by S. Nelson
I savored the next few minutes before bringing up a topic I knew was touchy. He hadn’t said as much in so many words to me, but I was quite observant. “Hey, man, listen. I think we should start sending a guy or two with Jagger when he’s fighting.”
Marek bristled with unspoken aggravation, calming himself before meeting my stare. “Why?” he deadpanned.
“From what I understand, the purse is getting kinda large, and I think he could use some extra support in case anyone gets any ideas.” Taking another pull off my beer, I leaned back in my chair. “He’s gettin’ to be a pretty big deal in that world.”
“Well, if he’s so big then can’t he take care of himself, seeing as he’s the one winnin’ all the fucking fights anyway?” Reclining in his chair and mirroring my stance, he threw one arm over the back of his seat and rested the other on the table, drumming his fingers across the top. He was contemplating my suggestion, even though the prospect was probably one of the last people he wished to discuss right then.
“What’s up with the two of you?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, rising from his seat and grabbing another beer from the fridge. Tipping the bottle at me to ask if I wanted another, I simply shook my head. One drink was good enough since I was driving. No way in hell I was makin’ my pregnant woman cart my drunk ass home.
“Why don’t you like Jagger?”
“Who said I didn’t like him?”
“Your expression and body language any time you’re around him,” I replied quickly. Rocking back and forth in my chair, I waited patiently for him to answer, amusing myself until the women joined us.
“If you must know, he’s got a thing for Sully.” He leaned against the kitchen counter, his hands clenched into tight fists as he freed the words from his mouth.
“Yeah, I know,” I admitted, smirking I’d finally been able to make him admit it to me. While I was amused, it was actually no laughing matter. I hated the way Tripp acted toward Addy, but at least I knew he didn’t have a thing for her. There would be no telling how I would react toward the nomad if I thought otherwise.
Marek looked like he was ready to read me the riot act, but thought better of it. “If he’s goin’ around tellin’ people, I’m gonna kill him. Quite literally.”
Deciding it was best to put my dear friend out of his misery, I confessed how I knew the prospect had feelings for Sully. “Look, the boy’s not stupid. This club means everything to him. He’s not about to fuck that up, plus risk you snatchin’ his life, all for a little crush.”
“Little crush?” he shouted, lowering his voice once he realized how loud he sounded. “It’s not a little crush. I think he’s in love with her.”
I shook my head at his theory. “I really don’t think so. I don’t think it’s anything more than a simple crush. Sully is beautiful, after all. I’m surprised more men aren’t following her around.” Ribbing him was probably not the smartest idea, so before he freaked out, I continued telling him what I really thought. “In all seriousness, his infatuation will pass . . . in time. All we have to do is hook him up with as much pussy as possible.”
“Well, I’ll leave that up to you,” he grated, pushing off the counter and walking around the table. “Where the hell are those two?”
Needing to know where he stood about what I’d proposed a few minutes back, I repeated my question. “So, what’s your take on sending a couple guys with Jagger to his next fight? I think it’s in two days.”
“Fight?” Sully asked, rounding the corner with Addy close on her heels. “Are you guys talking about Jagger’s upcoming fight?” She closed the small distance between her and her husband, pecking his lips before turning around to face me. “Hi, Stone,” she greeted.
“Hi, Sully. How are ya?”
“Good.” She leaned in to Marek, seeking his comfort, but he pushed her away so he could look at her.
“What do you know about his fights?” he asked, his question surely poised for an argument. All of a sudden, the air bristled with tension, both women confused by the change in my friend’s voice.
“I overheard Tripp and Ryder talking about it the last time I was there.” She looked down for a brief moment, giving everything away. She was lying, or omitting something, and the both of us knew it. Before things turned unbearable, she chose to confess, not even realizing she was being scrutinized during those few seconds of silence. “Plus, he told me when I ran into him.” She talked quicker, hoping to dispel any anger her husband felt at the fact she’d conversed with the prospect. “I was waiting for you to finish up talking to Trigger when I ran into Jagger in the kitchen. We were just chitchatting, Cole,” she offered, realizing he was about to blow.
“Did he invite you to his fight?” he seethed.
“No.” I could tell she answered truthfully that time.
“Hey, I have a great idea. How about we all go to his next bout?” Addy asked, completely oblivious that there was an all-out war about to erupt in the kitchen.
“Hell no!” Marek and I both shouted at the same time, cementing the answer, just in case there was any doubt.
“Why not? It might be fun,” she pressed, lowering herself to sit on my lap.
“For one, you’re six fuckin’ months pregnant, never mind I would never allow you in that kind of environment. It’s too dangerous.”
“But you guys would be with us. Therefore, we’d be safe.” Addy smiled as if she had just solved it.
“Give it up, Adelaide,” Sully said, nestling closer to Marek. “Even if Stone let you go, my dear husband wouldn’t follow suit. He thinks Jagger likes me, so there’s no way he’ll let me go. Even though I’ve told him he doesn’t.”
“Wait . . . what? Am I missing something? Why do you think Jagger likes Sully?” she asked Marek, evoking the anger he’d been able to dispel to the back burner.
“’Cause he does,” he answered brusquely.
Before his wife could interject with her rebuttal, I spoke up. “He does, Sully. But I think it’s a harmless crush.”
Addy nodded, indicating she agreed with me. “He’s young. I’m sure that’s all it is.”
I couldn’t hold my tongue, even though this wasn’t our argument. “Just like your neighbor, ‘Robby’?” I said, crooking the first two fingers on each hand as I finished speaking.
“Again, that’s his actual name. Not sure why you’re using air quotes. Besides, he’s not my neighbor anymore.” The subject was still a little sensitive for the both of us, so I wasn’t sure exactly why I’d brought it up. She tried to stand, but I held her close with a firm grip on her waist.
“Let’s forget I brought it up,” I offered, realizing full well it was the last thing either one of us wanted to talk about. It was in the past, and there it would remain, until I deemed it necessary to bring to light again.
The rest of the evening was calmer, thank God. We shared many laughs, making fun of some of the club members. Namely Hawke. He was a good guy, but dense as hell sometimes.
We enjoyed Sully’s homemade chicken pot pie, a recipe she wanted to try out on us to see if it was any good. Marek had told me she’d really taken to cooking, as well as baking. Of course, I couldn’t let a comment like that slide by without a retort, patting his belly and joking that I could tell she was feeding him well. Truth be told, Marek was in the best shape of his life, much like me. Although, I might be okay with putting on a few pounds if Addy took to the kitchen the way Sully had.
But I liked my balls too much to make the suggestion.
Adelaide
“I’m nervous. It just seems the further along I get in this pregnancy, the more I want to protect our son from the poison they inject into me.” I turned my head to the side, trying my best to hide my building paranoia from Stone. “Maybe I should stop until after I give birth.”
He moved closer, his knee brushing my thigh when he reached for my hand. “Addy, look at me.” I obliged the first time he asked. “If you want to stop treatment until a
fter he’s born, then I support you. But remember that Dr. Weber said the baby looks perfectly healthy, and the last time you brought up postponing chemo, he advised against it.”
The decision to forgo treatment until after the delivery had been weighing heavy on me, but instead of focusing on that, I chose to direct my attention to the fact that Stone had said Dr. Weber’s name without reservation. I smiled.
“What?” he asked, clueless as to why I was grinning from ear to ear.
“I think you’re growing.” He glanced down at himself, confused as all hell.
“What are you talkin’ about, woman?”
“You said Dr. Weber’s name without following it up with a threat of some sort.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess I did.” He mirrored my enjoyment, a smile curving up the corners of his beautiful mouth. “I guess he’s not so bad,” he offered, which I knew was a big deal for him to say. “Plus, he’s going above and beyond, working with Dr. Altosh to make sure your treatments are the best option for you. To save your life.” The seriousness of his last statement stole both of our smiles. While both doctors were fully invested in my case, they weren’t God. And if my maker wanted to call me home sooner than I wanted to leave, then there was nothing anyone could do about that decision. It was beyond all of our reaches.
After a long pause in our conversation, Stone broke the silence by speaking again. “So . . . does that mean you do or don’t want to go for your dose today?” His fingers remained entwined with mine, his love and support pouring from him the entire time I internally dueled with what to do. This time of my life was the hardest so far, and while I prayed to make it through with both my life and the life of our son growing inside me, I wasn’t naïve. But not wanting to travel down the road of self-doubt right then, I squeezed his hand and nodded.
“I only have one more treatment after today, so I may as well get it over with.” I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but ninety percent was good enough, right?
“Okay then. I’ll grab your jacket.” Even though the temperature outside would reach the high eighties today, I often got the chills directly after the drugs were introduced into my system. All things considered, the side effects I had to endure weren’t terrible. Thankfully. Other than the nausea which quickly followed and stuck around for almost a week, and the tiredness my body succumbed to, the only other side effect was that my skin was drier. Almost as if the drugs sucked the moisture right out of me. Something Stone said he didn’t mind so much, because he loved rubbing me down from head to toe with lotion twice a day.
Any reason for him to have his hands all over my body and the man was in Heaven. Hey, I wasn’t complaining either.
My cancer and pregnancy brought out the protective side of Stone in spades. He never allowed me to lift a thing, whether it was cleaning up after we’d had dinner, or carrying a load of laundry. Dealing with all the household tasks was his way of making sure I was taken care of. When he couldn’t be home because of the club, he’d send one of the other men over to help me out, even though he would be home later that evening. He never wanted me to go without, and he hated the fact I spent time alone without him. Worrying about me all day long had taken over the majority of his life, and while I felt bad that I caused him to fret over me so much, it was nice to have someone there when I needed him.
Carrying my jacket in one hand, he guided me toward the front door with the other. The warmth of his palm calmed my rising nerves, giving me strength to tackle another day. I wasn’t gonna lie; many days were a test for me. I tried my hardest not to let him see me crumble, but whenever I had a few hours to myself, I allowed my fears to come to the surface, my tears doing their job of ridding my body of such overwhelming emotion. If Stone had noticed my red and puffy eyes, I placated his worries by telling him my tears were because of my overactive hormones. He believed me. At least, I thought he did.
I’d decided to go ahead and finish the regimented treatment sessions. After this one, there was only one left. One more and then I would find out whether or not they had worked.
Waiting for that day was going to be nerve-racking for sure. Either way, I knew I had the love of a good man, and the will to fight another day.
Stone
“I’m not so sure this is such a great idea, Addy.” I tried to reason with her but for some reason she chose to ignore me, flitting about our bedroom and searching for her other sandal.
“You’ll be fine,” she soothed, excited when she’d finally located the missing shoe. Strapping it into place, she stalked toward me with purpose. Standing on her tiptoes, she linked her fingers around the back of my neck and pressed her mouth to mine. Her tongue drifted across my bottom lip, the sensations of lust and need spiraling through me in mere seconds. All it took was a simple touch and I was prepared to throw her down on the bed and fuck her like I hadn’t seen her in weeks.
“Stop trying to distract me,” I growled, capturing her mouth for a quick kiss before pushing her back. “Besides, I need my wits about me if I’m gonna meet your father. I have no doubt that once he finds out I’m part of the club he’ll be pissed. I would be if I were him.”
“What does that mean?” Her confused look would have been funny if she hadn’t been so serious. Tugging on the hem of her blue jersey dress, the color making her eyes pop, she backed away from me, her gaze pinned to mine.
“You know damn well what it means.” She remained silent, forcing me to explain further. “He’s gonna look at me as nothing more than a criminal, stealing his daughter’s future before it even starts. And sometimes I think he’d be right to think such things.” I couldn’t believe I’d voiced my insecurities, thoughts which sometimes buried me in self-doubt. But it was the truth. I regretted my choice of words as soon as I saw a single tear dance down her cheek. Reaching out to calm her before she became more distressed, I tried to grab her hand but she quickly retreated.
“Don’t say those things,” she whispered, breaking eye contact and looking down at her swollen belly. “It makes me think you’ll leave me. If you think you’ll ruin me . . . you’ll disappear, and I don’t know how I would live if you ever did that to me.” The desperation in her voice struck a severe chord with me. I wasn’t used to her appearing vulnerable, sickness and pregnancy alike. She was always strong, pigheaded even. Never exposed.
When I tried to make contact again, she withdrew further, but before she fled the room, my fingers latched around her arm to halt her. Pulling her to me, I kissed the top of her head and poured my heart out. I needed to make sure she knew I wasn’t going anywhere before she worried herself to death. She had enough on her plate; she didn’t need to add me to the list, or the future of our relationship. In reality, if anyone left it would be her, when she was finally fed up with me. Another thing I would never seriously let happen.
Addy was mine forever, and no one would get in the way of that.
Including either one of us.
I directed her face upward until I could see her eyes. Placing a lingering kiss on her lips, I spewed out everything I was thinking. My thoughts were all over the place so what came out of my mouth was jumbled, but it made sense to me.
“I’ll never leave you. Ever. I don’t care what your father thinks or even what I think from time to time. Are you too good for me? Absolutely. But does the selfish part of me care? I should . . . but I don’t. You’re mine. End of story. I’ll piss you off countless times over the course of our life together, but I’ll apologize and hopefully you won’t get sick of hearing the words.” More tears leaked from her eyes, my own becoming glassy at seeing her so upset. “I love you. Now and forever. Nothing will change that, I promise. If anything, I’ll probably have to live with Marek from time to time because you’ll get sick of me and kick me out.” While I tried to lighten the conversation with a joke, I was being completely serious at the same time. I could clearly envision Addy demanding a few days alone to allow her anger toward me to lessen, for whatever reason.
Her a
rms wrapped tightly around my waist while her head pressed against my chest. “He’ll make you stay at the clubhouse instead.” There was no laughter in her voice, even though what she said was a comical retort.
“Yup. You’re probably right. And every night away from you and our son will be torture. So I’ll do my best not to let that happen.”
I hugged her back with a fierceness that showed her I was serious about everything I’d said, all while not crushing her belly.
“If we don’t get goin’, your father is surely gonna blame me.”
“Fine, fine,” she mumbled, snatching a short-sleeved sweater from the chair to go over her dress. The weather outside was beautiful, but the sun was going to dip below the horizon soon enough, and although I would still find it warm out, Addy would get the chills. One of the many side effects from her treatment.
Over an hour later, we pulled up in front of her father’s house, arriving later than I’d wanted because I needed to take a detour toward the clubhouse in order to check in on some business. What I thought was going to be a quick stop turned out to be an ordeal. Trigger and I had words . . . again. As soon as he laid eyes on his niece and the ever-growing proof I went against his steadfast rule, he had no qualms about telling me what he thought of me. His anger toward me didn’t affect me in the least—what was done was done. Addy was mine now, and there was nothing he could do about it. He’d exacted the punishment he thought was fitting by shooting me, and if he didn’t move on soon . . . I’d force him to do so.
How? I had no idea, but I was sure with the help of my friend, and president, we’d come up with something. Plus, every time he said something to me in front of Addy he managed to upset her. And that was unacceptable.
Coming around to her side of the truck, I opened her door and extended my hand. Once I felt the warmth of her skin on mine, I relaxed. Sort of. As tough as I tried to appear, there was nothing that would calm my nerves about meeting her father. Someone who was gonna judge me before he even heard me speak. Someone who was instantly gonna think I was unworthy of his daughter, strictly because I wasn’t him. Fathers always wanted to be the only men in their daughter’s lives, solely because no one else could ever measure up.
