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CHAPTER SIX

ALINA

Becky had cancelled all of my week’s appointments, giving me time. I had no court this week and nothing important scheduled, so it was an easy decision to make. She sat with me while I ate a Chinese takeout, followed by four chocolate muffins, and then I topped it off with a jar of pickles. She looked at me like I was a freak show at a circus while she ate her ice cream.

The plan was simple: go to Hap, tell him I’m pregnant, and then give him an option. I had drawn two sets of papers, one declaring he didn’t want anything to do with the child, that waives all his rights, and the other was the arrangement if he did choose to be in the child’s life. I had changed my outfit a million times before deciding on my black square-neck fitted dress that stopped just above my knees. It was a warm day, and I didn’t need a jacket. I just simply paired them with my high heels, the ones he seemed to like so much. My cheeks heat at the memories.

“No, no. I can’t think of that,” I chastise myself. I was dressed for business, and I had to treat this like I would any other custody meeting. I inhale a long breath, feeling my stomach swirling. I close my eyes, calming myself, until a loud knock on the window scares the shit out of me. “Ahhhh!” I scream. My eyes fly open to find Hap’s amused face looking at me through my window. He gestures for me to lower my window, and I press the button, waiting as the window slowly lowers.

“Just how long are you planning on sitting here? Or were you planning on coming in?” He smirks.

My cheeks heat. The guy at the gate had let me in and I had parked up. I just didn’t realise I had been sat in my car for so long. I clear my throat. “I’m getting out of the car now.” I tell him. Reaching for my briefcase, I move to open the door, but he beats me to it. He opens the door wide, and his eyes drink me in as I step out of the car.

He lets out a low whistle, and shakes his head as he shuts the car door behind me. I stand still with my briefcase clutched in my hands.

“Is there somewhere we could talk?” I ask.

“Is that all you came here to do? Because I can think of a million other things I would rather be doing,” he says with heat in his eyes.

I swallow, feeling heat pooling at my core. God yes! I scream internally. Clearing my throat, I keep my face impassive. “I didn’t come here for that. I came to talk,” I repeat, sticking to the plan. This is business.

He raises his brow, his eyes sweeping over me one more time. “Sure, this way, baby,” he says before placing his hand on the small of my back. His touch sears through me as he walks me inside. The large open area is filled with a bar on one side, and couches and coffee tables are dotted around on the other side. A few members are at the bar, and as their eyes instantly land on me, I tense as I watch one of them twiddling a blade in his hand. My heart beats wildly in my chest. He moves me over to one of the couches and gestures for me to sit.

I freeze. “Er, in private,” I whisper.

He frowns at me, but shrugs. As he leads me towards a long hall at the back, a beautiful woman is walking towards us. Her beautiful raven hair is piled up on top of her head in a scarf, and the fitted tank top and cut-off shorts show off her curves and tattoos. She is carrying a laundry basket against her hip, and as she approaches, a warm smile spreads across her face as she comes to a stop in front of us.

“The bunnies getting classier, or are you in trouble and this is your lawyer?” she asks Hap.

“She ain’t a bunny,” he answers.

“Excuse me, a bunny?” I ask confused. No one answers me.

“Shit, what have you done? Does Ghost know?” she asks.

“Ghost?” I ask.

Hap sighs. “Star, this is Alina. She and I hooked up a while ago,” he informs her.

“Oh! I see.” Realisation quickly flickers over her face. “Well, it’s nice to meet you,” she says, holding out her hand to shake mine.

I shake her hand and smile. “Good to meet you.”

“Okay, well don’t make too much noise. I only just got Enzo down for a nap, and I need to chuck this lot in the washer before heading for my wax appointment,” she sighs.

“You need me to watch Enzo?” Hap asks.

“No, you’re good. Queenie has the monitor in the kitchen. She’s marinating some chicken for dinner or something.” Star shrugs before she turns her attention to me. “You should stay for dinner,” she insists.

“Oh, um. I don’t think—” I begin to politely decline.

“It’s fine. There is more than enough food, and you’ll be able to meet some of the other brothers, and don’t worry, I will suck Ghost off before dinner so he isn’t so grumpy,” she beams, patting my arm before she moves past us and walks off down the hall.

“What?” I whisper.

Hap lets out a laugh and continues to guide me down the hall. “Don’t worry about it,” he says as he opens a door, gesturing for me to step in.

I walk in, realising it’s a bedroom. “It’s a bedroom,” I mumble needlessly.

“That it is,” he says. Sitting on the bed, he pats the space next to me. Begrudgingly, I sit awkwardly next to him. My palms are sweaty, and my heart feels like it’s about to break free of my chest.

“Okay, I’m just going to stay standing if that’s okay,” I state, not really asking. I stand and begin pacing back and forth. “So, you remember the night of the 20 th of May?” I ask him.

“Um, sorry, you are going to have to refresh my memory,” he says, tapping his chin.

“The night we, um, you know,” I clarify.

He grins, his eyes alight with amusement. “I know the date, baby. I ain’t about to forget any time soon. But if you are being factual, it was the day and night,” he states.

I pause my pacing and look at him. “Right,” I add before continuing my pacing. “Well, you may remember that I told you about my ex-husband and why we were getting divorced,” I ramble. I don’t wait for him to answer. I just keep going, walking back and forth, pacing like a caged animal. “Well, before I found him shagging my sister in the hot tub, we were trying for a baby. Well, I thought we were anyway,” I rush out. Suddenly I’m halted as Hap grabs my hand and pulls me into his chest. His free hand circles around my waist to my back, keeping my body close to him. His face is just an inch away from mine. He lets go of my hand and gently tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“You got a lot of pent-up energy going on. You need to relax,” he says softly, brushing his lips over mine. My body instantly melts into his. “Tell me, what has you so worked up? Then I can fuck the stress right out of you,” he rasps, his lips still teasing mine.

I swallow and release a slow breath. “I’m pregnant,” I breathe. I feel his entire body stiffen against mine. His eyes search mine, as if I’m joking, and he releases his hold on me. I take a step back before I reach down and open my briefcase. I pull out the scan picture and hand it to him. He takes it from me, his face is set in a permanent frown of confusion. “I only found out myself two days ago. Actually, I fainted at work after I had just signed my divorce papers,” I scoff. “I am 10 weeks and 4 days,” I state.

He still doesn’t say anything as he stares down at the picture.

“Um, I’m telling you because you have a right to know. I’m not here to demand anything from you,” I say as I bend down and pull out the two files of paperwork. His eyes flicker to them. “I have had two files drawn up, one if you want no involvement. It’s just that if you decide that, I don’t want you changing your mind years later. The other is if you choose to be in its life, then it’s a custody arrangement,” I say as I place them down on his bed.

His eyes follow the movement, not uttering a single word. The silence stretches on as he just stands there, staring down at the picture.

“Okay,” I breathe, “I’m going to head off. You can keep hold of that,” I say, pointing to the scan picture. “And when the news has sunk in a little, you can give me a call and discuss anything you want to talk about,” I tell him softly. I pick up my case and tiptoe around him, like I’m trying not to disturb him. He doesn’t move to stop me, or say a word as I close the door behind me.

I quickly walk back the way we came to my car, and I make quick work of jumping in it. Speeding off out of the parking lot as quick as I can, tears prickle my eyes while a mixture of relief and disappointment mixes in my gut. I don’t know why I feel disappointed. He’s 25, and it’s not like he wants to tie his life down to a kid. Hell, he’s a fucking outlaw biker for fuck’s sake. He’s a young guy who could have anyone he wanted.

I come to a stop at some traffic lights and rest my hand on my lower stomach. A small curve is already starting to grow that I’ve only now noticed. Cars behind me honk their horns, and I look up and realise the lights have changed to green. I suck in a shuddery breath as I put my hand up in the mirror to apologise.

Once home, I lock the door behind me, grab my jar of pickles, and head straight to bed. I want nothing more than to shut out the world and wallow in my self-pity for a few days until I have to return to work and face the real world.