by Sophia Gray
“He’d really cleaned himself up,” Ethan said. “I had to put the story together piece by piece, but he’d stopped drinking when I was about two years old. He’d tracked my mom down, tried to see me, but she wouldn’t let him. She said we were better off without him.”
“Even though he was clean?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if maybe she didn’t believe it, or if she just liked her life a whole lot better without him in it. Either way, he left. Joined the Army for a while. Then, when his tour was up, he came back and he and William started The Angel’s Keepers. I would have been about ten then. So it had been around for about six years when I came out to Nevada. I didn’t know anything about mechanic work, but I didn’t have anything better to do, so I started going to the HQ with my dad. He taught me everything he knew.”
“And then you joined the Army, too,” Amelia said when Ethan stopped talking. “Right? You said you were a mechanic in the Army.”
He nodded, surprised she’d remembered. “Yeah. I probably would have stayed in longer, too. I kinda planned to make it my full-time gig. But my dad got sick.” He cleared his throat. “He kept saying everything was fine, but I could tell it wasn’t, so when it came time to reenlist, I didn’t go back in. I came home and saw he’d lost more than fifty pounds while I was gone. His hair was starting to get really thin and he looked about twenty years older. I sat him down, told him I wasn’t going to leave until he told me what the hell was going on. He finally gave in and told me. He had cancer, pancreatic. He made it two years after that, which was a year and a half more than they gave him.” He paused, swallowing hard. “Eventually the pain got to be too much. Then I lost him. So I had ten years with my dad when I could have had twenty-six.” He met her eyes. “Amelia, I’m not gonna do that to my kid. Nobody knows how long they’ve got, but I’m gonna be there as long as I can.”
Amelia blinked back sudden tears, looking down at the scarred tabletop. He’d sounded like he meant every word. It was the most emotion she’d ever heard in his voice. And, as foolish as it sounded, she felt a little jealous of the baby.
“Hey,” Ethan said, sitting down across from her once more. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
That I’m falling in love with you. That I don’t think you’ll ever love me back.Amelia took a breath to steady her voice. “I’m sorry,” she said, putting on a small smile. “I’m an emotional wreck. Thanks for telling me that story. I understand now.”That I’m just the woman who happens to be pregnant with your child. That it wasn’t me you came back for.
Ethan’s dark eyes searched her face. “I’m not so sure you do,” he said flatly. “You look--”
Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her bag. “It’s my father.”
His mouth tightened. “Ignore it.”
“I can’t,” Amelia said. “If he has even the smallest, slightest reason to think you might have hurt me, he’ll have the police out here before you can think twice. I don’t want to put you through that.”
Ethan stood up. “I’ll leave you alone, then.”
She grabbed his shirt as he walked past. “No, please don’t. I’m sorry, but...I just need you to stay with me for this.”
He stopped as she accepted the call and after a brief second, she felt his big hand resting on her shoulder. The warmth and strength there were the only thing that gave her the courage to say hello.
“Where are you?” Gregory demanded. “I’ve had security all over the house and the grounds, so don’t try to lie and tell me you’re still here!”
Ethan squeezed her shoulder and she glanced up at him. He could clearly hear her father’s shouting from where he stood. It was just as clear that he didn’t like it. His jaw was tight, but his eyes were reassuring.
“I’m not going to try to lie,” she said, her voice shaking only slightly, which she was proud of. “I’m with Ethan.”
Amelia jerked the phone away from her ear as her father bellowed, “What did you just say?”
“I said I’m with Ethan,” she repeated. “I told you if he wanted to be involved--”
“Don’t be an idiot, Amelia. He doesn’t want to be involved!” Gregory interrupted, his tone angry and mocking. “He just wants to screw me over!”
Ethan snorted and Amelia glanced up at him. He looked furious now.
“Dad--”
“This conversation is over. Get home. Now, Amelia.”
“This is my child,” Amelia went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “And it’s his, too. If he wants to be involved, I won’t stop him. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. All it would take is a DNA test and any court would give him visitation rights.”
“All it will take is some money.”
There was a different tone in her father’s voice now. Amelia thought she heard an undertone of desperation. She’d never disobeyed him so blatantly before. To her surprise, under the nervousness, she felt good.
“Ask him, Amelia. Ask him right now and make sure he knows I’m serious. Ask him how much it will take to pay him to ride off into the sunset.”
“My dad wants to buy you off,” Amelia said, looking up at Ethan.
He laughed humorlessly. “Sure, let’s work something out. How about a million dollars and my kid?”
“Hear that?” Amelia asked into the phone. “This is going to happen, Dad. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
“You can!” Gregory said and there was no denying the desperation in his tone now. “Amelia, just come home. Maybe...maybe I have been too hard on you. I’m willing to let you come and go a little more as you please. Willing to give you a little more freedom. I...we can talk about the engagement to Anthony. Maybe we’re rushing things. I’m sure Governor Barlow would understand.”
Amelia put her head in her hand, fighting the urge to laugh. If she laughed, it would dissolve into tears and she didn’t want to cry anymore. “Dad. You were rushing things a month ago. It’s too late now.”
“No, sweetie, it’s not.” His voice was calming now, a tone she remembered from childhood. It very nearly weakened her resolve because it had been so long since she’d felt soothed by him. “I know you’re scared and you think this is the right decision, but just because he’s the baby’s father doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good dad. He’s never going to be able to provide anything. Do you really want to raise your child in a world with no opportunities?”
Amelia’s voice was firm. “I could help provide those opportunities, too.”
There was a long pause and she could almost hear her father swallowing his words. The soothing tone seemed to be a struggle for him now. “Amelia. I know you think you’re capable of doing that, but you have no idea how the world works. You’ve never even managed your own money!”
“And whose fault is that?” she demanded. “I begged you to let me have some control! I’ve been asking if I could get a job since I was sixteen! I’ve wanted you to let me...” she broke off. A list of all the ways she’d wanted to be a functioning adult would take much too long. “This is pointless. I’m not going to deal with it right now. Ethan and I have things to work out and that’s all there is to it.”
“Amelia May Stratton, don’t you dare disconnect this call!” Gregory boomed. “Get home where you belong before you make a fool of me and end up getting yourself hurt!”
Amelia ended the call, shaking. She tried once again to hold back the tears, but they poured down her cheeks anyway. She covered her face with her hands and let the sobs shake her.
Ethan pulled her up from the chair and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t let him get to you,” he said in a low voice. “You’re doing the right thing.”
She only cried harder. The worst part, even worse than having her lack of money and profitable skills rubbed into her face, had been the prediction that she was going to get herself hurt. She hadn’t needed to hear that. She knew it was true. It was actually the only thing she was sure of. She felt more for Ethan than she’d ever felt for any man in her life. S
he was teetering on the edge of falling in love with him and she would always just be the woman he got pregnant. Amelia pulled away, wiping her face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I should go.”
Ethan eyed her. “Go where?”
“I... I guess a hotel.” If she could figure out how to pay for it. Amelia chewed her lower lip. Maybe Gregory hadn’t cut off her credit cards just yet.
“Don’t be stupid. You can just stay here.”
She caught her breath. Was she wrong? Maybe she was. He had kissed her earlier, after all. Before he found out about the baby. And he’d held her twice since then. Maybe--
“You can have the bedroom,” Ethan went on. “I’ll stay out here on the couch.”
Her heart sank. “Oh. No, I can sleep on the couch, it’s fine.”
He caught her upper arm and steered her down the short hall. “I’ve got shirts in that drawer over there if you want something to sleep in and you know where the bathroom is,” he said brusquely. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”
“Thanks,” she said, feeling a little hollow.
He only nodded and closed the bedroom door behind him. Amelia stripped off her clothes and pulled one of his shirts on. Then she slid down into sheets that smelled like him and closed her eyes, even though she knew sleep wasn’t going to be easy to attain.
Chapter 16
Ethan
Ethan sat down on the couch and turned the television on, making sure to lower the volume more than he normally would have. He didn’t want to keep Amelia awake, but there was no way in hell he would be getting to sleep anytime soon. Not with her in his bed and her kiss still lingering on his lips.
Why in the hell had he kissed her? He’d been so furious with her that he saw red at first. But...she’d seemed so broken. And he was drawn to her like a magnet. Even now, with all the worry he felt about the club and about the fact that, in less than eight short months, he was going to be a father, he was thinking about her. She was alone. In his bed. And engaged to someone else. He couldn’t forget that part. If he let that part go, even for a second, he’d do something stupid.
She’d stood up to her father...sort of. But she hadn’t broken the engagement. She hadn’t even mentioned breaking it off. Ethan rubbed his forehead. It was late and the day had been shitty for her. Hell, for both of them. But...if she were planning to dump this Anthony guy, wouldn’t she have said something? He wanted it to be first on her list and fuck it if it was selfish of him.
His restless thoughts took a different turn. Maybe he should be happy that she was going to marry someone else. Anthony Barlow was rich. Or, at least, his father was. Why not let the guy give his kid everything Ethan couldn’t? He could provide the nice clothes, the good school. He could give the kid a college education without student loans. Ethan could stick to funding meals at McDonald’s when it was his weekend and buying the kid a motorcycle when it hit time to ride. So why not?
The answer came swiftly and easily. Because it felt as wrong as sandpaper on a sunburn, that was why. He pictured leading that empty life. Amelia and her husband would pull up in their sleek new car, making all of his neighbors stare. Amelia would get out and hurry up to the door, rushing the kid along so they didn’t take up too much of the governor’s son’s precious time. Places to go and people to see, of course.
She would look tired, the way she had when she’d opened the door for him tonight, all the light in those vivid green eyes dimmed by being someone she wasn’t. Then what? Would they have to have an awkward catch up conversation? No, she probably wouldn’t stay that long. She’d kiss the kid, tell them what time she’d be back for pickup and be gone, off to be the good Stepford wife.
Ethan didn’t want that for her. Hell, he didn’t want that for any of them. He didn’t want someone else spoiling his kid. He didn’t want anyone else providing for his kid at all.
And, he might as well admit it: he didn’t want anyone else in bed with Amelia. He had no right to be so possessive of her. She was clearly going through a lot. That was why he’d held himself back when she flung herself into his arms earlier when all he’d wanted to do was scoop her into his arms and carry her down the hall. He wanted to make love to her until she looked at him the way she’d looked at him that night together. He was addicted to that look. Pleasure hazed shock. God, he hadn’t been able to get it out of his head since.
His phone rang, shaking him out of the reverie. Ethan glanced down at the display and didn’t recognize the number. He answered it quickly, eager for something to take his mind off of Amelia. Usually, only members of the club called this late and he was almost hoping someone was having engine trouble. Anything to give him something new to focus on. Hopefully something that would be a real son of a bitch to handle. It would help to have something to funnel the rage into.
“Hello?” he said.
There was a slight pause and then a cultured voice spoke. “This is Representative Gregory Stratton.”
Ethan smiled grimly. Pompous ass. This was perfect. He was already spoiling for a fight.
“Okay,” he said, stretching his legs out and leaning back. “And just what the fuck do you want?”
“I want my daughter to come home,” Stratton said flatly.
“Yeah,” Ethan drawled. “Shouldn’t you be talking to her, then? I’m not her keeper.”
There was another pause, this one slightly longer. “I’m unable to get in touch with her. She’s turned her phone off.”
Ethan didn’t bother to hold back his bark of laughter. “Sucks to be you, Stratton.”
“Representative Stratton,” the man corrected furiously. “I can make this so much harder for you, Billings.”
“You think so?” Ethan asked curiously. “Because I kinda think you’ve played your hand already. You probably won’t be able to get the rest of the government to agree to exterminating us.”
“These laws,” Stratton went on, ignoring Ethan’s provocation. “They don’t have to be so stringent. At least, not on your particular club.”
Ethan snorted. Was Stratton really trying this? It was insulting to his intelligence. “Right. I don’t know if you know this,Representative Stratton, but laws tend to apply to everyone.”
“They don’t have to, Mr. Billings. Not when you know the right people.”
The slick suggestion in the other man’s voice got under Ethan’s skin. In addition to insulting his intelligence, Stratton was insulting his honor. “I think we’re done here,” he said.
“I’m glad to know your club doesn’t mean anything to you,” Stratton hissed.
“I’m glad to know you still think you can bargain for a grown woman’s freedom,” Ethan replied, losing the tenuous grip he had on the ragged remains of his temper. “I’m not holding her here, you dumbass. She came back with me because she wanted to do the right thing! I guess that doesn’t make any sense to you, since you’re bending every goddamn law that you’re not already breaking, but she seems to be actually be a good person. Maybe you should take a fucking hint, you son of a bitch. I’m not crooked like you, and I’m not gonna bargain my kid away!”
“You have my number when you change your mind,” Stratton said tightly. “I promise you, I can make this very--”
Ethan disconnected the call, his hand tightening on the phone until his fingers ached. Losing his temper had felt good for a few moments, but he didn’t get his frustration out completely and now had no outlet for it. He normally went for a ride when the walls closed in on him like this, but he didn’t want to leave Amelia alone in the house. Not when he’d just antagonized her father so badly, anyway.
Guilt began to creep in around the edges of his anger as he thought about what Stratton had said. What could the man do to the club? Ethan really couldn’t think of anything that would hurt them more than the laws Stratton was already pushing for. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something up Stratton’s sleeve. If the conversation had proven anything, it was that the two men were complete opp
osites in how they ran their lives.
His own father had been so proud of The Angel’s Keepers. It had given him a purpose, a reason to keep living on the straight and narrow even once he’d lost all hope of ever seeing his son. And now Ethan might lose it all because of his own kid.
Ethan rubbed his hands over his face. His eyes were gritty with exhaustion, but he was too wired to get the sleep he needed. Was this really what his father would have wanted? He couldn’t believe Marcus would have valued the club over his kid...but he had valued the club a lot. There had to be a way to have both. There just had to be.
“Ethan?”
He looked up and saw Amelia standing in front of him. His tee shirt hung down nearly to her knees, but he didn’t think she was wearing anything under it. He had to swallow hard before he could answer her.
“Yeah, Amelia?”
