Page 25 of Hard as Stone (Stoneheart MC #2)
POPPY
“ Y ou know, when I pictured my life at twenty-two, I never imagined I’d be eating breakfast with a bunch of bikers while waiting to hear if the feds were going to save our asses.
” I take another bite of my waffle, watching the crowd of leather-clad men fill the clubhouse kitchen with cheerful chaos.
“Though I have to admit, the food’s better than expected. ”
“Amazing how things change,” Tank’s old lady, Ginger, says with a knowing smile.
“Time was, this kitchen was just a place to store beer and microwave leftovers. Now look at us—family breakfasts, kids running around, Steel wearing that tiara while the twins get him to cut up all their food into tiny pieces.”
“They’ve got little mouths,” Steel insists, a note of defensiveness in his tone as he holds up a child-sized plastic fork with a tiny piece of waffle on the end of it. One of the twins opens her mouth like a baby bird before he feeds her, and I can’t help but smile at the gentle giant.
Ginger just laughs at the sight before turning back to me. “Oh! And going back to the food—just wait till you try my cinnamon rolls. Even the big bad bikers get into fistfights over the last one.”
“It’s true,” Andi confirms, bouncing baby Adam on her hip while he gnaws on a rusk and drools everywhere. “I once saw Steel and Cash nearly come to blows over the frosting bowl.”
“That’s because Steel’s a punk who doesn’t respect the natural order,” Cash calls from his spot at the counter. “Treasurer gets first dibs on baked goods. It’s in the bylaws.”
“Is not,” Lee argues around a mouthful of bacon.
“Is too. Right after the section where Duck’s spelling now requires someone to triple check it.”
The easy banter washes over me, soothing some of the anxiety that’s been churning in my gut since last week’s confrontation at the garage.
My brothers are already working with Duck, looking over equipment and checking what we can salvage of Bennett Construction now that the club’s backing us.
It still feels surreal—less than seven days ago, my whole world was imploding.
Now I’m wearing Axel’s property patch and planning infrastructure repairs with a motorcycle club.
Speaking of my Road Captain...
I feel Axel before I see him, his solid warmth pressing against my back as he leans down to drop a kiss on my neck. “Morning, trouble.”
“About time you showed up,” I tease, tilting my head to give him better access. “I was starting to think you’d found another traffic girl to terrorize.”
His chuckle vibrates through me. “Nah, one’s enough. Besides—” His words cut off as his phone buzzes. The tension that suddenly radiates through his body has me sitting straighter.
“Axel?”
He steps away to take the call, his expression unreadable as he listens. I try to focus on my breakfast, but the entire kitchen has gone quiet, everyone pretending not to eavesdrop on his terse conversation.
“Understood,” he says finally. “Send it through.” A pause. “Yeah, you too.”
He ends the call and moves back over to the table, giving my shoulder a squeeze before he sits down beside me. “Check your email. Should be something interesting in there.”
My hands shake slightly as I pull out my phone. The Bennett Construction email account pings with a new message from the city planning department. I open it, scanning quickly through official language until I find...
“Oh, my god.” The relief hits me so hard I sag against Axel. “They’ve sent new plans for the stormwater system. Proper ones, sized for actual drainage instead of...” I swallow hard. “Instead of whatever Summit had planned.”
“They’ll be plenty pissed about that,” Lee says, pausing to swallow the food in his mouth. “But we’ve at least slowed them down some more. Showed those assholes they can’t come waltzing into our town and do whatever they want without the good people of Stoneheart getting in their way.”
“And the best part?” Axel adds, a hint of smugness in his tone. “Summit’s going to be so busy explaining their original plans, that’ll it’ll give the MC time to move forward with some of our plans.”
“What plans?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him. “You better not be keeping more secrets from me, Road Captain.”
He kisses my temple. “No more secrets, trouble. Duck’s been working hard to buy up properties on the west side through those shell companies. We’re going to lease them back to the original owners at fair rates, keep Summit from pushing people out of their homes and businesses.”
“Kind of like what you did for me and my brothers?”
“Exactly.”
“We use shell companies so Summit doesn’t know it’s us,” Cash points out, and I nod my understanding.
“Smart.”
“Plus,” Stone adds, “with Bennett Construction now working with us legitimately, we can start making real improvements to the neighborhood. Fix all of Summit’s stalled jobs that were meant to drive people away.”
“You know what I love most about you guys?” I say, looking around the table at these people who’ve quickly become my family. “How fiercely protective you are of this community.”
“That’s what the MC has always been about,” Stone says, his voice carrying that quiet authority. “We look after our own. Always have, always will.”
“When my cousin took off and left me to raise her kids,” Andi speaks up, bouncing Adam on her knee, “the club stepped in without hesitation. They didn’t just help me keep a roof over our heads.
They became the family we needed. Hawk with his dinosaur pancakes, Steel playing fairy princess.
..” She smiles at me. “That’s what the MC really is—a family that shows up when everything else falls apart. ”
Duck nods. “West side’s got good people. Hard workers. They deserve better than being pushed out by some corporation that sees them as nothing but numbers on a spreadsheet.”
“That’s why the garage expansion is so important,” Hawk chimes in. “It’ll bring more jobs to the area, give people a chance to build something here instead of being forced to leave.”
“Plus,” Lee adds with a grin, “it’ll really piss off Summit when we start buying up every property they want from right under their noses.”
I lean into Axel’s side, warmth spreading through my chest as I watch these tough, leather-clad men discuss community development with the same intensity they bring to everything else.
“My dad never understood this,” I say softly.
“He was so focused on the money, on making it big, that he forgot what really matters.”
Axel’s arm tightens around me. “And what’s that, trouble?”
“Family. Community. Having people who’ve got your back no matter what.” I look up at him, my heart full. “Having someone who loves you enough to teach you how to spell ‘motorcycle’ correctly.”
Duck stabs at his waffle with exaggerated dignity. “I’ll have you know that patch design was intentionally avant garde. A statement about breaking free from societal constraints like proper spelling.”
“Is that right?” I grin over my coffee cup. “And here I thought you just forgot the ‘c’.”
“You people don’t appreciate good art,” Duck mutters, his ears turning red. “Besides, I didn’t hear any of you complaining when the patches first came out.”
Tank snorts into his coffee. “We were too scared of Maggie to say anything. Woman’s got a mean right hook.”
“And bedazzled underwear,” Lee adds with a smirk. “Don’t forget those rhinestone boy shorts with the misspelled patch on the back.”
“Those sold like hotcakes at the rally!” Duck protests as the table dissolves into laughter.
“Hey now,” Axel tries to defend, but I cut him off.
“You guys had no idea it was spelled wrong. You all wore it without realizing.” I gesture around the table. “I saw the freak out when you all realized with my own eyes.”
Lee almost spits waffles everywhere. “She’s got us there.”
“OK. That’s it.” In one smooth move, Axel stands and tosses me over his shoulder, just like he did that first night. “Time to remind my old lady who’s in charge around here.”
“Put me down!” I laugh, not meaning it at all. “I have important construction plans to review!”
“Later.” He starts carrying me toward the hallway that leads upstairs to our room. “Right now, I need to handle this attitude problem of yours.”
“Don’t forget the roadwork meeting at two!” Duck calls after us.
“And my cinnamon rolls will be ready in an hour!” Ginger adds.
“Save us some!” I call back, then yelp as Axel’s hand lands firmly on my backside.
“Keep talking sass, trouble, and we’ll miss both.”
As his long strides carry us up the stairs, two at a time, and I can’t help but smile.
One day we’ll have our own place, but for now, being here with our crazy, mismatched family feels exactly right.
We’ll fight Summit together, protect our community together, and build something lasting—just like Axel and I have built this love between us.
And really, what more could a girl want than a man who carries her off caveman-style while an entire MC whistles and catcalls behind us?
Life is pretty perfect, spelling mistakes and all.