“Yeah,” Axel replies cooly.
I can tell he’s ready to change the subject, so I do it for him. “I saw a Devil’s Knights member watching Everly at the grocery store.”
“Why would they still be following her?” Atlas asks. “I thought they had it out for Travis, not her.”
“That’s what I want to know,” I mutter. “I don’t know what their game plan is in following her, but I don’t like it. She’s pregnant, it’s not like she can protect herself right now.”
Now, I know that’s bullshit and that pregnant women are more than capable of taking care of themselves, but as close as she is to her due date and after what she’s been through with the accident, that’s the last thing she needs to be worrying about.
“Have we looked any further into the connection between Travis and the Devil’s Knights?” Atlas asks.
“No, but we’re going to now,” Grayson says. “Noah, I want you to find out what was going on between Travis and the Devils. Everything. I want you to find out if there is a connection between them and Everly, too.”
A growl slips from my mouth, making my brother look at me with a raised brow. I bite my lip to stop from saying something.
“Will do, pres,” Noah tells him with a worried look in my direction.
“Good,” Grayson says as he relaxes back in his chair. “I think we should put a prospect on Everly in the meantime. Is everyone okay with that?” He asks. Everyone around the table murmurs their agreement. “Do I need to put prospects on Wren, too?” He asks Axel.
“Nah, he’ll back off now.”
“Fine. I also wanted to let everyone know that the renovations on the bar are almost done. We’re set to open in a month since we don’t have to hire new staff. We still need to come up with a name, though.”
“What about Sovereign Spirits?” Nash asks.
Murmurs of approval break out. “Let’s put it to a vote,” Grayson says. “All in favor of naming our bar Sovereign Spirits?” Everyone gives their assent. “Sovereign Spirits it is. We’ll plan our grand opening soon. We’re done for the day,” he says with a slam of the gavel.
I stand from my chair and follow the rest of the guys out of Church, bypassing the bar and heading straight to my suite. I’m pissed off and I don’t know why. I should be happy that Grayson agreed to put Everly under our protection, but why would he choose a prospect to do it? Nothing against our prospects, butthey’re still green. They haven’t seen the shit that the rest of us have.The shit that I’ve seen.
I punch in the code to my suite and slam the door behind me, walking into the main room and collapsing onto my couch. I reach up and rub my jaw and wince at the ache. I’m always clenching my jaw when I’m stressed out.
I shouldn’t be this affected by Everly Sinclair. So why am I?
5
EVERLY
I don’t know why I thought today was a good day to do this, but I did. Here I am, in the baby section of the store, and I don’t even know where to begin.
I didn’t even know that there were this many baby things to begin with. Why are there twenty different types of bottles and ten different types of pacifiers?Don’t they all do the same thing?
I look down at my empty cart and sigh. I have to buy something today. I’m getting way too close to my due date to keep slacking on baby supplies.
I push my cart further down the aisle towards the clothing section. Baby clothes are adorable, so I have to be able to find something there, right?Wrong.I walk through the clothes and don’t find anything to buy. Yes, everything is adorable, but it just makes me realize that I should have found out the baby’s gender by now.
I see the diapers up ahead and walk that way. Diapers are universal for boys and girls, so this is perfect. Except there are literally dozens of types and sizes of diapers and now I’m panicking.
What kind of mom am I going to be if I can’t even choose the best diapers for my kid? I can’t decide on anything. I start to breathe heavily and decide it’s best if I leave the store for now, even if I’m leaving empty handed.
My mind races as I push through the front of the store and out into the parking lot. Tears fill my vision as I get closer to my car. I push the cart into the cart return and wipe my eyes, but when I turn around, I stop in my tracks.
Something is sitting on the hood of my Telluride. My breath catches and my eyes dart around the parking lot. It’s full of vehicles and people are weaving in and out of cars, but I don’t see anything suspicious.
I force my feet to move forward. One time was a coincidence; twice is a threat. My breathing picks up as I get to my vehicle and move so I can see what it is.A teddy bear.I furrow my brow and reach out to grab it before looking around again. With no one nearby, I look more closely at the bear.
It’s brown and soft and is dressed in a white t-shirt. It looks inconspicuous enough, until I see what’s written on the t-shirt.
Daddy’s little thief
