone with Walker, because there was a club thing to attend. This was definitely going to be a change. That being said, I knew I’d have to come back home to Sierra High at least one more time. I’d filed for divorce through an attorney just the day before. Walker should be served his paperwork today, according to Thom Lincoln, my attorney, and then we had no less than 30 days to wait for that to go through, unless Walker contested it for some reason. We had already split all of our marital assets. The house belonged to my brother and me in equal shares so Walker was not entitled to anything from its sale. He could try to fight for a portion of my part of the sale, but he’d be dumb to attempt it since the whole town knew he stepped out on me and Georgia didn’t look kindly on cheaters in court.

Once I was settled in the passenger side of the moving truck my brother hopped in. He’d been making sure that my Subaru was attached properly since we were towing it behind us. My brother, in all his infinite wisdom, thought driving myself out of town might be a bit too emotional for me and he didn’t want me behind the wheel if and when I broke down – emotionally, because my car was in perfect working order. He most likely wasn’t wrong, but I was not about to tell him that.

“It’s going to be okay, Sis.” His kind, soft words struck a chord in my heart, but I definitely disagreed with him. It was not okay now, and I didn’t foresee any of it being okay in the near future. It probably wouldn’t be okay in the distant future either.

“Sure,” I muttered instead as I watched the town that held nearly every memory of my existence pass as we drove by like it was nothing more than forgotten scenery.

“I still think you should have let me go hunt that fucker down. Just the fact that he left you alone on the anniversary gets my goat, especially in a storm.” My brother tried to swallow back his anger before he blew his top, and I wondered how he knew that, because I certainly hadn’t been the one to spill the beans.

“How did you know that?”

“The question that needs to be asked is why didn’t I know it sooner? Hell, I would have been down here two months ago to collect you had I known how bad shit had gotten.”

“I didn’t even know how bad shit had gotten until that night, Keith, and when it happened I wasn’t really in a sharing kind of mood, you know?”

“I know,” he said, softening his tone again. “Believe it or not, you have friends in the club. They informed me. They did it fuckin’ late, but they finally did it.”

“Snake?” I asked already knowing the answer.

“He was the first one to let me know. Asked that I wait to hear from you before I made my way down, because he thought, wrongly, that Walker would get his head out of his ass in time to save shit.” My brother hissed out. “I wish my sister would have told me though.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I thought…” I started, stopped, and then sighed out a breath that I couldn’t keep contained anymore. “I thought things had to get better, you know? Then they didn’t. Then they got worse, and I needed to figure out what I was going to do with my life without someone else telling me what to do. I went straight from mom and dad’s house to being with Walker. I’ve never done anything on my own without guidance, so I wanted to just make that decision without having to wonder if someone else had made a bad choice for me. This way, it’s all on me.”

“It’s not all on you, and don’t you fuckin’ take it all either. Walker fucked your marriage up, Pop, not you. He’s the one that got you started on the kick to make a family. He should have sucked up his bullshit and finished what he started, any way that was possible once he got you excited about it. He didn’t do that. Then he dropped his stress, wounded pride, and whatever other bullshit burdens he carried in your lap without a care for your feelings. Then he really fucked up, and continued to do so once you took your space. From what I hear, none of the burden of the loss of your marriage falls on your shoulders, so don’t try to carry it.”

“I know that,” I told him. “I also know that what I chose to do after was on my shoulders. Will be for some time. I’m having to start new, and scrape off the old, and the old still has a grip on my heart, Keith. Whether I want it to or not, it’s there. We spent ten years together,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, and from I hear the last few of those haven’t been roses. You made the right call, Lil’ Sis. If his answer to you kicking him out to give you time to sort your thoughts was to bang through club whores, then I guarantee that shit would not have ended with a reconciliation. I liked Walker for you back in the day, but something happened to break that man along the way, and you can’t heal what doesn’t want to fix itself.”

“I learned that,” I told him as we crossed the state line into North Carolina. “Thanks for coming to help me, Keith.” I finally said as I glanced over at my brother who would end up being my strength for a while.

“Should have forced that move on you when I made it. I’ve been worried with you so far away and our visits so few and far between. We lost everyone else, sucks that we haven’t been closer. I know that’s partly my fault since I left, but not a day goes by I don’t regret not bringing you with me. Living with their ghosts wasn’t a good idea. Living where I couldn’t make sure Walk was doing right by you, less of a good idea.”

“Okay, big brother, well you get to see me every day now and I’m sure it’s going to get old, so be prepared.” I tried to lighten the mood with that. Keith took it for what it was and just smiled and then turned the radio up, and thank goodness for satellite radio, because there certainly weren’t any quality stations in these parts.

Thankfully, my family’s house had been paid off when I inherited it so I simply put aside the money that I would have used as rent somewhere else so that I would have a rainy-day, house-fixing, whatever I needed it for savings to fall back on in hard times. That fund was what I’d planned to use for the IVF with Walker before everything fell completely apart. Instead, I was going to have to use it to help maintain my new place until I could get a steady job in Cedar Falls and get my feet under me again. I did some freelance work with graphics and building and maintaining websites for businesses, but the pay had just been the extra stuff I hid away in my savings account. It was more of a hobby, but I was hoping I could pick up a few more clients in addition to a steady paycheck somewhere once I got to Cedar Falls.

Keith had found a small two-bedroom house in his neighborhood that was within the budget constraints I asked for. He had taken care of getting everything set up for me beforehand, so now all I had to do was get there, unpack, and start looking for a job. Granted, he had not sent me any pictures of the house or anything, so it was kind of a crapshoot as far as what I’d be walking into.

Ten hours later we had made it to Cedar Falls; and with the help of my brother’s friends Wren, Bender, and Dragon everything had been unloaded from the truck; and I was already starting to sort through and unpack boxes. “You gonna be okay if I take off now?” My brother asked in the midst of a wide-mouthed yawn as I pulled the silverware from the box labeled kitchen. Everyone else had already gone once the truck had been unloaded.

“Sure, Keith.” He gave me a look and tapped his kutte that he had donned sometime after the last box had been brought in. I rolled my eyes, but smiled at him as I stated, “Chief. You know, that should probably be offensive somehow.”

He just shrugged. “Dad would have thought it was funny as shit,” he told me on a chuckle. He was right. Our dad didn’t have a politically correct bone in his body. Funny was funny to him didn’t matter if it was completely inappropriate or not.

“As long as it comes from a good place, we can find humor in it,” I repeated what he’d always told us. This made my brother’s smile widen. He came over and grabbed me up in a big bear hug, lifting my feet off the floor as he did so. “I’m a phone call away, Sis, but I’m wiped out and needing’ sleep about now.”

“Thanks for everything, Chief,” I told him as I hugged him back and then released him.

“You do not have to thank me for that shit. Should have been here all along,” he murmured the last.

“Hey doll face,” Wren called out, having popped his head back in my front door. I had thought all the men had gone, but apparently Wren had just been outside on a phone call. “My old lady already put word out she’s wanting to meet you. I think her and Leanne are chomping at the bit to take you out to lunch tomorrow if you’re up to the company. They could also help unpack some.” I smiled at Wren’s offer. After the freeze out I got from the old ladies belonging to the club down in Georgia I wasn’t sure I was ready to jump back in to socializing and making friends with the women of the club here. At my hesitation Wren’s face screwed up in puzzlement. Obviously, he knew I’d been an old lady before, so I guess he assumed I’d jump at the chance.

My big brother came to the rescue before I had to stumble over my excuses. “During her split from her old man the women from Sierra High stopped checking on her and speaking to her. Her man was up to no good, they knew about it, and I guess they thought it was too awkward a situation so they stayed away. I think my lil’ sis is gonna be a bit gun shy where the old ladies and club are concerned,” my brother informed him as I marveled at the depth of his understanding.

“Well, shit,” Wren hissed out. “I swear, there are times I think we need to forget the patch, and just kick some much deserved ass to help straighten a brother out instead of allowing him to dig a well-deep hole for the woman propping him up.”

“You and me both,” my brother stated.

Wren patted my shoulder then, and smiled at me. “When you’re ready then. I’ll explain why they need to bottle that shit up for now.”

“Thanks,” I managed to get out quietly.

My brother left, along with Wren, and as I closed and locked the door behind them it took approximately two point five seconds for it to sink in that I was alone. Completely alone. There was no promise of Snake dropping in here to alleviate some of that loneliness with his quick check-ins. The house wasn’t familiar to me like my family’s home had been. Most of the things that would have made this place seem more homey and familiar still sat packed up in boxes. I glanced around the open plan house where the space before me seemed to double, then triple as panic set in about the decision I’d made to come here and start fresh.

I was about two seconds from full blown, can’t breathe, sweat dripping down my back, heart hammering anxiety attack when there was a knock on the door. Oh, thank God. This meant my brother probably forgot something, and maybe I could convince him my couch was the place to be tonight. I moved quickly, turning around and throwing the lock then swinging the door open to a complete stranger. Granted, he was a beautiful stranger, but a stranger none-the-less. The only thing that kept my already accelerated heart rate from ramping up again was seeing the Aces High Kutte he wore.

“You okay, honey?” He asked, taking in what were probably my wide eyes and rapid breathing.

“Um,” I started and failed.

“I came by to see if Chief was still around,” he stated quickly thinking I must be freaking out because of him.

“He, um,” I put my hand to my chest, as if that would help calm my overactive heart and make things better. Then I took a breath, and let it out slowly. All the while the man stood on my doorstep keeping a watchful eye on me as he took out his cell. I held my other hand out – the one not holding my heart in my chest – and shook my head no. He halted his movements. “Sorry, you caught me at the start of an anxiety attack, I think.”

“This happen often?” He questioned with careful consideration.

I shook my head again. “Nope, just when I move from the only home I’ve ever known to a new town, to look for a new job, while I’m in the middle of divorcing my cheating husband,” I over shared.

“Mind if I come in, check to make sure all is well while I’m here?” He asked as he tapped the patch on his chest. “Name’s Smoke. I’m a good friend of your brother’s, and he’s told me a bit about your situation already, but if you need to share more with someone who isn’t family, I’m all ears. Even if you don’t, might help to have someone around for a bit while you adjust. Not sure what Chief was thinking leaving you alone in a strange place your first night here.”

“I’m pretty sure he wasn’t thinking. He was tired; so don’t hold his poor manners against him. It’s been a long couple days.”

“I can imagine,” Smoke nodded his head towards the house again. “You gonna let me in, or I gotta call your tired brother and get his ass back over here? Whatever makes you the most comfortable, honey.”

Holy hell. I moved out of the way to allow the man into my home. As he brushed past I could feel exactly how solid his muscles must be under that kutte. It was obvious by his arms since his biceps were larger around than my thighs, but still the man must have lived in a gym. Combine that with the chiseled features he was rocking, the well-trimmed full beard, and the nearly shoulder length chocolate brown hair, and he was any woman’s dream come true. Then there were his eyes, the ones I’d had to take a moment to look away from, because I swear they were dazzling me with their imperfect perfection. They both appeared to be a jeweled mix of colors; only one was more in the blue green spectrum while the other was a mix of green, brown, and gold.

“Sorry, I don’t think I have much in the way to offer you,” I told him as I closed the door behind Smoke. “Just got here and all.”

Smoke smiled, and his straight white teeth shining out of his full lips and that beard ramped up his beauty ten fold. “You should probably check your fridge and cabinets. Pretty sure the old ladies had you set up before you got here.”

“What?” I asked the question as I moved to the kitchen and started opening the fridge, then the cabinets, and seeing that they indeed had stocked me up on all the basics as well as some of my favorite things. “Chief must have told them,” I stated out loud, using my brother’s road name for the benefit of his brother.

“Imagine he did. That’s how it works around here.” His voice from right behind my shoulder surprised me and I spun to see he was so close I could feel his body heat rolling off of him in waves, or maybe I was just having hot guy hot flashes. Jesus, what was wrong with me? I hadn’t so much as looked at another man in anything other than a friendly way since I started dating Walker way back when. Now, here I was practically panting after one of Chief’s club brothers. He was one of Walker’s club brothers too even if he was in a different chapter. I was pretty sure there were rules about picking up another brother’s ex-old lady. Then again, maybe there weren’t since nothing stopped my old man from getting with every available woman around the club while we were together.

Smoke’s fingers came up and caught a curled tendril of my hair between them. He studied that piece of hair as if it had the answers to all of life’s questions. “Chief never mentioned you were beautiful, or a red head,” he muttered. “This is real.” I assumed that was a statement about my natural copper colored hair so in lieu of answering I just gave him a slight nod. The movement seemed to pull him out of whatever trance he’d been in and Smoke quickly took a step back from me, releasing the curled lock of hair, and smiling at me once again. “Did you see any beer in that fridge?” He asked, but proceeded to look inside for himself. He had a beer in hand, popping the top off as I finally got around to answering.

“Sure, help yourself,” I muttered.

“You drink beer?” He asked.

“Sure, it’s a hell of a lot better than wine, but not as good as rum.” At that he laughed and then gave me a once over.

“You don’t look the type to pound down the hard liquor.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “There’s a time and a place for everything. I don’t drink tequila, wine sucks – mostly, and beer is good for every day things like watching a game or whatever, but when I go out for fun with the girls or something it’s rum and coke all the way.”

“Rum and coke,” he repeated thoughtfully. Then he pulled his phone out and appeared to send someone a text before slipping the thing back into his pocket. “What kind of game?”

“Sorry?” I asked, not really sure what he wanted to know.

“You said beer is for when you’re sitting around watching a game. What kind of games do Georgia girls watch when they drink their beer?”

At that, it was my turn to laugh. “Well, most Georgia girls are probably watching football, but I went to see the Thrashers with my dad when I was sixteen, and it was so damn exciting. I fell in love over three periods, and have been a die-hard fan since. Of course, the Thrashers mostly sucked, and were sold to Canada, but I still go watch the Gladiators once in a while, and hope for those guys to get the call up to the Bruins, because some of them really deserve a shot at the big time.” I crossed my fingers in the tradition of good luck.

“No shit?” He asked, looking completely blown away by my response.

“No shit,” I responded. His grin grew wider still.

“My brother plays for the Penguins,” he stated nonchalantly as he stood there sipping on his beer afterwards like he hadn’t just dropped a major bomb.

“As in the Pittsburghhh Penguins?”

“Is there another?”

“Well, I’m sure maybe somewhere, but…” I laughed then. “You’re kidding, obviously. Making fun of the only hockey fan from the south,” I proclaimed.

“Hardly the only one, and I’m serious as a heart attack, honey. Kent Lewis is my younger brother. He was…” I cut him off before he could finish.

“First round draft pick, right winger, three years ago,” I finished for him. He stood a little straighter as I rattled off the information he had surely been about to tell me.

“You’re from the south, doesn’t that make you a Predators or Hurricanes fan?”

It was my turn to grin now. “Well, yeah, but the game I went to with my dad was the Thrashers against the Penguins, so when my Thrashers were sold I transferred my fandom to the Penguins and they definitely work harder to put me in my happy hockey place.” I glanced around like someone might be listening in. “Do not make that common knowledge though. I’m still not far enough north, and will possibly be lynched for my disloyalty.”

That sent Smoke into a fit of laughter that only served to ramp up his insane handsomeness by another bajillion notches. Jesus.

“Fuck, am I glad you showed up just before the season kicked off. These fuckers are all about football and baseball around here, now I know where to go to find a hockey buddy to swill beer with while I yell at the screen.”

That had my grin amped up too, and before our hockey bonding could commence there was another knock on my door. Smoke’s grin did not die as he announced, “I got it,” and proceeded to saunter over to answer my door like he was at home here. He spoke to someone outside, not letting them in, and then grabbed a brown paper bag from them while handing them money. “Thanks man,” I heard him say as he shut the door on whoever had been there and brought the package to the kitchen.

He held it up victoriously when he got closer to me. “You have some glasses unpacked yet? Maybe a spoon or something too?” I gave him a funny look and just pointed to the box I’d been working on before my brother took off. He reached in, came back with two glasses and a spoon, and set it all down on the granite countertop with the mystery bag. Then he began unpacking the bag. Two, two liters of coke, one of them diet, and then a bottle of Captain Morgan Black was set beside them. Oh dear lord.

“First night in a new home seems just the thing that requires rum and coke instead of beer, honey. Figured we could kick this shit off right, especially since we’ll be best hockey buds from here on out.”

“You know what?” I asked quietly.

“What’s that honey?”

“I like you,” I stated simply as I snatched the rum from his hand and poured a healthy double shot into the glass he’d just rinsed out, not realizing as I did so that I had forgotten all about my earlier panic, the mess my life had become, my failed marriage, the lack of babies in my belly, and pretty much everything else that had been on my mind and bogging me down lately.

“That’s real good, honey, because the feeling’s mutual.” His beautiful, multi-colored eyes twinkled in the minimal light of my kitchen as I splashed Coke into my double shot of rum and stirred it. He laughed as he took the bottle from me and began pouring his own. “So much for southern hospitality, huh?”

I graced him with a large, toothy grin as I responded. “You seem capable enough,” I told him before tipping my glass up for another healthy gulp. His top row of straight, white teeth bit into his plump bottom lip as he continued to mix his own drink while not taking his hypnotic eyes off of me. Once he was finished he glanced away long enough to take a swig of his own and then he turned those eyes back to mine.

“Honey, fair warning, I really like what I see before me, so you keep throwing challenges out there and I will end up showing you exactly what I’m capable of.”

Oh. My. Wow. He did not just say that.

Our eyes still locked, his twinkling with both amusement and seriousness I realized quickly that yes, he absolutely did just say that. The truly disturbing thing was how my body reacted to his words, because I know he took in the full body shiver that ran through me. Thankfully, he couldn’t know the state of my panties, because that would have been super embarrassing. Good lord, what had I gotten myself into when I opened up that door?

He tipped his head in a gesture indicating my living room area. “Let’s go settle in, and you can tell me how you think my baby brother’s team is looking for the coming season.”

Just like that, he’d tamped down the fire blazing in my belly, but not so much that he didn’t leave me behind, smoldering a bit as he took off for the couch while I watched his fine – and I really do mean fine – ass walking away from me. ‘Lord, Jesus, if this is not part of my moving on plan, you might want to send some help!’ That prayer was sent up while attempting to look through my ceiling into heaven itself. I knew when I met Walker that he was the one for me, but even our immediate – or subsequent – chemistry hadn’t been this combustible.

Chapter 5

Shots happened.

How in the heck we went from sipping on rum and coke to straight shots of Captain Morgan Black Label was beyond me, but it definitely happened. The other thing that took place was the laughter. Smoke was a funny guy, and he kept me in stitches with stories about the guys at the club, my brother, and the men he worked with at Cedar Falls Fire and Rescue, which was apparently what he did for a living outside of the club because it was ‘his calling’ as he put it. I had to admire that in a big way, because any man who found his calling tended to be passionate in a way those who hadn’t found it weren’t.

“So, did you ever play hockey like your brother?” I asked after his last story about Kent Lewis, the famed right-winger.

“Sure. I was damn good at it too. I had to quit so that Kent could look better,” he stated solemnly and with such a straight face I damn near believed him. Instead, I threw the hand towel I’d been using to mop up a spill at Smoke. He caught it and tossed it on the floor with a wet-sounding plop.

“You did not!”

“Well, I did quit, but long before my baby brother got good.”

“Why’d you quit?”

“I was at my high school girlfriend’s house, and her grams lived two doors down. When I was headed out that night I smelled smoke pretty strong and when I turned I noticed Gram’s house was ablaze. I yelled for Stacey to call 911 and I took off like a rocket. Grams was no spring chicken, and I knew she’d need help if she was even awake. I tore into that house, fought through smoke that immediately blinded me since there also weren’t any lights on, and made my way back to the bedrooms. Her house was a smaller version of the one Stacey lived in so it made finding my way easier.”

“Anyway,” he continued after another shot was consumed. “I found Grams. She was out like a light. I wasn’t sure if she just slept heavy or if the smoke had got to her, but I closed her bedroom door, got her window opened, kicked the screen out, and then I snatched Grams up. Almost dropped the poor old lady twice. I was a freaking weak ass motherfucker back in those days. Sixteen, still growing, and hadn’t figured out what hitting the gym could do for me, you know?” I did not, but I figured it was a rhetorical question.

“Got her out safe just as the CFFRD and an ambulance were rolling up to the scene. A firefighter took her out of my struggling arms, and ran her straight to the ambulance where they put oxygen on her. The fire chief was on scene, and he clapped me on the back, told me ‘good job, son,’ and started barking orders to his men to get shit done and put the fire out before it had a chance to spread to the other houses in the neighborhood.”

I was smiling while listening to his story. “So, that’s where you discovered your passion?”

“Yeah, took off the next day to hit up the fire station that responded to the incident. I went in, requested a meet with the chief, sat my ass down, and laid it out for him.”

“Wow!”

“Yeah, wow,” he chuckled. “So much wow that good old’ Chief Murdock fuckin’ laughed his ass off for a solid five minutes before he sobered up and told me how it was really gonna go. He said, ‘son, I appreciate ya, and you did good yesterday, but you’re gonna finish up high school, move on to college, and start hitting the gym, then you come to me if you’re still ready for this. I need men with brains and brawn to fight fires and save lives. You ain’t ready yet, but you will be one day if you stay smart about it.’” His eyes glimmered as he recounted the speech he’d been given by the fire chief. Then he grinned at me as he took a swig of the beer he had to chase his shot with.

“So, you followed his instructions and here we are?” I asked.

He laughed again. “Well, I almost wasn’t. See, when I started hitting the gym I met Wren and Heavy. They saw to my training, and I got a gleam in my eye for the bikes they always rode away from the gym on.”

“Wren was here earlier, helping out with the unloading,” I told him. “I liked him.”

“Yeah, he’s a great guy, and even better now that he’s settled down with his woman and little girl.”

“So, the call of riding free nearly derailed your plans?” I asked, still curious.

“Yeah, you could say that. Once I graduated high school I enrolled in the community college like I was supposed to, but I also started prospecting for Aces High. They understood I was a student, and Ghost liked the idea of having a guy who actually wanted to get an education too, so they worked with my school schedule. I just had to prospect a little longer than the norm.” I nodded my head understanding this since I had both a brother and a soon-to-be ex husband in the club. “I got caught up for a little while in the life. Even prospects get their pick of women and fun when they’re off duty, so long as they aren’t stepping on the brothers’ toes.”

“Yeah, so you’re saying you discovered easy pussy and partying,” I laughed out the words, knowing full well I’d never say pussy in mixed company if it weren’t for all the alcohol loosening my tongue, or the residual anger. Still, I felt the heat of a blush staining my cheeks when I did it, and Smoke’s eyes went liquid at the sight of it.

“Exactly that.” His voice held a lower, huskier quality as he spoke those two words, and the sound did something to my insides I wasn’t sure I was ready to acknowledge. So, I prodded some more.

“So, what then? Obviously you still went on to be a firefighter.”

“I did. Around the same time I was earning my patch, and in danger of actually flunking out of a couple classes, my mom had her first stroke. She was young for that shit, and the doctors told her they thought her birth control, and the fact she smoked cigarettes like a fuckin’ chimney were probably to blame. While she was getting healthy, I figured I needed to pull my head out of my ass and make sure my ma stayed that way. I’m eight years older than my little brother, six up from my sister. They were 12 and 14 at the time. I was 20. My mom couldn’t work for a while, and I needed to get my ass in gear and make some money for my family. I was pulling in some cash working for the club, but definitely not enough to keep a family of four afloat while paying for college, and then the medical bills started piling up.”

“That’s a lot to put on your shoulders. Where was your dad?”

“Gone. That bastard ran out when Kent was three. Never saw him again. My mom worked her ass off to keep us fed, clothed, and a roof over our heads. Lucky for her, the house was paid off. They’d inherited it from my dad’s family when I was a baby. Only decent thing my dad did was put that house in mom’s name before he took off. I guess it was her parting gift since he was leaving her to raise three kids on her own with no help and no other financial support.”

“That sucks,” I managed to get out even while my tongue felt heavy and thick from the alcohol. Actually, it sounded more like ‘that thuckth” so I started giggling. Then my hand flew up to try to hold the giggles in so I wouldn’t offend Smoke. I definitely wasn’t trying to make light of his family’s situation. He didn’t seem offended though. Instead, he got up, went to the kitchen, and brought back a couple bottles of water.

“I think it’s time for these,” he stated as he handed me one.

“Oh Jeezzzzus, I’m a meth,” I tried to say and ended up in the midst of another giggle fit.

“She develops a speech impediment when she’s drinking heavy,” Smoke said to absolutely no one. “Good to know,” he added as he watched me, the fine lines near the corners of his eyes crinkling with the humor that caused the unusual, mismatched gems themselves to twinkle even brighter.

“Mesmerizing,” I managed to mutter as I took in the sight of him. That was when his eyes changed again, becoming darker, and something more. His gaze began to appear almost lazy as his lids slid down to half-mast and got closer, much, much closer to my own. I didn’t even register the fact that his eyes getting closer to my own meant he, himself, was moving in. At least, I didn’t register it until his lips were on mine, and then sweet lord in heaven, nothing but bliss followed.

Smoke’s arms wrapped around my body, one moved around my shoulder where his hand cradled the back of my neck while the other wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him. Our lips scored each other with their heat, and when mine parted for him he wasted no time dipping his tongue into my mouth to taste more of me. I felt that kiss from the roots of my hair to the tips of my curled toes. For some odd reason Stone Sour’s version of Wicked Game started playing in my head. Maybe it was a warning of things to come, maybe it was just the perfect mood music I was conjuring, because God rest my wicked soul, but this man’s kiss was about to burn me to the ground where I stood.

Somewhere in the background I vaguely registered thunder cracking, but it was at the same moment that I was divested of my shirt, and I couldn’t bring myself to be concerned with a late summer storm. Instead, my body caught fire as Smoke blazed trails of heat up and down my ribs from his deft fingertips before he latched onto my full breasts, only separated from skin on skin contact by the sadly utilitarian, and slightly worn out, cotton bra I had donned for comfort on the long ride from Georgia to my new home. Thankfully, I was inebriated, and didn’t give a hoot what my bra looked like in that moment. Tomorrow, I’d be embarrassed a plenty. For that matter, it only took a moment, maybe Smoke’s mind powers, to melt the bra from my body anyway. It would seem there really wasn’t much to be concerned with. If there was, I felt I sufficiently distracted him by tugging his t-shirt up his beautifully crafted body, helping him to pull it over his head, and toss it aside wherever the rest of our clothes had settled thus far.

“Please, tell me you have a bed set up.” Smoke mumbled the words into my kiss-swollen lips as I nodded and then pointed down the lonely little hall off the side of the living room that lead to one bedroom on either side and bathroom separating the two in the middle.

“Left or right, babe?”

“Left,” I explained as he lifted me in his arms forcing me to wrap my legs around his hips for balance while he maneuvered us to the bedroom. Luckily, Chief had put the bed together first thing, and I’d made it up once the guys were busy unloading the boxes into the other rooms. I made the bed thinking I’d be ready to crash at the end of a long day. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be tossed on top of it as the most gorgeous man in the history of manly men stripped me of my yoga pants and my sad cotton panties that matched the sad cotton bra of a woman who had been married and underappreciated for far too long.

I refused to dwell on those memories as Smoke leaned in to cover me with his own body, and I realized the only thing he had on was a pair of boxer briefs, color dark, but otherwise unknown in the dim light of my bedroom. Lips moved a warm trail of kisses up my thighs, teeth nipping here and there as he went, hands trailing on my outer thighs until he moved up far enough that he needed me to spread for him. Then he didn’t ask, he didn’t demand, he just slid those fingers around from the outside of my thighs to the inside and gave a gentle push that had me obeying the unspoken command. I dropped the tension holding them in place and allowed them to fall to the side as broad shoulders slid in place between them and hot breath trailed over my sensitive, wet flesh. I just knew I was at the gates of heaven waiting to be admitted, and then his tongue flicked over my hard bud before sliding thickly through my folds from bottom to top, ending with a seductive suck and nip of my clit that nearly sent me over the edge all on its own.

“Shit,” I whimpered out as my back arched and my head flung to the side, eyes closed, and hands trailed to that gorgeous, thick head of hair Smoke had. I weaved my fingers into those locks and tugged him back down when he chuckled at my quick response to his mouth. It had been far too long since a man had taken his time with me, made me feel good, and enjoyed giving the pleasure instead of looking at the act as a chore to get me prepared. So. Damn. Long.

Smoke’s fingers glided up my sides, tickling my ribs lightly as they moved to reach above him and grab hold of my breast as he continued to dip his tongue into my folds, suck relentlessly on my clit, and giving an encouraging nip now and again when I tugged at his hair. That beautiful beard of his scraped ruthlessly at the insides of my leg and the space where leg met groin. The extra sensations were both relentless and delicious all at once. One final pull on my clit as he pinched both of my nipples simultaneously sent me flying over that precipice into a momentary beautiful oblivion. “Shit, holy…” I panted out. “Jesus, God.” My fingers clamped down as my body grew tight just before the ripples of pleasure blew through me, squeezing and releasing in equal measure. I released Smoke’s hair and felt him roll his body right up mine, maintaining maximum contact as he maneuvered his muscular chest, with its light sprinkling of dark hair up and over my body. The friction – so sweet on my nipples – held me in the throws of my orgasm just a little bit longer while he got into position, wrapped his arms around me as if he was cradling my shoulders while slipping inside me and filling me up in a way I’d never experienced before.

“Ungh, Smoke!” His name pulled from my lips on a breathy moan just as he captured my mouth with his and matched each stroke of his tongue with the movement of him pushing into and pulling out of me. My eyes were forced open with the perfection of the moment, and I found myself lost in those fascinating multi-hued eyes of his.

“Honey,” he drew that one word out on a sexy growl before dipping his head and planting a slew of open mouthed kisses along my jaw, my neck, and down to my collarbone. “Never before,” he huffed out as he started picking up his pace. I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but it didn’t matter, because I was lost once again, dangling on the edge as his thick cock started hammering into a place deep inside me that was sending sparks shooting through my insides, tingling in my limbs, communicating the promise of imminent rippling waves of ecstasy.

“Smoke, I’m…” I couldn’t get the words out quick enough.

“I know, honey. Feel it. Let go, because it’s not going to be the last one tonight. Not done with you yet.” Well, hell. That did it. Heat suffused my entire body, barreling through me on waves that carried with it the pleasure that I had been promised just moments before.

He didn’t lie. It was not the last one. The last one came in a fevered moment with me on all fours and Smoke behind me, pounding into me with an abandon I’d never known from either of the two lovers I’d had in my life prior to this man. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I knew I’d feel every minute of tonight, probably for the next week, but I wouldn’t stop it to save my life. My nerve endings were all on a crash course with my next orgasm, chasing it like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and fearing I wouldn’t get there, but hoping like hell I did in time.

“Honey,” Smoke breathed into my ear as he draped his body, slick with sweat, against my back. His hand came around my waist, arm resting over my belly as his hand dipped between my legs and fingers went to work on my clit while he continued to pump into me at a desperate pace. “Let go, sweetheart. Can’t. Hold. Onnnn,” that last came out as a tortured growl as my release hit and swamped me just as Smoke let go too. His hips jerked into me, hand holding me as close as he could get while he rooted there, coming deep and hard while my muscles clamped and released in rapid succession around him.

“Fuck, honey, never in my life…” he husked out as I took on some of his weight before we both collapsed down to the bed with me hitting face first and him following, riding my back down, still fully lodged inside of me as we went. He immediately rolled off to the side so he wouldn’t hurt me and we both started chuckling. “Sorry,” he grumbled out amidst his own laughter.

“Not a damn thing to be sorry for. I’m amazed you held it together as long as you did.”

“Shh,” he huffed out and tugged me to him so that my body rolled putting my back to his front, then he swiped the blanket at the end of the bed up and over our rapidly cooling bodies. His other hand swiped the hair off my face in a gentle gesture that felt a little too intimate, but beautiful nevertheless. His lips touched down on the top of my head before leaning in closer to my ear and whispering, “get some sleep, honey.”

“Mmm,” was the only response I had, because the beating of his heart at my back, the warmth of his body against mine, and the exertion of the day and night mixed in with the drinks we’d consumed had me tipping over into sleepy la-la land before words could form.

Chapter 6

There was a dull, throbbing ache in my head as my brain peeled slowly back from sleep and into the waking world. The dull throbbing in my head was quickly dismissed as the ache in other places of my body made themselves known. There was also the warm, weighty body plastered to mine that took precedence over all of those aches. For one, brief, heart-wrenching nanosecond the fantasy that the husband I knew from our early years had come to me to tell me what a huge mistake I was making was in my thoughts. Then I remembered he’d stopped holding me like this long before we ever even tried to have babies. He liked his space, and never once thought about what I liked in that regard. If he had, he’d have known there was no better moment than waking up in the arms of the man you love. I supposed in my reality this morning, in the arms of the man who gave me the best sex I’d ever had.

No, it was not my husband wrapped around my body as if he were protecting me in our sleep. This was the man I’d met last night. The man I formed an instant friendship with, and the one who may or may not make things awkward this morning when he woke and realized we were spooned up together. Last night might have been a hit it and quit it fun little tryst for him. Hell, it may have been more. If I weren’t in the situation I was currently in attempting to divorce the husband who had let me down in every way possible, then I might consider the explosive and undeniable chemistry I’d encountered with the man who was still offering me peace and safety even in his sleep. I sighed thinking about how things were going to go when I attempted to remove myself from his arms. The other thing I’d realized in my quick assessment of my situation was that I had to pee, so escape wasn’t only eminent it was necessary.

The arm wrapped around my waist slid up my body to position itself between my breasts while the hand attached to it cradled my shoulder. “Honey, go back to sleep,” a raspy voice called from just behind me causing my body to tighten with both want and fear of the unknown. Let me be clear, I was not afraid of him, just where this situation would take us this morning.

The arm around me tightened momentarily before he spoke again. “Listen honey, I realize things carried further than either of us intended last night, thanks to our amazing chemistry and I don’t regret a single second, but I know you’re going through shit right now. We need to put this part on hold; I’ll step back for now. We’ll be friends, and go from there. No awkward moments, no wondering or worries. We’re going to be straight with one another because I don’t regret last night, I don’t want you to, and what we started out there with the bonding we did is too important to kick away with morning after awkwardness. Never in my life been so instantly comfortable around a woman. Don’t want to lose that for anything.”

I turned my head into my pillow since I couldn’t control the huge grin that was threatening to split my face. This man. He had just cleared up all my worries in one go. Once I got myself back under control I turned in his arm and planted a quick kiss on the tip of his nose. “That’s all really good to know, Smoke, but right now you’re still gonna have to ease up on the grip you have because nature calls.” I raised my eyebrows as he tightened his grip and then proceeded to start tickling me. Tickling me… when I had to pee… Oh dear lord. I dissolved into a fit of giggles just as a loud banging pounded on my front door startling me and pulling Smoke from his teasing playful manner into a serious growly one.

“Who the fuck is banging on your door at the ass-crack of dawn when you just got to town last night?”

I shrugged, eyes wide with worry as I bolted out of the bed and then promptly realized I was still buck ass naked and most of our clothes had been discarded in my living room. Well, shit. I wrenched open the closest box, and praise Jesus, it was the one with my hoodies and sweats in it. I snagged a pair of jogging pants and a hoodie, tossing them on quickly as the banging on my door ramped up and the doorknob jiggled.

Smoke pulled his pants up his thick thighs and over that delectable ass of his, effectively snagging all of my attention from the person now attempting to gain access to my house without waiting for me to come open the door. I attempted to rush out of the room when I realized this, but Smoke threw an arm out blocking my path. “Let me go first, because whoever that is, they’re fuckin’ determined, honey.” He sauntered out, no shirt, bare feet, zipping his pants up, and I followed closely behind. We rounded the corner of the hall with me on his heels as the door burst open, and my brother stood there looking supremely pissed while he took a moment’s pause to assess the situation.

“What the fuck?”

“Hey man,” Smoke called out lazily, no longer on edge.

“Jesus, Chief, you scared the shit out of me,” I huffed out.

“Scared the shit out of you?” He asked seeming awestruck. “I came to check on you as soon as I woke and realized we had a hell of storm blow through last night. I can’t believe I left you alone instead of staying here,” he managed to get out as he dragged his hand through his hair. Then he glanced between Smoke and myself a moment, took in the rest of the room, and a grin spread across his chiseled features.

“What storm?” I asked. I don’t know what was so funny, but my brother threw his head back and laughed heartily at my question instead of answering it.

He walked over and picked up the nearly empty bottle of rum from the coffee table and his laughter only died down to a mild chuckling as he tipped it in my direction. “I see why you weren’t aware of the storm, Lil’ Sis.” Then his attention turned to Smoke as he cocked his head a bit to the side in question. “Any particular reason you’re barely dressed at my sister’s place this morning, Brother?”

I saw the shrug of Smoke’s shoulders as he sauntered forward and reached down for his shirt, tugging it back over his head. I watched as it slid down across his shoulders, muscular back, and the achy place between my thighs I’d almost forgotten about twitched with the memory of last night. Lord help me. I didn’t know how I was going to deal with this while figuring out everything else I needed to do.

“Came by yesterday hoping to catch you still here. Didn’t think you’d leave your sister alone her first night,” there was a bit of a bite to his tone as he said the last. My brother just raised a brow at him. “You weren’t here, and Poppy was in the middle of a freak out when she opened the door.” This revelation received more attention from my brother.

“Pop, what the hell?”

It was my turn to shrug as I walked over to the chair in the corner and plopped my ass down, wishing I’d done it a little more gingerly as a spike of pain shot through my body. “Everything kind of hit me all at once, and I…”

“She was mid-panic attack man, so I wasn’t gonna leave her like that. She didn’t want me to bother you, because she said you were exhausted. So, we started talking, she mentioned hockey, and…”

“Fuck me,” my brother muttered, cutting Smoke’s recap off. “Should have seen this shit coming. Didn’t even think,” he continued to mutter. I don’t even think he was talking to either of us, but more to himself.

“Anyway, had a prospect drop a bottle and some coke by, and the rest isn’t really anything you want to hear.”

Chief’s eyes snapped up to his club brother then, because he’d obviously already surmised where the rest of the night took us, but to my surprise my brother did not look the slightest bit pissed off. Instead, he was grinning again. “Yeah, I’m guessing that’s the reason my sister, who hates storms, didn’t even realize we had a major one blow through last night.”

“Shit man, I didn’t realize either,” Smoke mentioned.

“Bike’s fine, man,” my brother told him. It occurred to me then that my brother had to see the motorcycle sitting outside of my house when he rolled up so he knew someone was here. “Though, it’s not your normal ride,” my brother stated, which I was guessing was the reason he’d been banging on the door the way he was.

“Nah, had to snag a loaner while mine’s getting the paint job,” he told Chief.

“Forgot about that,” Chief nodded then turned in my direction. “The old ladies sort you for food, or you wanna get dressed and go find some breakfast?”

“I could eat, and I don’t feel like cooking, so breakfast out sounds about right.”

“Okay, well go get ready,” he told me. I glanced between Smoke and my brother wondering if he was just trying to get rid of me so he could have the big brother chat without my prying ears sitting here listening. He smirked my way when he realized what I must have been wondering. “Not gonna give him a lecture, Sis. You’re both grown ass adults and fuck if I’m gonna complain about someone taking your mind off the shit you’ve got on it.” With that, I stood and removed myself from the room, especially since I remembered I also had a very desperate need to pee.

As I was leaving the bathroom, heading back to my bedroom I overheard my brother. “Heard her laughing when I was rolling up to the door. Haven’t heard her laugh like that in a long damn time, man.”

There was a silence that followed his statement, and I waited while holding onto the last breath I’d taken as if it were all I’d ever get. “Hearing it can’t possibly compare to seeing it in action,” Smoke informed my brother.

“Fuck me,” my brother muttered again. “My lil sis has always been able to enchant people. She has no clue she’s capable, because Walk snatched her up and sure as fuck wasn’t letting go when he first saw her. I knew back then it wouldn’t last, but she wouldn’t hear it. He was good to her in the beginning so I had no cause to step in, until recently, and if Pop had been honest with me sooner about what was going on I would have stepped in a few years back.”

“He’s a fuckin’ fool. I think he’ll realize that sooner or later and come callin’. I’m telling you now though that I am not stepping aside. Informed her this morning, I’ll step back and be a friend while she adjusts and goes through her shit, but the minute I think she’s ready for more, she’s mine.”

“You sure you want to make that promise after less than 24 hours with her?”

“Not my style to do so, you know that considering how long I was with Julie before. Two hours in with your sister and I wondered how I was capable of wasting all that time with a woman who could never compare.”

I wondered then who Julie was and if she was still in the picture. I got my answer before I had to worry if I had unwittingly been the other woman. “Good you got shy of her when you did then,” my brother murmured and I moved to find the shoes I had stuffed in boxes. “Take shit slow with her, man. That fuckwad ex of hers did a number on her in more than one way. If I’d known she was spending the anniversary of our family’s death that way I would have been there kickin’ that fucker’s ass and getting her the fuck out of that town a whole hell of a lot sooner than I did.”

“You’ll tell me about that later,” Smoke demanded. I didn’t hear a response from my brother, and I figured it was time to get my booty out there before they could continue this conversation. I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone else privy to my humiliation. It had been bad enough that Snake had been there to witness most of it.

“Ready, sorry, I’m moving a little slow this morning,” I apologized before locating my purse, digging through it, and coming out with a triumphant fist in the air, filled with my bottle of Ibuprofen. “Thank you, sweet baby Jesus,” I called out. This made the guys chuckle. I turned, pointing a finger to my brother. “You hush.” Then I turned to Smoke. “You too since your devil’s juice brought this on.”

“Sis, I do not need to know about Smoke’s juice – devilish or otherwise,” my brother called out on a sigh. For a moment I was actually caught off guard enough to be puzzled, then it hit me.

“Eww, nasty! I was talking about the rum, you idiot!” This had both men laughing as they moved closer to the front door.

~*~

We were seated in the local pancake house that the guys assured me was far and away better than the popular chain restaurant just down the street. I took their word for it, figuring it was never too soon for me to get to know some of the local gems since I’d up stakes and moved to Cedar Falls. My hometown of Sierra High didn’t have any chain restaurants outside of usual fast food joints. Everything else had been locally owned and operated and the people from Sierra High preferred it that way. I did as well, if I was being honest.

Our waitress finally made her way over to us with a giant smile on her face as she took the guys in. “Hey there, fellas, how are y’all doing this morning?” I wasn’t going to find offense in her ‘fellas’ only comment, because I figured she knew them since they’d bragged about this place at the house. “I didn’t see the bikes outside,” she mentioned, pointing towards the window as if they didn’t know whether or not they’d ridden here.

“My sister drove since we were all headed to the same place,” my brother told her as he scanned her with narrowed eyes.

“Oh,” she perked up, even brighter, if that were possible. “Sorry, didn’t see you sitting there,” she amended, her words obviously a lie. There was no way she missed me as she scanned the occupants of the table when she walked up. I’d dealt with this shit whenever I traveled away from home with Walker and the guys too. This type of thing did not happen at home though, because it was a small town atmosphere and everyone knew exactly who I was and whom I belonged to. That being said, her slight didn’t go unnoticed nor would it go unaddressed. I’d been in and around the MC life for the past ten years. You either demanded respect or people would walk over you without thought.

“Yes, you did,” I hesitated as I took in her nametag, “Sally.” She attempted to sputter out a denial, but I held my hand up to stop her. “Listen, I watched you clock our table, me included before you even sashayed your hips over here – which by the way I was going to check in on you and make sure you hadn’t thrown one out of place, because sweetheart that was some serious hip swishing going on – and you locked eyes with me before purposely not including me in your greeting. Bit of advice to you, don’t disrespect any of the women the MC brings around, because you never know who they are, how they’re attached, or how your rude ass bullshit will play out for you. Now, find us another waitress, because I won’t be ordering from you.”

“This is my station, you can’t…”

I moved to stand up then. “Then we’ll move, no sweat off my back,” I stated plainly as the guys just took in the scene as if it was highly entertaining.

“Please, look, calm down or something. My boss will not be happy if…”

“The way you treat your customers, your boss shouldn’t be happy, sweetheart. Now, do I have to go get him or what?”

“That won’t be necessary,” a woman with big hair, also a redhead, stated as she came sauntering up with a natural sway to her hips and a grin on her overly made up face. “What seems to be the problem today?” She asked as she eyed the boys who were still just watching with amusement evident in their demeanor.

“Your waitress is rude, I requested someone else wait on us. Preferably, someone who doesn’t ignore the patrons who don’t have a dick swinging between their legs.” At this, my brother couldn’t hold his composure anymore and burst out laughing. Not that I could blame him since it was rare that I used questionable language outside of my home, and even rarer that I got my panties in a twist over pretty much anything. I was sweet and southern as you please, normally. That hadn’t gotten me anywhere before except walked all over, so I was turning over a new leaf.

“Damn it, Poppy, I missed the shit out of you,” he admitted through his laughter. “Daisy, can you send one of the other girls, let them know we’ll tip well for covering a table that’s not in their section?”

“Sure thing sugar,” the overly done woman told my brother, smile still in place on her face. Then she turned back to me and pointed. “Not sure who you are, sugar, but I like you already.” She stated this in a no nonsense way that brokered no arguments.

“Daisy, this is my little sister, Poppy. Poppy, Daisy here owns this fine establishment.”

I held my hand out to her. “Nice to meet you, Daisy. My brother and Smoke have been bragging your place up, and since this is my first day here since I moved yesterday, and this is where we ended up for breakfast, I’m guessing that means good things.”

Daisy grinned big, swatted my brother in the shoulder and hooted out a laugh. “Lord, Chief, you bring your sister ‘round more often. I am thinking good things about this one.” My brother beamed at me. I smiled back at Daisy. Daisy turned to see the waitress, Sally, still standing there gaping at all of us. “Don’t you have tables with people you haven’t offended to go see to?” The woman asked.

“I,” the girl’s lip trembled as she glanced back at my brother and then flipped her nervous, and very longing gaze, across the table – not to me – to beg with pleading eyes to Smoke. He just sat there, and stretched his arm out behind me, tucking his hand behind my shoulder. He spoke not one word, but his message was sent loud and clear, because the girl stumbled backwards as if someone had physically pushed her back. Then she took off for the back of the restaurant.

“Damn, there goes another one,” Daisy complained. “Can’t keep the young, decent looking ones long with the way you guys run through them.” I scrunched my nose up at that making Daisy laugh. “Yeah, it’s like that, sugar, but I’m guessing the way you lit Sally Mae up that you already know that. Even when they don’t get their claws in the guys, the minute they see their crush wrapping those arms around another woman they can’t handle it.”

“That’s why they never get what they’re after to begin with,” Smoke finally spoke. “It’s easy to see the ones who will be a problem, and won’t be able to handle their shit.”

“You got that right, Smoke. I need to have you all sit in on interviews from here on out so maybe my employee turn over won’t be so high.” She smiled at him genuinely then as if it was no sweat off her back that she’d apparently lost another waitress. “Now, since I’ll be taking over her tables anyway, what can I get you all?”

We ordered our food. It was fantastic, and I immediately understood why the guys loved this place. Everything was spectacular from the food to the company, since Daisy joined us for a bit and talked to the guys about how things were going, and to me about how my move was going. Daisy was apparently the old lady of Mick, the security officer for the club. Daisy turned back to me before walking away.

“I don’t suppose you’re looking for work?”

“I still have a few jobs that carried over from my old place, but if you need a website maintained, graphics made, or any advertisements done you let me know, and I’ll be all over that.”

Daisy cocked her head towards me, thoughtful for a moment. “I’m all good with things for now, but I have a friend interested in rebranding a store she just purchased. I’ll give her your information.” I nodded to Daisy, and she walked away.

Smoke looked at me then. “What is it you do again?”

“Just what I said. I’m part graphic designer, part website guru, part marketing and advertising genius. I used to handle more than a few of the accounts for businesses in our town, but when everything went down and my dumbass ex husband started running around I lost a few accounts, because some of the businesses there are only loyal to the club, and they thought they were doing right by dropping me since it looked as if Walker had already done the same. They learned they weren’t correct when Snake dealt with them, but I wouldn’t take them back on as clients after that, so I don’t really have enough work to keep paying the bills long term at the moment, but I’m hoping to branch out now that I’ll have more time on my hands to do it.”

“You ever handle social media for people or companies?” He asked.

“I did for the two bars in our town for a while until the one changed owners who didn’t like social media and the other was one of those businesses that sided with Walker when we split.”

“Might have something for you, let me check on a couple things first,” he suggested. Then he glanced down at his watch. “Shit, I need to get going. Promised Soph I’d watch the kid today.” I stiffened a bit as he stated this, wondering if it meant he had a kid, if Soph was his woman, baby momma, or what? Shoot. I felt a kick to my shin under the table and my brother shook his head slightly at me as I sat watching Smoke get himself up from our table.

“You guys stay and enjoy, Granger’s on his way to take me to my bike.”

“All right man, give little man a hug for me,” my brother told him. Smoke gave him a chin lift before turning to me, putting a hand on my shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “I’ll give you a call later, Poppy. Enjoy your day. You need anything, just let me know.” With that he turned and left. I watched him go then glanced out the window to see him get into a black Ford Expedition before it shot off into the light traffic of the morning.

“The kid isn’t his,” my brother told me, snapping my attention back to him instead of where it currently resided in la-la land outside the window. I didn’t say anything, just raised my brow in question. My brother grinned at me like the idiot he was. “Sophie is his sister,” Chief clarified, and I felt my shoulders go slack as the tension I didn’t realize I’d been carrying was swept away. My brother noticed then pounced. “So, you guys bonded over hockey, huh?”

That did it. I bounced excitedly in my seat. “Did you know his younger brother is Kent Lewis of the Pittsburghhh Penguins?”

Chief laughed then, shoulders shaking, eyes twinkling, and head shaking back and forth at my excitement. “Yeah, Pop, met him last year when he came in for a visit.”

“What?” I shrieked.

“Pop,” my brother attempted to calm me with his tone.

“What? You mean to tell me you met Kent Lewis last year and you did not share that information? You didn’t invite me up to meet him? What kind of brother are you?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Never mind, I know. You’re a horrible brother. Holy shit, Keith! Kent Lewis was here! You met him! You… you… you should have told me!”

My brother was full out laughing at this point. Daisy had emerged at some point and was standing at the end of our table looking just as amused. “I take it your Poppy here is a hockey fan?”

“The biggest,” my brother informed her.

“Oh lord!” She sighed out. “Does Smoke know that?” There was a glimmer of worry before she buried it and went back to focusing her attention on my brother’s answer.

“Oh yeah. Seems when Smoke went looking for me last night he found Poppy here, and the two of them bonded,” Chief explained with a waggle of his brows.

“Is that…” she was clearly struggling with whatever she wanted to say, and didn’t know if she could say in front of me.

My brother waved off whatever concern she was attempting to show. “Nothing to be concerned about, Daisy. Should have seen the two of them this morning. Like they’d known each other forever.” Daisy visibly relaxed then, and I wondered about why she was so affected by the fact that I was a hockey fan. Weird.

Once we left the restaurant and were headed home I asked, because I never was one to leave questioned unasked or unanswered if I could help it. “What was that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know with Daisy getting weird about me being a hockey fan?”

“Oh. Not really my story to tell, but I don’t think he’d mind, so…” my brother started. “Smoke had a girl for four or five years. It ended about six months back. He broke it off with her after Kent spilled the beans during an argument with Smoke that Julie had come on to him after he’d been drafted to the Penguins. She apparently thought she’d be able to trade up to the more successful, and famous, brother. Kent never told Smoke.”

“Why the hell not?” I asked pissed off for Smoke.

“Didn’t want to hurt his brother, I guess.” Chief shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe thought his brother was in so deep he wouldn’t believe him. Not real sure what motivates people to do the things they do, Pop. Anyway, every time Smoke wanted to go see him Kent would get sketchy and ask if he was bringing his girl. If he said no, his brother was all over the visit. If he said yeah, Kent would make excuses. Didn’t take a fuckin’ genius to put two and two together that little brother didn’t like the girlfriend. They fought about it the last time, because Julie was adamant that she go on the trip with Smoke to see his brother, because she didn’t want to be left behind. Kent finally lost his shit when they got there and he hadn’t realized she’d be tagging along.”

“Oh wow, that sucks.”

“Yeah, probably for the best that it happened when she was there though. She broke down and admitted Kent was telling the truth, but swore that she had caught feelings – true feelings – for Smoke by then, and that she didn’t want anyone else. Not even his famous, rich, much younger brother.”

I scoffed at that.

“Nah,” my brother cut off my noise. “She fuckin’ meant that shit. Watched that girl go from only somewhat interested in those early days to being completely gone for him. She caught feelings all right, but the uncomfortable, disloyal history she’d cultivated sealed her fate.” My brother shrugged. “Smoke cut her loose then and there, sent her packing back home with a plane ticket instead of on the back of his bike the way she’d arrived.”

“Oh, wow,” I muttered.

“Yeah, I imagine he felt a little of what you did when Walk fucked up so big. They weren’t together as long, or as legally committed, but they’d been living together for a few years, and working towards getting there. Don’t know if it was his brother’s sketchy behavior about her holding him back or what, but doesn’t matter. It’s been over for a good while and he hasn’t even thought about moving on with anyone since.”

I raised my brows in question then.

“He’s had his share of post break-up ass, Sis. He just isn’t dating anyone seriously.”

As disturbing as that was to hear, considering how much I enjoyed the previous night with him, I could totally understand wanting some no strings fun after going through that. I’d thought about it myself, and until last night, I’d decided against it. Then again, last night seemed like anything but no strings fun, especially considering Smoke’s little speech when we woke up.

Chapter 7

As it turned out, I had a few days to think over what my brother had said about Smoke. Those days of thinking were thanks to not hearing from Smoke or my brother during that time. As in, not hearing from them at all for three solid days now. I knew the life that came with the club sometimes meant being shut out and not knowing things, but this sucked far worse than anything I had endured over the last 10 years in the life, because I didn’t know anyone else in my new town, and didn’t have anyone’s phone numbers who were involved with the club. Sure, I’d met Daisy at breakfast my first full day here, but I didn’t know her well enough to go hunting her down to find out what was going on with my brother, or anyone else. I’d know when I knew. So, I threw myself into unpacking, getting some work done, and beefing up the advertising for my website.

I also took a trip to the local SPCA, because they had requested some work from me for an up and coming fundraiser they were having. When I got everything together for their invitations and signage I decided to take samples to them in person so that I could get a feel for how they really liked or disliked the ideas I had. Sandra Keeton, the woman who was my point of contact, was thrilled to death with what I brought her.

“Oh thank God you moved to town. These are gorgeous! Perfect! I can’t even tell you how darn excited I am about these!” Her praise left me blushing a bit since her exuberance wasn’t something I was used to. “You’ll have to come to the event,” she finally told me. Unfortunately, I had stopped paying attention, because something else caught my eye. A gorgeous midnight black dog with bright blue eyes and pointed ears that had been docked to make him look even more ferocious than he already did sat staring at me. His head was cocked just so as if he were attempting to determine if I should be his new person or not. I cocked my head too, taking him all in. His shoulders had to be at least thigh high on me standing on all fours. That meant he would definitely be nearly waist high with that big head of his. His muscular frame led me to believe he had to tip the scales well over 100 pounds, probably closer to 120. Sandra’s eyes followed mine, and she sighed.

“That’s Bubba,” she told me. “He had one owner from birth, but the poor man died last week. I’ve had quite a few people interested in him, but either he didn’t like them and let them know or I didn’t think they had the best of intentions for our boy.”

I nodded, and hadn’t even realized I’d been on the move until I got near him. “He’s gorgeous,” I stated as I knelt down on the opposite side of the cage from the dog. “Hey there, Bubba,” I cooed to him. He nuzzled his nose through the crack in the fencing and I reached through to rub my finger over his nose. He huffed out a doggy sigh and leaned the full weight of his body against the cage in an attempt to get closer.

“Seems like you two have decided on one another. Were you thinking about adopting?” Sandra asked.

“I had thought about getting a dog since I’m living on my own in a new place, you know a little added security, plus the company would be nice. I mostly work from home, so I’ll be around a lot.” I informed Sandra of my sad, lonely-girl life. She clapped. Kid you not, she started clapping and then moaned out a happy sound that forced my eyes away from Bubba and onto her. “This makes me extremely happy, because Bubba needed someone who would give him plenty of love. He’s fully trained, walks on a leash well. Heck, I’m sure he’d walk off leash well, but maybe you shouldn’t attempt that until after you get to know one another better. He’ll definitely scare away any unwanted individuals around your house too,” she attempted to sell me on the dog, but I was already gone for him. “He’s a Cane Corso, which means he’s one of the bully breeds, but not many people realize that until they see him. How do you think your landlord would feel about him?”

I had my phone out in my hand already calling Todd Anderson, the man I was renting the house from. Todd was giving me the option to buy once my lease was up since Chief had informed him that I would probably be purchasing a home once our family’s house sold back home. It was the reason he was able to talk Todd into a six-month lease instead of a 12-month. “Hey Todd, it’s Poppy.” I listened as he asked if everything was okay with the house. “No, everything is just fine. I love the house, but I was wondering how you would feel about me getting a dog? He is fully trained, and I would just feel a whole lot better having him as a bit of security since…”

“Not a problem,” Todd cut me off to tell me.

“I can bring you a pet deposit...”

“Not necessary,” he again cut me off to say. “If it makes you more comfortable, get a dog. If there’s a mess later, we’ll deal with it then. I trust you. More importantly, I trust Chief. Do what you need to do. Hopefully, you end up buying the place anyway so just treat it like its yours in the interim.”

“Thanks, Todd.”

“Sure thing.” There was a pause and then he asked, “just out of curiosity, what kind of dog is?”

“A Cane Corso,” I told him.

“Damn girl, you do not fuck around when you say you want a dog for security, huh?”

I laughed at that. “No, I suppose I don’t.” After that we said our goodbyes, and I set about filling out the paperwork to adopt Bubba and bring him home with me. As we were about to leave Sandra quickly came running over to me waving a piece of paper. “I almost forgot these,” she stated as she passed me the paper she’d been waving about to catch my attention. I glanced down and started reading out loud.

“Sitzen,” I started reading and Bubba, who had been standing next to me, parked his butt on the floor. I glanced at him them back to the paper. “Platz,” I said, and Bubba laid down on the floor at my feet. I cocked my head sideways then glanced back up at Sandra. “Is this German?” I asked.

“Yeah, apparently the dog was trained with German commands and possibly already trained as security, so I’m going to stop you from reading the rest out loud. Familiarize yourself with them all though, because from what we’ve seen if he respects you, Bubba will follow those commands to the letter.”

“Wow,” I stated as I glanced back down at Bubba. “How has no one adopted him yet?”

Sandra grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “That’s mostly my fault. I was waiting for the right person to come along for Bubba,” she told me.

“Well, I’m so freaking happy I was the right person. I promise, he will only get the best treatment from me.”

“Oh, I know he will. Besides, Bubba chose you.” As if he wanted to let me know Sandra was right he bumped my leg with his nose. I glanced down at the paper in my hand and looked for the correct word to use.

“Foos!” I stated and Bubba jumped into action coming up from his position lying on the floor to stand directly beside my leg. Cool. Bubba and I were going to be best friends. “Come on Bubba, we have to stop by the pet store and nab you some new stuff, then get you to our new home.

Bubba and I had been home, getting to know one another for two days making me realize how extremely lucky I had been to adopt this beautiful boy. He stayed near me wherever I went. He did not attempt to get up on the furniture, which made me wonder if that was one of his previous owner’s rules. I figured I would stick with that, and didn’t encourage him to do it since he was so large he’d probably take up the entire bed, couch, or whatever he attempted to get on anyway.

During those two days that Bubba and I were getting to know one another I still hadn’t heard from my brother or Smoke. I wasn’t ready to forgive my brother for keeping me worried; he was going to get an earful from me whenever he deemed me important enough to show his face again. While I stood there at my kitchen sink hand washing the dishes while eschewing my dishwasher in order to keep my hands and mind busy with the menial task, I started talking to Bubba so that I wouldn’t continue thinking of Smoke and the fact that we’d shared a pretty spectacular night only to have him not contact me again. Sadly, I was a little more upset by that fact than I was by the fact that my ex-husband hadn’t bothered to check to see if I made it to my new home okay.

Sure, I told him I was going and there was no changing my mind, but I thought for sure if he still had any hope he would have at least pretended to care. Snake had texted a few times to check on me. He seemed to be the only person from my old life who remembered I existed, because outside of him and the few clients I kept no one from Sierra High contacted me at all. “Once I’m finished here we’ll go take a walk, Bubba. I know you must be tired of being cooped up.” Bubba’s ears perked up, and for a brief moment I thought maybe he’d speak back. Instead, he shifted so he was by my side, but looking back toward the front door. He moved from siting there to standing and alert, something I hadn’t noticed him do in the past two days.

“What’s up, boy?” I heard a low rumble coming from Bubba just before a knock on my front door startled the crap out of me. Bubba huffed out a low woof, but otherwise refused to give up his space by my side as I moved to the door. I did not have a peephole. That was something that needed to be remedied. In my old house I had plenty of windows near the door that negated the necessity for one, but this door had no windows on either side of it.

“Who is it?” I asked as I got close enough that someone could hear me through the door.

“Poppy?” A male voice asked.

“Who is out there?” I asked again since I didn’t recognize the person.

“Poppy I’m with the Aces High MC, your brother sent me to check on you since he’s been out of communication for a bit.”

“I don’t know you,” I stated plainly. The handle of my locked door twisted a bit, and Bubba was done being patient. He let loose a series of loud, vicious sounding barking that would have scared the pee right out of me if I’d been the person on the wrong side of that door.

“Jesus Christ!” The man shouted, sounding as though he stumbled back as well. “Fucking hell,” I heard shouted. Then I heard laughter too. The laughter was very familiar.

“Pop, open up. It’s me,” Chief called out. I glanced at Bubba then.

“Bubba, foos!” Immediately Bubba was by my side as I moved out of the way of the door so that I could open it. “Sitzen,” I told Bubba, but I also took hold of his collar just in case.

As soon as the door swung open my brother went to step in and stopped upon seeing my new best friend. “Holy fuck, Sis. What the hell is that beast, and where did he come from?”

I smirked at my brother considering the joke he tried to play on me was now on him. “This is Bubba. He’s my new buddy,” I explained as I reached down and rubbed across Bubba’s midnight fur. Normally when I did this Bubba would nose into my leg, but this time he stood stoic and on guard. “Good boy,” I told him.

“Seriously, Poppy, I left for a week, and come back to you having a hell hound in your house. What gives? You have trouble?” He asked,

“Nope. I did some work for a charity thing at the SPCA, and when I was dropping off the mock-ups Bubba was there watching me. It was fate, and I brought him home to hang out with me since I’m in a new town where I know about five people, have numbers for two of them, and none of them have gotten in touch in five days,” I chastised.

“Shit,” Chief called out. “We had some club business to deal with out of town.”

“Uh-huh and your phone doesn’t work when you leave town?” I asked as I planted a hand on my hip. Bubba actually broke his pose then to glance at me, trying to ascertain what this new gesture meant, no doubt.

“Shit,” my brother hissed out again.

“Hey man, is it safe to come up there?” The disembodied voice that I’d heard through the door called out again.

“Yeah man, just maybe approach slowly.”

I still had hold of Bubba’s collar and the minute he felt me twitch on it a bit he went back on guard, bowing up his shoulders and cocking his head at the man who slowly moved through the door. He was a cutie too.

“Poppy, this is Hold ‘Em. Brought him by to introduce you in case I’m ever gone like that again. It doesn’t happen often, but just in case.”

“Hi,” I offered to the man who was staring at my dog like he was going to attack at any moment.

“Good job, by the way, not opening the door.” My brother was saying to me as I checked out the man he’d called Hold ‘Em.

“I’m not a moron, Chief. Of course I’m going to check before opening a door. Besides, I had my Bubba with me.”

“How long you had him here?”

“Two days,” I responded.

“Gotta tell ya, I’m feeling a fuck of a lot better about the time I had to leave you alone now,” my brother admitted.

“Yeah, I was feeling better about it once I had Bubba too. He’s great. Plus, I always wanted a dog, and Walk wouldn’t let me…” I started to say making my brother angry. The dog responded to his body language and his guard went up once more, an audible grumble growling from him.

“Bubba, foos!” I commanded as I moved to go sit on the couch. Bubba followed right beside me, but that darn dog stayed aware of the two men in my house the entire time. When we got to the couch and I took my seat I commanded Bubba with “Platz,” and down he went right at my feet while watching the boys.

“Wow, that’s awesome.” My brother commented. “What were you saying?”

“She told him to heel and then to down.” Hold ‘Em explained. When I glanced in his direction he smirked at me. “I have a buddy who was a handler with a K9 unit in the Army.” I just nodded.

“Do I even want to know how you got stuck with that road name?” I asked in order to break the ice of getting to know a new person.

“Name’s Holden. I um, had a few girlfriends while prospecting, and the guys said I had a hard time holdin’ on to them. Jokes ensued, and the sentiment got shortened down to a play on my name.” If I wasn’t mistaken Holden was blushing as he told the story. It made him even cuter. He had fine sandy brown hair that flopped over his forehead and into his eyes a bit in the front, but was short as hell, almost buzzed in the back. His eyes were either a light blue or gray, and he had one dimple that popped up on his right cheek when he smiled.

“Poor you!” I laughed. “At least you have an interesting story to tell with your name though. My friend Snake literally got his because he snatched up a snake that was sitting beside his bike when he came out to hop on it.”

“That’s a cool story too, though,” Hold ‘Em told me.

“Nah, it was a garter snake.” We all laughed at that.

“Chief tells me you been in and around the club life a while. You didn’t get your own club name?”

I shook my head. “No, never did. Down there all the women are darlin’, sweetheart, or sugar. I don’t think any of the guys have it in them to learn any more names than they have to,” I offered on a chuckle. Hold ‘Em just glanced at my brother, giving him an odd look. “I know it’s the norm up here with your club so that seems weird, but truly they are all a little bit different.”

“True, the chapter up in South Dakota calls their club whores BRATs.” My brother offered up to take the heat off of me. I had been finding out little by little over the years that I’d been kept out of a lot of the club life that other old ladies experienced. I didn’t really pay much attention before, because I was so ensconced in trying to procreate that I didn’t see the writing on the wall. Belatedly, I wondered if the club whores had always been a problem in our relationship, and if my husband had just done a better job at keeping it a secret when he thought he had to. It didn’t matter now, because I wasn’t about to go backwards and wander down that road of questioning everything. It was what it was. And what it was at this point was over.

“Yeah, I heard that last year when we went to Sturgis,” Hold ‘Em admitted bringing me back to the conversation. “Forgot what that shit stood for though.”

“Bitches Relinquishing Ass and Tits,” my brother chuckled out. “Those guys are not right up there.”

“Probably because they have to give up riding for too much of the year when snow’s falling,” Hold ‘Em offered.

“Shit man, you’re probably right.”

“I think it’s really cool that you guys came here to banter about club life, but was there a point to this visit other than to tell me your phone is broken or something?” I asked while glaring daggers at my brother. “Bubba and I were about to go for a walk.” My brother sat back, shook his head, and I’m pretty sure he hissed out ‘damn’ but he did it low enough that I knew he did not want to get into any more trouble with me.

“I just thought you might like to meet more people especially the ones who will be around when I can’t be most of the time.”

“Nice to meet you, Hold ‘Em.” I stated without much enthusiasm.

“Damn,” my brother muttered for sure that time. “Don’t hold her attitude against her, man. She’s pissed at me.”

“I don’t blame her. I’d be pissed too if my brother moved me to a new town and ditched me days later with no warning and no communication for five days.” Hold ‘Em explained to my brother before turning his attention to me. “I didn’t know where you lived or how to get a hold of you without asking someone from Sierra High. I didn’t want to call any of them, because I didn’t want to bring any unnecessary drama down on you, but I did want to stop by and exchange numbers in case you ever need anything, could use someone to talk to or whatever.”

I offered him a genuine smile then. “Maybe you could teach my brother some manners?” I asked.

He laughed.

Chief scowled.

I just sat there watching them both watching me. Then we managed to exchange numbers before I told the boys they were welcome to hang out, but that I had a dog to walk. Chief protested saying he’d come with me, but I refused. “You’ve been gone a week. I’ve managed on my own in that time. I don’t need you holding my hand through my new situation now.”

“Poppy,” he lamented quietly.

“Nope.” I stated firmly. “It’s a good thing this happened, because it forced me to realize I’m going to be just fine. Seriously, I’m not even mad aside from being angry about you being an inconsiderate bastard and not even letting me know you weren’t dead in a ditch somewhere. I appreciate you stopping by now and introducing me to someone else, but I really need to take Bubba for a walk, and I honestly want to do that by myself. I’ll talk to you later, Chief.”

“Okay, fine, Poppy. I get it, and I’m sorry. You’re right I could have called, at the very least when we were heading out. I just didn’t think about it, because I’m not used to having to think about it.” Well, now that he put it like that I guess I kind of understood. He was right. He’d been living here for six years without checking in with me about his every movement. When I’d lived in Georgia and he was here we talked a couple times a month on the phone, tops. He never told me about his travels or what he did for the club unless it was just to pass on a funny anecdote to make me laugh. So, I nodded to my brother and finished tying my tennis shoes. I was looking supremely unattractive in my sweats, but hell, who did I have to impress? I had absolutely no one to impress, that’s who. Bubba certainly didn’t care what I wore so long as he got his walk in, and was able to strut his terrible, horrible, fiercely beautiful self all over the neighborhood letting everyone know I was not a person to be trifled with or else he’d be taking a bite out of them. Bubba was my hero!

~*~

I saw the bike sitting in my driveway as Bubba and I approached my house, and I knew immediately it was not my brother’s since his had a bluish tint to the black and chrome look the guys at the club favored. “I wonder who that is?” I asked Bubba. I also wondered, briefly, why there was a bike outside of my house when there didn’t seem to be anyone attached to it. Then I watched as a man came from around the side of the house with a cell phone to his ear. “What do you mean she’s walking the dog? She doesn’t have a fuckin’ dog.” I recognized the voice before he came fully into view and I recognized the man too. Smoke was at my house, and he was clearly speaking to someone on the phone about me. I could only assume it was my brother. I sighed loudly and glanced down at Bubba.

“Here we go again, boy,” I huffed out as I moved closer to the house ignoring the man who was hanging up the phone and approaching me cautiously while eyeing my dog.

“Poppy?” Smoke questioned.

“Yeah?” I asked as I took to the task of unlocking my door without so much as a glance in Smoke’s direction.

“Poppy?” He asked again in a more demanding tone. This put Bubba on edge and he bowed up beside me, going on alert, which halted Smoke’s approach.

“What do you want Smoke?” I asked, still not bothering to look his way.

“I came to see you,” he stated plainly as if that said everything. I turned slowly towards him then.

“Why?” I asked as flatly as I could get the word out.

He appeared taken aback by my question. “What do you mean why? I thought I made it clear that we were going to be friends and then something more when you were ready.”

I laughed at that. He stared stone-faced at my response. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I started in on him then. “I know I’ve forgotten a lot about what it was like to have friends as I’m just now realizing most of mine back home were of the fair-weather variety, but I’m pretty sure that when you agree to be friends with someone you don’t walk out on breakfast with them promising to call, and not speak to them for five days expecting to show up to their house afterwards to a warm reception.”

He glared in my general direction then. “Chief knew what was going down, hell he had to come assist,” Smoke barked out.

I laughed again. “Yeah, and I just got done chewing my brother’s ass for not getting a hold of me to let me know whether he was dead, alive, or otherwise engaged for the past five days too.”

It was then I watched as Smoke’s shoulders slumped, his hand raked down his thicker than it had been five days ago beard, and he shook his head. “You have got to be shitting me,” he hissed out. Then I continued to watch as he pulled his phone back out, waited a second, and started talking. “You mean to tell me, knowing that my phone was toast and I couldn’t do it, you didn’t bother to tell your sister what was going down?”

He stopped and listened for a minute. Then he blew up. “She hadn’t even been here 48 hours and you forgot? Are you fucking shittin’ me? Now she’s pissed at me too, and I wasn’t the asshole who had a way of getting a hold of her.” He listened again. “You did what, now?” Anger seemed to be rolling off him in waves at whatever my brother was telling him. “You tell that fucker he needs to stay the hell away.” I could actually hear my brother’s laughter through the phone before he apparently hung up. Smoke glared at his phone, pocketed it, and started moving toward me before he was halted in his tracks by the growling dog at my side.

“You might want to calm yourself before you approach me,” I warned him.

“Shit,” he hissed out. “Sorry,” he huffed then. “Can I come in and explain some things to you?” He glanced at me then tacked on, “Please.” I just nodded my head as I swung the door open.

“Foos,” I gave the command and Bubba turned to follow me inside. I moved directly to the chair on the opposite side of the living room from the door, sat down, and started untying my shoes as I murmured, “Platz” to Bubba. He immediately laid down at my feet, but his eyes stayed trained to Smoke.

Smoke smiled at my dog as he came in, shut the door, and took a seat on the couch across from me. He clapped his hands together and then pulled them apart and whipped his phone back out of his pocket. “I need your number again,” he stated quickly.

“Lost it so soon?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Some asshole nearly ran me off the road shortly after I left you guys at breakfast. Granger, my brother-n-law, picked me up, but then he informed me my babysitting services were no longer necessary. Something he should have confirmed before he picked me up, or I would have stayed with you that morning. That’s where it all started going downhill, because as he was taking me back to your place to grab my bike I got a call from my buddy, Shep. He needed me to come do him a favor, so I snagged my bike, and headed over to his place, but on the way he called again, I went to pull my phone out of my pocket since I was rolling up to a red light, and the damn thing fell and took irreparable damage when a car almost clipped me.

I just got a replacement this morning, because we’ve been handling Shep’s situation this whole time. His mom and sister were attacked. They live four hours away now, moved there with her new husband only to find out he has some gambling debts, and a few goons were sent to collect. They thought to do it using Shep’s mom and sister.”

“Oh my God! Are they all right?” I asked, quickly forgetting any earlier anger and disappointment I had felt towards Smoke over not receiving a phone call all week. I’d actually been more disappointed in not having heard from him than my own brother.

“They’re fine, a little banged up, but otherwise good. They’re both staying with Shep for the time being. Took us a little longer to handle things than expected since we helped pack them up and get their shit in storage until Tammy can figure her shit out. She left a good job here to follow that asshole, and I’m not so certain she’ll be able to get it back.”

“That sucks,” I told him.

“Yeah, but as much as it sucks, it’s not my problem any longer. That’s for them to figure out as a family. What is my problem is the fact that you were angry with me. I’m truly sorry, Poppy. I thought your brother was in communication with you while we were out there handling things. If I’d known…” he started, then hesitated. “Doesn’t matter. I should have taken a moment to get my shit together, grab a new phone, and get your number from Chief.”

I waved him off. “It’s whatever. Sounds like you had your hands full, especially with two women who were most likely at least a little bit traumatized.” A warm look slid into Smoke’s eyes as I said that, and he stood to come to me, but stopped when he saw Bubba’s head perk ok. “It’s okay, Bubba,” I told the dog, and just as quickly – as if he understood – his head went back down to rest on his paws by my feet. Smoke moved in closer and came to me. He took my face in between his hands and ran his thumbs over my jawline.

“I missed you. Crazy to think that I knew you less than a day, but I missed you more this week than I knew what to do with.” Butterflies ran amuck through my belly at his words. “When did you get the dog? More importantly where did you find a beast that behaves that well?”

“I did some work for Sandra at the SPCA, and he was there watching me when I took the samples to her. She said his previous owner had him for protection, and that he died. Apparently more than a few people inquired about him, but she had put them all off. Anyway, she says Bubba chose me, whatever that means, so I brought him home, and he’s been keeping me company the past couple days.”

“Gotta say, I’m real fuckin’ happy to know that he’s been here with you. I was worried with you just moving to town and all the boys you knew being gone on that run,” he informed me. “Of course, I thought your brother was in touch that whole time,” he sighed. It was then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of tickets. I watched as his face lit up. “We’ll have to see if your brother can watch Bubba though, because I have tickets for us to go see the Penguins kick some Predator ass in two days.”

I stared at the tickets.

I hadn’t been to a major NHL hockey game since the one my dad had taken me to as a kid. That made the tickets in Smoke’s hand the holy grail of oh my god moments for me.

“What?” I finally asked, stupefied.

“We’re going to see my brother play, honey.”

“Oh my God,” I whisper-hissed. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, honey, I am. You’ll have to see how your pup responds to Chief. If they can get along well enough you can leave him since we’ll be gone overnight. If not, I’ll grab us a hotel with a pet friendly room, and we’ll just have to make it clear that no one is allowed to enter the room. Think of it as my apology for being gone a week right after we started something.”

“You didn’t owe me an apology or anything, but um, I’m not turning it down either, because it’s the Penguins!” I almost shouted at him by the end of my statement.

“Good to know honey.” His smile nearly blew me away, and I think even Bubba could tell because he made a snuffling noise at my feet as if to say, “Women!”

Chapter 8

Two days later I found myself sitting just behind the glass as Kent Lewis was smacked right into it. Before he peeled himself off he grinned big at his brother, and then tore off after the asshole that had slammed him there. The gloves came off and a fight ensued ending with both players in the sin bin for a bad boy hockey player time out.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” I yelled enthusiastically to Smoke as we retook our seats after standing to yell at the refs. Clearly, any retaliation should have been overlooked. Jeez.

“I think Kent just wanted to get a better look at who I had sitting over here,” Smoke mumbled. I glanced at him, saw that he was serious and did a double take.

“You’re not serious,” I stated. He just looked at me. “Oh my God, you are serious!” I glanced over to see Kent waving to us from his place in hockey jail and I huffed out a laugh.

“Honey, my brother would not let someone stuff his face into the glass that easily for any other reason than he was curious who was on the other side of it,” Smoke explained.

“Unbelievable!” I shouted as I tossed my hands in the air and then started gesturing wildly to the ice where his brother should be playing. “Now they’re a man down!” I moaned. “What was he thinking? He could have waited to appease his curiosity after the game. Holy, holy hellfire.”

Smoke was full on laughing at my tirade, but he didn’t realize I was serious. Kent Lewis just earned an ass chewing from me, and I was going to seriously see to it. Who cares that he’d probably earned one from his coach as well. Mine would be far better. “Maybe I should have a talk with the coach about his behavior,” I mumbled. This too earned more laughter from Smoke. Suddenly, I forgot all about his brother’s ice troubles, because Smoke throwing his head back in unbridled laughter was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen. His throat worked as his head tipped back, and his eyes were glittering with mirth. The wide smile that graced his bearded face damn near stopped my heart, and before I knew it I had reached my hand up to touch his cheek as he brought his head back down and his features shifted from lighthearted fun to a look so heated I felt it all the way down to my soul, and other places south of my waistline.

Smoke’s hand came up to capture mine and hold it against his face as he spoke. “You keep looking at me like that, honey, and we won’t be sticking around for you to see the end of the game let alone have the opportunity to chew my brother’s ass for his stint in the bin.”

“Um, okay,” I murmured dazedly. He leaned in then and captured my lips with his. I did not even think to stop him and so when cheers went up close to us it caught us both by surprise. It would seem that we had been featured on the kiss cam since we were both decked out in Penguins gear – my idea – to support Kent. “Oh my Gosh!” My face started turning red with a blush so bright the camera was bound to notice, because that kiss had been hot, and probably not meant for PG audiences. Smoke chuckled beside me as he tossed an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. I hid my face in his neck and almost wished I could stay there, because he smelled so good. The leather smell from his jacket clung to him along with a fresh, almost minty scent that drove me wild.

I glanced up from his neck after a minute to find him smiling down at me with such a soft look on his face that I was struck stupid for a moment. “Thank you,” I whispered, so close my breath probably tickled his chin as I did.

“Honey,” he said and stopped there. His hand came up to cup my jaw then he kissed me lightly before sitting back and refocusing on the game. I turned my focus too, just in time to see his brother was watching us from his place on the bench. I hadn’t even realized his shift was up until then. I smiled, not certain Kent could see it, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t sure what any of this meant for me right now, so I certainly didn’t need him trying to figure us out either.

Once the game was over – the Penguins won over the Predators 3-2 - Smoke took me to the tunnel where the guys would come out to see family, fans, and whoever else had access. There were plenty of women scantily dressed in not much more than a fitted hockey jersey adorned with whichever player’s name they were fishing for. I didn’t think many of them would be too picky if they nabbed someone else though. A few had asked Smoke if he played. After the first two he used me as a human shield while he stood against the wall and pulled me in front of him. He wrapped his arms around my waist to keep me there, and I wasn’t really about to complain, because it felt nice to relax back into his solid frame while we waited.

“Yo, Jared!” I heard called out at the same time I felt the arms around me lock down a little tighter. I glanced over to see a freshly showered Kent come bounding toward us in a bit of a rush.

“Kent,” Smoke stated sharply as tension filled his body. “Everything good?”

“Nah man. I know you came all this way to hang out, but I have a situation I need to handle. Can we do this another time?” He asked his brother as he swirled a finger to indicate the three of us.

“You need me for anything?” Smoke asked him. Kent shook his head and looked a little grim.

“Got my own woman troubles at the moment. I need to see to her before she sees her way out of my life for good,” he explained quietly so the vultures standing nearby wouldn’t hear him. Good call on his part too, because they were definitely leaning in attempting to glean some juicy tidbits.

Kent glanced at me then. “I promise, we’ll get together soon so we can meet in a more official way,” he offered his hand though and I took it quickly giving him a quick smile.

“I hope everything goes okay for you tonight,” I told him. He grinned then.

“Me too, sweetheart!” With that he clapped his brother on the shoulder and then took off for the locker room once more.

“I guess that means we are on our own now?” I asked.

“Yeah, honey, seems so.” He reached out to take my hand, but his arm was pulled back by one of the vultures.

“How do you know Kent?” The woman asked.

Smoke glared down at the hold the woman had on his bicep and then back up at her. She put on something that was supposed to be a sexy grin, I’m sure, and then she batted her fake eyelashes his way. She definitely didn’t have enough going on upstairs, because she did not clue in to the fact that Smoke was not happy about being touched by her. I stood there, cocked my head in her direction, and waited.

“You’re his brother aren’t you?” She cooed, finally. “I’m Mandy, a good friend of his. I’d be happy to show you around the town and take care of you while you’re visiting since Kent’s busy with things. Just so you know,” she leaned in conspiratorially. “It’s not anything more than friendship with Kent and me. I’ve never taken him for a ride, but I’d definitely be up for it with you.” I just stood there watching this go down, and waiting for Smoke to blow his top.

He grabbed her hand that was still stupidly attached to his bicep – honestly I couldn’t blame her for wanting to hold on to it as long as possible – and he removed it quickly, efficiently, and with zero care as to how it felt to her to be snatched away from heaven. I had to stifle a giggle at her fish out of water reaction with her mouth gaping and closing in repetition.

“I don’t know you. I don’t care to know you. I know you watched me standing here with my woman before he ever came out, so you knew damn well I was already here with someone. No man worth his salt would take a second glance at trash that behaves the way you do especially when he already has heaven on his arm.

“Knowing my brother, that means you aren’t even close to being in a league where you could be his associate, let alone a friend, let alone anything else.” Some of the other people waiting in the hallway with us – the ones who appeared to be family and real friends – started laughing heartily at what Smoke told Mandy. I was guessing this was normal behavior for her and they were enjoying seeing her being put in her place. One woman had her cell out, and I would bet money she was shooting video.

Smoke turned to me and took my hand then. “Sorry, honey,” he apologized.

“No need for you to apologize for the behavior of skanks who don’t know their place,” I informed him.

The woman stood there, red-faced and fuming. I turned with Smoke – who was apparently my man tonight – and we left her there. I found myself hoping that the woman who had been holding her cell up was going to send that video around to everyone who needed to see it.

“I think you just made the night of all the normal people that were standing there waiting,” I informed Smoke.

“Normal people?” He asked.

“Yeah, you know the ones who weren’t puck bunnies.”

“Jesus,” he laughed out loud. “You even know what their whores are called.”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“No, honey. Everyone does not know what they’re called.”

“Oh, I guess they don’t read then,” I suggested. He just shook his head and laughed at me again.

We ended up going straight back to our hotel, The Omni William Penn, to check out the speakeasy lounge. We each enjoyed a couple drinks, the atmosphere, and then headed up to our room. The anticipation of getting there had us both suffering some seriously pent up frustrations. It was a little strange for me, because I kept waiting for my old life to step in and tell me that I wasn’t ready. It never happened though. I didn’t feel like I wasn’t ready to move on. I didn’t feel as though I was doing anything wrong, or moving too fast. Everything just felt right. Because it all felt right I refused to second-guess my growing feelings for Smoke. I refused to put a stop to his mouth when it found mine, traced down my jawline, and suckled at my neck before he lifted the jersey I’d worn to the game over my head and trailed more kisses down my body while divesting me of my pink satin bra.

All the while my hands were not idle. I helped remove Smoke’s jersey too and ran my fingers up his abs, through the trail of hair that started below the waistband of his jeans and moved up to his naval, then further in a thin, light line until it spread out over his chest in a sexy sprinkling of hair that made it apparent he was all man while not completely overtaking the beauty that was his sculpted body underneath. ‘Sheer perfection,’ I thought as I trailed my nails lightly over his nipples that had perked up in the cool air of the hotel room.

As my bra fell away my attention on Smoke’s body was challenged when he dipped and bent in order for his mouth to seek out my nipple and give it a quick tug with his teeth before licking the sting away. He then sucked it to pert attention again before releasing it with an audible popping noise as he shifted to the other nipple, laving it with the same attention from tongue, teeth, and mouth.

The rest of our clothes quickly followed those removed before. His, mine, ours. All of it tossed to the hotel room floor and before I knew it Smoke had me lifted up with my legs wrapped around his waist, and he was carrying me to the bed. Along the way he managed to slip himself inside me. Never in my life had I been carried while connected to a man. Never. Holy, holy Jesus! There was nothing quite like it in this world. The insanely intense feeling in combination with the strength Smoke exuded while holding me aloft and managing to pump me up and down his shaft as we moved was so arousing I had already reached my first climax by the time he got us to the bed, and it hadn’t been that far away.

“So fuckin’ wet, honey,” he told me as if I didn’t know I was dripping wet thanks to his feats of greatness whenever he got me naked. Granted, this was only the second night we’d gotten naked together in the eight days since I first met him, but damn if he wasn’t going for the gold in the sexual Olympics every single time.

The hold he had on my ass as we walked changed, and suddenly his hands were moving up the length of my back as I started tipping backwards. It was an unsettling feeling, but I went with it as I was secured as both of his arms slid around to secure my backside while his body curled around mine in the front. Magically, seamlessly, before I knew what had happened in my foggy-brain sexed-up state I had been placed so gently onto the bed that the transition couldn’t have been real. What was real was the fact that the man hovering over me was slowly pumping in and out of my clenching sex. My eyes lifted slightly from their hazed, barely seeing anything state, and finally took notice of the pair of mismatched hazel orbs that were watching me so intently as he moved.

The glide of our bodies coming together sent zinging little electric shocks through all my sensitive places especially as Smoke got closer and his chest hair started tormenting my nipples with each plunge he took into me. The man was giving me a full body seeing-to as he moved and I managed to reach around and grab hold of his taut ass to hang on for the ride. Such a firm, fine ass it was too. The minute my nails dug in he started moving faster, thrusting harder, and suckling at my neck again. “Honey,” he called into my neck, the whispered word sending a puff of air to tickle the skin there. “You feel so fuckin’ good, Poppy.”

I ran my fingers up his back trailing my nails along the way as I did while I whispered back. “So do you, Smoke.” He pulled out, flipped me over, tilted my hips up at just the right angle and slammed back into me. “Oh God!” I breathed out as the new position added a different sensation to the mix. Smoke was not a small man in any way, and he was hitting a place so deep inside me it sent thrills of electrical pulses that both stung and elated me at once.

“So fuckin’ sweet and sexy,” he rasped out each word between thrusts inside me before he wrapped an arm around me and his fingers found that sweet little bundle of nerves that he began to manipulate. That was probably overkill as I was already about to tip over the edge into beautiful, oblivion, but I also wasn’t about to argue with anything this man made me feel. Everything he did to me was heavenly.

“Smoke,” I huffed out between labored breaths as he used his other hand to pull me back into his body harder with each thrust. “Oh God, Smoke, don’t stop, please… don’t… stop…” I murmured before my head tipped down toward the pillow. I couldn’t quite reach it after the hand at my left hip moved to grasp a tight hold of my hair and tug.

“Stay with me honey, I want to see the minute I take you there.” The slapping of his thighs against my own, the smell of sex on the air, and the tug at my nape from him controlling my position with the grasp he had on my hair combined with the throbbing, heavy pounding his body was giving mine as he swirled those strong fingers around my clit one more time sent me sliding right over the edge.

“Smoke,” I called out, loudly as my toes curled, my muscles clenched, and sweet, sweet nirvana enveloped me. “Sm-oooo-ke,” I managed to pant out with each thrust he was still thrusting into me as my insides clenched and released around his cock.

“That’s it baby, milk that cock,” he grunted as he slammed into me hard and deep one more time before his chest came down on my backside as he released inside me. “Fuck, Poppy,” he hissed out again before rolling us, still connected, to our sides on the bed where I curled right into his body as if it were something I’d been doing my entire life. It felt right. So damn right I didn’t ever want to lose the feeling that startled me a little bit and caused me to stiffen in his arms.

Smoke kissed the top of my head, squeezed tighter with the arm he had wrapped around me and whispered in my ear. “I’m not going anywhere, honey. Right here with you,” he finished with another kiss, this time just beneath my ear. Holy, holy Jesus. The man could read my mind!

We were stopped at a rest area on our way home the next day when Smoke got a call from his brother. Kent went about thanking Smoke, which only caused a puzzled look to appear on Smoke’s face until he burst out laughing as his brother clarified why he was being thanked. “You’re welcome, Brother. Shit, you should have just told me about it then. I would have taken care of the problem, and we could have met your girl while I introduced you to Poppy properly.” There was a momentary pause and then Smoke was speaking again. “Nah, it’s not like that. Yeah, she is. Yeah, next time. No excuses. Later.”

I didn’t know if I had the right to ask questions about the conversation he’d had with his brother, but as it turned out I didn’t need to. Smoke grinned at me and then laughed before recounting what his brother had just told him.

“The bitch from last night was trying to cause problems for my brother and his girl.” He shook his head then. “Didn’t even know the little fucker was seeing someone. He’s managed to keep it quiet, which is a fuckin’ miracle in itself considering who he is. Anyway, the bitch who got up in my shit last night had strongly insinuated she’d been fucking Kent. She did this in earshot of his girl. Kent’s never touched the bitch. He’s steered clear of puck bunnies since he got his first taste of their brand of trouble in college. Had one claim he knocked her up back then.”

“She wasn’t really pregnant?” I asked.

“Oh, she was, just turned out to be Kent’s teammate’s kid. Kent dodged that bullet, because the poor guy whose number was up ended up flunking out of school the next semester. He wasn’t good enough yet to go up for the draft so the bunny screwed them both out of their hockey dreams. Thank fuck that wasn’t the road Kent ended up on.”

“So what happened with the woman from last night?” I asked.

He grinned. “One of the player’s wives shot video of what went down last night. It made the rounds through the wives and girlfriends by this morning. Dumb cunt told me she hadn’t had my brother yet, but wouldn’t mind taking me for a ride. Every word came out clear on video. I guess that clinched things for Kent’s girl that he was the one telling the truth.” Smoke’s features distorted a moment in an almost angry look. “Sucks that she didn’t have enough faith in him to believe him outright, but apparently they’re still somewhat new, so he doesn’t blame her for that.”

“Well, I’m glad it worked out for him then. I’m also happy to hear that the video made it happen. Kind of made someone propositioning you right in front of me worth it.”

“Honey,” Smoke spoke softly into my ear as he pulled me into an embrace. “I really am sorry that happened. I promise you, if any bitch tries to disrespect you, me, or what we have together; I will take care of it immediately. That is not something I will ever tolerate.”

I nodded my head against his chest and couldn’t help thinking back to memories I’d apparently blocked out for some time. Memories of attending club functions where whores draped themselves over my man and it took him far too long to get them off, or he played it off as a joke later. Not once, that I could remember, had he nipped the problem in the bud for my benefit. I squeezed my arms around Smoke’s waist a little tighter, because even though he couldn’t possibly know what that proclamation meant to me, he deserved extra appreciation for initiating that response without me having to ask for it.

Chapter 9

Smoke had to go back to work the day after we got back from the hockey game. He was on for 24 hours and then he’d be off for the next 48. I found I liked the sounds of that since it meant we could possibly have a full day, at least, to spend together if he didn’t have obligations with the club during that time. In the meantime, I had Bubba to keep me company, and he seemed a bit clingier after having to deal with my brother during my absence.

“Poppy, I’m telling you the dog doesn’t like me,” My brother tried to convince me.

“Did he tell you that?” I asked on a laugh.

“He didn’t have to, smartass. It’s in his eyes. He kept watching me, like he was waiting for me to fuck up so he could eat me.”

I glanced down at Bubba, and I swear I could see a grin on his doggy face. Yup, Bubba was my new favorite person. Yeah, I know… dogs aren’t people. Whatever. Some of them are better than most of the people I know so I think it counts. “You have a screw loose. Maybe he was just waiting on you to give him belly rubs,” I suggested, and as I did my dog laid down and rolled over immediately. He obviously knew exactly what belly rubs were.

“That’s just nuts. I swear he’s not a fuckin’ dog. He’s a shape shifter, hellhound, demon, or something. No dog knows that much.” I laughed again as I leaned in and rubbed Bubba’s tummy. “You got plans tomorrow?” My brother asked with a knowing grin.

“Nope,” I informed him to which his eyebrows shot up damn near to his hairline.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously, why?”

“Um, the club’s is having a barbecue. I figured you’d be coming with Smoke so I didn’t say anything.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know what we’re doing yet, if anything. It’s not like he pinned me and we’re going steady or something, Keith.”

“You just went on a trip, out of town, on the back of his bike yesterday. Same fuckin’ thing for bikers and you know it.”

I just huffed. “It’s not the same for all bikers, and you know that too.”

“I know Smoke, so I’m telling you it’s the same. That man has you on the back of his bike at all, it’s because he expects to keep you there.”

That caused me to smile. It also caused my brother to shake his head. “Jesus. You’re already gone for him too,” he muttered. Then he moved to me and pulled me into a hug. “I’d pick him a thousand times over for you, Pop. Seriously, never liked you with Walker all that much past the first few months. I do like Smoke for you though, for what it’s worth.”

“It’s worth a lot,” I told my brother as I hugged him back. “But just so you know, we’re taking things slow and seeing where they go. Walk is not being very cooperative with the divorce. My lawyer called, said he’s refusing to sign the papers and grasping at every straw he can to stall.”

“What the fuck straw does he have to grasp for? The bastard cheated and the whole fuckin’ town knows it.”

I shrugged. “He’s saying I inherited the house while we were married so a portion of the sale will belong to him if we divorce.”

“You have got to be shitting me!” The gruff rumble to my brother’s voice spoke of the violence he wanted to commit against my ex. “Seems like maybe I need to take another trip down to Georgia to straighten some shit out. Does he even realize I’m half owner of that house?”

“He knows, Keith. He’s just doing this to stall the proceedings. According to Snake, he’s supposedly coming up with a plan to come get me back.”

“You still talk to Snake?” My brother asked cautiously.

“He checks in every couple days. Snake felt bad for what went down before. He thought my leaving was because he didn’t tell me what Walker had planned. I’ve told him that it still would have happened because I can’t stand by a man who won’t stand by me.”

“You tell Snake you’re seeing someone else?”

“Nope,” I answered with a slight pop to the p. “Not his business or anyone else’s that he might pass that information along to.”

My brother grinned then. “Probably for the best. You let me know if this continues to be a problem with the house and the divorce. You know I already told you I kept my half of the stake in that house to protect you from this shit, so even if by some demonic miracle he gets half of your half, you’ll still get my portion too.” He glanced at me then grumbled under his breath, “I’ll take care of shit before it comes to that though.”

I knew that. When my brother and I had split my family’s estate after their death he took a lump sum from the insurance money, and left me with enough to cover the taxes and whatnot for a couple years. I got the house and land. They equaled about the same amount, but Keith had kept his name on the house and land in case Walker ever tried to screw me over. I had told him that it wouldn’t be a problem at the time, but I’m glad that my brother refused to listen to me. Apparently, he’d seen the writing on the wall long before I clued in to it.

As we stood there, each lost in our own thoughts about the situation, my cell started ringing. I glanced down and smiled when I saw Smoke’s name there. “Hello?”

“Hey honey, just calling because I forgot about the barbecue at the club this weekend. You think you can be ready to hit that up with me tomorrow?”

“I’m sure I can. Do you need me to bring anything?” I asked as I glanced up at my brother’s grinning face.

“You know the drill. If you want to bring a dish, you can, but make sure it can travel with the bike.” I laughed. Of course he’d be picking me up on the bike. “It’s a family thing, so you’ll get to meet my sister while we’re there. She’s the reason I remembered about the damn thing to begin with.”

“Oh, okay.” I didn’t know how I felt about meeting Smoke’s sister. His brother, I’d been excited to meet because being one of my favorite hockey players took my mind off of the fact that I was meeting someone who was Smoke’s family. Odd as that sounds, it’s true. His sister was an entirely different scenario. I worried she would hate me and tell him then that would be the end of whatever we were starting, and I really liked what we were starting.

“Honey?” He asked, sounding hesitant.

“Sorry, lost in thought. Sounds good. I’ll make some cookies up to take with so that they travel easily. I’m assuming by family barbecue that means kids will be there too?”

“Yeah, honey. My nephew will be there too.”

“Okay, cool,” I exclaimed before glancing nervously up at my brother who looked ready to laugh at me. “I better get to the store for cookie stuff then.”

“Okay,” he hesitated a moment. “Poppy, no need to be nervous. Soph will love you, and I’m sure that Brantley will too.”

“Brantley?” I questioned.

“My nephew,” he explained.

“Oh okay. How old is he?”

“Three.”

“Awesome, I will make a special cookie just for him,” I announced, because I knew exactly what I was going to do. I had seen these cool cartoon and animal shaped cookies on Pintrest and I’d been dying to try them out on someone. I also had a motorcycle cookie cutter that would probably make a fitting cookie for a biker kid.

Smoke laughed. “Well shit, he’ll definitely love you if you’re bringing him his own special cookies.” I heard an alarm sounding in the background. “Gotta go, honey.” The phone disconnected before I could tell him to be safe. Damn, it sucked knowing he was possibly rushing into a dangerous situation while I was rushing to the store for baking supplies.

“His sister is going to be there,” I informed my brother as I pocketed my cell.

“I figured. Her old man is Bender,” my brother informed me.

“Bender?” I asked. “Wasn’t he here helping move my stuff in?”

“That would be him.”

“Oh, okay. I liked him.”

Chief grinned at me then. “He liked you too, so you shouldn’t really have a whole hell of a lot to worry about. I’m sure he already told Soph about you.”

I couldn’t help ringing my hands in worry anyway. “I never had to worry about meeting the family with Walk,” I admitted. I’d already known his mom and dad. Walker didn’t have any siblings so that wasn’t an issue, and I’d already known the guys from the club thanks to my brother being a patched member.

“You’ll be fine, Lil’ Sis. Everyone loves you when they meet you.”

“Not enough, apparently,” I mumbled thinking about all the people who had turned their backs on me in favor of my philandering husband.

“No accounting for stupid,” my brother informed me before we both got ready to head out for wherever our days were going to take us. For me, it was the grocery store. For my brother, I assumed the day would take him back to the clubhouse. For Bubba, he’d be waiting for me to get home and show him how much fun baking cookies could be, because I was going to make some special peanut butter biscuits just for him too. Not that he really knew that was going to happen, but the dog was so good at anticipating my next move, I couldn’t help but believe he did really know.

I grabbed the small, beat up leather backpack I’d had for years and tossed it over my shoulders. It had the special cookie packed gingerly inside so as not to mess it up before the little boy it belonged to could tear into it. All the rest of the cookies had been packed neatly into Tupperware containers that now resided in Smoke’s saddlebags. It had been a couple years since I was last at a function in Cedar Falls, and even then it was a multi-chapter function so I had never been too certain just how many members they had. Chief never really talked about it aside from little stories of specific events and people before. I knew a good eight or so guys he always talked about, but I was sure there were more. The problem was, I didn’t know how many had old ladies, girlfriends, or how many kids there would be. I’d made enough cookies to feed an army, so I hoped they were plentiful. If not, I was positive big, bad, burly bikers enjoyed cookies just as much as the next person. It just so happened that they washed them down with beer or whiskey instead of milk like everyone else.

I laughed at my own thought as I threw a leg over Smoke’s bike to straddle up close behind him. He felt warm and solid there in front of me as I wrapped my arms around his middle and held on. I had always hated wearing my helmet since it made me feel like a bobble head figure, but now I had a new reason for hating it, because I wanted more than anything to rest my head on Smoke’s shoulder and cozy into him even more. The intermingling scents of mint, leather, and masculine perfection were lulling me into a space where I’d rather say forget taking the cookies to a barbecue, and let’s stay home cuddled up in bed.

Thanks to his schedule at the fire station, Smoke and I hadn’t been able to spend another night together yet since the hotel in Pittsburghh. His hand came down and squeezed my thigh before he took off out of my driveway and brought me back to into the moment. It was almost a surreal moment, because the last bike I’d been on the back of had been Walker’s, and now that I’d thought of that it had been almost four months. I hadn’t even been on the back of my old man’s bike for two months prior to our end. That was unheard of. The more little thoughts like that crept into my mind, the more I wondered what kind of rock I’d been living under during the time I’d spent with Walk. We were no longer the couple we’d once been. Instead, we had grown to be more like roommates who didn’t exactly enjoy being around one another. I wished I had woken up to that fact sooner. I didn’t want to be thankful for the storm. I didn’t want to be thankful for the day I dreaded every year, but if it weren’t for those circumstances I wonder how long I would have continued living in the shadows, unseeing?

I shook off that depressing thought and focused on the wind blowing the tendrils of my hair that managed to slip free of the quick bun I’d wrapped it into at the base of my neck in order to keep the wind from wreaking havoc on my long locks. I’d worn my comfortable, skinny jeans, noting that there was a chill in the air already, despite it only being early October. I had definitely moved to a slightly different climate than what I was used to in northern Georgia. I was also wearing a simple dove gray t-shirt with a navy blue Harley logo on it along side the words “live free”. Over that t-shirt I wore my black leather riding jacket that Chief had purchased for me years ago when he found out I’d taken a trip to Cedar Falls with Walk while wearing no riding leathers. Chief had been pissed that Walk hadn’t been taking care of me. Walk had been pissed that Chief made him look like an ass in front of their club brothers for not taking care of his woman properly. Even though it didn’t take Chief pointing it out to the other men, hearing someone say it out loud clued Walker in that he looked like a jackass, whether he realized it on his own or not. It was the last time we had gone to Cedar Falls.

There was yet another memory of something I hadn’t wanted to see or admit to while I’d been with Walk. My brother had been right. Walker hadn’t been taking care of me like some of the other brothers did with their old ladies. Steel, Quickshot, and Sweet would never allow their women on the backs of their bikes without their leathers. Not that they had to worry about it since all of their women rode their own bikes too and equipped themselves, but even Stone had equipped his woman, Mercy, with leathers that were patched to claim her as his old lady. Walk had never done that for me and we’d been together for ten years. The closest he had come to that had been to demand that I get a property patch tattoo with his name on it. I never did. My skin was as yet unmarred by ink, and not because I was against inking my skin, I just wasn’t going to make a property patch the first thing I put there, especially since Walk was dead set against getting me inked into his own skin.

When we’d discussed it – read had a heated battle over it – he had told me ‘my dad told me you never put a bitches name permanent on your body, not about to start now’. Needless to say, I used his own words against him in my refusal and neither of us ever wore each others’ names. Looking back, that should have been a huge red flag for me. That was only six months after we married, and only after a man visiting from the Charleston Chapter tried to pick me up at an event.

We slowed as we turned into the Cedar Falls Complex, and once again I was pulled from the morbid thoughts of all the things that should have been warnings of what was to come when I was with Walker. I squeezed Smoke extra tight before releasing him and dismounting the bike. There were only a couple of guys hanging around outside in the lot, and they all glanced over curiously as we started pulling tubs of cookies from the saddlebags on Smoke’s bike.

“Thought you didn’t let bitches ride on your bike, man?” One of them called. I glanced up to see he had reddish hair, and appeared to be in his 30s with a well-trimmed beard that was just a couple shades darker than the long locks flowing down his muscular form. He was grinning at Smoke, but that grin slipped at whatever he was seeing from Smoke’s expression. I didn’t bother to turn and look. Instead, I stood there studying the man as his features shifted from grinning idiot to questioning and thoughtful.

“Call her a bitch again and we’ll be talkin’ out back in the shed,” Smoke called out. The red-haired man took a harder look at me then before moving his attention back to Smoke, and nodding to the man while awaiting an explanation.

Smoke didn’t give one until we had everything unpacked, and then he walked us over to the three men, of which Red had been one, and started introductions. “This is Poppy,” he started when he was cut off by another man whose kutte told me was called Crutch.

“Poppy?” He questioned then smiled. “You’re Chief’s sister, right?”

“That I am,” I offered on a smile.

“Oh, Chief asked you to bring her by?” Red asked, and then added, “I’m assuming that means he’s bringing one of his bitches then?” This made me cringe, because I knew my brother played the field since the woman he followed to Cedar Falls all those years ago broke his heart, but the way this man, Red – who was apparently known as Heavy – had spoken my brother had several ‘bitches’ that could have been in contention for a place on the back of his bike.

Smoke growled at the man, tossed an arm around my shoulder, and shook his head. “Poppy’s with me, because she’s mine,” he informed them. “Don’t know what Chief’s up to or if he’s bringing anyone.” As he spoke I noticed the third man, finally, who was grinning at me.

“Oh, hey!” I exclaimed.

“Hey, Poppy,” he called. “How’s that monster of yours?”

I laughed. “He’s good, although he didn’t seem too happy to be left behind today,” I informed him. The him being the man my brother had brought by to introduce me to the other day, Hold ‘Em.

Smoke’s arm tightened on me. “You know Hold ‘Em?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah, Chief brought him by when he got back from the run the other day and realized he’d left me without a way to communicate with anyone.” Smoke studied the man who was still a prospect for the club, but from what Chief had told me was soon to be a fully patched brother.

“Take it you met Bubba?” He asked the man.

“Damn near pissed my pants meeting Bubba, thought he was gonna fuckin’ tear my leg off,” Hold ‘Em admitted. Smoke cocked a brow up.

“There was a strange man standing on my porch, and it made me nervous. I’m sure Bubba felt that, and was feeding off my energy.”

“Like that Bubba was doing his job, honey,” Smoke told me, ignoring the confused glances the other men were throwing his way.

“You two know each other before Poppy moved here?” Heavy asked.

“Nope,” Smoke answered and turned me with his body so that we could move to go inside. “I’ll catch up with you guys later. We need to go deliver these cookies Poppy made.” He motioned down to the containers of cookies he and I were both holding on to as we went.

“I’ll grab the door for you,” Crutch called out as he moved to lead the way.

“Thanks, man,” Smoke told him and Crutch just nodded, smiled at me, and then opened the door to the clubhouse. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimness of the interior as opposed to the bright fall sunlight we’d stepped in from.

Just about the time my eyes adjusted and I was able to take in the once shadowy figures on my periphery a tiny little body slammed itself into Smoke. “Unc Moke,” he yelled. I grinned down at the cuteness that was the toddler boy hanging on to Smoke’s leg as he took his arm from around my shoulder and patted the boy’s head. The boy latched on to Smoke’s leg, wrapping arms and legs tightly around them in what was apparently a familiar game for them to play, because Smoke pretended it wasn’t happening as he moved forward through the room until we got to the bar, where he placed the two bins of cookies he was carrying down on the counter as I followed suit. Once my hands were free I reached up to the straps on my shoulders and moved to pull the bag off, but Smoke beat me to it. He helped me off with my bag and placed it gently in front of me on the bar.

I offered up a beaming smile to him as he reached down to snatch his nephew off his legs and tossed him into the air. “No free rides,” Smoke called out to the giggling boy. As he landed firmly in Smoke’s arms again he turned the boy so he was looking at me and then he whispered something in the boy’s ear. “Can you say hi to my girl?”

The little boy shook his head, no as he blushed.

“Why not?” Smoke asked.

“She pwetty,” he answered as he ducked his chubby little face into his uncle’s neck making me smile even bigger at the little guy.

“I’m just Poppy,” I told the boy. “Can you say that?”

“Popwee,” he told me while shaking his head in the affirmative. I held my hand out for him to shake, and as he did I asked, “What’s your name?”

“Bwantwee,” he informed me. I glanced up at Smoke for a translation. I was pretty sure he meant Brantley, but with little kids you never knew.

“Brantley,” Smoke confirmed. “Where’s your mom?” The boy pointed across the room to a couple that was standing watching our interaction with heightened interest.

“Why don’t you go ask your mom if you can have a cookie. I think Poppy made a special one just for you, bud.”

“You did?” The angelic little face gazed up at me in wonder.

“I did, but you can only have it once your mommy says its okay.”

“Momma!” He screamed across the room while struggling for Smoke to put him down. Smoke did and his little legs took off full steam ahead towards his parents. “Popwee made me spetial cookies!” He exclaimed. “Can I eats them?”

I took the special cookies from my pack and started heading in their direction with Smoke hot on my heels. When we got closer it became very noticeable that Smoke’s sister was a beautiful, feminine version of himself. The woman was tall with legs most other ladies would kill to have, long and slender, yet well toned. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, something I thought was not quite up to par with the weather we were currently having. Her tank was a black support tank for the club, and she also had a female version of the kutte the men wore. No doubt, hers held a property patch on the back. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled into a fancy fishtail braid that wound down the right side of her neck and hung loosely over her shoulder. Her eyes were a hazel mix of greens and golds that were stunning in their own right, although not as in your face amazing as her brother’s multi-hued eyes.

The woman was not smiling as we approached. She wrapped her arms around her wiggly son and glanced down at him as he tugged on her tank top. “Momma, can I haz a spetial cookie pweeeez?” He begged. The man standing next to her laughed at his son. He was a tall man with dirty blond hair and a slightly darker goatee. The laugh caused tiny little crinkles to form at the corners of his eyes that made me suspect that he was prone to laughter and smiles. If I hadn’t been in such a daze when he helped unpack my moving truck, I might have remembered that about him.

I responded in kind as I leaned forward to hand him the special cookie his son was talking about. “Whenever you’re ready for him to have that,” I suggested and the man took it while smiling at me then he held out his other hand. “We already met when you moved in, but I’m Bender. This is my old lady, and Smoke’s sister, Sophie. This little guy,” he added as he took his hand back from shaking mine in order to ruffle his son’s hair is our boy, Brantley.” The pride in his voice and his eyes could not be missed. That man was all about his family.

“Thanks again for helping move me in,” I managed to flounder out before putting my hand out to shake Sophie’s. She took it a bit reluctantly. I didn’t know what to make of her reluctance, so I decided to not let it bother me just yet. “I’m Poppy,” I offered. When she just stared blankly at me and didn’t engage in conversation I let go of her hand while I mumbled, “I’m Chief’s sister.” Bender was staring at his woman with confusion written all over his face and when I chanced a glance up at Smoke he did not seem very happy with his sister. She noticed where my eyes traveled and hers moved in the same direction. Whatever she saw in Smoke’s fierce look shook her out of her stupor.

“Sorry,” she rushed out quickly. “I was just confused by you showing up with my brother since you’re married and all,” she stated nonchalantly causing a couple gasps to go up from people who had been standing close by and watching this all play out. I was so damn embarrassed I could feel the flames of a deep blush rushing to my skin, which was going to suck, because when I got embarrassed it left a mark on my pale, freckled complexion, making those freckles stand out even more.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me, Soph?” Smoke called out. I just put my hand on his elbow to get his attention and shook my head, not wanting any more attention drawn to our little corner of the room.

“I am still married,” I spoke, addressing Sophie. “I’m in the middle of a divorce at the moment, and while I would love that it was all over already, my ex is being a pain in the butt and trying to stall in order to get money for the sale of my family’s home and lands.” I put it out there as honestly and succinctly as possible. Sophie seemed to pale a little bit.

“He’s a brother in the club,” she whispered as though this meant something.

“Yes, he’s with the Sierra High Chapter,” I informed her.

“Why would he need your family’s money?” She asked.

I just shrugged. “I don’t begin to understand anything Walker does, so I couldn’t tell you. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if my brother’s around yet,” I told her, because I certainly didn’t intend to stand there airing my dirty laundry for anyone else in the club, least of all Smoke’s sister, and especially because Smoke and I hadn’t even discussed the latest news in my divorce drama.

“Poppy,” Smoke called to me before I was more than a couple steps away. I hesitated long enough to hear him say, “I’ll be right behind you in a minute. Chief’s at the pool tables.”

I nodded and walked off, headed in the direction Smoke had pointed me to, but I still heard him speaking in a scathing tone to his sister. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“I – I don’t know,” she admitted. I was on the move so I didn’t get to hear the rest of what was said. Instead, I searched out my brother, found him, gave him a big hug, and informed him the cookies were on the bar. He glanced over in the direction of Smoke and his family and frowned.

“What was that about?”

I shrugged once again, something the day seemed to be bringing out of me. “I’m guessing Sophie isn’t a fan of her brother hooking up with a woman who is still married.”

“What?” My brother hissed out angrily.

“Leave it,” I told my brother. “It is what it is. I’d probably feel the same if it were you until I got to know the woman and her circumstances.”

“Still, Poppy, she disrespected you by bringing it up in the clubhouse with people around to hear that shit?” He asked, knowing she must have since I knew why she didn’t like me.

“It is what it is, Chief. Let it go. I’m used to being the outcast in the clubhouse, remember?”

This did not appease my brother in the way I thought it would. “Yeah, and I wanted better for you here, because that shit should have never happened back home. Walk was any kind of man he would have nipped that shit in the bud for you instead of perpetuating it by not bringing you around and staking his claim the way he should have.” Chief shook his head at me while thinking before he spoke. “I always thought it was you just being shy or something, but I’m seeing that wasn’t the case. He was hiding shit from you, or keeping you away from his other shit all this time. I know it.”

I cringed. “Can we not talk about this right now. It’s bad enough to know what went down in the last couple months of our marriage. I don’t want to speculate that I was dumb enough to allow that to happen throughout our marriage. That will kill me, Keith,” I whispered the last to him, but he heard me, and managed to pull me in close to him while giving me a big brother hug I hadn’t realized I’d been missing out on all these years since he’d moved to Cedar Falls. “Should have went with you when you left,” I told him which earned me a kiss on my head before the warm presence of another body was at my back. I knew that body just by the scent of him, and I turned to smile at him as his arm came around my waist and gently pulled me from my brother’s embrace.

Chief just grinned and went right back to his game of pool that had been put on pause while I was talking. Again, something my ex-husband wouldn’t have done. He would have made me wait until the game was over before interacting with me. Why was I just now seeing all this? Why couldn’t I see it before, as I was wasting ten years of my life with a man I thought I loved and whom I thought had loved me?

“Food’s up out back. You want to go grab something?” Smoke asked me, and I nodded while following him as he took my hand in his own and led me to the back yard area of the clubhouse. They had an amazing array of multi-level decking leading to a sunken large deck in the middle that had a fire pit, coolers along the sides, and plenty of benches wrapping around the whole thing, except where narrow steps came in down the middle of all four sides. Those steps lead up to a deck on the right where all the grilling was apparently done, a deck on the left that held a hot tub that was already seeing some action, although from clothed individuals since there were children present. There was a slim deck beyond that funneled out even lower into the grassy lawn area that seemed surprisingly well maintained. Then there was the deck I was currently standing on that opened up from the clubhouse to the others. Scattered lawn furniture and deck chairs were everywhere. Personal coolers were sitting beside some of the chairs and there were men all over the place decked out in denim and leather, t-shirts and a few flannels. The women seemed to be congregating around the food to serve the men or take care of the smaller children.

I wasn’t certain of my place in all of this since I wasn’t an old lady to Walker anymore and Smoke and I were something new. At best, I was now simply family to Chief. So, I stayed glued to Smoke’s side as he moved us over to where the women had set up an elongated table with tons of sides, chips, and cupcakes all over it. Smoke walked us over to the table and smiled at the women who were eyeing us curiously.

“This your new woman?” A younger girl with bleach blond hair and bright blue eyes asked. She was wearing what I’d normally associate as club skank wear consisting of shorts so short parts of her were hanging out that shouldn’t be on show and a top that was cut off to a point that her underboobs were going to be visible to any of the children who dared get too close to her. Her tone wasn’t exactly mean or anything, but she didn’t acknowledge me at all, aside form asking Smoke the question.

“Poppy is my woman. She’s also Chief’s sister.” He scored her with a heated look before issuing a warning. “Be nice, or we’ll have problems. Don’t care who your dad or your man is now.”

Well, obviously there was a story behind those words, and it made me wonder what, if anything, had gone down with Smoke and this woman previously. She sucked her lips into a pucker as if she’d tasted something sour. Then she turned and walked away from the table.

“Don’t mind her,” an older, blond haired woman told me with a smile. “That one has always had a bad attitude. She didn’t grow up in the club thanks to her no-good momma. Didn’t have much of a good influence for the same reason, so make no mind.” She held out her hands. “I believe we actually met a few years ago when you came up for an event. I’m Cindy, Hopper’s old lady.”

I smiled at her. “Hi Cindy, I do believe we were introduced once before.” I looked around at all that was on offer at the table and then laughed. “We left the cookies I brought on the bar inside,” I lamented.

“Oh lord, those boys probably done ate them all up then,” she laughed. Then she mock-glared at Smoke. “You should have known better than to do that.”

He gave her a sheepish grin before picking up a plate and starting to pile sides on it. “We got sneak attacked by Brant, and then I had to introduce Poppy to Soph.”

“How’d that go over?” Cindy asked cautiously.

“Not as well as I’d have liked,” Smoke told her honestly which made Cindy sigh.

“I was worried about that since everyone was gossiping about what went down in Georgia to bring Chief’s sister up here.” I turned all my attention back to Cindy then.

“Gossiping about me?” I asked.

“Sure, sugar. Nothing bad was mentioned, just that you were leaving your old man, and from what everyone says, he deserved to be left.”

I nodded, and was happy to hear that I wasn’t being made out to be the beast in all of this, but it still sent my stomach to turning on itself, and suddenly the food I’d been placing on my plate didn’t seem quite as appetizing. Cindy reached over and patted my hand in a kind gesture. “You ever need to talk, a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to vent to, you call me up, sugar. I might listen in on the gossip, but I don’t run my mouth. You have something to say or get off your chest it’ll stay with me if you need it to.”

“Thank you, Cindy,” I told her as Smoke took my hand again and began walking us toward the deck with the grill so we could go grab some of the ribs the boys were cooking.

“Cindy’s a good woman. You can believe her. That woman locks secrets up tighter than a vault.

“Good to know.”

When we got to the grill I noticed Ghost, the president of the local club, as well as the national president of Aces High, was standing there manning the ribs. He tipped his chin up to Smoke before his piercing turquoise colored eyes landed on me. The smile he gave me then was genuine. “Hey there, Poppy.”

“Hi, Ghost. See you’re the one to complain to if the ribs suck,” I teased. He grabbed at his chest as if I’d just broken his heart and he was holding the organ in.

“You wound me!” He exclaimed loudly.

I just giggled. Ghost and I had a cook off once when he was down visiting with his daughter who was married to the president of the Sierra High Chapter as well as being President of her own female motorcycle crew. We pitted our ribs against each other and came out with a draw in the end. No one could decide whose were better because they liked them equally and for different reasons.

Ghost pointed to the two different containers holding the ribs that were already done. “I made two batches, darlin’. There’s my brand of spicy and your brand of sweet.” He pointed in kind to each dish.

“You made my ribs today?” I inquired on a surprised breath.

“Been making both since we had our cook off all those years ago. Thought it’d be prudent since most of the women preferred your sweet to my spicy.” He offered with a wink.

“Well, damn, now I have to try them and make sure you’re doing my recipe justice.” He laughed then.

“Shit! Do not shoot the cook! I make no promises that I got them right. They’re always missing a little of your magic when I attempt them.” Smoke had remained quiet during this exchange, but when I glanced over at him he was grinning from ear to ear.

“What?” I asked.

“Didn’t know you were the one responsible for the sweet, southern ribs Ghost started making, honey.” I didn’t know what to say to that so I didn’t say anything at all. “They’re my favorite.”

Ghost laughed at that. “He isn’t joking. The women always complain when he gets to them first, because there are never enough.”

“Maybe you should take a hint and make more of the superior ribs then?” I asked on a laugh.

“Blasphemy!” Ghost bellowed out while both Smoke and I laughed. “Okay, darlin’ what’s it gonna be?” He finally asked.

“I’m having some of each. Have to make sure you’re doing my recipe justice, but I also love your spicy ribs. It’s a good change of pace from mine.” I offered up on a wink as I grabbed a couple of each.

“Well, next time, you can prep your own recipe so that you know it gets done right.”

“Absolutely,” I agreed with a smile.

“And maybe some of that triple chocolate cake you made before because Leanne loved that shit, and I was supposed to get the recipe for that too, but I didn’t and she’s been harping on my ass about it for years. Woman’s tried to find something similar since then and to no avail.”

“Aww, you could have called. I would have given it to her.”

He looked at me funny then, almost hesitantly, before he spoke. “I did call. Walk told me he didn’t know what I was talking about that he thought you bought it at the store.”

I know I must have paled considerably. “Are you serious?” I gasped out. Ghost nodded as I shook my head. “It’s my grandma’s recipe that I tweaked a little over time. I can’t believe he told you it was store bought.”

“Sorry to bring up bad shit, darlin’.”

“No worries. Just another reminder why my recent life change was for the best.”

Ghost nodded then tipped his head to Smoke. “I need you both to know something before you run off today.” He had both of our undivided attention with that statement. “If I were to pick a person for each of you, this would be it. I approve. No matter that her divorce hasn’t gone through,” he told Smoke. “No matter that you were once with another brother,” he informed me. “I like the two of you for each other. So, if it works out, you have my blessing all the way. It doesn’t work out, make sure you don’t disappear on us, darlin’, because you’ll always be family. That’s something Sweet should have conveyed to you, and I’m damn disappointed he didn’t.” Sweet was Ghost’s son-n-law and the president of the Sierra High Chapter of Aces High.

I felt tears brewing at the backs of my eyes then. “Thanks,” I whispered as Smoke let go of my hand in order to put an arm around my shoulder and pull me into his side instead.

“Appreciate all that, Ghost,” Smoke let him know before we moved off to find ourselves a table to sit down and enjoy our feast.

“That was sweet,” I told him, speaking about what Ghost had just said to us.

“Yeah, honey, it was. He likes you. Never seen him joke around like that so easily with any of the other women outside of Leanne and Angel Girl when she’s around.”

“We bonded over our ribs years ago,” I explained.

“I see that. Damn proud to know those ribs I’ve been eating up all this time came from you in a round about way.” My smile lit up my face with his praise.

“Thanks. I’m just glad someone other than the clubwomen actually likes them. “Ghost won’t tell you this, because it might mean he loses the cook-off you had, but the sweet ribs are always gone long before the spicy ones and that isn’t on account of just the women eating them.” At that I laughed.

“Good to know,” I told him.

“Make sure no one gets eager enough to touch my food, honey. I’m gonna go snag us some drinks. You want beer, water, coke, or something else?”

“Coke’s good to wash the ribs down. Little too early for beer for me.” He gave me an odd look, but went about going to procure our drinks anyway. I never drank early at the few club events I went to. Mostly, I knew that I’d have to pace myself, and stop drinking after one or two anyway, because Walker almost always got out of hand and forgot I was there. I’d have to find a ride home or be the one to drive us home on the days I’d driven my car to the clubhouse because Walker had taken off without me. Most times he’d told me it was because he knew I’d have a bunch of shit to take with me that wouldn’t fit on the bike. It still sucked to show up alone and have to drag my stupidly drunk husband out after he allowed other women to paw on him in front of me without putting them in check. It was definitely making me wonder how long Walker had been messing around behind my back and just being more cautious about who was seeing it.

Once again, I found myself having to remind myself that it didn’t matter what Walker had done, what I had been ignorant of, found out about too late, or anything else. The only thing that mattered was that moving forward I didn’t have to deal with any of it. It was my past. The speculation could stay buried in the past with all the other not so pleasant memories our separation had allowed to surface. Instead, I decided to tuck into the ribs on my plate, and the minute I did the flavor exploded on my tongue. Ghost had done my recipe proud.

“Poppy?” A female voice called to me from just behind my shoulder. When I looked I realized it was Sophie.

“Oh, hi,” I managed to get out as I wiped the sauce off my mouth with my napkin. “Have a seat,” I offered, gesturing to the empty side of the table across from where I was sitting.

“Where did Smoke get off to?” She asked while eyeing his plate of unattended food.

“He went to snag us both a drink.”

“Listen,” she started as she sat down across from me. “I wanted to apologize for being rude earlier. That’s not normally like me. It’s just that I watched my brother with that undeserving skank ex of his for far too long. She dragged him and our brother, Kent, through some shit.”

“I know,” I interrupted to tell her, because there was no need to hear the story retold again.

“You know?” She asked surprised. I nodded so she continued on. “The thing was, I watched my brother just getting by with her. He never really seemed happy. The light he usually had in his eyes wasn’t there. It’s almost like he was always on edge when they were together, and you could almost physically see him waiting for the bottom to drop out, you know?” I nodded again, because I was discovering that was what my own life had been like with Walker for more than a few years now.

“The other guys used to refer to her as his old lady, and while he never corrected them, he never said the words himself. Five years they were together and there were no proposals, and never even a thought about buying a ring to make one either. That said a lot about how my brother was feeling, even if he didn’t realize it himself.”

I was really beginning to wonder where this was going, but I didn’t bother interrupting again. I just sat there and listened as Sophie went on.

“I see him with you today, and he’s lit up like the damn Fourth of July.” She shook her head then, as if doing so would lead to understanding. “Saw you guys on TV at the game the other day too. That’s when he first talked to me about you. I had to call him and ask who the woman was. He told me your story about your husband, or at least what he knows of it.”

“Ex-husband,” I corrected her.

“Thought you weren’t divorced yet?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Semantics. I don’t have the paperwork, but when I left there was no looking back for any reason, other than to sign papers making it official.”

“That’s what worries me,” she stated solemnly.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not divorced yet. You were with the man a decade or so right? From what I hear, you were trying pretty desperately to have kids with him too.” That stung a bit, but I just bit off my bitchy response I wanted to lob her way and shrugged my shoulders as if to say… ‘And, your point is?’ She nodded her head. “I worry it’s too soon. That either you’re not really over your ex and just mad that he made some dumb decisions or that my brother is your rebound and he’ll be the one to get hurt either way.”

“I understand your concerns and if it were Chief and some woman in my shoes I’d be feeling the same way, so I don’t blame you for it either. The thing is, you don’t know the whole situation, because no one outside of me does. Yes, we were trying to have kids, but the trying part died out a long while back. He gave up, because our failure to have them was his problem physically and he couldn’t cope with that. What I’ve come to realize since our big blow out and the mess that followed was my eyes had been shut for a long time during our marriage. I hadn’t been happy. He wasn’t happy. We were roommates living a lie of a life, and I allowed that to happen, because for a long time I was too consumed by the grief of losing my family to acknowledge the fact that I was lost right along side them.

“My husband never tried to find me. He never bothered to help me heal, to put me in the arms of others who could help, or anything. He just concerned himself with the club, came home, and had me there to care for him. It took a huge epiphany for me to see that my life was a joke, and that my husband didn’t care beyond my convenience any longer. It took that same epiphany for me to realize I hadn’t been in love with the man in a long time. He was just all I had left since my only other living relative had moved away to be here, and for whatever reason I didn’t think I could leave behind the memories of the rest of our family. I allowed myself to remain stuck for far longer than I should have, but rest assured my eyes are wide open, my heart accepting, and my brain has caught up to everything I was ignoring.

“My divorce will go through. My ex is just that, an ex. And as far as your brother is concerned, I have no clue where the future will take us. I’m making no promises to him, to myself, and definitely not to you that our futures will be entwined. How could I know that? We’re knew. What I do know is that from the moment I met Smoke he has captivated me. He has shown me some of the things that I’d been missing from my marriage. We have fun together, we have like interests, and we have amazing chemistry.

“Will that lead us to an amazing future together? All I can say is I hope so. I’m not on the rebound, because I wasn’t looking to begin with. There are just people in this life that you meet and there’s no denying they belong to you in a way. They are meant to be your people. Smoke is one of those people for me. He just clicked into place immediately.”

Sophie smiled at me, and for the first time that day it was a genuine smile. She looked beyond me, over my shoulder, and a moment later I felt him there. His warmth embraced me seconds before he did as he took the seat beside me, deposited our drinks on the table in front of us, and then had one arm wrapped around my shoulders again. “Soph,” he grumbled out.

Sophie continued to smile at her brother. “Brant loved the cookie you made him,” she claimed as her smile moved from her brother back to me. “You’ll have to share your recipe with me, because I tried a bite, and it was heaven in my mouth.”

“Lord, woman, everyone wants your recipes,” Smoke declared. When Sophie sent a questioning glance to her brother he held up one of his ribs. “The sweet ribs Ghost makes are Poppy’s.”

Sophie sucked in a breath and then grabbed my hand. “You’re kidding?” I shook my head.

“They’re mine.” I affirmed after I swallowed the drink of coke I’d been taking when she asked.

“Oh my God, those things are to die for. When Ghost started making that second batch I thought he’d found his true calling. I can see we’ll have to spend a bit more time in the kitchen together. You’re the one that made that chocolate cake Leanne has been going on about for so long then?” I nodded once more. “She’s had us all try so many chocolate cakes it’s ridiculous. I feel like a chocolate cake connoisseur by now, but Leanne says nothing compared.”

“If I’d known I would have brought that instead of the cookies.”

“Next time,” Sophie insisted. “You have to make a few of them though, because I promise you that they will be devoured quickly. Everyone has been in on Leanne’s chocolate cake quest.” She laughed and so did Smoke.

“She is not wrong about that.” Then he grinned at his sister. “Where’s the demon spawn?”

Sophie sighed. “He had a bit of an accident since he was so excited about the cookie. Bender took him to get cleaned up before anyone noticed.” She whispered conspiratorially.

Smoke grinned wider. “Poor kid. Though, nothing these morons don’t do themselves during a good party when they tie one on too hard.” He offered with a laugh.

“Truth!” Sophie stated with an exasperated huff. “Still haven’t forgiven Bender for the time he came to the bedroom and pissed in our laundry basket thinking he’d made it to the bathroom.” She shook her head as my jaw dropped. Then she looked right at me. “It was full of clean clothes too, and my old leather jacket was right on top.”

“No way!” I cried out in disbelief.

“Oh yeah, he ended up buying me a new one the next day, because I refused to wear the jacket he pissed on ever again. Taught him a lesson, because the replacement was not cheap!” She offered as she snickered.

“Tell me you are not extolling the virtues of me watering the laundry again,” Bender said as he found his way to the seat beside his wife and tucked in along with his son and a plate of food.

“Oh yeah, I did.”

“Jesus, woman. You ever gonna let me live that down?”

“You still tell people about the first time I farted around you when we were dating?” Bender started chuckling immediately, and looked guilty as hell while doing it.

“That’s what I thought,” Sophie scoffed.

“Babe, it wasn’t just a fart. When you go all in, you go ALL in.” He glanced my way, eyes crinkled with mirth as he explained. “It was a full-on shart. Didn’t stop laughing about that shit for a solid week.” Sophie’s face was buried in her hands as her shoulders shook.

“You’re an asshole,” she grumbled from her hands.

“Babe, it was epic. One minute you’re talking to me as we step off the curb to cross the street to the movie theater, next thing I know a liquid rumbling is coming from your ass, and you got this look on your face.” He had to stop because of his laughter at that point. Smoke was belly laughing with him. Obviously hearing this story retold was still just as funny as when it first happened. Probably not for Sophie, but she seemed to at least be able to laugh about it now.

“Her hands clamped down on her ass like something had just been shoved up there, then she started hopping around like a lunatic, before she dodged back into the restaurant we’d just come out of and then she refused to come out of the bathroom.” Bender was still laughing as he finished telling this story, but then he pointed at Smoke. “This one shows up fifteen minutes later with a backpack on his back. Looks at me, breaks out laughing for a solid five minutes, and then heads into the restaurant. Sophie called him to bring her a change of clothes and barricaded herself in that bathroom until it happened.” He was shaking with laughter at this point. “Damn woman refused to talk to me for two weeks after that. She left with her brother that night. They snuck out the back and left me high and dry standing on the curb.”

“I texted you,” Smoke put in.

“Yeah, but I didn’t realize that until after I heard your bike start up and watched you pull away from the curb with my woman on the back of your bike.”

“Oh my God!” I hissed out amidst my laughter. “I’m sorry, Sophie, I don’t mean to…” I couldn’t get the rest out through my laughter.

She waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone here knows the damn story, and every single one of these fuckers laughed their asses off about it too.”

“Dees fuffers,” Brantley put in, causing us all to laugh even harder.

“That’s a bad word, Brant,” his father corrected.

“Whats is bad? Fuffers is bad?”

“Yeah, bud,” he told him while trying to hold back his laughter.

Brantley shrugged his itty-bitty boy shoulders and glanced around the table. “Mommy says fuffers.”

“Mommy’s gonna get a spankin’.” Bender told him while winking at his wife.

Brantley’s eyes grew wider. “Oh, mommy youz in tubble.”

“Christ!” Sophie muttered. I just giggled while hoping that some day I had a kid as cute and unassumingly hilarious as her son. For the first time, in a long time, that didn’t seem like an unattainable goal either. Maybe it would happen with Smoke, maybe not. I just knew that I was in a position to make it happen finally, since I got clear of my ex who did everything in his power to make sure I didn’t have options once he realized it wouldn’t be an easy thing to accomplish.

“Popwee?” Brantley called out from across the table.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Youz cookie was good. You not gon’ get spankins like Momma.”

“Good to know!” I told him. He then looked at his uncle.

“It was a voom voom bike, Unc Moke.”

“I know bud, I saw it.”

“You did?”

“Sure did. Poppy showed it to me.”

“Popwee is good,” his nephew told him, making both Smoke and me smile.

“Yeah, she is bud.” At least I knew I’d earned the approval of the toddler in the bunch. “Momma, you like Popwee too?”

“Sure do, Brant,” Sophie told him softly as she glanced back to me with a smile.

“She not get her spankin’. You gets a spankin’.” He reminded her.

“Okay, one-track,” his dad called out to him. “Let’s go grab you a cupcake before they’re all gone.” The little squirt did a fist pump with a solid, “YES!” hissed out as he squirmed from his mom back to his dad and then slipped through his grasp and took off like a rocket across the deck to get to the food. Yup, one day, I hoped like hell I had a little boy just like him.

“It’s moments like those that keep me from trying for another one right now,” Sophie stated to no one in particular. I didn’t bother telling her that her moment of cautionary tale was the opposite for me. I just smiled and went back to tucking into my food while being thankful that Sophie and I were able to have our little chat. It left me feeling far better about things than our initial meeting had.

Chapter 10

Smoke and I left the party for a bit in order to go see to Bubba, and our insatiable need to get one another naked. We actually ended up staying locked away at my house long enough that we had to see to Bubba one more time before we left again to head back to the party.

By the time we returned the barbecue was over, family time had come and gone with the old ladies and the children retiring to their homes for the rest of the night. The women who were able to find babysitters, or didn’t have younger children to tend to, found their way back to the clubhouse for the late night festivities. I was surprised to see that there didn’t appear to be many club whores hanging about so I asked Smoke why that was.

“Jewel, the girl who asked if you were my new woman when we got here earlier?” He asked to see if I remembered who he was talking about. When I nodded my head he continued. “She was a club whore for a short time before it came out who she really was. Hopper had a thing with one of the club whores back in the day after his woman left him and took his son to South Dakota to be with another man in the club. The whore he had a fling with got herself knocked up, but she never told him. Jewel comes of age and heads to the club to be a whore, at her mom’s behest, in order to help pay the bills since the girls who lived on site got a financial stipend.”

My eyes had to be bugging out because I had never known that was a thing. “Each club runs that shit differently. The club up in the Dakotas actually pays college tuition for some of their girls. The one in Charleston doesn’t fuck around with whores in their clubhouse anymore at all after some shit went down there that got a club member killed. The guys in Georgia don’t allow them to stay overnight, and that’s mostly because they’re top dogs have women in the S.H.E. MC and from what I’ve heard those girls don’t tolerate the whores’ attitudes too well. They just show for parties and whatnot. Here, we had a few that lived at the clubhouse and earned a stipend for being on call all the time.” I didn’t have anything to say when he paused so he continued on with his story.

“Well, we were on the verge of kicking Jewel out because she refused to be with any of the older guys, and wouldn’t give a reason why. Finally, she mentioned her mother told her not to ever have anything to do with any of the guys over 40. We asked who her mom was and all hell broke loose, because everyone knew she used to be one of the club’s whores, and considering Jewel’s age, any of those older guys could have been her daddy.”

“Jesus, are you kidding me? That woman sent her daughter in to be a whore where her own father could have… where he could see things… what the hell was she thinking?” I gasped all that out, completely astonished that a mother could put her own daughter in that position or that she would put the father in that position.

“Yeah, it was fucked, because Hop had seen his little girl getting banged on more than one occasion. Lucky as fuck he never got a hankerin’ to participate. Then again, Hop has a good woman, and isn’t one to run around on her.” He shook his head back and forth with whatever memories were running through his head then. “Jewel ended up catching the eye of Phoenix, one of the club’s nomads. They’re still together, but after everything came out and it was made clear that Hop was Jewel’s dad, he lost his shit a bit. When I say he saw her in the middle of doing some things, I mean he got the full view, and he was not happy to find out that was his daughter afterwards. He pushed to have the whole practice of keeping whores at the clubhouse abolished. He also pushed to keep the guys from having sex in public spaces. We have wild throw downs and sometimes you’ll see some heavy make out sessions. Tonight, you might even witness a blowjob in the corner or something, but it’s rare here now. Hop was obviously torn up about his daughter’s situation, but the other guys were just as disturbed, especially the ones who were with Jewel when Hopper saw. It caused a lot of friction in the club, so when the vote went up it was damn near unanimously passed. Didn’t hurt that most of the guys are settling down with women of their own now anyway.”

“I can’t imagine how humiliating that was for everyone involved. I hope Jewel wrote her mom off after that.”

“That woman dug her own grave and stepped in it knowingly. She’s not in this world anymore, and no, it wasn’t the club who took her out though I’m sure Hopper and a few others would have loved the honor after the shit storm that bitch caused and the life she brought that girl up in. It was the bullshit she had going on with drugs and owing money to the wrong people that got her dead in the end.”

“That’s nuts,” I hissed out through my teeth.

“It is, but I’m going to warn you now, that girl is still getting her shit together. She’s not here often, because her old man, Phoenix, is a nomad in the club. When she is here, you’d do best to steer clear of her. She’s working through her demons from what Phoenix has passed on to Hopper, but she’s still prone to causing drama, and she used to be friendly with my ex, so rest assured if she’s wanting to cause drama you make a pretty target.”

“Fantastic,” I muttered. Smoke rubbed his fingers along my back as we moved deeper into the clubhouse where people were dancing, playing pool, drinking, and generally carrying on as only adult aged children can. Despite the fact that I’d been to the clubhouse a few times before when I was with Walker, I didn’t really know anyone here. He had kept me mostly sheltered from club life, I was learning. I was also finding it strange that he had done so since most of these guys seemed to enjoy having their women close.

Once again, I had to take a moment to shut down the thoughts about my past. It wasn’t that I wanted to dwell there, or go back, I couldn’t help making the comparisons, because once your eyes are opened and you begin to see what is truly in front of you a person can’t help chastising themselves for having been so blind to it all. I hoped this was all part of the healing process I was going through, and at least I wasn’t in denial about the things I was experiencing now. I was learning from the past in order to make my future better.

Smoke and I were standing near the bar talking with Ghost, Leanne, and the prospect currently working behind the bar taking orders. His name was confusing, because I’d heard Ghost call him Gray and Smoke called him Surfer-Dude a lot. The Surfer moniker seemed fitting since he had that slow, southern California surfer speech going on and he had an affinity for the word ‘dude’ as well. Smoke had mentioned working with him before with CFFRD. It was just as we were all joking about the fact that Surfer-Guy Gray didn’t know how to make silly frou-frou drinks when Hopper and a man named Tuck walked toward us with a purpose. A man named Mick joined them quickly.

“Ghost, we have a pretty big fuckin’ issue we need to discuss in the office, possibly church,” Hopper explained. Ghost immediately hopped off his stool and started heading in that direction. Hopper and Mick followed behind, but Tuck hesitated and he did so while staring at Smoke.

“I’m thinking you should come too, Smoke.”

Smoke didn’t say anything other than to nod his head. Then he turned to me with regret in his eyes. “Don’t worry, you have to go, go. Handle your club business, and I’ll see you when it’s done,” I assuaged his guilt with my words and I could see the relief as weight seemed to visibly lift off his shoulders. He glanced around before speaking though then he sighed.

“Not sure how long this is going to end up taking, and Chief doesn’t look fit to drive you home, honey.”

“I’ve got her, Smoke. Go ahead to the office, and I’ll see her home.” Leanne lifted her glass to prove her point. “I’m just drinking Ginger ale tonight.”

Smoke nodded his head and took off with Tuck in the same direction the other men had gone moments before. I turned and glanced in Gray’s direction, smiling at him. “You better prepare your woman for the realities of that happening,” I explained with a grin. He smiled back, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes as they scanned the room looking for the woman he pointed out earlier. I looked too, and didn’t like what I saw when I did. If I didn’t know she had a man of her own I would think she was on the prowl in the clubhouse. Kayla, the girl Gray said he lived with, appeared to be flirting with a couple of guys over by the pool tables. That couldn’t be good.

“Did you want to hang around a bit and see if the guys get done with their club business quickly, or…” Leanne started to ask when Smoke, Hopper, and Tuck tore off out of the building with Smoke yelling, “Gray, get your ass out here with us, gonna need you on this one.”

“Shit!” Gray hissed, snatched up a set of keys from behind the bar, and tore off after the other men.

“Well, I’m going to take a wild guess and say they won’t be back any time soon,” Leanne amended.

I grinned at her. “I’m thinking you would be correct.” At that point Ghost had reemerged from his office and was stalking over to Leanne. “Babe, we’re going to be tied up with club biz for a bit.”

Leanne smiled sweetly at her man. “I figured. I’m going to get Poppy home since her ride just took off like a bat outta hell with the rest of the men. I’ll be back soon as I drop her off.”

Ghost didn’t say a word, just leaned in and kissed Leanne long and deep. Then he swatted her ass as she moved off her bar stool and he took off at a quick pace back down the hall that led to his office. It was on the ride home that Leanne informed me that she would keep me in the loop if she could.

“Soon as I know anything, I’ll message you. Lord knows, the lifestyle these boys lead, we women are left to worry too often. If I can help take some of that worry for you, I will.”

I smiled at Leanne. “You make a good old lady for the Prez doing that.”

She cocked her head to me then. “I imagine where you come from you know all about good old ladies for the Prez of the club.” I saw the pride in her eyes as she spoke of Angel Girl, yet she still noted my hesitant response.

“She may be my step-daughter, but I will always take truth over lies.”

“It’s not that she’s a bad person,” I started out. “I like Angel Girl, but she has her own club to deal with. She leads those women, and half the time club business for her club is the same as it is for the guys in Aces down there. She’s too buys being a good president for her club to be a good old lady supporting the women of her man’s club.”

Leanne nodded her head. “I suppose I never thought about that. Some days, I wish she’d give it up, because I think her calling was supposed to be in that support role. Then again, I remember all those girls when they first came to me, and then started Sierra High Evermore MC. They were all so lost and not a one of them were found until they made their own purpose. So, while she’s not supporting the women from her man’s club the way I think she was always destined to, she’s supporting all the women of hers in a way that they get a new lease on life when it’s kicked them to the ground one too many times.”

“I get that too,” I agreed.

“She didn’t step in and do anything in your situation?”

“Nope. I never heard from her or Keys throughout. JoJo came to visit me a couple times before I finally decided I needed to get out of that town, but there wasn’t much she could do outside of giving me a shoulder to cry on.”

“I suppose that’s true too. I’m a bit disappointed in those girls though, that being the case. I can’t believe after everything Angel Girl went through with Sweet that she would stand back and watch all that go down without doing anything on your behalf.”

“I think they’ve had their hands full with some things going on down there. I know JoJo hinted at something big with one of their security clients landing in a mess that was blowing back on the club.”

“Still,” Leanne muttered.

“Honestly, Leanne, she has her own family to worry about without having to deal with my soon-to-be ex husband’s problems with fidelity and not putting his pride above all else.”

Leanne sighed. “You know, sometimes men can be really damn stupid.”

“Amen to that,” I agreed on a laugh.

“I have to tell you though, I like what I see going on between you and Smoke.”

“I like it too. His sister didn’t seem to happy at first since I’m still married, and everything started happening so fast.”

Leanne pulled into my driveway, put the car in park, and then moved so that she was facing me. “Let me give you a little advice on that note. When I lost my first husband I thought I lost my world. One minute he was there, and we had been having some of the same fertility issues you had in your marriage, only we had to try getting pregnant around his deployment schedule. Around the time I finally decided it was never going to happen for me, and had given in to thinking about just adopting kids, I got word that he was gone. I swore I would be alone forever then. I just knew there was no getting over him. He was my first and only love up to that point.”

I offered Leanne a small smile as we took each other’s hands. “Then I met Angel Girl, of course I knew her as Jamie at the time. The thing was, I heard her story, and I saw her trying to put the pieces together. Watching someone else putting their broken heart back together one little tiny piece at a time does something to you. By the time her dad found her a few years later, I suppose I had been healing my own heart too, and just hadn’t realized it. So, when he first approached me I was interested, but seriously conflicted. Had I listened to my family, I never would have given into him. Instead, I tuned them all out and went for where my heart was pulling me. Now, Ghost and I are happy, we have two beautiful children together, and then there’s Jamie and our grandbabies too. When you’re on the outside looking in, maybe it seems shitty or like I forgot my first husband, but he’s still in my heart, and I have to think he’d be happy that I got the family I’d always wanted even if it couldn’t be with him.”

“I’ve always been a bit envious of what you have with Ghost. I guess being that way, looking back on it, I knew in my heart things were missing from my marriage.”

Leanne nodded sagely. “My girl, I’m thinking you’ve had years to come to terms slowly with the death of your marriage. Doesn’t matter that you think you were wearing blinders and suddenly woke up. It wasn’t as sudden as you think, and you realizing what you just told me about feeling envious of Ghost and me, that says I’m telling the truth. You knew. It just took a bit longer for you to act on what you already knew. So, when people see that you are freshly divorced, and those same people haven’t been living your life with you to know what was going on in it, they are going to have their own assessments about how you’re moving on too soon. But they don’t know that you’ve been working at moving on for a long while now in your heart. You’ve just gotten around to finally making it official.” She leaned over then and hugged me, her warm cinnamon scent enveloped me and I melted into her arms for a moment before pulling away.

“Thanks, Leanne. I can’t tell you how much it means to know someone understands where I am with everything.”

She waved my words away in typical southern woman fashion. “We Georgia girls have to stick together, sweetheart. I have your back, and I will continue to do so whether things work out with you and Smoke or not. You are family, but more importantly, you’re someone I consider a friend. I don’t abandon my friends over petty lovers squabbles. So keep that in mind.”

“I will,” I said, and then to lighten the mood before I got out of her car I added one parting shot. “Besides, you have to keep being my friend if you want me to make my awesome triple layer chocolate cake for you again.”

“Girl! I expect cake next time now that you said it!” I got out of the car and Leanne promised once more to message me as soon as she heard anything about the men who went out on an emergency run.

Since it was so late when I got back, and there was barely a sliver of a moon in the sky to lighten up my relatively dark neighborhood, I decided the walk I was taking Bubba on was going to be around the fenced back yard, off leash, while I watched him do his business from the door and then promptly took him back inside. He didn’t seem to mind as he bumped my thigh with his head on the way into the house. I like to think it was his way of telling me he missed me.

“I missed you too, Bubba.”

Bubba and I did our usual night time routine of me washing my face, brushing my teeth, and putting on the tightest, most comfortable sleep clothes I owned. Everything had to be tight when I slept, or I would go without clothes altogether, because I was not a calm sleeper normally. I tossed and turned a lot and in baggy clothing that became problematic, because then parts of my shirt or pants would get discombobulated and stuck under me and it felt like I was being suffocated by my murder-plotting clothing. Yes, I am aware that thinking those things makes me weird, but it’s okay if I keep it to myself. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in the world who thinks their clothes might be trying to choke them to death at night. Why else would people opt to sleep naked in the wintertime?

Bubba was lounging just outside the open bathroom door as I did my thing, and he dutifully got up and followed me into my room where he proceeded to flop down on a doggy sigh at the foot of my bed once I climbed up and hopped under the covers. I wore a second skin tank top and panties when I crawled in. I was not getting trapped by my clothing tonight. No, sir.

It felt as though I had just laid my head down on my pillow when a banging on the front door set off Bubba who jumped to his feet and started emitting a low level growl as his eyes focused on my open bedroom door. “Shit!” I huffed out while clutching a hand to my chest. Then I glanced over at my alarm clock to see it was 3:52 in the damn morning. “Who in the hell is disturbing our peace this early in the morning, Bubs?”

I got up out of bed and started into the short hall that led from the bedroom into the living room with Bubba at my side. When I was close enough I thought I could be heard I called out. “Who is there?”

“Sorry, honey, it’s me.”

“Smoke?” I asked to verify since I was still trying to shake off the cobwebs of sleep.

“Yeah, honey, you know someone else showing up at your door in the middle of the night?”

I moved over to said door, settled Bubba, and then opened it to let Smoke in, and the first thing that hit me was the clinging scent of, well, smoke. As in smoke from a fire that was clinging to my man’s skin, clothing, and it wasn’t the good kind of campfire or cookout smell. It was an acrid, battling raging fires scent that caused my nostrils to burn slightly when he got close enough to push through the narrow opening I’d made with the door.

“What happened?” I asked as I shut the door behind him and locked it once more.

“Fire at one of our warehouses tonight. Looked to be deliberate since what Ghost and I were called away for was that our security cameras had picked up a couple people roaming around said warehouses. It wasn’t until we were looking at the footage that I noticed what they were doing.”

“Oh my God!” I moved to get a towel for him to sit on so that the blackened soot all over his clothing wouldn’t mess up my furniture. “Here, sit on this.”

Smoke smiled at me and then glanced down at himself. “Mind if I hop in your shower, honey? I didn’t realize how bad I was.”

“Only if you want to come out smelling like roses, and I mean that literally.”

Smoke cocked his head in question, which made me laugh. “I don’t exactly have manly fragrances in there. My shampoo and body wash are both rose scented. Apologies, because I used to keep gender neutral stuff in my old house for whoever stopped by, the club brothers, my brother, whatever, and I just didn’t think about the necessity here.”

Smoke came over and brushed a tender kiss across my temple. “No worries honey. I just need something to clean me up. I can take a man-scented shower at home later to wash away the roses.” He was chuckling as he turned and sauntered off to my bathroom. It was only after he was in the shower that I wondered what exactly he would be wearing out of it since he hadn’t brought anything extra in with him.

I didn’t have to wonder long. He came out with nothing but a towel and a smile on. Needless to say, sleep didn’t find me for quite some time, and once it did Smoke and I were both beyond exhausted and not worried in the slightest that he didn’t have any clean clothing at my house.

Chapter 11

It took right around three hours to drive from Cedar Falls to Pittsburghh, PA. We were back in Pittsburghh to watch the Penguins once again, and to finally meet Kent for more than a couple minutes. Smoke had planned on taking me, because he felt as if he had to make it up to me after leaving me stranded at the barbecue after party. His brother also had something to make up to him since he ditched us to work out problems with his woman the last time we had gone to see him play. None of that explained why my brother and Smoke’s friend, Shep were tagging along. That involved the fact that they both had been sitting there when the negotiation of how Kent was going to make it up to Smoke went down; therefore they managed to yell loudly enough that they should also be included in the next game day visit.

That was how I found myself on the back of Smoke’s Harley Dyna Wide Glide heading to Pittsburghh with my brother riding next to us and Shep trailing behind on his crotch rocket. The guys had given Shep plenty of flack over his choice in rides, but the man just shrugged it off and told them ‘I like what I like, get over it.’ So, they got over it. Eventually. The ride to Pittsburghh was a peaceful one. The traffic had been relatively light, the sun had been shining, and even though it meant three hours on a rumbling motorcycle that was going to make me walk funny when I finally got to get off and use my legs again, being wrapped around Smoke for those three hours made the trip worth it. I still had moments where I doubted myself, doubted what I had with Smoke, and if I were even able to have anything with anyone again after Walker. My judgment hadn’t been the best with Walk, and I had so obviously been wearing blinders for the majority of our relationship. Now, it made me question if I was seeing everything clearly with Smoke.

The thing was, when I was touching him and in his orbit, I felt like my eyes were wide open and I was seeing everything for the first time. If only I could kick that niggling doubt out for good, because being wrapped around him on that ride had only reiterated to me how right everything felt when we were together. He had brought me to Pittsburghh, once again, to meet his brother. That had to mean something. Granted, the guys had conned their way in on the trip too, but even that meant a little more. This was my first time hanging out with Shep, who worked on the same engine as Smoke at the fire department.

“How’d you do on that ride, sweetheart?” Shep asked as we all got off the bikes outside of the PPG Paints Arena.

I glanced around and stretched a bit as I did. “I’m fine. I’ve done longer rides, just not recently,” I admitted.

Shep seemed to blanch at my words, and then glanced at Smoke guiltily. “Sorry, I forgot,” he offered up in unnecessary apology.

Smoke just chuckled. “It’s not like any of us were in the dark about each others’ pasts, Shep. I know she was with a biker before” With that Smoke came over and tossed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “You all good, babe?” He asked as his lips glanced over the hair on the side of my head.

“Yeah, just the tiniest bit stiff, but it’s nothing.” We started moving toward the building with my brother and Shep following along behind us.

“So, are you ready to see your brother destroyed on his home turf?” Shep asked Smoke.

“Shiiit, Kent is not going down easy, especially at home.”

“They’re playing the Bruins, dude. I hate to tell you, but they’re no match this season.”

“Bullshit,” I coughed out.

Smoke grinned at his friend while Chief laughed at him. “Dude, she’s a major Penguins fan. They’ll win just through her force of will alone.” My brother was not wrong. Well, in my own personal theory, I figured he couldn’t be wrong, but what the hell did I know.

“We’ll see,” he sighed. “I can see I’ll be outnumbered here tonight though.” Shep took his jacket off revealing a Bruins jersey making the rest of us groan in unison. It was just like his crotch rocket. He was going to be the odd man out, and I could already tell he didn’t care what level of embarrassment he heaped on us as a result.

“No! It can’t be,” I lamented. “Your friend has to get new seats. This is unacceptable.” Smoke pulled me closer; chuckling the whole time as if he was in on a joke and his best friend from work wasn’t about to root for the team his brother wasn’t playing for.

“It’s okay, babe. Kent knows about this idiot’s penchant for the Bruins. He also knows he’ll be heckled to death before he even gets to his seat wearing that shit.”

“Rightfully so,” I explained unnecessarily. I did notice that Shep was grinning, Chief was shaking his head and trying to hold in a laugh, and I could feel Smoke’s chest beneath me rising and falling in what could only be contained laughter. “Oh, whatever! Go ahead, laugh at me, but I’m telling you he’s not wrong about the crowd heckling you to death.” I warned.

“I’m a big boy, and this ain’t my first rodeo, sweetheart, but thanks for the warning.” With that Shep actually waltzed into the arena with his head held high and a grin on his face. Stupid man.

The Penguins won. Shep was grumbling about it as we waiting on Kent to come out and meet us. The rest of the friends, family, and puck bunnies waiting around were eyeing him suspiciously as if he were standing around waiting to attack their players simply for winning. When Kent came out his face lit up and he, surprisingly, moved straight to Shep, picking him up off the floor in a surprise pounce-hug. “You should have known I’d give it my all when you showed up wearing that bullshit again. Thanks, for the extra motivation, bro.”

“Damn it,” Shep muttered. “Put my ass down numb-nuts!”

Kent slung Shep back and forth another good couple times before dropping him on the floor. “I’ll have you know, my nuts aren’t numb, ya whiny little bitch.” He then moved on to hug his brother, my brother, and then he stopped in front of me and opened his arms. I hesitantly moved into them and gave him a quick pat on the back before attempting to step back. “Oh no, that’s not a hug. Come on, I owe you since I sent you away so quickly last time.” Before I knew what was happening I was smashed face-first into Kent’s very muscular chest while he nearly squeezed the life out of me. I was tapping out before Smoke realized and rescued me from his overbearing, killer bear-hugging brother.

“Kent, if you could let my girl breathe, I’d appreciate it.” Kent let go immediately.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he ruffled my hair. “Did you enjoy the game?”

“Of course I did. I even enjoyed the way all the people around us came together to give Shep shit about that monstrosity he’s wearing.”

“I like her,” Kent informed his brother.

“Yeah, so do I,” Smoke explained as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. “So, where are we headed now?” Kent glanced around nervously before answering his brother.

“Let’s get out of here, and head back to my place before we make any decisions,” he told his brother.

It was then that I realized a whole lot of people had been watching our interactions. More importantly, the women I’d tagged as puck bunnies seemed to be salivating over Kent, and the three men I had come here with. Chief didn’t seem to mind the attention which made me question his judgment just a bit, but as my mom used to say when she was alive, ‘boys will be boys’.

It didn’t take long to get from the arena to Kent’s posh penthouse apartment. It was nothing like what I would have expected and my face must have shown my surprise, because Kent laughed and clapped one of his big hands down on my shoulder. “I know, it looks pretentious as hell, but it came already decorated like this. I haven’t had the time to do anything with it since the season started right as I closed on it.”

“Ah, okay. I didn’t think this looked like something a major athlete would have going on, but then again, what do I know?” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, I bought this from a major athlete who was traded, but I think this was his wife’s doing. She fancied herself an interior designer, but oddly enough her career never took off for some reason,” he explained with a playful wink.

“Can’t imagine why,” Chief offered up with a certain level of disgust in his voice. His cell rang at that moment and he excused himself to walk down the hall away from everyone while he answered.

“You guys thirsty? I have water, orange juice, cranberry juice, and milk right now. I don’t keep sodas in the house, because I don’t drink them, but I can order some or we can go out.”

“I’ll take some water, please.” I moved toward the kitchen where Kent was headed, because I hated the idea of other people waiting on me, even in their own home. Smoke started following me, and then dropped off as his cell started ringing.

“I’ll be right there, babe,” he told me as he too moved to a quiet corner of the apartment to take the call. Shep shrugged at me and offered up, “looks like club business,” before we both continued on to the kitchen with Kent.

“So, Smoke tells me you’ve been a fan of the Penguins a really long time,” Kent started in as he pulled three bottled waters from his immaculate fridge that when closed looked like part of the cabinetry.

“Yeah, the first game I ever went to was with my dad when the Penguins were playing in Atlanta, back when we had a team.”

Kent nearly choked on his water. “Jesus that had to have been a while ago.”

“Yeah, it was, and since that team moved to Canada I started rooting for the Penguins instead,” I told him with a grin.

“Good call,” he offered before chugging the entire bottle of water. He noticed me watching him as he chucked the bottle into the trashcan. “It takes forever to rehydrate after a game.”

“Smoke said you have a new woman in your life. Are you still hiding her away from family and friends or what?”

Kent’s grin lit up his entire face at the mention of his girlfriend, and it made me smile. It seemed the brothers weren’t that different when it came to their love lives. They appeared to be either all in or not at all. “She had a family thing to attend out of town this weekend or she would have been here. I’m hoping to bring her down to meet everyone as soon as we catch a little break in our schedule.”

“Smoke will be happy to hear that. He was concerned that you were hiding her for a reason.” Shep chuckled at an apparent remembered conversation. I hadn’t realized he’d followed us into the kitchen until then. “We discussed all the reasons you could be keeping her under wraps.” He held up a finger, “she’s butt ugly, but has a great personality,” he ticked off before tossing another finger up. “She’s a famous model, and you didn’t want competition from the guys.” Another finger went up. “She’s a butterface, which kind of goes with number one, but personality be damned if she’s all spectacular tits and ass.”

I was laughing right along with Kent as Shep continued with all the reasons they had come up with for why Kent would hide the existence of his woman. They all added up to the fact that either she was ugly and he was embarrassed; or she was exceptionally beautifully and he was afraid of losing her to someone else.

Kent finally cut off Shep’s ten-minute tirade. “Maybe, we’re just both really busy, and I haven’t had the chance to do it yet.” I smiled at Kent as Shep waved him off.

“Likely excuse.”

“Says the man wearing a loser’s jersey,” Kent tossed out.

I laughed at them, because they got along as if they were brothers too. Obviously, this wasn’t their first time hanging out together. “How long have you known each other?”

Kent scrutinized Shep for a few minutes before answering. “I think about six years, right?”

Shep appeared thoughtful for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds about right. That’s when I transferred into the station with Smoke and we started working together.

“Wow, that’s a long time. I didn’t realize,” I added. They both smiled at me then with Kent about to say something when my brother and Smoke joined us, both looking grim.

“Club business?” Kent questioned. I couldn’t tell if there was disapproval in his tone or if he was just frustrated by the prospect, but either way it was clear he wasn’t happy about the interruption.

“Yeah,” Smoke agreed while heading straight for me. “Chief and I have to go for a bit. You gonna be all right hanging here with Shep and Kent?” He glanced up as he asked me the question, seemingly asking his brother at the same time if he was okay with me sticking around.

“Sure, do what you have to do,” I agreed. On the inside I wasn’t too sure about it. I had just met Kent, and while he was someone I loved watching play hockey on television he was still no more than a stranger to me. Shep, likewise, was someone I had just met. This was the life sometimes though, and I knew that going in.

Smoke nodded to whatever non-verbal answer he received from his brother then he pulled me close. “I promise I’ll be back to get you as soon as possible, and if it’s not soon enough, I’ll have transportation arranged to get you back home. I’m so sorry about this,” he apologized.

I swallowed down the little bit of hurt feelings I had over being left behind and just nodded into his chest as he kissed the top of my head, squeezed me a little tighter, and then let go for my brother to take his place.

“I would have gone on my own, but Smoke is needed,” he tried to explain.

“I know how the life works, Chief. It’s okay.” It was okay, even when a little part of me thought it was unfair. I knew what I was getting into by saddling myself to another biker. The difference being, my ex would have just taken off and let someone else explain why he was gone again. Smoke was already making plans for getting me home safely, just in case. That was something new for me.

Once the guys were gone I glanced between Shep and Kent who were standing quietly on the other side of the kitchen from me. “Well, since you two are stuck with me for a bit, what are we going to do with our time? You have any decent movies or what?”

Kent smiled at me then, and tipped his head toward the other room. “That is the one thing I’ve made time to set up. I have all the channels plus Netflix. You can binge to your heart’s content.”

“You are a saint!” I took off for the other room in a flash and plopped down on the surprisingly comfy couch, even if it was a butt ugly, putrid green color. “What was she thinking with this color scheme?”

“Who knows?” Kent looked around for a moment. “Davey said she was going for spring time fresh since she was sick of winter, but I see more baby vomit than anything.”

I laughed. “Yeah, she definitely missed the mark on spring time fresh, but at least this is comfy.”

“The only reason I haven’t had a real interior designer in here to fix this place yet. It’s comfy until I can pick shit out myself. I’ve seen what those designer ladies did with my buddy’s place, and let’s just say it isn’t much better than this. It’s all stark black and white with no personality. I hate it.”

“I thought they were supposed to design based off their client’s personality and ideas?”

“I don’t know, he hates it too so apparently she just went with what she thought a rich and famous bachelor pad should be.” Kent looked away and then back at me before speaking again. “Does this kind of thing happen often?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where my brother just up and leaves you places. I mean, I’m his brother, but you don’t know me from Adam, and I don’t think you and Shep have known each other long.”

I shrugged my shoulders again. “This is part of the lifestyle. I understand it because I’ve lived it for the past ten years, but believe me when I say your brother is at least more considerate than most, and no it doesn’t happen like this often. This is the second time he’s had to dip out on me since we’ve been hanging out, but from what I hear it’s abnormal for the Cedar Falls Club.”

“That’s what you’re doing? You’re just hanging out?”

“Well, I don’t know what else to call it at this point.”

“So, you guys haven’t had the talk about being exclusive or whatever?”

Suddenly, I was feeling a little like the guy in the hot seat during an interrogation. Shep must have felt the slightly hostile vibe too, because he stepped in. “I’m pretty sure they’ve had that discussion, they just never put a label on what they are for now since she’s going through a divorce at the moment.”

I tipped my head forward in agreement while eyeing Kent. “What’s up with the divorce anyway? Why is it taking so long?”

I sighed deeply then. “I don’t know. My ex is being a pain in the ass. At first I thought it was about the money, since he knows I’m selling my family’s house and land. Now, I just think he’s being a jerk. If he cared, he would have fixed things long ago, so it’s not that.”

“Sometimes, you don’t realize what you had until its gone,” Kent interjected.

“Sometimes, you never appreciated it to begin with so there isn’t much to miss. Walker is just being difficult, and for the record, no, I don’t want him back. No, the thought doesn’t even cross my mind. Yes, I am pushing to expedite the divorce rather than continue dragging it out. Yes, I am serious about your brother. He’s a good man, he shows that he cares, and I enjoy being around him. Where we will go from here is between us though, and I’m sure he’ll let you know if and when things change.”

Kent smiled then. “I like that. You aren’t a pushover, and that’s a good thing with the man and the club he’s in.”

“You don’t approve of his lifestyle?”

“I don’t understand why he does it.” Kent glanced at Shep then. “Look at Shep. They have the same career, make decent money and benefits, and both enjoy motorcycles. Why be in a club that takes you away from your family even more?”

“They are his family,” I answered simply. “I know you are too, but while he was raising you and your sister who was taking care of him?” Kent looked startled for a moment. “I know about your past, and I know that the club filled a void that needed filling whether he realized it or not, and whether you agree or not. He needed that positive male role model to keep doing what he was doing for you guys. It benefitted everyone. It was also the driving force keeping him in line to become the man he is today with his job at the fire department. So, while you see a club that takes him away from the people he loves, you forget that he loves those people just as fiercely. It’s probably not much different than you’ve felt for some of your teammates over the years.”

Kent looked away, seemingly lost in thought for a minute. “I never thought of it that way,” he spoke quietly. “Hell, I sometimes forget that we were a burden on his shoulders for a long while.”

“I doubt you were ever a burden to him. Smoke wouldn’t see it that way.”

Kent huffed out a small laugh. “You’re right about that. He wouldn’t see it that way. I am lucky to have him as a brother, and I think he’s lucky to have you in his life too. I know my sister gave you some shit when you first met, but I see now why she changed her tune about you so quickly. You are definitely nothing like that conniving bitch he was hitched to for all those years.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell him about her coming on to you? You might have saved him a few years with her if you had.”

“I don’t know. I figured I owed him my silence after all he sacrificed for me, you know? He seemed happy with her at first, and I didn’t want to take away his happiness.”

“You’re a good brother too, you know?” I questioned him, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything because Shep came back from the bathroom then.

“Why haven’t you picked a movie yet?” He moved in closer and took the remote control from me. “Never mind, you lost your chance, now I get to pick.” He turned toward the TV and started flipping through the channels, landing on one of the Thor movies as he did so. I wasn’t going to complain about that choice so I settled in and allowed myself to get lost in another world for a time. At least I did until I fell asleep.

I awoke to someone wrapping their arms under my knees and behind my back, but the person didn’t feel familiar at all so I startled and came awake immediately.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Shep’s familiar voice soothed a bit of my initial panic. “I’m just moving you to Kent’s guestroom so you’ll be more comfortable and stop drooling on his butt ugly couch.”

“What time is it?” I managed to ask through my gritty sleep-filled voice.

“It’s late. Kent and I just finished up a second movie, but we both thought you’d be more comfortable in a bed.”

“Have you heard from Smoke or Chief?”

“Not yet, sweetheart. We’ll let you know as soon as we do though.”

“Okay,” I managed to get out as he put me down on the fluffiest damn bed Id ever been on and then proceeded to take my boots off my feet for me. “Thank you,” I managed to get out before I nodded right back off to dreamland.

By morning none of us had heard from either of the guys and I began to worry. It wasn’t out of the norm in the MC life to have them go silent on you, especially when things were going down, but it still sucked to be left sitting around wondering. The scenarios I was coming up with in my head were probably far worse than they were encountering, to be sure. Kent had just knocked on my door when my phone pinged with a message.

Smoke: Sorry, babe. Caught up in club biz, asked Kent and Shep to make sure you get back home ok. Everyone is fine, just stuck doing this thing. I swear I will make this up to you!”

“Come in,” I offered in response to the knock at the door.

He glanced from me to the phone in my hand and tossed me a weak excuse for a smile. “I’m guessing he finally got a hold of you too?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Shep asked if you’d be okay riding on the back of his bike to get home. If not I can lend you my truck.”

“The bike’s fine. I don’t want to put you out and take your vehicle.”

“It’s not my only vehicle, Poppy. It won’t be any kind of hardship, I promise. If you’re not comfortable riding with Shep…” he let the words hang in the air and I knew what he was getting.

“I’m no one’s old lady right now, so it won’t matter.”

“Are you sure Smoke will see it that way?” He asked.

“I’m sure it doesn’t matter since he left me here without the ride I arrived with,” I spat back without meaning to.

“Shit, my brother is an idiot,” Kent hissed out.

“No, he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. Just because the women know they might get left behind doesn’t negate the fact that it sucks when it happens. Can you let Shep know I’ll be ready in a few minutes? I just want to clean up a bit and then I’ll be good to go.”

“Yeah, I’ll let him know. For what its worth, my girl struggles with my schedule too. Although, at least she knows well in advance what it’s going to look like. I’m not sure I know a single woman who would stick by me in any kind of honest way if I had to run at a moment’s notice though. If you’re willing to do that for my brother, then you have my utmost respect.”

“Thanks for that,” I told Kent before I turned my back to him and walked into the bathroom to go try to tame the rat’s nest that my hair had become while I slept.

Chapter 12

The ride back to Cedar Falls was mostly uneventful, with the exception of the queasiness I kept feeling in my belly. I had asked Shep to pull over twice, because I honestly didn’t think I would be able to keep down the little bit of my breakfast I had eaten before we left.

We had parked in my driveway long enough for me to hop off and give Shep’s spare helmet over to him when he took his own off and eyed me curiously. “I’m not really wanting to leave you here alone. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

“I’m positive, honestly, it was probably something I ate, or nerves maybe.” I pulled a face as I said the last, because I knew it wasn’t that. I didn’t feel nervous, just nauseous.

“Are you sure there’s no one I can call to sit with you? If not me, I think someone should be here for a while just in case.”

“No,” I told him definitively. “I promise, I will be fine. I’m going to call Leanne, and have her drop Bubba off for me, so it’s okay. She’ll probably be here with my boy within the hour.”

Shep didn’t appear entirely certain, but a text coming through on his phone sealed the deal. “Damn it,” he hissed out after glancing down. “I need to go deal with this. Promise me that you will text and let me know you’re doing okay?”

“I promise I will update you periodically until Smoke is back even though I think it is entirely unnecessary.”

He grinned at me then. “Good. If I don’t hear from you, I will be back to check in on you, and I’ll be mad enough not to leave until Smoke or Chief get back then.” He grinned at me as he threw his long leg back over his bike. “And no, I’m not afraid of that beast you call a dog either. I’ll win him over to my side when he sees I’m just worried about you.”

“Good to know,” I told him with a grin. “I promise to stay in touch and let you know if I start feeling worse. Now, get out of here to whatever emergency that text was, and focus on that for a bit.” At that, Shep blanched a bit and looked guiltily down at his cell phone.

“Right, see you later, Poppy.”

As I watched Shep pull his red and black Kawasaki Ninja out of my driveway I couldn’t help but compare him to Snake, my soon to be ex-husband’s best friend. The man who still called to check in with me once in a while, making sure I was okay despite the fact that his best friend never did. I had learned, before moving to Cedar Falls, that Snake had a thing for me that he kept in check, and I had apparently been oblivious to for years. That was apparently why he cared so much and checked in so often. I didn’t think Shep was in the same category of holding a torch, but he cared about my well being, because he cared about his buddy. It was endearing and spoke well of Smoke that he had friends both in and out of his club that felt that strongly for him that they would protect and care for what and whom they felt belonged to him.

Once I managed to get back inside I thought maybe some soup would help settle my restless stomach. I shouldn’t have attempted it. The minute I smelled the chicken in the chicken noodle soup heating my stomach turned violent and I immediately had to run to the sink to throw up since it was the closest, easiest to clean spot to do it in. Hell, it had only been a few steps from the stove, and I still barely made it there.

“What is wrong with me?” I questioned out loud as I managed to wash the remnants of my sick down the drain and pull the pot off the hot burner before I heaved again.

I was laying on the couch, nursing my sick self when Leanne showed up with Bubba. “Oh honey, you don’t look so good. What did those boys do to you on that Pittsburghh trip?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking I ate something that disagreed with me, but to be honest, I was already feeling a little off before I nibbled on my breakfast with Shep, so I think maybe I caught a bug?” I attempted a very defeated, weak looking shrug as Leanne kept eyeing me closely.

“Maybe I should take Bubba back home and come back to sit with you for a while?”

“No, really, I’m fine. I just think whatever it is needs to run its course, and I will be better.”

She didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know, Sweetie. I think if Chief or Smoke found out I knew you were sick and just left you like this they’d both have my ass hemmed up with Ghost.” She huffed out a laugh. “Not that I couldn’t turn that to my benefit, but seriously, I would also feel like shit for leaving you to it.”

I waved away her concern. “Seriously, I lived basically on my own for five years in Georgia since Walker never would have bothered to check on me when I was sick. This is nothing, and I know how to use the phone if I get worse. Besides, Bubba will be here to keep me company, and I honestly just think whatever it is needs to run its course. I’m not running a fever or anything.”

“True. I’d be more worried if you were. Okay, well, I’m going to go pick the girls up from school, and take them home, but if you get worse, do not hesitate to call me, okay? I mean it. If I find out you didn’t call when you should have, I will be extremely mad at you!”

“I promise to call, just like I promised Shep. I will keep you both updated. Right now, I just want to take Bubba in the room and crash for a bit.”

“Okay honey, just set an alarm so you can wake up in awhile to text or call us. If I don’t hear from you in a few hours I’ll be pounding down that door of yours.” She giggled at a thought she had. “Well, I’ll have one of the prospects they left behind do that so he gets eaten by Bubba instead of me, but then I’ll come right in and check on you while Bubba’s using the prospect as a chew toy.”

“You are not right,” I told Leanne as she continued to chuckle while bending down to kiss her lips to my forehead. “Satisfied, mom? I told you there was no fever.

“You caught me.” Leanne waved her dainty little hand my way as she walked out the door and shut and locked it behind her.

I ended up taking my nap right there on the couch instead of moving to the bedroom, because the thought of moving made me queasy. I was out for about two hours when Bubba nudged my arm. I tried to ignore him, but he wasn’t having it. When the little nudge on my arm didn’t work he immediately laid his big head across my neck and started a very low-level whining.

“What’s the matter, boy?” I asked as I moved my hand up to rub the top of his head. As soon as I acknowledged him he moved back and wandered over to the backdoor off the kitchen. “Damn, nature calls, huh?” I asked as I slowly rose from the couch, hoping the nausea wouldn’t reemerge.

Thankfully, it didn’t. I was able to go stand outside and enjoy the crisp fall air while Bubba roamed around the backyard looking for the perfect spot to do his business. It had seemed so urgent for him to get out here to do it, but the boy sure was being picky about where he finally went. When he was done, I managed to praise him for being a good boy and letting me know he had to go out, and then we were headed back inside just as a knock sounded on my door. Sadly, as I turned to get all the way inside my kitchen I smacked my boob right into the doorframe, and the resounding tingling painful sensation took my focus off the front door and whoever was knocking and put it on the fact that both my boobs had a weird tingling sensation going on with them.

The knocking persisted and I went to answer my door before I could ponder that any further. “It’s me, if you don’t open up I’m calling a prospect over to break this door down!” Leanne was shouting at me as I approached the door. I unlocked it and opened it to a panic-stricken Leanne. “Thank God!”

“Sorry, Bubba had to go out, we were out back,” I explained.

“You look better,” she told me as she followed me inside. “Except for the fact that you’re molesting your boob.”

I glanced down and stopped what I was doing even though massaging it had given me some relief momentarily. “Sorry,” I whispered sheepishly. “I just smacked it into the back door when I was trying to get out here.”

“Oh, sorry honey.” Leanne apologized while giggling at me so I wasn’t certain her apology was all that heartfelt. I glanced down at my boobs then, realizing I hadn’t even been massaging the one I hit with the doorway.

“It’s so strange, because I bumped into this one, and the other feels almost worst somehow.” Leanne was watching me oddly. Then her eyes rounded wider than I’d ever seen them before she reached out and grabbed hold of my hands and damn near pushed me down to a seated position on my couch.

“Sweetie, when is your period due?” At first, I thought she meant I was probably just sensitive because my period was coming, but then I thought about it, and truthfully I should have had a period already, about two weeks ago. I glanced up and saw a small smile on Leanne’s face.

“No,” I whispered. “I can’t be,” I started to say because I’d been trying for five years with no success, but then I remembered that I’d been trying with a different man. “Oh shit!”

Leanne sat back watching me work through everything in my head with curiosity, but she refused to interrupt until the tears started to fill my eyes. “I honestly don’t know what you’re thinking right now or if those are happy tears or not so happy ones,” she finally admitted.

“I think they’re confused tears,” I told her honestly. “I tried for five years to have a baby with Walker. I’d give anything to be able to hold my own child in my arms, you know? I’m not just talking about biological children either. I just wanted my own family to raise.”

Leanne smiled and nodded her head. I knew from our previous conversation about her deceased husband and their struggles that she knew exactly what that felt like. “But?” She finally asked.

“I don’t know how Smoke is going to feel about this though. We haven’t been together long, and you know, things are so new and I’m still technically married to another man.” I startled to hyperventilate a bit, because everything hit me at once. This was the absolute worst timing in the world for a pregnancy to occur.

“I don’t think you need to worry about Smoke’s reaction. If I know him the way I think I do, he’ll be by your side every step of the way, and he’ll do it gladly.”

“I just don’t want him to feel trapped. It’s too soon for this.”

“According to Ghost the man’s already claimed you with the club, so I don’t think this will make him feel trapped at all, sweetie.”

“I need to get a test. I need to know for sure.”

“Come on, I’ll take you,” she reached her hand out and pulled me up off the couch before grabbing my purse and walking us both out the door.

Chapter 13

The test results were two pink lines. The second one boasted “pregnant” on it. The third had a blue plus sign on it. It was official, sort of. At least the home pregnancy tests all confirmed my suspicions. “How in the hell am I going to tell him?”

You will think of something, sweetie. You just need to decide if you’re going to come right out with it or try to do one of the cute little surprise reveals.”

“I think those are more for established couples that are hoping for positive test results,” I informed her.

She waved off my information. “Nah, I think Smoke would appreciate it. Maybe you could get him a little teddy bear in firefighter gear that says ‘my daddy is a firefighter’ or something.” She clapped her hands together. “That would be so darn adorable!”

I couldn’t help but catch her infectious happiness. “Yeah, that would be cute. Now, if only he’d get back from wherever they went so I could do something like that.”

Leanne screwed up her face in distaste. “I think the same assholes who burned down the warehouse are up to no good. I heard Ghost talking about it before he left. I’m worried about them.”

As she said the words her cell began ringing and she reached into her the purse at her feet to answer it. “Hey baby, everything okay?” She listened a moment, and while I could hear a male voice on the other end I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I knew it couldn’t be anything good though, because Leanne’s happy mood changed far too quickly to one of fear. “I’m at Poppy’s place with her. The kids are with Lydia right now.” She listened a moment longer. “What? No, she’s fine. Yeah, she just wasn’t feeling’ well and I wanted to check in on her.” Leanne glanced up to me trying to let me know that my secret was mine to tell when I was ready. I appreciated that. “Okay, I’ll make sure we get over there. Uh-huh. Love you too. See you in awhile, baby.” She hung up and let out a sigh that made me feel the tension she was trying to alleviate.

“What’s going on?”

“We need to get you packed up and over to the clubhouse. You can bring Bubba with you. Actually, I think we’ll be glad to have him there.”

“What’s going on?”

“We’re going into lockdown. Something happened, and Ghost wants all the families under one roof until the guys get back. The word is already out. I need to call Lydia and make sure she’s bringing the girls over with her. Then I have to go pack some stuff up for them too.”

“How long will be there?”

“I don’t know, better prepare for a few days at least.”

“Okay.” I got my butt up and moving, getting things that Bubba and I would need for a few days.

When we got to the clubhouse it was already somewhat crowded. I glanced around at all the women and children and wondered where everyone was going to go. I’d seen that there was a space about half the size of the place upstairs, but it didn’t seem as though you could fit enough rooms up there for everyone. With that in mind I turned to Leanne. “Where is everyone going to stay?”

She grinned at me, and pulled at my elbow to get me to follow her. “I guess no one ever gave you the grand tour, huh?”

“I’m guessing not. Chief pointed out that he had a room up there if he needed it,” I mentioned as I pointed to the stairs leading up. Leanne just shook her head.

“Those rooms are for club brothers only. The women, children, and families have rooms downstairs.”

“Downstairs?” I hadn’t seen a set of stairs leading down anywhere. Leanne kept moving us until we were beyond where the bar stretched across the back wall and then we went down a hallway that I hadn’t ever noticed before. Once we were at the end there was a wooden door to the right. Leanne opened it and there were the other set of stairs that had been missing. “Why is it hidden like this?”

“It’s hidden because the guys don’t want their enemies finding out that we have a basement level, or that it’s where they tuck their family members when shit is going down. If outsiders think the only rooms here are upstairs, then upstairs is a target. The hidden basement is not. Plus, there’s a tunnel down here that leads out to a garage on another property in case we all need to escape.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of forethought. I know the club has been in some shit down in Georgia a few times, but they don’t have a hidden bunker there or anything.” Leanne gave me an odd look then, and my stomach absolutely sank. “Seriously?” I asked when her look inferred that they did indeed have a special hiding place for family members.

“What in the hell did that husband of yours do with you when all that shit was going down and they had to be on lockdown?”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “I stayed at the farmhouse,” I told her.

Leanne’s eyes were rounded in surprise, but her nostrils flared in anger. “Does Chief know that?”

“I assumed he did,” I stated.

“I’m thinking he did not,” Leanne shot back. “Dear Lord, anything could have happened to you. What in the hell was that husband of yours thinking?”

“I’m guessing he was thinking I might have run into a few of the club whores who might have spilled some of his secrets.” I sighed then. “The more I learn about how sheltered I was from his life the more I wonder if he ever even really gave a shit about me or if I was just some trophy he collected. How could I have been so blind to it all?”

“Oh, sweetie, that’s the bitch of life. Sometimes we see what we want. Other times, we see it and still just ignore it because we feel like we’re supposed to for some stupid reason. I’m sure when you first got together with him things were different. Then you went with what you thought was expected even if it wasn’t what you hoped for. It became habit, and habits are hard to break. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“I do though, because now I feel like all that time was wasted.”

She blew out a breath and then smiled brightly at me. “Sweetie, it was never wasted if it got you to where you are right now.” She patted my tummy knowing there wasn’t anyone around to see. “Blessings come when we least expect them sometimes, but they only come after the perfect storm gets us to a point where we can receive them.” She had no way of knowing how her storm reference would affect me, or what it meant. So when I burst into tears Leanne panicked a bit. “I’m so sorry, what did I say?”

I tried waving her off. “Sorry, it’s just my wake up call came on the heels of a storm,” I explained.

“The lord works in mysterious ways then,” she stated while nodding her head. “Let’s go down so I can show you where everything is and where you’ll be staying.”

We walked down the carpeted stairway with Bubba trailing behind me carefully, never coming close enough that he might trip me up. He was such a good boy. When we got to the bottom the there was a small hallway that opened up into a large open room that looked like a giant living room with couches everywhere. There were a couple kids playing on a game station over in one corner, and there was an entire wall made of bookshelves. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing there would at least be something to keep me occupied besides Bubba.

We moved past the common area to where a hallway split down to the left and right. There were doors down either side, and Leanne explained that this was the hall for the people with children so that they were closer to the family room. Then we continued down the right side of the hallway until it turned and started a new one. “Down here is where you’ll be. They like to keep the childless couples a little further away on account of the noise.”

“Just because I don’t have kids doesn’t mean I don’t mind hearing them once in a while.”

Leanne laughed at that. “Oh, sweetie, I wasn’t talking about the noise the kids make. I was talking about the noise that usually ends up with us needing more family space in nine months.”

“Oh.” I joined her laughter then. “Well, not quite nine months for me. Honestly though, I’m not sure how far along I am.”

Once we were at the door to the room I would have Leanne took us inside and shut it behind the three of us. “Sorry, didn’t want anyone overhearing.” All levity disappeared, and I knew whatever she was about to say probably wasn’t going to make me happy. “Is it possible,” she started and then bit her lip, seeming to second-guess her question. “Do you think it’s Smoke’s, or is it possible that you’re carrying your husband’s baby?”

It was my turn to laugh. I laughed so hard tears began to form in my eyes, and when they started to fall my laughter stopped and I just cried because my answer was so damn sad. “I’d be big as a house by now if it was Walker’s. I’ve been here almost two months now. I kicked Walker out two months before that. It was another three before that since we’d slept together, because we were fighting so much about everything. He was refusing to come home to sleep with me when our chances were the best, and since he did that, I punished him by refusing to sleep with him any other time. Apparently, it wasn’t punishment since he had backups for his needs.” I rolled my watery eyes as I said the last. “My point is that I’d be about to pop already if it were Walker’s baby. There’s no way. Besides, I had a period a couple weeks before I moved here, and they were regular before that too.”

“I wasn’t trying to be mean,” Leanne added sadly.

“I know. I’m sure it’s the same question a lot of other people will be asking too.”

“It’s no one’s business,” she reminded me. “Mine included.”

I gave her a watery smile then. “You are my friend, and you are trying to be there for me. That makes it your business.” I finally took a moment to glance around the room. It was basically a large bedroom with a queen size bed, a small loveseat at the end of the bed, two tall chest of drawers on either side of a standard dresser on top of which sat a television. There was a door off to the far right of those pieces and upon further inspection it led to a small bathroom that had a sink, toilet, and a shower that was standing room only. No bathtub in sight, which I supposed wasn’t a huge deal. “This place is nicer than a hotel,” I commented.

Leanne grunted out a half-laugh, half pained sound. “It’ll be nice for about 48 hours, and then cabin fever sets in and the walls will close in around you.” Her shoulders shook with an involuntary shiver.

“Do you think we’ll be here that long?”

“Who knows? The guys still aren’t back and it’s been over 24 hours since we were ordered into lockdown.” I glanced down at the time on my phone and realized she was right. The guys had been gone for at this point, and I was starting to get tired, and a tad queasy. Leanne and I left to go grab some food, take Bubba for a walk out back, and then I retreated to my room to get some sleep, because I was suddenly feeling exhausted, and worried about how to approach Smoke with my news. Leanne seemed to think he’d take it well, but I honestly didn’t know him well enough yet to make that call. All signs pointed to him wanting to be in a committed relationship with me, but an unwanted pregnancy in the mix could change things. I couldn’t believe I’d been so damn stupid that I hadn’t even thought about using birth control. It had been five years since I’d been on anything. I fell asleep with all of those thoughts running through my mind.

Waking up the next day left me disoriented, because I was a in a strange place and Bubba was whining to me while watching the door. I wasn’t sure if that was a warning, the dog needing to go out, or what. It was hard to tell since there were so many people around the clubhouse. “You need to go out, buddy?” He whined a little louder then, so I assumed his answer was yes. “I hope you don’t mind if I go first,” I told him as I got up and hurried into the bathroom suddenly feeling a bit sick with the movement. After doing my business and puking my guts up I grabbed the small pack of crackers Leanne had ordered me to take back to my room with me the night before. I started gnawing on one as I took Bubba to go head out for a quick break in the backyard.

It took us a while to make it outside because every single child in the family room wanted to pet the dog, and then some of the women we ran into along the way as well. I was headed back inside when Leanne found me.

Her blond hair was swept up into a high ponytail and she had her girls trailing after her. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Just a pack of crackers.”

“Come on, you can grab some breakfast with us, because I just got word the guys are on their way back, and it didn’t sound like they were bringing good news with them.”

“What does that mean?”

“That’s all I know,” she stated. “These are the times when I doubt if I’m right for this life. Even after all the years I’ve been with Ghost and watched Angel Girl living it too. I can tell by his voice that it won’t be good news, and all I can do is wait to find out how bad, who it’s about, and how it will affect us and everyone we care about.”

I offered a small smile to the woman as we moved into a kitchen area where the smell of cooking breakfast meats turned my stomach in a violent way. I ran for the trashcan I saw, because I didn’t have to time to ask where a bathroom was. Once I was done puking Leanne hurriedly ushered me out of the kitchen. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Me either, apparently. Chicken soup did that to me yesterday too. I’m thinking I’ll have to become vegetarian or something.” I did not even attempt to hide the disgust in my voice. It wasn’t that I had anything against being vegetarian or vegan or whatever, I just enjoyed and craved meat.

“If you’re anything like I was the smell is hateful, but the taste is wonderful. You’ll figure it out in just enough time for the sickness to finally abate and then you’ll have new, and interesting symptoms like having to pee every five minutes.”

“You make it sound so wonderful,” I teased then watched as she gazed at her darling twin girls.

“It really is though. Every miserable part leads to that,” she pointed at the girls who were lost in their own world playing with Bubba as we moved further away from the kitchen. “How about I bring you something, and you can go wait in the family room downstairs?”

“Sure,” I agreed.

We were just finishing our food when we heard the commotion. It was faint, but the rumbling of motorcycle engines had me running Bubba down to my room and putting him inside before taking off to the upper level in search of all the other adults and news. The men started trailing in looking grim, and my stomach sank as each new face through the door wasn’t my brother or my man.

Finally, Chief came through the door wearing an expression I hadn’t seen since our family. My stomach rolled, and there was no holding it back at that point. I ran for the bathroom, and emptied the breakfast I managed to get down into the toilet. Once I finished and was able to pull myself together I found my way back out into the main lounge area where all the club parties and whatnot were held. I didn’t see Chief once I reemerged nor did I see Smoke. Instead I saw Leanne, crying into Ghost’s shoulder. I started moving toward them when an arm snaked out around my waist and pulled me into a body that was most definitely not Smoke’s. I turned to see my brother standing there, unshed tears dancing in his eyes.

“Smoke?” I questioned.

“Fine,” my brother managed to get out. “He’s at the hospital,” he started and upon seeing the panic that must have flared in my eyes he immediately shook his head. “It’s not him. He’s there with Brantley.”

“Brantley? What happened to Brantley?”

“There was an accident, or fuck, I don’t know exactly what happened yet. They were run off the road. Soph, Bender, and Brant were all in Soph’s car.” His shoulders began to shake and I had a horrible feeling I knew where this was going, because he’d only said Smoke was at the hospital with Brantley. I just stood and waited for confirmation that came too quickly, and I hated being right. “Soph and Bender didn’t make it,” the words were broken by him trying to choke back sobs. My brother was grieving for his other family right now. I threw my arms around him and held on tight as his whole body shook with his emotion.

“I need to go to Smoke,” I whispered in his ear. He nodded his head.

“I know. I’ll get a prospect to take you. I need to be here right now. There was,” he started to say and then shut up. It made me curious about the accident. “There were people near the scene that shouldn’t have been there. We’re looking into it. Not so sure it was an accident, Pop. Thinking it might be retaliation for what we did to help Shep out.”

“No!” I sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case, because if it was Smoke was going to take his sister’s death even harder than he already would. Guilt was a heavy burden to bear, and knowing Smoke he would feel that even if he shouldn’t. His little sister was gone, her husband – his club brother – also gone, and their child was in the hospital. There was no way the guilt wouldn’t fall on his shoulders. “Does Shep know this?” Chief shook his head in the negative. “Someone might want to let him know.” Chief looked as though he was about to protest, but I stopped him. “I know it’s club business now, but it started with his family business that he dragged you guys into. He deserves to know, especially since Smoke may blame him too.”

Chief’s shoulders sagged back down again as he realized what I was saying. Smoke wouldn’t only blame Shep, he’d blame himself, and that wasn’t something I knew him well enough to calculate what his reaction might be, but Chief did. I could see in his eyes and his stance that things might turn out so well in that regard.

“Your sister’s a pretty smart woman, I’m actually about to head out to go see Shep.” Ghost stated quietly. I wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing close enough to hear us, but he was apparently agreeing with me.

“I need you to go with your sister to the hospital. Don’t send a prospect. I’m going to need someone I trust, someone Smoke trusts to be there when it all sinks in and hits him,” Ghost directed my brother and then he turned to me. “I called Kent, and he’s on his way. Brant is going to need someone for a while. Kent won’t be able to take him, and I know for a fact that Soph and Bender’s wishes were that he went to Smoke if anything happened to them. I’m just not sure Smoke’s going to be up to the challenge at first.” I nodded understanding completely what he was asking of me.

“I won’t let them down,” I assured him before Ghost pulled me into a tight hug and whispered in my ear. “I’m glad you’re ours right now, Poppy. Take care of our boys for us.” Tears stung the backs of my eyes as emotion swelled in my throat. Almost seamlessly my body was transferred from Ghost’s embrace to that of my brother who also hugged me before pulling me along behind him to the parking lot where he got on his bike and took my car, following him to the hospital to figure out what the damage was there and how my boys were going to need me.

We were guided into a private room in the emergency room once we arrived and the sight that greeted me was just heartbreaking. Smoke was sitting in a chair beside a bed, holding Brantley’s little hand in his own while his head rested on the mattress beside it. Brantley appeared banged up with bruises on one half of his face, and probably elsewhere though I couldn’t see anything else due to the covers and Smoke’s body hiding the rest. He was only hooked up to what looked like a heart monitor, no tubes, or anything that seemed to indicate things were dire. I moved quietly into the room, closer to Smoke, and before I could announce my presence he stirred and glanced up at me. It took him a moment to get his bearings as sleepiness sloughed off of him like a blanket he was shedding in the morning. I watched as awareness of overtook and heartbreak melted into his features before his body shook and he broke right there in front of me.

I didn’t hesitate and went straight to him, pulling his head into my midsection and holding him there, rocking back and forth, giving my strength to him as best I could. “Shh,” I cooed. “I’m here. Chief’s here. Whatever you need, we are here for you, Love, I promise.” The endearment just slipped out, but I felt his arms tighten around my thighs as it did. I wasn’t sure if it was from that, the assertion that we were there for him, or just the fact that he needed someone to hold on to. It didn’t really matter in the big scheme of things. I had grown to love the man, and I was there for him in whatever capacity he needed me.

“I need to get a hold of Kent,” Smoke finally stated as he released me and swiped at his eyes with his shirtsleeves.

“I already did, Brother.” Chief moved forward and came to stand beside us so he could speak quietly. “They were already in the air headed to Anaheim to play the Ducks. The team is sending him back the minute the land.”

“That’s good then.” Smoke spoke as if he were far away from the situation, the room, and was looking in as an observer. It was so detached that I began to worry until he snapped out of it. “Do they know yet?”

Chief shook his head in answer. “Ghost has people working on it now. It won’t take long.”

Smoke nodded. “I need to get in touch with Shep and let him know, just in case.”

“Ghost went to loop him in,” Chief explained as Smoke eyed him warily. Chief’s lips tipped up in a somber smile as he lifted his chin to indicate me. “She was telling me that Shep should be made aware just in case, and Ghost overheard. He assured us that Poppy was right and he was headed over to do just that so we could be here for you and Brant.”

Smoke’s hand found its way to my thigh again, and he squeezed lightly. I just kept an arm around his shoulder and continued rubbing small circles on his back. I didn’t know what else to do. “I need to talk to Chief a minute. Could you sit with Brant?”

“Of course, but um, what if he wakes?”

“Just distract him as best you can until I get back. I won’t be long.” Smoke stood, leaned in and kissed the top of my head as he helped me into the chair he’d just vacated, and then he left the room with my brother in tow. I glanced down at Brantley lying there so still and peaceful, and wondered what he would think of his world when his sleep ended and he learned the horrible truth. How did you tell a toddler that he just lost his whole world? My heart ached for him, as my belly rolled, reminding me that I had my own little one growing inside me. It hurt to think that I might somehow end up not being there to see him or her grow up. My heart broke for Sophie and Bender then, because they were going to miss just as much as their boy would. I promised them right then and there that so long as I was able to be in his life I would make sure he didn’t miss out on a single experience, because hopefully they’d be watching down on their boy from heaven. I remembered back to the barbecue when I’d first met Brant and Sophie. The pride in Bender’s eyes as he listened to his son saying naughty words and telling his momma she was going to get a spankin’. I remembered the protective way Sophie’s eyes trailed the little boy everywhere he went. They loved him fiercely, and now he was going to need every adult in his life doing the same to make up for that kind of loss.

I was holding Brant’s tiny little hand in my own and making a huge list of promises to two dead people that I hardly knew when a little voice called out to me. “Popwee?” It was scratchy with sleep, and when I looked up into his sweet face it was scrunched in pain. “Popwee I feels owie.”

I hit the button for the nurse immediately, and moved a little closer to Brant as I did. “I know, sweetie. I just called for the nurse to come in, okay?”

“Popwee, where my momma?”

Oh God! I was not equipped to answer this. “Hey, sweetie, let’s get you checked out by the nurse first, then we’ll talk about your momma, okay?” He nodded his head and winced as he did so. Poor baby.

“The car went boomed, Popwee.”

“I know, sweetie.” I told him and felt my heart drop right down into my stomach. Where was the damn nurse?

“Momma screamed weal loud,” he told me quietly. “She was scawed. She yelled my name. Then she didn’t yell no mowe.” His little lip poked out and began to tremble. I had a feeling he already knew what we were going to tell him even though he was far too little to be able to comprehend. “Popwee, why da big truck crunch us?”

“Hey little guy, how are you?” The nurse interrupted, finally.

“He says he’s owie, and looked to be in a lot of pain,” I explained. The nurse nodded.

“I bet you are, honey. We’re going to fix the owie right up, okay?”

“Otay,” Brantley told her as I looked around hoping to see Chief or Smoke. I remembered my phone in my pocket and texted both of them the same message.

Brant is awake. He asked why the big truck crunched them. He’s asking for his momma, and I don’t know what to tell him.

I didn’t get a response, but I didn’t have to wait long either. Before the nurse was finished giving Brant some medicine the guys were moving into the room quickly. Chief came over and gave me a side hug as Smoke moved to the side of his nephew’s bed.

“Hey, little man, you hangin’ in there?”

“Unc Moke,” the boy offered sluggishly. “My gots owies.”

“I know you have owies, Brant. The doctors are fixing you up as quick as they can so you can be even stronger when you leave here.”

“Me Batman?” It was a question, but a sleepy one.

“Yeah, Bud, just like Batman.” He couldn’t have picked a worse or better superhero to identify with could he? The boy who lost both his parents to what was shaping up to be a horrible crime. My heart clenched in response to that realization.

“I gave him a little something for the pain, but unfortunately it will make him super sleepy,” the nurse explained when everyone just sat there quietly watching the little boy fall back asleep. “Probably for the best, considering.” With that she turned back to me and added. “Just hit the button and call again if you need anything. I’m not sure if they’ll be moving him upstairs to the pediatric wing or not. I do know they want to keep him here for at least 24 hours to watch and make sure there weren’t any internal injuries didn’t present right away.”

“Thank you,” I told her and she left quickly. I wasn’t sure if the guys’ overly large presence, or maybe their kuttes, unnerved her, but she was not able to get out of the room quickly enough.

Once she was gone Smoke turned to me. “What exactly did he say?”

I really didn’t want to tell him the first part, because it made me think that maybe Soph had suffered a bit before she died. I couldn’t hold it back though, because no doubt Brant would repeat himself later. “He told me his momma was screaming and then she wasn’t. Then he asked why the big truck crunched them. He was in a lot of pain. That’s really all he said other than to tell me he hurt.”

Not even thirty minutes later Shep, Ghost, and Leanne came throw the door in a hurry. It appeared that Ghost and Leanne were just trying to follow in after Shep, who was white as self-condemnation poured from him in waves. “No!” His word was a choked sob. “Tell me this isn’t my doing,” I could feel the guilt and heartache in every word he spoke. I had been worried about Shep feeling this and only meant to warn him of possible misplaced anger, but I hadn’t thought about Shep taking the responsibility of everything on his own shoulders.

Smoke turned to him, watching warily a moment, and then he stood and moved to the man that was drowning in his emotion in the doorway. Smoke pulled him into a fierce hug and whispered something in his ear that I couldn’t hear. His words caused Shep to tremble and then cry as he just kept repeating over and over, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“This isn’t on you,” I finally heard Smoke tell him. “This is not on you. This is on the fuckers who thought it was okay to run my sister and her family off the road. We will get them. They will die for this. All I need you to do is make sure your mom and sister are somewhere safe until we do. Send them away if you can. If you can’t let us know, and we’ll see if one of the other chapters can house them for awhile.”

Shep was shaking his head back and forth. “No, look what happened when I got your guys involved before. I can’t. I won’t let you take on anything else.”

“They killed my sister,” Smoke hissed. “This is out of your hands now. Take care of your family so they don’t end up dead too. We will get the bastards who did it.”

“Jesus, I can’t believe I did this.”

“You did not do this!” Smoke wasn’t taking no for an argument. No one in this damn room is responsible for this happening. You hear me? Any one of us would choose to help you out all over again if you called, even knowing what might happen. It’s the life we live, man. We don’t let family down, and you are my family too. So, let go of the guilt, and just worry about getting the women out of town.”

“What about your woman?” Shep finally asked when he noticed me watching them.

“We’ve got her, and all the rest handled. Everyone’s on lockdown for now. They’ll be plenty safe. Don’t worry about us. Worry about your family, and if we need to get them out of town we will. The Dakotas will take them for sure, probably Sierra High too, maybe they can even stay with the girls of S.H.E. down there?” Smoke asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Ghost.

“Already put in a call. Angel Girl said they’d take them in, no problem. They also volunteered some people if we need them.”

“See, we have this covered,” Smoke reassured Shep once more.

Shep stopped talking and just watched Brantley as he lie there asleep. “What’s going to happen with little man now?”

“He’s going to stay with me,” Smoke confirmed.

“Does he know?”

“Not yet.” Smoke moved away from his friend and came to join me back over by the bedside. “Gonna have to tell him when he wakes up again. Not sure how the hell to do that though.” Smoke ran his hands across his tired face. “How the hell is a someone so small supposed to comprehend that his family is gone?”

“He’ll get through, because not all of his family is gone,” I told him. “He has you, Kent, and the club at his back. He won’t want for anything.”

“Except his parents,” Smoke muttered.

“There’s no helping that part, but we’ll get him through it.”

Chapter 14

Three days later we were preparing for the graveside service for Smoke’s sister and club brother. The entire club was there along with members from several other chapters who came to pay their respects and say their farewells to Bender and his old lady, Sophie. When Sweet and Angel Girl showed up I was happy to see they did not have Walker with them. Before the service Angel Girl approached me though.

“Can I have a word?” Angel Girl asked as I was trying to get Brantley’s shoe tied. Leanne came over to help.

“Go ahead, I’ve got him for a minute.”

“No, Popwee, don’t weave me,” Brant whined, and it broke my heart in two, because I knew he was feeling left behind by his parents even though he didn’t understand that they didn’t want to go without him.

“I’ll be right over there, and you’ll still be able to see me, okay, buddy?”

He nodded and Angel Girl trailed me to where I told Brant I would be standing.

“What can I do for you?”

Angel Girl released a humorless chuckle. “No, sweetheart, I think the question is what can I do for you? It’s been brought to my attention that I didn’t do enough, we didn’t do enough, when you were going through your shit back down in Georgia, and for that I apologize.”

“It wasn’t your problem,” I stated simply.

She shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong. If it wasn’t for others stepping in and making sure I was okay when I first got back together with Sweet and we had our rough patch, we might not have made it together at all. If I’d stepped in,” she started to say.

“Stop. I didn’t need anyone to step in. My marriage didn’t need to be saved. I’m much happier now, despite the sad circumstances we’re in right now.”

She smiled at me then. “I get that, but you probably could have used a shoulder to cry on at the very least.” She shook her head, and then pulled me into a hug. “You also probably could have used a round or five hundred in our boxing ring beating the shit out of someone and wishing it was Walk. Lord knows if it had been Sweet and I’d heard the rumors of what he was doing while we were separated that’s where I would have been.”

“Actually, that probably would have been pretty useful,” I agreed.

“So, I dropped the ball. The women who should be taking care of the old ladies down there have a lot on our plates with our own club, but that’s no excuse for us forgetting you. If there’s anything I can do to make things up to you, just let me know.”

“I think you’re already doing it. Smoke said you took in Shep’s family for the time being until they can straighten this mess out.”

“We did, and we’re using our resources to make sure we track down the people who need to pay as well, but that’s club business and you don’t know anything about that.” She winked at me then before walking away when Sweet called out to her from across the room. I moved back over to Brandt and Leanne stood and gave me a hug.

“How are you feeling, sweetie?”

I swished my hand back and forth in front of me indicating I was iffy about everything. “I’ve still been getting sick, but I’ve learned to control it a bit with eating the crackers throughout the day.”

“Good, and have you mentioned anything to Smoke yet?”

I shook my head. “There hasn’t been a good time. He’s been away most of the last three days making arrangements and you know dealing with club business. I’ve barely seen him.”

“What about Kent? I thought he’d be handling the arrangements since Smoke was working on the club side of things.”

“Kent and Smoke have been arguing over everything. Kent didn’t want the club involved, because he blames them for his sister’s death. He even offered to spirit me away from here so that I would be safe. It’s really sad watching them interact, Leanne. I’m worried for them, because they were so close, and now there’s this rift.”

“I know it’s tough now, but they’ll come around. Kent will come around when he realizes what everything was about, and why this all happened.”

“He knows already. He won’t even look at Shep, let alone talk to him.”

“Kent needs time, sweetie. That’s all. I promise, with some time he’ll change how he feels about the lot of it. He doesn’t strike me as the type of man who would turn a blind eye to a person in need, especially when he’s offering to spirit you away from here so that you don’t suffer the same fate his sister did. Someone just needs to point out the fact that doing what he wants to do is exactly what Smoke did for Shep’s family. It’ll click eventually.”

“Popwee?” Brant called out to me and I looked down, bending at the knees so I’d be at his level.

“What’s up, little man?”

“I have to piss!” He exclaimed it loudly even though I was on eye level with him, and I couldn’t help my reaction. I burst out laughing, as did a few of the people around us.

“Okay, baby, let’s take you to the bathroom then.”

“Mens piss outswide. That’s what my daddy telled me.”

“You know what?” I asked and he shook his head no, letting the little brown wispy hairs float back and forth across his forehead as he did.

“No, what?”

“I think you’re right. Big boys and men should piss outside on days like today.” That put a smile on his face, and he put his hand in mine so I could walk him out back to go piss outside like his dad used to do. I couldn’t help giggling thinking about how he was probably remembering an overheard conversation between his parents about how men pissed outside. I would do anything to keep those memories alive for him as long as I could. Too soon, they would be forgotten and only a remembered story he heard other people tell. I knew this, because I was an adult when my family died. There were plenty of memories I kept, but I couldn’t imagine Brant would have that same luxury as he grew older.

When we got to the door he turned to me and crooked a finger so I would bend back down closer to him. “Popwee, you not s’posed-ta see me weiner.” I sucked my lips into my mouth and bit down to keep from laughing as I nodded to him. A hand on my shoulder made me glance up and see that my brother was standing there.

“I’ve got him. This is man’s business,” he stated much to Brant’s delight as he took the little boy’s hand and walked him out back.

“You’re doing a good job with him,” Wren said to me as I stood again and swiped at a rogue tear that fell there.

“Thanks,” I whispered before Wren pulled me into a hug.

“No need to thank me. You need to hear it. We all appreciate the way you stepped in and have helped out. Can’t tell you what a relief it’s been on Smoke that he can seek revenge for his sister and our brother without having to worry about his nephew. He’ll be there for him when all is said and done, I promise. He just doesn’t need anything else added to his plate until then.” If that wasn’t a reminder that I had things to tell Smoke that I simply couldn’t tell him right now I didn’t know what was. I couldn’t add to his burden no matter how sad it made me that I couldn’t share my news with anyone else either. I loved Leanne to death, but I wanted to be able to talk to my brother about the baby. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to talk to Smoke about it so that I could stop worrying about how he’d react. Wren’s reminder that he had too much going on just made it harder to do any of that.

I hadn’t seen Smoke at all that morning. I wondered if he’d even bother showing up to his sister’s graveside service by the time we all got there. Luckily, I had plenty of people around me to help distract Brant every time he asked where his Unc Moke was. I was beginning to wonder if Smoke had forgotten that his priorities lie with the living and not with avenging the dead. I hated feeling that way too, because I knew he was also doing what he was doing to make sure we were all safe, and yet it made me wonder if I was going to be left behind yet again. Tears started forming in my eyes as I thought about that and while The Reverend Thompson spoke of life being cut short far too soon.

Brant started getting fidgety and antsy, not understanding why everyone had to stand still so long. I took him by the hand and pulled him off to the side, deciding that walking him around to burn off some energy was something I could do. As I rounded the last of the mourners there to pay their respects I caught a glimpse of Smoke off in the distance. He was standing quite far away and was wrapped in the arms of a tall, blond woman who was wearing a thigh bearing tight black mini-dress and heels so high I had no clue how she hadn’t twisted an ankle on all this soft ground. I watched as Smoke attempted to dislodge her a few times while the woman just clung even harder to him each time.

“Why Jew-wee attacks Unc Moke?” Brant asked, apparently having seen the same thing. Funny how a three year old ended up answering the question of who the woman was for me. Apparently that was Julie. The ex-girlfriend. The one who was clinging to Smoke like she was the one who had just lost her sister and she couldn’t live a minute more without his arms wrapped around her.

“Don’t know, kiddo,” I answered honestly. I would also like to know why Julie was attacking Uncle Smoke. Better yet, I’d like to know why Smoke hadn’t been with us during the service when he was clearly here and had plenty of time for Julie. I was about to turn away and head back toward the crowd of people who were tossing flowers onto the caskets now when Brantley made certain that didn’t happen.

“Unc Moke!” He yelled, not only calling everyone’s attention to the fact that Smoke was there with another woman, but that I’d witnessed it, and he hadn’t been with me. With us. Smoke’s head shot around and he managed to dislodge Julie long enough this time to turn and head in our direction. He did not look pleased either. I wasn’t waiting for him to get to us. I grabbed Brant up and settled him on my hip so that I could easily carry him back to where we were supposed to be. Before I could get very far my brother was by my side glaring back over my shoulder where Smoke had been standing in Julie’s embrace.

I knew that my past would have an affect on how I perceived things. I knew that it would color questionable interactions with a haze of red anger and betrayal like I’d felt when I found out about Walker and what he had been doing behind my back. I didn’t know if I should be feeling it in this situation, but I couldn’t help wondering if that was truly where Smoke had been spending his time. With her. With his ex, because maybe it was too painful to be around me since I had Brantley with me all the time. The fact of the matter was I didn’t know, because I wasn’t in the loop, and it all felt a little similar to me. He hadn’t even really said more than five words to me each day since Brant left the hospital. “How’s Brant doing?” Was pretty much of the extent of our conversations, because even though I answered I don’t think he actually heard the words I spoke before he was gone again.

“I really don’t think it’s what you’re thinking,” Chief finally said to me in a quiet tone that only I could hear. I just shrugged my shoulders as if I was indifferent even though I wasn’t. I kept walking away from the people still gathered around the twin coffins and towards my car. I had refused to come in a limo that had been organized by Kent for ‘family use’ because I didn’t want to be stuck there if Brantley became ill tempered or too sad to deal with everything. Brant had his head resting on my shoulder as I walked.

“Poppy!” I heard him call my name, but continued to walk towards my car. I was just reaching for the door when a hand clamped down on my elbow.

“You might want to back off a minute, Brother,” Chief informed him.

“Seriously?” Smoke’s question came out as if he was truly shocked by the order.

“Seriously,” Chief agreed and Smoke’s hand dropped off of me just like that while he took a solid step back giving me space to open the back door so I could get Brant into the new car seat I’d had installed.

“What’s going on?”

Once I was finished buckling Brant in the car I closed the door and turned to face Smoke. Chief just stood there watching with interest, but it was clear he wasn’t going to interfere unless it was necessary. “I’m taking Brant home, because he’s tired, and I think he’s had enough today. I’ve been answering questions all day for him about why we were saying goodbye to the boxes when his mom and dad are in heaven. Why can’t we go to heaven to see them? Why can’t they come visit? Why didn’t they take him with them? It’s been nonstop. Frankly, I’m not even sure I’m telling him the right things, but you haven’t been around to ask. Kent is angry with me for some reason and won’t speak to me. You’ve been God knows where with Lord only knows who, and I just can’t help thinking I’m the last person your sister would have wanted answering these questions for her son. She only met me the one time, and she didn’t have a high opinion of me for at least half of that time.” I blew out a frustrated breath and just stood there while both men took me in.

“You look tired,” Chief finally said before moving forward and wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll come back with you and watch Brant so you can get a nap, okay?”

“There’s no need for that. I was planning on heading out with them when they went,” Smoke informed Chief.

“Really? Up until they spotted you with your ex hanging all over you Poppy wasn’t even aware you had shown up for the funeral. She didn’t know if she’d see you there at all before she left. I get that you have a lot going on right now, man, but that kid ain’t hers. It isn’t her responsibility to do all the tough stuff with him, and have you come in once the dust has settled and finally decide that you have time for him. My sister isn’t your damn nanny, and you need to remember that. She’s already had one man treat her like she was only good for keeping his house when he wanted to be there. She doesn’t need a repeat performance with extra responsibilities thrown in for fun.”

“Jesus, Chief!” Smoke yelled out at him. “You know where I’ve been! I’ve been hunting down the maniacs who took my fucking sister. You’d be doing the same goddamn thing!” He shook his head and stepped back again, apparently trying to calm himself. “Look,” he started then glanced between Chief and myself before sighing and starting again. “I don’t know how to do this. He’s my nephew, and I’ve watched him before, but I’ve never had to prioritize him before like this. I don’t know what to do here, because I can’t let Soph and Bender’s deaths go unanswered for. I can’t exactly take Brant with me when I do those things. I’ll find someone else who can help with him for the time being if it’s a problem. I didn’t mean to put the burden on Poppy.” He turned completely to me then. “I didn’t mean to leave you holding my family’s bag, I swear.”

“Brant is not a burden. Not knowing what you expect me to say to him or do with him is though. I can’t be the one making the decision about what to tell him about his parents, or how to cope, or God, any of it. I can’t because I didn’t know how to do those things for myself when I lost my family and I was an adult.”

“Plus, she hasn’t been feeling well. Not that she’d tell anyone and admit she’s not perfect.”

“What?” I asked my brother, eyes rounding in shock as I did.

“Saw you get sick this morning,” he stated coolie while eyeing me in an assessing way. Damn. I hadn’t realized he’d noticed.

“Probably just something I ate,” I told him.

“You were sick?” Smoke asked as he started taking note of what were probably dark circles under my eyes and my overly pale skin.

“Yeah, something you may have noticed if you’d even checked in with her for more than two minutes a day,” my brother grumbled out.

“Shit,” Smoke huffed again. “How about we get you guys home, and then we’ll figure everything out where you can relax.” I glanced around and noticed that the blond woman from earlier was standing a few cars down watching our interaction. Again, my doubts reared their ugly little heads and started spitting ideas into my head about how it was odd timing that he wanted to get out of here all of a sudden when she was there to witness the drama he was having with another woman. He saw where my attention was pulled and shook his head. “No,” was all he said before he pointed to the car. “Get in, drive home, and I’ll meet you there.”

When I left Chief and Smoke were still standing there talking. When I got home I took Brantley inside, put him down for a nap in my second bedroom that had become his over the past few days, and I took Bubba out back to do his business. While I was out back with my dog I heard the pipes roaring up the road. That wasn’t unusual since Chief lived just down the road. Instead one continued on down the road and one sounded as if it pulled into the driveway and then the engine was killed. I knew who would be here just as well as who wouldn’t. Smoke was a lot of things right now, grieving, looking for retribution, confused, heartsick; but I also knew he wasn’t Walker. He hadn’t left me to my own devices this whole time because he didn’t care. He left it all to me, because he thought I could handle it while he handled his stuff.

I heard the knock on the front door, but that small petty part of me refused to go answer it until Bubba was done and ready to go inside. It turned out I didn’t have to worry about that when after a couple minutes the side gate opened and Smoke sauntered into the back yard. “Figured you were out here when you didn’t answer.”

“What if I just wasn’t up for company and ignoring you?”

He gave me a half-hearted smile then launched right in to where it seemed we had left off in the cemetery. “I haven’t seen or spoken to Julie in six months until this morning. She heard about Soph and showed up, caught up to me as I heading to the,” he choked on the words and couldn’t say them. I knew how that felt. It was the final acknowledgment that the person you loved is gone. “What you saw wasn’t…”

I cut him off by throwing my hand up in the air as if to wave off the rest of his words. “Stop. It doesn’t matter, because the only reason I entertained doubts was because of your behavior over the past few days. Had you been around at all, helping with Brantley, I would have never thought…” I sighed then as I watched his face crumple.

“I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t sit still. In the brief minutes when I do everything is real and she’s never coming back. She was my little sister, but I raised her too. After my dad left, when my mom had to work so much, it was me looking after them. They’re like my kids in a way, and now,” he swallowed thickly. “She’s gone and Kent won’t speak to me, because he thinks it’s my fault. I don’t know what to do with all that.”

“I understand. I really, honestly do understand what you’re going through. That doesn’t make it easier when I have a past that clouds everything in muck. I know that shouldn’t fall on you, but I can’t help the way I feel or that I’m questioning everything now, because I didn’t question enough before.”

Smoke stepped forward then, moving closer, before pulling me into his embrace. “I’m sorry, Poppy.” His shoulders began to shake as his head dipped into my hair and I just held onto him while he let go of some of his grief. Bubba stood there beside us waiting to see if he was needed for this moment or not. When he decided he wasn’t necessary he loped off across the yard.

“Will they come for us too?” I finally asked the question that had been on my mind as I was left here alone with Brantley for days.

“No!” He answered vehemently. “I’ve had Gray watching out for you too.”

“Surfer-dude?”

He grinned then. “Yeah, surfer-dude. He’s been watching the house when I haven’t been here.”

“I haven’t seen a bike out there the past few days.”

“That’s because he’s been incognito in a fucking cage. Listen, Poppy, I know what you were thinking and I just need you to understand that you weren’t forgotten. You haven’t been far from my mind, in fact, I’ve been gone so much to make sure you don’t end up like Soph. I want you and Brant safe even if that means I can’t be here while I’m hunting for the assholes who destroyed my family.” He whistled for Bubba who just looked at him from across the lawn like he was an idiot.

“Bubba, Heir,” I called out and the dog immediately responded. Smoke chuckled.

“I don’t even know how to feel about that shit,” he admitted. I grinned up at him.

“Just go with it. He knows whose boss.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside. I remember someone other than Brant was in need of a nap too.” As if on command I yawned and couldn’t seem to stop myself from doing it three more times before we even got turned around and inside the house.

Chapter 15

I awoke to the sound of little boy giggles and Smoke’s laughter. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to lie there and enjoy it, because my stomach turned the minute I moved and I had to run for the bathroom. Judging by the sun coming in through the bathroom window I’d apparently managed to sleep the rest of the evening and the entire night away while Smoke took care of Brantley.

“Poppy?” I heard Smoke call my name, but slammed the door shut behind me anyway in order to get to the toilet as quickly, and with as much privacy, as possible. Once my stomach was emptied of the little to nothing I actually had sitting on it I brushed my teeth and made my way to the kitchen where I could still here the boys laughing and joking.

“Hey!” My voice sounded a little rough to my own ears as I glanced around and noted that Bubba was sitting right beside Brantley’s chair looking for all the world like his guard dog.

“Hey babe, we were just making pancakes for breakfast. Want some?”

“Sure.”

“You were out of pretty much every breakfast meat,” he offered with a pout. I made eggs too though.”

“I see that, thank you.” I was out of the sausage and bacon because the smell of them cooking literally made me sick. I still hadn’t been given an opportunity to tell Smoke my news though. I figured now was as good as ever, but his cell rang, and he glanced down at it with a frown. It didn’t take long to know that he’d be heading out to deal with whatever the call was about. I was looking into his apologetic eyes as he spoke into the phone, and before I could let him see my disappointment I glanced away and started asking Brantley about his pancakes. They were shaped like little footballs, which seemed to thrill him.

“Unc Moke telled me no frowing dez balls.”

I laughed at him. “He’s right. That would make a mess, and Bubba might eat them.

“Bubbsba likes cancakes, Popwee.”

“Bubba likes pancakes?” I asked while trying not to laugh at the way he butchered the English language. He just shook his little head vigorously in agreement. “How do you know Bubba likes pancakes?”

“I gibbed hims some.” He shrugged his shoulders all the way up to his ears and then back down in an exaggerated gesture as if he were calling me out for being stupid. Of course he thought I should know that he’d fed Bubba pancakes.

“You know Bubba shouldn’t get people food.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not good for him,” I attempted to explain and then watched in horror as Brantley spit his own mouthful of syrupy pancake out of his mouth and onto his plate.

“Cancakes bad?” He glared at his Uncle Smoke then, as if he’d betrayed the little boy.

“Pancakes aren’t bad for little boys, just doggies,” I told him.

“Why?”

“I don’t know why. They just are.”

Brantley looked at Bubba then before turning back to me. “He wikes dem.”

“Okay, well how about we don’t feed him any more. I think he has had enough since he already ate his doggy food too.”

“Otay, Popwee.”

“Hey babe,” Smoke cut in, and I turned to see that he had been watching my exchange with Brantley.

“You have to go?”

“Yeah, I do. I want to talk with you, but it’s going to have to wait awhile. Are you okay with that?”

I sighed. “Yeah, go do what you have to do.”

“Pop, I don’t want to go. This is important though.”

“I get it, Smoke, really. Go; take care of your crap. We’ll be fine.”

“I’ll send someone in a bit to grab Brant for a bit if I’m going to be too long. You need to be able to get your stuff done too, and I know that’s not easy with a little one running around.”

“It’s fine. I’ll let you know if I ever need help.”

“I’ll call you later and see how things are going.” Smoke moved to where I was sitting and put a plate in front of me loaded down with pancakes and eggs. Then he kissed the top of my head and did the same to Brant. “I’ll be back later, lil man, you listen to Poppy, and be a good boy for me okay?”

“Otay, Unc Moke. Bye” He waved his sticky fingers in the air and Smoke just did manage to dodge them before getting syrup all over his kutte.

Once he was gone I managed to get everything cleaned up, including and incredibly sticky Brant. While he played with Bubba and watched cartoons I managed to get a little work done. By the time lunch was ready to roll around Brant and I had taken Bubba for a walk around the neighborhood and ran into my brother who offered to go get some food for us.

“When we eats?” Brant asked for the third time since we came back from our walk.

“We eat when Chief gets here with the food,” I explained.

“Popwee, why you got no food?”

“I have food, but Chief is bringing us special food, okay?”

“Otay,” he sighed indignantly. He turned around to play with Bubba who was large enough that Brantley could have ridden him like a small pony. “Bubbsba, sit!” The boy commanded and the dog listened making Brantley clap with glee. I ruffled his hair as someone knocked on the door.

“I bet that’s Chief with our special food,” I called out to Brantley as I moved to the door and opened it without thinking. I don’t know what made me do it, because I knew better than to not to check. I opened the door to see the same tall, blond woman from the cemetery the day before standing there in a pencil skirt, a rumpled looking dress shirt, and four inch peep-toe heels. She gave me a look of moderately disguised disgust and then smiled sweetly over my shoulder.

“Brant, it’s time to go, sweetie.”

“Excuse me?” I growled out. Bubba moved himself in between the door and Brantley so he couldn’t get any closer. Smart dog.

“Smoke sent me to get Brantley. I’ll be taking over care of him from here on out so he won’t need you.”

“Like hell he did,” I seethed. There was only the tiniest part of me that thought for the briefest second that she might be telling the truth, and only because Smoke had mentioned sending someone to help with Brandt. I knew deep down though that Smoke would never send this woman, especially if the first time he’d spoken to her in six months had been the previous day.

“It’s great that you’re taking your babysitting duties for Smoke seriously, but I’m his girlfriend,” she started saying.

I laughed in her face then. “Really? That’s the road you want to take with this? You’re his girlfriend?” Her pinched face didn’t appear to be too happy with me. “You do realize he sleeps here every night right?” I asked. That made her grow more agitated.

“We were split up for a while, but he needs me to be there for Brantley now, and for him. I’m not letting them down.”

“You need to leave!”

“No, you need to hand Brantley over, right now. I know this is what Smoke wants. We talked about it yesterday at the cemetery.”

My jaw dropped, because clearly this woman was delusional. It didn’t matter though; because I could tell by the sound of pipes that backup had just arrived. I wasn’t wrong either. In less than two minutes my brother was in the driveway and jumping off his bike like the thing was on fire. Then, he was up in Julie’s face.

“What in the fuck are you doing at my sister’s house?”

Julie appeared shocked, whether by something he said or his demeanor towards her I wasn’t certain. “Your sister?” She questioned, finally. “There’s no way that woman is your sister. You two look nothing alike.”

“As interesting as that news is, there’s no way you’re taking Brantley anywhere so you can get the hell out of here like I just told you to do,” I explained to her.

“Julie, I don’t know what kind of shit you’re trying to pull, but you seriously need to get gone now. Smoke is on his way.”

“Good, then he can clear this up so that woman gives my boy to me.”

I growled at her. Brant was still standing there stroking Bubba’s fur and watching what he could see, which wasn’t much since I was blocking his view in the doorway. Call me petty, but I didn’t even want that woman to get a glimpse of Brant. Three minutes later Smoke was pulling up on his bike. He jumped off almost as quickly as Chief had done.

“What in the hell are you doing at this house?” He yelled as he moved closer. Julie jumped at the tone in his voice, but then smiled brightly at him.

“Hey baby, I came by to pick up Brant. We talked about me taking care of him yesterday, remember.”

“What the fuck kinds of drugs are you on? I told you my woman would be the one caring for Brant when you asked.”

She shook her head, still watching him with something like awe in her eyes. It was clear this woman still had it bad for Smoke whether they’d been apart or not. I wasn’t sure if this woman was straight delusional or just seeing and hearing what she wanted, because she was hopeful, and unwilling to give that up.

“Why are you here?” He asked her again, and hen the fogy look in her eyes dissipated somewhat and she cocked her head to the side.

“You told me I would be taking care of him.”

“I fuckin’ said my woman would be takin’ care of him.” He pointed back to me. “Poppy being that woman.” He gestured his hand back and forth between the two of them then. You and I haven’t been together in six months why in the hell would you be the one caring for him?”

“You and Poppy?” She questioned softly, then glanced back at me before returning her attention to Smoke. “You’re with her?”

“Yeah, like I told you yesterday.”

“I thought you just meant you had brought her with you to the cemetery, because she was caring for Brant temporarily. How is it possible you moved on so quickly?” The hurt in both her voice and features was palpable.

“Julie, I told you when it was over that I meant it. Hell, you knew I’d been with other women since,” he stated making me wonder how exactly she knew if he hadn’t talked to her in all that time.

“I thought Jewel was just telling me those things to make me jealous. I thought you just needed to get some things out of your system, because you were mad at me. You were supposed to come back to me. She said she’d help make sure you came back,” the woman whined then. “Yesterday, I thought you were talking about…”

“How the hell did you know where to find Brant?” Chief asked, obviously more concerned with the fact that this woman was off her rocker and still managed to find herself on my doorstep.

“I followed you here yesterday. At first I thought you got a new house, but then I saw the car she got into yesterday too, and figured it was your babysitter’s house.”

“Not my babysitter. She’s my woman. You hear me? You are nothing to me. We are history, and it’s a lesson I don’t miss. You need to get that through your head and move the hell on. I catch you near Poppy, Brantley, my work, home, the club, or anywhere else I will be forced to take action. The club will take action, you feel what I’m telling you?”

Tears began to drip down her face so there was no doubt she was grasping the concept. “I’m s-sorry. I really thought, um…”

“IF I wanted you here I would have fuckin told you where to go. I didn’t. You followed me like a stalker to get that information, and that’s concerning as hell.”

Her eyes bugged out and she jerked back with the implication. “No! I’m not, I wasn’t. I just… I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” With that promise she turned and all but ran across the street to the Mustang that had been parked out there when Brant and I got back from our walk with Bubba.

We all watched as the woman lost inches on her regal height as she slunk into herself on the walk back to her car. It took no time at all before she had it started up and was peeling down my road. I turned to Smoke then. “That was not okay.” I didn’t wait for his response; instead I turned on my heels, and moved so I could shut the door behind me. Then I threw the lock too. I knew it wasn’t his fault. I knew he had no control over other people’s crazy, but damn it I was angry that his ex hand presumed to come to MY house and demand the child I was caring for, and call herself his girlfriend. Not that I was his girlfriend, since we hadn’t discussed it, but like I’d told her, he’d been sleeping at my house more than not so it felt like it. Maybe I was just as delusional as that woman.

I heard Chief chuckling outside, and a growl from Smoke. “Popwee, where da foods?” Shoot. I was going to have to unlock the door and lean out to get the food now, ruining my gesture of shutting him out. Jesus needed to take the wheel, because apparently I couldn’t drive my life for crap. I reopened the door and glanced out at the two men who turned to look at me, Chief with amusement dancing in his eyes and Smoke looking pissed as hell.

“You brought food?” I questioned my brother while ignoring the angry bull to his right. Chief just grinned at me and held up the two bags I hadn’t noticed during all the commotion. I probably hadn’t noticed them because they were still in his saddled bags at the time, but he’d retrieved them at some point since I shut the door on him.

“You going to invite me in to eat with you guys or slam the door in my face again?” Chief was teasing me so I just glared at him as I held the door open wider. He moved inside and laughed again as I shut it behind him, leaving Smoke on the other side of the door. “You do realize that scene wasn’t exactly his fault, right?”

“That doesn’t help me get over my anger that it happened. I need a minute. We didn’t even get to talk things through completely yesterday, because I was so tired. So, I don’t even know where I stand with that man. She told me she was his girlfriend, and I couldn’t say something asinine like, ‘no you aren’t because I am’ since I don’t know what I am.”

“He clarified that for you out there, Poppy. He told her you’re his woman.”

“Yeah? What does that even mean? I’m his woman, but in what respect? I was Walker’s wife, and you see how we were on two separate pages about what that was supposed to mean and how he was supposed to behave when I wasn’t around.”

“You can’t punish Smoke for Walker’s bullshit.”

“I know that, but also can’t make the same mistakes and overlook the same issues I did with Walk, because that didn’t turn out so well for me.”

“Didn’t it though?”

I was taken aback by his question. “What?”

“You’re here. You have me, you have a club that stands behind you, supports you, and you have a man standing outside being pissed off and refusing to leave until you talk to him. He is here, even though you’re probably pissing him off right now with your bullshit, in order to make sure you’re okay and that his past life bleeding into yours didn’t kill what you have started here.”

I glanced away, suddenly ashamed of my actions. “Let him in,” I told my brother in a whisper.

“Nope. That’s for you to do. I’m taking little man there into the kitchen, and we’re going to eat while you work your shit out.” With that he took Brant’s hand and disappeared into my kitchen while I was left standing there staring at the front door and wondering how I got to this place in my life. I knew part of my problem was that I was pregnant and overly emotional, but no one else knew that was an issue, and I couldn’t explain it without revealing that.

I opened my front door again, and glanced out to find Smoke sitting on my bottom step. He turned to peer at me over his shoulder, and stood before I could say anything. “You’re right to be mad. My shit hit your doorstep, and that is not okay. You have to understand that I agree with you. It is abso-fuckin-lutely not okay. I will deal with Julie to make sure this never happens again.”

“I think you already did that,” I informed him. Smoke grunted in my general direction and just watched me, waiting. “I’m sorry. I know you couldn’t help the fact that she just showed up with all of her assumptions. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel the things I do. I needed a moment to get myself together.”

“I know,” he stated simply and then he was hugging me tightly to his body. “I promise, we’ll get everything figured out and this won’t be an issue moving forward, ever. If someone comes to your doorstep claiming I sent them, I’m a phone call away or you call someone from the club immediately, okay?”

I nodded my head. I already knew this, and the only reason I hadn’t called before was because Chief was there. The problem really boiled down to the fact that I had a secret to share with him, but wasn’t sure if this was the right time. He made the decision for me though.

“I don’t have long. I came running when Chief called, but I’m still in the middle of shit.” I could see the apology there in his eyes, and I just smiled up at him and nodded my head to let him know I understood, and that it was okay. I felt like timing was against us, and we only had to wait to see if it would do damage or if it would all turn out okay in the end.

“Go, get back to what you’re doing. I’ve got Brant, and neither of us is going anywhere.”

It was then that Smoke leaned in and kissed me fiercely, all but devouring my lips with his own. The gesture sent tingles racing through my body and made me ache with a want so deep I wasn’t sure what to do with it, because he didn’t have time to even attempt to satisfy it. When he broke away it was with a promise. “We’re finishing this later, Poppy, and I’m not just talking about where that kiss was going.”

Chapter 16

Not long after Chief fed Brantley I was able to get him down for a nap. My brother hung around for a while anyway. I think he was nervous that Smoke’s ex might attempt to show up again, but I saw her face and her body language when she left. She was devastated, heartbroken, and more than a little embarrassed that she’d had it all wrong. I honestly didn’t think we’d see or hear from her again. I felt bad for her, but at the same time, she’d played one brother for the other. What did she think would come of that?

“You want to talk about it?” My brother asked me once I was able to plop my booty down on the couch and relax a bit.

“About what exactly?”

“All of it,” he stated as if that was helpful. “Julie showing up at the cemetery, here at your house, Smoke being gone so much, having the responsibility of a toddler dropped in your lap,” he shrugged then. “I don’t know, take your pick. I imagine you need someone to vent to at this point. I don’t want to be left out of your life like I was when you lived in Georgia still. I want you to be able to come to me with your problems, frustrations, and whatever. If I can help, I will. If I can’t then at least maybe it will just help you get it all off your chest instead of letting things sit and fester.”

Tears welled in my eyes as he spoke. I was so grateful to have my brother nearby again, because that was exactly what I needed. “The entire Julie situation was regretful, but not really Smoke’s fault.” When Chief gave me a dubious look I felt the need to clarify my feelings for him. “I had my doubts in the cemetery, seeing her clinging to him the way she was. I wondered if maybe she was the reason he was gone so much even though I knew what he was doing with his time. It’s not even an idea I would have entertained had things not come out about Walker when we were together, you know? So, that was strange for me to be second-guessing my gut, and then wondering if my second-guessing was wrong. It was all confusing, and having her show up here just reiterated the fact that part of my confusion is because I don’t honestly know where I stand with Smoke.”

“Where do you think you stand?”

“I don’t know. The last time we really discussed it we were going to take things slow and see how it all played out. Now, I just don’t know. I think we’re exclusive. He says I’m his all the time, and I know what that means to most guys in and around the club, but I don’t know if it’s the same for Smoke. They all seem to have their own level of commitment that goes with those words.”

“I’m guessing you’ll be discussing that one together fairly soon considering what went down today. What about Brant? How are you feeling about that situation?”

“Well, if I’m serious and committed to Smoke then that means Brant comes with him now. He would have come with him before too, just in a different way. I love the little man. He’s a sweetheart.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have feelings already developing, and strong ones, for that little boy. I’m guessing you do for his uncle too, no doubt?” I gestured that I agreed with a tip of my head and he continued on. “You aren’t even clear where you stand with Smoke, but you’re basically being forced to build this family at the same time. I don’t know if that’s a healthy place for you to be right now, Poppy. After trying so hard to have a kid with Walk, and then everything that happened, plus it wasn’t that long ago. Now, you have a kid landing in your lap who you’re crazy about, and what happens if Smoke decides he doesn’t want this with you?”

“What happens if he decides he does and another accident happens that takes either Smoke, Brant, or both away from me? Life has no guarantees, Chief. You either jump in and hope for the best, or you live in fear. I’ve let the fear paralyze me in a life I shouldn’t have stayed in as long as I did. I won’t live that way anymore. If he takes Brant away from me, then I’ll have to grieve, and move on. I don’t think he’d ever do that to me or to Brant though.”

“I don’t either, Sis. I’m just wondering out loud if you’ve thought about all the possible ways this could go.”

“Of course I have, but when you love someone, it’s really easy.” His eyebrows rose high on his forehead and I realized what I had just said. “Oh!” I huffed out as I collected myself.

Chief grinned big then and stood from where he’d been perched on the edge of the chair across from where I’d plopped down on the couch. “I think I’ve heard all I need to. I can already see how he feels about you. I just wanted to know how you felt. Just know that if you ever need me, I’m here. That includes if Smoke fucks up in any way. You were my sister first, long before he was my brother. You feel me?”

I stood and wrapped my arms around my brother’s waist and pulled him in for a hug. “I get you,” I told him with a sniffle, because damn these hormones and my brother for making me a giant sap!

Chapter 17

The next day Chief came banging on the door of my house first thing in the morning. Smoke hadn’t come home the night before, and I also hadn’t heard from him so when I saw Chief’s face as I opened the door I started to panic.

“Please, tell me you don’t have bad news,” I whined. He didn’t deny it, and I nearly fell right there before my brother grabbed my arms to steady me.

“Whoa, Poppy, it’s not like that.”

“Smoke?” I questioned him, but damn it he should have already known what I was talking about.

“Shit! I forgot he was held up last night. No, it’s not Smoke. Last I heard, he’s fine, just out of communication for a bit. I came to get you, because there’s someone at the clubhouse demanding to see you.”

“Who?” I asked, because other than Leanne I wasn’t really on ‘summoning terms’ with anyone in the Cedar Falls clubhouse.

“Walker is there, and he’s demanding to see you.” The minute he said Walker’s name I think my jaw hit the floor. “Ghost asked that I come get you. He’ll be there to arbitrate anything Walker wants to talk to you about if you need him.”

“What in the world could he want to talk to me about?”

Chief shrugged his shoulders. “Gee, I don’t know, maybe the dumbass finally realized what he lost out on when he was stupid enough to fuck up and let you go.”

“Well, it’s way too late for that now,” I shouted.

Chief grinned at me. “I know that and you know that, but now you need to come with me and make sure Walker knows that. I’ve got your back and so does Ghost, so you don’t have to worry about him.”

“I’m not worried about him, but I’m also not dragging Brantley to the clubhouse to witness my drama.”

“Leanne’s going to meet us in the parking lot and take Brant to play out back for a while until we give her the all clear,” he informed me.

“You guys planned it all out well, I see.”

“Well, after I told Ghost I thought you’d refuse to bring Brant around Walk he suggested it. You know he is club president for a reason.”

“Yeah, I know. Let me go put some actual clothes on, and get Brant ready then,” I stated as I moved through the house. “Can you walk Bubba out back for me while I do that?”

“Sure,” my brother shouted back at me. “Bubba, heir,” he called out. Bubba hesitated in my bedroom door where he’d follow me.

“Go on Bubba, go with Chief,” I told him and he looked back at me one more time before trotting off to my brother.

“I really hate the fact that you listen to her before you’ll listen to me,” he grumbled to the dog before I couldn’t hear them anymore. Then I proceeded to get ready and finally to get Brant woken up and ready. That little boy was not a morning person.

True to the plan that Ghost and Chief had concocted, Leanne met us in the clubhouse parking lot and took Brantley around back to go play outside on the swing set the guys had built in the grassy area beyond the multilevel decks. Instead of following them, like I really wanted to, I trailed behind Chief as he made his way inside. It didn’t take long to find Walker. He was standing by the bar talking to a woman – go figure – and she was trailing her bright red talon-like nails across his forearm.

“What a dumbass,” my brother hissed out as he began stalking across the floor at a much quicker pace. I couldn’t disagree. Not that Walker ever had a chance in hell of rekindling anything with me, but still. If he thought he did, why in God’s name would he be here letting some club slut touch him?

“Walker?” I called out, as we got closer. He immediately shifted away from the woman causing her to drop her arm when he pulled his away. He stood and quickly erased the distance between us only to be stopped by Chief’s stiff-arm against his shoulder.

“Close enough, Walk.”

“What the hell, Chief? You’re acting like I used to beat her something. I’ve never hurt Poppy!”

“I wouldn’t go that far. You might have never laid a violent hand on her, but you sure as fuck hurt and betrayed my sister. So, that’s close enough.”

Walker ignored my brother, imploring me with a look instead. “Do we really need a chaperone?”

I cocked my head to the side and took him in. I was left with an odd realization that while he seemed familiar he also felt like a stranger, or someone I might know in passing. It was strange to think I was still technically married to the man before me, or that I’d spent the past 10 years of my life with him, because now I felt nothing. It was obvious, though, from the look on his face that the feeling was not mutual.

“What exactly do you want, Walker? Did you bring signed divorce papers?”

“What? No, Poppy, I don’t want the damn divorce. I understand you were mad, but you’ve had time to cool off and realize how hard things were on me. Yeah, I should have handled things differently, but I was under a lot of stress and you…” he stopped talking when I turned around and started walking away.

“Wait, where are you going? We’re in the middle of talking.”

“No, we aren’t.” I turned again so I was facing him and he could see every bit of what was playing out on my face. “You have the audacity to come here, demand to see me, and then tell me about how hard your life was and how the stress you were under caused you to fall dick first into every whore at the clubhouse, never check on your wife, or do any goddamn thing for her either. You had it so hard because you couldn’t do simple tasks the doctors asked you to do in order to get your sperm count up like wear different underwear. Yeah, I can see how that demand made you run straight to other pussy to prove what a man you are. Don’t you dare stand here and try to trivialize this shit. You are a grown ass man, who made dumbass decisions, and now as a result the woman who once loved you with everything she had doesn’t want you any more. Guess what? It’s time to suck it up, and reap what you sowed, because I’m done. I’ve been done, and I don’t ever want to go backwards.”

“Poppy, I know you were mad. I get it. I fucked up. I know I did, but I’m here now. I pulled my head out of my ass, and…”

“Stop right there. Even if you had managed to pull your head out of your ass – which I highly doubt considering the first thing I saw when I walked in here was some other woman touching you and you doing nothing to stop it – you’re still forgetting the part where I said I’m done.”

“You don’t have to be done. We can work through this. We still love one another. I’ll find a way to give you the baby you want, I swear it!”

I growled out a ferocious, fed up noise that quieted the whole clubhouse, or at least the parts in close proximity to us. “I do not still love you. I love someone else. I already have my own baby on the way, and it’s not yours!” I was yelling at this point. “You gonna raise another man’s baby?” I laughed then. “Never mind, that’s a moot point, because even if you were man enough to agree to that, I don’t want you to. I can’t count on you to be there for me during a goddamn storm, I sure as hell couldn’t count on you to be there for sleepless nights, teething, vomiting, and any other thing that might inconvenience your life. I am happy here. I am in love with someone, and that someone isn’t you. He’s the father of my baby. Now, do you understand? There’s nothing left of us. It’s all gone, and what little bit had been left before I moved here, you trashed and threw away with your actions.”

“You’re pregnant?” It was only at his reiteration of my words that I realized what I’d just done. In my anger and frustration with Walker I’d let my secret out of the bag. I felt warm hands wrap around my waist from behind me, and then whispered words found my ear.

“We’ll talk about that revelation later at home, but honey, I need you to know, I love you too.” His hands dipped low on my belly and settled there protectively. Walker started to get pissed.

“You’re my brother!” He yelled out. “You knocked my wife up?”

“Ex-wife,” Smoke corrected.

“Those papers aren’t signed yet,” Walker argued.

Smoke made a tsking noise in the back of his throat before he responded to that. “She just told you all the ways you screwed up, all the reasons she didn’t want you back, and that she was happy, finally. She signed the papers already. In her eyes, in her mind, you two aren’t together. She’s just waiting for you and the law to catch up with everything.

“Club first,” Walker called out.

“Yeah, we all know you put the club first, every aspect of it, including catering to the whores. That seemed to be your problem. I don’t regret making Poppy mine, or anything that resulted from that decision. Best damn woman I’ve ever met, and I’d be a fool to let her go. You didn’t hang on to a good thing, and now you’re seeing that, but it’s too late. I suggest you get gone back to Georgia, and do something for someone other than yourself for a change, and sign those damn papers.

Walk just stood there digesting everything Smoke had just put out there for him. Then he turned to me. “I wouldn’t care,” he finally told me.

I just laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Yes, you would. The thing is, that part doesn’t even matter, because I’m happy right now. I wasn’t before. I meant it when I said I wasn’t willing to go backwards for anyone, Walk. Not even you.”

“Poppy, I promise you I’ll get it right this time,” he pleaded. It made me sick to think where I’d be right now if he had done this right away after I kicked him out. If he had come to me with promises and pretty words would I have stayed there stuck in the middle of his bullshit games and lies again.

“How long, Walk?”

He frowned at me before asking the question he couldn’t help asking. “What do you mean? How long? I plan on loving you forever, just like I said when we got married.”

“No, how long were you fucking other people?” I asked the question point blank even though phrasing it like that was not something I’d normally do. I couldn’t consider him having sex with other women in any other terms. It hurt too much.

Walker looked extremely uncomfortable as he watched me standing there waiting for his answer. He fidgeted and glanced away eventually.

“You won’t even answer her?” Smoke finally stated. “You can’t come clean, but you expect her to believe you care enough to stick with her now?”

“Four years,” he spat out at Smoke. Then his guilty eyes found mine. We’d been trying to have a baby together for five years. We didn’t even seriously start until four years ago.

“We were trying to have a baby then, and you were off fucking other people?”

“Sex was becoming a chore with you, Pop. It was so important to get the baby as a result, but there was no fun in it anymore, because it was like going to work. You know? Something you have to do and not necessarily something you like doing.”

That hurt. It didn’t matter if I didn’t want him anymore, it still hurt to hear that your ex felt like sex was nothing more than a chore they didn’t want to do with you so they went looking for excitement elsewhere.

“You do realize that you having sex with other people was probably why you kept failing to get me pregnant in the first place, so you literally perpetuated your own problem and made the situation worse?”

“I didn’t,” he started to say, and then it sank in. There were reasons the doctors told us to wait in between having sex, because he needed time to build up a high enough sperm count. Instead he was blowing his load with whomever else and leaving nothing behind in the batter.

Smoke scoffed. “Like I said, you’re an idiot.”

“Well, I think we’re done here,” I said as I turned to move toward the back door so I could go find Leanne and Brant.

“Poppy,” he called out, voice sounding as though it was being affected by emotion, but I didn’t bother to turn and look. I was done with Walker Smithson. There was no fixing what he’d broken between us, especially after that admission. I couldn’t even wrap my head around the fact that he’d been unfaithful all that time. Had I just been a joke all that time? Had I run into any of the women who were sleeping my husband? I couldn’t go down that road, because I knew it would make me physically sick. I’d gone to the doctor and asked to be tested just in case after the storm that opened my eyes to everything – or what I thought was everything at the time. I had, thankfully, been clean. To think I was trying to make a baby while he could have been passing me diseases was an awful feeling. I really needed to get away from the man.

“No!” I heard Smoke say, and I still wasn’t interested enough to turn around and look at Walker again. I couldn’t look at him. It hurt too much to know how long he had been lying, betraying and cheating on me. “If you hadn’t fucked up bad enough before, you have to know that there’s no coming back from that. You don’t come back from that kind of bullshit with a woman like Poppy.” Chief was at my side by the time I reached the back door, and he whispered into my ear, cutting me off from hearing whatever response Walker gave.

“Sis, I need to know you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” I stated as I waved off his concern. “Obviously, it hurts to know how far back it all went, but I’m in a better place now, I’m happy, I’m healthy, and…”

“Pregnant?” He questioned with a hurt tone.

“Yeah, that too,” I turned to look him in the eye then. “I wanted to tell Smoke first, but every time I tried something happened. I found out when I got home from Pittsburghh, and then everything happened with Smoke’s family.”

“Jesus, talk about bad timing.”

“Exactly. Then every time I’ve attempted to tell him he’s had to run off or something has happened to make me put it on the back burner,” I explained.

“We’re going to talk about that when we get somewhere private,” Smoke’s voice trailed over my skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake.

“Smoke,” I started to say, but he cut me off.

“Let’s get Brantley, and get back to your house before we talk about anything else, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed, because what else could I do?

Chapter 18

Sitting at home waiting on Smoke to show up was torture. I thought he would be leaving the clubhouse at the same time I was, but I had been wrong. Chief had texted me to let me know they were having a chat and then Smoke would be on his way. I had a feeling big brother was attempting to make sure that Smoke wasn’t going to be angry with me. I wished he wouldn’t though. I didn’t want to get a filtered response to my news. I wanted to know exactly, honestly, what he thought and how he felt about the news.

It was about an hour later when I heard the tell tale rumble of a bike in the distance. As it moved closer my stomach started to flip-flop a bit thinking about what Smoke’s reaction might be. It didn’t seem as though he took the news poorly in the clubhouse, but that was in front of a whole lot of other people. I almost felt the rumble of his bike as he pulled in next to the house and then the absence of noise when he killed the engine. I had given him a key when Brantley started staying in my spare room so he was able to let himself in. Bubba didn’t even flinch at the intrusion now since he was used to Smoke, his sounds, and scent. Brantley was sitting in front of me, with Bubba by his side, playing with his building blocks. Unlike the dog, Brant actually reacted to his presence.

“Unc Moke, wook what I made.”

“That’s really cool, little man!” Smoke’s enthusiastic response put a smile on the boy’s face immediately. Smoke leaned down and kissed the top of his head, ruffling his hair as he moved away. Then he started for me. His expression was blank, holding no clues as to how this was going to go for me. So, I waited. He sat next to me, reached over and pulled my legs across his, and turned slightly so he could look me in the eye.

“I’m getting that I have failed to make myself clear with you,” he stated with zero emotion as I gulped down my apprehension that was attempting to bubble up from somewhere deep inside me. “I thought I was clear, but according to your brother you’re still confused so I’m going to lay it out for you and I need you to hear me.” I tipped my head ever so slightly in a nod of agreement before he continued. “I’m with you. Only you. I don’t want anyone else, Poppy. I am committed and I honestly don’t know how else to say that except that I thought it was straight forward that you were my old lady.” I huffed out a shocked breath and he just waved it away.

“Don’t care that you’re still married to some other fool who was too stupid to hang onto the best thing he’d ever get.” He scoffed at that. “Better than he deserved, the idiot. You’re my old lady, I don’t see you any other way.”

“Sophie told me you never told anyone that Julie was your old lady. I just thought,” he stopped me by squeezing my thigh.

“Julie never was. The difference is I’ve already told every single man in the clubhouse and the firehouse that you’re mine. They understand that. Now, I need you to understand that I should have made that perfectly clear to you, and I’m sorry I didn’t do better.” I couldn’t even reply to him then because the words and the overwhelming emotions all seemed to get stuck inside me. Honestly, about all I was able to manage were some tears welling up in my eyes, and I damned those bastards, because they didn’t convey enough.

“Now, tell me our news, because I don’t want to think about the way I found out. I want to hear from your lips to my ears like it was meant to be.”

“I’m so sorry about that. I got so frustrated earlier, and I just blurted it out. I hadn’t even told anyone. Well, Leanne, but that’s because she was worried I was getting sick a lot.”

“See, that’s something we’re going to discuss, because I feel like a real asshole right now since I didn’t know you were even getting sick.”

I reached up and smoothed out the crinkled up lines of concern on his face. “I didn’t want you to know.” Clearly, my words did not make anything better so I hurried to explain. “I didn’t want you to think there was something wrong until after I knew for sure what was going on. At the same time you had things going on with your family, and when I found out I wanted to tell you right away, but that was the day you guys walked into the clubhouse with bad news.”

He thought for a few minutes and then he blew out a frustrated breath. “Then I was constantly running out every time you wanted us to talk.” He shook his head back and forth. “I really fucked that up, didn’t I?”

“No, you didn’t. This hasn’t exactly been an easy week for anyone, but especially not for you. I understand. I’m just sorry you found out that way. I’m sorry you weren’t the first one I told, because that was how I planned on it happening. I hadn’t even told Chief, because I wanted you to know first. I guess everything just hit me all at once and I really wanted it to sink in for Walker that I am never coming back to him.”

“You said you were happy. Earlier, when you were talking to him,” he clarified before I could agree.

I smiled at him then. “I am the happiest I’ve ever been, which makes me feel horrible at times, because this is such an incredibly inappropriate time for me to feel that way considering your loss, and Brant’s loss. I know he doesn’t really understand yet, and maybe he won’t until many years from now. Still, it’s crap timing for me to find my happiness and you to be so lost in grief and driven by revenge.”

“Poppy, it’s not revenge driving me. I want that too, but mostly I want to make sure that you and Brant are safe, even more so now that I know it’s not just the two of you I have to worry about.” He leaned in then and placed his hand gently on my belly. “In case I forgot to say it, I am so damn excited about this.” He leaned over then and kissed my belly just above where his hand was splayed out. “I will take good care of all of you, I swear. I will never step out on you. I will never take you for granted. Poppy, you are everything, and if I ever don’t treat you like that’s exactly what you, you will kick me in the ass and set me straight, because I can’t lose you. Your idiot ex still doesn’t realize. Obviously, he thinks he does, but one night soon he’s going to be sitting there with some cheap imitation of you, he’s going to here about how wonderful your life is, and then it’s going to click for him that he could have been part of that. I think it’s starting to set in for him now, otherwise I doubt seriously he would have offered to raise another man’s kid today.”

“I don’t care what he’s going through. He brought it on himself.”

“I know that, honey. I’m just saying, you and me, we are never going to get to that point, because I know exactly what I’ve got right here.” He smiled up at me and then kissed my belly one more time. “When do you need to go see the doctor?”

“Soon. I haven’t made an appointment yet, because of the timing of everything else.”

“Don’t do that. You take care of yourself and our baby above everything, you hear? There are plenty of people who can keep an eye on Brantley while you go to an appointment, and as long as you schedule it for a day I’m not with the firehouse, I’ll be there too.” He leaned in and kissed me on the lips then. “Make no mistake, I want to be there. I want to be there for everything.”

I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. “That’s good because I want you to be there for everything,” I told him just before a little boy decided to climb into my lap.

“I be der for tings?” Brantley asked looking worried.

“You will always be there for things, lil’ man,” I answered.

His smile rivaled my own then. “Good. Me likes tings.”

Smoke chuckled at that. “Wonder what he’s actually thinking of?”

“Who knows, but if I have anything to say about it, he’ll get everything he dreams of.”

“You have everything to say about it now,” Smoke told me solemnly. I knew there was one thing I’d never be able to grant for Brantley. I couldn’t bring his parents back, but I could make sure Smoke and I did our best to stand in for them. It was my promise to them both.

Chapter 19

We spent the next two days together as a family. That was so weird to say in my head, let alone to experience. It was just Smoke, Brantley, and me. I wondered briefly if Smoke had threatened everyone, because even my brother stayed away. Leanne had worked some of her special brand of magic and got me in quickly to see her doctor. I will never, as long as I live, forget the look on Smoke’s face when we were able to hear the heartbeat.

“That’s our baby,” he’d choked out on a breath so full of reverence and awe that it brought tears to my eyes faster than the heartbeat had.

“Yeah,” was all I was able to manage to get out before the doctor was saying things that I just wasn’t hearing. He must have figured that out, because he stopped momentarily and just smiled at us while allowing us a few extra seconds to hear that precious sound. “It looks like you are measuring about 8 weeks along, and from what you’ve told us about your menstrual cycle I’d say that matches with your estimated due date just fine.”

“She’s already two months along?” Smoke questioned, coming out of his shocked state. He turned to me then and just grinned. “I guess it’s a good thing we like each other, huh? That means we managed to get this done the very first time.”

I choked on a laugh as I watched the doctor’s eyes round out in surprise. “Well, I’m going to give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and get the ladies to set you up with another appointment a month from now. We’ll be doing a couple tests then to check on your sugar levels and whatnot, so Amy will let you know what to do and what not to do prior to that appointment.”

“Thank you,” I told him before glancing over at Nurse Amy whose eyes were laser-locked onto Smoke. Not that I blamed her, because he was a beautiful man, but I suddenly liked Amy a whole lot less.

The doctor noticed my narrowed eyes and turned to see what I saw. He cleared his throat, and Amy seemed to come out of her Smoke-induced haze. She blushed, and then all but ran from the room to gather all the necessary information I would need.

“Sorry about that,” my doctor mumbled, and Smoke – who hadn’t been paying a bit of attention to Nurse Amy – looked confused. “I’ll make sure it’s in your records that she doesn’t work with you anymore, if I need to.”

I waved him off. “It’s fine. I can’t blame her really, I get lost looking at him too sometimes.”

Understanding started dawning on Smoke then as he chuckled. “If it makes you uncomfortable, get someone else, honey. Though, you know you have nothing to worry about.”

The doctor laughed at that. “That was just about as obvious as my nurse,” he stated with a chuckle. We both had to laugh at that even while a secret thrill fluttered my tummy, because the fact that Smoke hadn’t noticed the woman’s obvious attention was something I hadn’t experienced in my past. Being someone’s world felt amazing.

Five days later I wasn’t feeling so amazing. I had caught some sort of bug and felt like death. Smoke had been on at the fire department for 24 hours after our doctor appointment to confirm the pregnancy. Then he was called away on club business that I believed involved his sister’s killers. It had to be that, because I didn’t think anything else could tear him away for that long. On day three I started with the sniffles and a sore throat that escalated pretty quickly into a full-blown cold, or possibly the flu. Then the vomiting started, just when I’d stopped having issues with morning sickness. I still managed to keep going despite how gross I felt inside and out. Finally though, I had to give up and call someone for help when I realized I didn’t have the strength to get up and make Brant breakfast.

“Popwee, I maked you soups, you feelz better. K?”

“What? Brant, no. You don’t make soup,” I muttered as I used the last of my reserves to text Leanne.

Please help Brant, too sick.

Sure, it was vague, but it was all I could manage, and then, sadly, I don’t remember anything after that text message went through and the phone dropped from my hands.

My nose itched with the funny, sterile smell assaulting it. That was the first thing I noticed before hearing the voice that had apparently been speaking to me for some time. There was also the guitar being strummed in the background that made me wonder if I had left the television on, but I didn’t remember. That’s when panic set in, because I couldn’t remember leaving the TV on and now I worried for Brant. “No,” the word pushed through my lips on a puff of air, but I didn’t think it made an audible sound. The voice I’d been hearing was still a rough timbre against the side of my face, as if someone were lying next to me and whispering in my ear.

“As soon as you’re better we’ll work out a date to go get it done. I’m not waiting anymore on what everyone else thinks is appropriate. Screw them! I already know everything I need to. You’re my woman, you’re carrying my baby, and we’re already a family so nothing else matters. We’ll just be making it official.”

What in the world? I glanced to my right and Smoke was there, sitting in a chair beside the bed I was in, and he had his head lying on the bed beside my own. He had stopped talking when I turned my head to look at him and raised his hand up to gently push some of the hair out of my face that had been displaced with my movement. He smiled at me in such a tentative way that I wondered if he had been about to tell me that I was dying until I heard the scrape of something across the floor from the other side of the room. That’s when I actually looked around and finally realized I was in a hospital room and it was full of people.

I reached up to push my own hair back in an attempt to smooth out the unkempt, slept on mess, but then it snagged on something and Smoke stopped me from tugging my hand away. He untangled the hair from the object and as he slid my hand back down the sparkle on my finger caught my attention. My eyes widened as the ring came into focus. I glanced around at everyone who all smiled at my reaction and then back to Smoke who sat waiting patiently for my reaction.

“Brant?” I asked, forgetting the ring as it dawned on me that the little guy was not amongst the people in the room. My brother was here, as was Leanne, so who the hell had Brant? Panic set in and the machine to my left started beeping like crazy before a nurse came in to shut it off. Smoke was cooing to me. “Shh, calm down, honey. He’s fine.” It took a few minutes for his words to register. “He’s okay. He’s with Kent right now. He’s taking care of Bubba too, honey. They’re both fine. Leanne got there not long after your text.” He appeared to want to say more about that, but stopped himself on a slight growl.

I looked around the room again finally registering that aside from Smoke, my brother, and Leanne there were others in the room too. Wren and his old lady were there along with Ghost, who most definitely had better things to be doing than sitting in this room with me. Which made wonder how long I’d been here. “The baby?”

“Just fine. They brought an ultrasound in, and we all got to see the heart beat and everything.” While I was a bit saddened that I hadn’t been able to see my little baby’s heart beat I couldn’t deny how happy I was to know that he or she was doing okay.

“How long have I been here?”

“Two days. Leanne was here with you until we got back. Everyone just stopped in to check on you at the perfect time though since you finally decided to stay awake.”

I didn’t remember ever waking up before now. “I’m so sorry,” I stated as tears began to well in my eyes.

“You couldn’t help getting sick,” he scoffed.

“But Brant…”

“Stop! You let Leanne know, and you did your best. Nobody is blaming you for anything. Brant was obviously worried about you, but he was fine. He just sat there with you until Leanne got there. He wasn’t harmed, and it’s not like you neglected him. You got sick and passed out. That is more my fault for leaving you with him so long with no help.”

“Enough of that shit from both of you,” my brother called out as he put down the guitar he’d been holding. Apparently I hadn’t been delirious when I heard someone playing. “Neither of you are at fault. It is what it is. Shit happens, and then we get over it and move on. I’m glad you’re getting better, Sis. You had us all worried! Don’t ever do it again though!” He stood and came to the opposite side of the bed that Smoke was on and leaned in to give me a kiss on the forehead. “Maybe you should try to get up and get a shower sometime soon though, you stink!

I weakly swatted at him for that comment as Smoke chuckled. He probably wasn’t wrong. I felt funky, and was sure all the sweating I’d done while the fever was raging through my body hadn’t done me any favors. It was then that Smoke stood too, and turned to everyone.

“Chief is right, Poppy stinks!” Everyone laughed but me, because I was too busy being mortified and trying to hide my reddened face under a pillow. “I think maybe you should give us some time to get her cleaned up and back home, and then you can all stop in see her.”

Leanne spoke then. “Don’t listen to these brutes, sweetie! You look fabulous even in your sweat-soaked state. I’ll be around to check in on you as soon as you’re back home, okay?” I nodded my head after lifting the pillow off of my face long enough for her to see. “I’m really happy to see you’re feeling better. You scared the daylights out of me when I showed up and saw Snake was pounding on the door.”

“Snake?” I questioned. It was the first time I’d heard about him being there. “What do you mean Snake was pounding on the door?”

As if he’d been summoned by the sound of his own name the door to my hospital room opened and the man himself walked in. He glanced over and smiled immediately. “Ah, she’s finally awake, I see.” He wasted no time in walking over to the side of the bed my brother had only vacated moments ago and then he leaned in to give me a kiss on my cheek. “Hey, sweet girl, how you feeling?” I heard a grumbly low-level growl coming from my other side indicating Smoke was not thrilled with Snake’s interaction with me. Snake just grinned over at him before leaning back.

“I see you didn’t waste time moving on from Walker,” he stated. I glared at him, which caused him to raise his hands in mock surrender. “I’m not judging, you know that. I just didn’t realize you had gotten so serious so fast.”

“Didn’t Walk tell you about his trip here last week?”

Snake visibly bristled then. “No, he did not.” The man turned to get clarification from Smoke then. “He showed up in town?”

Smoke nodded his head. “Confronted Poppy before I could make it there. Seemed pretty sure of himself that he was going to sweep in, apologize, and carry her home with him on the back of his bike.”

Snake laughed at that. “No wonder he came back from his trip and sank into the bottom of a bottle.”

“You knew about his trip, and no one sent a heads up?” Smoke chastised.

“Nah, man. We knew he was going on a trip, only he was supposed to be headed south to see family in Tallahassee. Thought maybe his ma took a turn for the worse when he showed up drowning his sorrows.”

“Is she not doing well?” I asked, genuinely concerned. After all, the man’s sins were not his mothers. She had only ever been kind to me.

“Cancer’s back from what I hear. Though, I don’t hear much from directly these days since he seems to think he picked sides between you and him.”

“I’m sorry,” I started to apologize to Snake for coming between him and his friend.

He waved my apology off before I could fully make it though. “Nah, don’t you go worrying about that. I just did the right thing when he wouldn’t, and he’s mad about that. One day he’ll realize he’s mad at himself and not me.”

“You came to my house and found me?” I finally asked after we sat in silence a moment.

“I did. I had to run up here to help with support while the guys were out, and then I figured I’d stop in and let you know I was around if you needed anything, but no one answered the door even though I could hear the dog barking and a kid crying. I took a look in the window and saw you on the floor.” He put a hand over his chest rubbed where his heart was. “Took a year off my life to see that, at least.” Another growl came from just beyond my shoulder. Snake turned to look at Smoke then. “I know she’s your woman, I got that. She’s been my friend for a long damn time now though, so calm down with that growling bullshit. I’m not a threat. She’s never looked at me the way she does you. There’s not a damn thing for you to worry over.”

I snickered then which turned to full blown laughter when Smoke glared in my general direction. He stood then. “I’m going to grab a coffee then find the nurse to hunt down the doctor to see when we can spring you from this joint. You two catch up until then.”

We sat quietly just watching each other for a few minutes after Smoke left. Finally, Snake spoke after I moved my hair out of my face again.

“I see he put a ring on your finger already.” I glanced down at the ring that hadn’t been there when I passed out and laughed.

“I woke up with this on, and it wasn’t there before, so I guess he was making his claim when I couldn’t deny it. Not that I would,” I hurried to add.

Snake offered up a sad smile. “I’m really happy for you that you’re getting what you’ve wanted all this time, Poppy. I can’t say I haven’t wished a time or two that things had been different. Hell, I hated Walk for a while after he swooped in and won your heart, because I liked you even back when I first met you. I always wondered what if, you know?”

“Snake,” I started to tell him that I didn’t feel that way about him, but he waved away my words before I could form them.

“I know I was never on your mind that way, believe me. That’s why I’m happy for you. It does my heart good to see that Smoke knows what he has in you, and will cherish that the way Walk never did.”

“Thank you, that means a lot. One day, you’re going to find that woman who lights up your world and sets it on fire. What you feel for me will be a dim memory in retrospect, I promise.” He nodded his head at that, and stood.

“I’ll stay until Smoke gets back, but then I need to head out. Sweet’s already called me back now that the boys here are back at their clubhouse.”

“It was good of him to send you,” I told him.

“Yeah, that was a tactful decision on his part. He didn’t want anyone hanging around that might make you uncomfortable in any way. Besides, I volunteered so I could see for myself that you were doing okay.” Smoke stepped in the room then and Snake turned to leave. “Take care of her,” he told Smoke as he clapped him on the back. “Congrats man, you got the best of them right there, don’t ever forget it!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!”

We both watched as Snake left the room and closed the door behind himself before Smoke over to sit on the side of the bed with me. “He’s a little bit in love with you,” Smoke mentioned as he absently toyed with the ring on my finger.

“He thinks he is, but maybe now he’ll let go of that and be able to find someone who is perfect for him.”

“I think you’re perfect for me,” Smoke stated clearly as he loved to look me in the eye.

“That’s a good thing since you went and put a ring on my finger while I was basically in a coma for two days.” He grinned at me then, and I couldn’t help my answering smile. “It’s beautiful, by the way.”

“I’m glad you like it. I got it while we were away, and then I thought I’d missed the opportunity to give it to you when I was told to get to the hospital.”

“Did you think I’d been hurt by the people who…”

“No, we took care of them. There’s nothing to worry about any more, honey. That is a chapter of our lives we’ll be closing forever now.”

“Good.” We both sat quietly a moment just breathing each other in before spoke up again. “What about our future chapter? What does that look like?”

“It looks like us being together as a family with our boy and this little one,” he stated as he ran his hand across my blanket-covered belly. “I talked to a lawyer about having you adopt Brant with me, and he said he didn’t see any reason that couldn’t go forward unless Kent were to step in and object. He’s not planning to do that though.”

“He was pretty upset with you and this lifestyle last I saw him.”

“Yeah, and then his girlfriend apparently pointed out that horrible things happen to people all the time, and it doesn’t matter what kind of life they live. Her twin sister was raped and killed when they were young. It was a man from their church who did it. She said she hadn’t told anyone about that in years, but she thought Kent needed to hear it so he didn’t end up missing out on the living family he still had.”

“I’m sorry to hear about her sister, but thankful she shared that with him if it helped.”

“It did. We’ve already spoken about it.” He scooted me over a bit and stretched out beside me on the tiny hospital bed, taking up the majority of the space with his large frame. The entire time his hand stayed cradled around my belly. “I can’t believe I was gone so long that I didn’t even know you were sick, let alone bad enough to end up in here.”

“Stop. You heard Chief earlier. Things happen. Please, don’t beat yourself up about it. I didn’t tell you I was sick because I didn’t want you to worry if you were in any danger out there. I just wanted you to stay focused on what you had to do so that you came home safe to Brant and me.”

“I love you, Poppy!”

“I love you too, Jared Lewis!” He grunted at my use of his given name, causing me to giggle.

“I hope you like that, because before long you’re going to be Mrs. Jared Lewis. There’s no way in hell you’re bringing our baby into this world while you’re still wearing another man’s name.”

I sighed then. “I think it has a nice ring to it,” I offered wistfully at which point he kissed the side of my head and tucked himself around me, giving me his heat and his strength so I could get better and get the hell out of the hospital sooner.

Chapter 20

I was six months pregnant by the time I was summoned to appear in court for my divorce proceedings. Heading down to Georgia with my burgeoning stomach and Brant on my heels wasn’t exactly an easy trip, but Smoke did his best to make it pleasant even though what should have been a five-hour trip took nearly eight thanks to all the bathroom stops between Brant and me.

I still didn’t understand why I was being made to go all the way back to get this done, but once we were there the truth would be revealed, or I supposed I should say Walker’s fabrications were revealed. I had been forced to attend this mediation farce and it was not making my cranky, needing-to-pee every five minutes, tired-of-traveling self very happy.

“I don’t understand why I have to attend mediation. I didn’t think Georgia made couples do that,” I stated out loud again to my lawyer just the judge finally walked into the room.

“It is something that we like to encourage when there’s a baby on the way.”

“Why would my pregnancy matter in any way for me staying with Walker?”

“Well, man, we like to try to keep families together.” My jaw dropped.

“He’s not my family,” I huffed out.

“Ma’am, you’re having his baby. Even if your divorce is granted you will still have to deal with one another for the rest of your lives since you share a child together,” the judge informed me.

I glared across the table at Walker, who was squirming in his seat, because he knew I was about to hand him his ass.

“Your honor, I would have to be about 15 months pregnant to be having this man’s baby. That got the attention of everyone in the room. “I am six months along. I kicked Walker out of my house two months before I left Georgia to go live in West Virginia. I certainly wasn’t going to be sleeping with him during those two months, because he was too busy screwing every woman in our town to come check to make sure I was even still alive, let alone possibly in the mood for sex. For a few months prior to that I couldn’t get him to sleep with me either, because sex was a chore for him since we’d been trying to get pregnant for a years at that point. Let me rephrase, I’d been trying to get pregnant while my husband was cheating on me left, right, and center. He was doing so for four years prior to our split, and he admitted in front of an entire room full of witnesses who gladly sent their signed statements along to help me out here.

“I did not step out on my husband ever until after I was confronting with the fact that he had been cheating, I kicked him out, and then I filed for divorce and moved to another state to get away from him and all the bad memories. That is when I found the love of my life and the father of my baby. He’s right outside in the hallway if we need to bring him in.”

“What do you have to say to this?” The judge asked a very uncomfortable looking Walker.

“She had talked to me before about IVF or adopting. I figured we could raise the baby together, like we planned in the beginning anyway.”

“Did you not just hear her state that the love of her life is the father of her baby?” The judge glanced between us. “It doesn’t seem like that is news to you.”

“I was the love of her life!” Walker argued.

“Son,” the judge started, “you probably were once upon a time, before she found out you had been betraying her in such a way, and in a repeated fashion. That kind of behavior tends to kill a person’s love.” He then turned to me. “Mrs. Smithson, I will grant your divorce.”

“I would like a name change as well, Smithson belongs to him, and I don’t want any part of him in my life any longer.”

“Understandable,” the judge concurred as Walker choked on emotion I hadn’t seen in him in years.

“Poppy, don’t do this,” he sobbed out as he wept openly.

“Mr. Smithson, I suggest you take this hard-learned lesson into the future with you, and remember what it was like to love someone and mess it up so bad that the outcome is a woman who no longer wants to remember you.”

The judge turned back to me then and started to tell me that my attorney would have the finalized papers to me within a week. Walker stood to leave and the judge cleared his throat. “Mr. Smithson, you should have a seat.”

“I thought we were done here.”

“I am done with Mrs. Smithson, but you, your lawyer, and I need to have a discussion about the false pretenses I was brought here under today. That type of thing comes with penalties, sir.”

I didn’t wait around to hear what happened to Walker, or what kind of penalties he was about to suffer. Instead, I left and ran straight into the arms of the man I loved while the little boy we were now responsible for came and clung to my legs like a little spider monkey.

I gave Smoke the abbreviated version of what happened as we walked outside to my car, and he just laughed. “I can’t believe that idiot tried to tell them the baby was his.” He shook his head. “He’d better be glad the judge is in there reaming his ass for it, because if he’d walked out here with you I wouldn’t have been able to hold back this time.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I told him. “He’s my past now, officially. They said I’d have the papers this week.”

“Good, the day after you get those papers, be prepared, because you’re about to be my wife.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” I told him, and I meant every single word. There was a time when I didn’t think I’d ever be able to marry again. Hell, I had actually mourned the loss of being able to have children too, because I thought there was no way I’d ever trust another man after Walker. I was so darn happy to know that I had been wrong, and that there were good guys out there still. The kind of guys who were actual men, and knew what it meant to care for someone completely. I’d finally found that in Smoke, and I wouldn’t give up the opportunity to tie myself to him officially for anything.

Two days after my divorce papers came in the mail Smoke managed to throw together the quickest wedding in the world. Ghost was ordained already, as he’d apparently married Wren and his old lady the previous year. I wore a simple buttercup yellow sundress and white ballet flats to my wedding. I wanted something bright and cheery, and thankfully we had an unseasonably warm, spring day full of sunshine and bright blessings for our union. My brother stood ready to walk me down the makeshift aisle on the outside decks behind the clubhouse. The clubwomen had worked hard turning the decks into a gorgeous space filled with yellow ribbons and white and yellow flowers. The entire space was pleasantly peaceful and jubilant all at once. My soul smiled on the space as my brother tucked my arm through the crook of his elbow.

“I know you would rather have dad here, but I have to tell you, Poppy, I’m glad I’m the one getting to walk you down this aisle, because I know this is your forever. I can feel it all the way to my bones.”

Oh man, the tears started to well up in my eyes with his words. I leaned in and placed a quick kiss on his cheek and patted his arm with the hand I had resting there. “Then get me down that aisle to my future, big Brother.”

That was how my brother ended up marching me down the aisle to the man of my dreams and the little man standing there with him who had also stolen my heart. Brant stood there looking sleek in his black little boy suit with his hair slicked back and smile plastered to his face. He waved at me, causing me to grin even bigger as the tears continued to pool and threaten to spill from my eyes in joyous rivulets.

Brant glanced away from me long enough to look up at his uncle then. “Unc Moke, we maweeying Popwee?”

“Yeah, lil man, we’re marrying Poppy.” Smoke told him as they both glanced back over at me.

“Yes!” The little boy announced loudly and added to his enthusiasm with a solid fist pump too.

“Yeah, buddy, I feel the same,” Smoke agreed with him much to the entertainment of those gathered to witness our union. Speaking of, I hadn’t even noticed a single other person. My boys were all I could see as I moved closer to them. I knew that Kent was there standing in as best man for his brother and Leanne was there standing up for me where my sister, Layla, would have been. Then there was Ghost in the middle of everything waiting to officiate and pronounce us man and wife.

My life was on a crash course with perfect, and there were moments where I couldn’t believe I wasn’t dreaming. This was one of them. Smoke stood there wearing a matching suit to Brant’s. It was dark, and he still had his kutte on over top of the thing, which was perfect in my opinion. He also wore his riding boots, because unless he was running or at work, that was it for him. I didn’t mind, because he looked damn sexy as I finally made my way there and realized Ghost was already speaking.

“I do,” my brother told him as he placed my hand into Smoke’s. “Be good to her,” my brother commanded.

“Always,” Smoke returned before shifting his attention back to me.

“Me too,” Brant yelled before taking my other hand. I smiled down at him and watched as he beamed back up at me. “We gettin’ mawweed Popwee,” he told me quietly.

“I know, baby,” was all I could say before the emotion choked me up. We managed to say our “I dos” with Brant joining in, and I hoped that someone was recording this, because there was no way I wouldn’t want to show this to Brant one day. I was already picturing playing this video for him at his own wedding!

Once our vows were spoken, we received congratulations from everyone, and had some cake Smoke swept me away to points unknown. We hadn’t planned a honeymoon since I was pregnant and we had Brant too. I was curious as to where we were going, but not one single person would give me a hint. They just sent us off with well wishes and promises to keep Brant safe and entertained for the night.

We drove passed the house I was currently renting, and a few blocks further before Smoke turned down a tree-lined drive. We followed the drive for a bit before it opened up into a gorgeous and well-maintained lawn. Beyond that stood a beautiful farmhouse complete with wrap-around porch. The siding on the house was a pale yellow with white trim, shutters, and door. There was also a porch swing hanging there along with white flower baskets that had yellow daisies planted in them. I figured it was some sort of bed and breakfast place, though there were no cars here so that couldn’t be right.

As soon as Smoke killed the engine and came around to open my door I heard the telltale sound of barking. A very specific bark too. “Bubba’s here?” I asked.

Smoke just grinned at me then pulled me to stand in front of him while we gazed out at the house in front of us. “Welcome home, Poppy!”

“Welcome? What?” I asked, not fully understanding what he was saying.

“This is our new home, and my wedding present to you.”

I turned in his arms then so I could see his face. “Are you serious? This is ours?”

“Yeah, honey, it’s ours. I thought it would remind you of the house you grew up in. Chief said it’s a lot like it on the inside, and we’ll have plenty of room for the kids.”

I shut him up with a kiss that could have melted the damn house down. “I love you!” The words were muttered into his lips before he returned my heated kiss ten fold. I honestly didn’t get to see much of the house as Smoke swept me up in his arms, moved through the door, and each of the rooms until we were in the back of the house and walking into a first floor master suite.

“There’s furniture in here already,” I stated dumbly, because obviously there was furniture when he sat me gently on top of king sized bed with the fluffiest down comforter beneath me.

“We can get new furniture if you like. This is my stuff from the condo.”

“What are you doing with your condo?”

“Selling it,” he told me with a shrug of his shoulder. “Actually, Ghost made mention that the club may think of taking it over that way we have a place for anyone who might need it that’s not inside the clubhouse. Besides, Gray’s still staying there for now, but I honestly don’t think it will be long before he…” I shut him up with another kiss.

“Don’t want to talk about Gray or the club right now,” I murmured against his lips. I felt them turn up into a grin only moments before he moved in, and laid me flat on my back, hovering over my body, and kissing me senseless. At least, I would have been kissed senseless if it weren’t so damn uncomfortable. Being pregnant definitely had drawbacks and losing the ability to lie comfortably on my back was one of them. I squirmed beneath him, drawing his attention, and he quickly retreated, backing away until I had room to turn onto my side. I let out a contented sigh as soon as I got comfortable.

“Sorry, honey, I wasn’t thinking.” His hand flew to my belly, rubbing it gently as he watched my face for clues that I was mad. I wasn’t. I had been just as swept up in us.

“It’s fine, Smoke. It’s just really uncomfortable like that.” He moved further away and I my emotions heightened with the impending onslaught of rejection only to be turned on their heads as the man stood before me, removing every stitch of clothing he’d been wearing. Then he came to me, sat me up, and gently lifted my yellow dress over my head, and off my body to join his clothing in painting our new bedroom floor.

Once I was divested of my panties and bra too Smoke climbed in the bed behind me and gently lifted my hair up and off my neck only to replace it with his kisses and warm breath which was torture, because my nerve endings seemed to be a million times more sensitive throughout my entire body. I would blame the pregnancy hormones, but honestly, I think it was just the Smoke effect. His hands glided down my body from my shoulders, fingers teasing down my arms, and launching shivery gooseflesh on in their wake. Then he moved one to cradle my belly and the other to cup my breast as his mouth continued to worship my hairline at the nape of neck and down to the juncture of shoulder and neck where I was super sensitive these days.

Another shiver followed the movement of his mouth and the hand that he’d had wrapped around my belly disappeared momentarily from its position as he moved to test that I was ready for him. I was always ready for him though. He nipped my shoulder playfully with his teeth before sinking himself into me from behind, and then his arm was back around my mid-section gently cradling my belly as he made love to me like that. We didn’t have to be face to face for it to be the most intimate position I’d ever been in. His love wrapped around me in a cocoon just as his body did. His gentle reverence and care for my comfort would have brought me to my knees were I still standing. Instead, they brought me to a blissful release as his hand sunk down and deft fingers toyed with my clit as he continued his slow, languorous thrusting in conjunction with the movement of his fingers.

It didn’t take long to tip me over the edge, and when I went he fell over that cliff into oblivion with me.

Chapter 21

Contractions were the devil’s work. I was certain of it. There could be no other reason why they felt as though my entire mid section was on fire and being ripped open all at once. “Ow! It fucking hurts!”

“I can tell, honey.” Smoke stated, looking pained as well.

“How can you tell?”

“You mean besides the fact that you’re dropping f-bombs left and right and damn near ripping my arm off with each…” he stopped mid-way through his speech as another contraction rocked through my body, leaving me panting for breath and squeezing the absolute crap out of Smoke’s arm.

“Damn, dude, that looks like it hurts,” my brother called out from somewhere in the room.

“Why is he still here?” I asked on a whine as the contraction released me from its grasp for a moment.

“I was just dropping off your bag since you two were out of the house so fast you forgot it.”

“Hi, everyone! How is our patient doing today?” The bubbly blond nurse asked as she came skipping into the room. I kid you not she was skipping.

“I’m doing,” I said flatly and then the mother of all contractions hit and the exorcist-level demon inside me took over speaking. “FUCK THIS SHIT, I’m not doing just fine at all! Get this baby out of me!

“Oh dear, that sounds like it was a bad one,” the nurse offered in a patronizing tone. I wanted to throat punch her on principle for the skipping, and that just wasn’t like me, but her words were like blades stabbing me in the back, and I wanted to return the gesture. At the thought, I wondered what the hell was wrong with me. It had to be a demon. I was going to give birth to a demon. I just knew it.

“Honey, you’re doing just fine. You use as many f-bombs as you need. I’m sure they won’t be our child’s first word,” he told me at the end, which caused me to roll my eyes just before another contraction ripped through my body.

“Oh, God, something’s happening down there,” I told the nurse through gritted teeth.

She just smiled at me and waved off my words. “It’s a bit too early for all that. I’ll be checking you in just a few minutes when the doctor comes in. She glanced down at the little tablet in her hand and nodded her head as if she needed to agree with herself. “Yep, it says here that your nurse prior to shift change just checked you about 45 minutes ago.”

A screeched words out through pain level 20-gazillion. “There is a head coming out of my body, and it burns like a motherfucker.”

Smoke moved over some and went to take a look between my legs only to get a knee to the face when I jerked in reaction the excruciating pain that was burning through me. As soon as he shook off the blow he continued on with what he was doing as if nothing happened, and glanced down between my spread-wide legs. “There’s a head, get the goddamn doctor in here, now!”

The nurse jumped into action, running to the bottom of the bed, and dropping the end portion out from under my feet. She caught one and Smoke caught the other, bringing them up to perch on the edge, while my legs stayed splayed apart gifting everyone in the room a clear shot at my vag being stretched by the demon child who couldn’t wait to be born.

“Shit! I did not need to see that!” Chief yelled before running from the room. I heard him calling out to someone. “I just saw the head, someone better get my sister’s doctor in there now!” There was a clanging sound as someone came running through the door, and before the man could bend down and take a look between my legs I heard my brother yell from the hallway again. “Anyone have some whiskey? Jesus, I can’t un-see that shit.”

Great! I’d never hear the end of his trauma after this. Never mind that I’m the one pushing a baby out of my body. “Oh-dear-lord-sweet-baby-jesus-take-the-wheel!” I screamed out in a jumble of nonsense as the burning sensation in my poor lady parts had me nearly coming off the bed. I bared down and pushed for all I was worth, despite the nurse frantically yelling at me not to push. Screw that. I wasn’t on her time frame and neither was this baby. Obviously.

“Please, you have to stop pushing, because the doctor isn’t here yet.”

“Are you fucking insane?” I screamed at her. “Get out! Get the hell out of here. My husband can deliver our baby, because it isn’t waiting!”

“Whoa, now, honey. We’ll get you there. If you need to push, you push.”

Just then the doctor came bounding into the room, took one look at the scene, and jumped into the action pushing the shell-shocked nurse out of the way. “Get her out!” I yelled again.

The nurse sputtered a moment before the doctor quickly turned an evil eye on her. “You heard the patient. Send someone else in, right now.”

She took off in a flurry, tears noticeable, and I did not give one single fuck, because “Ahhhh!” I was pushing again, and this time both Smoke and the doctor were cheering me on and telling me what a good job I was doing. For one fleeting moment I couldn’t believe I had been trying to do this on purpose for years. What had I been thinking? Who signed up for this kind of torture? No one, that’s who! Not a single damn person who knows what’s coming signs up to do this all over again!

“One more good push, and we’ll be handing your baby over to you, Poppy!” The doctor ordered, and I gladly made it happen. I felt the instant relief when the baby finally came out and was placed bloody and squirming on my chest. The new nurse reached in immediately and suctioned then the most beautiful noise I’d ever heard erupted throughout the room. My sweet baby was screaming…”

“It’s a girl!” The doctor called out.

My sweet baby girl was screaming her head off and I couldn’t be any happier than I was in that moment. I didn’t care that there was still a strange man doing things between my legs. I’ll be honest, I probably didn’t want to know what he was still doing down there. I shivered at the thought and then finally realized Smoke was now beside me again, looking down at our daughter with the most elated expression on his handsome face.

“A baby girl,” he spoke in an awed hush as our daughter stilled and seemed to attempt to turn in the direction of her father’s voice.

“You want to do the honors and cut the cord?” The doctor asked him, breaking Smoke’s trance momentarily. He shook his head, no while placing his finger in our little girl’s hand and watching as she clamped down on it, holding him right back. Tears welled up in his eyes at that moment and it was all I could do to keep my heart inside my chest. I knew it was too full in that moment to be contained.

“Do you have a name for her?” The nurse asked.

“Sophie,” Smoke spoke on an emotion-filled rasp.

“Layla,” I said a moment later.

“Lewis,” he finished for us.

“Sophie Layla Lewis?” The nurse confirmed the name, and we both agreed while watching our daughter. “That’s a beautiful name.” She continued about her business, writing things down, and then came to us with a blanket in her hand. “I need to get this little one cleaned up for you real quick. I promise I’ll bring her back quickly.”

Panic ensued, and Smoke stood straight, looking suddenly angry with the nurse.

“Calm down, daddy. You can come and watch her get her first bath. She never has to leave your sight.” Smoke looked equal parts relieved and conflicted at having to leave me behind.

“I’d rather you stay with her,” I told him. He nodded and followed the nurse out into the hall. My brother came back into the room then. I was now covered up and whatever the doctor had been doing while I was lost in my family had been finished.

“Sophie Layla Lewis, huh?” He asked as he swiped at a tear that went rolling down his cheek.

“Yeah,” I started to say, wondering if I’d overstepped by not asking how he’d feel about me using our sister’s name.

“I think that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve heard all day, next to that little girl screaming when she came into this world. Our sister and his will always be looking over her, they’ll be a part of her, forever.” My brother leaned in then and hugged me gently before placing a kiss on my forehead. “Proud of you, Sis.”

“Thank you for coming to get me, Chief.” If it hadn’t been for my brother coming to take me away from Sierra High, I would still be there wallowing in my own misery instead of living my dream. I yawned, suddenly tired beyond anything I’d ever felt before. That didn’t stop me from hearing my brother’s response though.

“I will always be there for you, Sis. Always!”

We took a week to get used to our new family dynamic before we allowed anyone to come over. It was a week full of blessings, because it gave us all time to bond as a family. Brant was taking his big brother duties seriously, even disposing of dirty diapers while gagging, and telling Sophie how pretty she was the entire time. That kid was born to be a big brother. Smoke was heaven sent too though, so it must have been in their genes. It didn’t matter that Smoke would argue that fact since his own father had walked out on his family, but he was bound and determined not to be the same man his own father was. If I was up at night feeding Sophie, then so was he. He would sit there, talking to me while stroking the fine little reddish brown hairs on our daughter’s head.

My world had come full circle from a place where I used to dread getting up in the morning straight into the dreams I’d once had for how I saw my life going. I had the best of men by my side, the sweetest little boy, and the most darling baby girl ever. My life was complete here in Cedar Falls.

A knocking on the door was about to reiterate just how complete my life actually was. Bubba moved himself to stand in front of the bassinet we had set up in the living room. The one that currently held a sweetly sleeping baby girl and where a big brother stood watch, waiting for her to wake. I moved to answer the door, but Smoke came down the stairs and beat me to it. Dear, sweet lord, he was trying his best to get me to make another baby with him already. He was still somewhat dripping from his shower, shirt off, and jeans on but not buttoned up yet, and bare feet padding across the wooden floors. I licked my lips, and the fool caught me, giving me his sexy-beast grin that told me he knew exactly where my naughty mind had just gone. Straight to the baby making process that I had foresworn only a week ago. So that was how women ended up going through the fresh hell that was childbirth again and again. Damn our hormones and the sexy men in the world who incited a riot inside our bodies!

When Smoke finally opened the door it was to my brother’s disgruntled ass fussing at him. “Go put some damn clothes on. No one wants to see that shit!”

“I do,” I stated loudly. I definitely didn’t want my man covering up all that perfection when I was finally awake enough to appreciate it. Again, Smoke just grinned at me as the house started filling up with people. My brother dove to the head of the line, waiting to get some sweet baby love only to be stopped in his tracks by a growl from Bubba.

“Good boy, Bubba!” I praised my dog and then turned to my brother. “Go wash your damn hands, and do not even think of kissing my baby on her face, no matter how cute she is. That goes for all of you!” Maybe I was being neurotic or overprotective, but I didn’t want my baby girl exposed to any more germs than necessary while she was still so tiny. My brother’s eyes were saucer wide, but he still listened and went to the kitchen to wash his hands. Suddenly, a line formed behind him with all the women who had come in waiting to do the same thing.

Ghost chuckled. “You sound like Leanne did after the girls were born. Jesus, times have changed. I remember when Jamie was born, we didn’t even think about things like that.” Jamie was Ghost’s adult daughter, Angel Girl, the one who ran Sierra High Evermore MC back in my hometown in Georgia. Since she was into her thirties now I figured he had a point. Times had changed, but that’s because someone learned the hard way so the rest of us could be more careful.

My brother was the first back to the baby, and of course he had her cradled in his arms in no time flat. This time Bubba allowed the invasion into his little human’s space. I swear that dog knew things no dog should be capable of.

“How are you doing?” Leanna asked as she moved in beside me to watch my brother coo at the baby in his arms.

“I’m doing well. Tired, but otherwise I feel fine.” Then I glanced down at the sweat pants and t-shirt I was wearing. “I’ll be glad when this jelly-belly thing goes away. I never knew!”

Leanne laughed. “It is definitely a weird feeling until it goes back to normal, that’s for certain.” She glanced over at Smoke who was in the middle of pulling a shirt over his head while Brant clung to his legs. “How’s he handling daddy duty?”

I beamed over at her, which was probably answer enough. “He’s perfect. If I’m up with Sophie so is Smoke. He gets Brant up, makes him breakfast, and then makes sure I get something to eat too while he takes care of getting her ready for the day.” I turned to face Leanne. “He’s perfect and there are moments where I don’t think this is all real. Like, maybe I cracked all to pieces back in that house in Georgia, and I’m sitting there locked inside this fantasy, you know?”

Her sweet smile came just before her arms wrapped around my middle. “Welcome to your life, Poppy! It’s fabulous now, and you deserve nothing less.”

The End

July 12, 2018

I can’t believe this is happening!” I breathed the words out through clenched teeth as another contraction hit me. “They still have a couple weeks before they’re due. It’s storming. Not on this day…”

“Calm down, babe, everything will be just fine.” Smoke was the epitome of a calm in the storm. He literally put my mind at ease, if not my body. There was no putting that at ease until our boys made their way into this world. Even if my water hadn’t just broken I would know that there was no stopping them now. They were going to be relentless, just like their dad.

“But, this day?” I whined out the semi-question. “Why this day? Why during a storm? You know what this has meant to me in the past.”

“Shh,” Smoke offered up on a whisper against the side of my head as he buckled me into my car. “We’re going to the hospital so you can deliver our boys, and everything is going to be just fine, I promise.” He turned to look over his shoulder then at my brother who stood there with grim concern written all over his chiseled features. “You got them?”

He meant our boy Brantley and our daughter Sophie, of course. Chief nodded his head, then allowed himself to smile. “I’ll bring them by to meet their brothers as soon as you give me a heads up.”

“See you soon,” Smoke called to my brother as he tucked himself into my car. “Fuckin’ cages,” he mumbled, making me chuckle before the next contraction hit me full force and I had to grab on to the oh-shit handle on the side of the door. “Easy, baby. Breathe through it, you can do it.”

“Shut up and drive!” I grumbled through the pain. He did just that, and had us at the hospital in no time, despite the horrid weather slowing us down a bit.

We managed to get inside, have me changed into a hospital gown, wired up with monitors, and settled into a room about five minutes before the doctor came by to check on me. “Looks like those kiddos didn’t want to wait around another couple weeks after all, huh?” He announced as he came through the door grinning at me like a loon. Smoke stiffened a bit, because he wasn’t fond of the doctor we had this time around. That probably had something to do with the fact that he was in his early thirties and very handsome. Not that he held a candle to Smoke, but who was I to judge why men became territorial?

“Nope,” I stated quickly just before another contraction sent pain wrapping around my waistline. “Ouch,” I managed to whimper out as I felt a tear slip free of my eye and fall down my cheek.

“Okay, let’s get you laid back so I can check your progress.” As the doctor peered between my legs Smoke grabbed hold of my hand and started smoothing my hair back from my hairline with his other. He was attempting to comfort me, but I thought maybe he was doing it a little for himself at that moment too. “Hmm,” Doc’s voice caught my attention immediately.

“Hmm? What is hmmm?” I asked in a panicky state.

“Hmm means these boys are ready to get the show on the road. You’re at a solid nine centimeters already. I’m going to have Libby start breaking down the bottom half of the bed so we can get you closer to the edge. You remember the drill from last time, I presume?”

Last time I had a horrible nurse and a no-show doctor until the baby was almost out of me. It had been a nightmare. This time, I was happy to hear my doctor talking me through things. “I’m not sure I can do this. Last time I was so exhausted after Sophie,” I lamented. “This time, I have to keep going for baby number two.”

“That’s the plan, and you will do just fine, I have no doubts.”

“Well, that’s good, because one of us should be sure of things,” I stated simply before attempting to breathe through the jolting pain in my belly.

“I believe in you too, honey. You’ve got this. I’ll be here to help you through it, just like last time.”

“Last time, you ended up with a black eye,” I reminded him. Smoke just chuckled.

“That’s how I know you’ll do just fine this time too, honey. You’re a fighter, and our boys are impatient. So, let’s do this. The sooner you get them here, the better you’ll feel.”

I sighed at that, because I remembered how much better I did feel once Sophie had been placed in my arms. The difference between labor and holding my little nugget in my arms had been night and day.

“Okay, but what if… there’s the storm, and this is the day…” I started to say before Smoke cut me off.

“Babe, no. This day is different. This is redemption weather, come to wipe the slate clean and set things right. Those storms took too much from you before, now it’s time to give back. Your family is giving over our boys to us, and this storm is their way of blessing them. Don’t ever allow yourself to think any different.”

Tears trailed down my face, and this time it had nothing to do with the physical pain and everything to do with my heart, the man standing before me, reassuring me, and all I could do was believe every word he uttered as the doctor yelled for me to push. That push and all the others to follow gave way for the birth of our boys, Decker and Devon Lewis. I may have lost a lot to the storms, but I had gained so much more in Brantley, Sophie, the twins, and the man who loved me so well I never had to question anything. I just knew. His love surrounded all of us – day in and day out – without fail. I couldn’t have asked for more. He was right. This was our time, and our growing family was blessed beyond measure.

Smoke and the Flame

Aces High MC – Cedar Falls book 3

Christine Michelle

Chapter 1

Six months earlier

I didn’t know who to be angrier with as I stared between my brother and the woman I’d spent the last five years of my life with. My eyes widened in surprise as my brother finally came clean. Then I found myself turning a wicked glare on the woman in question. I couldn’t even see her as the same woman I’d spent the past five years of my life with. He had to be kidding. The thought ran through my head on a loop as I tried to process the words my brother just spat out at me when I showed up on his doorstep with my long-time girlfriend in tow. Granted, I showed with her on a whim to get this confrontation out of the way once and for all.

He had liked her in the beginning and then something changed. No one would explain it to me, but every time I tried to go visit my brother, he would be too busy if I were bringing Julie along. Now I knew why, and even though it was ridiculously hard to believe that was the reason, I could see from the guilt written on her face that what he spoke was the truth.

“Let me get this straight,” I finally managed to get out as I turned to Julie. “You actually asked my brother if you could upgrade to the NHL Hockey player instead of being with the firefighting biker man?”

Her lips moved, almost as if she was a fish out of water trying to draw breath. Her cheeks flamed red, and then she began to sob. “It was a long time ago, and before I fell in love with you,” she admitted. I just stood there; my glare frozen on the woman who now seemed more a stranger to me than the doorman of my brother’s apartment.

“You didn’t think, at any point, since you made that offer to my brother that you should come clean and tell me about it?”

Her head snapped up, defiant eyes meeting mine as it did. “When do you suppose would have been a good time to do that?”

“I’m guessing the best time would have been before you made the offer to my little brother, but since you obviously weren’t thinking clearly, let’s go with right after you fucked up.”

“You would have tossed me aside then,” she admitted.

“Yeah, and according to your own admission, you didn’t love me then so what would it have mattered?”

“I did like you a lot then,” she tried to explain. It was a piss poor attempt as far as I was concerned.

“You liked me so much that you thought you’d wreck my relationship with my brother? Then you had the audacity to keep up a farce like you didn’t understand what his problem was every single time he ditched out on anything involving you. You knew. Every single time I wondered what I had done wrong to piss my little brother off so much that he was basically alienating me, you knew you fucked that up for me. You remained silent though. You let me think I’d done something that I was incapable of fixing. All this time, it could have been fixed. I missed out on years with my brother that I will never get back, and you caused that. I raised that boy! He might as well have been my son instead of my brother, and you took that from me. From us,” I indicated Kent and myself as I flipped my hand back and forth between the two of us.

The tears were falling freely down her face ruining the perfect makeup job she had done this morning. That alone made me wonder if she had changed her mind about going after my brother instead, or if she was still playing a game. She hadn’t been so particular about her makeup in months, until today, when I told her we were going to surprise Kent. I narrowed my eyes on her for an instant, and then something washed over me bringing with it a sort of peace I didn’t understand at the time. For the first time since I’d been with Julie, I realized I truly didn’t even care if I lost her. I could not wrap my head around the sort of betrayal she had perpetrated. It was one thing to have propositioned my brother when she did, but to let me live with a fractured relationship as a result and never once speak up? That was completely unforgivable.

“Smoke,” she called out as I turned my back on her.

“Don’t,” I told her as I picked up my bag from the floor and moved toward the door of the apartment. I turned back to glance over my shoulder. “I’m pissed at you too, man. This was avoidable. Our lives didn’t have to be so fucking far apart all this time. The lost moments, the ones we can never get back, that’s on you as much as it is her.” My brother looked stricken by my words.

“I just wanted you to be happy, and you looked happy with her,” he managed to get out.

“Yeah? How happy did I seem when you canceled our plans all those times? I wasn’t fucking jumping for joy because I got to spend another weekend with my girlfriend instead of my brother who I barely got to see.”

Julie sucked in a breath that we both ignored.

“I’m sorry man. You sacrificed so much for Soph and me over the years. I just wanted you to have something that was all yours.”

“There is nothing in this world I want that would jeopardize the relationship I have with you or Soph. Nothing and no one. Do you understand?” Kent nodded his head and I turned to leave once more.

“Smoke?” Julie called my name again.

“You can find your own way home. We are done.”

“You can’t mean that. We’ve been together five years. This is all something that happened so long ago,” she whined.

“So long ago that it still had my brother on edge and unwilling to visit with me if you were in the picture. You fucked that shit up for me. You fucked with my family. You lied. You kept your lie. You lived your lie all these years. I hope it tastes great on those lips, because you’ll need that memory to get you by from here on out. Never again, Julie. What you did is un-fucking-forgivable.”

With that I left. I needed time before I talked to my brother about everything because he would always be one of the most important people to me and I didn’t want to say the wrong things and cause a bigger rift than he’d allowed my girlfriend to put between us. I didn’t need any time between Julie and myself. All I needed where she was concerned was a whole lot of distance and space. I also needed to get back to Cedar Falls and pack my shit. I was in the market for a new place, because it wouldn’t be anywhere near where she was.

Chapter 2

Throwing myself into work was supposed to take my mind off cutting my girl loose and being angry with my brother. I suppose it had worked, though if I were being honest with myself it wasn’t entirely necessary either. Kent and I worked our shit out. Julie and I never spoke again. That was because I meant what I said and I refused to see her, listen to her bullshit, or anything else. She had effectively been frozen out of my life and was certainly persona non grata at the club these days too. The crazy thing was, none of it bothered me. I wondered how I could have just been going through the motions with her all this time. Granted, I still hadn’t formally claimed her as my old lady in all that time, even if we had been exclusive and everyone assumed it was the case. Now, I was beginning to see that maybe there was a reason for that. Julie and I had been coasting by in our relationship. With six months having gone by since I left her in my brother’s apartment that day, clarity had come to me. That quick flash of relief I had experienced in my brother’s place after finding out the truth had brought with it a lasting peace as well.

“Saw that new chick trying to get up on you last night at the party,” Chief said as he tossed a grin my way.

“She tried,” I admitted.

“Still not ready to get back on the horse?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not that. Just haven’t found the right horse to get on,” I explained on a laugh.

“Damn, dude. When you put it like that, maybe the horses just don’t want to be ridden.”

“Fuck! We took the wrong track with that conversation. Now, I’m suddenly seeing flashbacks to that time you bastards dragged me to that show in Tijuana.” Chief laughed his ass off then.

“Oh hell, that shit was the stuff of nightmares.”

“No kidding. So, what’s new with you these days. You seem to be carrying a little stress around on your shoulders.”

“Just worried about Poppy,” Chief explained.

“Poppy?”

“My little sister. She’s still down in Georgia. I’m hearing all kinds of whispers from people down there that things aren’t going so great for her. She didn’t handle the anniversary of our parents’ and sister’s death well. There was some whole drama surrounding that, but no one will tell me what happened. Then there’s Walker,” he huffed out.

“Walker,” I repeated the name trying to place it.

“He’s a member of our Sierra High Chapter. He’s also Poppy’s husband, and the fucker’s reportedly been stepping out on my sis.”

“Damn, dude. That puts you in a tight spot with what you can do.” It did too. Having to choose between a blood sister and a club brother was going to mean he might have to break some rules if he needed to get retribution for her. I’d do it for Soph in a heartbeat if I found out her husband, Bender, was stepping out on her. Then again, just like my little brother, Kent, Soph was more than just a sibling to me. I’d helped raise her too.

“Why don’t you just go get her?”

“I want her to come to me about her problems first. Right now, I’m only hearing things from a couple people.”

“What the fuck? Why the wait?”

“If I force it, she’ll fight me on it. If I let her come to me, she’ll be living here where I can keep an eye on her – finally.”

“What about in the meantime?” I asked as we hit a fuckin’ pothole in the road and Chief turned a glare on me. I guess this line of questioning was distracting him from his driving.

“I have someone in place for her,” he finally admitted. I wasn’t sure I liked the sounds of that. Chief should have been going down to save his sister from prolonged misery rather than being on this run with me. Not to mention the fact that he mentioned having someone in place. What the hell did that mean, and how did he trust someone from down there to have his sister’s back against a brother in the club? For that matter, why the hell was I ever so invested in asking all these questions? I didn’t think I’d ever even met Chief’s sister before, or if I had it was in passing and I didn’t remember it.

We managed to find the spot where we were supposed to be meeting some of our brothers from the Tallahassee Chapter, but they hadn’t arrived yet. “I’ll check to see what their ETA is.” I shot a text out to Court asking just that and got a response that it would be a few more minutes.

“I’ll be glad when we aren’t having to help Tallahassee out on these runs anymore,” I finally said after we had been sitting there in silence a little too long. Unfortunately for us, this piece of shit vehicle didn’t have a working radio, auxiliary port, or a fucking way to charge our phones.

“You and me both, brother. At least we get to enjoy the free pussy party when we get back,” Chief commented.

I grunted out my disapproval.

“Seriously, I know we discussed the lack of decent horses earlier, but are you getting back with Julie or something?”

“Fuck no! Never look back to someone you couldn’t trust the first time around, brother. Just not feeling the type of women that hang around the club and not willing to share with my brothers. Julie wasn’t the one, man. I get that, but I am at a point in my life where I want to be settled. Hate to admit it, but I’m jealous of my little sister. What she and Bender have with Brantley…” I paused a moment thinking about the last time I saw my nephew. The little shit had kicked me in the shin for calling his mom stupid. I’d said it only to tease her, but he was quick to jump to her defense. “I want that. I want a family.”

“Would have thought you’d be the last person who wanted that since you raised your brother and sister,” he told me.

I shrugged. “I didn’t mind doing it. Besides, it’ll be different to have my own instead of raising siblings.”

“I guess. I used to want all that too. It’s what brought me to Cedar Falls in the first place.”

“What changed?”

“Bitch I couldn’t trust changed me. Now, I’ll take no strings, and fuck the big picture. Maybe if Poppy gets shy of that dickbag in Georgia she can finally have the kids she wants so bad and I can just spoil my little nieces and nephews.”

I smiled at the thought of seeing Chief being goofy with little versions of himself running around. I’d seen him with my nephew Brant and some of the other club kids. He’d make a spectacular father one day. Shame for him to give that up because of some lying, cheating woman he scraped off before it was too late.

I tipped my head up when I heard the sputtering of a motor heading our way. “Jesus, all this business they’re doing, you’d think those Florida boys could get some maintenance done on their vehicles.”

“Bite your tongue. We have to drive that shitshow all the way back home, and hope we make it.” Chief laughed, but I saw there was real concern in his eyes especially when the vehicle in question sputtered and wheezed as it was put in park and turned off.

Court got out of the passenger side laughing at the looks on our faces before he slammed his open palm down on the top of the van’s engine. “Aw, don’t give her that look, she’ll get temperamental on ya, just like a bitch.”

“Fuck sake,” Chief called out. “Can’t you guys upgrade that shit.”

Court shrugged his shoulders up and down once. “Why? This isn’t a long-haul gig. We only have a few more runs like this and we’re done.”

Chief shook his head back and forth. “We’ll get her some maintenance done if we manage to make it all the way back to Cedar Falls without…”

“No! Do not jinx yourselves. Last time someone badmouthed Betsy here, she stopped working for a solid month,” Diamond told us. He was one of the Florida boys, though we teased him often that he was really one of the Florida girls since he had a stripper name. He came by it as innocently as possible too. It was the fucker’s last name.

“Listen sparkle-dancer,” I called out to him. “We don’t have time for your salvage heap to break down on us, so from now on, let’s get a good clean bill of health before we do this thing, yeah?”

“Fuck you, Smoke!” Yeah, that shit always got under his skin. He hated being referred to as a stripper. Chief chuckled and then pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking down at a text that came in.

“Shit,” he proclaimed and then held his finger up, asking for a minute. “You got this?”

I gave him a chin tip and watched as he walked off a little way so whoever was on the other line couldn’t hear us. “What’s up with that?” Court asked as he came over and slapped the keys to Betsy in the palm of my hand while I traded out the box van keys to him.

“Don’t know. Might be his sister,” I told him and watched as he cringed a little.

“What?”

“Aw man, I was up there in Sierra High about a month ago. Walker was running through the whores like a dying man in the desert runs through water when he finds it.”

“Shit, that sounds a whole lot worse than anyone has let on to Chief,” I explained.

“If I had known he wasn’t aware, I would have fuckin’ given him a heads up. Met Poppy a few times. She’s a real sweet girl. The forever kind you don’t fuck shit up with, you know?”

“Yeah, well, hopefully that’s her calling her brother to come get her so she can start fresh somewhere else. He’s been distracted, worried about her.”

“From what I saw down there, that would be a good call. Everyone in that club knows what’s going down. Not a damn one trying to talk that idiot down from his insanity except Snake, and I don’t think he wants to see Walker stick it out with Poppy anyway.” I kicked an eyebrow up, a question in the gesture. “Yeah, I think it’s like that, but he ain’t acted on nothing yet, far as I could tell.”

“Well, maybe it would be best for Chief to get his ass there sooner than later. That would be a fucked situation to end up in for her.”

“No shit.”

Diamond interrupted any further discussion. “I’d like to enjoy soap opera hour, but we have precious cargo to get moved before the fates stop smiling on us.”

“Yeah, brother. Good to see you both again. Safe ride!”

Diamond gave Betsy a little slap on her bumper. “I had a little pep talk with our girl. She might just get you back home.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” I muttered before glancing over at Chief as Court and Diamond drove off. They had a tail of two more Aces High members on bikes, but they hadn’t gotten close enough for me to see who it was. Once they were gone, Chief hung up his cell and walked back over to me.

“Sorry about that,” he offered before stuffing his cell back into his pocket. “Looks like I finally got the call. Soon as we get back, I need to head out and go get Poppy.”

“Need someone with you?”

“Nah, man. You got work anyway. I’ll have it handled. Apparently, she has the family house packed up and on the fuckin’ market already,” he told me as a giant grin bloomed across his face. “Baby sister don’t play. That fucker never bothered to check on her once in the time since she kicked him out so she could have time to think. She managed to pack up the entire house. He finally shows up and sees all the boxes and lost his shit.”

“She okay?”

“Aside from having her life fall apart? Yeah. Snake was there too. Nothing physical went down. He says he has a truck coming in two days. I’ll be there to help load it and then I’ll be driving her up. You know of a place for rent?”

“Pretty sure Hop’s brother has a place just up the road from you. I’ll check in on it and see if we can get her set up.”

“It’s empty?”

“Yeah. I just helped him remodel a bit. We yanked carpets out and refinished the wood that was underneath them. Last renters had cats that marked the carpets up. Stunk to high heaven in there.”

Chief wrinkled his nose. “Maybe we need to look for something else,” he mentioned.

“Nah, I promise, it’s all good now. You’ll see.”

“Okay, if you could get that set up for me, I’d appreciate the fuck out of it.”

“Not a problem, brother. You just go worry about your sister.”

Chapter 3

I was about to drive on past the little cottage style house near the corner when I thought better of it. I knew this was the house Chief was setting his sister up in because I had arranged it for them while he went to collect her. The only vehicle in the drive now was an older, but obviously well cared for, Subaru Outback. Chief was gone since his bike was no longer there, and yet, I didn’t keep going down the block. Something made me stop. I’m not that curious of a guy, but for some reason I couldn’t pass by the house without meeting the sister I’d heard so much about over the past couple of weeks.

When Poppy’s marriage started falling to shit, word was sent up through the chain of bickering old hens I tend to call my brothers. They were giving Chief the heads up before his sister filled him in on her troubles. I didn’t really agree with him waiting on her to be forthcoming, but he knew her better than I did – which was not at all. Her man was up to no good down there in Georgia. Normally, I’d call a brother out for ratting out anyone in his MC, but in this case, it was a weird situation, and from Chief’s viewpoint forgivable.

The thing that intrigued me was that Snake, the man doing the ratting in this case, was willing to go against someone who Chief claimed was the man’s best friend, Poppy’s husband, in order to let the brother know she needed someone to be on her side. I wasn’t certain what type of woman could garner that much loyalty from a man over his brother, and ever since then, I’d paid more attention to the stories filtering in about what was going down in the Sierra High Clubhouse. I wanted to know everything. Now, I had the opportunity to see for myself what all the fuss was about, and stupidly, I was parking my bike in her driveway, about to find out. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance, and I knew I was pushing my luck since a storm was supposed to be rolling through in just a bit. That didn’t matter. I felt compelled to be here, as strange as it sounded to admit that to myself.

I stepped up on the little front stoop and banged on the door just as a gust of wind tossed up a bit of dirt and debris from the yard. There wasn’t a peephole for her to be able to see, and the window was so far over, it would no doubt leave a blind spot. That concerned me, because it was something Chief should have seen to before she moved in. I had a sister too, and I’ll be damned if I’d leave her having to answer a door blind. It hadn’t occurred to me what the setup was like when I was here helping to fix the place up before.

I knocked once more, thinking that whoever was in there hadn’t heard me the first time, and that’s when the door flew open and there stood the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She looked almost nothing like her brother, who apparently had gotten all the Native American genes in the family while his sister looked straight off the boat from Ireland. Her auburn hair was a flaming mass on her head thanks to the streetlight’s odd colored glow. Her eyes pierced mine momentarily as she tried gulping in air, but that didn’t seem to be going well for her.

“You okay, honey?” I asked, taking in her heaving chest and the wild-eyed look she was throwing my way. At first, I thought she was startled by the sight of me. I wasn’t exactly unintimidating to look at, especially if you were a single woman and I just randomly showed up on your doorstep.

“Um,” she managed to get past her rapid breathing.

“I came by to see if Chief was still around,” I quickly spilled out, trying to help ease her mind with the knowledge that I was friend, not foe.

“He, um,” she started to say, words halted by her inability to catch her breath as she put a hand to her chest in a move that made it appear she was trying to hold herself together. I watched her a moment before sliding my phone out of my pocket, ready to call Chief and ream his ass for leaving his sister alone on her first night in a new house, new town, and new life. Surely, he knew better. From what I’d been hearing second-hand, the woman had been through enough already. The last thing she needed was to deal with this level of a freak out. Her other hand – the one not clutching her chest – shot out and waved at me though. I stopped with my phone held out in front of me, poised to text as she spoke again. “Sorry, you caught me at the start of an anxiety attack, I think.”

“This happen often?” I asked while keeping a wary eye on her. Granted, I was a fireman in my day job, but I also had to know the basics of first aid and CPR. I was ready to deal with her if she went down, and if she didn’t get her shit under control that might be happening sooner rather than later.

She shook her head at me instead of fainting though. “Nope, just when I move from the only home I’ve ever known to a new town, to look for a new job, while I’m in the middle of divorcing my cheating husband.” Each of her words stabbed out into the air with painful accusation. I felt them soul deep and had to fight to keep the murderous look off of my face. I wasn’t sure how Snake managed to maintain a friendship with the man who clearly destroyed this woman. I could suddenly understand why he stepped over the bounds of brotherhood where his friend was concerned in order to make sure Chief was there for his sister.

“Mind if I come in, check to make sure all is well while I’m here?” I asked her as she eyed my kutte suspiciously again. “Name’s Smoke. I’m a good friend of your brother’s, and he’s told me a bit about your situation already, but if you need to share more with someone who isn’t family, I’m all ears. Even if you don’t, might help to have someone around for a bit while you adjust. Not sure what Chief was thinking leaving you alone in a strange place your first night here.”

“I’m pretty sure he wasn’t thinking. He was tired; so, don’t hold his poor manners against him. It’s been a long couple of days.”

“I can imagine,” I tipped my chin toward the house again, wondering if she was going to turn me away or allow me inside. I couldn’t in good conscience walk away and leave her like this though. It was obvious she was having a tough time adjusting. “You gonna let me in, or I gotta call your tired brother and get his ass back over here? Whatever makes you the most comfortable, honey.”

She slowly slid out of the way while checking me out as she moved. I returned the favor, taking in her clothes. She obviously chose them for comfort since she and Chief had traveled all the way up from northern Georgia today and then unloaded a truck full of shit on top of that once they got here. Still, she managed to look damn good in the everyday comfort wear while tired and mid-panic attack. It made me wonder just how much more of a knockout she would be if I had run into her fully decked out somewhere. Suddenly, I wanted to keep her hidden away here where none of my other brothers would ever see her because she was too tantalizing as is.

We spent the next couple hours getting to know one another, talking about hockey of all things. I never thought it possible to meet a beautiful southern belle who knew her shit about hockey, knew who my brother was, and still only had eyes for me. Gorgeous green eyes that shined like precious gems and drew me in closer to her. The Captain Morgan Black Label I’d had a prospect deliver was nearly gone between the two of us, and it served its purpose. All the anxiety she had earlier when I arrived was gone, and in its place was just her laughter and the glorious sight of her getting passionate about the unnecessary penalties some of my brother’s teammates had taken recently.

“Oh Jeezzzzus, I’m a meth,” Poppy tried to say as we ended our latest discussion on my asshole father leaving us. She had just realized she’d been speaking with a bit of lisp for a while now. Instead, she started laughing at herself.

“She develops a speech impediment when she’s drinking heavy,” I spoke out loud, finding the situation funnier than I probably should. “Good to know,” I told her as I watched those eyes of hers work to hypnotize and pull me in once more. Poppy spoke, almost as if reading my mind.

“Mesmerizing,” she murmured, but I had to admit that I was too tuned into the puffy, rosy lips of hers to care about words anymore. I pulled her body into my mine as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and cupped the back of Poppy’s neck. I continued to pull her hips closer until she was damn near on my lap. Our lips touched, setting off an inferno everywhere they touched. It only took a brief touch before she was parting her lips for me and letting me in. I didn’t hesitate. I dove right in and started to claim the woman who had me held in thrall all night. Hell, that was a lie. She had me in thrall long before I met in person. Every story I heard about her, despite her recent shitty circumstances, was one that painted a picture of the woman I’d been dreaming of calling my own all my life. Her silky tongue met and tangled with my own, and her sweet, beautiful moan had my hard as fuck cock twitching in my pants and begging for release. I knew in that moment I would do whatever it took to make her mine.

Our mouths were still locked in a heated kiss as I took the liberty of learning her body, the feel of her curves, and the smoothness of her skin. I ran my fingertips up and down her ribs, moving closer and closer to her breasts that were overflowing the bra she had on. It was one that was made for comfort, cotton instead of satin or lace like most women wore to impress. That wasn’t Poppy though. Not that my arrival hadn’t been a complete surprise for her anyway, but I had a feeling she was the type of woman who wore comfortable well, and made it seem hotter than any expensive lingerie could possibly look. The bra was unclasped, and I was dragging it down her arms before I could even put anymore thought into how sexy she might look in it. The garment no sooner hit the floor than her hands were on me, tugging at my shirt to get it off me and join her clothing that already littered the floor of the living room.

“Please, tell me you have a bed set up?” I questioned as each word caused my lips to graze gently back over her own. She pointed and I took off to the little hallway that housed three doors. The one in the center was the bathroom which left two choices.

“Left or right, babe?”

“Left,” she hissed as I lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around my waist allowing me to carry her into the bedroom. Thank fuck, there was a bed. Not that the lack of one would have stopped me, but it would make what we were about to do a whole lot more comfortable.

I managed to put her down gently onto the bed while I tugged my jeans down and used my feet to pull the denim material free from my legs. I left them puddled there on the floor as she took in the view of my body standing over her. I kneeled on the edge of the bed and leaned in placing a quick kiss on her thigh, nipping gently with teeth as I moved further up. My hands were sliding slowly along her outer thighs until I managed to get her to spread her legs wider to accommodate my body between them. Once she was relaxed and open, I moved my hands in place on either side of her hips and slid the last bit of clothing keeping her from view. The white cotton panties she’d had on slid down her legs and I tugged to remove them from her feet before tossing them aside and quickly moving back into a position where I could take all of her in before I dove in with my shoulders sliding between her thighs, and breathed warm air all over her slickened flesh. Then I flattened my tongue and took a delicious swipe of her most intimate part before I made it up to the little bundle of nerves at the top that was begging to be sucked on. That was exactly what I did. I sucked it into my mouth and nipped gently with teeth causing her to whimper.

“Shit!” She managed to articulate before throwing her head back as her eyes fell closed and she dragged her fingers through my hair. She was holding me to her, and I didn’t mind one bit, because I’d just figured out what heaven tasted like. It was Poppy’s sweet musk with a hint of salt, and those sweet as fuck whimpering noises that kept making my cock stand further at attention. I wanted to make this damn good for her, because I had a feeling it was the first time she’d been able to let go and just feel in a long time. The truth of the matter was, I didn’t know how long I could hold out so I trailed my hands up her sides until I had her tits cupped firmly in my grasp as I went to town fucking and sucking her pussy with my tongue. I rasped my bearded face across her sensitive clit every time I dipped down to pump my tongue inside of her and scoop out all of her juices. As she grew closer to her own climax, she also became rougher with her demands, tugging and pulling at my hair to make sure I focused my attention exactly where she needed me.

Seconds that felt like hours ticked by as I refused to let up until I felt her thighs begin to shake at my shoulders and then I sucked deeply on her clit as I pinched down hard on both of her nipples sending her tumbling over into a climax I could feel shake her to her core.

“Shit, holy…” She huffed out. “Jesus, God.” I snickered against her as she had her religious experience and finally eased up on the hold she had on my hair. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find that she took a few strands away with her. Just as she release me I heard my name roll off of her tongue like a prayer. “Ungh, Smoke!”

“Honey,” I called out in response as I worked my way back up her body, planting open-mouthed kisses as I went. Easing inside of her was something else. She was so hot, slick, and fucking tighter than I’d felt a woman in a long as fuck time. It had to be everything in combination, because this was something new for me. “Never before,” I managed to tell her before I increased the tempo of my thrusts, trying to feel every part of her that I could. Hell, I was trying to get as deep into her as was humanly possible, because this connection I was feeling was something else. At the risk of sounding like a bitch – it was fucking magical.

“Smoke, I’m…”

“I know, honey. Feel it. Let go, because it’s not going to be the last one tonight. Not done with you yet.” I meant every word as I felt her do exactly as I commanded. I pounded into her as her pussy contracted around me and then when she thought she was done; I flipped her ass over and took her from behind as she purred for me on all fours. I pounded into her roughly, taking what I wanted. As I hunched over her back and held her tightly around her waist, I pulled on one of her nipples and then reached down and began paying attention to her clit as well while I hammered into her relentlessly. Finally, I managed to send her over the edge once more before I finally found my own release.

“Honey,” I whispered into Poppy’s ear as I collapsed against her backside riding that last bit of momentum to the end. “Let go, sweetheart. Can’t. Hold. Onnnn,” I growled to her as I felt her clamp down around my cock just before I let loose and found my own release deep inside of her.

“Fuck, honey, never in my life…” I tried to say before I realized that I was probably squishing her the way I was draped all over her back as we came crashing down to the bed. “Sorry,” I laughed.

“Not a damn thing to be sorry for. I’m amazed you held it together as long as you did.”

“Shh,” I hummed in her ear as I pulled her close and covered our rapidly cooling with her blanket. Her hair was sweat-slicked across her face and I gently brushed it away, exposing her beautifully flushed face to me. “Get some sleep, honey,” I demanded in the softest of tones while trying to lure her into a restful sleep. Judging from everything I knew about her situation and the panic attack I’d walked in on her having at the start of our night, I’d say she desperately needed it.

“Mmm,” was her only response before I felt her body go slack in my arms. There was one thing I knew for sure, and that was that Poppy was made for me. There was no chance in hell I’d be letting her get away. I didn’t care if everyone in our lives thought it was too soon. Hell, I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the small part of myself who thought I was crazy thinking this shit, but I couldn’t help it. Every minute I’d spent in her presence had been perfect so far.

Chapter 4

Babysitting duty was going to kill my spirit today. I loved my nephew more than the world, but I’d forgotten I was supposed to sit with him while his parents went and had some alone time without him. I had no clue that I was going to not only meet Poppy last night, but that she would end up being the whole fucking package. She was exquisite in every way, from her gorgeous, yet unassuming appearance to her intelligence and creativity. Then there was the fact that she could talk hockey with me and get truly excited about the player’s stats and not just their height, weight, and sexy scruff factor as Poppy put it when she was joking about the only way she had been able to get girls in her past to discuss the sport with her.

I glanced back one more time as I hopped in Bender’s Ford Expedition and when I turned back, it was to see the bastard brother-in-law of mine grinning his head off.

“Finally met Chief’s sister, did ya?”

“You could say that,” I managed to get out without giving anything away.

“She’s a looker. Chief’s going to have his hands full trying to keep the men off of her.”

“The fuck he is!” I yelled at him.

The bastard chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. She already has you under her spell, brother.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled.

The smile was swept away to be replaced with concern. “Just be careful. Her split has been ugly, but it’s still new and I’m pretty sure they’ve clocked the better part of a decade together.”

“I am aware of all those things.”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt if he comes around begging for her back and she goes. You know how it can be with the women who have been around the club a while. They think they’re mad about the cheating, but then they decide they can get over it, because they’ll miss the life too much. Or the man.”

“Trust me when I say I don’t think she would be one of those. If it turns out that way, you can say you warned me when I’m crying in my cornflakes and can’t get out of bed, okay?” Sure, it was sarcasm, but honestly, if all of my days with Poppy ended up even a fraction of how well our night had turned out, that didn’t seem a far-fetched result if she decided to hightail it back to Sierra High, Georgia.

Before long, I found myself confiding in Bender about my night with Poppy. He pulled into a convenience store parking lot and pulled into a back into a parking space before putting the Expedition in park and turning to me. “So, what exactly did you say to her about why you were leaving again? You said you promised Soph you’d watch the kid?” His questions bothered me for some reason that I couldn’t put my finger on.

“That’s what I fuckin’ said,” I told him, feeling my temper rise a bit.

He laughed. “Shit, you’re gonna have some ‘splainin’ to do, my brother.”

“What? Why?”

“She probably had all kinds of ideas about who that kid was to you and who Soph was,” Bender told me and suddenly it hit me. The panic set in and I was about to get him to turn around so I could rectify that situation, but then I remembered Chief was there too.

“Her brother will set her straight,” I informed him.

“You sure about that? If I were Chief and I walked in on the two of you all post-coital this morning, I would probably fuck with you hardcore through her.”

“If it wasn’t Poppy, and she hadn’t been through everything she’s recently gone through, I’m sure you would be right. There’s no way he’s going to leave her in doubt of what happened last night just to fuck with me though. That would be cruel to her.”

“I see your point. I guess you got lucky this time. Word to the wise, if you’re ever talking about a kid and another woman to someone you only just started dating, fucking, or whatever you two are doing; there probably needs to be some sort of explanation as to who those people you mentioned are before you up and run out of breakfast.”

I ran my hand nervously through my hair, because honestly, I should have known better. Before I could get lost in my own thoughts of Poppy and where I thought we were going to be headed with our little new-found friendship, my brother-in-law got a call.

“What’s up babe?” I knew immediately it was my sister. “Seriously, still no?” Bender sighed, disappointed in something she was saying. “Okay, I’ll let him know. No, it’s okay. Another time. I’ll be back as soon as I drop Smoke off.”

“Drop me off?”

“Yeah, sorry, man. Your sister wasn’t exactly feeling well this morning, but she swore it was okay to pick you up because she thought it would pass.” He lifted a shoulder in agitation.

“I’m guessing it hasn’t passed?”

“Not sounding like it, so I’m just going to drop you at your bike. Maybe you can catch back up with Poppy and Chief?”

“Yeah, okay.”

I was on my bike at a stop light when I felt the vibrations. I pulled it out at the next stop to take the call. “Yo! What’s up, Shep?”

“Smoke,” he called me by my road name instead of my actual name which immediately put me on edge. “I have a problem. Not sure if you can help, but I’d sure as fuck appreciate it if you could.”

“What’s going on?”

Shep gave a quick rundown of how his mom’s latest asshole had put her and his sister in danger, and they needed help getting out.

“I’m on my way to your place. Give Bender a call and let him know. His plans got canned today, and I’m sure he’d be down for helping too.”

“Thanks.” I hung up and took off, heading in his direction again. I was half way there when I felt my phone vibrating. I cursed myself for not having the damn thing paired up to the Bluetooth in my helmet yet. I had just bought the new phone a couple days ago and still hadn’t bothered to do it. Then again, I didn’t usually get this many calls that I wanted to answer. When I had been with Julie, I tended to ignore my phone until I got somewhere because I didn’t want her nagging about when I would finally make it home.

At the next light, I yanked the phone back out of my pocket, and thank fuck I did, because the asshole coming up behind me wasn’t slowing the fuck down. I caught sight of him in my mirror and just barely managed to move out of the way before he would have taken me out. Still ended up dropping my phone and having the bastard run it over. “Mother fucker!” I growled wishing I had the time to chase the son of a bitch down. I took note of the traffic cam, and the fact that I’d be putting in a call to the boys in blue to find that son of a bitch for me. He deserved far more than the ticket the camera was going to throw him. Waiting to get his ass kicked until I had time to do it would just make it that much sweeter.

It didn’t take long to get to Shep’s place after that, mostly because the shot of adrenaline from almost being taken out by a careless asshole driving a cage was still riding my body. Being charged up meant I wasn’t a laid back rider.

“That was quick, what the hell happened? You answered my call and then everything went dead.”

“Fucking moron took out my phone on the road, almost took me out had I not seen him in time. Thanks for the call, you literally probably just saved my fuckin’ life.”

“No shit?” Shep asked, eyes wide, as he took in my appearance. “Yeah, you’re jacked up right now. Come on, you can grab a drink, and we’ll go over what you think I need to do to help them out before I hit the road.”

“Before we hit the road,” I tell him. “I’m not leaving you to handle this shit on your own. Your girls need moved, we’ll get them gone from that situation and make sure the fucker knows they aren’t to be trifled with again.”

He glanced down at his phone and grimaced. “Might need to get on the road and head that way sooner than later. I’m not sure how much longer they have before someone gets hurt.”

“Give me your phone a minute,” I tell him and he hands it over without a complaint. I quickly shoot messages to Bender, Chief, and Ghost telling them what’s going on. Ghost says he doesn’t mind sanctioning the club assist, and Chief shoots back a message that Wren will be joining too.

I turned to Shep. “All right, Bender, Chief, and Wren are meeting us here and then we’ll ride out. You taking your truck in case you need something to put the women in to get them back here?”

“I guess I better. That way I can grab some of their shit too, hopefully. Depends on the situation we end up rolling into.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll get as much of their shit as we can fit in the truck. We’ll pack the fuckin’ cab if need be and your mom and sister can hop on the back of one of the bikes.”

Shep laughed at that. “I’d like to see any of you attempt to convince my mom, of all people, to just hop on the back of your bike for the ride home.” He shook his head and chuckled as we moved to the garage and he rolled the truck out, securing his bike inside. By the time he was finished and had everything locked up, the rest of my brothers had arrived, and we all headed out to what we thought would be a simple run to help a friend. If only we had known how wrong we were.

We rolled up to the place where Shep’s mom had moved to after hooking up with her latest loser. I could already feel that shift in the air that signaled things were not going to be as simple as we thought when we rolled out. Suddenly, I was thankful so many of my brothers had come along for the ride. It wasn’t even that it looked like there were too many people here to handle. My gut was sending that tingling warning through my body, telling me shit was not as it seemed.

“Something isn’t right,” I finally stated out loud as I took my helmet off.

“I feel it too,” Bender put in.

“Same,” Wren called out as he killed his engine.

Shep looked back and forth between us and it was clear he didn’t get the same gut reaction. I wasn’t sure if that was just because he’d never been in some of the situations we’d faced as a club, or if it was because he was too close to the situation since his mom and sister had reached out for help.

“Did they say if they were alone?”

Shep tipped his head to the side, indicating a busted old truck sitting there. “Looks like the asshole is home.”

I had that itch to text Poppy and make sure she was okay, or let her know that I was. She wasn’t even my old lady yet, and besides, my phone was toast. I’d dropped it and crushed it on my way to Shep’s. I turned to ask Chief if he could text her, but the front door to the house flew open and a wide-eyed, crazy looking fucker stood there with a shot gun aimed in our direction.

“Don’t know who the fuck all of you are, but you need to get gone from here!”

A female voice screamed out, “Shep!” It sounded muffled and distant, and we all realized what that meant almost immediately. “I’ve got the back door,” Wren called out as he and Chief took off in that direction.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” The crazy fucker with the shotgun yelled at them as he brought the muzzle around, tracking their movements. Wren and Chief ignored the threats and I moved in. I shouldered his arm with the shotgun upward, so that if he pulled that trigger the shot would fly to the sky before letting gravity take its course, putting our guys in the clear. Then I had to get clear quickly, because Shep had come up and kicked the man’s knee out from under, dropping him immediately.

“What the fuck are you doing with my mom and sister?” Shep seethed at the man.

Bender was by my side, collecting the fallen weapon, and helping to drag the bastard inside. We did not need an audience, or worse, someone with a cell phone standing in their window witnessing what looked like us breaking into a home and assaulting the residents. I turned to check to see if there was anyone we would need to talk to once we were done here, but all I noticed was a black suburban with windows tinted so heavily, they were beyond well illegal in this state. “Bender,” I called out and tipped my head. He saw it and gave me the nod indicating he understood too. If nothing else, we had witnesses to what we’d just done. The fact that the witnesses looked shady as fuck though, did not bode well. There was more going on here than Shep thought.

Once we were inside, Wren and Chief met us in the living room with two terrified women and another man. The women were a mirror of one another with exception of the fact that one was obviously about 20 or so years older than the other. Shep’s mom had aged well, and his sister was a dead ringer for the woman.

The man, on the other hand, did not look as though he belonged at all. Every inch of skin that wasn’t covered by clothing was dripping with ink. His face, while not completely covered, also had tattoos present. I couldn’t make out most of it, as they looked to be symbols and shit written in another language. If I had to guess, I’d say Slavic, based on the man himself and the way it looked. That didn’t mean I could translate the least bit of it.

“Who the fuck are you?” Shep asked the man who only smirked at him response. Then he turned to the idiot that Bender and I still had a hold of. “Who the fuck is that? And what the hell is going on here, you piece of shit?”

The asshole we had hold of spit at Shep’s boots. He missed in the pathetic attempt to disrespect the man so I slapped him around for being stupid. Nothing pissed a grown ass man off more than being bitch slapped by another man. He growled out in frustration, so I slapped him again.

“Answer Shep’s questions asshole, or we’ll get creative with how we get the truth out of you.”

We all watched as the fucker glanced in the direction of the other man and clammed up at seeing the ruthless look on his face. He promised to do more harm to the man with one look than we could ever threaten. It didn’t matter that he’d been captured too. You wouldn’t know it by the menacing air he was putting off.

“He sold us to that guy,” Lindsay, Shep’s sister, cried as she pointed to the tatted up bastard that was now staring daggers at her.

“Get that fucker out of here,” I told Wren. He nodded his head and hit the guy with the butt of his gun. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes and, once he was out, they managed to find shit to tie him up with in the kitchen. Wren stuck around in the kitchen to stand guard and keep an eye on the back door while the rest of us gathered in the living room to figure out exactly what the fuck was going on.

“Now, why would a man sell his wife and stepdaughter to some inked-up thug?” I asked. Chad Montgomery, the man in question, looked up at me and started laughing.

“You think I’m afraid of you boys and your little bikes you ride? I’m not.”

“He owes money,” Tammy pipped up.

“Shut your fucking mouth, you stupid cunt!”

“You can kiss my ass, Chad! You just sold my daughter to pay off your gambling debts!” Tammy shrieked across the living room at her piece of shit husband.

“Sold you too, bitch!”

“Yeah?” She asked, smugly. “How’d that work out for ya?”

That was when the dick blanched, and finally realized the situation he was in. Either way, he wouldn’t be coming out of this shitstorm alive. If we didn’t take him out – and we would – the assholes he was dealing with sure as fuck would be back to try to claim what they thought was their rightful payment for his debts.

After I let it sink for a minute, I gripped his greasy blond hair and pulled his head back so he could look me in the eyes. “Now that you figured out your lot in life – what’s left of it – maybe you want to start talking? We’ll make it quick and relatively painless if you do. Those other fucks don’t look like they’ll make it painless or quick for you.”

“I can’t. They’ll know I talked.”

“So, you’ll be dead,” Bender laughed. “What are they going to do? Bring you back?”

“They’ll go after my wife and kids,” he shouted as the acrid smell of urine started to fill the room.

“Did you just piss yourself?” I asked as my nose wrinkled up at the smell.

“You already sold your wife and kid to them!” Shep yelled.

“That cunt don’t mean shit to me, and that little bitch ain’t no kid of mine,” Chad snarled.

“What?” Tammy shrieked.

“That’s right, cunt. We ain’t legally married. I already have a real woman back home. We were just taking a break when I met you. Figured I could have you on the side, but fuck if you weren’t too much work. Thought you’d help pay some of the debt off since you work at the hospital, but I didn’t realize you were fucking downing in those credit cards.”

“You sorry ass motherfucker!” She screeched and before anyone knew what was happened she jumped up, grabbed the shotgun we’d tossed to the side, and shot the fucker right in the head.

“Jesus!” I yelled as I jumped back out of the way. Bender swore and dove out of the way too. Shep managed to tackle his mother, a little too late.

“Momma?” Lindsay called out, shocked and sounding far younger than she looked at first glance only moments ago.

“Oh God! What did I do?” Tammy started wailing.

“Eto nereal'no,” We heard the other man mutter amidst his own laughter.

“You have a basement here?” Wren asked from the kitchen?”

“Yes,” Tammy told him as she stood there shaking like a leaf. Obviously, shock was starting to set in either over her circumstances or the fact that she’d just shot and killed her fake husband, I didn’t know.

“Let’s get this mess down there too,” I told Bender. He nodded his head and helped me move the body as Chief did his best to shield Lindsay’s view of what was happening. Not that it mattered all that much after she was nearly abducted and watched her mom shoot the man she thought was her stepfather.

“Do we have to find his family now?” Tammy was asking.

“You will do no such thing. That’s for the police to do, if they can identify him. I’m thinking the woman already knows he’s a peace of shit, considering they were on a long enough break that he was able to set up house with a new woman and be involved enough with you that you were willing to marry him.”

I didn’t see or hear Tammy’s response, but I knew Chief was about to put the fear of God and the Aces High MC into both women. If they talked, and our involvement became known, that would be a problem for our club that was damn near ready for all its chapters to go 100 percent legit. We had done our time as one percenters and that time was coming to an end, because there was just too much loss involved. The risks didn’t outweigh the reward in this day and age.

Once we had the body moved to the basement, we called up for Wren to send the other asshole down. He did, with a swift kick to the ass, the dipshit tumbled down the steps and landed in a heap at our feet. I knelt beside the man and realized, by the odd angle of his neck, that we weren’t going to get to question him either.

“What the fuck, Wren?”

“Sorry man, he was getting feisty.”

“Well, he’s dead now,” I informed him as he came down the steps to see for himself.

“Shit, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Let’s get some pictures of his tats. Maybe they’ll lead us to whoever he was working for. My best guess though is Russians. That’s what this shit looks like,” I told them pointing out a few of the tattoos. “We had that one guy before,” I started to say, but couldn’t think of his name.

“Yeah, I remember. He wanted to be a prospect, right?”

“He was a hang around for a while until he ended up dead,” I confirmed. “He had similar shit inked on him.”

“Okay, well it gives us a jumping off point,” Bender mentioned as he started pouring what looked like lighter fluid on the two bodies. “Go on upstairs and give me a shout when everyone’s clear. I’ll have this place torched in no time.”

Thankfully, the house was not sitting terribly close to any of the others in the neighborhood. “Let’s go get the girls back home and hidden away for a while.”

Once we were far enough away from the house, we let Bender know it was okay to light it up, and he took off too, catching up to us quickly, before we managed to haul ass out of there. We had managed to get some of the girls’ things into the truck before we took off, so at least they wouldn’t have to start over completely. We were clear of the area before we found a storage unit to put their belongings in, and then we doubled back and headed in the opposite direction of Cedar Falls. The stop to unload their shit was necessary because we didn’t want to be hauling a bunch of shit if we ended up with a tail of any kind. We managed to roll through Ohio and Pennsylvania, stopping there overnight at a piece of property we had with a few barns on it. We had converted one of them into a pretty sick shelter that was housed underground, beneath one of the barns. They all just looked like aging, decrepit buildings. As soon as we were all rested, we headed out again, stopping each day, for three days, in a new place. It was all done to throw the trail.

From our last stop, we separated and went in different directions with the same destination in mind. I Was pretty sure Wren was headed back to report in with Ghost about the possible blowback from our trip. Bender and Chief took off on their own on the last day too. I helped Shep get the girls settled into a hotel just outside of Cedar Falls until he could figure out what to do with them. I wasn’t entirely sure four hours away from the scene of the crime was enough. Luckily, he agreed with me.

Once everyone was settled, the only thing on my mind was getting back to Poppy. Little did I know, I was going to have some explaining and groveling to do since I hadn’t had a phone with me, and apparently Chief hadn’t contacted her either. I knew a way to make it all up to her though. A couple days after we got back, I took her to her first Penguins game in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, we weren’t really able to do more than say hello to my brother afterward, but that didn’t seem to matter to Poppy. What mattered was us being there together, and it only endeared me to her even more.

Chapter 5

The hockey game had gone a long way toward winning Poppy’s good graces back. None of us had heard anything down the wire about what happened with Shep’s family either, which was a fucking miracle, and left us all feeling a bit on edge at the same time. There was no way, if this had been mafia related as we had originally assumed, that they would leave it. We all knew that war was a possibility on our horizon, and still, we were all determined to go about living our lives as if there was nothing any different brewing somewhere in the background. Sure, we were all a little more vigilant, but it wasn’t stopping us from living. I was in the process of living and working my latest shift at CFFRD when I glanced down at my new cell phone and saw a message there from my sister, Soph.

Soph: What are you bringing tomorrow?

Me: ?

I had no clue what she was on about now. I was probably supposed to babysit Brantley again and forgot or something.

Soph: Please, tell me you’re not coming with the tramp from Georgia!

Me: Whoa! What the fuck, Soph?

Soph: After Julie, that’s really what you want to hook yourself to? An already married woman?

Me: Soph? What the hell is going on, and where do you expect I’ll be tomorrow?

Soph: Club cook out tomorrow, idiot.

Me: Shit, I forgot all about that.

Sophie: No shit, Sherlock!

Me: I guess I’ll be stopping by.

Sophie: Without a guest, right?

Me: This is the only warning you will get, little sister. Check your attitude! My decisions are just that. Mine!

Soph: Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when it all blows up in your face and she runs back to Georgia with her ex. That’s how club bitches roll, and you know it. They find out he’s cheating, they leave. Then they miss club life, and go right back. All forgiven.

Me: You seriously have no clue what you’re talking about, so stop.

I couldn’t believe my sister had the nerve to talk about Poppy like that. Normally, Soph didn’t have a mean bone in her body so I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her. Just to be sure I wouldn’t have any trouble out of her, I sent a text to her man, my club brother.

Me: You need to put your woman on a short leash tomorrow. The shit she just had to say about Poppy – Chief’s sister – was completely vile.

Bender: Shit. I’ll have a talk with her.

Me: Good luck with that. She gets in Poppy’s face tomorrow though, there will be problems. The woman is club even if she isn’t with me or her ex. She’s club because Chief would never allow her to be tossed aside.

Bender: I know it. I’ll make sure your sister behaves.

I shook my head as I glanced down at his message. I didn’t know when exactly my world had flipped upside down, but having to sic my sister’s old man on her was something completely new. I didn’t get much time to contemplate that though because we were up, and I had to get to my engine and roll out.

“Two alarm,” someone called out as I rushed into my gear. Shit, that meant we were probably looking at a long call. Two alarms were rare in our area since everything was so spread out, but when we got them, they went one of two ways. Either the extra units were barely necessary, or we were quickly upgraded to a three alarm because of proximity to other buildings or the size of the original fire. It was obvious by the time we rolled up to the scene that this fire would fall into the latter category. I pulled in a deep breath and prepared myself for a long night just before I jumped into the action.

When I finally got to knock off of my shift, I was already 52 minutes into my day off. We got slammed back to back with the two-alarm fire that became a three alarm before we even started, then there was a traffic accident followed by an overturned chemical truck we had to be on standby for. We had just rolled in from yet another accident where we had to use the jaws to get the driver out. I was beat, my muscles ached, and honestly all I wanted to do was ride out to Poppy’s place and wrap myself around her for a little while.

Then I remembered I needed to check in with Gray since I was finally done with the damn shift from hell. He had texted me about needing to celebrate while I was in Pittsburgh with Poppy. I figured I better do it before I left work because once I got my woman back in my arms, I wasn’t about to let her go. I had the next two days off and nothing on the horizon with club business that would need to be handled. That meant I was going to be all hers for two whole days. I just hoped she was ready for that since we were still blurring the ‘just friends’ and ‘friends with benefits’ line a bit.

If she wasn’t still married and dealing with all the shit her ex-asshole had put her through, I would have already claimed her properly. The fact of the matter was that going at her pace didn’t seem to be the easy task it should have been. I wanted more, and I was selfish enough to want it all right the fuck now. I shook the thought off, knowing it couldn’t happen that way, and I texted Gray.

Me: What’s up with the need to celebrate? Just got off shift and want to spend the next two days off with Poppy, but if you need me, I’ll see if we can block out some time for you.

It took about twenty minutes for Gray to respond.

Gray: Fuck! Those bathrooms are nasty down the back hall, dude.

I couldn’t help the laugh that forced its way out of my exhausted body. I remembered the days when I was a prospect. At least I had been much younger back then. Gray was a full-grown man and having to clean up after clubhouse rancidness was not something full grown men easily stooped to. That’s why those shit details showed a man’s mettle.

Me: Remember those days – not fondly. What’s going on?

Gray: Asked Ghost – the club – to help me with a poker run to raise some cash for Beth and Abby. Ghost said absul-fuckin-lutely. It’s on, already been planning.

Me: Outstanding. Let me know what we can do to help.

Gray: Can Poppy bake or cook? I want to get a bake sale type thing going at some of the stops along the run to help with raising more funds. Thinking about having the old ladies set up a swap meet style booth or table too towards the end. Then an auction.

Me: Damn, man, you’re going all in. Sure, you don’t see more in Beth than just a man trying to help?

Gray: Nah. She’s a sweet lady, her daughter is a cutie, but I think of her more as a sister that needs help since half her family just died.

Me: Headed to Poppy now. I’ll give her your number. Sure, she’d be glad to help out.

Gray: Thanks, dude.

I chuckled at the last text. He just couldn’t help himself. Poor asshole was going to get landed with the Surfer moniker whether he liked it or not, and it was his own damn fault.

That was all the thought I was willing to give Gray though. It was amazing what he was doing for a woman and her child that he only met because he was part of the emergency crew that showed up after the accident she was involved in. I had been there too, but in a different capacity. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have reacted the same way if I had been in his shoes, and in such close proximity to the woman’s heartache. She had lost her husband and two older children in that wreck. Both fire and rescue were trained that we were not supposed to get involved with the victims once we were relieved from our duties. Sometimes, that just wasn’t possible.

In Gray’s case, he had been there with his hands on the woman, trying to stabilize her when she’d become conscious again. The first thing she saw was one of the dead children, then her husband, and she had lost her shit. Gray had talked her down and he stuck with her and the baby that survived through the whole ordeal. Then, he went a step beyond and started going to check in on her and the baby, knowing they didn’t have anyone, and that it was impossible with Beth’s injuries for her to take care of certain things. Gray was one of the good ones. Even so, I was chucking him to the back of my mind, because the only thing I wanted more than the air that kept me alive was to be in Poppy’s arms. I wish I could play it cool and pretend I didn’t have intense feelings toward her from the very start, but I did. It was also unlike anything I’d ever experienced before and that was a revelation in and of itself considering how long I attached myself to my ex. How had I allowed myself to be lulled into the tedium of relationship that could be described that way? Hell, how had my family ever thought I was happy in that existence? More importantly, how the hell was I going to get Poppy to go along with the game plan of her and I being together for the long haul? Doubt niggled at my mind making me wonder if she’d even let me crawl into bed and curl up with her once I got to her house. I had just been heading there because of this desire I had to wrap my body around hers and take comfort from the warmth she gave so freely without even realizing she was doing it. It never dawned on me until I was pulling in her driveway that she might not feel the same.

I’d just have to convince her to allow me to stay there. Her ex had done a number on her, and I was afraid that us meeting so soon after would have repercussions I wasn’t going to be happy with. The texts my sister had sent me earlier came to mind. While I was angry at Soph for the way she chose to deliver her message, it wasn’t honestly anything I hadn’t already considered. What if Poppy ended up back in Georgia? What if her ex won her over somehow? I wasn’t sure how I would handle that, because I was already well and truly attached to the woman. Even though I had my own concerns I thought Soph was wrong this time, but what did I know? My last woman had come on to my brother, offering to ‘trade up’ to him because she thought he was the better choice, and because he never told me about it I stayed with her for four more years. I shook my head. I just didn’t see Poppy being that type of person. It turned out that all my doubts were for nothing. She had no problem with me coming in and getting comfortable with her for a while. I’d take what I could get. For now.

Putting Poppy on the back of my bike again the next day just felt right. I never had an easy ride with Julie in the beginning because she wouldn’t listen to me about how to lean with me through curves or to hang on and not bounce around when she saw something that excited her. Maybe, it wasn’t fair to compare the two because Poppy had years of riding bitch with another man. I didn’t like to think about it, but it was true. Before that, she also had a biker brother, and from what Chief told me, their father had always had a bike when they were growing up too, even though he’d never been part of a club. Poppy was born and raised for this life in her own way. Julie never had been. It was only in the few months before we split that my rides with Julie on the back were smooth and unlike the headache they had been in the beginning.

Part of that might have been that she had come to terms with being an old lady, even though I’d never made that official. She’d just decided that it wasn’t such a bad life and I wasn’t so much the runner-up anymore. Not for the first time, I wondered what I had been thinking sticking it out so long with a woman I wouldn’t even consider calling my old lady. Now that I found someone, I wanted to do that with, it wasn’t possible. Even thought he’d been a dick, cheated on her, and whatever else, Poppy’s ex was still a club brother and still legally married to the woman I wanted. I could think about claiming her for myself, but that’s all it could ever be until things were settled between them. Even then, I wasn’t sure how the club would react if Walker put up an argument that she was to be off limits to club brothers.

Truth be told, if this were any other situation, I would stand to lose my kutte for going after Poppy when things weren’t settled with her previous old man. Actually, even if they were. I’d only ever heard of a club brother picking up what another had scraped off and still remaining in the club one other time. That was with our man Hopper when he got rid of his son’s mom because she was too much to handle. They hadn’t ever been married though. Iceman, the Dakotas Chapter President, had picked her up and married the woman. He didn’t having Hopper’s son around as his step son, but if rumors were true, the man regretted his decision to get involved with Hopper’s ex immensely.

With Poppy’s situation, it helped that Chief was also in the club and he made it known to our chapter that he’d put his sister’s happiness up against our brother from another chapter who fucked around on her. If I was the reason for her happiness he wasn’t going to complain.

No sooner did we get there and Poppy was hopping off my bike, than Heavy was calling out to me. “Thought you didn’t let bitches ride on your bike anymore, man?” The asshole was about to eat his own words, and maybe a few teeth talking about her like that though.

“Call her a bitch again and we’ll be talkin’ out back in the shed,” I answered back. He nodded, and I could see from the inquiring look on his face that he wanted to know what was up with that, but I was just ticked enough with him to not want to answer. It didn’t matter that it was Chief’s sister, or the woman I planned to claim as soon as it was possible, he had no right to start a woman’s day out making her feel like shit. Calling a woman, that a brother brought by, a ‘bitch’ while comparing her to others was not an easy start to a day that you want to go smooth. Still, I tipped my head to Poppy and we both moved toward where Heavy was standing with Hold ‘Em and Crutch.

“This is Poppy,” I introduced.

“Poppy?” Crutch asked before turning his full attention to the woman in question. “You’re Chief’s sister, right?”

“That I am,” she answered him with one of her beautiful smiles.

“Oh!” Heavy chimed in. “Chief asked you to bring her by? I’m assuming that means he’s bringing one of his bitches then?” Fucking Christ, someone needed to put their foot up Heavy’s ass. Pretty sure I growled out my response, but I couldn’t honestly tell you, because I was that pissed off with the man.

“Poppy’s with me because she’s mine!” I glared at each man standing there, even though it had only been Heavy who pissed me off. “Don’t know what Chief’s up to or if he’s bringing anyone,” I clarified just before I noticed Hold ‘Em grinning big at my woman.

“Oh, hey!” Poppy called out excitedly.

“Hey Poppy,” he answered back. “How’s that monster of yours?”

Her sweet as fuck laugh made all my anger drain away as I just took her in while she talked to my future brother. There was no doubt our prospect would be moved up in the ranks to full member, and soon.

“He’s good, although he didn’t seem too happy to be left behind today,” she told him.

It hit me then that Hold ‘Em was a prospect and Poppy was new to town, not having been to visit Cedar Falls in quite a while before she came to live here. “You know Hold ‘Em?” The minute the words were out of my mouth I remembered the fact that Hold ‘Em had been the one to check on her when Chief and I were busy helping Shep.

“Yeah, Chief brought him by when he got back from the run the other day and realized he’d left me without a way to communicate with anyone.”

“Take it you met Bubba?” I asked him, which caused the man to sputter out a nervous sounding laugh. “Damn near pissed my pants meeting Bubba, thought he was gonna fuckin’ tear my leg off,” he admitted. I turned to Poppy for an explanation.

She shrugged her shoulders. “There was a strange man on my front porch, and it made me nervous. I’m sure Bubba felt that and was feeding off my energy.”

“Like that Bubba was doing his job, honey,” I told her.

“You two know each other before Poppy moved here?” Heavy asked.

“Nope,” I answered the nosy bastard knowing exactly what he was getting at. I had just claimed another brother’s woman in front of him and he wanted to know if I was part of the reason she was here instead of there working shit out with him. I was sure rumors would start flying, if they hadn’t already, but I didn’t really want to stand there and hash it all out while Poppy had to deal with it. I just wanted to spend a good day with my woman. “I’ll catch up with you guys later. We need to go deliver these cookies Poppy made.”

“I’ll grab the door for you.” Crutch moved to do just that. The guy had been patched over long before I moved from Sierra High to Cedar Falls, but I swear I don’t know how he earned it. The man was all manners and proper speaking. He rarely used what I’m sure his mom would consider foul language. He loved bikes though, and he had a great head for business which was honestly the reason I think he was patched in. We needed well-rounded riders to keep the club successful, even if they didn’t always fit the mold.

“Thanks, man,” I tipped my chin up to him as we passed through the door and then I heard it. It was as if he’d been waiting and watching for me to show. “Unc Moke!” I grinned at my nephew as he ran up and clung to my lower leg. I moved my arm from around Poppy’s shoulders where I had used it to guide her through the door with me, and I patted his head. As usual, Brantley wrapped himself completely around my leg, signaling he was coming along for the ride whether I liked it or not. I moved toward the bar so we could stash the goodies Poppy had made and pretended that I didn’t even know I had extra weight I was carrying around all of a sudden.

Then I took Poppy’s bag from her and tossed it on the counter too before I snagged my nephew up and tossed him in the air declaring, “No free rides!” Then I proceeded to introduce my nephew to my girl, and shit you not, the little fucker was hitting on my woman telling me how pretty she was.

Before the little brat could start asking her out on a date for milk and cookies, I cut in. “Brantley,” I addressed him so that Poppy would know his actual name and not the bastardized version of it that Brant said since he couldn’t pronounce it right yet. “Where’s your mom?” He pointed and my eyes followed the direction to see my sister was with her husband across the room. “Why don’t you go ask your mom if you can have a cookie. I think Poppy made a special one just for you, bud.”

“You did?” He asked in surprise.

“I did, but you can only have it once your mommy says it’s okay.”

“Momma!” I put the kid down and he was off and running after screaming to get Soph’s attention. “Popwee made me spetial cookies! Can I eats them?”

I had to hope that my sister acted right today. If I could cross my fingers in the way of old superstitions and get away with not being seen by anyone else doing it, I would have. Knowing my sister, the day was not going to go by without her inserting her opinion at some point. ‘Just not at the beginning of the day!’ It was like a chant in my head repeating in a hurried cadence while Poppy took the time to unpack the special cookie before we managed to make our way over to where my sister and Bender were standing. Soph did not appear happy to see us, and the chant in my head quickly deflated and died as we approached. This was probably going to happen. I glanced around to see if Chief was here yet, because if my sister insulted Poppy, there was no way he was going to let it go uncensured. Not that I would want him to.

Brantley helped cut the tension a little when he spoke up. “Momma, can I haz a spetial cookie pweeeez?” Bender laughed before offering up an apologetic look. He knew what was about to happen too. Fuck. I was about to just grab Poppy’s arm and pull her away before shit could go down, but then she was talking, and being so sweet. I had a moment’s worth of hope that my sister would see how genuine she was and keep her mouth shut.

“Whenever you’re ready for him to have that,” She offered as she held the special cookie out that she had made for my nephew. Then she smiled at Bender as he addressed her and held his hand out to shake.

“We already met when you moved in, but I’m Bender. This is my old lady, and Smoke’s sister, Sophie. This little guy is Brantley.”

“Thanks again for helping move me in,” Poppy told him before turning her attention to my sister. “I’m Poppy.” My sister was pulling a bitch card and didn’t bother taking her hand like Bender had. “I’m Chief’s sister,” my woman added, in case there was any confusion. Bender and I both stared at Soph, willing her to behave.

“Sorry,” Soph finally spoke, and I just knew she was pulling her shit together and was going to act right. “I was just confused by you showing up with my brother since you’re married and all.” Then again, I had been wrong about Soph before.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me, Soph?” I asked my sister through clenched teeth, about to rip her a new one right there, until I felt a small hand clamped down around my arm and took in the delicate shake of Poppy’s head. She didn’t want this scene to play out here where everyone was tuning in to the drama. I reigned in my anger and let her handle the situation since that was what she seemed to be asking me to do.

“I am still married. I’m in the middle of a divorce at the moment and, while I would love that it was all over already, my ex is being a pain in the butt and trying to stall in order to get money for the sale of my family’s home and lands.” She offered up her business to my sister even though she didn’t have to and I was both proud of the way she was handling it and embarrassed that she had to stand here spilling her dirty laundry where anyone could hear because my sister was being an asshole.

“He’s a brother in the club,” Soph managed to get out. The message clear, even in her hushed tone.

“Yes, he’s with the Sierra High Chapter,” Poppy explained needlessly.

“Why would he need your family’s money?” Soph asked, not understanding.

Poppy’s shoulders hitched up and down. “I don’t begin to understand anything Walker does, so I couldn’t tell you. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if my brother’s around yet,” and with that, my woman was making it clear she’d had enough of my sister.

“Poppy,” I called out to her as she started walking away. “I’ll be right behind you in a minute. Chief’s at the pool tables.” I’d clocked him walking in, just before Soph started in on Poppy. Once I thought my woman was far enough away, I turned back to my sister, not willing to spare her feelings since she had been more than okay with putting Poppy on blast the way she had. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“I – I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t like that you’re with her, or that she decided to latch on like a fucking leech the minute she got in town,” my sister hissed, her brief moment of feeling guilty quickly forgotten.

I grabbed hold of her arm and yanked her further into the corner away from prying eyes and Bender took the cue, moving Brantley to the bar to eat his cookie. “Let me clue you in, little sister. Not that you deserve to know shit about my life or the decisions I make considering how you just behaved, but Poppy didn’t latch onto me. It was the other way around. The minute I met her; I knew. I knew she would be the one to rock my fucking world, and I wasn’t wrong. Neither of us can help the timing of when we met, but I promise you this, if we had met when we did, or five days from then, a year, or even a decade later, the results would have been the same. Never in my life felt a pull like that to another human being on this planet, and then when we talked, and everything just clicked into place like we’d been doing it for our whole lives – hell, maybe longer – I knew I wouldn’t be letting her go. Even when she was skittish and gave me the ‘it’s too soon, let’s just be friends speech.’ So, you wanna get up on your high horse about someone being a leech and not showing signs of letting go, then you better point that accusing finger of yours at me, and only me. If you’re worried about Poppy still being married and me going after her anyway then you go stand in Chief’s corner and start asking what my intentions are toward his sister. Because of me, she will face all kinds of scrutiny, and that ain’t fair to her. Hell, you just proved how unfair it is, but I’m selfish enough to want to keep her in my life, and just pummel anyone who has anything bad to say about her or us.”

“What are your intentions?” My sister asked cautiously.

“I intend to make her my woman, my family, and everything else along the way that you can think of. That fuckwit in Georgia didn’t appreciate what he was throwing away because she didn’t belong to him, and he probably knew that all along.”

My sister rolled her eyes at me. “They were married for what? Ten years, Smoke? You can’t just make statements like that.”

“I can, and I did, because it’s the truth. A man knows. He knows when a woman is too good for him, not good enough, or the perfect fucking fit to the puzzle that is his life. She’s my perfect fit, and I’d bet you anything he felt like she was always too good for him.”

“That doesn’t say much for her,” my sister offered snidely with a wrinkled nose.

“You mistake that shit, Soph. I don’t mean she felt that way. I mean he did, and that’s why his insecure ass was off looking at other ass. He was waiting for the ball to drop and her to get wise and leave him.” I pointed to her husband who was watching us warily from across the room still. “That man there, he knew you were his perfect fit. He snatched you up, and to this day, you can still see it in the sap’s eyes when he watches you. Even when you’re being a bitch who is completely out of line, he still thinks you’re his perfect piece that completes his puzzle.”

Her lip wobbled a bit and I knew I’d made my point. “You really feel that strongly about her? It hasn’t been that long.”

“How long before you knew Bender was it for you?”

She glanced over at her husband and smiled. “I knew I was going to marry that man the first time we were introduced.” She laughed then. “Long before he knew it.”

“I should fuckin’ hope so!” Bender was a few years older than me and they had met for the first time when I brought my sister and brother around to a club family cookout just after I was patched in. She was still in high school then and not even legal. He had to be about 24 or 25 at the time. “There’s a goddamn 10-year age gap between you.”

She waved that off. “More like nine and a half,” she argued.

“Anyway…” I attempted to redirect her.

“Yeah, I know. I get your point. I’m sorry, okay?”

“No, it’s not. You just embarrassed her, and she was already insecure about how everyone here would treat her since she’s already gone through becoming a pariah back in her hometown. Not to mention that you’re my sister, and it has to make her feel even worse about just being my friend, let alone anything else right now, considering my own family jumped her shit about all the things that have been plaguing her.”

“I said I was sorry,” Sophie countered again.

“Yeah, but you’re saying it to the wrong fuckin’ person.”

I walked away from my sister then, more than a little disappointed in her. She’d never been blatantly mean to people that I’d seen before, but the way she had treated Poppy was unacceptable. I attempted to shake it off and went to the bar to nab a beer before I headed over to where Poppy was hanging out with her brother by the pool table. By the time I got to her, half of my beer was gone and I had managed to shake off or bury most of the residual anger I was carrying. That shit didn’t belong to Poppy, and I didn’t want to run the risk of it coming out in front of her. I just had to hope that Poppy was going to behave better than my sister had. If she didn’t, I couldn’t blame her though.

“Food’s up out back. You want to go grab something?” I asked before reaching out and taking her hand in my own. I didn’t know what it was about the woman. I hadn’t been very handsy with Julie when we were together. Sure, we touched, but we never really did the hand holding shit. I used to think that was too high school to bother with. Now, I was starting to see that it just meant that you enjoyed another person you couldn’t help but try to be connected to them in every way possible.

Once we got outside, I slowed, giving Poppy a chance to take everything in. She seemed to be soaking in the gloriousness of the multi-tiered decking we had built out here as well as looking to see where she might need to fill a space. I never thought about it before coming here tonight. She wasn’t my old lady, because she couldn’t be right now. She also wasn’t here as Walker’s old lady or even Smoke’s sister. Poppy was the girl I brought along with me. Considering the hierarchy of women around a clubhouse, it had to be confusing to her as to where she fit in. I pulled her over toward the food thinking we’d just grab some plates, have a seat, and relax when Jewel sashayed her ass my way.

“This your new woman?” She asked in a snide tone I didn’t much appreciate. I would have thought Phoenix, our lone-wolf nomadic brother who claimed her, would get her shit under wraps at some point but he didn’t seem to be having much luck. She still dressed like she was trying out for best club whore of the year with part of her boobs visible. I wasn’t one to judge, and maybe he liked his woman showing her body to everyone, but had Poppy been here with half her tits hanging out the bottom of her shirt I’d have her in a room, over my knee, showing her what happens to bad girls who don’t know how to behave.

The worst part of Jewel’s approach was the very visible snub she was giving Poppy by not even acknowledging her. “Poppy is my woman. She’s also Chief’s sister,” I informed her while offering up a bit of glare that told her she was treading on thin ice. “Be nice, or we’ll have problems. Don’t care who your dad or your man is now.”

Jewel was brought into the club as a whore to service the men. The problem with that was she refused to do the older guys. If they were above 38 or so, she wouldn’t touch them. All hell broke loose when the club confronted her, threatened to boot her out on her ass, and she spilled the beans. Her mother had once been a club whore for Aces High MC too back in the day. She’d managed to get herself knocked up, and instead of using it to anchor the brother to herself, she fled without telling anyone they might have become daddy. Then, her crazy-as-fuck mother sent her to work the same job in a clubhouse where her own father might end up… I shivered just thinking about it. At least her mom had been kind enough to tell her to avoid the older men at all costs. The woman was evil incarnate, using Jewel’s position to try to help clear her drug debt. Bitch ended up dead, the secret came out, and now Jewel had both a father and an old man out of the situation. Hopper drew the straw on fatherhood while Phoenix ended up seeing something in her damaged soul that appealed to him. He claimed her, and they only rarely came around the clubhouse since he was nomad and they traveled a lot.

“Don’t mind her,” Cindy – Hopper’s old lady – was telling Poppy after Jewel walked away. “That one has always had a bad attitude. She didn’t grow up in the club thanks to her no-good momma. Didn’t have much of a good influence for the same reason, so make no mind.” Cindy held out her hand. “I believe we actually met a few years ago when you came up for an event. I’m Cindy, Hopper’s old lady.”

The rest of the afternoon went pretty much the same way. People remembered Poppy, even though she hadn’t been around here much before. It seemed for those people she had interacted with previously, she managed to leave a big impression – most of all on Ghost who stole her sweet rib recipe. Sophie played nice after her, Brant, and Bender came to sit with us at a table and, finally, things were feeling good. I hated my family being at odds. I’d had that drama with my brother over the Julie situation for years. I didn’t want to live with it again. Then again, I didn’t want to lose Poppy over my sister’s inability to separate rumor, gossip, and reality.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and by the time we all went our separate ways that night the two had been getting along, and it seemed something Poppy had said to my sister changed how Soph saw things, even if only a little.

Chapter 6

Ghost and Leanne offered to watch Bubba for Poppy so that I could finally take her back to Pittsburgh to meet my brother. This time we were going to get more than five minutes with him before he had to run off to do whatever it was that was more important than us the last time we’d come up. At least this time, we were hanging out at his house so we wouldn’t have to deal with the puck bunnies like we had last time. My brother being in the NHL could be a pain the ass from time to time since there were always eyes on him. Everyone wanted a piece of him, and my ex had been no exception. I wondered briefly if Poppy would turn out to be the same since she was such a huge fan. I had purposely avoided telling her much about Julie and the reason we split just to see how things played out. It sounded bad, thinking about it in my head that way, but shit was what it was. I would be an idiot to say I wasn’t the tiniest bit worried.

It turned out, I had absolutely nothing to worry about. “That slapshot in the third period was a thing of beauty!” Poppy praised my brother as we all walked up to his apartment after the game.

Kent grinned at my woman before turning to me. “How the hell did you end up with the hot chick who actually knows hockey, and isn’t a fuckin’ bunny?”

I cringed inwardly knowing that he considered Julie nothing more than a puck bunny who didn’t actually know all that much about hockey and, instead, faked it with him in the hopes of getting him to accept his offer. “You get to play, brother, that’s all the reward you’re getting. Leaves time for me to snatch up Poppy for myself.”

The woman blessed me with one of her full smiles that made the skin around her eyes crinkle ever so slightly as she did. I thought I heard my brother mumble something like, “fuckin’ sap” under his breath, but I was honestly too taken in by Poppy to care.

“Of course, you did manage to eat ice right after that slapshot though,” Chief pointed out.

My brother rubbed his jaw, but grinned as he did it. “Worth it since we won though,” he chimed in. The guys continued talking about sports as Poppy and I watched one another. Every now and again, one of them would draw her into the conversation and I’d just take it all in and watch as she interacted with men I considered to be my brothers in different ways. One brother by blood, one by club, and the other one because our job was life and death and it formed the same type of bond between us. She managed to work her magic over the each of them every time she spoke. Even as she gave them all her attention, she never strayed far from me, her eyes always drifted back to check in with me and give a smile of contentment or reassurance. I wasn’t sure which, maybe a bit of both, but I liked that she thought to do it. For the first time in years, it felt good to settle into my brother’s ugly ass apartment.

That was all before I got the call from the club though. My phone went off at the same time that Chief’s did which could only signal bad things. “Yeah?” I asked

“I know you and Chief are both off in Pittsburgh, but we need you for a while.”

“Me specifically, or the two of us because you need numbers?”

“You specifically,” Ghost informed me.

“Fire?”

“You could say that. I’m texting the address. Closer to you guys than to us. Don’t suppose any of you took a cage so that Poppy can get back on her own?”

“Sure as fuck didn’t,” I huffed out knowing what this was going to mean. I glanced over at Chief who had furrowed brows scrunched down as he read something on his phone. “I’ll figure something out,” I told him before I hung up. There was no way I could take Poppy with us, which meant Chief couldn’t either. We were about to handle club business and if they needed my skill set, that meant it was nothing good and nothing we needed to expose my woman to. I stood and moved with Chief to the other room momentarily.

“You going to be okay with her staying here without us?” I asked Chief. His face was turning a darker shade of his normal deeply tanned skin and his head was shaking back and forth in a negative response, though I wasn’t sure he was consciously doing it.

“You know I’m not. I like Kent and Shep, but that don’t mean shit. They’re both strangers to her.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do here?”

He huffed out a breath. “I don’t know. I get the fact that we don’t have much of a choice, but I don’t fuckin’ like it.”

“That makes two of us then,” I agreed. When we explained to the others that we had to go because there was a club emergency, I could have punched my brother and hugged Poppy for their responses. Despite my urging that we shouldn’t be held up too long, my brother looked both pissed and disappointed in me. Poppy was the opposite. She accepted the fact that we had club business and had to go, and she assured both Chief and me that she would be just fine, even if that meant getting a ride back with someone else. Fuck, that woman! I didn’t think there was a better one out there for me anywhere, which made leaving her behind that much more difficult.

The absolute last thing I wanted to do was have to leave Poppy with my brother and Shep in Pittsburgh. Not that I didn’t trust any of them, but I didn’t know if Poppy would hate me for doing it. She didn’t really know either of them and there she was basically stuck, because I’d taken the bike she rode to town on. I’d actually never left a woman behind out of town like that before and it rankled that I had to do it now. Granted, there was the one exception – Julie – but when I left her, I never went back. Now I had to hope that Poppy wouldn’t decide to get home and never look back too.

It didn’t help my guilt any that Chief was beyond pissed off with me and the decision to leave her there. The only alternative was to take her with us to a situation we weren’t entirely sure about. The club called. They needed us, me and my skillset specifically, but what they didn’t need was an old lady stuck in the mix too when club business was going down.

The big club emergency was actually at a warehouse we still maintained near the northeast border of West Virginia in the little strip of the state that stood between Ohio and Pennsylvania. It only took us a little under an hour to ride from the condo my brother had near the PPG Paints Arena to get to Hancock County and the ten acre tract of land we had just on the outskirts of New Manchester. There was nothing there beyond some old barns that we’d restored only on the inside to accommodate whatever we needed. We purposely left the exterior looking rundown so that we wouldn’t have people nosing around them.

I saw the smoke long before we arrived, but hoped it wasn’t the barns. As we pulled onto the land and rode down the dirt path that served as a driveway to the barns, any hopes I’d had were dashed. Two of the three barns on the property had been engulfed and were now in the controlled burn stage. The third barn had scorch marks on the outside like someone had attempted to set fire to it, but for some reason it didn’t actually catch. I’d have to check that building thoroughly before leaving here to see what happened and why it hadn’t gone up like the other two tinderboxes had. Granted, it wasn’t what was above ground on any of the buildings that would matter. Everything of importance was held in secret bunkers we had installed beneath the structures. As long as they hadn’t been compromised prior to the fire everything should still be safe inside.

Glancing around the scene, I knew that could end up being a problem for the club since there were so many police and firefighters on the scene. “Smoke,” one of the officers tipped his head towards me as I dismounted my bike.

I glanced at the damaged, still burning buildings and shook my head. “What the hell?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” the officer stated, causing me to turn my attention back to him.

“Scott,” I replied as I tipped my chin up to the man who I’d gotten to know over the years. We spent a good deal of time up here when we were getting the place set up so we got to know a few of the locals rather well, including Jacob Scott, who I noticed was no longer simply a police officer. He appeared to be a plain clothed detective now. “You got a promotion?”

He grinned at me and answered with a nod. “Do I even want to know what you guys had going on in there?”

I lifted a shoulder suggesting my feigned indifference. “We rehabbed the insides a while back, as you know. Fitted everything out to be a clubhouse and bunkhouse,” I stated as I pointed to the two buildings that were still burning. “Then the shed for bikes and part storage over there. We just hadn’t gotten around to moving people around to start another chapter here yet.”

“Quite a long time to just have freshly rehabbed barns sitting empty isn’t it? Seems like that would be a hefty loss if you weren’t using the place as intended.”

“Our club isn’t hurting for cash. We have many lucrative businesses all over the country, man. Having this place sit until we needed it was no big deal. Honestly, I was supposed to move up this way in order to be closer to my brother, but shit happened. A woman held me up, and turned out not to be worthy after all. You know the drill.”

He chuckled then. “Don’t I know it. My wife took off a couple months after I made detective. She’s shacked up with that asshole over there,” he tipped his chin in the direction of a firefighter on scene. I raised my brows at him. “Fucking firefighters!” He hissed out playfully as he smacked my shoulder.

“Want me to have a word with him about the code?” There wasn’t really much of a code where the woman of another cop, fire, or rescue personnel was concerned. Sure, it was a dick move to go after one, but they weren’t as tight as the MC brotherhood in that way.

“Nah, he can have her. She spent more of my money than she was worth. Besides, I wanted a family and she wasn’t interested in giving one to me.” He waved off the thought. “Better it happened now than down the road when I should be a grandparent and still looking to try to have kids with someone, you know?”

I couldn’t argue that, because the sentiment hit a little close to home for me. I had allowed Julie to take up residence too long in my life, and I might miss out on having a family of my own one day as a result. Then again, my thoughts turned to Poppy, and her desire to have children, and I smiled because it didn’t seem too late for me after all. Not that being in my thirties was too late to start with a family, but I damn sure wasn’t getting any younger.

“What do you need from us?” I finally asked him and waited as he stood around.

“Access,” he informed me.

“Well, there’s not a whole lot to gain access to now.”

He smirked at me. “Come on now, we both know better than that.” He turned to look toward the third barn that was still standing. “It’d be interesting to find out why that one wasn’t burned to the ground too, don’t you think?”

I shrugged. “Could be someone happened along the place and scared the assholes off.”

“You guys are out here in the middle of nowhere,” Scott countered.

“Okay, could be one of our guys came running out here as soon as we saw that someone was dicking around the place. We do still have security running here, as we do with all of our properties.”

“I’d like to get a hold of that footage.”

“Not saying there’s any footage to get a hold of, Scott. I’m just speculating on some theories for why one of our buildings was spared. I just got here myself, so who knows?” I shrugged my shoulders again and then wandered away from him and toward the men who were still working on putting out the fire on the first two buildings.

“Chief Jones?” I asked one of the men, looking for the fire chief.

“Not here, far as I know. Deputy Chief Womack is just over there,” he nodded his head in the direction of one of the responding engines and I moved to head that way. Deputy Chief Womack should be running the joint since Jones never bothered to show as a fire line officer to any fire event. He was also the man who had attempted numerous times to recruit me for their local station. I had been tempted. What I had told Detective Scott hadn’t been a lie. We had considered opening a small chapter here due to its proximity to Pittsburgh, but the push hadn’t been big enough at the time, so we decided to wait it out. That had been three years ago. In my mind, fate must have intervened because had I gone then, and started a chapter here, I never would have met Poppy. At least, I wouldn’t have met her in a way that would lead to whatever it was we were becoming.

By the time I located Womack, he looked fit to be tied. “Fucking idiots, I tell you. Why the hell couldn’t I convince you to come and work for me here?” I asked before he ever turned around to see that it was me standing behind him. The man had eyes in the back of his head.

“Well, if I had been here, I may have gone down with those buildings,” I suggested. He simply laughed at my theory.

“No, you fucking wouldn’t have because you’re not a dumbass. You want to tell me what’s really going on here?”

“No clue,” I told him honestly. “That’s what I’m here to find out. Looked like scorch marks on the third barn, but it didn’t burn. That’s probably a big clue.”

“You seriously have no idea what could have happened here tonight?” He asked as he finally turned to give me his full attention.

“None. I was over in Pittsburgh introducing my woman to Kent. Hell, I just introduced them and had to leave her there with him in order to haul ass over here to see what the hell was going on.”

“Well shit. I was hoping you’d be able to shed some light. Not that I thought it would be in an official capacity since you wear the leather, but you know I hate unsolved puzzles.”

I grinned at the man then. In another life, he probably would have made a good brother. The problem was, the man hated motorcycles. His younger brother died while messing around on one when they were kids, and he hasn’t been able to look at them the same since. It was a discussion we had when he was actively attempting to recruit me to work for him.

“No known enemies? Anyone the club pissed off lately?” He started rattling off questions. For the first time in a lot of years, I could honestly say that there wasn’t really anything like that going on. Granted, there was the issue recently with the Hell’s Hounds trying to move in on the guns our guys out of Tallahassee were running, but that was typical club shit. We didn’t store guns up here. The guns came to us out of a little town south of Chicago and we helped get them transported safely to our meet point with the Florida guys. Not once did we ever stop near this property on those runs. That couldn’t be what this had been about.

“I can’t even remember the last time one of our men was up here,” I started to tell him and then it hit me. I knew exactly when the last time someone had been here was. When we helped Shep’s family out, I brought the women here to stay for a couple days until he could get them set up with a solid place to stay since his apartment was only an open plan studio. I did my best to keep the thought from showing in my face. “Keep me in the loop on what you find in there, yeah?”

He slapped my shoulder. “You know I will, son. Damn shame this happened. You think you guys will rebuild them or finally let this place go?” His words were solemn as he waited for the news of whether he’d be seeing me around again after this.

“I’m not sure. I’m going to check in with Ghost and let him know what’s up so far. We’ll have a better idea of where to go in the future once we find out what exactly happened here.”

“You do that, and Smoke?” He glanced back at me once more before I could walk away. “Try to keep me in the loop too. I was really rooting for you boys to move in up here. Hell, if Travis were still alive, he’d have been all over himself trying to prospect for you.”

I smiled at the man. “That would have made us family, because I have no doubt he’d have been an asset if he was anything like you.” I meant it too. “I’ll check with you before you take off, Womack.”

He nodded and then went back to looking over something on the laptop he had with him. I made sure to walk off to a more secure area before I put the call in to Ghost.

“Talk to me,” he answered.

“Two barns down, the third smaller one is still standing despite scorch marks where someone attempted to take it out too and didn’t have time to make sure the fire caught.”

“Any clue as to who the fuck managed to do get most of the job done?”

“Not yet, but I’m developing a theory. We brought Shep’s mom and sister here after we got them away.”

“Okay, I’ll have the guys run the info. You want to give Shep a call?”

“Not yet,” I explained as I looked up and noticed Chief headed my way. “Looks like Chief has something to add. I’m going to gather more intel and get back to you. Seems the only plausible theory we have right now though.

“Keep me posted, and Smoke?”

“Yeah?”

“If this is because of our involvement with Shep’s situation, I do not want you carrying that weight on your shoulders.”

“You know better,” I told him as I hung up. Sure, I’d feel bad because ultimately it was me that dragged the club into Shep’s situation, but I would do it all over again because there was no way I would leave Shep’s mom and sister to suffer the fate that awaited them had we not stepped in. They were both about to become nothing more than sex slaves to pay off his step-father’s debt. There wasn’t a man in our club who wouldn’t step in and make sure that never happened.

“What do you have?” I asked Chief as he came up on my side.

“Was that Ghost?” I nodded. “Well, it looks like we had some visitors that maybe we have seen around before.”

“You tapped into the security feed from here?”

“Yeah, but just the one we hid in the tree line,” he tipped his head toward where we had a camera hidden in the trees just in case the ones by the building were ever compromised. “Got a good look at a white cargo van that was in here. Looks like the stormed through the buildings looking for something, and didn’t find what they wanted to. They left empty handed and came back to torch the place. I have some half-ass decent images of the two assholes who were doing the dirty work. One of them I recognized.”

“When we helped Shep?”

“Yeah, it was one of the goons we found watching the house there.” Chief sighed before going on. “It’s looking like these guys have some sort of mob connection or something, man. I’m not sure what Ghost is going to want to do, but I think Shep needs to consider getting his family gone from the area. If these assholes were able to find where we stashed the girls for a few days they will, no doubt, find them back in Cedar Falls.”

“I’ll let him know.” Before we could manage anything else, the ground beneath our feet shook as the third barn went up in a blazing inferno. The heat from the blast actually reached us even though we were far enough away that we hadn’t been able to feel the radiating warmth from the other fires. Yelling, and movement of the men attending the fires bled into the chaos that surrounded us after the barn went up. I glanced at Chief and then back into the scattering bodies.

“Mother fucker!” I heard Womack growl out into the night. “Who went in?”

Two names were called out and immediately my stomach plummeted. “Jesus fuck! The department just lost two of their own. They aren’t gonna be able to let this investigation slide one bit now,” I commented quickly to Chief. “Call Ghost, fill him in. The third barn was rigged. The scorch marks were probably there for appearances so we wouldn’t think about what was waiting for us inside there.”

Chief shook his head in disbelief. “What the fuck were they doing going inside there anyway?”

“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.” I tipped my chin to Womack who was storming my way.

“You want to tell me what you know now? Two of my men might not make it after that blast!” Womack’s seething shouts were not unexpected. Still, it was obvious I’d already been cooperating.

“We don’t know any more than you do. Besides, your men should have known better than to go charging into a building that hadn’t been secured yet considering foul play was expected here,” I informed him of something he already knew. Then I poked a finger toward the building that was now nothing more than timber and flame consuming everything around the steel vault that had been placed inside it. “You saw the fucking scorch marks. Whoever did this gave your guys a fucking warning that none of them heeded. Did you see my ass storming in my own fucking building to check on things? No, because I knew it hadn’t been cleared yet!” I screamed back at the man. I was just as angry over his men’s fuck up as he was. I wouldn’t be his whipping boy though. “They probably just single-handedly got rid of the evidence we needed to collect in order to find out for sure who did this.”

Womack snatched the cap he wore off his head and threw it with the might of a man who just found out he had the whole world resting on his shoulders. “I want the fucking surveillance tapes you guys have. We want a crack at whoever was responsible for this too.”

I gave him a nod, though I refused to give him a promise because depending on how the club handled this situation, it might become incriminating for us to do so. “I’ll do what I can, but no telling when the feeds were killed. If they were tampered with before the fires, or what.”

He crewed his eyes up tight, lips pulled to thin lines on his craggy face as he took a deep breath in and then let it out again. “Do your best, Smoke, but make no mistake I will not let this one simply rest. Those are my men,” he explained pointing his hand in the direction of where two men were being placed on stretchers to be taken to the nearest trauma center.

“We’ll make sure their expenses are seen to,” I told him. It was the least we could do as a club since they were hurt on our property trying to help us out.

“Fat lot of good that’s going to do them if they don’t make it.”

What could I say to that? Nothing. He didn’t give me a moment to attempt to placate him either. Womack walked away heading in the direction of the rescue squads that were heading out with the men who had been injured. “This is a cluster fuck of epic proportions,” Chief mentioned.

“Did you let Ghost know what just happened?”

“Yeah, I did. He wants us both to stay put long enough for you to be able to get in there once the flames are out. He wants answers, but he also wants everything we have underground kept secure until he can get the rest of the guys up here to pull it all out.”

“Fuck,” I growled out. “I need to call Shep and Kent.”

“Don’t you mean you need to call Poppy?”

“I need to talk to them first and see what they’re willing to do for her. If they can’t get her home safely, then I will have to call one of the club women to run up there with a prospect or something.” I mumbled as I was basically thinking out loud.

“Get to it then. I’m sure my sister is worried, and not to mention she’s been left with two men she hardly knows.”

“You know,” I told him as I threw my hand up to indicate the mess we were standing in the middle of. “I didn’t exactly have a choice.”

“I fucking know, and it still pisses me off, so deal with it.”

Chapter 7

One thing after another was bound and determined to keep me from getting back to Poppy. I finally had to ask Kent and Shep to make sure she got home okay, and it killed me to do it. Hell, Chief nearly killed me for having to make that call too. At least, he threatened it until I pointed out that he wasn’t exactly in a position to go back for her either.

“We need to call a lock down,” I suggested to Ghost when I finally got some information and had to call him back. “I’ve already let Shep know that his family needs to remain hidden for a while, but I think these fuckers are going to keep coming at us until we produce them.”

“What the fuck kind of shit was his step-dad into?”

“The mafia, for a few large apparently. I think one of them was looking forward to having Shep’s sister as payment though.” I swore when I glanced down at what looked like a human remain sitting at my feet outside the barn. The locals had missed something here after the explosion. I didn’t know what to do with that sight and ended up staring at the digit that sat in the dirt near the toe of my well-worn leather boot. “They aren’t afraid of making a statement considering they just took out a few cops with the explosion they had rigged. Either they thought we’d go charging in our own building, or they were purposely trying to turn the heat up for us with the law.”

“Either way, I think you’re right. I just sent out a lockdown notice to everyone.”

“What about Poppy?”

I could almost hear the smile in Ghost’s voice when he answered. “Leanne went to get her.”

“You have someone on Leanne?”

“Of fucking course, I have someone on Leanne. I ain’t sending my woman out there unprotected.”

“Soph, Bender, and Brant?” I asked after the rest of my family.

“Haven’t been able to get a hold of them. Bender mentioned them taking a short trip earlier today though.” He sighed. “Been trying to call them back, but you know Bender. They go on their little family excursions and he doesn’t answer shit.”

“Yeah, sometimes hate the fucker for that, but I’m Soph’s brother too, so I have to love the fact that he’s putting them first.”

“We’ll keep trying to get a hold of them. I’ve put 911 texts in to both of their phones in case they turn them back on.”

“Appreciate it, brother.”

“Get me something we can use,” Ghost demanded.

“Working on it.” It wasn’t a lie, but there wasn’t a fuck of a lot to go on since most of the evidence had been blown to smithereens, and what was left had been collected by the cops and then trampled over by the fire department as they too went through looking for anything the cops left behind.

“Anything?” Chief asked as he moved closer to me, noticing the thumb that I had been staring at on the ground. “Jesus! You’d think they would have at least made sure to get all of their men’s parts.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “They’re too close.”

“Yeah, that’s why shit’s gonna end up fucked,” Chief muttered. He wasn’t wrong either. It was already showing in their sloppy collection activity.

“Leanne is taking Poppy into lockdown with her,” I informed him since he was her brother.

“Good.” He sighed heavily then. “Heard some shit from Snake before that never sat right with me.” I turned to watch as he tried to reel his anger in. “When the men in Georgia were dealing with the human trafficking ring, the fucking third wave of those fuckers coming into their territory trying to fuck with their shit, Poppy was left home alone in a farmhouse that had no fuckin’ protection. Bastard didn’t tell me until after the fact.”

“What the fuck?”

“Probably making sure the club whores didn’t whisper anything in her ear about his habits.”

“Motherfucker!” I snapped. “It’s getting past time we took a ride to Georgia to straighten this fucker out.”

“Nope,” Chief disagreed.

“What the fuck do you mean by nope?”

“He’ll get what’s coming to him, but you have to keep your hands clean. Poppy wouldn’t want that. She wouldn’t want the drama of club brothers going at each other and causing strife. Trust me on that. Hell, she’s better to the club than that particular chapter deserves, but I promise you, she’ll be pissed if you do anything against Walker.”

“I feel like my hands are tied behind my back and I’m walking this tight rope blindfolded.”

“I know it, brother. Let everything sort itself and settle. Then, we’ll have a come to Jesus meeting with the asshole who couldn’t take care of my sister properly. I promise you. It’s coming.” He tipped his chin down towards the digit that was still taunting me. Something about it set me off and it didn’t settle in until that moment. “Let’s get this shit to the cops.

“Nah, we’re not gonna do that.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“This little digit doesn’t belong to them. Check out that ring. Know many cops that wear a pinky ring?”

Chief leaned in to take a better look. “Holy fuck. One of those bastards blew himself up?”

“Looks like it. Must have come from the initial blaze or explosion.” I pulled a knife from my belt and knelt to stab the thumb. Then I brought it up closer to my face to check out the jewelry on the damn thing just a little closer. The ring was a golden revolver cylinder with one chamber filled and topped with what looked like a ruby. There was also a partial tattoo present at the base of the thumb where it would have connected to the index finger.

“You know what that is?”

I nodded my head. “I do because a guy that used to run with the club for a while back when I was prospecting had one. VTK. It’s Russian and used to indicate that the person was in a labor camp before they were 18. It’s a youth offender designation.”

“Think it’s the same guy you knew from back then?”

“No. Couldn’t be. He fucking died in a fire, of all things, not too long after I met him. The bastard was shacked up in a crack den that burned to the damn ground with him and two others in it.”

“You sure about that?”

The more I stared at the ink on the thumb, the more my worry became a real thing. These people weren’t ones to be trifled with. We had a huge club with a shitload of chapters throughout the country, but we were also a club on the cusp of trying to go filly legit. Throwing down with the Russian Mafia could derail those plans exponentially, especially if the outcome – like buildings blowing up cops – put us on the radar of the feds. Our guys in Tallahassee were almost free of their gun running responsibilities they had to pick up ten years back as a result of a deal they needed to make in order to get rid of some corrupt ass government officials and their family who had been terrorizing the area and the chapter’s president’s old lady.

“I’m sure enough to know we should all probably be shaking in our boots.”

“You don’t think we can take them?”

“It’s not about that. We have to worry about how deep the fallout will roll, how many people will end up dead in the wake, and how many eyes we have on us just as we’re pulling out of the last of the shit that keeps us dirty.”

“Well, fuck!” Chief hissed out as he walked off again and raised his cell back to his ear, speaking to someone on the other end.

We were just about to leave when Womack pulled up on the scene his men had torn apart the day before. He didn’t bother getting out of his vehicle, just rolled the window down and handed me a large brown envelope. “Not so sure I should be doing this, but it’s in my head that you boys wouldn’t bring this sort of attention down on yourselves. I have to think there’s good reason for it.” I nodded my head indicating that there was. “Thought that might be the case. That’s everything we gathered so far. Catalogued it all, cops gave us their list, and we’re working this jointly considering. Do what you need to with that information, but don’t let it out of your sight because you’ll never see it from me again. That’s all the help I can give you boys.” He tipped his head up and started to roll his window back up and thought better of it before turning back and sending a warning of his own. “Might want to tell Ghost to start lookin’ for some new property. Think this site is just about used up all the welcome you boys were ever gonna get.”

“It’s been a pleasure, Womack,” I called out.

“Wish I could say it ended the same, Smoke.” With a shake of his head, and a swipe at his window control Womack cut himself off from us and took off back down the bumpy, unpaved road that brought him out here.

“Let’s get this back,” I suggested before tucking the envelope of papers into my saddlebags.

We were halfway home when my cell phone would not stop buzzing in my pocket. I finally got fed up and decided answering it was better than wondering what the hell had them calling me so frantically. “Yeah?” I asked into the receiver after pulling off the interstate.

“How close are you?” Ghost’s gruff voice had the hairs on my arms standing on end.

“Halfway, why?”

“You need to get here as quick as you can brother and bypass the clubhouse. Get to the hospital.”

“The hospital? Is Poppy okay?” Chief killed his engine and ran over when he heard his sister’s name.

“She’s fine. Asleep at the clubhouse still, last I saw her.”

A horrible feeling sunk deep down in my stomach as I recalled Ghost telling me they had tried to pull Bender and my sister in for lockdown but had been unsuccessful in getting a hold of them. “Soph? Brant?” I asked.

“Get here!” He hung up.

“FUCK!” I screamed. “Fuck!”

“Calm down brother. We don’t know what’s happening just yet. Not gonna help anyone sitting here losing your shit. Let’s get back and see what’s up, okay?”

All I could do was nod, or losing my shit would be the least of our worries. I had this feeling. I wasn’t going to get to say goodbye to my sister no matter how quickly I got there. I couldn’t even allow myself to think about my innocent little nephew, or my club brother. What the fuck would I do if we lost them all? If we lost any of them? SHIT!

There should have been a bit over two hours left on our ride back. We made it back in half that.

Chapter 8

My heart hammered against my chest as I dove from my bike, not even able to remember if I’d snatched the keys out, because I was in too big a hurry to make it inside. “Sophie and Granger Bent?” I shouted. “Brantley Bent?”

Immediately sad, pitying eyes met my own and it stopped me short. “Sir,”

“I’m Sophie’s brother, Brantley’s Uncle,” I explained.

“Smoke!” I turned to see Ghost standing there with a doctor and rushed toward them.

“What’s going on?”

Ghost reached for me and immediately wrapped his arms around my shoulders, effectively tucking my hands between us. “Soph and Bender are gone, brother. Brantley’s okay. They’re just checking him out right now. He survived.”

“What the fuck did he survive? What do you mean they’re gone?”

“As I was explaining to Mr. Ghost here,” some asshole doc was saying before I turned around and he took note of who I was. Hell, I wasn’t in and out of here as often as Surfer was, but enough that people knew me. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize, Mr. Lewis.”

“I’ve got it from here,” Ghost informed him.

“We’ll need you to sign for your nephew before he can be released since…” his voice trailed off as I stood there ingulfed in Ghost’s arms.

“I have you. We have you, Smoke. We’ll get through this.”

“Kent,” I managed to choke out.

“Already got word to him. They’re sending him back from California.”

“Jesus, fuck! How did this happen? What the fuck happened?”

Ghost released his hold on me and we both collapsed into the uncomfortable chairs sitting there just inside a room I hadn’t even realized we had moved in to. Chief was there with us now and he tucked my keys into my hands. Apparently, I had left them behind.

“It looks like they were run off the road on purpose. Reports came in to the police that a white work van was trying to run a car off the road. They were in the Mustang, and…”

He didn’t have to say it. My sister’s Mustang was a convertible. “They rolled?”

He tipped his head up and down one time. “Doc says neither of them suffered. Brantley still being so small is the only thing that saved him. That and the car seat.”

I had no words. My sister was gone. My club brother who became a brother-in-law was gone with her. Now, there would be their little boy to care for in their absence and I honestly didn’t know if I was up for the job. How did you tell a kid they just lost both of their parents and you and his other uncle were all they had left?

“The roads were slick, and from the reports, the assholes in the van were relentless.”

“It was a hit?” I heard Chief ask.

“Looks that way,” Ghost returned.

Nothing. I had nothing for that. After what we found at the barns I knew that things were about to get ugly. I’d even mentioned earlier that we were looking at potential casualties and collateral damage that might draw the interest of agencies we didn’t want poking around in our business. Never, in a million years, had I envisioned my own family as a part of the losses. I’d saved Shep’s mother and sister at the expense of my own sister and club brother. How the fuck was I ever going to make that right?

“He was there,” Ghost murmured, as if reading my mind. “Bender was there with you when you went to help Shep. He’d do it all over again if he were here right now, and you know it. Don’t take that shit on your shoulders or put it on Shep’s. We’re going to find the assholes responsible, and we’re going to take every last one of the fuckers out. That is a fucking promise.”

“Gonna hold you to that one,” I managed to get out before the grief hit and I lost my shit right there in the waiting room for all to see. I’ve never been a man prone to tears, but my little sister was more to me. In a way, I had become a surrogate father for her, and she’d become my own child. Our sibling relationship was vastly different from many people’s since I had to step up and take of her and Kent. My baby girl, my sister, was gone and there was nothing on this Earth that could bring her back to me. We had hardly talked since that barbecue where we had shitty fucking words to say to one another. While Poppy and Soph had managed to pull it together in the end, my sister and I still hadn’t really managed an opportunity to talk about things and make it right between us.

“How the hell do I tell Brant?” I asked everyone and no one all at once. “Where is Brant?” Panic set in then. Somewhere in this hospital was a little boy who was probably scared shitless and wondering where his parents were and here I was becoming a sniveling mess in a waiting room. How had he not been my first thought? Shit, I was already fucking up.

I stood just as Ghost did, and he put a hand on my shoulder to hold me still a moment longer. “It’s okay. BigMac’s been sitting with him.”

BigMac was one of the older brothers who was barely around anymore because arthritis was taking his ability to ride. Still, the man had a heart of gold and doted on his grandchildren like they were the most precious things this world had to offer. Hell, the fat bastard took it upon himself to beef up for the position of Santa at the club’s Christmas events every year. He was already pushing 350 at only 5 feet 10 inches, and he took it seriously, because he wasn’t about to disappoint the kids. Even knowing that, I couldn’t let another man sit in on my responsibility any longer. “I need to go to him.”

“I know you do. How about you take a minute to process first, and then get yourself cleaned up before you go in there shocking the kid with just your appearance. Shit’s about to be hard enough.”

“Has anyone told him?”

“Nah, we figured either you or Kent would want to do that.”

“I don’t think either of us wants that particular honor,” I mumbled.

Ghost clapped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I know you don’t. I’m going to call Leanne and update her.”

“Don’t tell Poppy just yet. Please, let her know. I think it’s best if that comes from me or Chief too.”

Ghost nodded his head and stepped aside only for Chief to take his place. “Anything you need, brother. Anything. I mean that.”

“I know you do,” I told him.

“You want one of us in there when you tell Brant?”

“Would you mind?” I asked. It wasn’t that I was afraid of telling the kid, though I wished I didn’t have to. My heart hammered disturbingly fast against the body restraining it as I thought about how I would be when everything sunk in for Brant. Having backup didn’t seem like a bad plan.

We took two steps toward the doorway of the waiting area before I realized I had no clue where to go. Ghost had disappeared to make his phone call and Chief had come in with me. I knew there were others here but they had all made themselves scarce at some point. Probably when I had come apart and cried like a fucking baby in the arms of my club president. “Shit, brother, I don’t know where he is.”

“Come on, we’ll go find out together,” Chief walked beside me, nudging me a little to get me going until we made our way to the nurses’ station. “This is Jared Lewis. His sister, brother-in-law and nephew were brought in tonight. We’re looking for his nephew Brantley Bent.”

The nurse at the desk offered up a sad smile before checking something in her computer. Then she nodded and stood. “I’ll take you to him. It’s time to check his vitals anyway,” she stated without stopping her forward momentum. We followed along behind her to a room about halfway down the corridor. When the door opened, I stopped and took a deep breath. I could do this. I had to do this. There simply wasn’t a choice.

“Unc Moke,” a small little boy voice called out to me as soon as I managed to get out from behind the nurse.

“Hey, little man, how are you feeling?”

He poked out his bottom lip out a bit as he glanced between the nurse and BigMac. The side of his face was mottled in bruises making me want to kill the mother fucker responsible all over again. “I got hurted. The car spinned on the road and I boomed me head and hanged with my hair falling to the grass.” It took everything in me to stifle the choked scream that threatened to come out. The car was upside down. The fucking convertible was upside down with my family inside it.

“You’re a brave kiddo,” BigMac told him while ruffling his hair to draw attention from me while I got myself together.

“Did momma and daddy gets hurts too?” Brantley finally asked as he turned back to me. Both the nurse and BigMac’s sympathy-filled eyes found my own. Shit. The kid was throwing out all the hard punches without meaning to.

“They did, buddy.” I moved to go sit on the side of his bed. I closed my eyes and remembered what it had been like to explain to my siblings that our mom was gone, and not coming back. They had been older. I’m not sure that made it easier. Soph had vowed that God had taken her so she wouldn’t suffer anymore, and I knew as I got in touch with that memory that it was what she would want me to tell her son.

“Brant, your mom and dad were hurt really bad, and instead of letting that happen to them, God came and took them away to a better place,” I tried explaining. When I saw his lip wobble, I knew it wasn’t going to go well.

“God wanted me to be hurted?” He questioned.

“No, buddy. God thought you could handle it, and he knew you had more to do in this life. He couldn’t take you just yet, but one day you’ll get to go be with your mom and dad again, okay?”

“Tomowo?”

“It won’t be tomorrow, little man. It’ll be after you live a good long life. Your mommy and daddy want you to be able to grow up and have lots of fun first.”

“But dey won’t be hewe to see,” he told me quietly.

“When you go with God, it’s like magic buddy. They can still see you, even if you can’t see them. They’ll know.”

“Do I has to dwibe cars and gets a job now?”

“What? No, buddy.”

“But dats what happsens when you don’t has a mom or dad no more. You all growd up.” He sniffled through the words, hiccupping at the end.

I carefully pulled his little body to me in a hug as tears I didn’t think he knew he was shedding trailed down his chubby little cheeks. “I’m gonna take care of you, little man. You can still be a kid for a while, yeah?”

“Unc Moke, don’t weave me too, otay?”

“I won’t buddy. I promise you, I won’t.”

“Don’t wet God take you too.” His sleepy voice trailed off at the end.

“I’ll punch the fucker if he tries,” I managed through gritted teeth. He giggled.

“You punch God?”

“Nobody is taking me from you, little man!” I told him, though what I really wanted to say was completely different. Damn right I’d punch God. That fucker had been taking from me for far too long now. If he had a plan, it fucking sucked, and I probably wouldn’t be the only one standing in line waiting to sucker punch him either. It had been a long time since I believed though. Now, I’d only pretend for Brant’s sake. When he grew older, he could decide for himself. Before I got to God though, there would be some Russian mafia fucks were about to pay the price for what they’d just done to my family. I couldn’t tell Brant just yet that it wasn’t God that took his family from him, but one day when he was old enough to ask questions and realize what happened, he would know that I managed swift fucking justice for them.

I gently leaned Brant back down on the bed once he had fallen asleep in my arms. Then I pulled the chair BigMac had vacated closer to the bed and held his little hand in my own.

“I have to head out to the clubhouse to check on things there and…”

“Please, make sure Poppy knows I’m okay,” I requested.

“I will, brother. Is there anything you need before I leave?”

I shook my head. The only fucking thing I needed was for my sister and her husband not to be dead. I dropped my head down on the mattress of the bed beside where Brant’s hand rested in my own. “Nothing you can bring me,” I mumbled. I felt his hand on my shoulder as he squeezed.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’ll have someone standing outside. Get some rest if you can. Holler if you need anything.”

“Yeah,” I managed to get out and before I knew it I drifted off into a sleep I didn’t think would be possible.

There was no telling how long I’d managed to nod off before I felt another presence in the room. To explain the feeling was akin to holding a magnet close to iron. She drew me in and held on tight from the moment I met her, whether she intended for that to happen or not wasn’t an issue, because we both felt the undeniable pull. I struggled to open my swollen eyes. I’d been crying in my sleep and knew it because the sheets beneath my face were soaked, and my eyes felt like their lids were made of sandpaper as I tried to shift them open.

I don’t know what it was about her presence there, but I knew I couldn’t do this without her. She was the one thing I needed desperately to hold on to in this world. My mom and my sister were now both gone. My club brother was gone too. There was just Kent, the little man, and me left now. The weight of that thought sunk me. It just completely ripped me apart inside. I would never get to see my sister again. Never get to watch Bender be so fuckin in love with her that it both disgusted and elated me to see it. The disgust had only come into play in the times I accidently caught them up to no good at the clubhouse. She was still my little sister, and I never lost the urge to want to beat the shit out of him. At the same time, there was never anyone better for my sister. As the devastation of their loss settled into deep in my bones, I felt Poppy’s arms wrap around me and pull me into her middle. She held me there while I came undone in her arms. Her warmth and strength wrapped around me like a favorite blanket. Comfort. That’s what she was, comfort personified.

“Shh,” she whispered as her kips touched brushed through the hair on my head. “I’m here. Chief’s here. Whatever you need, we are here for you, Love, I promise.”

The emptiness in my heart filled upon hearing her call me Love. It filled and helped pushed away the excruciating pain of loss. I knew it was only a momentary patch, but I was thankful for it. For her. For family that was still here. Kent was still here too. I needed to talk to him.

“I need to get ahold of Kent,” I told her as I moved back in order to wipe my pathetic tears away from my face. It was only then that I realized Poppy hadn’t come in alone.

“I already did, Brother.” Chief came closer so he could speak softly since little man was still knocked out. “They were already in the air headed to Anaheim to play the Ducks. The team is sending him back the minute the land.” That sounded familiar. I was pretty sure Ghost had told me something about California when I first got to the hospital, but it all slipped through the cracks considering everything that was being thrown at me.

“That’s good then.” I felt that familiar fog from yesterday try to swamp me and take me under again. I couldn’t allow that. There was too much to do. Vengeance to be had, a little boy to care for, and a brother to get through the grieving process along me. Then there was the club, grieving for the brother they had lost and a fine old lady who had been as involved in the club as women could be. I wondered if Kent would be allowed any time off at all for everything that was headed our way with the preparations, funerals, and the world of hurt that would follow us through it all. “Do they know all of it yet?”

Chief shook his head in the negative. “Ghost has people working on it now. It won’t take long.”

“I need to get in touch with Shep and let him know, just in case.” Worry coursed through me for his family. We had already connected the bombing and fires to the Russian Mafia. There was no stopping those types of people once they had their minds set on things.

“Ghost went to loop him in,” Chief told me. I saw what looked like pride tipping the edges of Chief’s lips up as he glanced over at Poppy. “She was telling me that Shep should be made aware just in case, and Ghost overheard. He assured us that Poppy was right, and he was headed over to do just that so we could be here for you and Brant.”

I slid my hand down to Poppy’s thigh and squeezed as she continued to hold me and rub little circle patterns into my back. I hadn’t been wrong when I equated her to comfort earlier. She was the best kind of woman; one made to be an old lady and make sure her man was cared for and shit was handled when he couldn’t be there to do it. Her soon-to-be ex-husband had to be off his fucking rocker not to see what he had in her. Still, I thanked the universe and beyond for his stupidity, because it led her right to me, and I wasn’t fucking stupid. I squeezed again and then spoke softly to her. “I need to talk to Chief a minute. Could you sit with Brant?”

“Of course, but um, what if he wakes?”

“Just distract him as best you can until I get back. I won’t be long.” I managed to get up and out of the chair, despite my stiff back, before I leaned in and kissed the top of her head, smelling the sweet vanilla shit she used in her hair. Once I was up on my feet, I spun her around and helped her down into the chair that had been killer on my body as I attempted to sleep in it during the night. Then I took off with Chief in tow, making sure the door shut quietly behind us.

I turned to see Hopper in a chair outside of the door. “You mind sitting a bit longer? I need to go grab some food, and I don’t want to leave the two of them…”

“You don’t even have to ask, brother. That’s why I’m here. If it ain’t me, another brother will be along to take a shift as long as your boy’s here.”

My boy. Jesus, fuck! It hit me right in the gut all over again, because with my sister and Bender gone, that’s exactly what Brantley had just become. My boy. Not just my nephew, but mine to raise from now until he reached manhood. I wasn’t scared to take it on. Hell, I’d already been down this road before after my mom got sick and then passed. My siblings became my kids to worry about in a weird way. Now, my nephew had stepped into that same role. Would the cycle ever end? I would never turn away family, but I was tired of losing pieces of it at the same time.

We didn’t manage to even make it to the cafeteria before both of our phones pinged with incoming texts.

Poppy – Brant is awake. He asked why the big truck crunched them. He’s asking for his momma, and I don’t know what to tell him.

“I guess food will have to wait.” I turned on my heel to go back the way we’d come and had taken a few steps before I realized Chief wasn’t with me. He was still reading his message.

“I’ll come up too, in case either of you needs me, and then head back down to grab food for everyone once we make sure Brant’s okay. They’ll probably both need a rescue by the time we get back.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that little boy is going to break my sister’s heart wide open, and in response she’ll smother the poor guy in goopy girly lovin’. I’m sure they’ll both need a reprieve by the time you get there.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Figured you could handle one, while I take the other out in the hallway and let her get it all out where he can’t see.”

It was the first thing that brought a smile to my face in two days. I could picture that happening. Though, if I knew my nephew at all, he would just eat up all the pretty girl lovin. “Thanks man,” I called out as I jogged off in the direction of the room Brant was currently staying in with Chief following close at my heels.

When I got back to the room, a nurse was doing something off to the side and writing in a tablet. Poppy looked to me with desperation in her eyes. We hadn’t been able to talk, and that was my fault. I should have filled her in on what I told Brantley before I left her alone with him.

“Hey, little man, you hangin’ in there?”

“Unc Moke,” he slurred a bit. “My gots owies.”

“I know you have owies, Brant. The doctors are fixing you up as quick as they can so you can be even stronger when you leave here.”

“Me Batman?” His sleepy question made me smile again for the second time today.

“Yeah, Bud, just like Batman.” I could see he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open at that point, and I glanced over to the nurse, concerned since he’d just woken up. Why the hell would he still be sleepy. I didn’t know if he had head trauma that was worse than just the bruising or what. Shit, the explanations we had gotten from the doctor seemed to blend together almost as if Charlie Brown’s teacher had been giving his diagnosis. I knew it happened to people who were in shock, but I’d never experienced it before. When it was my mom going through stuff, she was the one to explain things to me, and she made sure I was really hearing all of it.

“I gave him a little something for the pain, but unfortunately it will make him super sleepy,” the nurse finally told me after realizing I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. Her eyes softened as she glanced down at my nephew and patted his little head gently with her hand. “Probably for the best, considering.” She turned her attention to Poppy again before speaking. “Just hit the button and call again if you need anything. I’m not sure if they’ll be moving him upstairs to the pediatric wing or not. I do know they want to keep him here for at least 48 hours to watch and make sure there weren’t any internal injuries that didn’t present right away.”

“Thank you,” Poppy told her, and then the nurse took off out of the room like the hounds of hell were chasing after her. I caught Chief’s grin and wondered if the bastard had been giving her ‘fuck me’ eyes the whole time or what. She had been cute. Not cute enough for me to really pay much attention to, but then again, no one could compare to the woman watching us with worried eyes.

“What exactly did he say?” I asked her now that we were alone in the room again.

She seemed to hesitate at first, and I wasn’t sure why until she began telling me. Poppy probably wanted to spare me the details that my nephew had shared with her, but no matter how much they hurt we needed to know everything. “He told me his momma was screaming and then she wasn’t. Then he asked why the big truck crunched them. He was in a lot of pain. That’s really all he said other than to tell me he hurt.”

I had to take a seat to absorb that information. We already knew that they’d been run off the road purposely, but to hear that my nephew knew it too, and that my sister had… Shit. I just couldn’t think about it right now. I took a seat in the chair beside Brant’s bed and pulled Poppy down on my lap needing to feel close to her. I needed something that could ground me and hold me together, because I had a little boy counting on me not to lose my shit.

We sat there quietly, just breathing each other in for a while. I didn’t even notice when Chief left the room. Only that sometime later, it became apparent that we were alone. “Thank you for being here with him.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that. I know what it’s like to lose almost your entire family. He’s so young though.”

“He is. I’m going to need you, and I don’t think it’s fair to ask this of you, considering.”

She stopped me there. “You don’t even have to ask, Love. I’m here for whatever you both need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thank you,” I whispered into her hair, feeling an immediate sense of relief. Things were still so new for us that I hated making demands on her time. Maybe I’d never have the words to convey what it meant to me, but I held her tighter and just breathed her in, hoping that somehow the feelings would convey through osmosis or some shit.

I’m not sure how long we sat we sat vigil at Brant’s side, me in the hospital chair and Poppy in my lap, but a while later Shep, Ghost, and Leanne came bounding through the door. Ghost and Leanne seemed to be trying to hold Shep back, but he shrugged them off and looked completely devastated as he took in my little black and blue nephew lying there on the bed.

“No!” Shep choked out on a sob. “Tell me this isn’t my doing.” Fucking hell. I knew this would hit him hard since he got us involved in his family’s business, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for the reality of his reaction right now. Not here, in front of my nephew’s hospital bed. I turned all my attention to him as he stood there, shoulders shaking and diving deep in that pit of despair and self-loathing. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He kept mumbling.

“This isn’t on you,” I managed to get out in between his ‘I’m sorry’ litany. “This is not on you. This is on the fuckers who thought it was okay to run my sister and her family off the road. We will get them. They will die for this. All I need you to do is make sure your mom and sister are somewhere safe until we do. Send them away if you can. If you can’t, let us know, and we’ll see if one of the other chapters can house them for a while.”

Shep’s head shook back and forth almost violently. “No, look what happened when I got your guys involved before. I can’t. I won’t let you take on anything else.”

“They killed my sister,” I hissed back at him. “This is out of your hands now. Take care of your family so they don’t end up dead too. We will get the bastards who did it.”

“Jesus, I can’t believe I did this.”

“You did not do this!” I whisper-yelled, trying not to disturb Brantley while getting my point across. “No one in this damn room is responsible for this happening. You hear me? Any one of us would choose to help you out all over again if you called, even knowing what might happen. It’s the life we live, man. We don’t let family down, and you are my family too. So, let go of the guilt, and just worry about getting the women out of town.”

“What about your woman?” Shep finally asked as he took in Poppy sitting there watching everything go down.

“We’ve got her, and all the rest handled. Everyone’s on lockdown for now. They’ll be plenty safe. Don’t worry about us. Worry about your family, and if we need to get them out of town we will. The Dakotas will take them for sure, probably Sierra High too, maybe they can even stay with the girls of S.H.E. down there?” I turned my attention to Ghost, silently asking him if that was okay, or if I was stepping over a line.

“Already put in a call. Angel Girl said they’d take them in, no problem. They also volunteered some people if we need them. Keys and Quickshot are working their collective magic as we speak to get us the information we need to find these bastards.”

“See, we have this covered,” I offered up as reassurance.

Shep didn’t say anything else for a long time, he simply stood there watching Brant as his chest rose and fell peacefully. “What’s going to happen to little man now?”

“He’s going to stay with me,” I explained with no hesitation.

“Does he know?”

“Not yet.” I told him. I’d talked to Brant about the fact that I wasn’t going to leave him, but I didn’t think he understood what that meant just yet. Hell, I wasn’t so sure he’d even remember the conversation we had since I hadn’t realized they’d been giving him some pretty strong medications for the pain. “How the hell is a someone so small supposed to comprehend that his family is gone?”

I must have spoken the question aloud because Poppy answered me. “He’ll get through, because not all of his family is gone. He has you, Kent, and the club at his back. He won’t want for anything.”

“Except his parents,” I muttered, hoping she was the only one who would hear that part.

“There’s no helping that part, but we’ll get him through it.”

Chapter 9

Arranging the funeral of my little sister is not something I ever thought I would have to do in my lifetime. I always figured as the oldest sibling; I would be the one going out first. Arguing with my little brother over every detail was also something I didn’t think I’d have to do. Kent had taken the bad news and immediately put it off on the club, as if we had all caused this shit to happen personally.

“They don’t have any right to be involved!” His voice rose as we stood there looking at caskets that would hold our sister and her husband. Bender didn’t have family outside of the club, so his arrangements fell on our shoulders too. Ghost had already tried to take that burden from me, but I wouldn’t hear of it. Bender and Soph would want to go out together in every way. I was going to see to it that they did. I sighed at the thought before turning to my brother.

“Bender was a member of the club. Soph was heavily involved. The club was their family just as much as we are. They would both be extremely disappointed if the rest of their family were banned from coming to say their farewells, little brother.”

“The club got them both killed and took them away from their son. I don’t think they’d care about that right now.”

“The club didn’t get them killed.”

“You’re saying this wasn’t the result of something the club did?”

“I’m saying the club got involved in the business of a private family with no affiliation, because they were in danger. We saved their lives. Bender would do it all over again if he were here to make that decision. No one knew what the fallout from helping other people would be, but you know what? I fuckin’ do it every day. If not for the club, I do it for the department. You gonna shun the men from my firehouse if I die in a fire?”

I could see his anger burning underneath the surface, but I didn’t stop there. “If you were to die on the ice in some freak accident, or because some punk-ass fucker from another team took a pot shot that went wrong, am I supposed to blame your whole team and tell them they can’t show up to pay their respects?”

“It’s not the same!” He yelled out, face red with the frustration I knew he was feeling. He wanted something tangible to blame, and the club fit the bill, even if he knew deep down that they weren’t really responsible.

“It’s exactly the same, and as soon as you pull your head out of your ass and realize that you’re going to feel like a jackass for shitting on your sister’s family when they’re all devastated at her death just as we are.”

“You’re comparing them to our blood bond?”

“No, I’m fucking not. The difference is, we are blood bonded. They chose to be in her life, and they want to be there to celebrate it and say goodbye. It’s not a choice for us because we are blood. They took her in and loved her just because they wanted to. That’s the difference. The only difference, Kent. My club will be the ones taking care of Brantley when I’m on shift, or if something comes up. They are the family that Brant knows more so than you since your schedule keeps you away so often. They will be there for him. If for no fucking other reason, they will be there because that little boy can’t take losing any more family right now and those men are his uncles. The women are his aunts. He needs them. He expects them to be there, and saying goodbye is something that is more important for him than any of the rest of us so we’re going to honor that, whether you like it or not.”

“Fuck you, man!” Kent shouted before storming away. I knew he’d put it all together and get with the program. He just needed time to grieve and work through the anger over losing our sister so pointlessly.

The funeral director approached me wearily for my choice of caskets. “We’ll take two. One in black and the other white,” I told him. Black for Granger and the white for Sophie.”

“Yes sir, I will make sure everything is set. We have all of your other choices?”

“You do,” I told him. Even though every other choice we had made was like pulling teeth from Kent, we managed to agree on all of the little stuff aside from the guestlist. There was no way I was keeping the club away from their funeral though. It didn’t matter how big a fit Kent threw. If he even thought to cause a scene at the funeral, I would toss him in the goddamn hole waiting to hold my sister and club brother. Someone else could fish his cantankerous ass out of it.

My phone pinged and when I glanced down, it was a text from Quickshot.

Quickshot: Think we found something. Tracking real estate. There’s a couple places not too far away.

Me: Send the addresses, and we’ll run them down.’

Quickshot: I’ll send them after the funeral.

Me: Send now, or there will be another funeral you won’t have a choice in attending.

Quickshot: Damn it, Smoke. You have too much going on right now.

Me: Right. So don’t fuck with me.

Quickshot: Sent.

Me: Did not receive.

Quickshot: Sent to Ghost. You can get the info from him.

That fucker. I’d always respected the man especially since he went to go help start one of our new chapters about a decade ago. You had to respect a man who would move away from everything he knows in order to get out from under the shadow of his father and the other men who had raised him. On second thought, maybe he took the easy way out by doing it. Who knew? The only thing I knew in that moment was that when I saw Quickshot again, he had an ass whooping coming to him.

I wondered briefly if I had been able to go with them to Georgia back then, would I have met Poppy sooner? I let the fleeting thought go just as quickly as it had come. While I’d felt abandoned by the younger generation of Aces High Cedar Falls at the time, there was no way I could have up and moved states away when I was taking care of my siblings. They had already been through enough.

Still, back then, there was something calling me to join them, if only my circumstances had been different. Maybe we weren’t ready for one another then. The way Chief talks about how in love his sister and Walker were in the beginning, I probably wouldn’t have stood a chance. Then I would have been just another Snake pining over another man’s woman. Yeah, I knew about him. I also knew that Poppy never gave a single thought as to what it would be like to jump from her man to him. Part of that was probably because she knew Snake was well aware of the shady business her ex had been getting up to and he stuck by the code and never told her.

I shook off all my wandering thoughts when I realized I was standing in the fucking funeral home looking at caskets. Moments like these made me question if I was losing my goddamn mind. My fingers slid along the showroom casket I had chosen for my sister and brother-in-law. They would be buried side-by-side, just the way they had lived their lives since meeting one another. It was a fitting tribute, the last I could give them besides making sure their son was taken care of and raised up to be the man they’d both be proud of. Another incoming text pulled me out of the morose thoughts that were starting to swarm.

Chief – Is little man with Poppy?

Me – yeah

Chief – Kent is asking to see him.

Me – supervised only. He doesn’t have to know that. Kent’s not taking shit well, and he’s blaming the club.

Chief – I figured that when he demanded I bring his nephew to him away from the shithole den of evil.

Me – Fuck me. He walks his ass into the den and deals with the devil in order to see his nephew. Not gonna have him saying vile shit to the kid. Club is his family. This ain’t the time.

Chief – Agreed. I’ll supervise if it comes to it.

Chief – He’ll come around. He just needs someone to blame right now.

Me – I know it. Doesn’t mean I like it.

Chief – I’ll keep you updated.

Me – Where’s Ghost?

Chief – took off with Tuck and Hopper to go run something down.

Me – fuck.

Chief – go get a shower and some clean clothes on. You’re starting to smell

Me – You can’t smell through texts, asshole.

Chief – That’s how bad you are.

I didn’t bother responding, and instead, glanced down at myself. I was still wearing the same fucking clothes I’d been in days ago when I was told to haul ass home for yet another emergency. Chief might have had a valid point. When I managed to get back to my apartment and hop off my bike, I could have sworn I saw a familiar car sitting there in the lot. It couldn’t be though. She wouldn’t have the stones to come around me during a time like this. Would she? I shook it off and went inside. No way was that my ex, Julie, sitting out there.

I don’t know that getting a shower and putting clean clothes on made me feel any better, but it certainly rejuvenated me a bit. I grabbed a quick bite to eat as well before texting Ghost.

Me – Whatever Quickshot sent to you, I need to know.

Ghost – 2233 Forest Side Ave.

That was all he sent. I tossed the address into the GPS on my phone, connected the Bluetooth in my helmet, and headed that way. The open road is a funny thing. We all talk about the freedom we feel when we ride, but part of that freedom is in being able to just let it all go. The negative thoughts, the shit that bogs you down, all of it just flows off with the wind in your face and the feeling of flying. Not to say it doesn’t come rushing back the minute the engine is cut, but for those moments when the road has your focus, you become one with the journey, no matter how lengthy or short. The rest of the shit in your life just falls away until you reach your destination.

In this case, my destination was an older, two story brick home. It was unassuming, a little off to itself, but not unlike the other houses that I’d passed to get here. The faded blue shutters looked like they’d seen better days and the lawn was slightly overgrown as if the house had been vacant, or simply uncared for by its owners. There were three other bikes pulled all the way up into the driveway, so I assumed the house had been sitting vacant for a good while.

Ghost stepped out the front door and waved me on up as I parked my bike facing out toward the street. I didn’t even make it into the house before the smell hit me. “What the fuck?”

“Looks like someone was tipped off that they might be getting a visit here. They left their supply behind,” he offered up grimly. Supply? What the fuck kind of supply smelled like rotting corpses?

I got my answer once I managed to move past the smell and down into the basement level of the house. There, cages lined the walls. There were four down one side and they didn’t go to the ceiling. They were about four feet tall from ground to top and looked more like something you would set up if you were kenneling dogs. The bodies inside some of the cages were not dogs, though it didn’t appear they were treated much better. There were literally dog dishes set inside the cages that had once held food and water, or at least that’s what I hoped they had been placed there for. Fecal matter and piss stained the far corners of the cages and small, thin bedding was placed to one side. The bedding was no more than tattered blankets on the floor. The women – because that’s what they had once been – inside each cage were pitiful looking remnants of what they once had been.

There wasn’t much left to the four of them, each in a cage of their own. Three were in cages on the left side of the room while the fourth was off to herself in a cage on the right. It wasn’t clear how long they’d been dead, but judging by the smell, I’d say at least a few days. A small choked cough coming from the far right cage where the lone girl was kept startled all of us, and Hopper quickly jumped to action.

“Fucking hell, I thought they were all gone!” Ghost yelled from behind my shoulder.

“We all thought that, judging by the smell and the shape they’re in,” Hopper answered back as he used bolt cutters to pop the lock on the cage.

“Check the others,” Ghost ordered. Tuck and I immediately moved to open the other cages, but the three women on that side of the room were long gone. I came out after checking the last of them to find Hopper carrying the ghost of a woman up the stairs.

“Jesus, I can’t believe she’s alive. Did you see her?” Tuck asked.

“She might not be for much longer. Hop’s taking her to Doc Burns.”

“Let’s hope she can last long enough to help us catch these pricks,” I muttered.

Ghost shook his head. “I wouldn’t hold your breath on that,” he insisted, and while I knew he wasn’t wrong, I still hoped.

“That could have been Sophie,” I managed to choke out. “If she hadn’t died, they could have taken her, and this could have been her life.”

The look on Ghost’s face nearly buckled my knees as my words sunk in. He pulled his cell out and dialed someone. “No women and children allowed out of the compound for any reason without an escort until further notice. Keep a heavy guard on them.” He listened for a moment and then tucked his phone back in his pocket. It was a good call. These assholes had already proven they didn’t mind taking women and children out. The last thing we needed was for an old lady or any of the kids to go missing and end up in a place like this, left to die after suffering unimaginable shit.

“We need to find these bastards and take them the fuck out.” My words were a demand. Ghost only nodded his head. Obviously, he felt the same way. “I’m putting in a call to Jamie. They dealt with traffickers in their territory before. Hopefully, their experience will be helpful.”

“Are they coming in for the…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the fucking word. It was like the word funeral was stuck in my throat and refused to come out. Maybe if I didn’t say it, I wouldn’t have to live through watching my little sister be lowered into the cold, unforgiving ground.

“They are. I’m going to make some calls and get someone busy cleaning up this fucking tragedy.” He turned his watchful gaze on me. “You should get back to the clubhouse and check on Poppy and Brant.”

Brantley had been released from the hospital the day before. I’d stayed with him at the clubhouse that night but left him with Poppy and the women of the club afterward. I had too much on my mind, and too many things to do today, like picking out caskets and tracking down the leftovers and trash of a group of men who never saw those women for what they really were. People, who deserved to be treated better than lab rats locked in cages, only to be used until there was nothing left.

“Do you think she’ll want to live after what she went through?” I asked, thinking of the woman who had been taken away by Hopper.

Ghost shook his head. “She’ll have to be pretty strong to come back from this physically, brother. Not sure there’s a strong enough mentality to wash this kind of shit from a person’s soul though.”

That’s what I had been thinking too. “Might want to make sure she gets put on a suicide watch if she pulls through. We’re going to need her to talk.”

He scrubbed a hand down his stubbled jaw, turquoise eyes moving off to stare at the cinder block wall coated in grime. “Much as it pains me to feel like we’re using her just as much, I know it’s necessary.”

I nodded and moved to get up the stairs. “Heading out. Still have some arrangements to make.”

“You don’t have to do all this shit alone, Smoke.”

“I know it, but I need to.”

Walking into my sister’s house was like moving through a tomb. Everything was quiet and undisturbed. There were things thrown about haphazardly, no doubt from when they’d gotten ready to go on their little family trip. It looked like they walked out the door expecting to come and pick back up where they left off in their life. Soph and Bender would never get that chance again though. They’d reached their ends, and now I had to go through their shit to find outfits to bury them in. It wasn’t fucking right. We couldn’t even have an open casket for either of them because of the trauma they’d both suffered to their faces. Still, I wasn’t going to disrespect them by sending either of them off to another life in anything less than the best. Didn’t matter who saw. Maybe the thing you wore when you died was what you spent your eternity wearing. Maybe, you got to choose to slip into your funeral best? Who the fuck knew? I sure as fuck didn’t.

I climbed the stairs to the master suite and glanced around at the unmade bed, the few pieces of clothing strewn about still. My sister had trouble deciding what to wear again and never bothered to clean up before they left. It was typical of her, and seeing that remnant of her personality was like drilling a spike right through my damn heart. Jesus. I took a breath, and another before I found myself sitting on the edge of her bed crying for their loss all over again. “I’m so fucking sorry, Sis.”

I gave myself a few minutes to give in to the grief I was feeling and to mourn two of the most beloved people in my life. Then I hauled myself up off of their bed and moved to the closet where his clothes hung on the left side and hers were on the right. It smelled like a mixture of the two of them in there and knocked me back once more. I could close my eyes, inhale, and it was as if they were standing there with me.

“You can do this,” I could hear my sister telling me in her sweet, encouraging voice.

“Take care of my boy,” Bender’s voice seemed real as the deep baritone resonated through me. I’d swear they were really there talking to me, even though I knew it was all in my own head.

“I will not let you down,” I promised them both as I grabbed some clothes I thought they’d want to wear to their own send-off and got the hell out of there before I decided to never leave the comfort of their imagined embrace.

My next stop was Brantley’s room across the hall. I took an old diaper bag out of the closet and started filling it with some of his clothes, a few of his favorite toys, and bath time stuff before I called it good.

Two days later, I was on my way to the graveside service for both Bender and my sister when I remembered our mother’s necklace. I turned around and headed in the other direction to Sophie’s house in order to retrieve it, because I wanted it to go with Sophie so she and mom could be together in death in some way. It was probably stupid, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I followed my gut. I was about to call Poppy and tell her I’d be running a little late and ask her to meet me there, but my cell was dead. I knew it wasn’t fair, me leaving Brantley with her all this time while I was out trying to run down leads, but I couldn’t stop or I’d think and fall apart. All I had to keep me sane was diving headfirst into anything that kept me too busy to think about what today meant for my family.

It took me far too long to find where Sophie had the damn necklace hiding. Once I found it and looked at the clock on her wall, I realized I might be cutting it close just getting to the cemetery on time. I’d never hear the end of it from Kent if that happened so I tried to haul my ass there quickly.

As if someone out there in the cosmos was trying to fuck with me, I heard my name called the minute I parked my bike. I ignored it and started walking at a brisk pace toward the area where I could see everyone gathered. I was nearly there, just on the outskirts of the mourners who had gathered when a manicured set of nails wound around my upper arm and pulled tightly, forcing me to stop where I was by a tree.

“What the fuck?”

“Oh God! Smoke, I’m so sorry about Soph.” It hit me then, the sickeningly sweet smell of her perfume.

“Julie?” I questioned just as she managed to latch onto me like a suckerfish. It was an apt description too, because I had zero doubts that she was going to try to use my sister’s death and my grief as a way to get her foot back in the door with me. She was dead fucking wrong about that. I reached up and attempted to prise her off of me, but I had my mother’s necklace clasped tightly in the one hand, and didn’t want to drop it so my efforts were hampered a bit. The more I tried to get her off of me the harder she would cling. I was nearing the point of losing my fucking mind with her when I heard Brantley call out to me.

“Unc Moke!” My attention snapped directly to him, and the person carrying him, in time to see the weary look on her face. Shit. Just fucking great. I couldn’t even come to grieve my family’s deaths and say goodbye without Julie causing a scene and fucking shit up with the woman I had been neglecting. It would be my luck Poppy would think Julie had been where I was spending all of my time away from her and Brant. It didn’t help matters that everyone else was now watching too as Chief walked over to Poppy and whispered something to her before tossing a glare back at me over his shoulder.

“Let the fuck go, now!” I demanded of Julie. I don’t know if she heard the threat in my voice or not, but she let go and looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes.

“Smoke, I just want to be here for you.”

“Yeah? If that were the case, you wouldn’t have just caused a fuckin’ scene at my sister’s funeral. Now, get the fuck off of me!” I told her again. She had eased off of her hold before, but her fingers still clung to the front of my kutte as if she were holding on to a lifeline. She no longer had access to that shit, and I wasn’t playing games with her thinking that she could just waltz back into my life.

“Poppy!” I called as I started moving towards where she was headed. I was confused at first, because it looked like she was trying to leave the funeral with Brant. That wasn’t fucking right. He should be here to say goodbye to his mom and dad.

She managed to get all the way to her car before I caught up and grabbed hold of her elbow to keep her from getting herself or Brant inside.

“You might want to back off a minute, Brother,” Chief demanded.

“Seriously?” I asked, taken aback by the order coming from my club brother.

“Seriously,” Chief answered as he maneuvered me back a bit so Poppy could get my nephew strapped into his car seat in her car.

“What’s going on?”

Chief stood back as Poppy finished and then turned to me looking ready for a fight. “I’m taking Brant home, because he’s tired, and I think he’s had enough today. I’ve been answering questions all day for him about why we were saying goodbye to the boxes when his mom and dad are in heaven. Why can’t we go to heaven to see them? Why can’t they come visit? Why didn’t they take him with them? It’s been nonstop. Frankly, I’m not even sure I’m telling him the right things, but you haven’t been around to ask. Kent is angry with me for some reason and won’t speak to me. You’ve been God knows where with Lord only knows who, and I just can’t help thinking I’m the last person your sister would have wanted answering these questions for her son. She only met me the one time, and she didn’t have a high opinion of me for at least half of that time.” She blew out a sharp breath once she was through speaking and stood there staring back and forth between myself and Chief.

“You look tired,” Chief’s soft words for his sister made me take notice of the dark circles under her eyes. “I’ll come back with you and watch Brant so you can get a nap, okay?”

“There’s no need for that. I was planning on heading out with them when they went,” I responded to Chief before she could.

“Really? Up until they spotted you with your ex hanging all over you, Poppy wasn’t even aware you had shown up for the funeral. She didn’t know if she’d see you there at all before she left. I get that you have a lot going on right now, man, but that kid ain’t hers. It isn’t her responsibility to do all the tough stuff with him, and have you come in once the dust has settled and finally decide that you have time for him. My sister isn’t your damn nanny, and you need to remember that. She’s already had one man treat her like she was only good for keeping his house when he wanted to be there. She doesn’t need a repeat performance with extra responsibilities thrown in for fun.”

“Jesus, Chief!” I ground out, raising my voice a little more than I wanted to. “You know where I’ve been! I’ve been hunting down the maniacs who took my fucking sister. You’d be doing the same goddamn thing!” I took a step back, trying to shake off the anger I was feeling in the moment before I continued on. “Look, I don’t know how to do this. He’s my nephew, and I’ve watched him before, but I’ve never had to prioritize him before like this. I don’t know what to do here, because I can’t let Soph and Bender’s deaths go unanswered. I can’t exactly take Brant with me when I do those things. I’ll find someone else who can help with him for the time being if it’s a problem. I didn’t mean to put the burden on Poppy.” I turned to her, to make sure she knew I meant what I was saying. “I didn’t mean to leave you holding my family’s bag, I swear.”

“Brant is not a burden. Not knowing what you expect me to say to him or do with him is though. I can’t be the one making the decision about what to tell him about his parents, or how to cope, or God, any of it. I can’t because I didn’t know how to do those things for myself when I lost my family and I was an adult.”

“Plus, she hasn’t been feeling well. Not that she’d tell anyone and admit she’s not perfect,” Chief informed me, and I felt my stomach drop.

“What?” Poppy huffed out in a shrill tone as she stared daggers at her brother.

“Saw you get sick this morning,” he told her while looking her over as if he could see inside of her and all of her secrets were suddenly clear to him.

“Probably just something I ate,” she managed to spit back out at him.

“You were sick?” I tried to clarify as I took in her less than stellar pallor and again, those darkened circles. I had thought she was just tired, but I supposed they’d be there if she was sick too.

“Yeah, something you may have noticed if you’d even checked in with her for more than two minutes a day,” Chief stated, not leaving out the disdain he felt as it dripped from his words to my ears.

“Shit,” I huffed. “How about we get you guys home, and then we’ll figure everything out where you can relax?” Poppy didn’t answer, instead I watched as her attention shifted beyond where we were all standing by her car to someone not too far off. It took a moment for me to track her field of vision and then put two and two together with what she was seeing. “No,” I told her as I pointed to her car. “Get in, drive home, and I’ll meet you there.” We were not going to focus on Julie, or the fact that she’d been standing there watching us. She wasn’t even on my radar before and I wouldn’t waste a moment more thinking of her. All I wanted was to get Poppy and Brant home and just be at peace with them.

On my way to my bike to follow them, I texted her to meet me at her own house. I wanted to stay there with my woman and my nephew away from the prying eyes of the club for a little bit. I needed some normalcy without the pity-laced looks being thrown at me, or worse, the concerned looks from those who were wondering when I was going to flip my shit and forget the need to be discrete while seeking my vengeance.

When I got to the house and she didn’t answer the door right away, I moved to go through the gate on the side of the house in order to get into the backyard. “Figured you were out here when you didn’t answer.”

“What if I just wasn’t up for company and ignoring you?”

I could tell by her response that she had been dwelling on the scene she’d witnessed with Julie’s suckerfish impersonation, so I didn’t bother to wait to clarify that. “I haven’t seen or spoken to Julie in six months until this morning. She heard about Soph and showed up, caught up to me as I heading to the,” once again I found that the word just wouldn’t leave my throat. It was stuck there again. “What you saw wasn’t…”

Poppy threw her hands up in the air to wave away what I’d been about to say. “Stop. It doesn’t matter, because the only reason I entertained doubts was because of your behavior over the past few days. Had you been around at all, helping with Brantley, I would have never thought…” Shit! My whole body slumped in on itself with her words. She was right. I had done this. By not being present in their lives, I had given her reason to doubt.

“I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t sit still. In the brief minutes when I do, everything is real and she’s never coming back. She was my little sister, but I raised her too. After my dad left, when my mom had to work so much, it was me looking after them. They’re like my kids in a way, and now,” I swallowed down the emotion that was clogging my ability to speak. “She’s gone and Kent won’t speak to me, because he thinks it’s my fault. I don’t know what to do with all that.”

“I understand. I really, honestly do understand what you’re going through. That doesn’t make it easier when I have a past that clouds everything in muck. I know that shouldn’t fall on you, but I can’t help the way I feel or that I’m questioning everything now, because I didn’t question enough before.”

I stepped closer to her and reached out to pull her to me. “I’m sorry, Poppy.” I clung to her, inhaling her familiar scent, taking comfort in her presence, and then I felt it all over again. That desperate ache where my vibrant sister used to fill the space with happiness. The spot in my heart where Bender used to tell his ridiculous jokes and make me laugh. Those spots I didn’t think would ever feel full again threatened to drown me as my body shook with the effort to hold off the grief a little longer. Inhale – the subtle, sweet vanilla scent that lingered around Poppy. Exhale – all the memories that were threatening to pull me under. It took a few minutes before I was able to pull it together, and she must have sensed the shift, because she waited until that moment to speak.

“Will they come for us too?”

“No!” I answered on instinct. “I’ve had Gray watching out for you two.”

“Surfer-dude?”

I grinned at her. “Yeah, surfer-dude. He’s been watching the house when I haven’t been here.”

“I haven’t seen a bike out there the past few days.”

“That’s because he’s been incognito in a fucking cage. Listen, Poppy, I know what you were thinking and I just need you to understand that you weren’t forgotten. You haven’t been far from my mind, in fact, I’ve been gone so much to make sure you don’t end up like Soph. I want you and Brant safe even if that means I can’t be here while I’m hunting for the assholes who destroyed my family.”

Chapter 10

Poppy seemed far more exhausted than I had given her credit for at the cemetery. By the time we got home she could barely keep her eyes open and I did my best to convince her just to go take a nap. I thought she would just go down for a quick nap, but when I called her for dinner and she didn’t even stir, I figured she needed the break more than I thought so I let her be.

“Is Popwee otay?” Brant asked while we were eating some pizza for dinner.

“She’s okay, little man, just tired.”

“Popwee is sick. She frowned up.”

“I know. Chief told me.”

“Teef is Popwee’s brudder like you mommy’s brudder?”

“Yeah,” I managed to get out before I had to turn away and pull myself together. “Chief is Poppy’s brother.”

“I miss my mommy,” Brant spoke softly into the last of his pizza slice. I scooted him over from his booster seat onto my lap and we sat like that for a bit.

“I miss her too, little man. Every day,” I stated solemnly, staving off another wave of overwhelming sadness. “What do you say we get you a bubble bath set up? I brought some of your toys from the house. You can pick two to take in the tub with you.”

“Otay,” he mumbled as his head continued to lie there on my chest. I knew then that missing his parents was getting to him more than he realized. The kid normally loved bubble baths more than any woman I’d ever met.

“Do you want to just sit here with me for a little while instead?”

His little hands fisted in the cotton of my t-shirt and pulled tight while I felt the tell-tale wetness from his tears. I ran my hand up and down his back and let him have his moment. I sat there rocking his little body against me for the longest time before I realized the wetness I was feeling on my shirt was no longer tears, but little boy drool. I carried him to the second bedroom that Poppy had managed to transform into a little boy’s spot without me noticing over the past couple of days. I don’t know how she managed to find the time, and I had a sneaking suspicion some of the old ladies must have helped out. It squeezed at my heart just a little bit more. I’d practically dumped my nephew in her lap, and she didn’t complain about it. Instead, she made a home for him to fall into so he wouldn’t feel so out of place.

Once I tucked his little body into bed, I turned and made sure the nightlight was on and watched as Bubba curled up beside the bed with his back to the bed and face toward the door. “Good boy, Bubba. You watch over my boy.” Bubba snuffled as if to say, “Duh,” to me and rested his snout on his paws. I moved through the house locking up, cleaning our mess, and then made my way to the other bedroom. Poppy was still knocked out and I didn’t want to disturb her after all the shit I’d put off on her over the past week. Instead, I undressed down to my boxer briefs, crawled in beside her, and pulled her tight to my body.

Her sweet scent and warmth lulled me to sleep quickly, and it was the first peaceful night I’d spent since I left her in Pittsburgh with my brother. The fucking night where everything fell apart. I knew I would be distracted even more over the coming days as we started to get more intel on the bastards behind the barn explosions and my sister’s death. It made me hold on tighter to the woman in my arms, because the bad shit wasn’t behind us yet – not by a long shot.

I heard both Brant and Bubba stirring, and Poppy was still dead to the world, so I got up to go check on them and let Bubba out into the backyard. Once he did his business, I set about making Brant breakfast since I hadn’t been around to do the little things with him since his release from the hospital. His bruised face was already starting to change colors with some shades of ugly yellow, green, and the deeper purples still lurking near the center of his wounds. He’d been lucky that he was still so small.

Glancing around Poppy’s kitchen, it quickly became obvious that I would either have to go to the store or make do with what she had there. Eggs and pancakes it was. She did at least have a little orange juice I could give little man as well. I set about making breakfast and sneaking Brant a few football shaped pancakes before I heard Poppy up and moving in the other room.

“Poppy?” I called out, but she didn’t answer right away and I assumed she was using the bathroom. I quickly lost my train of thought where she was concerned though when I saw one of the pancake footballs fly through the air and land in Bubba’s mouth. Brant clapped furiously as the dog managed to catch the wobbly throw.

“Little man, those are not the kinds of balls we throw. You eat them, the dog doesn’t.”

“But he catched it.”

“I saw that. Bubba’s good at catching, but we don’t throw food.”

He huffed and stuffed another pancake football in his mouth before I heard the bathroom door open again. I didn’t bother calling out to her this time and just waited for her to come and join us.

“Hey!” Her sleep roughened voice was sexy as fuck, but she wasn’t looking to great, despite the nearly 16 hours of sleep she managed to pack in.

“Hey babe, we were just making pancakes for breakfast. Want some?”

“Sure.”

“You were out of pretty much every breakfast meat,” I explained to her as I held up the pan with the scrambled eggs in it. “I made eggs too though.”

“I see that, thank you.” She turned away from me quickly and tried to find something else to talk about for some reason. I figured she was still pissed at me for dropping my responsibilities in her lap, or maybe for the fact that my ex had latched on to me at the funeral yesterday and caused such a scene that I hadn’t even been able to do what made me late in the first place. The necklace that had belonged to my mother was still in my pocket where I’d tucked it when I followed Poppy and Brant home yesterday.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to sit down and eat with her because about the time she started talking to Brant, my cell started ringing. I glanced over at Poppy feeling guilty as fuck, but knowing I needed to answer all the same. She gave me a wry smile and turned back to my nephew and humored him while I answered.

“Yeah,” I called out to the phone. At first, I didn’t tune in to whoever was speaking because all I could hear was Poppy and Brantley talking.

“Those are some pretty fancy looking pancakes you have, buddy,” Poppy said to Brant as she leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on his head.

“Unc Moke telled me no frowing dez balls.”

Her laughter was a balm to my soul even if it wasn’t directed toward me. “He’s right. That would make a mess, and Bubba might eat them.”

“Bubbsba likes cancakes, Popwee.”

“Yo! Smoke! I heard called out through the line. “Are you listening or what?”

“Sorry, my mind’s elsewhere right now. What’s going on?”

“We have something you might want to check out. Doc managed to get some information out of the girl, and Quickshot and his woman ran with it. They think they have something.”

If they had something, I had no choice but to go and handle business. I knew it wouldn’t make Poppy happy. We needed to have a talk and I needed to not leave her with the kid I’d inherited. I felt bad and torn in so many different directions it physically hurt. I tuned back into my nephew and Poppy’s conversation because he turned toward me with an accusing look.

“Because it’s not good for him,” Poppy was explaining as Brantley’s mouth dropped open, and all I saw was him pushing the pancakes out of his mouth with his tongue while he glared in my direction. Great, my nephew thought I was trying to poison him now.

“Cancakes bad?”

“Pancakes aren’t bad for little boys, just doggies,” she tried to explain.

“Why?”

“I don’t know why. They just are.”

My nephew eyeballed the dog for a minute before turning back to Poppy and telling her how it really was. “He wikes dem.”

“Are you still there? We’re meeting up in 15 at the clubhouse. Church for everyone in the know,” Hopper informed me.

“I’ll be there,” I said as the line disconnected, and I stuffed the cell back in my pocket. “Hey babe,” I called out to Poppy and watched as her shoulders stiffened. She knew what was coming, and her reaction made me feel even worse.

“You have to go?”

“Yeah, I do. I want to talk with you, but it’s going to have to wait awhile. Are you okay with that?”

She sighed deeply, and I couldn’t beat the feeling back that I might be doing irreparable harm to our relationship. “Yeah, go do what you have to do.”

“Pop, I don’t want to go. This is important though.”

“I get it, Smoke, really. Go; take care of your crap. We’ll be fine.”

“I’ll send someone in a bit to grab Brant for a bit if I’m going to be too long. You need to be able to get your stuff done too, and I know that’s not easy with a little one running around.”

“It’s fine. I’ll let you know if I ever need help.”

“I’ll call you later and see how things are going.” I set a plate loaded down with pancakes and eggs in front of her before I leaned in and kissed the top of her head and then reached over and did the same to Brant. “I’ll be back later, lil man, you listen to Poppy, and be a good boy for me okay?”

“Otay, Unc Moke. Bye” He waved his syrup-laden fingers at me, and I just barely managed to dodge out of his reach before he swiped them down my kutte.

“Looks like you were right,” Ghost told me as I sat down in my seat next to our road captain, Wren.

“Do I even want to know what I was right about?”

“The tattoos on the man you guys caught with Shep’s family and the one on the thumb webbing of the digit you found at the barn fire are both Russian in nature. The second being the same thing that Gregor had on him when he used to hang around.”

I nodded my head. “Have we found links between the dead guy and any specific group?”

“We did, but it’s just a theory at this point. I have Quickshot checking into shit still, but we’re thinking the Stasevich Bratva is behind all of it.”

“Never heard of them.” There were a slew of Russian mafia type groups as well as Irish, Italian, and just mutt crews of punks who took street gangs one step further.

Ghost sighed deeply. “They’re very much known for trafficking women, and sometimes children. It’s all a matter of what brings in the most money for them.”

“That’s not really a surprise since they were willing to take Tammy and Lindsay as payment for Chad’s debt,” I told him.

“Don’t think they gave two shits about Tammy. Lindsay, on the other hand, was worth quite a bit to them. From what Quick has been able to dig up so far, they wanted her because virgins sell at a premium, and Chad assured them she’s a virgin.”

“Fucking hell,” I hissed. “Are we able to pass any of this along to Shep? He needs to know that they won’t stop looking for her.” I pounded my fist into the table in front of me. “Better yet, has Quick managed to get an address? Any kind of fuckin’ location where we can get ahold of these bastards and end them?”

“He’s still working on it, Smoke. You’ll know as soon he does, I promise you that.” He glanced around the table. “As for Shep and his family, you need to check in with him and see what he wants to do. You know we’d be glad to have him on board here with us, and if he makes that happen, it frees up a few places where our hands are tied. Family first. See if he’s willing to put in the time to prospect.”

“He rides a rocket not a cruiser,” I mentioned and heard a few people snickering around the table.

Ghost shrugged his shoulders. “I know some clubs give a shit about that, but I don’t. Riding is riding. He wants to be free in the wind on a fucking rice burner, then he can be.”

“I’ll check in with him and see what he wants to do.” I stood to leave before turning back. “If he declines, will that affect his family being able to stay with the women in S.H.E.?”

“You know Angel Girl isn’t going to turn them out,” Ghost informed me. I didn’t think she would, especially not the girl. Tammy was a different story though since she could be a bit difficult. “I’ll keep you updated on their situation too so you can get word back to Shep.” We had Shep locked down from talking to his family for all of their safety. I tipped my chin at Ghost, but before I managed to get out the door, he was speaking again. “You have work?”

“Nah, gotta take a leak,” I explained why I had been so eager to get out the fucking door.

Ghost laughed. “Go take care of business, and then get back here. I’m going to put Angel Girl on and let you work shit out with how long the women will be down there, and what you think may need to happen with them from here on out.”

“Sounds great.” It did, until I got a text from Chief.

Chief: Might want to get to Poppy’s ASAP.

Smoke: WTF?

Chief: Julie is here. Heading in now.

I ran back out to the large office area where we held church and ducked my head in. “Need to head to Poppy’s really quick. Julie’s there causing trouble. Be back when I get that shit sorted.”

“Go!” Was all Ghost said, and I was on my fucking way to deal with the cunt that would not stop infecting my life with her bullshit.

Seeing Julie standing there just shy of the front stoop of Poppy’s home pissed me off something fierce. I roared into the driveway, parking just to the rear and off to the right of Chief’s bike so that I wouldn’t be blocking him in. It was habit, because it sure as fuck wasn’t what was on my mind. “What in the hell are you doing at this house?”

“Hey baby, I came by to pick up Brant. We talked about me taking care of him yesterday, remember.”

“What the fuck kinds of drugs are you on? I told you my woman would be the one caring for Brant when you asked.”

I watched as her head moved back and forth in a negative way as she smiled at me, eyes glazed over in a way I almost never saw from her when we were together. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it looked like she was in love with me, but that was ridiculous because I’d left her in Pittsburgh without any hesitation after finding out about her betrayal, and what it had been costing me with my brother.

“Why are you here?” I snarled the words at her this time and watched as the hazy lovelorn look in her eyes finally started to clear.

“You told me I would be taking care of him.”

“I fuckin’ said my woman would be taking care of him.” I threw my hand out, my forefinger pointing directly at my woman. “Poppy being that woman.” I moved my hand back and forth between us, indicating who exactly I meant. “You and I haven’t been together in six months. Why in the hell would you be the one caring for him?”

“You and Poppy?” She almost whispered in disbelief as she glanced between me and the woman she was just starting to understand meant something to me. “You’re with her?”

“Yeah, like I told you yesterday.” The fact that I was even having this conversation wasn’t sitting well with me. Julie should have never been there at my sister’s funeral to begin with. She knew she wasn’t welcome around my siblings since she fucked with my relationship with Kent for years. I couldn’t fathom how she walked away from our conversation there thinking that I had somehow changed my mind.

“I thought you just meant you had brought her with you to the cemetery, because she was caring for Brant temporarily. How is it possible you moved on so quickly?” Her voice took on that thick tone as if she were about to cry, but I couldn’t find it in me to care that she was hurting, because right now she was starting shit with the woman I planned to spend the rest of my life with. If she ruined this for me with her antics, I wouldn’t hesitate to put her in the fuckin’ ground, and that wasn’t something I took lightly.

“Julie, I told you when it was over that I meant it. Hell, you knew I’d been with other women since.” I wasn’t stupid. We had a former club whore, turned old lady, who still hung around on occasion and she had remained friends with Julie. I was sure she was passing information back to her whenever she saw me with anyone over the past six months.

“I thought Jewel was just telling me those things to make me jealous. I thought you just needed to get some things out of your system, because you were mad at me. You were supposed to come back to me. She said she’d help make sure you came back,” Julie cried out, and I didn’t miss the desperation in her voice. “Yesterday, I thought you were talking about…”

“How the hell did you know where to find Brant?” Chief was apparently just as tired of this shit as I was, and decided to move things along for us by asking one of the questions I had neglected to get at.

“I followed you here yesterday. At first, I thought you got a new house, but then I saw the car she got into yesterday too, and figured it was your babysitter’s house.” She spoke to me as if Chief hadn’t asked, and I had. I didn’t know if this part of her delusion, or if she just couldn’t take her focus off of me. Either way, it had moved beyond creepy as fuck.

“Not my babysitter. She’s my woman. You hear me? You are nothing to me. We are history, and it’s a lesson I don’t miss. You need to get that through your head and move the hell on. I catch you near Poppy, Brantley, my work, home, the club, or anywhere else, I will be forced to take action. The club will take action, you feel what I’m telling you?”

She was in the middle of a full-blown tear fest as I spoke the words in a scathing tone to her. “I’m s-sorry. I really thought, um…”

“If I wanted you here, I would have fuckin told you where to go. I didn’t. You followed me like a stalker to get that information, and that’s concerning as hell.”

She jerked back, wide-eyed, like I’d just slapped her with my hands instead of my words. “No! I’m not, I wasn’t. I just… I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” She turned then, and damn near ran for the Mustang that was parked out by the road. I snapped a picture of it with my phone so that I had evidence of her being there, and what car she was driving now. None of her ordeal phased me, not her tears, watching her run away, or seeing her peel her high heels off of her feet after she tripped while running. I simply didn’t give a shit about her. At least, I didn’t until I turned back to see Poppy’s eyes dart from where Julie had finally made it inside her car and back to me. Then she glared at her brother too.

“That was not okay.” Poppy turned and went back inside, slamming the door behind her as she did so. I turned to Smoke as the bastard began to chuckle and I growled out my response to him.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?” I hissed low so my voice wouldn’t carry as I pointed to the door that had just been slammed on the both of us.

Chief being Chief moved over to his bike and grabbed two plastic grocery bags full of food out of the saddlebags. He held them up triumphantly. “Maybe food will be the way to her heart. I just happened to bring some with me. As if on cue, by the time he got back to the door, it opened. It only opened a sliver though so I couldn’t even get a look at Poppy on the other side.

“You brought food?” She asked Chief.

“You going to invite me in to eat with you guys or slam the door in my face again?” The door opened wider to admit him into the house. Just as I was stepping up to the stoop it slammed closed again. She slammed the damn door in my face. I couldn’t believe it. Stunned, I glanced back out to the street where the Mustang was now missing, and I shook my head. I could believe it. I’d be pissed as all hell if the situation were reversed and her ex-husband – husband actually – came walking up to the house making demands. Even if I knew it wasn’t her fault, it would still take me a while to process that fact. I sat on the stoop and decided to wait. I knew I still had club business to attend to with Ghost, and a call to make to Angel Girl about Shep’s family, but right now, my woman was going to be my priority.

It took a few minutes for the door to open again. When it did, I stood immediately and looked her in the eyes as I spoke. “You’re right to be mad. My shit hit your doorstep, and that is not okay. You have to understand that I agree with you. It is abso-fuckin-lutely not okay. I will deal with Julie to make sure this never happens again.”

“I think you already did that,” she told me, and then just stood there for a few minutes watching me. Finally, I attempted to clear my throat so I could get out a better apology for shit I had absolutely no control over, but she beat me to it. “I’m sorry. I know you couldn’t help the fact that she just showed up with all of her assumptions. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel the things I do. I needed a moment to get myself together.”

“I know,” I agreed. “I promise, we’ll get everything figured out and this won’t be an issue moving forward, ever. If someone comes to your doorstep claiming I sent them, I’m a phone call away or you call someone from the club immediately, okay?”

She nodded her head in agreement, and when she didn’t say anything else, I figured I had to get the rest out of the way. “I don’t have long. I came running when Chief texted, but I’m still in the middle of shit.” I hated that I had to walk away again when what we really need to do was talk things out. At the same time, I had other people’s lives in my hands. I needed to let Shep know what was going on with his family and give him the option of stepping up and becoming part of the club now that he was knee deep in the worst of the shit we ever faced anyway.

“Go, get back to what you’re doing. I’ve got Brant, and neither of us is going anywhere.” I didn’t even have anything good to say to that. I wanted to stay there with them, not walk away to handle other people’s shit. Then again, it wasn’t just other people’s shit anymore. The moment those Russian bastards killed my family, it became my problem completely.

I leaned in and kissed her, melding her lips with my own in an embrace that promised more where that came from. I felt her in that kiss. Not just her lips, but the promise of having all of her for myself one day. She was the dream, and damn if I wasn’t going to work my ass off to make sure that dream came true.

“We’re finishing this later, Poppy, and I’m not just talking about where that kiss was going.”

I was just leaving Shep’s place when I got a text from Chief.

Chief: Meet me at your place.

Me: On the way

No sooner did I have my leg lifting over the bike to get off, than I heard Chief’s voice call out to me from a couple feet away. He had clearly been waiting for me in the parking lot instead of upstairs at the apartment.

“You need to pull your head out of your ass, brother.” He spat the last word like it was something dirty in his mouth. “If you’re using my sister as some sort of convenience, part-time fuck and babysitter for your nephew, you need to knock that shit off right the fuck now!”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” I yelled and didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I launched myself at Chief and knocked his ass directly to the ground. I managed to get a punch in on his ribs before he used the momentum of my punch to flip me over. He quickly assaulted me with three rapid jabs to my right side and then one hard-core punch to my right that damn near knocked the wind out of me. I felt something snap in there, but knew it wasn’t going to be anything more than a hairline fracture. I’d broken my ribs before. It would heal, but I was going to make the motherfucker pay for the pain he just heaped on me.

“She’s it for me, you stupid fuck!” I yelled at him as I gave as good as I got.

“She’s not a fucking toy!” He snarled as he pounded on me some more, trying to get the drop on the rib he knew he already cracked. I kept it protected and nailed him in the eye hard enough that his head was spinning and I was able to flip him over and gain control again.

“She is the fucking love of my life and you ever disrespect her by talking that way about her again, and this will look like a walk in the fuckin’ park, you hear me?”

Chief started chuckling then, despite the hurt I was putting on him. “That’s all I needed to hear,” he declared and then brushed me off of him like I was nothing and stood up to offer his hand to help me up too. I declined his help and stood on my own two feet. I will admit, I winced a bit as the movement jarred my throbbing rib.

“Feel better now? Get all that aggression that’s been riding you so hard out of your system for a while?” Chief asked me.

I nodded at him, acknowledging what I knew he was trying to convey. It wasn’t so much the work I was putting into finding my sister’s killer that was eating at me and keeping me from finding my way home to Poppy and Brant so many times now. It was the need to feel control over it all. To break something because I was fucking devastated at losing my sister. I needed the vengeance because all of it was sealed up tight like a powder keg waiting to explode.

“Good, now go home and love my sister the right way.” He thought better of it then. “Actually, come back to the clubhouse first. I’ll wrap those ribs up, so she doesn’t see you gimping around and favoring them like a baby. Knowing Poppy, she’ll point the finger my way first and ask questions later.”

I laughed at the man, knowing he was afraid of his sister’s reaction to getting into a physical altercation with me. I’d have to remember that, because it was sure to be used to my advantage at a later date.

Chapter 11

The last thing I expected to walk into when I finally pulled my head out of my ass after the row I’d had with Chief was Poppy and Walker going at it in the clubhouse in front of everyone gathered like it was nothing.

“What exactly do you want, Walker? Did you bring signed divorce papers?”

“What? No, Poppy, I don’t want the damn divorce. I understand you were mad, but you’ve had time to cool off and realize how hard things were on me. Yeah, I should have handled things differently, but I was under a lot of stress and you…” Poppy turned to walk away from him, but must have been filled with rage because she didn’t seem to see anything, least of all me standing in the doorway, shocked as shit that this was going down. How the fuck was this asshole here and no one in the Georgia Chapter thought to give us a head’s up that he was coming. They better not have given someone a head’s up and they didn’t pass that information on to me.

“Wait, where are you going? We’re in the middle of talking,” he shouted at her. I nearly came undone and flew after him then, but Surfer’s hand came out and caught hold of my arm.

“You might want to wait on that and see how this place out first, brother.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Not what you’re thinking. She won’t think too kindly of you butting in right now though, trust me.”

When I glanced back over, Poppy was facing the asshole again. “You have the audacity to come here, demand to see me, and then tell me about how hard your life was and how the stress you were under caused you to fall dick first into every whore at the clubhouse, never check on your wife, or do any goddamn thing for her either? You had it so hard because you couldn’t do simple tasks the doctors asked you to do in order to get your sperm count up like wear different underwear. Yeah, I can see how that demand made you run straight to other pussy to prove what a man you are. Don’t you dare stand here and try to trivialize this shit. You are a grown ass man, who made dumbass decisions and now, as a result, the woman who once loved you with everything she had doesn’t want you anymore. Guess what? It’s time to suck it up, and reap what you’ve sown, because I’m done. I’ve been done, and I don’t ever want to go backwards.”

“Poppy, I know you were mad. I get it. I fucked up. I know I did, but I’m here now. I pulled my head out of my ass, and…”

“Stop right there. Even if you had managed to pull your head out of your ass – which I highly doubt considering the first thing I saw when I walked in here was some other woman touching you and you doing nothing to stop it – you’re still forgetting the part where I said I’m done.”

“You don’t have to be done. We can work through this. We still love one another. I’ll find a way to give you the baby you want, I swear it!”

Poppy growled out her frustrations so loudly the entire place went silent. I’ve never understood a room being so quiet you could hear a pin drop before, but in that moment, I got it. Everyone tuned in to what was going on now. “I do not still love you. I love someone else. I already have my own baby on the way, and it’s not yours!” She yelled out, stunning the shit out of me. She had what? I glanced over at Surfer to see if he heard the same thing I did. He simply nodded and smiled at me. “You gonna raise another man’s baby?” She laughed a sickeningly, humorless laugh. “Never mind, that’s a moot point, because even if you were man enough to agree to that, I don’t want you to. I can’t count on you to be there for me during a goddamn storm, I sure as hell couldn’t count on you to be there for sleepless nights, teething, vomiting, and any other thing that might inconvenience your life. I am happy here. I am in love with someone, and that someone isn’t you. He’s the father of my baby. Now, do you understand? There’s nothing left of us. It’s all gone, and what little bit had been left before I moved here, you trashed and threw away with your actions.”

I wasn’t waiting by the doorway any longer. My woman didn’t need this shit, especially if what she’d just admitted was true. The last thing she needed while pregnant was this asshole adding to the stress she was already under with taking care of my nephew, me being gone so much, and all the shit brewing with the club on top of being in a place that was still new to her and trying to establish work clientele to help pay her bills. I moved right up behind her and watched as the asshole gave me a funny look before returning his attention to Poppy.

“You’re pregnant?” He asked her for clarification.

“We’ll talk about that revelation later at home, but honey, I need you to know, I love you too.” I whispered into her ear before placing a sweet kiss there to follow my words as I reached around her and cupped low on her belly holding the baby I’d somehow managed to put there. Walker didn’t miss any of that, and I could see his anger building as his face took on a beet red tone, his chest heaved, and his shoulders puffed up as his fists clenched at his sides.

“You’re my brother!” He yelled out. “You knocked my wife up?”

“Ex-wife,” I taunted.

“Those papers aren’t signed yet,” Walker tried to argue.

I made a tisking noise in my throat that I knew he could hear as I rolled my eyes at the man. “She just told you all the ways you screwed up, all the reasons she didn’t want you back, and that she was happy, finally. She signed the papers already. In her eyes, in her mind, you two aren’t together. She’s just waiting for you and the law to catch up with everything.”

“Club first,” Walker called out, glancing around the clubhouse briefly, as if looking for the rest of our brothers to back his claim over mine. That shit would not happen in this clubhouse. First of all, Poppy’s sister was a brother here, and he didn’t want her anywhere near Walker. Secondly, our club president loved Poppy and would see to whatever made her happy. Third, these were my brothers. We may have been from the same club, but this was my clubhouse – and wrong or not – they would stand by me. As predicted, no one came to his defense.

“Yeah, we all know you put the club first, every aspect of it, including catering to the whores. That seemed to be your problem. I don’t regret making Poppy mine, or anything that resulted from that decision. Best damn woman I’ve ever met, and I’d be a fool to let her go. You didn’t hang on to a good thing, and now you’re seeing that, but it’s too late. I suggest you get gone back to Georgia, and do something for someone other than yourself for a change, and sign those damn papers.”

The asshole ignored me and turned his full attention on Poppy. “I wouldn’t care,” he pleaded with her. The fucker was seriously begging to get hit.

Poppy laughed at him again. “Yes, you would. The thing is, that part doesn’t even matter, because I’m happy right now. I wasn’t before. I meant it when I said I wasn’t willing to go backwards for anyone, Walk. Not even you.”

“Poppy, I promise you I’ll get it right this time,” he pleaded. I felt my woman squirm beneath my fingers, and for a brief second, I wondered if she was giving in to him, but I chose to trust in her and see where this went just like Surfer had suggested moments ago.

“How long, Walk?” She asked him point blank.

The confused frown on his face meant he was just as stupid as I thought he was. “What do you mean? How long? I plan on loving you forever, just like I said when we got married.”

“No, how long were you fucking other people?” She asked, and while I felt the subtle flinch in her muscles as she asked the question, I don’t think she showed any outward sign of how much it hurt to ask that question. Hell, I didn’t think she really needed to the know the answer, but I knew she was trying to prove a point to him, even if it ended up hurting her in the end.

Walker looked like he was about to shit himself as he stared at her, face going pale. He fidgeted with the edges of his kutte briefly before he couldn’t look her in the eye any longer.

“You won’t even answer her?” I finally asked, calling the bastard out on his cowardice. “You can’t come clean, but you expect her to believe you care enough to stick with her now?” I continued, knowing I was goading him into answering even as I did it.

“Four years,” he spat out at me, clearly forgetting for a minute that Poppy was standing there as she sucked in a gasp at the truth he was admitting to. Then his guilty eyes travelled back down to hers. I knew she had mentioned they were trying for nearly five years to have a baby so that had to have been a tough blow for her to take. That meant he was fucking around nearly the entire time they’d been trying. I never wanted to knock a mother fucker out more than I did in that moment.

“We were trying to have a baby then, and you were off fucking other people?” She asked, incredulously as she stared him down.

“Sex was becoming a chore with you, Pop. It was so important to get the baby as a result, but there was no fun in it anymore, because it was like going to work. You know? Something you have to do and not necessarily something you like doing.”

What a douchebag. There was no way sex with Poppy could ever be considered a chore. Hell, I’d have made it my life’s mission to try every position possible, and damn near fuck her to death until she had my kid inside of her if that was what she wanted. This asshole didn’t deserve her, and hell, maybe he knew that too. The problem had been he was too much of a fucking pussy to let her go to someone who did.

“You do realize that you having sex with other people was probably why you kept failing to get me pregnant in the first place, so you literally perpetuated your own problem and made the situation worse?”

“I didn’t,” he started to say, and we watched as what he’d done started sinking in. I never had an infertility issue before, but from what Poppy had talked about, storing up the baby batter for a person with a low sperm count was key to successfully making a baby happen. If he’d been out there fucking around all that time, he was blowing off any chances they could have had.

I scoffed at that thought but spoke the rest out loud for him to hear. “Like I said, you’re an idiot.”

“Well, I think we’re done here,” Poppy finally stated before turning around and patting me to let her go. I did, because I knew she probably needed a bit of space just then.

“Poppy,” Walker called out to her once more, sounding more desperate than ever and clearly realizing there was no going back from that. I let Poppy go and stood between him and her retreating back.

“No! If you hadn’t fucked up bad enough before, you have to know that there’s no coming back from that. You don’t come back from that kind of bullshit with a woman like Poppy.”

“She’s only walking away out of obligation since you fucking knocked her up. We have a love that lasts a lifetime.” He sounded so sure of himself that I just had to laugh.

“Like I said, you’re an idiot. You may have had a love that would last a lifetime if you’d cherished it, nurtured it, and not fucked around on it. You had to know she wouldn’t put up with that shit. You knew what you were doing. Not only were you betraying her, but you were single-handedly ensuring that her dream never came true. She may have loved you at one time, but you never could have loved her. That’s not something you do to someone you love. You don’t shit on their dreams while betraying them and expect that they’ll still be there to make you feel better about yourself. You fucked up, brother.” I spat the last word out at him because I definitely didn’t feel a club obligation to the bastard. “You fucked up, and now you get to spend the rest of your life living with that decision. What you don’t get to do is try to force yourself back on the woman after you broke every bit of love she had for you. You did that. Got no one to blame but yourself.” I started walking away before I turned back to look at the sorry bastard one more time. “She’s mine now, and I’m not stupid, fucker. She ain’t never coming back to you.”

“Just wait, you’ll screw up too, because she’s too damn perfect for any of us,” he muttered.

“No, she was just too perfect for you since you couldn’t see what you had. Now, tuck your tail and go home.” I turned and went left the way Poppy and Chief had gone earlier only to walk in to the middle of their conversation.

“…tell Smoke first, but every time I tried something happened. I found out when I got home from Pittsburg, and then everything happened with Smoke’s family.”

“Jesus, talk about bad timing.”

“Exactly. Then every time I’ve attempted to tell him he’s had to run off or something has happened to make me put it on the back burner,” she managed to tell her brother.

“We’re going to talk about that when we get somewhere private,” I told her without announcing my presence in any other way.

“Smoke,” she tried to chime in, but I didn’t let her. Too much of our personal shit had been played out for the club before we were even able to discuss it. I just wanted to get her home and fucking chill with my family while we discussed what our future was going to look like. Not that I needed a conversation to know that I wanted our future to be together.

“Let’s get Brantley, and get back to your house before we talk about anything else, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed. Then she smiled so sweetly at me that it took everything I had in me not to just strip her down right there and show her how much she belonged to me.

I held out my hand to her, but just as we were about to leave, Ghost came in and eyed me. “A minute before you go?”

“Shit,” I nodded and shook my head as I looked at Poppy who was clearly disappointed by the change of plans.

“He won’t be but a few minutes behind you darlin’,” Ghost told her. She smiled and then left while Chief stood there glaring at both Ghost and I. I couldn’t say that I blamed him.

Once Poppy had cleared the room, Chief moved up into my face and pointed a finger at me. “Don’t fuck up. Remember our little chat and make sure you actually get home to her tonight.” He turned a glare on Ghost. “No matter what he has to say. The man should know better than to distract you right this minute after the bomb that was just dropped out there.”

Ghost at least had the good sense to look guilty. “What’s going on?”

“I just,” he started, then ran his fingers through his dirty blond hair he’d recently trimmed. “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stopped you. It can wait. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and knew that you have Cedar Falls support with what’s happening between you and Poppy. I know it’s not ideal when another brother steps in and picks up a woman who was already claimed by someone else in the club, but I needed you to know that we all support you. This isn’t a normal situation, and we all know that the two of you belong together and that little fucker treated her like second-hand shit. Besides, it’s her opinion that I’m factoring here, and she made it pretty clear out there. I just wanted you to know that I’ve already put the call in to Sweet and let him know where his man really went.”

“I appreciate all of that.”

The guilty look swamped his face again before he managed to look up at me once more. “I think you should take some time and spend it with your family. That dynamic has changed quite a bit in the past week alone, and this hunt that we’re on is already taking its toll. Hell, we all heard Poppy, and saw your reaction. You didn’t know before she got pissed enough to blurt it out.” I started to interrupt him, but he staved off my words. “I know better than anyone how fleeting our time with our families can be and the precarious rope they sometimes rest on. Don’t make the mistakes I did. Don’t make your own, equally devastating, ones either. You told Walker out there that you aren’t stupid. Prove it. Take some time and be with your woman.”

“What if me taking my time to be with her means we let someone slip through the cracks and they come for her next?” Ghost winced at that question. “Our time isn’t a given, but I can damn sure work to prolong it. She knows why it’s important, and the quicker we get this done, the easier our lives will be. I appreciate the sentiment and you looking out for us, but I can’t just step back and not take these fuckers out when we find them.”

“I figured you’d say that,” he huffed out in frustration. “Hell, I can’t preach it, because I wouldn’t step back either. Bender was my brother. Soph and little man were family too.” He shook his head and I watched as the man’s eyes misted over. “We’ll do whatever it takes to see those fuckers pay for taking them from us. Now, go on and get out of here before your woman gets pissed at me.” He grinned up at me as he casually wiped at the moisture that threatened to spill out of his eyes and give his emotions away. “I’m a little terrified of her, truth be told.” He grinned up at me then.

“As we all should be. Walker was right about one thing, she’s too good for any of us, but damn if I’m the idiot who will walk away.” Nothing more needed to be said so it was time to get my ass back to Poppy’s house and relieve whichever prospect had been charged with following her when she walked out the door.

When I made it back to Poppy’s place, I watched through the window at first as she laughed at something Brantley had said. Brant was lying beside Bubba on the floor playing with his blocks while the dog looked happy to just be watching as the little boy knocked down whatever he’d been building and squealed with glee. It brought everything home for me. That one little picture of life without me in it. They could be happy. They could move on and forget that I was supposed to be there. Not that I thought they wanted to, but the thing was, the assholes who were responsible for killing my family needed to be brought down and soon. I needed it behind me, so I didn’t miss any more of these moments than I had to for my day job. I needed them gone because nothing was going to threaten the happiness of the people inside these walls. Resolving myself to the fact that I’d have to sacrifice a little more time from them now to make that happen, I knew the hard sell would be to Poppy once I got inside. I also knew it was time to start house hunting. We couldn’t all fit in Poppy’s place, and the apartment I had was not exactly pet friendly for a massive dog like Bubba.

Letting myself in using the key Poppy had given me, it only took a second before Brantley was calling out to me.

“Unc Moke, wook what I made.”

“That’s really cool, little man!” I leaned down and kissed Brant’s head as he smiled his crooked grin at me. Then I flipped his hair and moved toward Poppy. She sat there waiting, and I could see the tension in her shoulders, the worry in her eyes, with each step. That’s when I decided direct and to the point was the way I’d need to go with her.

“I get that I have failed to make myself clear with you,” I started and watched as the worry grew.

“I thought I was clear, but according to your brother, you’re still confused so I’m going to lay it out for you and I need you to hear me.” She made the smallest movement of her chin to let me know that I could go on and she was listening. So I did. “I’m with you. Only you. I don’t want anyone else, Poppy. I am committed and I honestly don’t know how else to say that except that I thought it was straight forward that you were my old lady.” Her shocked breath told me I hadn’t been clear enough before. What the hell did she think I was playing at all this time? The ridiculous friends with benefits notion she had brought up that first day?

“Don’t care that you’re still married to some other fool who was too stupid to hang onto the best thing he’d ever get.” I scoffed at the memory of my club brother and the fact he had been idiot enough to allow a woman like her to be neglected until the point she no longer loved him. “Better than he deserved, the idiot. You’re my old lady, I don’t see you any other way.”

“Sophie told me you never told anyone that Julie was your old lady. I just thought,” I sat beside her and gave her thigh a gentle squeeze. It was enough to stop her in her tracks.

“Julie never was. The difference is, I’ve already told every single man in the clubhouse and the firehouse that you’re mine. They understand that. Now, I need you to understand that I should have made that perfectly clear to you. I’m sorry I didn’t do better.” She looked like she was about to cry, but I gave her a moment. Poppy needed to absorb exactly what I was telling her. Her divorce still pending didn’t matter. We weren’t playing games anymore. I wasn’t waiting any longer. I’d claimed her, and while she adjusted to the thought of us, I hadn’t remembered that she was the most important person who needed to know that.

“Now, tell me our news, because I don’t want to think about the way I found out. I want to hear from your lips to my ears like it was meant to be.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” she apologized. “I got so frustrated earlier, and I just blurted it out. I hadn’t even told anyone. Well, Leanne knew, but that’s because she was worried I was getting sick a lot.”

“See, that’s something we’re going to discuss, because I feel like a real asshole right now since I didn’t know you were still even getting sick.”

She reached for me and smoothed her soft hand down my face as if she could wipe my regrets away with a simple touch. Hell, she almost succeeded. “I didn’t want you to know.” That took the calm she’d managed to sooth into me right the fuck back away. How could she not want me to know about the fact that she’d been sick? “I didn’t want you to think there was something wrong until after I knew for sure what was going on. At the same time you had things going on with your family, and when I found out I wanted to tell you right away, but that was the day you guys walked into the clubhouse with bad news.”

That made sense and I hated to think that our happy news got delayed because of my family’s tragedy, but really what was she supposed to do? I could see where Poppy had been stuck between a rock and a hard place with trying to tell me. I sighed heavily, frustrated with the way the last couple weeks had played out, as well as the lack of resolution. “Then I was constantly running out every time you wanted us to talk.” I reminded the both of us why she hadn’t been able to tell me since. “I really fucked that up, didn’t I?”

“No, you didn’t. This hasn’t exactly been an easy week for anyone, but especially not for you. I understand. I’m just sorry you found out that way. I’m sorry you weren’t the first one I told, because that was how I planned on it happening. I hadn’t even told Chief, because I wanted you to know first. I guess everything just hit me all at once and I really wanted it to sink in for Walker that I am never coming back to him.”

“You said you were happy. Earlier, when you were talking to him.”

Her smile was contagious as she answered me. “I am the happiest I’ve ever been, which makes me feel horrible at times, because this is such an incredibly inappropriate time for me to feel that way considering your loss, and Brant’s loss. I know he doesn’t really understand yet, and maybe he won’t until many years from now. Still, it’s crap timing for me to find my happiness and you to be so lost in grief and driven by revenge.”

“Poppy, it’s not revenge driving me. I want that too, but mostly I want to make sure that you and Brant are safe, even more so now that I know it’s not just the two of you I have to worry about.” I moved closer so I could reach over and touch her belly where our child was growing. I was still in awe of the fact that I’d managed to get her pregnant, especially since it was something she’d been trying for so long with her ex. “In case I forgot to say it, I am so damn excited about this.” I leaned over further and kissed her still nonexistent baby belly. “I will take good care of all of you, I swear. I will never step out on you. I will never take you for granted. Poppy, you are everything, and if I ever don’t treat you like that’s exactly what you are, you will kick me in the ass and set me straight, because I can’t lose you. Your idiot ex still doesn’t realize. Obviously, he thinks he does, but one night soon, he’s going to be sitting there with some cheap imitation of you, he’s going to hear about how wonderful your life is, and then it’s going to click for him that he could have been part of that. I think it’s starting to set in for him now, otherwise I doubt seriously he would have offered to raise another man’s kid today.”

“I don’t care what he’s going through. He brought it on himself.”

“I know that, honey. I’m just saying, you and me, we are never going to get to that point, because I know exactly what I’ve got right here.” I kissed her belly once more before sitting up and facing her again. “When do you need to go see the doctor?”

“Soon. I haven’t made an appointment yet, because of the timing of everything else.”

“Don’t do that. You take care of yourself and our baby above everything, you hear? There are plenty of people who can keep an eye on Brantley while you go to an appointment, and as long as you schedule it for a day I’m not with the firehouse, I’ll be there too.” I moved my lips to her and placed a gentle kiss there too. “Make no mistake, I want to be there. I want to be there for everything.”

“That’s good because I want you to be there for everything,” she told me just as Brantley decided to make his presence known again and move into Poppy’s lap.

“I be der for tings?” Brantley asked looking worried.

“You will always be there for things, lil’ man,” she told him with a conviction that no one could deny.

His smile was nearly as bright as hers was. “Good. Me likes tings.”

I laughed at his response, because there was no telling what was going through his head. “Wonder what he’s actually thinking of?”

“Who knows, but if I have anything to say about it, he’ll get everything he dreams of.”

“You have everything to say about it now,” I informed her. She was our family now. Poppy, Brantley, our baby, Bubba, and me. There was no going back. She wanted a family, and she stepped right into one when she met me.

Chapter 12

Bent over the bed, Poppy screamed into the pillow as I plowed into her from behind. Besides the fact that we hadn’t had any alone time when we weren’t just dog tired and sleeping, we definitely hadn’t had time to enjoy one another lately either, and I was bound and determined to make up for that. I didn’t know if it was the time spent apart and appreciation for finally coming together again, her hormones, or what, but Poppy was soaking fucking wet and it was driving me wild. I hadn’t wanted to take her from behind like this. I wanted to be able to watch her face as she came apart in my arms, but with Brant right across the hall, and Poppy unable to be quiet during sex, that wasn’t an option.

“So wet for me, honey.”

She responded though I couldn’t understand the words that were muffled by the pillow she was biting into. It didn’t matter, because I knew whatever she’d been trying to say had only been encouragement to keep going. I wouldn’t disappoint her.

I took a moment to run my fingers gently down her back from the nape of her neck where he hair was swept off to the side all the way down her spine to the crack of her ass. My eyes followed the trail of my fingers as I leisurely stroked in and out of her. I was memorizing her in this moment. The softness of her skin, the way little bumps erupted in the wake of the path my fingers had taken, and the way her hips tilted up just a bit more to urge me on even when she didn’t have a voice all settled deep into my soul. The moment locked in place, never to be forgotten before I reached around her and grabbed one of her tits with my right hand while I started stroking her clit with my other. All the while I never changed the tempo of my thrusts even though she attempted to buck against me in order to get me to pick up the pace.

Finally, she turned her head up from the pillow and tossed me a grin from over her shoulder. “If you don’t pick up the pace, I’m just going to take a nap, stud! I’m creating another human here, and it’s sapping my energy.” She winked, letting me know she wasn’t tired at all. She was just demanding of my attentions, and what she didn’t realize was that she had also just stroked my fucked-up caveman ego. Hell yeah she was making a human. The one I fucked into her, and that was everything.

I picked up my thrust game, giving it to her just a little bit harder each time but maintaining the same overall speed. The little squeaks the movements had her making were music to my ears, but it wasn’t until they had become a regular occurrence that I added speed to the harder thrusts too. With each one, her ass would ripple delightfully making me want to lean in and chomp down on that lush ass of hers. Instead, I angled her hips a little more, and drove home exactly what we’d both been needing. I took her, I gave her all of me, and within minutes, she was screaming my name so loud the pillow could no longer contain it. That was when she tightened up, squeezing the shit out of my cock as she came all over me. I slapped her ass and pinched down on her clit in order to prolong her orgasm as I chased my own. Just before she dropped her chest down as her shaky arms gave out, I was coming inside of her and growling out my own release and rode her body down to the mattress, pulling us into a position where I was the big spoon and she the little while my cock continued to rest inside of her.

“Popwee Otay?” Brant’s concerned voice from the hallway had me searching for the covers to throw over Poppy since I couldn’t remember if I had locked the door behind us or not.

“I’m okay, baby,” she called out to him.

“Whys da door not wowked?”

“It’s locked, little man,” I told him.

“Unwocks it!” His little demand had us both chuckling. I had tossed Poppy one of my shirts and pulled on a pair of boxer shorts before heading to the door to let the little monster in who had nearly been a major cockblock. Hell, for a brief moment, I wondered if this was why Bender hadn’t managed to knock my sister up again, because of his mini-me cock-blocking son. Then, I wanted to throw up, because it hit me that they’d never get a chance to grow their family and they’d probably both gladly give that up to have their son interrupting mommy and daddy’s fun times.

“Hey,” Poppy called out to me, worry etching her beautiful visage as she watched the thoughts play out across my expressive face. “They would have been thinking the same things,” she told me. I knew she was right, because I’d heard Bender joke about how they had to sneak in quickies because his son had sex-dar, as he called it. Radar for when his parents were having sex.

“I know.” My voice came out too gruff and thick for my liking.

“Me sweep wit Popwee?” Brant asked, but he wasn’t asking me, he was asking her while rubbing his tired eyes. I knew it was going to happen the minute her own sleepy eyes landed on him and I watched her face soften and that sweet smile of hers give all the answer that was needed before Brant climbed up under the covers. Then, the little shit looked right at me as he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled it around him so that she was now the big spoon to his little. I swear, I saw triumph in his eyes like the little shit just stole my woman. I looked heavenward and promised Bender and my sister retribution one day. I knew this was their payback for all the times I laughed about how interruptive their son was in their sex lives.

I left them to it and took Bubba outside one last time. When we came back in, he went straight to Brant’s room and whined because the little boy wasn’t tucked up in his bed. I just shook my head and laughed. “I see he already rules this house,” I grumbled. I didn’t honestly mind though. “Come on, Bubba. He’s in with Poppy.” As if the dog understood, he moved past me before I could even turn and made himself at home beside the bed where Brant had a hand and a foot dangled over the edge, and my woman’s arm still slung around him. I crawled in behind her and managed the most peaceful night of sleep I’d had since before my family was torn apart.

My cell would not stop vibrating on the nightstand so finally, I rolled over and answered it at the same moment I realized Poppy, Brant, and Bubba were no longer in the room. “Yeah?”

“Smoke, just checking in with you. Everything good?” Ghost’s voice sounded worn down and I wondered how much longer the man was going to keep up with being club president. He’d seen his share of club drama over the years, and keeping the men together was something that took a toll on a person.

“I’m good. Shit, what time is it?” I pulled the phone away from my ear as I heard him chuckle. “Almost 11?” There was no way I’d slept in until almost 11 in the morning. Shit, it was almost lunch time.

“I take it you slept well?” Ghost managed to get out amidst his laughter.

“Fuck! I guess I did. You have something for me? If not, I need to get up and join the land of the living. I’m supposed to be here making shit easier on Poppy, not sleeping while she carries on as usual.”

“You need down time too, brother. You’ve been going hard. Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you. We’re running down a few leads the electronic way, and I want you to take time off from club shit for a couple days. We need you fresh when we get the information and everything’s a go.”

“Do not sit on anything thinking I need to recharge!” It was a demand, and I didn’t care in that moment whom I was speaking with either. I meant it. There would be hell to pay if they kept a lead from me, thinking I needed to recharge, and the bastards were able to go to ground. I’d be equally pissed if they took off and went after them without me.

“Don’t worry, Smoke. Nothing is happening without you there, and we sure as fuck aren’t going to be sitting on anything. Soon as we know, you’ll get the call.”

“Fine.” I huffed the word out and then scratched a hand down the beard that had been threatening to grow in fully. “That it?”

“That’s it. Go enjoy family time while you have it, brother.”

“Yeah,” I told him and then hung up.

By the time I managed to get myself cleaned up and out to the living room, I found Brantley sitting there trying to explain to Bubba why he couldn’t build with his blocks. Poppy was in the kitchen making what looked like lunch. I moved right up behind her and put my hands around her waist, resting them gently on her belly before I dipped down and placed a kiss on her neck. She had her hair swept up into some sort of messy bun-ponytail hybrid. It probably would have looked horrible on anyone else, but not Poppy. Her green eyes flared at me as she turned to offer up one of her brilliant smiles.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked, as if that was necessary. Obviously, I had.

“Too well, apparently. I didn’t mean to miss breakfast with you guys. You should have woken me.”

She turned in my arms and shook her head at me before running a finger under my eye and smoothing it out across my cheek until she reached the short beard I’d just trimmed up. “No. You needed some good sleep for once. I was happy to let you sleep and get rested. Now that you’re up though, you could get Brant ready so we can go have a picnic. That’s what he wanted for lunch.”

My heart slammed against my chest. Poppy couldn’t have known, but Brant had been on his way to a picnic with his parents when the crash happened. That was their thing. They’d go off to find another new place where there were easy hiking trails, or something to see in nature like a waterfall or a river, and they’d take a family day to go picnic and enjoy being in the world without being surrounded by the day-to-day bullshit.

“I’m not sure that’s a wise thing to do,” I told her.

“Why not? It’s just a picnic.” I took a minute to explain things to her and watched as her face morphed into one of sadness when she glanced back into the living room where Brant was still playing while Bubba kept watch over him.

“I didn’t know,” she finally said.

“You couldn’t have known that’s what he was asking for.”

Her shoulders immediately straightened, and she tipped her chin up to me. “We’re giving him this. From now until he’s a grown man, we’re going to give him that part of his family so he can always have a piece of them. His memories will fade, but the tradition they started doesn’t have to.”

I didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than I already did, but damn, she was amazing. “Okay, Poppy. We’ll do this, but until these assholes are caught and brought to justice, we’re going to have to make a modified picnic.” I leaned in and kissed her nose before I took off for the hall closet where Poppy kept spare blankets and sheets.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m preparing a special magical place to have a picnic. You make the rest of that food, and I’ll get everything else ready.”

There was an old area rug tucked away in the tiny little shed off to the side of the house that was perfect for what I’d need, and once I was finished, I had managed to string up a nice little blanket fort that Poppy would be able to stand up straight in, even if I had to duck down a bit. Little man would think it was huge. When I was finished, I went back inside and gathered up my family while helping Poppy bring the last of our picnic supplies out.

“Whoa!” Brant’s eyes lit up when he saw the outside of the fort. Granted, it was nothing more than a bunch of mismatched sheets, but still in a kid’s eyes it was something new and shiny. “What this?”

“It’s a magic fort, little man.”

“Whoa!” His response had us both grinning as he entered. I had built in a little entryway to the big tented room, but once we got in there I dropped to my knees and put down the plate of sub sandwiches Poppy had made. I had laid the area rug out on the ground and then piled blankets and pillows all around the periphery, so it looked like we were in the middle of genie’s lamp or something. Brant moved in circles, taking everything in and then he ran to me and threw his arms around my neck. “Unc Moke, you builded dis fo me?”

“Yeah, buddy.”

“Wub you,” he told me before letting go and calling out to Bubba who had been hesitant about entering our little blanket fort. “Bubsba!” He demanded and finally Bubba low-crawled his way into the tent as we laughed at the beast of a dog who looked like he was afraid of his own shadow when confronted with the monstrosity of sheets in the yard where he usually did his business and played catch.

“I think Bubba’s wondering what we did to his yard,” I told Brant. He laughed.

“Bubsba, come. Wets pway.”

“How about we eat first and then play?” Poppy asked.

“Bubsba has a sub too?”

“I have something special for Bubba,” Poppy insisted, and she pulled a large rawhide bone out of the little backpack she had brought out. Once Bubba had it, he took off to a far corner and lay there while gnawing at the thing. Seeing Bubba content made Brantley more willing to eat first and play later.

It didn’t take long for little man to finish his food and go about exploring the tent space I’d created. It wasn’t even long after that when both Bubba and Brantley were out like a light for naptime. There was something to be said for having the pillows splashed all around the place.

“Look at that, didn’t even have to fight him into a bed. Maybe we should leave this up all the time,” Poppy mused.

I snickered. Considering not a single bit of this is waterproof I don’t think that will work out too well.”

She shrugged. “Worth the shot.”

“Has he been hard to get down for naps?” I felt bad again because she’d been dealing with that while I’d been mostly absent.

“It’s not that bad, but he doesn’t like to go to sleep because he has bad dreams.”

“Shit, Poppy” I started to say but she leaned over and put a finger to my lips.

“Shh, it’s okay. Everything is going to be okay. It was bound to happen with him. He lived through a horrific car accident that killed both of his parents. He’s adjusting to them no longer being here. I’d say he’s doing remarkably well, considering.”

I could have apologized a thousand times over for leaving it all to her, but I knew she didn’t want to hear that. Instead I leaned in, moved her finger away from my mouth and replaced it with her lips instead. “Thank you,” I whispered against them. “Thank you for being there for both of us.”

“You never have to thank me for that, Smoke. I know why you haven’t been around. I understand. If I’d been able to blame someone for my family’s death, I’d be doing the same thing.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Your brother would,” I corrected. She simply laughed.

“If that’s what you need to keep telling yourself. If someone had been responsible, I would have just joined up with all the girls of S.H.E. and rode off into the sunset with them to get my vengeance.”

“You know how to ride a bike?” I asked while grinning down at her.

“Well, no. It can’t be that hard though. I’m sure one of them would have been able to teach me.”

“I’ll teach you. Never know when those crazy bitches will want to expand and start a new chapter.” I winked at her then and she just laughed at me.

“Keep grinning like you know I won’t do it. I’ll be the most badass motorcycle momma you’ve ever seen!” Her instance was cute as hell.

“Speaking of,” I told her as I managed to get Poppy spread out beneath me on her back. “I think you’re going to have to hold off on your plans of female biker world domination until this little bundle arrives.” I nudged her belly, through her shirt, with my nose before leaning back up and kissing her again. “If I didn’t tell you before, I need for you to know, I’m so fucking happy to be starting a family with you.”

“Me too,” she breathed out before our lips locked in a lingering kiss once more.

Chapter 13

The giant grin on my face as I walked into the firehouse two days after seeing my baby on that monitor couldn’t be missed. “What the hell is that all about?” Shep asked skeptically. Surfer just smiled as he watched me approach them. He already knew about the little bomb Poppy had dropped in the clubhouse.

Instead of telling either of them my news I held up the small black and white photo of the blob the doc told me was my kid. “This,” I explained as I watched Shep’s eyes round out in surprise while Surfer simply continued to smile at me.

“Congrats, brother!” Surfer finally offered up with a quick hug and slap on the bag once I was close enough.

“Are you serious?” Shep asked while eyeing the ultrasound photo. “Poppy?”

“Who the fuck else?” I asked, brows knitting together in confusion with a slight twinge of anger.

“Sorry man. I saw Julie at the funeral. She was awful clingy, didn’t know if there was something you weren’t telling me.”

“Fuck no!” I roared before Shep threw his hands up in the air and backed up a few steps.

“Bring it back down, dude,” Surfer told me. “Honest mistake,” he added. Not that it helped much. I knew I was overreacting, but the idea of someone close to me not knowing that I wouldn’t step out on Poppy pissed me the fuck off.

That was when Shep damn near tackle-hugged me. “‘Bout time we had some good news around here. I’m so fuckin’ happy for you, man.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled into his shoulder before pushing him off of me. “You know it’s not your baby, right?” I teased him. “We’re not having a love child. That shit was over the top.”

He came at me with arms out again. “But babycakes! You said you loved me! What the fuck do you mean it’s not my baby?” I took off in the opposite direction with the asshole chasing me. “Come on honeybunch, bring that baby belly to me so I can love on it!”

“What in the absolute hell is going on out here?” We all pulled up short when our Captain’s voice rang out through the engine bay.

“It’s nothing. Smoke’s having Shep’s baby, but won’t admit it.” I watched as our Captain rolled his eyes and then reached down to pick something up off the floor. Shit, how had I not noticed we dropped the ultrasound photo? I made my way to him with my grabby hands already reaching out.

“This yours?” He asked.

“Yes, sir!”

He smiled widely at me then. “Tell Julie congrats for me.”

“Here we go again!” I heard Surfer huff out as he moved in close. Obviously, I needed to bring Poppy around the station so everyone knew I had a new woman.

“Broke it off with that bitch almost eight months ago,” I told the man. “Poppy is my woman. She’s the one who’s pregnant.” I heard a gasp behind us and finally looked to see why my Captain had assumed things. In an unfuckingbelievable turn of events, Julie was standing there by Engine One watching us.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I made myself crystal fucking clear when you fucking stalked me and showed up at Poppy’s house trying to snatch Brantley?”

“She what?” Shep yelled from across the bay where I’d left him.

“I wasn’t trying to snatch him,” she insisted. “I thought it was what you would want.”

“Why the fuck would I want that when I told you I was through with you and not to come around me again?”

“We talked at the cemetery.”

“No, you talked and clung to me. Your bullshit made me miss my own sister’s funeral. I wasn’t able to lay her to rest with my mom’s necklace because you caused a huge fuckin’ scene. Why the hell would I want you to pick up my nephew?”

“Oh God!” Her voice trembled, along with her quivering lip, indicating that she was about to full-blown emotional meltdown. It was something I refused to deal with.

“You need to get the fuck out of here and don’t come back. I’ll be talking to the magistrate later about a fucking restraining order against you for Poppy, Brant, and me.”

“There’s no need,” she offered dejectedly. “I just came to tell you I was sorry. I thought…” She shook her head as tears fell down her face. “I thought we were never over and that you just needed time.”

“I have an old lady who I’m proud to put on the back of my bike and claim,” I insisted knowing it was a low blow since I’d never publicly claimed her as such. “We’re starting a family together. You need to stay gone.”

“How could you replace me like that? We were together for five years, and you never claimed me that way.”

“Maybe because somewhere in the back of my mind I knew you were being a deceitful cunt. You were too busy pining for my brother to care if I fucking claimed you properly, remember?”

“That was only early on,” she argued again.

“I’m not having this conversation with you again. We are done. Been done. Retroactively done. If I could take back four years of memories of being with you, I would. I’d keep the first year though, as a reminder of what a lying bitch you are. Now, get the fuck out of here.”

“Sounds like we can call our boys in blue since she’s been an ongoing problem,” one of the guys mentioned. I wasn’t sure which because I was physically radiating anger at that point.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” She sniffled loudly. “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” she murmured again before she left, shoulders shaking and hands swiping up to clear away the tears that were streaming down her face. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a heart to care about someone in pain, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so for her. She had caused this. She’d caused a rift between my brother and me that only compounded the problems we were now having after losing Sophie.

“What the fuck is wrong with that woman?” Shep hissed out once she finally made her way out of the engine bay.

I just shook my head. “I don’t know what the hell she’s thinking lately. I went months without seeing or hearing from her at all, then Soph, and…” I couldn’t finish. Just the fact that the bitch would take advantage of my sister’s death to try to reinsert herself into my life made me want to punch something or someone. “I need to find these Russian assholes soon. Need an outlet!” My fists clenched at my sides as I tried to unclench my jaw. “I need this shit to be over with so I can get back to life with Poppy, especially now that we have Brantley and a baby on the way too.”

Surfer clapped me on my shoulder. “We’ll get you there.”

I glanced over at him then. “You have your own shit going on right now too,” I reminded him. When a guilty looked slipped over his face, I cut those thoughts right off for him. “We never know when shit will hit the fan, brother. You couldn’t foresee this shit going down with Gillian and her ex any more than the rest of us could see what happened when we…” Surfer’s new woman had a kid already when they met. The kid’s father happened to be a member of a rival club, and while he hadn’t been in their lives since before she gave birth to Kade, the bastard was trying to force his way back into their lives now that he discovered she was hooking up with an Aces High member.

“When they stuck their necks out for my family and it cost them, heavily,” Shep muttered before walking away.

I sighed. Surfer leaned in. “There’s no taking his guilt over that away. He just needs time to come to grips with how everything played out.”

“Eat those words, because the same applies to you. You need help with the situation you’re in, you just let me know.”

“Thanks, dude. Same offer stands,” he insisted. Then the serious vibe melted away replaced with happiness. “Tell me about the appointment you went to?”

“We could hear the heartbeat,” I managed to get out without getting myself all choked up in my girly fucking emotions. “Sounded like a damn racehorse galloping away in there.”

“Yeah? I’ve heard it before, but I bet that sound is something else when you know it’s your kid making it.”

“Fuck, I didn’t even realize I wanted kids of my own until I met her. Figured I’d already practically raised my brother and sister and didn’t need to experience that again.”

“You think you’ll have more after this?”

“I’m gonna give that woman a whole house full of babies to take care of. Just in case she ever thinks of leaving me, she won’t be able to with all those mouths to feed.” I explained with a laugh. I didn’t have any concern that Poppy would leave me. I just wanted to make sure she was always happy enough that the thought never occurred to her and I knew one way to achieve that was to give her the family she’d been dreaming of for so long.

We spent the rest of our shift moving from a small house fire to three separate accidents with injuries in the surrounding area. By the time we got back to the station with an hour left to go I was ready to crash, but my cell rang curtailing plans of a quick catnap before heading home to my woman and my nephew.

“Yeah?”

“Smoke, gonna need you to get on over to the clubhouse when your shift is over,” Ghost demanded.

“You have something?” I asked, knowing it had to be about the Russians, otherwise he’d never bother me at the end of a shift.

“Yeah, brother. We found their rathole and have eyes on them until we can get there.”

“Fuck!” I glanced around wondering if I could possibly scoot out early, but the alarm sounding suddenly took that thought away. “Fuck!” I shouted into the phone again.

“We aren’t rolling without you, get the job done, then we’ll go get the other job taken care of.”

“Right,” I replied as I hung up and ran to jump back into my gear.

“They’re trying to kill us tonight,” one of the men grumbled.

“Grab some caffeine on your way, ladies!” I shouted to everyone. “They don’t get any easier because we’re tired!” That was the truth, because it would be three more hours before I would be able to head to the clubhouse thanks to the fire that took longer to put out than it should have.

When I rolled up to the clubhouse, Ghost already had the men on their bikes and ready to go. Tuck, Wren, BigMac, Shorty, Phoenix, and Chief were all geared up, along with Hold ‘Em and the newest prospects, Reefer and Mouth, who were bringing up the rear with the box van just in case we needed to bring presents back to the compound.

“My boy came through,” Tuck called out, then snickered. “Actually, it was his woman who found them, but he told me I better give him credit because he didn’t want you boys knowing he’d been shown up by a woman – again.” Everyone laughed. Normally, I probably would have too, but this wasn’t the time for humor. The sweet vengeance I’d been craving was so close I could almost taste it on my tongue.

“I’ll send her a care package with a ball gag in it so she can shut him up for a while,” I called out as I grabbed the coffee Ghost handed me and downed the damn thing in one go.

“You okay to ride? It’s been a long night for you,” he suggested.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s go get shit taken care of.”

I had texted Poppy that I had club business to handle after work and wasn’t sure when I’d be back. I promised to make shit up to her, but honestly, I was starting to get nervous that she would end up giving up on me before long. We had a couple fantastic days before I needed to pull this last shift. I’d give anything to be going home to do it all over again instead of this, but we’d never be able to have that kind of security until this was finished. I needed for this to be laid to rest with Bender and my sister.

Our route was taking us a longer way to where the assholes were hiding out in plain sight in Goldsboro, North Carolina. What could have been just over a four-hour ride was going to take us just under six so that we could stay off the radar for as long as possible.

“Are you sure about this route?” I asked Wren, impatiently after we first took off. A few years back, we had all upgraded our helmets with Bluetooth capability, and recently upgraded to the Sena 30K. It worked out just fine for our group of 12. The prospects weren’t bluetoothed in, so we only had 10 people on comms. It was easy enough for our small group to stay in range too, which meant we could actually talk, plan, and strategize on the way.

“I’m positive. They’d be stupid not to have eyes on the direct route from Cedar Falls to Goldsboro. If we took 77 to 74 and 40 they’d know we were about to ride right up their asses. This way, we come in quiet. Once we get in a little closer, we’ll split into smaller groups and come in at several different angles. We should still be within Bluetooth range rolling into their general vicinity minus a few spots where it’ll get dicey due to distance.”

I knew he wasn’t wrong. We’d tested the Bluetooth capabilities thoroughly before. We could get a mile apart if we had ten or more riders hooked in. If we scaled it back to essentials, and gave each team leader comms while keeping everyone else silent, we could stretch it to just under a five mile radius. It wouldn’t matter anyway, because by the time we got close enough, we wouldn’t be using the comms to talk if we could help it since the signal was easy enough to jack into if you knew to watch for it.

Ghost’s voice came over the comms a few minutes later, interrupting my thoughts. “We’ve been told there are fifteen men on site. That means they’ll have us outnumbered. A few of our guys from Sierra High are in route too, but they’re further away than we were. Since they got the intel and mobilized first, we should be rolling into town around the same time if everything goes according to plan. They’re bringing six men they had to spare with them.”

“Six?” I questioned. We had twelve, ten strong not counting the prospects so that evened things up, but still I would have thought they’d have sent more.

“They have shit going down in their own backyard, and a few men are out of town on personal shit,” Ghost confirmed.

“Who?” I asked, suddenly worried I may end up shot in the back by one of our own brothers.

“Walker won’t be here. He was ordered to stay behind and help clean up the mess he made.”

I wanted to laugh. I’d bet money the asshole slept with the wrong man’s woman down there and was now causing a boatload of trouble for the club as a result. It didn’t matter though. Right now, I had more important things to consider. We knew that there were about 15 men at the facility we would be raiding, but I wondered if there were going to be any civilians.

“Any civies there?”

“Unclear,” was Ghost’s response.

“How is it unclear?”

“There may be an underground extension of the place they’re using. Quickshot wasn’t able to get solid info on that before we rode out.”

“That means we could be walking into way more than 15 men,” I pointed out.

“It’s possible, but unlikely.”

‘Possible, but unlikely’ sounded like a bad plan to me, but one we would all go through with anyway, because I wasn’t the only one wanting it to be over and the assholes responsible to be put to ground. After what happened to Bender and Sophie, we all knew that women and children weren’t off limit targets for these guys. They’d take them out just to cripple us emotionally before they slaughtered our men. It would work too. When we finally approached Goldsboro, Ghost came back on comms to direct us to our meet point with the Sierra High guys.

“What is this place?” I asked as we rolled up to a small farm on the outskirts of the town. There was a pretty decent sized house with a wide wrap-around porch centered on the property, but off to the back right, there was a barn where it appeared our Sierra High guys were loading their bikes.

Sweet, the Sierra High President, walked up to us before anyone could answer. “One of Angel Girl’s biker bitches moved here with a boyfriend. She’s letting us use the garage to store the bikes. Figured it would be better to take the vans as close as we can get rather than alerting them to the presence of a motorcycle club rolling up on their asses.”

I glanced around the property again, not exactly liking this change in plans. Sweet must have noticed. “I swear to you, the chick is legit. She’s been with Jamie a long time.”

“She must have left S.H.E. if she’s out here on her own though,” I added for clarification.

He nodded his head. “She’s on a break, though she has been in contact with the women about possibly starting a small chapter of S.H.E. over this way.”

“Jesus, lady bikers are branching out, huh?” Wren asked giving Ghost a playful punch in the shoulder. “Taught that girl well.”

“Hush your mouth, the way your daughter’s growing up, she’ll be asking to join them soon.”

“That’s not even funny,” Wren told him and proceeded to hop back on his bike and ignore everyone’s laughter as he moved his bike over toward the barn.

“What’s that about?” Sweet asked. “Thought he admired Jamie.”

“He does. His daughter thinks it’s okay to have boyfriends already though,” Ghost told us, snickering at the prospect of a biker dad faced with the boyfriend issues.

“You still have more girls coming up,” I reminded him.

Ghost paled. “They’re not ready for boys yet. Won’t be until I’m cold and dead in the ground either.” He turned to all of us then to emphasize a point he was about to make. “That shit ain’t happening today, boys. We’re going to head out and kick some ass. We’re not worrying about taking names or prisoners this time. We already know everyone involved is going to be in that building.”

“Why don’t we just level the fucking thing with explosives then?” Tuck asked.

“We know their biggest source of income right now is coming from trafficking women. If we level that building and find out later that there was a lower level full of innocent captives, how are we all going to feel? It could have been Shep’s mom and sister held there. It could be any one of the women in our lives we love, including the ones too young to think about being in that situation. Let’s get in, and be watchful, just in case. But while we’re there, we show no mercy to those Russian fucks.”

“For Bender!” Someone yelled.

“For Soph,” I added, only to have everyone chime in that this attack would just be for both Soph and Bender. It was for their son too, because one day we all wanted to be able to look Brantley in the eyes and tell him that we got justice for him, for his family.

Chapter 14

Two hours later, we had everyone geared up and ready for war with the Russians. When we got to the closed down manufacturing plant, I immediately saw our biggest hurdle in all of this was going to be in keeping shit quiet. They were holed up in an old manufacturing plant that had been closed down, but the plant was sitting right alongside State Rd. 1915 with nothing keeping nosey people driving by from seeing or hearing what was happening.

I glanced over at Wren as we made our approach, getting as close as we dared in the vans. “Did you know it was situated like this?”

“I knew. We don’t really have much choice in the location, brother.”

“Shit!”

“This is why we need to get in, take care of business, and get the fuck out of there,” he admitted.

“We’re going to be lucky if we get in and out without anyone ending up heading to the slammer.”

“Let’s fucking hope not.”

There was a wooded lot that was for sale to the east of the property. We rolled the vans in there and made sure the vehicles were parked with their engines facing out for the quick getaway we were no doubt going to need. We also made sure they were hidden in the trees and the prospects were made to stay with them so that we had someone who could pull up in case we had any wounded we needed to load in quick fashion.

As soon as we had the vans squared away along with the prospects and their orders, the rest of us took off, getting into position as the sun began to set. We had to wait until all of our men were in position. The guys from Sierra High had pulled in the tree-lined lot to the west of the building and were coming in hot from that side. We had a few of our men break off to come in on the rear. We were literally surrounding the building. It was a good thing we did too, because what we hadn’t been expecting was that they were loading up their vehicles and ready to head out.

“Delivery bay opened. Looks like they’re planning on heading out.”

“The fuck you say?” I yelled into my comms. There was no way that was happening. “Prospect, bring van 1 around and block that entrance. You let those fuckers get through you, and you’ll never patch in.”

“Jesus,” Shorty hissed next to me. “Poor prospect is probably pissing his Levi’s right about now.”

“As long as he does his fuckin’ job, I don’t care how wet he makes his pants.”

“Move in,” Ghost called out. “Can’t wait any longer.” As soon as we started moving in, it became obvious why it looked like they were about to head out. There was a truck in the bay that hadn’t opened yet, and I caught a glimpse inside just before the asshole tried to seal her up. It was full of women.

“Trucks are full of women,” I called out quietly over comms so everyone would know to watch their aim. Then, I popped off a round in the man’s head who had just closed up the truck. I didn’t bother reopening it yet, because the women were safer where they were for now. Instead, I moved to the cab of the truck, and watched as Spike popped a round in the bastard there who had been about to start the truck. I grabbed his gun and ammo, then tucked it away as I kept going.

“Truck two, clear,” Wren called out over comms for himself and Stone.

“Truck one, clear,” I answered back knowing Spike and I had just taken out the players in the room and truck around us. That meant there were probably four down of the fifteen we were expecting. That was if there hadn’t been any others hiding below ground. Clearly, they’d had the women hidden somewhere, so it was possible we would be seeing a whole lot more action.

“Breaching north door,” Ghost called out. There was a resounding boom in the air as the explosives they used to blow the door did the job.

“Breaching west door,” Battle’s voice reverberated through the comms. Battle was one of the men in the Sierra High Chapter. He’d been with them for about eight years now, and was the reason the guys were using strip framed charges that targeted the area better than the way we used to do things. Battle had been demolitions in the military before he was retired early and sought out the comfort of a new band of brothers. Heavy, Shorty, and Six-Pack were with him.

“Breaching South door,” Tuck answered back.

“Breaching East,” Grim announced a half a second later. When he didn’t report casualties, I knew Chief was okay too.

We had Ghost, Sweet, Phoenix, and Hold ‘Em on the north door since it was the only exit point on the backside of the building. All other entry points had two men breaching each door or truck bay. That kept us spread out, but able to maintain the exits at the same time.

“Two down on truck 1,” I called out.

“Three on north door,” Ghost chimed in, followed quickly by Wren. “Two down on truck 2.”

“One down on west door, one rabbit headed east,” Battle called out.

“Two on south door, we got your rabbit,” Tuck answered back.

As we moved further into the building from the loading bays, I noticed movement to my right, between the truck bay I was coming out of and the one I knew Wren and Stone were still in. The man there was headed in, gun drawn before I popped him full of lead and moved the fuck on. “Another down between loading bays,” I stated quietly enough that comms picked it up, but my voice didn’t carry far. That brought us up to 12 bodies dropped. That meant, if our intel was correct, there should only be three men left.

Wren and Stone pulled up on our rear and started clearing our side toward the south door. Grim and Chief moved toward the north door, clearing shit as they went. Ghost and Sweet split off to the right, heading toward the west door while Hold ‘Em and Phoenix moved toward Grim and Chief. Once we all cleared the entire building it quickly became clear that we were still missing a few men who should have been there.

“Someone go open up one of those trucks and let’s get those women talking. They had to be storing them somewhere, which means there could still be more men.”

“Already on it,” Wren answered back.

I moved further out from the middle of the room where we’d all converged after clearing the room, and that’s when I finally happened to look up. “Scatter!” I yelled just before a fucking grenade was dropped from the rafters.

I shot the bastard, but it was already too late by then. Luckily, the damn thing rolled just far enough away from where the men had done exactly as I had said and scattered, that I didn’t there would be any major injuries on our side. Still, just to be sure that didn’t happen again, I scanned the rest of the rafters. There were no more men hiding in them, which meant we still had two bodies unaccounted for, and I didn’t like the fact that Ivan Stasevich wasn’t among the men we’d already taken out. He was the one who had ordered the hit on an Aces High MC family in order to shake us up and get us to turn over Shep’s family.

“The women say there’s an access in the men’s bathroom to the downstairs level. There’s barely any room to stand down there according to what they said. It’s more like a root cellar, but a couple of the girls aren’t on the trucks that were with them.”

“They think the assholes are down there helping themselves to the merchandise?” I asked Wren.

“That’s exactly what the women thought. One of them was reportedly a virgin that Stasevich wanted to break in himself. The other was a labeled a mouthy bitch who needed to learn a lesson,” Wren repeated what he’d been told.

I was already moving toward the bathroom in question in the northwest corner of the building. “Smoke!” I heard Ghost calling out to me, but I didn’t halt my movements. “Smoke! Damn it! Stop. Heavy and Grim could both use some patching up back there.”

“I’m not the only one trained in first aid here,” I told him as I continued on.

“No, you’re not. You’re also not the only one who lost someone to these assholes. We need to be able to question Stasevich. There may be more women out there.”

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me right now?”

“No, I’m not. I need to know you can handle your shit down there. Otherwise, you need to stay up here and patch up your brothers while we get the two assholes who are left.”

“I can handle myself,” I assured him. I wasn’t sure I was being completely honest with Ghost and myself at that point, and judging from the look he threw my way, he wasn’t so sure himself. Still, Tuck stayed behind to patch the men up instead.

As soon as we were down in the tunnel, it took an immediate left and led toward a room that was clearly cut out just beneath the center of the building above us. The floors were natural earth, and the walls were as well. At least someone had been smart enough to actually brace the place properly to keep it from caving in on them, though from the looks of it, there was a portion of the carved out hallway that looked as if it had taken some damage from the grenade that went off above us. Loose soil was spattered all around and there was a clear fracture of the wood bracing the ceiling up above us.

“That doesn’t look too stable anymore,” Battle managed to say what we were all thinking as we warily walked beneath it anyway to get to the other men and women who were hidden away down there.

No sooner did we get within five feet of the mouth of the room before bullets started flying. “Shit!” I heard Shorty call out. “Hit.”

“How bad?” I asked.

“Flesh wound,” he called back.

“What the fuck you complaining for then?” Phoenix asked. “Start shooting back.”

“Hold your fire until you have your target in sight. There are women down here.”

I heard Phoenix grumble something and knew that he wasn’t the type to care if there were casualties so long as we won the war without any further harm coming to our own men. It was part of the reason he stayed a nomad. He couldn’t handle the social norms the rest of recognized. We didn’t kill women and children if it could be helped, and we considered men taking some damage as a result to be acceptable.

Still, we managed to gain entrance to the room. Once we did, the two men standing guard over a woman who was tied to a post in the middle of the room were taken out quickly. Each was dropped with a shot to the chest. The woman tied to the post was screaming bloody murder while the other was tossed aside on the dirt floor in a corner looking completely broken. She was lying in a pool of what looked to be mud, but I knew it was her blood that had to be mixing with the dirt on the ground around her.

“Jesus,” Chief called out as he went to her first. I glanced around noticing a partitioned off portion of the underground area. That was where I found Ivan cowering like the little bitch he was as he attempted to load his revolver quietly.

“A revolver, Ivan? Really?” I asked as I pointed my Springfield XD-S 4.0 right at his temple. Some of the guys laughed at it saying it was too small to do any damage. I’d since proven that to be false. For a little, easily concealed weapon, it managed to pack a hell of a punch. I was all for using Ivan’s head to punch a hole through to show the guys just how effective it could be too.

“Smoke!” I heard Ghost and grinned down at Ivan as I tapped the barrel of the gun to his head.

“They want me to keep you breathing. Do you deserve to take another breath, Ivan?”

He spat at my feet in response. I removed the gun from his temple and knelt down so I could be at eye level with the bastard then I grinned at him. “You don’t deserve a quick death, fucker.” Then I stood and walked away to let Ghost and Sweet handle him.

“How is she?” I asked as I moved quickly back to the woman I’d noticed earlier.

“She ain’t good, that’s for sure,” Six-Pack told me as I drew closer. He leaned in. “I think it would be a mercy for us to let her die judging by her injuries.

“Was she the mouth or the virgin?” I asked.

“I’m guessing the mouth,” he informed me. “That one back there keeps thanking Hold ‘Em for saving her virtue.”

“Good thing he already has a road name or that shit might need to be changed,” I joked.

“No doubt,” he explained as he helped me lift the woman.

“We need to get her upstairs before this whole place destabilizes. I don’t want to bring the med kit down here.” As if to hurry us, we all heard another small rumbling as dirt and debris fall loose from the ceiling where the beams had been cracked by the grenade.

Once we got the woman upstairs, the severity of her wounds became far more apparent. The sheer amount of filth in the wounds was going to make them extremely hard to treat. I suddenly wished Surfer hadn’t just had his own issues with another club and a missing kid, because we could have used him here with us.

“Jesus fuck!” Spike hissed as we passed him with the woman.

“Someone call for the prospects to get their asses over here. We’re going to need both the vans and maybe one of those trucks too.”

“Any clue what we’re doing with the women?” Spike asked.

“That’s for Sweet and Ghost to decide.”

“We’re taking them to Angel Girl. The women want to help them out, get information, and get them back to their families if they have them, or keep them on to help rehabilitate them after their ordeal. MiMi started up this thing for victims of sex trafficking,” Sweet told us as he moved over to check out the woman we’d brought up. “She going to make it?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “She’s a mess. We’re going to need to get her clean and then get her some real medical attention.”

“No,” the woman hissed out. “No help,” we all heard her clear as a bell.

“If we don’t get you help, you could die,” I explained.

“Then let me,” she managed to get out before she passed out once more.

“Over my dead fuckin’ body,” Spike growled.

“Let’s get her loaded up in one of the trucks. I’m not putting her in the van with Ivan. He doesn’t get to see the condition he left her in.”

“Agreed,” Ghost called out as he brought Ivan up with his head bagged. The asshole laughed.

“Too late, already know what I did to her body. It used to be lush, now she’ll always remember what I did to her. It’s written there in blood, skin, and maybe down to the bone.” His cackling laughter was cut off by a swift kick to the groin from Spike.

“Oh, sorry, I bet you felt that balls deep, huh asshole?” It was Spike’s turn to laugh. “Don’t worry, there’s more where that came from.”

It took another three hours to get everyone out, back to the barn where we’d stored our bikes, and we did what we could to render the old factory to dust and ash. All the bodies were put down in the underground area and they were doused and set fire to first. Then, the upstairs was doused and burned too. Everything had to go. We weren’t stupid. They’d eventually find the bodies, but we knew how to make sure they were never linked to our club.

Once we got back I took the injured woman into the farm house to get her cleaned up. Journey, the woman who was once a member of the S.H.E. MC helped me to clean the wounds so that we wouldn’t have to invite more men in than myself to take care of the woman. I was already dreading her waking up and freaking out about me being there with her unclothed body.

Hell, the woman was a complete wreck. Her torso had been carved up with ‘Ivan’s Whore’. ‘Mouthy Bitch’ had been carved into her upper back above her shoulder blades, and шлюха was carved into her lower back like a tramp stamp. “What does it mean?” Journey asked me.

I looked it up using my cell. “Whore,” I told her.

“Those fuckers,” she hissed out. “You know the girls are going to be all over this trying to find out who the bastards were selling the girls to.”

“I get it. I’m sure our clubs will be working together on that front.”

Journey shook her head. “I can’t believe this is still such a prevalent thing. You would think we had already cut the head off this particular dragon before, but it just comes back with more heads each time.”

“You take out the leaders and it creates a vacuum that needs to be filled,” I explained to her. “When one organization drops the torch, another will gladly pick it up. There are too many depraved assholes in this world willing to pay to ruin people’s lives for this to ever come to an end.”

“That’s part of the reason I had to get away for a while. I love her for doing it, but MiMi kept dragging more sad-sack cases into the club, and I just couldn’t handle hearing another story like theirs. I needed a break.”

“I get that. Just remember, for every sad story you heard, there’s another person who was saved and is able to heal now.”

I stayed and watched out for the woman to make sure she was healing okay and that the antibiotics we were able to give her were going to help stave off the worst of it. She seemed to be doing well, considering her wounds. It had been 12 hours since we liberated the women from the factory. It was high time I found where and what they were doing with Ivan, and I had a feeling that would be happening in the barn.

“Where is everyone?”

“There’s a small shed out in the woods about fifty yards in,” Sweet told me.

“He still alive?”

“For now.”

I tipped my head up at Sweet and then moved out there to see for myself. “He give anything up yet?”

“From what I hear he’s been pissing himself to tattle on everyone all morning. Was sealed up tighter than Fort Knox until Spike took a run at him.”

“Damn.” I wondered about the man’s motivation because he seemed pretty shook up about the fact that the woman we’d rescued had been so abused.

“He had a woman once, lost her to this same shit.”

“She was killed?”

“No, only wished she had been.”

“She okay now?”

“She is, but it wasn’t Spike that got her there, and he still hasn’t been able to forgive himself for that.”

I didn’t bother asking any further questions. It wasn’t my business and it wasn’t Sweet’s story to tell. Instead, I moved on toward the tree line where he indicated I might find the little shed that housed the man responsible for killing my sister and brother-in-law. “He still alive?” I asked Wren, who was standing outside the building keeping guard.

“He is, but he ain’t in the best of shape anymore.”

“Doesn’t deserve to be. Mind if I get in there, or are you under orders to keep me out?”

“Wouldn’t keep you out even if I had been ordered. You do what you need to for Soph, and we’ll figure the rest out another way if we need to,” he told me. I patted his shoulder and then opened the barn door. The stench hit me immediately. Hot piss, coppery blood, and on top of that was that acrid smell of shit. Since I didn’t see a bucket anywhere for the man to relieve himself I figured he had shit himself at some point.

“Well, Ivan, if my nose doesn’t deceive me I’d say you smell worse than a preschool full of kids who failed potty training.” The man said nothing, simply grunted a response. I turned to Ghost, “You get anything from him?”

“We got plenty,” he indicated with his head that I could take my turn now, but before I could get even a swing in, Ghost stopped me when his cell started ringing.

“Give me a minute. I want to be here for this.” Ghost stepped out then and took only a few minutes before he poked his head back in and called me out.

“What’s up?” I asked as I moved out of the building and shut the wooden door behind me. Ghost did not look pleased.

“There’s a situation at home,” he explained.

“What kind of situation?”

“It’s Poppy. Leanne has Brant and Bubba with her, but they found Poppy unconscious at the house. She was really sick, and they’re not sure if the fever took her down or if she knocked her head when she fell.”

“What the fuck?” I yelled.

“Where is she now?”

“She’s at the hospital getting looked at. Leanne says she’s not doing well, still hasn’t woken up yet.” I stood there, momentarily stunned by the news.

“The baby?”

“Don’t know anything else yet.” He glanced behind me at the shed. “We can try to keep him alive for you, but…”

“I don’t give a fuck about that. End him. I need to get to Poppy and Brant. Poor little man must be scared out of his mind.”

I already showed Journey what to do for the chick we found. Make sure she gets that medication, or whoever takes her knows how to dose her properly and for how long. It’s really important considering the condition we found her in.”

“I got it. We’ll make sure everything is taken care of. Update me as soon as you know anything,” Ghost told me, as if his wife wouldn’t be doing that already.

I knew why he insisted on it though. He wanted to make sure I was alright while we waited to see how Poppy pulled through. Hell, I was already beating myself up over the fact that I didn’t even know she was sick once again. Never again. This kind of thing would never happen with us again. From here on out, Poppy and me were going to be partners in every way, and that included letting each other know if we so much as got the fucking sniffles.

Chapter 15

She looked so small lying there in the bed with the white hospital blanket pulled up to her breasts and her hair slicked back on her forehead by sweat from the fever she’d had. My chest ached as I took it all in. Poppy had never once, in the time I’d known her, appeared weak. That was what hurt the most. I left her to end up in this situation while I was chasing vengeance. I knew I needed to do it in order to keep her safe too, but at what consequence? We almost lost her anyway.

“She’ll be okay,” a man called out from the dark corner of the room where he was propped in a chair with his feet resting on a little table he’d pulled around.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Didn’t anyone tell you?” He asked, a certain amount of smugness present in his voice. I just stood there and stared at him. “I’m the one that found her.”

“I thought Leanne found her,” I said.

“No, Leanne came not too long after I arrived, but when I saw they were in trouble I called for help. The kid was screaming his head off, the dog looked antsy as fuck.”

“Bubba didn’t attempt to attack you?”

“No. Leanne showed up, and had a key to get in and got a hold of Bubba first. Apparently, Poppy had texted her and told her she wasn’t feeling well.” Snake stated coolly.

“Why weren’t you with the men in Goldsboro?”

“I had already been on my way here to see Poppy when the call went out. I was too far out. They said they’d roll without me.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“What were you doing coming to see her anyway?”

“We’re friends. No matter what.”

“Such good friends you never bothered to give her a head’s up that her man was cheating on her for years? You had to know.”

“I knew. I hinted around to her for years, but she never got it.”

“Why not come out and say it?”

He huffed. “Walker’s my club brother. I couldn’t come out and tell her. You know how it is.”

I gave him a scathing look. “I think an exception would have been made considering her brother is also in the club and would want her protected.”

He scoffed. “You know shit don’t work that way. She chose to land herself with a brother, for better or worse.”

“I think you had another reason for not wanting to be the one to tell her.”

“Yeah, I did.” His admission came with a bit of aggression in his voice. “I wanted her for myself, and I knew she would never come to me if I was the one who told her.”

“She would never come to you after, because you weren’t the one man enough to tell her in the beginning though,” I insisted.

“Yeah, didn’t see that one coming, I’ll be honest.” He scuffed a foot across the floor as he stood and moved deeper into the shadows. “I was going to transfer up here when I realized she was moving. I talked to Sweet about it, and he saw right through my reasons.”

“He wouldn’t let you?” I asked, actually surprised.

“No, he fuckin’ wouldn’t. Said he’d get Ghost to block the transfer himself if he had to. Poppy deserved a clean break from the boys of Sierra High is what he told me.”

“Can’t say he was wrong there either.”

“Then she met you,” he spat out.

“Do you think if there was any part of her pining away for you that she would have made that instant connection with me the way she did?”

Snake huffed and ran his hand across the clean shaven side of his head. Both sides had been shaved down leaving only a short mohawk down the middle. “Walk came back fucked up after he was up here last. We all thought he had been in Florida visiting family. That’s where he told Sweet he was headed. Only thing I got out of him, when he was barely conscious, was that Poppy got everything she ever wanted and it wasn’t with him.”

“You needed to see for yourself?”

“Yeah, I did.” He turned and looked me right in the eye then. “I fucked up with her all those years ago. I wanted her from the moment I saw her, only I was distracted that night and Walk got to her first. Knew from first sight she was going to be a special kind of woman. I should have fought for her then before he got his hooks into her. Hell, we all knew that dick would never be any good to a woman.” He shook his head and then let it hang there on his shoulders a minute before meeting my eyes again. “You take better care of her, you hear me?”

“I hear you,” I promised him. “I know it’s little consolation when your feelings are involved, but I love her. She’s every damn thing to me.”

“Good. Make sure you show her that every fuckin’ day, because Walk sure as fuck didn’t. Now, he’s drowning himself in rot-gut liquor to try to forget how bad he fucked it all up.”

“You heading back to Georgia?”

“Nah. I’m gonna stick around until she comes back to the land of the living. Came to see my girl, gonna make sure she knows I was here.”

“She ain’t your girl,” I insisted.

“She’ll always be my girl. It’s just in different way than I’d hoped she would be.” I nodded my head at the man. I couldn’t begrudge him having a part in her life. He may not have been upfront with her about what a club brother was doing behind her back, but he still managed to be the only one of those fuckers down there who cared enough to see that she was doing okay.

I moved away from him and dragged the other chair to sit beside her. Her hand was cold when I picked it up and put it in my own. “I’ll give you my warmth, baby. You take it, my strength, and anything else you need from me to get better, honey. I need you. We took care of business and everything is going to be just fine now. There’s no more danger waiting on the horizon. That means we have more family days like the one we had before I went to work. Remember Brant’s face when he saw that blanket fort in the backyard? He lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. I can’t wait to be sitting out there with you guys while watching you nurse our baby too.” I let my other hand slide down her blanket covered body until it rested over her belly. I need you to get better for the baby too. You still have a long way to go, honey.

“That’s all she ever wanted,” Snake spoke up, nodding towards where my hand was. “She wanted a baby so bad, and every time I saw Walker running off with another woman I just wanted to put him to ground myself. Don’t know why he was so fuckin’ stupid that he couldn’t see a good woman when she was right in front of him.”

“Don’t know, but I’m thankful for it.”

“Yeah, I guess you are. I’m heading downstairs to grab some coffee. Need me to get you anything?”

I shook my head. “Got everything I need right here,” I answered.

I could have sworn I heard him mumble, “Lucky fucker,” before he left the room, but I didn’t disagree so I didn’t bother to verify either. Instead I just sat there and tried to channel my strength into my woman. Then I got an idea and reached into my pocket for my cell phone.

“I need a favor from Leanne,” I told Ghost.

“What kind of favor?” He asked.

Then I told him my plan. In the end he just chuckled. “Guess we all should have seen this coming. You do realize she ain’t exactly in a position to make anything official yet, right?”

“She will be though, and until she is, I want every fucker out there to know she’s taken. More importantly, I want her to know that she is.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it happen, brother. Any updates yet?”

“No changes. She’s still in and out of it from what I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”

“Was Snake there?”

“Still is, just went for some coffee.”

“That going okay?”

I sighed. “I’m sure it isn’t easy for him, but he understands the score anyway.”

“Good, been worried about that one. He went above Sweet, asked for a transfer after she got here. I told him to give her a year, because there was no way she’d be receptive to him, since he was Walker’s best friend there. I knew it would take a little time to put the worst of her memories behind her.” It was Ghost’s turn to sigh. “Some things were never meant to be. I figure, if it had been meant to be, years wouldn’t have been wasted with him watching his buddy fuck her over.”

“Can’t say I’m sad about it,” I told him and Ghost laughed.

“No, I guess you aren’t. You take care of that girl, you hear me? She’s a special one. They don’t come around all that often, not for men like us.”

“Seems you got lucky twice.”

“Yeah, I did, because I’m an incredibly lucky fucker. Don’t think you’re gonna be me though, so you better hang on tight to what you got and never forget how precious it is.” With that, he hung up.

“I know exactly what I’ve got, don’t I, honey?” I asked my still sleeping Poppy. Sitting here with her looking so fucking small and exhausted took something from me. I never wanted to see my woman looking so helpless again. If I could help it, I would make sure nothing like this ever happened again. I should have been home with her. Hell, I should have at least left someone there with her. Something.

“No time for regrets,” a familiar voice called out from the door before he came closer and offered me a cup of coffee I had declined earlier.

“Not regrets so much as learning lessons. She won’t be left on her own from now on if I have to leave on club business.”

Snake chuckled. “If you think Poppy will take well to having a babysitter, then you haven’t really gotten to know her well at all.”

“I know she wouldn’t want a fuckin’ babysitter. That doesn’t mean some old ladies won’t stop by and keep her company, help out with getting her business off the ground up here, and whatever else she might need, especially since she’s pregnant and has my nephew to care for when I’m not around. It’s a lot to take on for one person without help.”

“Well, might not want to let on that the old ladies are following your orders to stop in then.”

I turned narrowed eyes on him. “Unlike in that shithole, backwoods town you live in, the women here love Poppy. I wouldn’t have to order them to do shit.”

To my surprise, Snake nodded his head. “Good. I hated it for her that she felt so abandoned by everyone when everything went down.” He sighed. “Of course, I knew then that she’d never stick around. She’s not one to suffer fake people in her life once she realizes they haven’t been genuine.”

“That why you asked to transfer? You knew she’d never come back there?”

“She’s the reason. The only reason.”

“I want to feel bad for you, but I don’t.” The admission rolled off my tongue before I could pull it back. Snake just laughed.

“Don’t pity me, asshole. I’m the king of bad fucking timing, or luck, or whatever the fuck. Still, I wouldn’t trade her friendship for anything. She’s one of the most decent people I’ve ever met in this life. If it couldn’t be me, looks like she didn’t do too bad with you.”

I wanted to punch him in the face on some level, but I also knew exactly where he was coming from. Before anything more could be said, the door to the room opened and Ghost, Leanne and Brantley came in. Brant looked almost scared as he scanned the room until his eyes landed on me.

“Hey little man,” I called out softly, and he came barreling for me. I snatched him up into the air and then pulled him close for a hug.

“Is Popwee otay?”

“She’s just resting, buddy. Poppy was pretty sick.”

He stuck his bottom lip out. “She needed hews mommy to gets hew betta?”

“Poppy’s mommy is heaven with yours, little man. She just needed to see the doctor for some medicine to help get her better. She’s going to be fine okay?”

“Otay.” I turned to look back at the woman in question, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully now. Brant tugged on my shirt. “I wuv Popwee,” he whispered against my chest.

“Me too, little man. Me too.”

At that moment, I was a bit surprised by the person who came through the door. He cleared his throat before walking over to where I sat next to Poppy with Brant on my lap. He bent down beside me, talking low as he did. “I came to see if you needed any help. I didn’t realize Poppy was sick or that she was the one taking care of Brant all this time,” he told me, though there was no accusation in his tone.

“Someone had to do it, and I work too,” I explained.

Kent shook his head. “No, I know that. I just took for granted that the same people I was blaming for our sister’s death would step up and care for little man there when I wasn’t doing it myself.” He offered a humorless chuckle as he said the words. “I’m sorry, Smoke. I know how much they all loved her and Bender. It wasn’t fair to put that on everyone.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I confirmed. “But they all understood anyway,” I told him as I tilted my head in Poppy’s direction. “Especially her.”

“She’s a keeper,” he told me.

“I know it.”

“Would you mind if I took Brant and spent some time with him today? Maybe we could hang out at your apartment?” Kent asked me.

“How about I give you the keys to Poppy’s place and you take him there and check in on Bubba for us too?”

“You got it. Smoke, I really am sorry,” he offered.

“No need, little brother. I understand too. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, but I will make it up to you.”

Kent had only been gone a few minutes after leaving with Brantley, when Leanne approached me. “Here’s what you asked for. I got Surfer to find it in your apartment rather than going there myself,” Leanne explained as she put the little white box in my hand. “How long have you had it?”

I smirked at her, because I knew she was wondering when I’d possibly had a chance to go get an engagement ring for Poppy. “I’ve had it for a while now,” I told her, and it was true. The ring had come to me when my mother died. It had belonged to her mother. My grandparents had died together when I was little, but my mom used to always tell me the story of their love. She said it was a thing of beauty, something meant to last beyond this lifetime and right into the next. Before she died, she put this box in my hands and told me that the woman who would wear it one day would make it obvious immediately that she was meant for it. Julie never had. I knew she would never wear it. The first time I went home after meeting Poppy, I went in search of the ring.

I opened the box, knowing that the room had filled up with more people who had come to wish Poppy well, but not caring that they were all there. I took the ring out of the box and glanced down at it. I’d asked my mother once why the ring had never come to her, and she told me she had a shot at the kind of happiness that ring symbolized, and she gave it up for the wrong man – my father. She told me she’d never regret her choice because it left her with her three loves, but that the ring was never meant for her.

I took Poppy’s hand and slid it on her finger. “You were meant to be mine, Poppy. I knew it from the minute we first met. Everything I’d ever questioned in this life just suddenly clicked into place when I looked into your beautiful green eyes, honey. There was no going back after that. Not for me, and not for you either, because I know you felt it too. I’m not some dumb boy. I’m claiming what’s mine, and I’ll be there to take care of you and all of our children from now until we no longer walk this earth. I’ll be there in the next life too, waiting for you to find me. That’s how sure I am.”

I took the other thing that Leanne had brought for me. My acoustic guitar, a Fender Dreadnought, and started playing one of her favorite songs. I figured if my sort of demanding proposal didn’t wake her, maybe a little music would. I played quietly for a few minutes before the spell was broken. Someone must have accidentally hit the remote control because the television in the room suddenly turned on blaringly loud. “No,” I heard Poppy mumble.

She was coming around, and I wasn’t done talking, despite the noise and shuffling from the people in the room trying to shut the tv off again. I set the guitar to the side and laid my head down next to her own. “As soon as you’re better, we’ll work out a date to go get it done. I’m not waiting anymore on what everyone else thinks is appropriate. Screw them! I already know everything I need to. You’re my woman, you’re carrying my baby, and we’re already a family so nothing else matters. We’ll just be making it official.” I kissed her on the cheek and laid my head down beside hers again, watching her as she fought to wake up. Hell, maybe she was fighting to stay asleep. All I knew was that she was gorgeous lying there in that bed. I brushed some hair out of her face and smiled at her as her eyes opened and her lips tipped up at the sight of me. Someone across the room moved, scraping the chair against the floor and destroying our moment. I wanted to roar and pounce on every last asshole in the room and kick them all out, but I couldn’t move away from her.

She took in all the faces of the people who loved her and had been worried for her. Then she reached up to run her hand through her hair, only she managed to snag some of it on the ring I’d put on her finger. I gently reached out and grabbed her hand to keep her from pulling harder and ripping at her hair. I took a moment to untangle her hair from the ring facets and then I watched as her eyes lighted on the sparkle coming off of the diamond in the center of the ring. Then she took a look around at everyone to see who was in on it, and then back to me. I couldn’t fathom what she was thinking in that moment, but instead of asking about the ring she glanced around the room once more and asked after my nephew instead. “Brant?”

The pallor of her face changed as the blood drained out of it and I watched panic take over. The machine attached to her started going a little nuts as her heartrate increased.

“Shh, calm down, honey. He’s fine.” I soothed, though the words didn’t seem to penetrate whatever state she was in. “He’s okay. He’s with Kent right now. He’s taking care of Bubba too, honey. They’re both fine. Leanne got there not long after your text.”

“The baby?” Her next question shouldn’t have surprised me. She was worried about everyone else first. Typical Poppy.

“Just fine. They brought an ultrasound in, and we all got to see the heart beat and everything.”

“How long have I been here?” I heard the light strings of my guitar being strummed by someone, but I didn’t bother to see who had picked it up as I answered Poppy.

“Two days. Leanne was here with you until we got back. Everyone just stopped in to check on you at the perfect time though since you finally decided to stay awake.”

“I’m so sorry,” she told me as tears began to form.

“You couldn’t help getting sick,” I admonished her.

“But Brant…”

“Stop! You let Leanne know something was wrong, and you did your best. Nobody is blaming you for anything. Brant was obviously worried about you, but he was fine. He just sat there with you until Leanne got there. He wasn’t harmed, and it’s not like you neglected him. You got sick and passed out. That is more my fault for leaving you with him so long with no help.”

“Enough of that shit from both of you,” Chief called out as he put my guitar back down. “Neither of you are at fault. It is what it is. Shit happens, and then we get over it and move on. I’m glad you’re getting better, Sis. You had us all worried! Don’t ever do it again though!” Chief moved to the opposite side of the bed that I was on and leaned in to give his sister a kiss on the forehead before he scrunched up his face and pulled away. “Maybe you should try to get up and get a shower sometime soon though, you stink!” Poppy playfully swatted at her brother, but I could see that even doing that much took it out of her, so I stood and turned to look at everyone who was still gathered in the room.

“Chief is right, Poppy stinks!” Everyone laughed as Poppy attempted to hide her embarrassment underneath a pillow. “I think maybe you should give us some time to get her cleaned up and back home, and then you can all stop in see her.”

“Don’t listen to these brutes, sweetie! You look fabulous, even in your sweat-soaked state. I’ll be around to check in on you as soon as you’re back home, okay?” Leanne asked, finally coaxing Poppy back out from underneath her pillow. “I’m really happy to see you’re feeling better. You scared the daylights out of me when I showed up and saw Snake was pounding on the door.”

“Snake?” Poppy asked. “What do you mean Snake was pounding on the door?

Snake managed to pop back in the room as if he had been summoned. “Ah, she’s finally awake, I see.” He wasted no time replacing Chief’s place on the opposite side of the bed from me. I didn’t miss the lingering glance he gave to the ring that now sat on her finger. Not that I wanted to be that dick, but it pleased me a bit to see the pain in his eyes when he saw it. I needed him to know, in no uncertain terms, that she was mine. Now and forever. That quick flash of pain didn’t stop the bastard from leaning over and kissing my woman’s face though. I growled low in my throat, a warning to the fucker that he was treading on awful thin ice.

“Hey, sweet girl, how you feeling?” He gave her a small smile as she looked between the two of us. “I see you didn’t waste time moving on from Walker.” Poppy did not look happy at his announcement, but before she could rip him a new one, he threw his hands up in surrender. “I’m not judging, you know that. I just didn’t realize you had gotten so serious so fast.”

“Didn’t Walk tell you about his trip here last week?”

Snake shifted uncomfortably then. “He mentioned seeing you, but didn’t go into too much detail.” He turned to me then.

I nodded my head acknowledging the fact that we hadn’t actually talked about Walker’s visit earlier when it was mentioned. “He confronted Poppy before I could make it there. Seemed pretty sure of himself that he was going to sweep in, apologize, and carry her home with him on the back of his bike.”

Snake laughed. “No wonder he came back from his trip and sank into the bottom of a bottle.”

“You knew about his trip, and no one sent a heads up?” I groused.

“Nah, like I said earlier, we knew he was going on a trip, only he was supposed to be headed south to see family in Tallahassee. Thought maybe his ma took a turn for the worse when he showed up drowning his sorrows.” Shit, he had told me that. Having my woman lying in a hospital bed was fucking with my mind.

“Is she not doing well?” Poppy asked, seeming genuinely concerned, and pulling me from my own thoughts.

“Cancer’s back from what I hear. Though, I don’t hear much from him directly these days since he seems to think he picked sides between you and him.”

“I’m sorry,” Poppy started to apologize.

Snake simply waved her off. “Nah, don’t you go worrying about that. I just did the right thing when he wouldn’t, and he’s mad about that. One day he’ll realize he’s mad at himself and not me.”

“You came to my house and found me?” She asked, changing the subject.

“I did. I wasn’t sure what kind of support system you had up here, and after I found out about Walker’s visit, I figured you could use a friendly face.” Snake glanced over at me and I just tipped my head the slightest bit to indicate I’d go along with what he was saying. He had come for her, not to check on her. She didn’t need to know that though. “No one answered the door even though I could hear the dog barking and a kid crying inside,” he told her. I wished he had left the last part out. She didn’t need to feel any more guilt over passing out in front of Brant. “I took a look in the window and saw you on the floor.” He put a hand over his chest rubbed where his heart was. “Took at least a year off my life to see that.”

I couldn’t help that growl that his admission brought out of me again. This fucker was starting to get under my skin, and he knew it. “I know she’s your woman, I got that. She’s been my friend for a long damn time now though, so calm down with that growling bullshit. I’m not a threat. She’s never looked at me the way she does you. There’s not a damn thing for you to worry over.”

Poppy snickered and then it turned into a full-blown laugh as she took in the jealousy written all over my face. That was when I knew I had to leave and give them some time to talk without my being there. She was mine. I knew she was. That didn’t mean I could stand to watch a man who had been pining over her for years talk to her with a familiarity that, in some ways, we were still working on together. “I’m going to grab a coffee then find the nurse to hunt down the doctor to see when we can spring you from this joint. You two catch up until then.”

Ghost and Chief followed me out of the room, and we all made our way to the end of the hallway. “You doing okay?” Chief asked.

“As good as I can considering my woman’s sitting in a hospital bed because she was so sick that she passed out and stayed asleep for two fucking days.”

Ghost clutched onto my shoulder. “You have a strong woman there. It’ll all work out.”

“Speaking of working out,” I started to say, and then I launched into my plan to buy a house big enough to accommodate our growing family. “I need you both to be on the lookout for something with enough room, and in a nice school district, but close to the club.”

“Jesus, you already sound like Mr. Mom,” Chief teased.

“Don’t laugh, Chief. You’ll find yourself settling down soon enough.”

Chief scoffed and then the two of them bantered back and forth as I got lost in my head with my own plans for the future. Of course, I never saw a trip to Georgia in our plans, but that’s exactly what happened. We ended up heading down there for a court ordered mediation where upon seeing my, by then, very pregnant fiancé, the court finally granted Poppy her divorce. Though, it didn’t turn out all roses seeing as to how we ended up in the damn hospital one more time for our troubles.

Chapter 16

Sweat dripped from her hairline as she grimaced while clutching her belly again. I knew this trip to Georgia was going to be fucked from the beginning since we had to deal with Walker trying once again, to hang on to the scraps of what he thought he had left with Poppy. It didn’t work. What it did do was add stress to my woman that sent her into labor early.

“Ow! It fucking hurts!”

“I can tell, honey.” Just watching her go through this shit was painful for me. I couldn’t imagine actually having to live through it. I had wanted a big family with Poppy, but I was beginning to rethink things when she asked me a stupid fucking question that caught me off guard for a just a moment.

“How can you tell?”

“You mean besides the fact that you’re dropping f-bombs left and right and damn near ripping my arm off with each…” I stopped speaking dead in my tracks as she gripped on to me with claws from hell and refused to let go. The pinch and scalding hot sting as two of them pierced my skin didn’t even phase me beyond the initial reaction my body had to the onslaught of pain.

“Damn, dude, that looks like it hurts,” I heard Chief interject into the situation.

“Why is he still here?” Poppy cried out while trying to see around me to find her brother, as if he could possibly be just a disembodied voice in the room.

“I was just dropping off your bag since you two were out of the house so fast you forgot it.”

“Hi, everyone! How is our patient doing today?” A nurse who looked as though she should still be in high school asked in a chipper manner as she skipped her ass into the room. She was wearing scrubs, but the damn things were so tight they were highlighting every damn curve she had. Something I was sure Chief had noticed, and appreciated, considering how his tongue was still wagging in her direction.

“I’m doing,” Poppy started to answer before another contraction rolled through her. If her reaction was anything to gauge it by, this one was the mother of all fucking contractions, because I kid you not, she was about to start speaking in tongues. At least that was what I thought before she opened her mouth and started yelling at the too-perky-for-her-own-good nurse. “FUCK THIS SHIT, I’m not doing just fine at all! Get this baby out of me!”

“Oh dear, that sounds like it was a bad one.” The nurse was clearly an idiot for speaking to a woman in pain like that. Poppy looked fit to be tied, and damn near reared up off the bed. I stepped a little closer to hold her down if I needed to, because I couldn’t allow her to go off and start a fucking brawl with the nurse while she was in active labor with our child.

“Honey, you’re doing just fine. You use as many f-bombs as you need. I’m sure they won’t be our child’s first word,” I told her. Okay, now I was the one poking fun at her because she had told me that I wasn’t allowed to curse once she went into labor because she didn’t want the baby’s first words she heard being an f-bomb.

“Oh, God, something’s happening down there,” Poppy hissed out and I nearly made the mistake of looking. Only Chief’s vehement shaking of his head caught my attention first and managed to warn me away from looking.

The nurse proved herself to be the idiot I thought she was. “It’s a bit too early for all that. I’ll be checking you in just a few minutes when the doctor comes in. She glanced down at the little tablet in her hand and nodded her head as if she needed to agree with herself. “Yep, it says here that your nurse prior to shift change just checked you about 45 minutes ago.”

“There is a head coming out of my body, and it burns like a motherfucker!” Poppy seethed at the woman.

That was the moment I lost my damn mind and moved just enough so that I could take a look between Poppy’s spread legs. A knee to the face stopped me from actually seeing anything this time! I had to physically shake the blow off, and apparently it did not knock any fucking sense into me whatsoever because I kept on moving around the offending leg and managed to see what my woman had been screaming about. Sure as fuck, there was a head full of hair staring at me from between Poppy’s legs. “There’s a head, get the goddamn doctor in here, now!”

Bubbles, what I had dubbed the dumb bitch of a nurse in my head, jumped into action and ran to the bottom of the bed, dropping the end portion out from under Poppy’s feet. The nurse caught one of her calves in her hand, and I instinctively managed to grab the other which effectively held her splayed out for anyone and everyone in the room to see what was going on down there.

“Shit! I did not need to see that!” Chief yelled just before I noticed him hightail it out of the room. I could hear his loudmouth at least calling for help as he went though. “I just saw the head, someone better get my sister’s doctor in there now!”

“Oh-dear-lord-sweet-baby-jesus-take-the-wheel!”Poppy screamed the last as I watched her push despite the doctor yelling for her not to do it.

“Please, you have to stop pushing, because the doctor isn’t here yet.”

A doctor came rushing in the room immediately and damn near dove between my woman’s legs. Any other time and I might have punched a mother fucker out, but it just so happened that Chief pulled me from my murderous thoughts with his loud as fuck question from the hallway. “Anyone have some whiskey? Jesus, I can’t un-see that shit.”

“Are you fucking insane?” Poppy screamed at Nurse Bubbles. “Get out! Get the hell out of here. My husband can deliver our baby, because it isn’t waiting!”

“Whoa, now, honey. We’ll get you there. If you need to push, you push.”

The doctor basically shoulder-checked the nurse to push her out of the way. “Get her out!” Poppy yelled some more.

After Bubbles gave a feeble attempt at protesting the order, the doctor turned a hell of a glare on her. “You heard the patient. Send someone else in, right now.”

“One more good push, and we’ll be handing your baby over to you, Poppy!” The doctor explained while the nurse was retreating from the room in tears. I pushed against Poppy’s leg to help her as she attempted another push, and then I watched as the relief flooded through her. The tension in her face slackened and she took a deep breath before laying back. That’s when I realized it was done and looked back toward the doctor who was now holding a squirming, somewhat bloody body with white shit coating it in spots. The doctor wasted no time in getting rid of his burden on my woman’s chest. A new nurse, an older woman, had entered the room and moved quickly with a suction bulb thing to try to clear everything for the baby and then after a few quick seconds, a squall filled up the room as our baby let us know she’d made her entrance into the world and she might not be entirely happy with how that happened.

“It’s a girl!” The doctor called out a bit late.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the sight of my daughter lying there on Poppy’s chest. They were beautiful. Our daughter was perfect, and my woman was an amazing creature who had just worked her ass off to bring her into this world. I’d never in my life been prouder and more overwhelmed with emotion. No one ever tells you that it’s the happiest moment of your life when you get bowled over completely by emotion.

“A baby girl,” I finally managed to get out and watched as my baby girl tried to wiggle toward my voice, obviously recognizing the sound.

“You want to do the honors and cut the cord?” The doctor asked me, pulling me out of my reverence. I shook my head indicating that I did not. I tucked a single finger in my daughter’s grasp and stood in awe as she clamped her tiny little fingers around my larger one.

“Do you have a name for her?” The nurse asked.

“Sophie,” I told her, while trying to get the words past all the emotion that was clogging me throat.

“Layla,” Poppy added.

“Lewis,” I tacked on in the end while smiling down at Poppy and still holding on to our daughter.

“Sophie Layla Lewis?” The nurse confirmed the name, and we both agreed while watching our daughter. “That’s a beautiful name.” The nurse did whatever she was doing off to the side before moving back over to the opposite side of the bed than I was on. “I need to get this little one cleaned up for you real quick. I promise I’ll bring her back quickly.”

I immediately went on edge as I watched Poppy’s demeanor change immediately. She didn’t want anyone taking her daughter from her, and I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t too fond of the idea either. Not even realizing I was doing it, my chest puffed up and I prepared for a fight.

“Calm down, daddy. You can come and watch her get her first bath. She never has to leave your sight.” I wanted that, because we were all our daughter had back here to protect her, but at the same time there was no one else here with Poppy aside from the doctor and another nurse who had come in at some point. Still, they were strangers.

“I’d rather you stay with her,” Poppy finally said after registering the conflict she could see playing out on my face. I finally agreed and followed the nurse out in the hall. Chief was standing out in the hallway still and when I realized I tipped my head in the direction of the room.

“Stay with her while I go keep an eye on the baby, yeah?”

“Never had to ask, brother. I’ve got your girl. Go take care of the little one.” Chief wasted no time moving back into the room.

I nodded and followed the nurse out of the room, reluctantly leaving behind my love to chase my daughter. Somehow, I felt like this was a bit of foreshadowing. A girl. I was happier than hell to heave a healthy baby girl, but flashes of her teen years starting hitting me as I watched the nurse roughly washing the white cheesy shit and blood from her tiny little body.

“Hey, you need to tone that shit down!” I called to her as the bitch rolled her eyes at me. Did she know who she was fucking with right now?

“Calm down, Mr. Lewis. All babies get this treatment. They’re not as breakable as you think, and we need to get her clean.”

“So you say,” I told her as I glared while she continued to do her thing. My baby girl wasn’t even putting up a fuss at all the attention, so I figured all was well.

“Look at this sweet thing. She wants to be clean, don’t you, suga?”

I had to laugh at that. “Don’t you laugh, daddy. I betcha any amount of money this little one is going to be the high maintenance type. She gets dirty, it’s going to be a screaming fit until she’s cleaned up again. Isn’t that right, little miss?”

Another nurse came by and tucked a little notecard looking thing into a holder on the back of the plastic bassinet on wheels that had been set aside for my daughter. The card proudly announced that she was Sophie Layla Lewis. The grin on my face at seeing the name Poppy had given her couldn’t be contained. Our baby girl had been named after both of our sisters. Baby girl’s aunts would never get to know her, but she would carry their memories with her forever.

“Whoa, whoa, what the hell is that?” A second nurse had just approached my daughter with what looked like a security device stores used to put on clothing back in the day. Both nurses smiled at me.

“It’s a security device. You and your wife will be given a matching wristband. If anyone other than the two of you attempt to leave the premises with the baby and they don’t have the matching band, they will be stopped. If the baby is moved to a location not authorized while wearing the band, it triggers a lockdown of doors and elevators as necessary. Alarms will be triggered if the band is tampered with as well.”

“Damn, girl, they knew they had a biker baby coming in and they slapped an ankle monitor on you already. See that, you’re already trouble.” Both nurses laughed as I continued just watching my daughter, in total awe of her.

“Mr. Lewis, if I could have your left wrist?”

“Sure,” I held out my hand to her and she attached a band to it. I read the information on my band and compared it with what was on Sophie’s band. They were a perfect match. “Are we good now? Can we get her back to her momma?”

The older nurse gave the younger one a knowing look. “She’s probably tuckered out and sleepin’ right now. Why don’t you give her a little more time?”

“No offense, lady, but you don’t know my woman. She won’t rest until her daughter is back in her sight.”

“We hear that all the time,” the younger nurse tittered just as an intercom went off.

“Is baby girl Lewis ready? Her mother is throwing a fit that her baby hasn’t been brought back to her yet.”

I just cocked my brow at the two women as if to ask them what they thought now. “Just point the way, ladies,” I told them as I took my daughter into my arms.

“Sir, you have to transfer her down the hall while in the bassinet.”

I glared at the woman. “If you think you can tell me I can’t hold my daughter, you have another thing coming to you, lady.”

“Sir, it is hospital policy.”

“Well, it’s my personal policy to bond with my daughter as much as possible, and that requires actually holding her instead of wheeling her around in a plastic tub.” One of those twats could follow me to my woman’s room with the fucking tub that my daughter wouldn’t be rolling around in as long as I was there.

The minute I walked into the room holding our daughter, Poppy’s eyes were all for the baby in my arms. Her smile was something I wish I had been able to take a picture of, because there had never been anything more beautiful on this earth. “I got it,” Chief called out from somewhere to my right.

“Got what?”

“The picture of her face,” he told me, and then I turned my gaze from the love of my life to her brother, my club brother, who understood what that moment meant to me. I tipped my chin at him and then went to place our daughter in Poppy’s arms.

“She’s so sweet, just look at those pouty little lips. Oh my God, she’s going to be gorgeous,” she cooed at the little bundle.

“Might want to bump up the armory in a few years,” I commented. Chief stood and came over to the side of the bed and took a look at his niece.

“I’ll help with that.”

Chapter 17

Truth be told, I thought I’d have us in a bigger house before the baby came along. There always seemed to be something that got in the way when I thought about house hunting though. Then, our little Sophie-bug came early and well, that meant I had to get creative in order to surprise Poppy. I managed to find one just before we headed down to Georgia, and I put an offer in, but I hadn’t heard anything until the day we got back. As much as I didn’t want to leave her to her own devices after just giving birth and having to travel with a newborn right after going through that bullshit divorce proceedings, I needed to get help to distract her.

That was where Leanne came in. She managed to weasel her way in the door and asked politely if I wouldn’t mind going to help Ghost with some shit they were working on at the clubhouse. I saw Poppy’s eyes dim a bit when I readily agreed. “I’m a phone call away, honey. You need me, I’ll come running.”

“I need you,” she whined.

I smiled down at her as Leanne laughed softly. “Let’s have some girl time for a bit and let Smoke go do the guy thing. He’ll be back as quickly as he can be.”

It took a little more convincing before I managed to make it out the door and down to the real estate office where I signed the papers and paid out the hefty fee to be able to move in immediately rather than wait. Over the next two days, the guys managed to help get all new furniture moved into the place, as Poppy had been marking things in magazines and saving shit to her Pinterest account that gave me an idea of what she’d want in the house. The whole process was tiring and quite frankly, pissing Poppy off every time I made a new excuse to run out the door. I’m sure she was having flashes of Walker doing just that and running to be with a club whore, especially since she was out of commission in the sexual department during her postpartum rest time.

She would realize what I’d been up to soon enough though. She’d had it with my shit, and asked if Leanne could come pick her and the baby up and get them out of the house for a little while. She thought Brantley was still staying with Kent, who had watched him and Bubba while we’d gone to Georgia, but he was helping out with the house, and excited to surprise our girls.

We had just finished setting up the last of the nursery when the sounds of a car pulling up in the driveway made its way in through the window that had been cracked for a couple days in order to help air out the fresh paint smell. “Dey Hewe!” Brant shouted.

“Okay, little man, calm down. We don’t want them to know we’re in here just yet. It’s a surprise, remember?”

“Me Membas.”

He put his little finger over his mouth and made a shushing sound that had Chief, Ghost, and Surfer chuckling. We all headed down the stairs and into the living room right about the time the door started to jiggle.

“They just gave you the keys?” Poppy was asking Leanne.

“Yeah, of course, when you’re trying to sell a house you want as many people to go through them as possible. They just told me what time to pick them up and here we are.”

“I thought you loved the house you’re in.”

“Um, well, I do,” Leanne fumbled as she jiggle the lock, clearly unsuccessful with the key I’d given her. Ghost shook his head and walked over to unlock the door for her and then he stepped back.

“Oh, I got it,” Leanne called out in triumph.

“That’s good because this car seat is heavy. I never knew our little peanut was going to give me such a workout,” Poppy sighed out. I almost chuckled, because it wasn’t the first time she’d made mention of how much our little chunky girl weighed. She was already tipping the scales over eight pounds, but when you added in the weight of the car seat baby carrier piece, it became a bit more.

The door opened and everyone whisper-yelled, “Surprise!”

“Oh my God!” Poppy called out when she saw Brant and me standing there, but she didn’t seem to be catching on.

“Welcome home, honey!”

“Welcome… what?”

“This is our new home,” I told her and that’s when she really looked around and started noticing things. Her eyes widened and I watched as tears started to pool there. Moving quickly to get to her side, I took hold of our little bundle, unstrapping her, and plucking her up from the seat and cradling her to my chest before taking Poppy’s hand in mine. “Come on, I’ll give you the tour.

She turned back to Brant. “Come on baby, let’s take a tour,” she offered while holding out her other hand.

“A seed it, Popwee. We puts all dis togeder.”

“I see,” she told him and then made a show of glancing around again. “You did a wonderful job, big guy!” She ruffled his hair as she said it and he reached around her legs, hugging tightly to her as he puffed his chest out with pride. “I’m so proud of you,” she told him as she leaned in and hugged him back.”

“Wuv you, Popwee!”

That was when she lost her battle with the tears, and they started streaming down her face. “Love you too, big guy!” Chief swooped in then and picked Brant up.

“How about we let your Uncle Smoke show Poppy around the house, okay? You can come have a beer with me in the kitchen.” Brant wrinkled his nose.

“Gwoss,” he muttered.

Chief laughed. “Okay, root beer for you and a beer for me,” he amended which brought back Brant’s grin.

“Wets go!”

Poppy turned to me once they were clear of the room, and not caring who was watching, she slipped up onto her tip toes and brought her lips straight to mine, planting the sweetest damn kiss on me. “Thank you,” she whispered with her lips sweeping over mine as she did so.

“Anything for you, honey.”

“I think you really mean that,” she mumbled.

“Don’t ever doubt it.”

Chapter 18

Nerves had never been my thing. I always prided myself on not freaking out over too many things. I dove headfirst into fires to save lives for fuck’s sake. There simply wasn’t time to be nervous, but as I stared at the back doors to the clubhouse, my heart ticked away the beats as if it were trying to escape my chest. My world was turned upside down when I’d met Poppy, and now it was time to make her officially mine. Since she surprised us by delivering our daughter earlier than expected, just after her divorce was finalized, we had to wait a little while for our lives to settle into something resembling normal again before we could put this shindig together.

That’s why I had a little trail of sweat trickling down my back. It sure as fuck wasn’t the pyramid glass tube propane heaters the guys had placed around the deck to keep everyone warm. My palms were starting to sweat too. Hell, it wasn’t even that Surfer was over there looking too cozy as Mr. Mom while holding my baby girl. Shit, that might have been part of it. I’m not too much of a manly jackass to admit that I didn’t want anyone else soaking up my daughter’s time. She was my baby girl, and so damn special. I was watching Surfer in his attempts to earn one of her rare and precious smiles when a hush fell over the crowd. My gaze quickly shifted to the doors that were now opened. Chief stood there in his Sunday best – which for him consisted of dark jeans, a button-up shirt, and his kutte along with recently spit-shined boots. On his arm was my woman, looking radiant as ever in a simple blush pink sheath dress that hugged her curves that had been exaggerated by giving birth to our daughter so recently. I loved every inch of her beautiful self as she beamed one of her gorgeous smiles my way before looking down at the other man in her life. In her right hand, she held Brantley’s, clasped tightly.

“I’m mawying Popwee, guys!” He shouted after grinning up at her. His announcement stopped both Chief and Poppy in their tracks as they laughed along with everyone else waiting to watch us become husband and wife. Little man was wearing an outfit that mirrored Chief’s, including the little leather kutte my brother-in-law had made for him that announced he was a future biker in training.

“You better bring my woman over here to me, Little Man,” I called out to him. He grinned big at me before he started trying to drag Poppy down the aisle at a faster pace than the wedding march dictated. More laughter ensued, and it filled me with a peace I hadn’t known much of this year. It was good to see everyone able to have this day of laughter and celebration, considering the gloomy months prior where we had so much loss and took so many chances as we brought justice to our fallen family members.

I wish I could recount the vows we made to one another, but anything I said about them would be a lie. I couldn’t tell you a single word I spoke other than, ‘I do’. I was simply too mesmerized by Poppy, and the fact that she was about to be mine in every way. I remember her saying, ‘I do,’ and whispering, ‘Love you always, baby’. Then I was kissing her and Brant was being Brant.

“Eww! Why deyz kissin’ wike dat?”

“You’ll be doing that with girls one day too,” one of my brothers told him.

“Nuh-uh. Yukky!” We finally managed to break apart at that.

Chapter 19

I held Decker cradled in my arms as I reached into the crib to pat Devon’s diapered butt. Both were a little fussy tonight even though I’d changed them, fed the little piglets, and burped them both. The door squeaked causing me to cringe because the last thing any of us wanted was for Poppy to wake up. She’d barely been getting any sleep and it was starting to show in her crankiness. Not that I blamed her. Having twin infants, a preschooler, and then eight-year-old Brantley was nothing to shake a stick at. These kids were keeping us on our toes, and since I also had to work my shifts at the fire department, that meant most of it rested on Poppy alone while I was gone.

I turned expecting to see her and was instead greeted by my bleary-eyed eight-year-old. “Hey, little man, what’s shakin’?”

“The babies, I guess,” he told me as he rubbed his tired eyes. “When are they ever going to sleep at night?”

“I don’t know, Brant. Wish they’d learn it soon.”

“Me too. Sophie wasn’t like this.”

“No, Sophie still loves her sleep even when the boys are crying.”

“She must be magic.”

“Some girls are. She takes after her momma that way,” I told him. Then I leaned in and kissed Decker’s crinkled little forehead. “You boys happen to have the best momma in the world, and one day, when you grow up and become men, you’ll know the only woman for you because she’s going to live up to your momma’s example.

“Can’t I just marry Poppy, since she’s so pretty and nice?”

I chuckled at that. “She’s already mine, kiddo.”

“Why do you get the good woman?”

“Because I’m smart, and I snatched her up the minute I found her.”

“That’s what I’m gonna do too. So, I guess it can’t be Kaylee,” he told me with a bit of a sad hesitation in his voice. “I didn’t snatch her up. I just pulled her hair a little bit, and she ran away from me.” He started tugging at his bottom lip, a sure sign of agitation with Brant.

I laughed again, gently so I didn’t wake Devon who had finally fallen off to sleep. “Little man, one day you might just figure out that pulling a girl’s hair and snatching her up to be yours are pretty much the same thing. If you want her, you just make sure she knows you’re the only guy who gets to pull her hair.”

I heard a bit of feminine chuckling from the other room and knew that my own woman had awoken and listened in through the baby monitor. I’d show her all about the hair pulling later when she had a little more sleep, and we conned Chief into babysitting our brood again. Yeah, we had to count a babysitter most of the time to get any in this house full of heathens. Damn Brantley had some kind of special radar. Every time I got my woman naked, he came barging in like the little tike version of a cockblock. Hand to God, the little shit could pick locks. He’d figured out how to pop something into the hole on the door to get it to open up, despite the lock being engaged for a reason.

Still, as it turned out, my advice to our boys wasn’t always going to be taken the right way. The next day Poppy got called into the Principal’s office and refused to leave until I got there to sit in on whatever the hell was going on with Brantley too.

“Mr. Lewis,” Principal Morris intoned as I moved into the room where Poppy was hiding her face as her shoulders shook. What the hell was so bad that my son had her in tears?” I turned to look at Brant who rolled his eyes at Poppy’s display and shrugged his shoulders at me. Then I glanced back in time to see Principal Morris cover up a grin he’d been trying hard not to show.

“Brant, go wait out in the chair by the office door.”

“But,” he started to argue.

“Go, now! I had to run down here from the station. You know what that means?”

“Yes, sir,” he offered up dejectedly knowing he’d be in deep shit later for me having to leave the station in the middle of a shift. I had a radio with me, and would leave this meeting in a hot second if a call came through for us, but that didn’t matter. It would still set my team back to not have me on board with them as they rolled out.

Once our boy was out of the room, Poppy’s groan caught my attention and I watched as she wiped a track of tears from her cheek. Then she looked guiltily toward the principal. “I’m so sorry, it’s just…” she could not contain her chuckling. “His dad’s bad advice led to this, and I couldn’t help it.”

“Understandable, Mrs. Lewis,” the principal consoled her and then turned his attention to me.

“What the hell is going on here?” I finally had to ask.

“Brant is being suspended for the day for assault on another student,” the principal informed me.

“What the fuck?” I turned to see Poppy, still trying to contain her laughter. “Our boy assaulted someone, got himself suspended, and you’re laughing about it.” She couldn’t even respond. I turned back to Principal Morris. “Who the hell did he assault?”

“Well,” he glanced down at some paperwork in his hands. “A young miss Kaylee Swinson was on the playground minding her own business,” he started and it was my turn to groan as I went and parked my ass in the chair Brant had vacated when I sent him out. “I see you already might know where this is going?”

“Shit!” I huffed out. “What did he do?”

“Brantley marched right over to her, yanked her ponytail and kept hold of it until the girl was forced to look at her, and then said,” he shuffled a paper out of the way. “Ah, here it is,” he glanced up at me with a grin. “I’m quoting here, ‘I’m the only guy who gets to pull your hair, Kaylee. You’re my girl. I’m snatching you up.’”

I noticed Principal Morris appeared to have more to say on the matter and I sighed deeply. “What else?”

“Mrs. Shelton tried to intervene and get him to let go of Kaylee’s hair, but he refused.” He eyeballed me then before continuing. “I’m quoting here again, ‘My dad said that’s how you gotta claim your woman this way!’ was his defense when Mrs. Shelton tried to get him to stop, and asked why he wouldn’t let go.”

“Jesus!” I huffed out. First of all, it was the first time Brant had acknowledged me as his dad. I’d seen him think about it a time or two as the twins had arrived and Sophie had grown old enough to call out for her daddy whenever she wasn’t getting her way with someone else in the house. My heart physically squeezed tighter in my chest as that sunk in. Then I had to laugh, because I had basically told him that. I just didn’t think he’d run with it so literally.

“Mrs. Lewis thought it best if you heard it from me, rather than dealing with the situation on her own. She said that you had given your boys some creative advice just last night.”

“Yeah, Mr. Morris, I did,” I admitted while shaking my head in disbelief over the situation. “Just be glad the twins are still too young to take the shit I say to heart. You might have had three cavemen out there dragging their women away.” Both Morris and Poppy laughed at that.

“What are we going to do with him?” Poppy asked through her laughter.

“I’m thinking we need to not let me give middle of the night life advice to the kids.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Principal Morris stated while getting his own chuckles under control. “While I can see this was all a harmless misunderstanding, little Miss Kaylee had a few strands pulled from her hair and was humiliated on the playground, so I’m afraid I’ll have to insist the punishment still be served.”

“I understand. I’ll talk to Brant about it when we get home,” I told him as I stood.

“Maybe, you should let your wife take over from here,” the man told me deadpan, and Poppy started in on a whole new round of laughter.

“Yeah, you got me there.”

Chapter 20

…Three years later…

Poppy was staring blankly at a wall when I walked up to her after putting the twins down for their nap. “Maybe we should add on another room?” She asked the wall, not even realizing I had moved into the room with her.

“Why would we do that? The twins are okay sharing for now, and by the time they want their own space, Brant will probably be in his own place.”

“Yeah, but where will that leave the new baby in seven months?”

“What?”

She turned to grin at me while holding out a familiar pink and white stick. It only took a quick glance down to see that there were two very predominant pink lines showing in the window. “We’re having another baby!”

“We’re having another baby?” I questioned while mocking her very words. I was stunned. We already had Sophie still running around trying to play little mommy to the twins who were getting big enough in their terrible three stages to resent it now. The boys were far too independent in their terrorizing ways to want their big sister to treat them as the dolls she seemed to think they were.

“Yeah, honey, maybe it’ll be a girl to help even things out around here,” she hummed happily. Another girl? Sophie was already showing signs that she’d be a stunner by high school. Not that she wasn’t already, but she didn’t exactly know how to match her outfits, and there were the big gaps in her teeth from where she was losing her baby teeth left and right. Still, those big green eyes of hers and the dark reddish-brown hair were going to bring boys to a standstill one day. What the hell would happen if I managed to survive her dating, only to have another girl coming up behind her?

“Are you panicking about another girl?”

“Have you seen our daughter?” I asked incredulously. “Her future dating life just played out in my mind and I can’t imagine going through that twice.”

Poppy laughed at me. “Stop being ridiculous. We have three boys, I’m far more afraid of how they’ll turn out when they start dating. Besides, look at the influences they have. A club full of men, who are mostly all good looking and have their pick of women,” she insisted.

“A club full of men who are all settling down with good women,” I corrected.

“There will always be the younger prospects and members that they look up to. You know how club life is. Our boys will want to join the club too. Think about it. What happens when one day I show up with you to a party, only to see one of our boys, or more than one of them, doing things no mom should ever witness.”

“Now you know why some of the old ladies stop coming around late nights,” I chuckled.

She smacked my chest. “I want a girl!” The words came out of her mouth in a demand.

“Well, babe, I hate to break it to you, but you’re already knocked up. I think you get what you get at this point.” She didn’t miss the smugness in my tone. I’d given her two boys at once last time. I was sure I shot another boy into her this time. “Then I’m getting a girl.”

“Let’s just hope you’re only getting one this time, whatever it is,” I mentioned after reminding myself that we’d turned one fertilized egg into two kids last time. Horror flashed across her face momentarily before she glanced down at her belly and her features smoothed out almost immediately. That was my woman. She had already fallen in love with whatever was growing in there. It didn’t matter if it was a girl, boy, or another set of twins.

“We’ll figure it out, no matter what.” She glanced back up at me with a sheen of tears making her beautiful eyes sparkle as she spoke. “You ready to begin again?” She asked with the sweetest grin plastered to her gorgeous face.

“With you?” I asked and she nodded her head as she bit into her plump bottom lip. I reached out and pulled her close with one hand holding her lower back while the other sat gently on her belly between us. “Always, honey.”

Chapter 21

…11 Years Later…

Balls deep in some chick, with a firm grasp on her hair, while she was riding him was the scene I walked into when I went to go deliver the message from Poppy to Brantley. Hell, I was still trying to wrap my head around him patching into the club, and earning his road name, and now this. B.B. wasn’t that original, but he liked it because every time someone used it, it was like calling out to both him and his dad. He’d been given Bender’s kutte when he patched in, and while it had been stripped of all the patches Bender had earned or sewn on the damn thing himself, the only ones left were the club patch and rockers on the back along with one patch on the bottom right that simply said ‘family’ and then Bender’s name was still sewn in on the front left portion that would hang over the heart when worn. Brantley said part of it had to stay so his dad could always be close to his heart. B.B. was born that night. The B from Bender’s road name took first position and the B for Brantley took the second. It was a tribute befitting of both the men, and one I knew Bender would be damn proud of.

He’d probably be proud of the scene before me too, and no doubt, equally as traumatized as I was about to be after seeing our boy thrusting nut-deep, drilling away into whoever the girl was that he had riding him like a fucking bull in the rodeo. I shook my head and cleared my throat to announce my presence. In seconds, he had the bitch flipped over so she was hidden beneath him as he snatched the blanket over them both to cover his ass and any of her bits that were hanging out.

“The fuck, dad?” He shouted while throwing a glare over his shoulder in my general direction.

“Sorry, should probably lock that door if you don’t want people busting in here though. I came to tell you that Mom needs you home tonight. She has news she wants to share with everyone.”

B.B. groaned and I chuckled knowing what happened when you were balls deep in a bitch and someone started talking about your mom. The action he was getting was about to come to an abrupt and rather limp halt. It didn’t matter that Poppy was only an aunt to him by marriage. She had taken in him in as a little boy and he had become ours just as much as he had been my sister and Bender’s.

The feminine giggling when the inevitable happened let me know that’s exactly what went down. It also announced exactly who my son had in his room.

“Message received; can you go now?” He growled.

“Sorry,” I repeated the apology again even though I didn’t mean it. Served the bastard right for all the times he cockblocked me getting with Poppy while we were raising him.

“Oh, and Kaylee, you should come too. Poppy would love to see you.”

“It ain’t like that,” B.B. hissed as I heard Kaylee gasp, clearly upset with his response. Shit. I backed up, ready to get out of throwing distance, because Kaylee was a sweet girl, but one that came with a hell of a temper too. Hell, B.B. was responsible for some of her temper over the years the way those two went back and forth so much. Still, I knew better than to stick around for the show that would follow my boy basically announcing they weren’t back together while still cocked up between her legs.

Those two had broken up when she left for college – his stupid ass idea – the year before. They had dated all the way through high school before that. We were all certain B.B. had claimed his woman the moment he met her all those years ago in grade school and pulled her hair. Poppy had been devastated when they broke up because she loved Kaylee like one of our own. Since I’d already ruined enough shit for B.B., I hit the lock on the door and closed it on my way out so that I could carry my ass home to my woman and our other four kids.

As we all sat down to dinner later that evening, Devon piped up immediately. “Are you guys getting a divorce?”

“What?” Poppy shrieked.

“Fuck no!” I yelled at him.

“Oh! Then what’s so important? I had a date for tonight.” I was about to reach over and pop the little shit in the back of the head, but his twin beat me to it. I tipped my chin at Decker in response.

“Well,” Poppy blushed as her eyes traveled around the table making contact with B.B., the twins, Sophie, and our baby girl Haley before she locked them to mine. “You’re all going to have another brother or sister in a few months.”

Everyone was stunned silent for a few moments, me included, especially since we thought Poppy had been going through menopause or something with the way her periods were messed up, the exhaustion, and hot flashes. Then it dawned on me. Those were not menopause symptoms after all. She’d just been pregnant.

“Way to go, dad! Guess your geriatric sperm are still firing!” B.B. hooted out while offering up a congratulatory slap on the back. His evil grin said it all. He was about to try to get me back for his earlier embarrassment.

“What’s a sperm?” My 11-year-old angel, Haley asked causing B.B. to double over in laughter. Her grin gave her away too. She already knew what it was and was just trying to make everyone uncomfortable. The little devil. I always thought she’d be the baby of the bunch forever.

“Shit,” I huffed out as I turned my own special grin on the love of my life. It looked like we were going to be starting all over again at 45 and 49. How the hell had we managed that? “You ready to begin again?” I asked her.

“With you?” She questioned, to which I only smiled and nodded my head at the silly woman. “Always,” came her whispered reply.

Aces High - Charleston

The Other Princess

A Love So Hard

The Princess and the Prospect

The Killing Ride

S.H.E. Books

Angel-Girl

JoJo

Aces High - Dakotas

Dancing With Danger

Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot

Aces High – Cedar Falls

Redemption Weather

Proven

Smoke and the Flame

Redemption Duet (Books 1 & 3 boxed)

JDRF Donation Thanks

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATION!

This is a special thank you to my readers for purchasing this (and any other Aces High MC books), because part of your purchase goes to charity! As many of you know, my youngest daughter is a Type 1 Diabetic. She was diagnosed in Dec. 2012, after nearly dying from being DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis).

DKA is what happens when your body can’t use the sugar in the body properly and ends up making acids with it instead. Those acids build up and will eventually kill the person if left untreated. We have struggled and fought every day since to make sure she has a normal life despite all the blood sugar checks and things she has to attach to her body (or all the shots she has to take) in order to survive. We’ve managed all this time to never have her get sick enough to require hospitalization or even a trip to the ER (for diabetic related issues). I credit JDRF and Palmetto Children’s Hospital in Columbia, SC (where she was diagnosed) for that. They gave us a diabetic bible to live by. We received a small backpack full of information that we still have, and use, to this day. It keeps us on track, and has given my daughter a better chance of not having complications later on in life from Diabetes.

So, with that in mind, I am donating 10% of all royalties from every single one of my Aces High MC World books to JDRF on the anniversary of the first Aces High book to be published (Dancing With Danger – released March 2018). So, thank you for your purchase, because a little bit of what you spent on this book will go towards helping another child, like my daughter, to live successfully with Diabetes until a cure is found! You will see a very special newsletter go out in both March and April concerning the amounts donated, so be sure to sign up for that on the Moonlit Dreams Publications website. http://www.moonlitdreams.org

Acknowledgements

Read a book, fall in love, and leave a review!

That’s our new motto – help us stick to it!

Reviews help other readers find books, they help with getting books seen in newsletters, and page placements in online bookstores. In my world, they also help determine which books get written next!

Thank you to all of the fans of the Aces High MC World! Thank you for your continued support, reviews, and interactions!

Thanks to Bella – for keeping my shit together for me & brightening things up with your art.

I’m sure there are more people I need to thank – there always are – and yet, the woman with the words always draws a blank at this point.

About the Author

Christine Michelle (aka Christine M. Butler) writes paranormal fantasy and contemporary romance books from her fabulous home tucked away near the southern tip of the Appalachian Mountains on the North Carolina / Georgia border. That means she sees a lot of rainy days to help her focus, but when the sun comes out she’s usually out and about playing in the woods, a creek, river, or lake.

She spends her free time with family and her dog.

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