Our eyes met, and I instinctively schooled my features back into neutrality. But it was too late—I knew she’d already seen the dark part of me. The ruthless, lethal side I rarely let anyone glimpse.
My chest tightened painfully as I slowly moved toward the door leading inside. Every step felt heavy, each second stretching longer as I braced myself for the distance I expected her to put between us, the fear I’d see in her eyes.
When I stepped inside, my pulse thudded harshly in my ears. But instead of pulling away, Hannah moved swiftly toward me, closing the space without hesitation. She wrapped her armsaround my waist, holding me tightly, her warmth pressing into me as she looked up at me with concern, not fear. “Are you okay?”
I froze for a split second, caught off guard by her reaction. But then my arms tightened around her automatically, pulling her closer, holding her tighter than ever before. She’d seen everything—the darkness and brutality—but she was still here.
And I wasn’t letting her go.
17
HANNAH
Acouple of days after everything went down with that other motorcycle club, I woke up with my stomach heaving before my eyes even opened. I barely made it to the bathroom, dropping to my knees in front of the toilet as everything from last night came back up in violent waves.
The second I started retching, a strong hand settled on my lower back and began to rub slow circles. Then Griffin gathered my hair back and held it out of the way.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he murmured, his worry clear in his voice. “Breathe through it. I’m right here.”
When the worst of it passed and my stomach finally settled, Griffin helped me to my feet. Then he lifted me onto the bathroom counter before wetting a washcloth with cool water. After wiping my face with gentle care, he handed me my toothbrush.
His frown carved lines between his brows as he studied me. “You’ve been exhausted for days, and now this. I’m taking you to the doctor today. No arguments.”
I rinsed my mouth and shook my head, already feeling surprisingly better. The nausea had vanished as quickly as itarrived. “It’s probably just a stomach bug. I feel fine now that I threw up again.”
Griffin’s expression turned thunderous. “This isn’t the first time?”
I flushed guiltily, clutching the edge of the counter as my shoulders slumped. “I was sick the past two mornings too. It just happened after you left for work.”
“Hannah—”
Before he could gear up to yell at me, I hurried to explain, “You’d already taken care of Isa and let me sleep in because I’ve been so tired lately. And you had Miri coming over to help with Isa during the day. She’s great with her, really patient and sweet.”
Some of the wind went out of his sails at the reminder of the extra rest I’d been getting and how helpful the seventeen-year-old girl from the winery next to the orchard had been. He stared at me for a long beat, his eyes narrowing. Then a slow, devastating grin spread across his face. The kind that made my knees weak even when I was sitting down.
Without explaining his reaction, he picked me up off the counter, set me on my feet, and smacked my butt with just enough sting to make me yelp.
“Go get dressed, sweetheart. I’ll make sure Isa is ready.”
I pestered him as I followed him into the nursery. “Griffin, what’s going on? Why are you grinning like that? Tell me! You can’t just say stuff like that and walk away.”
He just laughed while he scooped a sleepy Isa out of her crib and pressed a kiss to her dark hair. “You’ll see soon enough. Flint and Razor are gonna be glad they stocked up after all.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, and he seemed to be enjoying that. I kept trying to get answers the whole time we got ready, peppering him with questions while I pulled on jeans and a soft sweater. He only kissed me quiet every time I got tooinsistent. I huffed in frustration when he turned his phone so I couldn’t see the screen while he sent a quick text before bundling us into the SUV.
He kept up the stonewalling all the way to the clubhouse.
“Why are we here?” I asked after he opened the passenger door for me.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Finally,” I grumbled, making him chuckle.
He flung the diaper bag over his shoulder and grabbed Isa’s carrier from the base. Then he guided me into the clubhouse. Spotting Stella on one of the leather couches with Cadell playing on the cushion next to her, he asked, “Can you watch Isa? It shouldn’t take long.”
“It?” Stella echoed.
I shrugged. “Don’t ask me. He’s being all cryptic about what we’re doing here.”
