Mercenary and His Outlaw
Page 11
They both swallow before Harlow hesitantly speaks up, “Sweetie, you sure have been irritable. Especially these past few days. Your attitude is, well, amplified.”
Frustrated, I roll my eyes. “And that’s different than any other day,” barely leaves my lips before a yawn takes over.
Tinley grabs a menu and feigns reading it before she side-eyes Harlow. “It’s nothing, I guess.”
Our food arrives and smells delicious. As our waitress, Flora, places all the separate plates in front of me, I look across at my girls’ plates. They have one a piece. Now, I begin to feel like a bit of a glutton. Oh, well, I’m starving so I grab my burger and sink my teeth in. The minute I swallow, my stomach begins to turn, and all of this food no longer seems or smells so good. I sit back and take a sip of my water, placing my hand over my belly as nausea settles in.
“Something wrong, Harmony? You look a little pale. Should I call Mercenary?” Harlow asks me, concern thick in her voice.
Shaking my head, I answer, “No. I’m just tired lately. Overworked. Think it’s finally catching up to me.” Both of them say nothing else on the subject and finish their food. Every once in a while, I pick at mine, but the nausea rears its ugly head and I back off.
Flora brings our ticket to the table and asks, “Would you like to take any of that home? Or?”
Letting out a slight giggle, I reply, “Looks like my eyes were bigger than my stomach.”
“Not for much longer,” flies out of Harlow’s mouth and my eyes flicker to her.
“What did you say?” I notice Flora turn her back and walk away from my peripheral.
“Oh, come on, Harmony. Any chance you could be pregnant?” She leans in, resting her elbows on the table.
I dig into my small purse and search for some cash before I toss it onto the table. Pregnant? As in a baby? Another person growing inside my body? Impossible. I shake my head at her. “Nope.”
“You sound so certain. How can you be?” she pushes further.
I look to Tinley who tosses her hands up in the air. “I’m outta this one. Want me to take this and go pay?” I nod my head and respect her excuse to get away from this preposterous conversation.
“That should cover both mine and Harlow’s.” Shifting my eyes back to the woman I speak of, I’ve got the most obvious answer, “Because we practice safe sex. He wears a condom. That’s how.”
A smirk grows on her face. “Let’s say that were true even one-hundred percent of the time, you do know condoms are only about ninety-seven percent effective? So, never have the two of you gone bare? Raw dog? Unwrapped?”
Tossing a hand up in the air at her unsettling descriptions, I cringe. “Nope. Not even one…” Holy fuck! Mentally I begin counting backward. I’m trying to figure out how long ago it’s been since we went to my father’s for dinner. We had some drinks while we were there and took our own party back to my place where we had a lot to drink. I even got him to loosen up and play twister naked with me. Of course, I’m sworn to secrecy on that. We ended up having sex and it was spontaneous. We didn’t use a rubber, but I know for a given fact he pulled out. Came all over my tits. It was a mess.
“Harmony? What’s that pause for? You’re going pale again?” Harlow’s words break me free from thought.
I take another sip from my water. “Okay. Remember that night my daddy invited us all over for dinner?”
Harlow nods her head and her forehead begins to crinkle like she can sense it already. “Yes, it was about three weeks ago if memory serves.”
Yanking my phone out, I go straight to my monthly cycle app. My heart sinks as I look at it and realize I’m four days overdue for my period. How did I not get an alert or something? Or did I and I have just been too busy and in love to fucking notice? “I’m late,” I announce as Tinley approaches the table in time to hear.
“Seriously? As in your period?” she asks, causing Harlow and I both to turn and glare at her.
“Love ya, Tin, I really do but sometimes your questions and timing are off,” I say cuttingly, but honestly don’t mean to take my frustration out on her.
“Let’s go buy a home test, go back to my place, and you can take it there,” Harlow suggests.
It was only lunch we were going to. How did this day turn into lunch combined with me now having to take a fucking pregnancy test? “My period was late once and it scared the shit outta me. Turns out, stress can cause a delay in you getting it too. So, I wouldn’t worry too much, Harmony,” Tinley attempts to reassure me.
I feign a grin, but right now, I have no idea how not to stress. Merc and I are not in a place where we’ve agreed on starting a family. We talked about it, but both wanted to wait a few more years. Please, God, let this be from stress.
* * *
Mercenary
* * *
This prospecting business is fucking bullshit. Every time Rogue or Bane have me doing more bitch work, I find myself wanting to tell them to fuck off. But slowly I’ve been forming a bond with these men. It’s really beginning to feel like the family I never had. Guess I’d just gotten so used to being alone and doing things solo that this is still taking some time for me to adjust. Not to mention, this is Harmony’s family, so it’s an honor to be considered for a prospect position. Hopefully it won’t take too damn long before I prove my loyalty and get fully patched in. I wasn’t expecting special treatment because I’m Pres’ daughter’s old man, and Rogue made that extremely clear when they voted me in as a prospect.
Right now, they’re all in the meeting room as Rogue’s called emergency church for some reason. These types of things drive me wild inside because my paranoia kicks into overdrive and I begin to wonder if there’s a threat looming close by. We all know Marcum is still out there in the open somewhere just waiting to strike. Things have been far too quiet lately and I’ve expressed this concern to Rogue. Usually when things are too quiet, there’s a reason, and it’s not good. There doesn’t always have to be smoke where there’s fire. So, like a helpless little punk bitch, I’m out here mopping up fucking puke from Sandman’s whore from earlier. Guess she took him a little too deep into her mouth and the bitch vomited everywhere. He called her all sorts of degrading names before dismissing her presence.
The clubhouse door opens, and my girl walks in with Harlow. As I go to greet her with a smile, I quickly notice her eyes are red and blotchy. Racing to her side, she throws herself into my arms, burying her face into my chest, and I become frantic. Looking up at Harlow for some show of what the fuck is going on, she simply shrugs before turning and walking away. “Harmony?” I squeeze her tightly as I scan the clubhouse, wondering who or what has caused such a disruption in her mood. “You’ve got to tell me what’s going on.” Nothing. Silence remains between us. Resting my chin on the top of her head, I begin to plead with her, “Come on, Harmony.” I feel the wetness of her tears as they soak my shirt. “Outlaw.”
This does trick and she pulls her head from me and looks up. Desperate times call for desperate measures. “Really, Merc?” she snarls.
I run my hand through her long brunette locks as I search her swollen eyes. “You wouldn’t answer me. I got your attention, didn’t I?” I offer her a grin, hoping it’s contagious and maybe she’ll reciprocate. I’m a little frantic here needing to know what’s going on. My attempt is a failure and now I feel my stomach begin to turn. Fuck, it really must be serious.
“Where is everyone?” she inquires.
“Church. Now quit changing the subject and answer my original question, woman,” I growl low, my impatience surpassing thin now.
“You might wanna grab a drink, just saying.” She runs her hand through the side of her hair before tucking a strand behind her ear.
This is the universal code for ‘shit just got real so prepare yourself for the worst news ever,’ and I don’t like it one bit. Swallowing thickly, I ask her, “Want me to pour you one? Because whatever this is, I’ll be hearing it without liquor-laced veins.”
I feel the side of a smirk begin to grow on my face as I remember us playing twister naked. We did some crazy, freaky stuff that night. That was the first time she allowed me to fully explore every inch and depth of her body—on every surface imaginable too. Realizing I can’t have any of the guys knowing, my smirk turns to thinned, serious lips. “Uh, yeah. Remember though, we don’t speak of certain things from that night around here.”
Rolling her eyes before her head falls back, I can tell she’s frustrated. “Oh, get over yourself, Kyle,” she begins, but the second my name leaves her lips, I step toward her and place my hand over her mouth.
“We don’t speak of that, either,” I remind her. “My fucking goodness, woman, what’s gotten into you?”
She squirms until I release my hand. “You. I let you get into me and now I’m pregnant.”
I can feel my body go numb and my ears begin to ring. I shake my head because there is clearly something wrong with my hearing. “Y-you’re gonna have to repeat whatever it was you just said. Apparently, my mind and ears are both playing tricks on me because it almost sounded like you said you’re pregnant.” My knees feel wobbly just speaking that out loud.
“Merc, you’re looking pale.” She grabs my arm and panic sets in. I think she might’ve actually said what I thought she did. She helps walk me to a barstool and I plop down onto it. Leaning down, so our eyes meet, she places her hands on my shoulders. “You thought that’s what you heard, because that is what you heard.”
Stunned and in complete disbelief, I go through all of the possible pranking possibilities in my head. It’s not April, so it wouldn’t be April fool’s day. Rummaging through the files in my memory bank, I can’t think of a single thing I’ve done recently that would warrant this type of cruel joke. Running my hands through my hair, I decide I’ve changed my mind on that drink. Attempting to stand, I find that my legs feel like jelly. “Drink. I think I’ll have that drink you mentioned earlier.”
She pats the top of my shoulder. “Babe, I really think we should change it to water now. You’re looking pale and I’m beginning to worry,” she tells me as she makes her way behind the bar.
“Nope. Whiskey. Make it a double,” I bark.
I hear her mumbling behind me but can’t quite make it out. Glasses clink together and I know my drink is on its way. Approaching me, she hands me the glass and I down the gold liquid and revel in the burn as it slides smoothly down my throat. She takes a seat on a barstool next to me. Turning to her, I notice her beautiful golden eyes waiting on mine. “How? I mean, I know how...but how?”
She takes my hands into hers. “Well, as I was saying earlier, remember twister night?”
I search the room for spying eyes and ears before answering, “Yes.”
She stares at me and doesn’t say anything for what seems like an eternity. “Besides all of the fun we had that night, does anything else register?”
I think and shake my head. Sex. We had great amazing sex and I fucked her raw. No different than any other time. “Woman, what am I missing?”
“The condom, Merc. We missed it that night, and now I’m missing my period because I am pregnant. With child. Baby on board.”
Holy shit! She’s right. We were fairly wasted, but I distinctly remember pulling out. “Okay, and I pulled out. Way the fuck out. It got all over your…”
She stifles my words with hers, “Tits, Merc. Yes, I remember. All I know is that my period is late. I’ve taken a pregnancy test that showed a positive, and well, I suppose I am having some pregnancy symptoms. At least according to Harlow.”
“Harlow knows?” I jump up off the stool.
She stands alongside me, placing a hand upon her hip. “Yes, Merc. She took me to buy the test.”
“What test?” Rogue’s voice booms loudly throughout the clubhouse.
Covering my face with my palm, I notice how sweaty it’s just become. Sure, Rogue’s become more accepting of me with his daughter, but this? Neither one of us were expecting it and haven’t even had time to process it and now I’m gonna have to explain getting his daughter pregnant so soon. Harmony grabs my hand, pulling it away from my face. “Please try to calm down. Let me do this. I’ll stand in front of you. He wouldn’t dare strike a pregnant woman, especially me.”
“Again, I’ll ask, what test?” Rogue lights up a cigarette as he gets close and the others scatter around. Like an internal switch is immediately flipped, all I wanna do is snatch that disgusting cancer stick from his mouth and away from my girl and unborn child.
Harmony steps in front of me, clearing her throat. Before she can mutter a word, I lift her up and physically move her out of my way and shove her behind me. “Excuse me?” she squeals out while trying to force her way back in front of me.
I turn and glare at her as intently as I can. “Woman, let me handle this like a man,” I growl low and deeply. A look of disbelief crosses her face, but she complies. Turning back to Rogue who now has his arms folded across his chest, I simply answer, “Pres, you know I love your daughter…”
“I’m sorry, you what? You love me?” Harmony peeks her head around, distracting me. Shifting my eyes to her I take my hand, place it on her forehead and gently direct her back behind me.
Looking back at Rogue, I apologize, “Sorry. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I love your daughter very much. We’ve talked about a long future together and children one day.” His eyes get wide at my last statement which doesn’t leave me feeling very confident at what I’m about to reveal. “Well, that ‘one day’ happens to be now. Harmony is pregnant...by me.”
“No shit,” breaks free from my girl’s mouth behind me and I feel my eyes narrow. She steps around me, purposely shoving me to the side this time. She looks up at me and shakes her head. “Was the last part really necessary? Oh, and we will be discussing your declaration once I tie up this conversation.”
* * *
Outlaw
* * *
Inwardly I cuss Mercenary for not only declaring that he loves me for the first time to my father, but for the piss-poor way he revealed my pregnancy to my daddy. Fucking men. I swear to God I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more mad at him than I am in this moment. Although Harlow did warn me of these extreme hormonal imbalances. Either way, I’m unsure if that is what this is, or if I’m genuinely furious at him.
“Daddy, please don’t be upset. This wasn’t planned as Merc stated, and naturally, it is his baby.” I turn around briefly to show Merc my disgust at his ridiculous comment before I turn back around to my father and finish. “Think about it. You’re gonna have a grandson or a granddaughter. Another miniature version of me.” I can hear Merc feign a choking noise behind me. I elbow him making contact, but uncertain where it lands. Felt like a rib. He grunts out in discomfort.
“How certain are you, Outlaw?” my daddy asks me matter-of-factly.
“Well, I took a store-bought test and it says I’m pregnant. Literally. It was digital,” I tell him as I watch confusion line his face.
“Digital?” He arches a single brow.
I nod as I’m unsure how else he wants me to explain it besides giving a demonstration. “I mean, I can go buy another one, pee on it here, and show you.”
Throwing his hands up in the air, my daddy replies, “No, no. That won’t be necessary. Not sure I trust those things, though. Back when your mom and I found out we were having you, it could only be truly confirmed by the doctor. I think you need to make an appointment.”
“Wait a minute,” Mercenary chimes in and I can already feel my nerves begin to stand on end. “So, there’s a possibility you might not actually be pregnant?” he asks, a bit too gleefully for my taste.
“Don’t get too excited, Mr. Fucking
Fraidy Cat. Harlow already called her OBGYN and set me up an appointment. I don’t have one. I’ve always gotten my womanly exams by Doctor Fields. She’s been my physician for years and I trust her, but apparently there’s a special doctor for pregnancies. Anyway, I already had her ask and she was told that the chances of a false positive are basically zero. I have an appointment tomorrow, though. Now, will the both of you hush and just take a minute to process? Hell, can I have a minute to process?” I finish, blowing out a deep breath.
The men all gather around, and my father begins to fill them in on my upcoming bundle of joy. They all give me hugs and congratulate me. Most of them shake Mercenary’s hand except Bane and my father. When I notice that those two seem to have teamed up and choose to shun Mercenary, it pisses me off. “Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart? You feeling okay? Need anything?” he asks me protectively and Mercenary steps up.
“If she does, I’ll be the one getting it for her,” he fires off.
“Both of you chill,” I order them. “But, aww, thanks, babe,” I dote on my man for stepping up. “Now, Daddy. I know you and Mercenary have a not so pleasant past, but he is the father of my child and I demand you start treating him as such. You know, the same damn respect you wanted from Poppy as my father when you knocked my mom up.”