There are six Iron Runners in the bar across the parking lot, all of their bikes parked outside. Civilians are in there too, but it’s a known biker bar, so not many like to hang around. Except the bitches who want their dicks and will do anything to get it, or the guys who are desperate to join but probably don’t have the balls to do so. A lot of people think they can join, but not many are cut out for it. It’s messy and takes a kind of loyalty most people can’t begin to understand.
We’ve heard nothing from the IR since their little failed attempt at retaliation a few weeks ago. They came into our bar, fucked up a few people, but we got them worse.
We may be small, but we are mighty. I don’t care that the Hell’s Mayhem are few, we will fuck some shit up when it comes down to it. Even with how chaotic everything is right now with Coyote being Prez, we have each other’s backs no matter what. Besides, the IR don’t havethatmany more guys than us, since we killed a bunch of them.
There’s no way what they did to us at our bar is enough for them, not after we took out a handful of their guys at their bar—when Snapper found Anastacia. They’re going to come at us again, and we will be ready. We’re always ready.
But that’s not why I’m here today, just before the sun goes down. I’m not watching for them to strike, and I’m not trying to figure out their plan of action. I’m trying to figure out which of these fucks is responsible for hurting my angel. I want to know which one of these little pricked assholes is Dorothea’s father so I can fucking strangle him and rip his insides out. I need to make sure he can never hurt either one of them. Because if he’s alive, he will. He won’t stop until he gets them back. I’m not stupid. I know how this shit works. They are not going to let someone who belongs to them walk away so easily.
Anastacia may be happy that she’s free, but as long as he breathes, is she really?
The easiest thing to do would be to kill them all—every last Iron Runner. Okay, maybe not the easiest, because killing them all would be difficult and may get my ass thrown in jail. There’s only so much blood we can spill before the cops are on our asses. We’ve been lucky enough as is lately because there’s been a lot of mess and we haven’t caught shit for it.
Those pricks don’t know when to fucking quit, but we won’t quit either.
I don’t know what I’m looking for. It’s not like these assholes are wearing missing person’s shirts, but there has to be a sign, right? I could ask her, but I don’t want to bring it up. I don’t wanther to have to think about it, and I also don’t want her knowing that I’m going after them. Because then she’ll worry about them coming back at us, which is a possibility—but no, it’s not. I won’t let it fucking happen. If they try, they’re dead. It’s that fucking simple.
So then, really, what the fuck am I doing here? Being a nosy fuck. If I tried hard enough, and went in there smart, I could take all six of them. They don’t look like their biggest guys, but that isn’t always helpful. The small ones are quick and scrappy, and though I’m a big guy, I’m sometimes slow because of it. But I pack a mean punch, and I’ll blow a hole right through their skull with my fist if they get close enough. But killing them doesn’t mean I’m killing the right one. It could just mean war between us, which isn’t what we need. None of the guys will be happy about that—especially if they find out it’s because of me.
It’s a bad idea going into this alone—going into this at all, honestly. No one knows I’m here. It’s dangerous. Going in there and putting my life at risk could hurt Anastacia and Dorothea—and the club. And that’s what has me turning around and leaving through the woods.
I don’t want to hurt Anastacia, I don’t want her to relive what happened to her, but in order to help her, I need more information. So, I’ll have to ask her about it…
Walking through the door, knowing I’m going to walk into that room and see a smiling woman holding a precious baby feels so goddamn domestic and special. Especially when I walk into the house and it smells like a fresh-cooked meal. Fuck, I could get used to this. Maybe I should. We said we wanted forever,so maybe this is what I have to look forward to for my future. I wouldn’t be mad about it, that’s for sure.
I’ve got my brother and sister-in-law here. I’ve got my girl and my baby.
What else could I need?
There are piles of boxes against the wall by the TV in the living room. Seems like some of the packages came in, which means we’ll be able to set up Dorothea’s room.
I walk down the hall, and into the guest room, but there’s no one there. With a frown, I walk further down the hall and turn into mine.
Anastacia is resting against the headboard in a sitting position, feeding Dorothea. Seeing her like this… it makes my heart do all sorts of weird things. Comfy in my bed, feeding her daughter… it’s beautiful.
She smiles when she sees me, so I walk over and lean down to kiss her. It lingers, my fingers itching to touch her more, but I don’t want to be overbearing. So I pull back and ask how her day was.
“I went through some of the boxes. The smaller ones that had the blankets and clothes.”
“And you moved back in here.”
Tommy and Kelsey helped clean it up, but last I knew, the bed was still stripped of all the sheets.
Last night, Anastacia fell asleep in the other room with Dorothea. I stayed up all night watching them. Not only because she was terrified she’d roll over and smother her, but because I couldn’t stop looking at them.
“I hope that’s okay…”
“Of course it’s okay, Angel. You can go wherever the hell you want in this house. It’s your house too.”
She smiles at me for a moment, then says, “Kelsey and I were talking, and she’d asked what the plan was. We hadn’t talkedabout it yet, but I feel like it makes the most sense to turn the guest room into a nursery. But that means you’ll—”
“Have to sleep on the couch.”
She gives me a strange look. “I thought you would have said upstairs, but no.”
“No?”
“I… want you to sleep in here. With me.” The shock must show on my face because her brows furrow, and she adds, “If you don’t want to...”
