Fucking Russians.
That was all I could think as I watched the smoke-filled clubhouse plunge into chaos while the outside was so much fucking worse. There was a goddamn crater in front of Steel City Motors where the parking lot used to be. Those fucking cowards had parked a vehicle in the lot at some point, figuring rightly that it would blend in with the other cars our booming business needed to service. Nobody noticed that the fucking car was rigged with a bomb and those fucking Russians waited until half my MC was close before they set it off.
It was cowardly shit, but it was also effective.
Whatever our issues were, Viv was a goddamn pro. She handled the chaos like she’d been born in the middle of it. She was calm and efficient under pressure, seeing the things her patients didn’t tell her and handling each of them with a firm hand when it came to aftercare. She barked orders as she patched up my club brothers, all while the others were worried and scared, running around like headless chickens.
She glanced up from her work once to check on TJ, but otherwise she just did her job. She worked quickly and efficiently, with so much care that anybody looking in would think my brothers mattered to her. Hell, they might even think she was one of us same as Laura and Katey.
Maybe she could’ve been.Ifshe hadn’t left. But she did and here we were.
Viv kept her distance from all of us. She took care of each person as if they mattered because they did matter for no other reason than they were her patients and she had the skills to help. She said the distance was for everyone else, not her, and while I watched her work, I started to believe her.
Because I was a fucking idiot.
The woman already played me for a fool and left me for a rich prick and still I wanted to believe her. What kind of issues did that take?
“Mama,” TJ’s little hands cupped both sides of my face until he had my attention. “Mama,” he repeated, pointing down the hall where Viv had just disappeared without a word.
“You want your mama, little man?” Eyes the exact shade of my own were filled with worry. “Let’s go check on her.” I wondered so fucking much about what their life had been like before they returned to Steel City. Was TJ just attuned to her moods because of the life they lived or was it something more?
The little boy traced the tattoo on my bicep as I carried him towards the room where Viv kept herself holed up all day.
My sister stepped in front of us with her arms folded over her chest and an angry scowl on her face. “Don’t do this, Trav. Whatever you’re feeling for him has nothing to do with her.” She nodded in the direction of the green and black door and eyed me carefully.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Raven. This is called human fucking decency.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Don’t feed me that bullshit. I know you. A gorgeous doctor gave you a son andyou’re just beingdecent?Give me a fucking break. She’s trouble.”
She wasn’t wrong but it was my brotherly duty to keep that information to myself. “Women, in general, are trouble. Even you. Sometimes especially you.” TJ laid his head on my shoulder. “And be nice,” I warned her, risking a look at my son who held me with so much trust I was sure I’d never be able to earn it.
“I’m always nice,” she grinned and ruffled TJ’s hair before she sauntered off, satisfied she’d said what she felt she needed to say.
I opened the door and stepped inside just as Viv stepped from the bathroom in nothing but a towel, steam still curled up around her bare legs and shoulders. Her dark hair was wet as it clung to her skin, still flushed and pink from the hot shower.
She stopped short at the sight of me and then TJ before forcing a tight smile. “Thank you,” she whispered. A small smile touched her lips as she took in the sight of TJ, before she grabbed the small duffel bag and disappeared into the bathroom again.
She reappeared minutes later in yoga pants and a tank top that showed off the perky tits I remembered with the eager nipples that seemed to always be hard. My brain filled in the memories before I could shut that shit down. The way her nipples responded to every flick of my tongue, the way they hardened when I sucked them. Or bit them. The way she writhed when I gave her just enough pain to make her pussy melt.
Fuck.
I ripped my eyes from her and that fucking tank top and cleared my throat. “Thank you,” I grunted. “For what you did out there. My brothers.”
Worry lines appeared at the corners of her eyes. Her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. “Of course. I’m glad it wasn’t worse.” She pulled a pair of socks from the bag and slipped them on as if she wasn’t aware of the air between us, thick and awkward.
I remembered a time when things were easy between us, almost natural as if we’d been talking, been communicating all of our lives.Funny what a few years could change.
She grabbed a ponytail holder and gathered her hair on top of her head, wrapping quickly until a messy bun type thing fell to one side. She stepped into a pair of sneakers with a heavy sigh before her gaze met mine. “I think I should stay someplace else.”
I scoffed to mask the sting of her exit. She stared at me with the cold, distant thing she’d been doing since she got here. “What, this place not up to your standards, Viv?”
She blinked as confusion took over but it was quickly replaced by disappointment before she shut down all emotions. “A bomb just went off on your property, Falcon. That wasn’t random, it was a message to me. No one has said anything yet but I’m guessing it was the Russians, right?”
I could’ve lied but what good would that do? “That’s our guess too.” According to Slate it was right out of their playbook.
“Exactly what I thought. They’re huntingmeand as long as I’m here, everyone here will be in the line of fire.” Her words were cold and casual, as if she was talking about the goddamnweather instead of dangerous mobsters. Viv opened her mouth again, but she snapped it closed quickly as if she’d changed her mind. Finally she found what she wanted to say. “Look, Falcon, when the paternity test comes back. I know I sprang all of this on you in the worst possible way, but can I rely on you to take care of TJ? If not, just tell me now.” She gripped her hands together, nervous and worried as if she really thought I’d turn my back on my own kid.
I had no fucking right to be so upset, but I was. Something in me snapped. “Of course I’ll take care of my son,” I growled, the words so harsh they hurt my throat.
