Jewel laughed then cried out, grabbing her stomach. “Ow!” She glared at D. “Never again!”
“Fuckin’ fine with me. Didn’t want this one,” he muttered.
Jewel picked up a full water bottle off the desk and whipped it at him. He didn’t even flinch when it thumped him in the chest and landed on the floor. At least the cap was on tight.
Hunter chuckled, dropped his head and shook it.
Jewel leaned over and gasped. Dex stepped closer to the desk in concern. The woman was carrying his future cousin after all.
Diesel grunted. “Probably just need to let one rip.”
Jewel gave him a face. “Yeah, well, if that’s all it is, then I just made a damn mess on your chair.”
She used the desk to push herself to her feet and not only were her pants wet but Diesel’s office chair was soaked.
“What’s that? You piss yourself again?”
“Fucking D,” she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and gasping.
“Looks like her water broke, boss.” Hunter clapped him on the back. “Congrats. Kid’s comin’.”
“No,” D said, his eyes a bit wider than normal.
“Yeah,” Hunter insisted and laughed.
“Nope,” D said, shaking his head.
“Yes!” Jewel screamed, grasping the desk hard. “Yes, D. This isn’t fucking gas. It’s your kid coming.”
“Ain’t the right time,” he mumbled, turning pale.
Jewel’s eyes went wide. “Says who? This kid says it is.”
“Uh... you need to go to the hospital?” Dex asked, not sure what to do since D should be stepping in but the man was frozen in place.
“Of fucking course I need to go to the hospital!” she screamed. “Motherfucker!”
Dex grimaced at the pained expression on Jewel’s face. “Diesel! Take care of your ol’ lady!”
D only blinked.
“Don’t you dare pass out!” Jewel screamed at him.
Dex pulled out his phone. “Oh, yeah. Pass out, D. I’m gettin’ ready. Missed it the first time. This time I’m gettin’ it all on video.”
That seemed to snap D out of whatever shock he was in. He glared. “Fuck you, Dexter.”
Dex laughed. “Get ‘er to the hospital. I’ll text everyone an’ follow shortly.”
Jewel leaned over and let out long, hair-raising wail, then bared her teeth. “Let’s fucking go!”
With a tight jaw, Diesel picked her up in his arms and strode out of the office.
“He going to be all right to drive her?” Hunter asked as he stared out of the open doorway.
Dex shrugged. “Hope so.” He quickly wrote a text and sent it out in mass to all the brothers. “I’ll follow ‘em.”
“Yeah. Might be best.”
Dex flipped his hand up over his shoulder in goodbye to an amused Hunter and hurried out of the room.
Dex paced the crowded maternity waiting room. He glanced at his phone for the hundredth time. He’d called Brooke twice and left messages both times. He’d also texted her once.
Fuck him, it was more like three times.
But that was all he was going to do. He wasn’t going to beg her to get back to him.
He blew out a breath and scrubbed his hand over the stubble on his jaw. He was trying to be... nice and tell her why he wasn’t showing up for their nightly fuckfest. Trying to let her know he wasn’t just blowing her off for no good reason.
His gaze bounced around the room, then landed on Ace, who was pacing back and forth in front of the elevators. Dex’s aunt, Janice, stood in one of the corners of the room with some of the other DAMC women. Dex’s mom, Allie, and her sister and Kelsea’s mom, Annie, were in that group, as well.
Dex studied Kelsea across the room. She was the only blonde, blue-eyed member of the Dougherty side of the family. The rest of them had dark hair and dark eyes. Well, except for Ivy, who was a green-eyed redhead. But that came from their father’s side, from what his mother had said.
But blonde and blue-eyed didn’t fit. However, no one ever knew who Kelsea’s father was. His Aunt Annie just announced one day she was having a baby and that was that.
Whether there had been a discussion about who the daddy was with Ace and Allie along with Dex’s grandmother, Lonnie, who fucking knew. He’d been too young at the time to understand or even care.
Plus, his own father had hit the bricks before Dex ever had a chance to know him. So single mothers in his family were nothing new. Or even odd.
Ace had stepped in as a father-figure to all of them. He also stepped up as the head of the Dougherty family as soon as Doc had gone to prison for murder.
But now his uncle was becoming a grandfather for the first time. Dex made his way over to the club’s treasurer.
“Gonna have to get used to this,” Dex told him.
“Know it,” Ace grumbled but kept pacing.
“Kiki an’ Ivy gonna give you grandbabies soon, too.”
“Know it,” he mumbled.
“Janice is gonna be in hog heaven.”
Ace stopped dead and concentrated on Dex. “Already was when Baby Z was born.”
“True. But Zeke ain’t blood.”
“Just the same to us.”
Dex nodded. “Right. Still family. But ain’t the same.”
Zak joined them, carrying Zeke on his hip. “Nervous, grandpa?”
Ace held out his arms and took the baby from the club prez. He made funny faces at Zeke, causing the kid to laugh. “Yep. Not for becomin’ a grandpa. Got some practice in with this lil guy. But just wanna make sure Jewelee’s okay. An’ the baby’s healthy.”
“Jewelee’s too stubborn to let birthin’ a kid take her out,” Z said.
“It’s Diesel’s kid,” Ace reminded them.
Dex and Z laughed.
“True.” Z shook his head. “Kid’s gonna be a stubborn fucker.”
“Is D in the room where she pops out the kid?” Dex asked.
Ace pursed his lips. “Dunno. Better be. If he ain’t, Jewelee will never let ‘im live it down.”
“If she’s sufferin’, he’s gotta suffer,” Z said matter-of-factly.
Ace snorted. “Like you did with Sophie.”
“Sophie ain’t as hard-headed as Jewel.” Z sobered and turned to Dex. “Speakin’ of hard-headed, you’ve been keepin’ Brooke busy?”
“Yeah, but was meetin’ with D earlier when Jewel’s water broke. Need to schedule a meetin’ with the Exec Committee. He got results an’ we need to talk about another issue.”
“Can we do it now since we’re gathered in one spot?” Zak asked. “Who knows how long it’ll be before D’s son decides to make an appearance.”
“He tell you he’s havin’ a boy?” Hawk asked as he stepped up between Ace and Z. “Didn’t think they wanted to know the sex.” Hawk dropped his head and lifted a hand. “Hold up. I mean Jewel didn’t wanna know the sex. D still denies there’s a little human in her fuckin’ belly.” He leaned forward and grabbed Zeke out of Ace’s arm, lifting the kid high over his head. “Sorry, kid, didn’t mean to fuckin’ curse in front of you.”
Zeke laughed as Hawk dropped him suddenly and flew him like an airplane in a circle with sound effects and everything.
“Nope, they don’t know yet,” Ace confirmed.
“So about this meetin’,” Dex started. “Don’t we need D? He’s a bit occupied right now.”
“As Road Captain, Jag can vote in his place. If we need a vote,” Z answered.
Dex nodded. “Think we’re gonna need a vote.”
“Fuck,” Z muttered.
“Yeah. Though, ain’t the half of it,” Dex warned him. He turned and searched for Jag. “Yo! Jag!”
Jag was sitting in one of the waiting room chairs with Ivy on his lap. Ivy was talking to Bella, who was similarly curled up on Axel’s lap in the next chair.
It hit him then how happy his sisters were. Ivy finally settling down with Jag, who worshipped the ground she walked on. Be
lla finally allowing herself to love Axel freely. And Z’s brother worshipped everything about Dex’s sister, too.
He was glad he didn’t have to kick anyone’s ass on behalf of his sisters. Though, Diesel had done a single knock-out punch on Axel when he’d caught the cop in Bella’s bed one night.
Diesel tended to be more protective of Bella than Dex was. But then, they had all been raised on the same farm and were more like siblings than cousins.
Jag came over. “What’s up, brother?”
“Gonna have a quick meetin’. If we need a vote, your vote will count since D’s tied up,” Hawk told him. Normally as Road Captain, Jag’s vote didn’t count unless another member of the Executive Committee was missing.
“This about Brooke?” Jag asked, his gaze sliding to Dex.
“Yeah,” Dex grunted.
Jag glanced around at the crowded room. “We gonna do it right here?”
“Fuck no,” Z answered. “Need somewhere away from everybody.”
“Agreed,” Hawk said. “’Specially if this is gonna go the way I think.”
“Cafeteria?” Z suggested.
“Or outside,” Ace spoke up.
“Wherever,” Z grumbled. He lifted his head and yelled to Sophie, “Babe, come take my boy.”
Sophie took her time coming over to grab Zeke. She wasn’t one to jump when Z yelled jump. But then—Dex glanced around the room—none of the DAMC women were.
Shit, Brooke would fit right in with them. All of them were headstrong, strong, independent women. Even the ones without the DAMC blood running through their veins. Kiki, Sophie and even Emma.
It was just a fucking shame Brooke was Pierce’s daughter. His eyes slid back to Kelsea and he frowned.
Pierce had ingrained himself deeper in this club than he even knew.
“Gotta have a quick meetin’,” the club prez told his wife. “Headin’ downstairs. Text me if the newest DAMC member comes into the world before we’re back.”
“I talked to one of the nurses. Seems it’s going to be a longer labor than mine,” Sophie said.
“She say if D’s still upright?” Z asked with a smirk.
“The nurse is a he. And I didn’t ask.” She accepted her son from Hawk and gave Z a kiss on the cheek. “If you’re talking club business in the middle of all this, I hope it isn’t bad news.”
Since she knew she wouldn’t get an answer, she sighed and wandered away, blowing raspberries on her son’s cheek.
“Let’s go,” Ace said. “Wanna get back up here ASAP.”
“Agreed. Can’t wait to meet my nephew,” Hawk said.
Ten minutes later, they were gathered around a table in a dark corner of the cafeteria with disposable cups of shitty coffee in front of them.
“D should be here since he got the results. But no matter what, it ain’t good,” Dex started.
“Can already guess that Pierce fathered Brooke,” Hawk muttered.
“Right. But like I said, that ain’t all.” All eyes turned toward Dex. “There’s another little snag that we’re gonna have to deal with if we strip the asshole of his colors.”
“What’s that?” Z asked.
Dex grimaced. “She doesn’t know...”
“Who don’t know what?” Ace asked, leaning forward, his shoulders tense, his eyes focused sharply on Dex.
“Kelsea.”
Ace slammed his hand on the table causing the coffee cups to jump. “What ‘bout her?”
Dex sucked in a breath and braced because he had a feeling at least Ace and maybe even Hawk might blow a gasket at the news about their cousin. “Kels is Pierce’s daughter, too.”
At first, complete silence met his announcement. Then Ace jumped to his feet and screamed out a, “Fucking motherfucker!” so loud that it could peel the paint off the walls. His face turned a mottled red.
With nostrils flaring, Hawk said, “Pop, sit the fuck down before you have a fuckin’ heart attack.”
Good thing it was late and the kitchen in the cafeteria was closed. They were the only ones in there except for a man in the corner nursing his own cup of coffee. Dex didn’t blame him when he quickly got up and left after Ace’s outburst.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Z muttered. “That’s some bullshit right there. Did Pierce rape Annie?”
Ace, in the midst of sitting back down when Z asked that, shot back to his feet, his whole body shaking. “Gonna kill the fuckin’ bastard. With my bare hands.”
Hawk grabbed his father’s arm and yanked it. “Sit down! Ain’t killin’ nobody right now. Got a grandbaby on the way. We’re gonna deal with this.”
“Don’t know that answer,” Dex admitted. “But it wouldn’t make sense if he did. D might know more since he found out from Annie herself. He just confirmed it with a DNA test while Hunter was testin’ Brooke an’ Pierce’s.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t make sense for her to continue to work part-time in the gun shop if he had. No one would wanna work next to their rapist,” Hawk agreed.
“I’m gonna cut his fuckin’ balls off an’ fuckin’ shove ‘em down his throat,” Ace muttered, finally settling back in his chair.
“Also makes sense why he was givin’ Kelsea an’ that Dark Knight the stink eye when they were dancin’ at my weddin’,” Z said.
Dex shook his head. “No. Here’s the thing... D said neither of ‘em know.”
“What?” Jag asked, his brows almost stuck to his hairline. “How could Annie keep that from ‘im?”
“If you got knocked up by Pierce would you tell ‘im? An’ then have ‘im raisin’ your kid? I fuckin’ wouldn’t,” Dex answered.
Hawk grunted next to him.
“He didn’t spend one fuckin’ dime to help raise ‘er,” Ace grumbled. “Not one. Got off scot-free. Fucker.”
“Annie must’ve had ‘er reasons to keep it from ‘im. From you, Ace. From all of us. Hell, even from her own fuckin’ daughter,” Jag said.
“Pierce bein’ Kelsea’s pop ain’t enough to strip ‘im of his colors,” Hawk reminded them all.
“No, but rapin’ a woman is,” Dex said to Hawk. “Though, just don’t know how to be sure ‘bout that.”
“Do we need to be sure?” Jag asked. “Or can we just boot his fuckin’ ass like I wanted to a while ago?”
Hawk considered what Jag said. “Just on suspicion? Guess so. But the whole club’s gotta vote on it. An’ if what Brooke says is true, can tell you...” He drifted off, then lowered his voice. “It’s gonna be more than just strippin’ his colors, brother. Got zero tolerance for that shit. Zero.”
Jag sat back in his chair with a satisfied look. “No fuckin’ loss.”
“Just don’t know how Kels is gonna take findin’ out her pop is Pierce one second an’ then the next, he’s banned from the club,” Ace said.
“Banned,” Hawk barked and laughed, shaking his head.
Ace continued, ignoring his oldest son, “Add on to that findin’ out he mighta raped a woman. An’ because of that, she got a sister.”
Z shrugged. “Don’t gotta tell ‘er.”
“Yeah, but Brooke’s her blood sister,” Dex reminded him. “Even if they only share half of Pierce’s toxic blood, they’re still sisters. Do we really want to keep sisters apart?”
“They don’t even fuckin’ know each other, Dex!” Ace yelled and slammed his hand on the table again. “All this goddamn drama an’ bullshit. Don’t need shit like this tearin’ this club apart. Everythin’ we all worked hard for. Pierce’s like a fuckin’ cancer. Need to cut ‘im the fuck out. Keep it from both the girls. Have ‘im disappear. Whatever. He just needs to get gone. Get our colors off his fuckin’ back while we’re at it.”
Hawk blew out a loud breath, sat back and scrubbed a hand over his mohawk. “Fuckin’ pop. Know you’re fumin’. I’m pissed, too. But we gotta deal with this shit carefully. These women are strong,” he glanced toward Dex. “They can handle more shit than you think.”
Dex nodded his agreement. Brooke was
definitely strong. He knew that just from the short time he’d spent with her.
“Fuckin’ raised Kelsea like she was my own, Hawk.” Ace slapped his hand a couple times on his chest. “Me. I fuckin’ did it all. Supported her, her mother,” he turned his eyes to Dex, “your mother an’ you kids, too. I fuckin’ did it. Not that motherfucker. Not your motherfuckin’ father, either, Dex.”
Hawk turned concerned eyes to his father. “Pop, gotta cool down. Don’t need to end up in a hospital bed. The club helped financially. You gotta remember that. So in a way, Pierce did kinda support Kels. An’ Annie didn’t give ‘im the chance to step up.”
Ace frowned at his oldest son. “You defendin’ him?”
Hawk raised his palms. “Fuck no. Just tryin’ to keep you from bustin’ a blood vessel. That fucker deserves everythin’ he’s gonna get.’
Ace huffed and sat back. He took a few slow breaths until his normal color began to return. “Gotta handle this somehow with these girls. Pierce is the easy part. Kelsea,” Ace shook his head and looked at Dex. “That woman ain’t my worry, but Kels is.”
That woman. “Think Brooke should be our worry. He was wearin’ our colors when he raped her mother.”
“An’ I ain’t defendin’ him, either, but you’re takin’ her word for it,” Z said.
Dex’s jaw got tight. “She says it’s in her mother’s diary that she found.”
“It comes right out an’ says it?” Jag said, leaning forward, his eyes dark.
Dex shook his head. “Dunno. Told her I wanna read it. She hasn’t let me yet. Not even sure if she’s got it with ‘er.” He turned his eyes to Ace. “Thinkin’ you might need to read it, too, if we need some light shed on anything since you were around durin’ that time.”
Ace stared at him, his lips pressed flat. “Bad enough we’re still dealin’ with these fuckin’ Warriors after all these decades, but now this, too.”
“Can’t get past the past,” Jag muttered.
“D’s handlin’ the Warriors. Slow goin’, but it’s goin’,” Hawk said, his voice low. “We clean up this shit, then the past can stay just where it belongs.”
“Hopin’ so,” Ace mumbled.
“Right now, we got the future about to fuckin’ join us upstairs. Need to get back up there for D an’ Jewel,” Z said, running fingers through his hair. “Zeke, D’s son, your son, Hawk, and even maybe yours, Jag, if it’s a boy. The future’s upon us. We need to make sure our shit is cleaned up for all of ‘em. Make sure this club lives on the way I imagined it would. Got me?”
Down & Dirty: Dex (Dirty Angels MC Book 8) Page 9