Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
While I was thankful for the warm welcome I’d gotten, I was really worried about Otto. There were many women and children inside the clubhouse, but I didn’t see any of the men. I had a very strong suspicion that staying safe inside the gates didn’t apply to everyone.
About forty minutes after Otto left, he was back with his dad and brothers. As the family crowded into the little room, each man went to their spouse.
“Headin’ out, baby,” he told me, cupping my face as he gently rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip. I slid my hands beneath his leather, gripping his sweatshirt in both fists.
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure that from now on you and baby are safe.”
“All of you?” I asked quietly, looking at each of the men, their faces close as they spoke quietly to their women.
“There’ll be some that stay behind,” Otto assured me. “They’ll make sure you guys are covered here.”
“You’re going to find my dad?” I knew the answer before I spoke, but I still needed verification.
I could see the indecision in Otto’s eyes clearly and I wondered if he’d actually lie to me before he finally nodded.
“Please be careful.” I took in the soot on his cheeks that he’d missed when he cleaned up, the strong jaw, the lips that looked firm but were so soft when he kissed me. It had only been weeks since we’d found each other again, but I couldn’t imagine life without him anymore. How in the world had that happened?
“I’ll be home soon,” he promised. “Hang with my mom. Get somethin’ to eat. Take a nap. Maybe I’ll crawl in with you when I get back.”
He leaned forward and kissed me carefully, setting his hand on my belly for just a moment.
“I love you,” I murmured against his lips.
“I love you, too,” he whispered back, pressing his forehead against mine. “Be back soon.” He rose to his feet.
All the men were moving away from their families, and my stomach twisted with fear. No one else seemed scared. My sisters-in-law were stoic. Heather was already playing with Rhett again.
“Otto,” I called when he’d almost reached the door.
“What’s up?”
I knew it wasn’t fair. I knew that whatever he was doing was dangerous. I was embarrassed and ashamed, but I couldn’t hold back the words. “Don’t kill my dad.”
Otto held my eyes for a moment before nodding.
Then they were gone, and I thought my heart would beat out of my chest as I focused on breathing. I held myself as still as possible, an old trick I used as a child to keep myself from crying. The memory of my dad’s voice asking if I wanted him to give me something to cry about ringing in my ears.
The room was quiet except for Rhett’s motorcycle noise, and that’s when I realized that Nova and Emilia weren’t as unbothered as I’d originally thought.
“No use running it over and over in your mind,” Heather announced, closing her eyes as she rested her head against the wall. “It doesn’t help. Just makes you crazy.”
“Does it ever get easier?” Emilia asked with a huff.
“No,” Nova and Heather responded at the same time.
“Oh, yeah,” Emilia said, looking at Nova. “You grew up in the club, didn’t you?”
Nova nodded and cleared her throat. “Yeah.”
“Samson was a good man for a lot of years,” Heather said, opening her eyes to smile softly at Nova. She closed them again. “Watched Tommy’s back more than a few times.”
There was a story there, but I’d never ask what it was. I wouldn’t ever be the person that made Nova look like she did then—like she’d swallowed glass.
“So, how about a little family history for Esther,” Heather said, blindly reaching out to run her hand over Rhett’s hair. “Emilia, you go first. Tell her how you and Micky got together.”
Emilia snorted.
“The PG version, please.”
“I think we should start even earlier,” Emilia argued. “How did you and Tommy get together?”
Heather grinned. “That’s easy. I was best friends with his baby brother.”
“The original Micky,” Emilia told me and Nova with a smile.
“The original,” Heather mused. “Let’s just call him the older one, yeah? My baby’s an original, too.”
“That’s how you two got together?” Nova asked, getting comfortable against a bag tucked into the corner of a room. “Because of Uncle Micky?”
“Well, actually,” Heather replied with a chuckle. “Tommy hated me after we lost Micky. It really started years later during a lockdown.”
I couldn’t help but grin as Nova and Emilia oohed and ahhed.
“Hey, No,” Nova’s brother Bird interrupted, skidding to a stop in the doorway with Myla behind him. “Have you seen Titus? We can’t find him anywhere.”
Heather’s eyes popped open, and her head shot forward away from the wall.
“What do you mean?”
“We can’t find him,” Bird repeated.
“Is his car outside?” Heather asked, gently but quickly moving Rhett away so she could stand up.