King dismissed us after his last revelation, even though we still had no more solid information than when we first walked in. My brother would go back and get more with his VP hat on, but for now, I didn’t want to hear anything King had to say. There was enough to get my head around as it was.
I passed the garage that was busy with several bays full of motorcycles and a few cars. One had been taken apart, and as I looked over, the man leaning in the hood straightened up and stretched. He held up a hand in greeting. It was a guy I had a crush on when I was around fourteen, before my heart turned its attention to a boy closer to me.
Handlebar was one of the MC’s best mechanics, still a good-looking guy, in his thirties by now, with his overalls unzipped and hanging around his waist, he was wearing a white wife beater covered in grease, which seemed gross, but the overall effect was distracting, considering he had a body anyone would drool over. I waved back, feeling my cheeks heat then hurried on.
Shit, I had to call Declan. He’d sent a couple of texts this morning to check in. I made a mental note to call as soon as I’d spoken with Rosa. As much as the guys around here kept club business to themselves, Rosa would have more information about my mom.
I needed to know if dad was right about her. Dad wasn’t forthcoming about his feelings, but he’d definitely shown a side of him today neither Warren nor I expected. At the moment, I didn’t know how to feel knowing she was dead.
I didn’t see Hudson anywhere and mentally slapped myself for even wondering. Probably consoling his little slut. Shaking that thought off, I climbed the steps to the veranda of the house.
The front door was unlocked, as usual, so I let myself in and called out for Rosa. I doubted she could hear me over the sounds of a boomingTV. I passed a door to the left where it sounded like a raucous school had let out for recess, peering inside there was a group of kids, ranging from about nine to fifteen, playing video games on a huge flat screen TV.
Further along was a crafting table where younger kids were busy making art. A couple of older girls were watching them, and some others sat at desks with laptops or notebooks, it looked like they were doing homework. None of them noticed me so I headed further into the house.
The long hallway bypassed the stairs and led to the massive kitchen where two women sat at a large table, while another worked at the counter making what looked like an industrial sized vat of pasta sauce. I could hear the sounds of kids playing through the open double doors and spotted a few running around with water pistols. It made me think of when we were kids, playing around the compound, climbing trees, and chasing each other playing tag.
Despite everything that went on here, it had always been family orientated and everyone looked after the kids.
“Well, look who finally showed up.”
I turned to see Rosa coming out of the pantry. She had flour on her top and cheek.
“Just in time for cookies. You always had a nose for them. Come here you little runaway.”
I could have taken offence to the name, but not when it came from Rosa. I didn’t even mind she transferred flour to me when she grabbed me in a tight hug. She was a good few inches shorter than me, but it felt like a bear had me the way she hugged, I’d missed her.
“You remember the girls, right?” she nodded to the table behind me. I got hellos from everyone. All the older women I remembered well. The girl at the counter was new and Rosa introduced her as Lily. She was younger than the others, with bright red hair and a sunny smile. She looked nothing like a biker’s woman, in her pink summer dress with a tiny white cardigan that covered her arms but barely reached her waist.
“Lily just married one of the new guys, Omen.”
“Omen?” I arched a brow. The names these guys adopted once they joined up sometimes confounded me.
“His given name is Damien,” Lily explained, wiping her hands off on a dish towel. She came around and held out a hand to shake mine. “We met at a church function.”
“And she don’t mean our kind of church either,” Rosa cackled.
“You have a brother who goes tochurch, church?” I asked.
The irony of his road name and where they met was not lost on me. I snorted a laugh, but Lily didn’t seem to take offence.
“Oh no, he was at a function, his sister baked cakes for the sale, and he helped her bring them along, we got to talking,” Lily explained. Then she laughed. “I can see this is freaking you out. I may be religious but I’m not from the dark ages. My parents aren’t even that angry with me for marrying him. He’s a good son-in-law.”
“And why wouldn’t they like him?” Rosa asked, spotting her reflection in the oven door. She wiped at the flour with the back of her hand. “We’re upstanding people just like those God-fearing types,” she winked at me.
Lily patted Rosa’s arm. The other women at the table laughed. Isla, the club secretary’s wife, offered me a coffee which I readily agreed to. It was an entirely different vibe here to the clubhouse, and I had to admit, I welcomed it.
“Come, sit,” Naomi, the wife of dad’s Sergeant-at-Arms pointed to a chair at the table. “Tell us all about where you’ve been and what you’ve done andwhoyou’ve done,” she winked as I joined her at the table.
Naomi gave me the low down on sex when I was nine. You grow up fast around an MC. I didn’t make a habit of hanging around inside the bar or common areas but that didn’t mean I didn’t see things back then.
Connor was a couple of years older than the rest of us, so he’d been eager to report back the things he saw and what they meant. The other boys had been intrigued, I just didn’t get it. Not even when Naomi told me about sex. It was gross, and I swore blind I would never, ever do it.
That sure as hell went out the window when puberty hit.
“Rosa told us about you a little, hope you don’t mind,” Lily said with another smile as she went back to her sauce.
“Depends on what she said,” I told her, thanking Isla when she brought me my coffee. True to her word, Rosa had cookies, and she placed a plate on the table.
