Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“I made you a cake,” Maven says with a beaming smile. “Tank says you worry about that killer figure, so I made it with beet sugar. Let me know how you like it. I’m always looking for new items to add to the menu.”
“Thank you,” I tell her in a shaky voice, hugging her to cover more tears. Where in the hell are these hormones coming from when my pregnancy is over? “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kelsey assures me. “I cried at the drop of a hat for about three months after I gave birth.”
“I still cry all the time, and Ryder’s almost seven months old,” Kenna adds with teary eyes.
“Damn, girl.” Josie laughs and wraps her arm around me. “Now you’re part of the biker bitch mommy brigade. Do you guys have jackets or something?”
The women laugh, and Kenna taps her chin. “No, but I like the idea of the Mommy Brigade and matching jackets. I’ll look into that.”
Kelsey rolls her eyes. “See what you started?”
Josie shrugs. “That’s me, mistress of chaos. Sorry, not sorry.” She grabs me by the waist, leading me to the throne, but not before tossing a sash across my chest. “Ready to be the center of attention for the next few hours?”
“Not at all,” I grumble to myself. “I’m a hot mess.”
“You’re my hot mess, and you look beautiful,” Tank assures me, kissing my cheek before he disappears with the rest of the men. Whatever they’re up to weighs heavily on my mind.
The baby showers got all the trimmings, but beneath the streamers and the congrats balloons, I wonder what it really means to bring a child into this biker world.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Tank
“How’s fatherhood?” Shades smiles at me from his spot at one of the picnic tables behind the clubhouse, legs crossed at the ankles and a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Great. Perfect,” I answer with a wide smile. “Terrifying as fuck.”
“Ain’t it?” Coop agrees with a smile just as wide. “Amazing, too, though.”
Ace nods. “It’s like Basic Training, terrifying and exhausting, and you wish you hadn’t done it, but then you’re grateful as fuck that you did.” He’s shaking his head as though even he can’t believe the shit coming out of his mouth.
“That’s it exactly,” I agree. I haven’t been a father all that long, but every decision I make is about what’s best for my girls. “What did I miss?”
And that one question flips everyone back to MC business mode. Wild Man is there with his laptop open on the table and a cigarette hanging from his lips. “Thanks to your friend Riot and crew, we’ve got intel on the motherfuckers who went after Sophie. With their help, I managed to retrace the steps and track down the vehicles to their starting point.”
I’m holding my breath, full of anticipation and annoyance. “And?”
Wild Man grins like he’s enjoying teasing me. “Patience, man.” I lunge forward, and the pretty motherfucker smiles again. “Calm down, dude. It’s the old man, Arturo Rojas. He’s been working with the Latin Mafia since he’s been locked up. They followed Sophie after she tried to visit you in County and passed the info along to him.”
“Son of a bitch.” Sophie and Hope will never be safe until the old man is dead and buried. “I thought we were getting rid of him.”
Ace nods. “It’s not as easy as we thought. The good news is we now have a guard in our pocket. And he’s not cheap.”
“And the bad news?”
“Rojas has been meeting with his attorneys regularly, making it pretty fucking impossible to get to him.” Ace lets out a long, frustrated breath. “We have to pay someone to do it. Riot has a couple lifers on the inside, but…” Ace draws out a long sigh.
“But?” I ask.
“It’s gonna cost us,” he answers. His tone is at odds with his demeanor. This shit has to be done, and we all know it.
“So? Money’s the only thing we have right now.” Between the money we made working with Rojas before we took him down, Morgan International, and all of our other businesses, we can fucking pay someone to kill that motherfucker.
Ace shakes his head as if I just don’t get it. “Do we really want another MC handling this for us?”
“If it’s only gonna cost us a little bit of cash to know that fucker is dead? Fuck yeah.” Dix looks at Ace like he doesn’t recognize him. “He’s not just a problem for Valentina and Sophie. He’s a problem for our existence. As long as Arturo is alive, he won’t stop trying to take us down.” Dix’s jaws clench tight, his dark gaze almost begs Ace to consider this.
“Looking at the federal inmates in with Arturo now,” Wild Man says, excitement in his eyes. “It’s a big ask, but the Iron Reapers have two lifers in the same facility and one in Arturo’s cellblock. What are we willing to give him?”