That did not deter Oscar’s excitement. “Can I drive one?”
“Absolutely not!” Rose answered, much to Keys’ amusement. She made sure Oscar was sufficiently distracted before she stuck her tongue out at Keys over Oscar’s head. Keys shot her an air-kiss back.
The clubhouse was exactly as Rose pictured after viewing it through Keys’ security feeds for over a year. In many ways, it felt as familiar to her as the MKSS building, and yet stepping inside, smelling the aroma of sweet, yeasty tones permanently infused into the bones of the building, was completely different. She’d witnessed the comings and goings of the club members and their families, the eternal roar of motorcycles through the speakers, and the particular rhythm of a place that was home to a lot of people who loved each other loudly and without reservation. She might know the layout and the faces of the members, knew which parking spot certain members preferred, and even which brothers were early risers and which ones needed three coffees before they were fit for human company. And yet, as she stood in front of the glass double doors of the building, she’d never felt more like a stranger.
In one quick swoop, Keys lifted Oscar onto his hip so he was free to press a warm hand to the small of her back. Somehow, that simple act infused her with the courage she needed to step over that threshold. She’d dressed carefully, originally wearing the only skirt she owned until Keys told her to change and wear whatever the fuck she wanted. In turn, Keys had put on a whiteStar Warsshirt with the words “Pew, Pew” over a Stormtrooper helmet and his cut, which she knew was his own silent declaration.
What felt like hundreds of eyes turned on them at once, andthe entire room fell silent like someone had pressed the Mute button. Keys and Rose stood at the entrance for exactly two seconds before Oscar craned his neck to look up at the tall ceiling and announced loudly, “It’s big.”
Keys did not look away from his club brothers and family as he answered, “It is.”
“Bigger than our building?”
“Not quite.”
Still Keys did not look away. Rose didn’t have the nerve to tilt her head to see if he was looking at anyone specific. Personally, she felt like a deer in the headlights. How many people were staring back at her? Forty? Fifty? She tried to run through her list of VDMC members and recall who had wives, but her anxiety kept making her lose count.
Eager to see everything, Oscar twisted around with such excitement that he nearly threw himself out of Keys’ hold. “Ours is better,” he stated boldly.
Her son’s assertion and claim over the MKSS building had Rose pressing her lips together to keep from smiling.
Ginger hair drew her attention, and once again, Rose came face-to-face with Ghost, the VDMC’s president. She braced herself as if for battle, but Oscar, of course, had a different reaction.
“Keys!” he said loudly, pointing at the approaching biker. “That man has a shark on his arm!”
Everything seemed to pause as the tension in the room shifted to Ghost. He stopped walking, coming to a halt maybe ten or so feet from them, and looked down at his tattoo sleeves and then back at the four year old regarding him with enormous blue eyes.
“It’s a tattoo, bud,” Keys told him gently. “They’re like a drawing on an adult’s skin.”
Oscar’s jaw dropped. “Can I get one?”
“When you’re older.”
Oscar’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How much older?”
“A lot,” Rose and Keys said together.
Oscar turned to Rose like she’d betrayed him by agreeing with Keys. She just shook her head at him. He sighed heavily, throwing his head back in utter exasperation, like he’d just learned the worst news in the history of the world.
Returning his attention to the room, Oscar looked past Ghost. “Why does everyone look mad?” he asked, at a volume that ensured absolutely everyone heard him.
Rose felt heat climb her neck.
Keys pressed a kiss to her temple before lowering Oscar to the floor. He stayed down there, on one knee before her son. “They’re not mad, bud. They’re just surprised. I kept some secrets from them that were necessary at the time to protect you and your mom.”
Oscar scrunched his face, looking skeptical. “That man looks mad,” he said, pointing directly at Scar, who stood with his wife, Tally, by the kitchen door behind the bar.
Keys was not the only one to smirk in the room at that assessment. “That’s your Uncle Scar. Trust me, he looks scary and angry, but you’ll have no better friend than him. If you are in trouble, and you can’t find me or your mom, you go to him. Understand?”
Rose’s eyes flicked up from her son to Scar. The man didn’t so much as twitch, despite being the center of attention in a crowded room. There was a lot about Scar that Rose didn’t know, but the one thing she wasverycertain of was that he would kill anyone who threatened his family.
She sincerely hoped that umbrella now included her son as Keys implied.
Oscar seemed to accept this explanation, though his eyes continued to flick to Scar like he was making sure he was still there. Then he suddenly turned his attention to the far corner of the room where Bear was standing with his arms crossed, takingup approximately the same square footage as a small vehicle. Oscar’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
Though he bent his head forward, he in no way whispered, “Keys.”
“Yeah?”
