She’d already designed our house on the south side of the club compound. There were a few smaller warehouses down there that we weren’t gonna use. We looked at living in town, but there weren’t any houses Aislynn or the boys were particularly struck with, so I thought, why not design exactly what we want? We had mountains behind us, and our view from what would soon be our back porch was breathtaking. Also, we’d be close to the club but far enough away that we wouldn’t be bothered by people, so we’d have the best of both worlds.
I unclipped my seat belt and waited for everyone else to follow suit. “Are we ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she responded.
“It’s okay, Ash,” Rex piped up from behind her. “If they cause a scene, we’ll just leave and go to Giovanni’s.”
I turned and shot my oldest boy a wink.
He loved his stepmom; in fact, both my boys did. She cooked for them and made sure they had clean clothes and enough money for dates and gas. She also slipped condoms in their pockets, which I reckoned was a bit soon, especially for Roman, but then I loved the way she looked out for my boys, so I wasn’t going to upset the applecart by saying anything.
Breanna had met a guy in rehab and moved to Nebraska when she completed her program. He was the brother of her roommate, and he seemed like a solid guy. He worked as a plumber for a big construction company, and by all accounts, he took good care of her and was good to my boys whenever they drove over for a visit.
Bree was living in a one-bedroom apartment but had a blow-up bed in the living room that she organized for the boys when they were there. My ex and her man were talking about movingin together soon and getting a bigger place, so it wouldn’t be forever, and at least she was living clean and living well.
I got out of the car and jogged around the hood to get Aislynn’s door. Opening it, I held a hand out for her to take and helped her down from my truck. “You okay?” I asked.
She smiled. “Nervous.”
“No need,” I assured her with more confidence than I was actually feeling. You see, there was a reason we hadn’t been around, especially in the last four to six weeks.
The fact was, our marriage wasn’t our only secret.
Aislynn pulled her long coat around her to brace against the Fall wind. Then, she threaded her arm through mine, checked that the boys were close, and moved into the bar first.
A cheer went up when Aislynn walked in, then died as soon as I stepped in behind her. Somebody turned the music down a notch, and I looked around the bar to see the O’Sheas and all the Speed Demons, along with their women and kids.
My attention was immediately caught by Atlas, who for some ungodly reason had taken his shirt off and had a necktie wrapped and fastened around his head, like he thought he was fucking Rambo.
Maeve was bent over a chair in front of him until she looked around and saw us, and she slowly stood to her full height.
Aislynn looked around and saw Donovan, Rosie, and Maureen sitting at the bar. She gave them a low wave and said, “Hey!”
“You’re late, Sis,” Donovan called over, eyeing me disdainfully. “I see you picked up a stray along the way.”
“Well,” she murmured. “Pagan’s not exactly a stray.” She opened the front of her coat and slipped it off, showing her baby bump, which looked pretty big, considering she was only four months along. She raised her left hand, flashing the huge diamond claddagh ring that I’d slipped on her finger the day Imade her my wife and, incidentally, also got her pregnant, and fixed a smile on her face before calling out, “Surprise!”
A split-second of silence settled over the bar, then chairs scraped and the sound of glass smashing on the floor cut through the air, along with a collective gasp.
Then, all hell broke loose.
Two massive tattooed Irish men advanced on me, their hands balled into fists.
“Motherfucker!” Callum bellowed.
“You knocked my sister up!” Donovan roared.
I held my hands up defensively, stepping back. “Yeah, I did, but I married her too.” Never once had I backed away from a fight, but I got their anger. The last thing they knew was that I’d cheated on their sister, and although Tristan had spread the word that it was all a big misunderstanding, I doubted they believed him.
Then and there, I made a decision.
“Okay!” I shouted. “I’ll give you one punch apiece. After that, I hit back.”
“Done,” Callum muttered, drawing closer.
“Fuck, yeah,” Donovan crowed.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Maureen screeched. “Angels, won’t you deliver me?”
