Fallen Lords MC: Books 7-9

by Winter Travers

  “Is that the pizza?” Freak skidded to the open door. “I’m star—” His words died in his throat, and his jaw dropped. “That’s not pizza.”

  I planted my hand in his chest and pushed him back from the door. “How observant of you.” I walked through the door and looked over my shoulder at Adley. “This way, kid.”

  “It’s Adley,” she mumbled under her breath.

  I knew that was her name, but calling her that was going to make all of this more real. “Got it.”

  We walked into the clubhouse. Adley trailed behind me with Nickel and Freak right behind her.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Freak whispered.

  “I don’t think any of us know what is going on besides the kid,” Nickel laughed. “She’s the only one who isn’t shocked to hell.”

  “I’m shocked for a different reason.” Adley wrinkled her nose and looked around the common room of the clubhouse.

  It wasn’t anything fancy, but it wasn't something to wrinkle your nose at either. This was where everyone hung out, and it felt like home to me.

  Nickel sidled up to me and leaned close. “You’re not really going to have her stay here, are you?” he whispered.

  “I have no idea what the hell I am going to do, Nickel. Ten minutes ago, I opened the door expecting the pizza guy, and instead, I found out I had a kid. Shocked isn’t the right fucking word.”

  “So did the pizza come?” Freak asked.

  I grabbed the wad of bills he had given me before and pushed them into his hand. “No, your fucking pizza that you’re too fucking chicken to pay for yourself isn’t here.”

  “Damn, brother.” Freak balled the bills up in his hand. “What the fuck crawled up your ass?”

  Nickel cleared his throat. “I think it might be the twelve-year-old who can hear every word you guys are saying.”

  We all slowly turned to face Adley.

  Adley folded her arms over her chest. “You guys are a mess.”

  Truer words had never been spoken.

  “Church!” Nickel hollered.

  “Church?” Freak complained. “Can’t we at least wait until the pizza gets here?” A knock sounded on the door and Freak beamed and turned on his heel toward it. “Never mind.”

  “It’s Friday night. How are you going to go to church?” Adley asked.

  At this point, our small group had the attention of everyone in the common room. Including Wrecker who was glaring at me over the back of the couch. His arm was looped over Alice’s shoulder, and his feet were kicked up on the beat up coffee table.

  “It hasn’t even been a fucking week since the last bullshit with you guys. You think maybe you could lay off fucking everything up until Alice pops this baby out?” he growled.

  Alice smacked him on the shoulder and scoffed. “This baby is going to stay inside until you start curbing the swearing, Beardilocks.” She tugged his beard and scowled. “There is a child present.”

  Wrecker grabbed his beard from her grasp. “Sometimes, cursing is necessary.” He dropped his feet to the floor, pressed a kiss to Alice’s lips, rubbed her bulging tummy, and stood. “Church. Now,” he thundered. He pointed to Adley. “You stick with Alice and the girls. They’ll take good care of you.” His voice had softened, and he pulled Alice up from the couch.

  I ran my fingers through my hair. Why the hell were we going to have church? I had no clue what the hell was going on.

  “Might wanna grab that folder from your daughter.”

  I glared at Nickel. He was getting on my last nerve. He was acting like I was a buffoon who couldn’t string two thoughts together.

  Adley handed the folder to me. “Mama said everything in there will explain, well…everything.”

  I finally had a chance to look at the girl in front of me, and I saw that even though she was trying to act brave, she was terrified. Her long brown hair was held back by clips on each side of her head; her hands were folded over her chest, hugging herself tightly, and her eyes moved around the room.

  “You’ll be fine with Alice. Maybe she can find you something to eat.” I didn’t know what else to say to the girl. Her mom had died, and now, she was just dumped at my feet. She was safe here, but everything had to be hard for her.

  Hell, this was hard for me, and I was almost three times her age.

  “We’ll snag one of Freak’s pizzas and go find the rest of the girls.” Alice rounded the couch and held her hand out to Adley. “I think they were helping Wendy pack up.”

  Adley looked at Alice’s hand and then back up to her. “What kind of pizza and who is Wendy?”

  Alice pursed her lips. I don’t think she was expecting Adley to question her. “Uh, whatever kind you want, and Wendy is Carnie’s sister.”

  Freak walked into the common room with six pizza boxes in his arms. “What’d I miss?”

  Alice rolled her eyes and joined hands with Adley. “What kind of pizza did you want, Adley?”

  “Uh, I like cheese and sausage,” she replied meekly.

  Alice looked up at Freak. “You better pray to God you ordered a sausage.”

  Freak stepped back. “I did, but you’re not stealing it,” he insisted.

  “Give her the damn sausage pizza,” I growled.

  Freak wrapped his arms around the boxes. “You have no idea what I went through to order these. I had to lock myself in the bathroom and act like I was taking a shit so Carnie wouldn’t barge in on me.”

  “Give Alice the pizza or I’ll tell Carnie what you just said.” Wrecker took a step toward Freak.

  Freak flinched. “God dammit. Fine,” he huffed. He held up the boxes, read the stickers on them, and pulled one out from the middle. “You owe me,” he mumbled when he handed it to Alice.

  “My woman doesn’t owe you anything.” Wrecker pointed a finger at Freak as he walked past. “Get your ass moving, and tell the other guys we’re having church.”

  Nickel followed Wrecker down the hallway, and Freak mumbled under his breath. He dropped the pizzas on the table, flipped back the lid on the top one, and grabbed two large pieces. “Try not to eat all of that before I get back,” he warned Alice.

  Alice flipped him off but quickly lowered her finger. “Sorry, kid. Not exactly used to have a kid around who can form a sentence.”

  “It’s okay. My aunt Ava did a whole lot more than that when I stayed with her.” Adley shrugged.

  I cocked my head to the side. “Your aunt said she’s got five kids.”

  Adley shrugged. “I guess she doesn’t care.”

  “Slayer! Get your damn ass in here!” Nickel bellowed from down the hallway.

  “I…uh…” I knew I should be the one to take care of Adley right now, but I couldn’t help but want to get away from her as fast as I could.

  Alice shooed me away. “I got her for now, Slayer. Go see what Beardilocks has to say.”

  I nodded and turned on my heel without another glance at Alice or Adley.

  My feet carried me down the hallway, and once I turned the corner, I stopped in my tracks. I braced my forearms on the wall and rested my head between them.

  What the fuck just happened, what the hell was I going to do about it?

  *

  Chapter Two

  Wendy

  “He ordered pizza, Wen.”

  I pulled my suitcase out from under the bed and tossed it on the bed. “You’re talking like he committed a murder or something, Carnie.”

  Carnie flopped onto the bed next to the suitcase and sighed. “He hid in the bathroom and ordered pizza.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “I…I don’t know what to say to that.”

  She flipped over on her stomach and craned her head back to stare up at me. “I think he thinks I always want to cook for him and he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings by ordering pizza.”

  “Is that true?” I asked.

  Carnie sighed and buried her face in the bed. “No,” she groaned.

  “Then why don’t you te
ll him that so that way he doesn’t have to sit on the shitter to order pizza.” I pulled open the top drawer on the dresser and grabbed a handful of underwear.

  “Because I don’t know how to tell him.”

  I dropped the underwear in my suitcase. “Uh, try using the same words that you just used with me.”

  “It’s not that easy, Wendy.”

  “Yeah, it is,” I insisted. I turned back to the dresser and grabbed the remaining undergarments.

  “No, it’s not, but you don’t understand that.”

  I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue. I tended to do that a lot when Carnie talked to me lately. She acted like I didn’t understand anything since she started seriously dating Freak.

  Drove me fucking batty.

  “I wish you weren’t leaving,” she sighed wistfully.

  I didn’t have to leave, but hanging around the clubhouse that I didn’t really have any connection to wasn’t working too well.

  With Bobby out of the picture, I didn’t need to be watched by one of the Fallen Lords anymore. I was free to leave and get back to my life in Pines Peak. Though I couldn’t really call that much of a life.

  “Pretty sure Wrecker wouldn’t be fan of me just leeching off the clubhouse and hanging around.” I dumped more clothes into my suitcase. “Pretty sure he smiled behind that massive beard of his when I said I was heading back home.”

  “Nonsense,” Carnie scoffed.

  It wasn’t nonsense. I couldn’t blame Wrecker for being irritated by all of the women and soon to be babies around the clubhouse. This was a motorcycle club, after all, not a catch-all for damsels in distress.

  “Knock, knock!”

  “Alice, I can see you in the doorway,” Carnie laughed. “You didn’t need to yell knock, knock.”

  Alice shrugged. “It seemed fitting.” She stepped into the room with a pizza box in one hand a bottle of wine in the other. Who followed in behind her was surprising.

  “Whoa,” Carnie gasped. She sprang up from the bed and stood next to me. “Alice, you have a girl following you.”

  Alice laughed and handed me the bottle of wine. “How observant of you, Carn.” She looked at the girl beside her. “Ladies, this is Adley. She is Slayer’s daughter.”

  My jaw hit the floor, and all air rushed from my lungs. “Daughter?” I wheezed.

  “Holy h…cow,” Carnie quickly corrected herself. “Cow. Holy cow.”

  “That’s exactly what Slayer looked like when he walked into the clubhouse,” Alice laughed. “We came here to help you pack while the guys do church.” Alice set the pizza box on the empty desk in the corner of the room and flipped back the top. “I’m also hungry.”

  “Is that the pizza Freak ordered from the bathroom?” Carnie asked.

  Alice grabbed a slice and took a huge bite. “I wondered if you knew about that.”

  Carnie rolled her eyes. “Freak thinks he pulled the wool over my eyes, but he was talking so loud on the phone and flushing the toilet every thirty seconds.”

  Alice licked her lips. “Don’t let him know you know. It’ll be more fun this way.”

  My eyes moved to Slayer’s daughter. She stood next to Alice, her hands hanging at her sides and her eyes to the floor. Her hair was light brown, clips on each side of her head holding it back, and it was a few inches shorter than mine.

  I stepped toward her and held my hand out. “I’m Wendy.”

  She meekly took my hand and shook it. “Adley.”

  Alice squinted at Adley. “She was more feisty out in the common room.”

  “Probably because Slayer was there,” I mumbled.

  “I knew you knew his name!” Carnie shouted.

  I rolled my eyes and made my way over to the pizza. “You keep that in this room, Carnie.” I plucked a sausage off the pizza and popped it into my mouth.

  Alice plopped down on the bed and leaned back on one hand. “You Wilkes girls are a hoot. It’s good for me being pregnant that you too are so entertaining. The more days go by, the less energy I seem to have to keep Wrecker on his toes.” She sighed heavily. “Soon, my cow onesie isn’t going to fit anymore.”

  “Buy a bigger size,” Carnie suggested.

  Adley’s eyes grew wide as she listened to Alice talk.

  Alice might have felt like she didn’t have much energy, but she was just as entertaining. The woman could tell a story and confuse the hell out of you with a few words. Thankfully, I had been around her for a bit and wasn’t as confused anymore. Somewhat.

  “Help yourself to some pizza, Adley. I can grab a soda from the fridge for you,” I offered.

  Alice slapped her forehead. “Jesus, why the hell didn’t I think of that?”

  I laughed and dropped my half eaten slice on the lid of the box. “Hey, you at least remembered to bring wine for Carnie and me.”

  “Which doesn’t make sense either seeing how I got a baby growing in me who can’t handle his booze yet.”

  Only Alice would so eloquently say that the unborn baby can’t handle his booze. “I’ll grab you a soda, too.”

  I jogged to the kitchen, grabbed two sodas and two wine glasses, then hightailed it back to my room.

  Carnie had the wine bottle tipped back to her lips when I walked in, and Alice was cheering her on to chug.

  Poor Adley was going to be scarred from hanging out with these two. “Use a glass, at least, Carnie,” I laughed. I handed her the wine glasses and nodded to the bottle. “Fill my glass before you chug it all.”

  Carnie wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and scowled at me. “I just took a sip.”

  I eyed her knowingly and handed the sodas to Alice and Adley. “Right, and you just had a couple of sips on your birthday.”

  Carnie huffed and filled my glass.

  I sat down on the floor in front of the bed with my wine and pizza.

  Adley had grabbed a slice of pizza and was nibbling quietly. I wanted to know why she was here suddenly, but I didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than she obviously was.

  “Are you excited to get back to Pines Peak?” Alice asked with her mouthful.

  I shrugged. “I guess.”

  There wasn’t really anything there for me to get back to. I didn’t have a job anymore. I lived with my mom and dad. My love life was nonexistent. Basically, what I had there was the same thing I had here other than I lived with my sister and her boyfriend's motorcycle club instead.

  “Oh, please, you know you are excited to go home. It’s gonna be the holiday season soon and you’ll be elbow deep helping Mom and Aunt Elle cooking all day and night.”

  “You look forward to doing that every year. I’d much rather make a couple dozen cookies and kick back with some spiked eggnog.” I shoved the last bite of my pizza into my mouth and sighed.

  “My mom and I always made cookies together. Before she died, that is,” Adley mumbled softly.

  “Well, you’re in luck, then,” Alice chirped. “It may not be as good as your mom, but Carnie is one hell of a cook. I’m sure you can do some baking with her.”

  Carnie clapped her hands together. “Girl, yes! I have so many ideas that I want to do as soon as the holiday season hits.”

  Carnie rambled on about all of the goodies she planned on baking while Alice gave her nod of approval or made a yacking sound if she didn’t like it.

  Adley didn’t say much, but I could tell she was listening to every word Alice and Carnie said. I really don’t know anything about the girl, but I was confident if she was going to be at the clubhouse with all of the girls, she was going to be fine.

  Though with Slayer being her dad, she was going to need a prayer or two.

  *

  Chapter Three

  Slayer

  “How do you not know you have a twelve-year-old?” Maniac asked.

  I rested my head in my hands and massaged my temples. “I don’t fucking know. I don’t even remember who she says her mom is.” The name didn’t ring a bell with me at all. Hel
l, who knows if she had even told me her name.

  “Classic,” Pipe chuckled.

  I sat back in my chair and flipped him off. “This could have happened to any of us,” I pointed out. “Twelve fucking years ago, none of us were chained down with an ol’ lady.” Twelve years ago, pussy ran through the clubhouse like water and no man was ever thirsty.

  “There isn’t much here besides legal shit. Looks like she was about to file all of this, and then, you would have been notified.” Wrecker closed the folder. “She died before that happened.”

  “I don’t even know if I really am her dad, or of this chick just picked my name out of a hat of the guys she had been with.” I hate to say anything bad about the woman since I didn’t know her, but how the hell did she know that I was Adley’s father?

  “She does have a letter here.” Wrecker held up a piece of paper with three paragraphs handwritten. “Says she’s sorry about having to do this, blah, blah, she knows it was you because you were the only guy she slept with, didn’t tell you because you didn’t seem like the type to want to be tied down, didn’t plan on telling you but she got sick so yada yada yada, please don’t blame Adley for her choices.” Wrecker folded the note in half and tossed it on top of the other papers. “The end.”

  My head swam with everything he had just said. I didn’t even know where to start.

  “Damn, brother, popped the chick’s cherry, and then, she doesn’t even tell you you’re a dad.” Clash shook his head and snickered. “That is a low blow.”

  “Find out you’re the kid’s dad, and then, you be her dad.” Wrecker pushed the pile of papers toward me. “Crisis averted.” He stood up and nodded to Pipe. “Find out what Brinks is up to. I haven’t heard from him in a couple of days.”

  “Wait, what?” I wailed. “That’s all you have to say?” I felt this needed more. More of what, I wasn’t sure, but I needed more than take the blood test and then be her dad.

  Wrecker pointed at the papers. “Do blood work. Take it from there when you get the results.”

  “And just what am I supposed to do until the results come back?”