More brothers, club girls, and even my family come out to greet us. My family knows where I went and what I planned to do. But no one expected me to come back with a woman wearing my cut and a child in tow.
Christina stiffens beside me, instinctively pulling her daughter closer to her chest.
“Easy, darlin’. Everything’s gonna be alright.”
They’re all staring at her cut. I plan to get her a proper one with my name on, first thing. But for now, it does the job. Every man here sees it and knows the rule—she’s under our protection and she’s with me, which makes her off-limits to everyone.
A few of the brothers exchange looks. I clear my throat and let my voice carry. “This is Christina,” I say. “And her daughter, Katie. They’re gonna be staying with me. I expect you to give the woman who’s gonna be wearing my cut proper respect.”
That puts an end to the gawping and whispers. A few brothers mumble greetings and drift back towards their work. They were curious, and now they know. I like setting firm expectations up front. It saves trouble later.
My family steps out onto the front steps. Jasper speaks first. “Welcome to the Sons of Rage clubhouse.”
I make introductions. “This is Jasper. He’s my oldest brother and our Prez.”
My ma’s face softens the moment she sees the child. She walks right up, her voice warm but firm. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. Come in, both of you. You must be starving.”
Christina blinks at her, thrown off by the easy kindness. “I am, a little. Thank you.”
Tessa laughs softly, resting a hand on her heavily pregnant belly. “You brought us a little one.”
Rock comes up and puts his arm around Queenie. “We haven’t had a kid running around this place in years. Looks like we’re gonna have two, soon.”
When the kid sees my old man, she hides behind her mom’s legs. My dad is huge, almost like a monster. They don’t call him Rock for nothin’. So, I’m not surprised that he’s gonna take some getting used to for her.
“She’s shy about meeting new people,” Christina quickly speaks up. “It’s been a long day and last night was…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence. She doesn’t need to—I already told my family some of what happened when we turned up, and how it could’ve been real bad.
Queenie reaches out and brushes a curl from Katie’s face. “She’s beautiful. Come on inside. We’ll get you settled.”
Jasper gives me a small nod. That one small gesture communicates both approval and a warning that we need to talk later. The nosey bastard will want a full rundown on what happened, but for now, he lets it go.
I rest my hand at the small of Christina’s back and start guiding her towards the front doors of the clubhouse. Shemoves slowly, looking all around with wide eyes at everything. As we cross the threshold into the clubhouse, she comes to a stop. The main room is big and spotlessly clean. The floors are polished. There are well-worn leather couches lining the walls and walls filled with framed photos of rides and events going back decades.
Katie looks around, her small voice astonished. “Mommy, it’s a castle!”
Christina lets loose with a nervous laugh. “Something close, baby.”
The brothers chuckle quietly. My ma’s eyes shine with happiness. I can tell that she’s already half in love with this little girl. “Come on, sweet pea,” she says. “We’ll find you some ice cream while your mama gets her bearings.”
Surprisingly, the little girl reaches for my ma, and off they go—with Christina’s approval. She seems a little shell-shocked that her daughter just wandered off with a complete stranger.
“She’ll be okay with my ma,” I say.
Christina doesn’t look so sure, but nods and gives a smile.
I lead her upstairs to the top floor, away from the ruckus our arrival caused.
Opening the door to my suite, I tell her, “This is my personal space. You can stay with me for as long as you like. It’s got two bedrooms. The two of you can take the master bedroom tonight and I’ll take the guest bedroom.”
She stammers, “I can’t take your bedroom.”
“You can and you will. Hell, I fall asleep at my desk or on the sofa half the time. I could even sleep standing up if I had to.”
She steps inside my bedroom, taking it all in. “This is way more than I expected.”
“I’ll get another bed for Katie, we can turn my office into a room for her so you can make it homey,” I say. Then just in case she protests I add, “I usually work in the office downstairs anyway.”
