Prologue
Chasm
Seven years ago...
“Marry me.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“What?” Morgan looked up from the stick in her hand. She told me last night that she was late. Swore she’d never been late a day in her life. I picked up the test, and first thing this morning, she took it.
It was positive.
She was pregnant.
We were having a baby.
“Let’s get married. You know I love you. Let’s give this baby something neither of us ever had. A family.”
“I have a family. I have my mom. And you have your club brothers.”
“But I never had a dad. And neither did you.” She looked away, her face falling. She never spoke about her father. I’d told her about mine. About what he’d done, the people he’d hurt. Including my mother and Justin’s. “I don’t want my child to grow up with any doubts that he or she was loved and wanted.”
“You want the baby?”
I held her face in my hands and kissed her. “Yeah, I want the baby.”
“Jude, we don’t have to get married for you to love this baby. I would never keep your child from you.”
“I want the baby mama too,” I offered. Truth was, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get married and settle down. But I’d be damned if my kid grew up the way I did. I might have my father’s last name, but he never wanted us. There was no telling how many children he’d spawned in his lifetime.
I knew about three of them. My brother Justin, my sister Janelle, and me. Janelle was the oldest, sixteen years older than me. But Justin and I only had two years between us. Him being older.
Our mothers were sisters, so we were fortunate to grow up together. We had two mothers, but no father.
I loved Morgan. I’d never met anyone like her, but she was too fucking good for me. I knew if I married her, I could keep her for a while, but eventually she’d realize I was nothing.
Just the bastard kid of a cult leader.
“We can do it today. I’ll get King and Gunner to come with us as witnesses.”
“But my mom, my friends,” she pressed.
“We can have another ceremony in Virginia if you really want to. We’ll go all out. Come on, Morgan, what do you say?”
“I think you’re crazy, and you make me crazy. But okay. Let’s get married.” She threw her arms around my neck, and I held her tight, for as long as she’d let me.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” my best friend asked.
I looked over at King. He’d joined the club a year after I did, and we’d been tight ever since. There were only two things we didn’t agree on. That our president Steele was shady as fuck, and Morgan.
“I know what the fuck I’m doing. I love her, man.”
“She’s not built for this life, brother.”
“I know. But I’m gonna hold on to her for as long as I can.”
“Then what? Let her go? Let her take your kid back to Virginia so she can meet a doctor or lawyer? Let him raise your kid?”
“Look, the kid is already here. You had parents, and you lost them too fucking early, but can you honestly tell me you’d be better off never knowing them?”
