“He’s not gonna get hurt,” he said as we arrived at his truck.
“So he’s doing something he probably shouldn’t?”
Pulling open the passenger side door, he waved his hand. “In you go.”
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know,” he said, but wouldn’t look at me.
“Valen, if he’s doing something dangerous, you have to tell me.”
“Get in the truck, sissy.”
I huffed and climbed up. Valen jogged around the front and slid into the driver’s seat.
“If you’re not going to tell me what he’s doing, will you at least stop him from doing it?”
“Quin, he’s good. Let’s just get back to the compound. He’ll probably beat us there.”
I knew my brother was lying, but I had no way to prove it, so I kept my thoughts to myself, hoping Knox would be at the compound when we got there.
* * *
Badger
Dash and I walked around the back of the building, careful to avoid cameras, which wasn’t hard, considering the building was barely surveilled. Another reason Quin needed to be gone from this place.
“What’s the play here, Badge?” Dash asked as we waited for our prey.
“Gonna figure that out as we go,” I said.
“Got your back, brother.”
“I know.”
“Can I make a suggestion, though?”
I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word.
“He’s not worth it. At least not here,” Dash said. “You know Rabbit has the ability to do some pretty down-low type shit, Booker style, so maybe we can have him mess with him. Under the radar. Somethin’ that won’t fuck with your expunged record.”
“Just gonna have a conversation, Dash.”
He sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I’d looked the asshole up online before I’d ridden over, so I recognized him the second he walked out of the building and headed for his car.
I followed.
“Yo, Don,” I called.
His head raised up like a fuckin’ prairie dog and he frowned as I approached. But he didn’t walk away.
Stupid fucker.
“Do I know you?” he asked.
“You don’t wanna know me,” I said. “But you fucked with my woman and I have a problem with that. So, this is my notice to you that Quinlan is being put on medical leave due to a hostile working environment, and if you ever say anything about her again… no, if you ever think of her again, I will find you.”
“You can’t threaten me.”
I smiled slowly as I settled a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Hard. “Did that sound like a threat?” I glanced over my shoulder at Dash. “Did that sound like a threat, brother?”
Dash crossed his arms. “I didn’t hear a threat.”
I focused back on Don. “Just know that I got your number and I plan to call it if you fuck with her again.”
As he turned away, I delivered a quick and dirty kidney punch and walked away.
* * *
Quinlan
I paced the great room, unable to eat, unable to sleep, waiting for Knox to come back. It had been over an hour since Valen and I left the hospital and I was ripping my hair out, worried that Knox had done something reckless.
“Quin, sit down, you’re makin’ me dizzy,” Valen complained, handing me a ginger ale.
“I’m okay.”
“Drink it, sissy. You need to eat, too.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Before Valen could say anything ‘brotherly,’ Knox and Dash walked in and I made a run for my man. He grinned, pulling me close. “Hey, honey.”
I ran my hands over his face. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you were doing something that was probably borderline stupid.”
He glanced at Valen and frowned.
“I didn’t say shit,” Valen said. “But she refuses to eat, drink or sit the fuck down, so I’ll let you deal with that.”
“I knew it!” I snapped. “What did you do?”
Badger shook his head. “Nothing. Seriously. Just checking on your car.”
“Knox. My car was waiting for me when I got back. Tell me.”
He cupped my face and smiled. “It’s all good. You need to eat, baby. Come on.”
“Excuse us, Dash,” I said, and grabbed Knox’s hand, leading him back out the way he came. I stopped near the front door and turned him to face me. “What did you do?”
He rolled his eyes. “Just let Don know you wouldn’t be returning to work.”
“What else?”
“That’s it.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Welly, swear to God, it’s done. Jasmine’s still picking Kinsey up, so you’ve got an hour to eat and relax before our tornado of a toddler gets here.”
I gripped his cut and stared up at him. “How hard did you hit him?”
He leaned down and smiled, kissing me gently. “You want a burger?”
“Kidney or stomach?”
“Quin—”
“Kidney,” I deduced.
He smiled again. “Barely a love tap.”
“Jesus, Badger, what if he calls the cops?”
“He’s not gonna call the cops.”
I bit my lip. “Are you sure?”
“Hundred percent.”
I figured if Knox was sure, he’d taken precautions, so I let myself relax. “You really defended my honor?”
“No. I don’t need to defend your honor. You can do that all by yourself,” he said. “What I did was make sure he didn’t come at you again. I protect what’s mine. It’s a preemptive so that you’re covered.”
“Honey—”
“You gonna give me grief about this?” he challenged.
I studied him, wrinkling my nose as I thought about him protecting me. I hadn’t had anyone looking out for me in years and my stomach felt all squishy at the thought. Mostly, because it was him and it was what I’d always dreamed about. Anytime anything happened in school, I imagined him coming in and vanquishing my dragon, and now that he was doing just that, I was terrified I’d lose him.
“Baby?” he pressed.
In the end, I didn’t argue, I just said, “Burger.”
“There’s my girl. Come on.” He grinned and led me back to the great room, parking me on the sofa. “No moving.”
I gave him a salute. “Aye, aye, Cap’n.”
Knox grinned, kissing me again. “I’m gonna buy you a sexy sailor costume you keep that up.”
“Make sure you buy the maternity version.”
“Kinky,” he retorted with a laugh, then went about making me dinner.
I’d barely managed three bites of a burger before Kinsey came running into the room, waving a picture she’d drawn at daycare in the air, and squealing for her ‘Daddy.’
Knox scooped her up and grabbed her picture. “You do good work, princess. I’m gonna frame this.”
“Cookie?”
“After dinner,” he said. “You want a burger?”
She bobbed her head up and down and I held my arms out. “Let’s go wash up, baby.”
Knox set her down and I walked her to the bathroom to wash her hands. We returned to find a burger cut into bite-size pieces for her, along with a sippy cup of diluted juice.
“Thanks, honey,” I said to Knox and kissed him quickly.
The rest of the night was spent wrangling Kinsey and hanging with our family. By the time I fell into bed, I was sure I’d sleep for a year.
Lucky for me, I didn’t have to go to work the next day… or the day after that.
* * *
I awoke to an empty bed and sat up to find the connecting door to Kinsey’s room open. I slid off the mattress and peeked into the room and saw that she wasn’t inside, so I figured Knox had grabbed her. I shot off a quick text before I got dressed and headed downstairs.
I made my way
to the great room and found that Jasmine and Willow were setting platters of food out on two large folding tables set against the wall.
“You cooked?” I asked in delight as Willow hugged me.
Willow was a phenomenal cook. So much so, that after the first time she’d fed me, she’d ruined all other food for me. Well, maybe not quite that severe, but close.
Willow grinned. “Jasmine and I did, yes.”
“Where’s Alfie?” I asked.
“Sleeping,” Willow said with a relieved sigh.
Jasmine hugged me next and I followed them back into the kitchen. “I’m gonna grab a cup of coffee, then put me to work, okay?”
“Where’s Kinsey?” Willow asked.
“Right here,” Knox said, carrying our daughter into the room.
“Mama!” she squealed, pitching toward me.
I set my empty cup on the counter and grabbed her, pulling her in for an epic snuggle. “Hey, munchkin. How’s my girl?”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed.
Badger leaned down and kissed me gently. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I kissed Kinsey’s cheek. “What time did she wake up?”
“Six,” Badger said.
My heart melted and I leaned against him. “You let me sleep for another three hours? I love you.”
He chuckled, kissing my temple. “Love you too. I’ve gotta head out.”
Badger had a full plate at the shop today, so I knew I wouldn’t see him until late.
“You’re not going to eat?” I asked.
He snagged a piece of bacon off a platter and grinned. “I already did.”
“He’s had second, and now third, breakfast,” Willow said.
“Twice the amount a man your size should be able to eat,” Jasmine pointed out, and I laughed.
She’d hit the nail on the head. Knox could eat more than any human I’d ever seen and he never gained weight.
Kinsey giggled as well and I squeezed her. “Your daddy can eat, huh?”
Knox gave me a quick bacony kiss and then headed out. I set Kinsey down and went about making us both some breakfast.
As the morning continued, bikers in various states of wakefulness and dress, walked in and grabbed food and coffee, some stopping to talk, others just passing through.
Just after lunch, I’d put Kinsey down for a nap and headed back to the kitchen to grab a bottled water when I heard an angry female voice in the great room.
“I am so fucking over this, Tristan.”
“Uh-oh,” I said to no one, and followed the sound.
“Don’t give a fuck, Liv,” Doc returned.
Doc had been in love with Olivia for going on three years now. She had always seemed to dodge him, but neither of them dated anyone else, and from what Badger had told me, Doc ‘wasn’t fucking anyone other than Liv,’ so I wondered if her objections weren’t a bit overkill.
“I have a job!” she ground out. “I can’t just keep leaving whenever the hell I want to.”
“You own the fucking company, baby. That means you can leave whenever you want to.”
I hung back so I could watch the show, kind of wishing I had popcorn.
Olivia took a deep breath, dropping her purse on one of the sofas. “You and I need to have a serious conversation about boundaries.”
“We can do that when I get back. Gotta head to the clinic for a few hours.”
He leaned forward and kissed her quickly, earning a shove to his sternum, which he laughed off as he walked out the door.
I headed toward a fuming Olivia and smiled. “Hey, Liv.”
She turned to me and shook her head. “Realistically, how many years do you think I’d get if I murdered him? Would I get more if I took my time?”
“I would imagine you’d get the same, regardless of how long it took.” I tapped my chin. “If you need some help hiding a body, let me know.”
“Thanks.” She sighed “Since it’s too early for wine, I need to get a little work done. I’m going to use Doc’s office.”
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
She grabbed her bag and headed to the back of the compound where the business offices were, while I made my way to the kitchen. Willow and Jasmine were already standing at the huge island, chopping a shit ton of veggies.
“Are we feeding an army?” I asked.
“You know the second the club finds out Willow’s cooking, everyone’s gonna show up,” Jasmine provided, and I grinned.
“Well, this is true.”
“I figured we’d do steaks and burgers,” Willow said. “I’m making a couple of salads and some mac ’n cheese.”
“And her twice-baked potatoes,” Gator demanded, walking into the room.
Gator had been with the club for a few years now. He’d originally come from the Portland Chapter, after some heavy drinking years. He’d lost his entire family and unofficially adopted Dash and Willow as his own. Willow’s father had been murdered a while ago, and she seemed to relish having a father-figure to fuss over. It was a perfect fit for everyone involved.
“Then you need to wash potatoes,” Willow said, and nodded to the sink.
“I don’t do domestic shit.”
“You do if you want my twice-baked potatoes.”
“Fuckin’ pain in the ass,” he grumbled.
“What was that, old man?” Willow asked.
“Oh, nothing. Light of my life. Daughter I never had,” he said in a sing-song voice as he dumped a ten-pound bag of potatoes into the sink and turned on the faucet.
“That’s what I thought,” Willow retorted, and grinned at me.
“What can I do to help?” I asked. “Kinsey’ll be down for at least another hour.”
“If you can take over here,” Willow requested. “I have to get the macaroni on.”
“Sure,” I said, and washed my hands, joining Jasmine at the island.
“Ladies,” Rabbit said, strolling into the room and opening the fridge.
“Who you callin’ a lady?” Gator growled.
Rabbit smiled. “You look good in an apron, Gate.”
“Fuck you, pipsqueak.”
“Rabbit!” Doom bellowed.
“Gotta go,” he said, but Doom walked in before he could move.
“Where the fuck you been?”
“Just gettin’ a beer,” Rabbit said.
“Hi, Doom,” Jasmine said, and Doom gave her a chin lift.
Jasmine and I exchanged glances, but we’d both paused in our chopping. Doom was beautiful. Tall, built, long hair, bearded, hot… almost Jason Momoa hot… but he was angry. No one got close to him, and admittedly, all of us were a little scared of him.
Not that he’d hurt a woman, it wasn’t like that. It was an invisible wall of sorts that kept him several degrees of separated from everyone. He was one of those guys who knew a little about a lot of things, but a lot about others, so he was super capable which had always been sexy to me.
“Dump it, prospect,” Doom demanded. “Gotta ride.”
Rabbit nodded, putting the beer back and following Doom out of the room.
“Bye, Doom,” Jasmine said to his retreating back to no response.
“Is he isolating more?” Willow asked.
“Seems like it,” Jasmine said.
“What happened with that girl he helped Dalton out with?” Willow asked.
I paused my chopping again. “What girl?”
“Aspen Westwood,” Jasmine provided.
“Hold up,” I said. “I know Aspen. Sort of. What happened to her?”
“I don’t really know all of the details,” Jasmine admitted. “Mostly because my man won’t share them, but I think Doom helped her out of a really bad situation and he’s kind of hovered over her since. She’s come to the club once or twice, but not for a while. I’m going to ask Mo about it later.”
I set my knife down. “Maybe we should just let him have his secrets.”
Jasmine glanced at me and then Willow bef
ore chuckling. “No way in hell.”
I shook my head and went back to my chopping. My sister-in-law was tenacious, which I’m sure is one of the reasons my brother loved her so much. It was one of my favorite things about her, but it also meant Doom would give up his secrets one way or another, whether he liked it or not.
Quinlan
A FEW WEEKS later, I was out of the morning sickness stage of my pregnancy and I was starting to relax. So was Knox. The club was getting ready for the family convoy to Colorado, and I was looking forward to a change of scenery.
Today, however, was Quin pampering day. I was heading downtown to join Jasmine, Willow, and Olivia at the Firefly Spa to test out Jasmine’s new line of products. I loved having a sister-in-law who owned a skincare empire, especially when I got the chance to help her ‘research.’
“Stump’s outside,” Badger said, walking out of the kitchen, and kissing me.
Despite the fact all was still clear on the Michael front, Badger wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone. I had to have him or a recruit he trusted with me at all times. I wasn’t the only one. Jasmine, Willow, and Olivia were in the same boat and none of us particularly liked it, but we understood, so we let the men have their way.
“Okay, honey. I don’t think I’ll be late.”
He grinned. “Take all the time you need. You deserve it.”
“You’re seriously the best boyfriend ever.” His expression changed and I sighed. “Sorry.” I smiled. “You’re my man, so… manfriend?”
He rolled his eyes. “Courthouse on Monday.”
“What?”
“We’re getting married on Monday. No more of this boyfriend bullshit.”
“We need a license first, right?”
“Then we’ll get the license on Monday and get married as soon as we’re allowed to.
I gripped his cut and kissed him again. “Okay, honey. Courthouse on Monday.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.” I smiled. “It’s way past time, don’t you think? I can’t believe you’ve made me wait for so long.”
He dropped his head back and laughed before landing a rather hard and loud slap on my ass. “You’re hilarious.”
“What I am is horny,” I retorted. “But I don’t have time for you to take care of that because you’ve got a recruit waiting outside for me.”
Redeeming the Biker's Past (Dogs of Fire: Savannah Chapter Book 3) Page 8