“I could get you some broth, but no food unfortunately.”
“Why can’t she have food?” I asked, my voice a little harder than I intended. Ellie squeezed my hand. She was my ground. My foundation. She kept me from falling off the deep end.
I wasn’t sure if it was my Mexican heritage or my family genes, but I had a short temper when it came to someone I loved being mistreated.
“In the unlikely case that we need to put her under anesthesia, there is too great a risk of aspiration. It’s the same reason you can’t have food after midnight when you are scheduled for surgery,” the nurse explained.
“Oh, I guess that’s good then.” I looked at Ellie. “Sorry, babe, you’re out of luck.”
Ryder scoffed, and Ellie shook her head at him. He seemed to take it as an affront to him that I wanted to protect my friend. Like he was the only one who loved her.
Until I met Ellie, I wasn’t sure I was even capable of love. But she taught me what family really meant.
She was my sister.
Danny and Dante were my brothers.
Now I had nieces, and soon I would have a nephew.
It was the only family I needed.
We waited hours for Sebastian Mark Thomas to make his entrance. And what an entrance it was! I was in awe of Ellie as she pushed and pushed. I had never seen a baby being born.
It scared the crap out of me. It was a good thing I had decided I was never settling down. I couldn’t do what I watched my best friend do.
Not a chance!
Chapter Three
Jessie
I stood off to the side while a few of the guys from the MCooh’d andaah’d over the baby. It was fun to watch the big bad bikers act like kids fighting over who got to hold the newest member.
“Come on, Sam, share,” Jack whined to his old lady.
“No, I have him, and I’m keeping him.” Sam turned away from Jack as he reached for the baby. “I want a boy,” she whispered.
“Next time.”
Sam glared at King. “You really think Jack can produce a boy?” she asked the MC president.
“Hey!” Jack pouted.
I was amazed at the dynamic in this club. King was the president, but he didn’t lord his authority over his men. Not the way my uncle did.
King ruled with respect and honor. Not fear and death. No, King laughed with his men. He lived every day with them. Even the prospects. King didn’t ignore them as though they weren’t worth his time.
I had seen him sitting and eating with Archie. And playing darts with Johnny. King even sat at the bar and had a drink with Keys. He wasn’t a dictator. He was their brother. They were a family.
The sound of a phone ringing around the room pulled everyone’s attention to the man I compared to my uncle. He lifted the phone to his ear and said, “Hello.”
The smile he wore dropped suddenly, and he looked my way. I stood from my chair in the corner. Panic rose in my chest. This was the moment he learned my secret. The moment he told me Icouldn’t stay in Diamond Creek.
“Yeah, we’re all here,” he said. He turned away so I couldn’t see his face and continued talking, “How is he?”
My brow furrowed. Who was he talking about? Had something happened to my father? My brother? Or my uncle?
“Okay, I’ll call the prospects to head over there and follow Banshee and Aspen back to the clubhouse. They can’t stay there. It’s too high a risk to your family.”
