by Addison Jane
Addison Jane
Family
The Club Girl Diaries Book 5
The Brothers by Blood MC
Addison Jane
Copyright 2016 Addison Jane
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organizations or places is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.
Editing by Swish Design & Editing
Formatting by Swish Design & Editing
Proofing by Fiona Dreaming – Proofreading & Formatting
Cover design by Kari at Cover to Cover Designs
Cover Image Copyright 2016
All rights reserved
This one is for you guys.
Thank you for being a part of my journey.
Kim – you remind me every day that it doesn’t matter how far away we are, you have my back, through everything.
Kay – calm your ass and stop threatening to dedicate my books to yourself when I forget to write this part! I kid. Thank you for everything you do for my baby girl and me. I don’t say it enough. I like to assume you just know. Hahaha.
Kaci - it’s safe to say this book would have never gotten done if you weren’t on my ass constantly about it. Especially when I was crying about how hard it was, you make sure I suck it up and get the hell on with it.
My beta team – geez girls. Can’t say thank you enough for letting me spring this on you at the last minute and hauling ass to get the feedback to me as soon as possible. You girls are amazing. #SquadGoals.
My family – thanks for understanding when I desperately needed time to write and doing whateveryou could to help.
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
KIT AND HARMONY
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
OPTIMUS AND CHELSEA
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
BLIZZARD AND ROSE
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
LEO AND HADLEY
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
Connect With Me Online
About The Author – Addison Jane
I stared at the doctor unable to compute what exactly it was that she was telling me.
The last few months had been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. More downs than anything if I’m completely honest with myself. Something I really didn’t want to be right now.
“She may have what?” Kit asked, the only one of us who was able to string together words to make a sentence.
“Endometriosis,” Doctor Parish repeated, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. No not sympathetic—pitying. “So when a woman has a period…”
Kit screwed up his nose as he listened to the doctor speak, explaining what it was and how it affects a woman’s body. If I hadn’t been in such shock, I might have laughed.
But she wasn’t just talking about women. She was talking about me.
“There can be cysts and scar tissue, and if that’s the case it could be what’s stopping your eggs from making their journey into your uterus,” she continued.
Kit reached over and placed his hand in mine, squeezing it gently.
I cleared my throat. “So, you’re saying I do have this or just maybe?”
“The only way to tell for sure is a small operation where we take a look inside.”
My body tightened.
“Let’s say she does. Is there something we can do? Can she still get pregnant?” Kit asked, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to ease the tension.
Doctor Parish cupped her hands together on the table. “I’m going to be honest.”
“Please,” I muttered dryly.
“There are things that we can do. Medications… surgery. There’s no guarantee that it won’t come back.” She sighed. “There’s also studies that say that even if you do manage to conceive, that there’s a higher risk of complications.”
“Such as?” Kit prompted.
“More chance of preterm labor and a higher possibility of hemorrhaging.”
I felt Kit’s body twitch, and tears began to burn at the back of my eyes. I swallowed furiously, attempting to keep them at bay and to be strong. “So what you’re saying is…” I choked, “…even if we did get pregnant, it could be dangerous.”
My mind instantly went to Leo, he’d lost his wife during birth because of that very thing. He’d been crushed, his life torn from him within an instant. Left with a beautiful little girl to raise on his own. A little girl who would never meet her mother.
I couldn’t do that to Kit. I couldn’t risk my life and the life of our child with the possibility that he could lose one of us, or both of us. A sob left my chest and the fight against the tears ended. They flowed freely down my cheeks.
Kit was with me in an instant, plucking me from the chair I was sitting on and placing me on his lap. My heart ached for the children I may never have and the two that I’d already lost. Trying for another at this stage and losing it may just be the thing that breaks me for good.
Kit wanted children. His parents wanted grandchildren and I desperately wanted to give him everything he’d dreamed of and more.
Kids had never really been on my radar until I found out I was pregnant. The first time had been an accident, but losing that baby had made me realize just how strongly I wanted that to be a part of my life.
Kit would be the father that I never had—supportive, loving, perfect.
I wanted that for him, I wanted it for us.
And now…
It seemed untouchable.
“Harmony?” Doctor Parish said softly, coaxing my face from where it was tucked into my man’s chest.
I looked over at her through blurry eyes, seeing her soft smile. “I can tell just how desperately you two want this baby.”
Looking up at Kit’s face, his eyes red and hooded. I wasn’t the only one of us affected by this news. It was hurting him too and I hated myself for not being able to give him this one thing.
“Stop it,” he snapped. “This is not your fault.”
I snorted. “It’s not your body that’s broken. I bet your swimmers are so strong they have abs already.”
“You’re not broken,” he growled, his eyes flashing in anger.
I opened my mouth to deliver a smar
t remark but Doctor Parish cut me off. “There’s other options available to you. If we can harvest an egg, you could consider a surrogate. That way, the baby will still be yours and Kit’s.”
I frowned. “A surrogate?”
She nodded, rolling her chair across to the opposite side of her desk and pulling open the drawer. “I have papers here somewhere that discusses this option.” Her eyes brightened for a second and she snatched up a pamphlet before sliding it across the table to us. “It’s more common than you think, and there are some wonderful women out there who are more than willing to help you.”
I looked down at the small booklet but didn’t pick it up.
Could this be something we could consider?
Placing our child inside the body of another woman and trusting her to take good care of it? My hand went to my stomach instantly. It was flat. Maybe it would always stay that way. I would never have stretch marks that tell my baby’s story, never know what it felt like to feel them kick or sit on your bladder in the middle of the night—things Chelsea had been keeping me up-to-date on every second day as she waits for her and Optimus’ twins to arrive.
“We need to do some serious thinking,” Kit said, filling the ominous silence.
Doctor Parish nodded in understanding. “Of course,” she replied as we all stood to our feet. “I want you to know though, that there are options. You aren’t in this alone and whatever you decide, I will work through it with the both of you.”
I couldn’t help but smile softly at the kind tone in her voice. “Thank you.”
Kit gave her a sharp nod as he took my hand and we fled the doctor’s offices.
The bright sunlight burnt my already swollen and sensitive eyes as we walked down the steps and out to the parking lot where Kit’s bike sat waiting for us. Neither of us said a word as we went through the motions of placing on our helmets. He straddled the bike and started her up as I swung my leg over the back.
It was all second nature to us now.
Sometimes I sat back and tried to remember what my life was like before Kit sauntered in and completely took it over. But then, I remembered that it didn’t matter. I loved Athens, I missed the boys and my friends from up there, but the reality was this was where I was meant to be.
With Kit, with this club.
There was no question or doubt in my mind that Kit was the piece of the puzzle that I’d always felt was missing. I thought I was comfortable and content back then, accepting that every man who came into my life would eventually walk away. When Kit came along and gave me no option but to trust him and made it quite clear that he wouldn’t be leaving, I realized that that had been what I was waiting for. Someone to finally take a stand, to show me that not all men were the same and that one day, that perfect one for you would come along and make you realize why you never felt that way before.
I was made for him.
And no matter who came along before that, it never would have mattered anyway.
The trip back to the clubhouse was quick. I lay my head against his back as he maneuvered the powerful beast beneath us with practiced precision and skill. I trusted him, I didn’t need to watch where we were going or be told when to lean. Our bodies moved together anyway.
He pulled his bike up at the clubhouse and turned it off, allowing me to climb off first before swinging his leg over the beautiful chrome motorbike and removing his helmet.
“Harmony…” he started.
I shook my head, stepping away. “Not right now.”
He followed me, his predatory eyes focused on my every move as I tried to escape the conversation that I knew was coming. I wasn’t ready for it, though. My mind still hadn’t caught up, and if he came at me now trying to discuss this crap and try and make me talk it out, I knew I might snap.
He opened his mouth and I stopped suddenly, my eyes flicking around to make sure we were alone.
I tried not to challenge Kit in front of his brothers. It was disrespectful and I was better than that. Seeing there was no one, I steeled myself and pushed my shoulders back. “No, Kit. I can’t do this right now. Not yet. Don’t push me,” I snapped at him.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Harmony, we need to discuss this and decide what we want to do next.”
An involuntary shudder ran through me. “And we will,” I growled through clenched teeth. “But you’re gonna let me get this through my head first.”
I spun, forcing one foot in front of the other and concentrating on the crunch of the gravel beneath my feet instead of Kit’s voice calling out after me. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside the clubhouse with a smile on my face as I passed the people inside. Members and girls nodded in respect as I moved swiftly through them and up the staircase. My fingers were twitching as I walked toward the room at the end of the hall that Kit and I shared.
I needed to play, the sound of my guitar already echoing in my ears and soothing my body. Music was my peace. It soothed my soul and allowed me to not just let out my frustrations, but pulled me into another world where, for just a moment, I could block everything out.
Picking up my guitar before climbing onto our bed, I rested my back against the headboard. I closed my eyes, but all I could see was Kit. The look on his face when the doctor had told us that me getting pregnant may be off the cards. He was disappointed, I could tell even though he tried to cover it. Kit wanted children. To him, the club was more than just his brothers and business plans—it was family.
He’d grown up within these walls, with men just like these. He wanted his kids to do the same. He wanted to bring them into this large beautiful crazy family and teach them love and strength and everything in between. He wanted them to have what he had, the life that had made him into the amazing man he was today.
And I found myself aching for that too.
The connection Kit and I had was otherworldly. He put up with my strange quirks and sarcastic retorts and I embraced his alpha male persona and his protective nature. Our love had no boundaries, and it was a love that I wanted to share with our children. To show them just how a man should be, and how a woman should be treated.
I wanted him to be a father. I knew that no matter what, I would give anything in order to do just that. I just wasn’t sure how.
Wreck walked out of the clubhouse doors not long after Harmony went inside.
She was right, I did need to give her time. She was hurting, and as much as my heart told me to chase her, to remind her that this wasn’t her fault and that we would find a way through, I knew that pushing her wasn’t the answer. She would push back because she’s stubborn and frustrating and proud, and God if I didn’t fucking love her for it.
“Got a meeting at Glow with a couple new security prospects,” Wreck said as he walked over, swinging his keys in his hand. “You coming?”
I looked back at the clubhouse for a second, knowing exactly where Harmony would have gone. To her guitar. Nodding, I decided to allow her her time. If that’s what she needed, so be it. The clock was starting now, and as soon as it ran out, we would be talking.
“Yeah, let’s go,” I said roughly, slamming my helmet back on and climbing on my bike.
I watched Wreck’s eyebrow rise, but he didn’t question my attitude and followed instead.
The security firm that Leo—our brother from the Athens chapter—had helped us set up was blooming. Towns and cities from all around the area were requesting our men at large events and even personal security for politicians and local celebrities. Some might object to having what could be considered ‘outlaws’ watching over high profile football games and protecting the rich, but we seemed to have made a name for ourselves in a very short period of time. Possibly because they knew that we weren’t about to take any bullshit. We did the job, we did it right and we got the results they needed.
My men were scary and intimidating, and while I knew deep down they had hearts of gold, other people were scared to cross them and that’s what worked to our benefit.
I saw the two men sitting at the bar as soon as we stepped into the building. There were girls on stage, practicing their routines as music played in the background and bar staff stocking the fridges for when the club would open at 8:00 p.m.
One of the guys was bulky and heavy set, a good six foot four if I was guessing. He clocked us the second we stepped inside and I nodded to Wreck, noting that this guy had a good eye. The other was a lot smaller, still tall, but more on the lanky side with his slim build. He had a drink in his hand and was turned to the stage, watching the girls rehearsing with a smile on his face. We were practically right next to them before he turned to us, rushing to throw back his drink and slamming the glass down on the bar.
The bigger guy instantly stood and held his hand out to me. “Mason.”
I took it. It was firm and strong. “Kit… and this is Wreck.”
Mason shook Wreck’s hand with a slight nod.
The smaller guy wiped his hand on his pants before holding it out. “Lee.”
My nose wrinkled slightly but I took his hand anyway.
“We’ll give you a small tour of the place… let you know the rules, regulations, what’s expected,” I explained as I stepped back, folding my arms across my chest. “Then we’ll talk. Ask you some questions and get your info for a background check.”
Studying them both, neither of them flinched when I talked about looking into their lives, which was more often than not a good sign.
“Rule number one, you don’t touch my girls,” I told them sternly, eyeing them both. “We don’t mix business and pleasure and you’re here to protect them. You wanna get your dick wet, go somewhere else.”