Page 10

CHAPTER TEN

HENDRIX

“W ho’s that?” Daisy asked, tipping her head toward Anna, who was deep in conversation with Tristan.

I sucked in a breath and exhaled hard ‘cause I could not be bothered with this bullshit.

Daisy had been getting more and more territorial over me, proven by the fact she’d snuggled up to me just before Anna walked in with Freya, probably because she saw and heard them coming while she was in reception a few minutes before.

I didn’t need it, I certainly didn’t want it, and it was about time I made my feelings about this shit clear.

Folding my arms across my chest, I declared, “That’s Anna.”

Slowly, her face swiveled toward me. “ The Anna?” she asked flatly.

“Yep,” I replied, popping the P.

“Just like that?” Her eyes squinted, and she mimicked, “Yep. That’s Anna.”

“Yep,” I repeated.

“So,” she said breezily. “That’s the reason you made me dye my hair a few shades darker, and that’s why you used to call me Anna while you were fucking me.”

“Well, yeah,” I bit back. “Seeing as in my head, it was Anna I was fuckin’.”

Ice let out a humor-filled snort.

“Jesus Christ,” she spat. “You’re an asshole.”

“Funnily enough, the redhead I banged Friday night said the same.” I shrugged. “But then it’s probably ‘cause I pretended she was Anna, too.”

A look of shock twisted her face. “Oh my God. I thought you liked me.”

A look of disbelief twisted mine. “For real?” My eyes slid to Iceman, who was watching us with interest, while Arizona, the club girl under his arm, looked uncomfortable. “Did you catch that? Daisy thought I liked her.”

Ice rolled his lips inward while Arizona’s gaze hit down to her high-heeled stripper shoes.

“Why are you being like this?” Daisy whispered, her tone wounded. “We’ve been together for years. I thought we were close, Hendrix. I know it was casual, but I thought we liked each other. It was only me you ever went with, so I thought?—”

“It wasn’t just you I went with,” I corrected. “Why the fuck did you think that?”

Her mouth dropped open.

“Babe,” I began. “You were the only club girl I went with. I’ve seen women in town. I’ve fucked tourists, and I was seeing one of the girls from the Arena on and off for a couple of months. She was a good time, you were too, and so were the tourists. What none of you were, was permanent, and now Anna’s back in my life, you don’t even factor anymore. Did you not clue in when I always fucked you from behind and made you call me Jamie while facing forward at all times? Did you not get that you weren’t the one on my mind when I called you by another woman’s name?” I leaned down to look her dead in the eyes, not wanting to leave any doubt about my next words or the meaning behind them. “Me and Anna are back together, so you’ve got two choices.” I held a finger up. “One, you can accept it, know your place in this club, and carry on as you were, except going forward, you adjust your attitude and fall into line. If you’re told to do something by a brother, Carina, Ciara, or Anna, you do it, no question, no lip.” I added a finger. “Or two, you can go to your room, pack your bags, and get the fuck out. Frankly, bitch, I don’t care which one you choose. The boys seem to like the way you suck cock, and like the fact you’re usually up for some kinky-assed shit, so you’re more than welcome to stay, but don’t keep your ass put on account of me, ‘cause I won’t be tapping it anymore.”

She stared up at me, lost for words, tears filling her eyes.

I cocked my head. “Well?”

One tear fell. “I’d like to stay,” she whispered.

One shoulder lifted in an uncaring shrug. “No skin off my nose, babe, but the rules is rules. You launder clothes, you scrub bathrooms, you wait tables, and you serve food. In your spare time, you fuck whoever you want, but it won’t be me. And the next time you cozy up to me, knowing my woman’s about to walk in, see us, and get the wrong idea, you’ll be kicked outta here so fast your feet won’t touch the ground. Do you get me?”

Her eyes rounded.

“Do you fuckin’ get me?” I demanded, my tone harder.

She gulped and nodded.

“Glad we got that straight, babe,” I muttered.

A brief pause ensued, then Daisy jerked her thumb in the direction of the kitchen. “I’ll go help Lacey in the kitchen. Carina’s still down at the cottage with Gopher, and it’ll be lunchtime soon.”

“Perfect,” I exclaimed. “Carrie got some gluten-free shit in for Anna. My woman’s intolerant, so make sure you set her up. She’ll be starving, especially as she’s eating for two now.”

She chewed her lip nervously and meekly asked, “Is it your baby?”

I dipped my chin to stare her in the eye. “And that’s your business because...?”

Her face fell. “Understood.” She pointed behind her. “I’ll just go...”

“You do that, babe,” I told her, already turning toward the bar to give her my back, effectively dismissing her.

Curling my fingers around my beer bottle, I lifted it to my mouth and tipped my head back, listening to the clip-clop of Daisy’s heels as she walked away.

“Go help her,” I heard Ice murmur to Arizona. “We’ll catch up tonight.”

She walked away, and I took another pull of my beer.

“You did right,” Ice announced the instant she was out of earshot. “Daisy used you to her advantage. Arizona and Lacey had a run-in with her last week ‘cause she wasn’t pullin’ her weight, and she threatened to go to you and get them kicked out. She’s been a pain in the ass for weeks and a total bitch to the others. I wouldn’t be shocked if she was the one who encouraged Sara’s bad attitude, too.”

“Never made her any promises, Ice,” I told him. “And don’t be fooled by the tears. From what I hear, six of the men ran a train on her last night while I was pulling Anna out of Philly. That was the extent of her true love and commitment to me.”

“Did you really fuck her from behind while calling her Anna?”

I glanced at him sheepishly. “It was the only way I could get hard.”

He let out a snort. “Did you never look at her face?”

I took another pull of beer. “Let her suck me off once, but I had to pull my phone out and look at pictures of Anna while she did it. Do you have any clue what it’s like going three years with just one blow job to tide me over?”

Ice busted out a laugh.

“Let’s just say, I’d been thinking about taking Anna’s husband out for months just to eventually get my cock sucked again without having to pull my cell out and go for a trip down memory goddamned lane,” I muttered, taking another swig.

“Well, aren’t you just a peach,” a voice drawled sarcastically from behind me. “Who said chivalry was dead?”

I jumped a mile in the air, spilling my beer in the process. “What the fuck?” I exclaimed, wiping my mouth with my hand.

“You’re a pig,” Tristan declared.

“I was just fuckin’ around,” I told him defensively. “It’s just our banter.”

He sniffed haughtily. “Who’s the redhead?”

“Nobody who matters,” I shot back.

“It’ll matter to Anna,” he retorted.

“You mean Anna, who was married and is currently pregnant by another dude?” I rasped.

I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth, but I’d been wrestling with this since I discovered Anna was pregnant. I didn’t know how to feel. If I wanted Anna, I had to become a dad, and my head spun with it.

He curled his lip, looking me up and down like I was shit he’d stepped in. “Some things never change. Have you thought about the reason Anna married somebody else? Do you take any responsibility at all? It’s not like she didn’t give you a chance to stop it, but just like every other time you were offered a chance, you turned your back on her. What did you think she was gonna do, wait until you got your head out of your arrogant ass?” He shook his head disdainfully. “You’ve got a high opinion of yourself, which is more than I do right now. The world doesn’t owe you shit, and neither does Anna. I was gonna help you out with her, but now I’ve seen your shitty attitude firsthand, you can fuck right off. You don’t deserve her; you never did. Arrange to get her bags packed. She’s coming home with me on the first flight out. I’ll look after her and the boy.”

He went to spin around and stomp off, but I held a hand out to stop him. “I’m sorry.”

Tristan let out a harrumph . “Your temper tantrums need to stop. This isn’t a game. There’s going to be a baby involved soon, and if you want Anna, you need to come to terms with it and grow the fuck up. If you can’t do that, I can take it from here.”

The words dug deep like a blade in my chest.

If Tristan thought he’d take Anna from me after I’d just gotten her back, he was fucking crazy. I knew I was being a dick, but I just needed some time to get my head around everything. I also knew I needed to have a conversation with Anna and tell her where my head was at and what I expected from her, but I needed to be sure I could handle her baggage before I opened that particular door again.

My eyes drifted over his shoulder, expecting to see my woman at a table with Freya and Colt, but she was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she?”

“Freya’s taken her to your medical wing. They’re doing a scan to make sure everything’s okay with the baby. I’m heading down there now, except nobody told me where to go, and I don’t know my way around this place.” He looked around the bar, seemingly lost.

I downed my beer and slammed the bottle back on the bar. “Come on. We’ll both go.” I rubbed my hands together gleefully. “Let’s take a look at the little nipper.”

A look of panic flickered across his face. “Umm. I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You had your hands full of skank five minutes ago.” He leaned toward me and took a deep sniff. “I don’t want you around the baby. You may be contaminated.”

“He’s been fucking her for years,” Ice interjected drolly. “He’s definitely contaminated.”

Tristan’s face scrunched up in disgust.

“Thanks for that, brother,” I clipped, skewering Iceman with a glare.

He gave me a broad grin along with what I called his ‘Maverick ala Top Gun ’ cocky-as-fuck wink. “Anytime, boss man. You better move your asses if you wanna see the rugrat. It’ll all be over by the time you get there.”

I clapped Tristan on the shoulder. “Time to hustle.”

He rolled his eyes and muttered, “Anna’s gonna kill me when I turn up with you in tow.”

I barked a short laugh. “Welcome to my world, dude. Make sure you wrap up warm ‘cause it’s mighty cold out here in the doghouse.”

————

“This isn’t a damned freakshow,” Anna grumbled, flopping herself down on the bed. “My cervix may be stretching for childbirth as I speak, but it’s not quite the size of the Grand Canyon yet. It doesn’t warrant getting tourists.”

I looked around the full room and grinned.

Bones had come down with Freya because he was a nosy bastard and wanted to take the measure of Anna, and playing doctor was his excuse, even though Freya needed no guidance, seeing as she was a resident and had scanned about a million babies.

“Could be my grandson in there,” Dad muttered quietly from beside me. “That’s if you pull your fucking finger outta your ass and don’t fuck it up like you did last time.”

My heart took a ten-foot leap. “Shut the fuck up,” I hissed. “She’ll hear you.”

“She’s not Colonel Steve Austin, fuckwit,” he shot back. “She ain’t got the hearing of the Six Million Dollar Man .”

“Showin’ your age there, you old fart,” I rumbled, lips thinning.

“Well, what an idiotic thing to say,” he berated. “What the fuck kind of stupid twat did I raise?”

“Why are you here again?” I demanded.

He folded his arm across his chest. “I’m family.” He sniffed. “Anyway, got more rights than fuckin’ Diablo. Why’s he here?”

My SAA jerked a thumb toward Anna. “Protection,” he declared. “We’re gettin’ a baby in the club. Mini baby biker boy needs lookin’ after. I’m gettin’ in early. Plus, it’s important club business, and I need to be privy to all the important club business, bein’ SAA and all.”

“Kennedy sent me,” Breaker interjected from the corner. “She needs me to report back to the ol’ ladies.”

Anna beamed at him. “That’s so sweet of them.”

“Kitten wants a copy of the scan pic,” he reminded her.

“I’ll take it on my phone and send it to her,” Tristan assured him, moving toward Anna’s bed and taking her hand. “Farrah and the girls will love that.”

“What’s taking so long?” Blade’s voice cut in. “We blew up a whole mountain in less time than it’s taking to get this scan sorted.”

“You mean I blew up a mountain,” Breaker corrected him. “If I remember rightly, your ass sat on comms at base while I had to do an Indiana Jones impression and get the hell outta that big motherfucker in one piece while earth and rocks dropped on my goddamned head.”

“I supervised,” Blade corrected.

Breaker barked a laugh. “You sat on your ass in an air-conditioned office drinking coffee.”

“Oh my God,” Anna exclaimed. “Did you really blow up a mountain?”

“I blew up a lotta shit,” Breaker admitted. “Including the enemy.”

Anna’s eyes went huge.

A loud knock sounded on the door before it flew open, and Iceman walked in with Arizona under one arm and Fifi under the other.

“We’ve come to take a look at the wee one,” he announced. “The girls have never seen a pregnancy scan before.”

“Lord, spare me,” Anna murmured. “It’s like Grand Central Station.”

My head tipped back, and I closed my eyes. “For fuck’s sake. Everyone out!”

Silence.

My head tipped forward again, and I pointed at Dad and Bones in turn. “You two, stay. Everyone else, get the fuck out .”

“Shouldn’t I decide who can stay?” Anna piped up. “It is my cervix.”

I heaved a breath. “Stop giving me lip, woman.”

Her eyebrow cocked, and she glared at me so coldly that my testicles almost iced up. “You’ve got a nerve. You haven’t said two words to me all day but sure, you go ahead and decide who gets to participate in my most intimate family moments.” She dropped her voice low. “‘Cause that’s not weird.”

“Jesus, Freckles. Why you gotta be so snarky?” I asked sarcastically.

She shot me a sweet smile. “Well, Jamie . Probably for the same reason you’ve gotta be such a rude asshole.”

My cock thickened in my jeans because no other woman would dare speak to me that way. I’d missed it, missed the banter and the challenge. Missed the fun and the laughter. Missed the deep, meaningful conversations and the connection.

I’d missed her.

We were opposites. I was all testosterone, hard fucking, fighting, and shooting guns. She was all soft hair, perfumed skin, pure class, and cocktail hour. We shouldn’t have made sense together; except we made perfect sense together. We always had, and it was confusing because, for the life of me, I couldn’t work out why.

I hadn’t been able to get Anna outta my head for the last three goddamned years. She’d never been like all the others. She was always something more, purely because she made me feel things I’d never felt before, not even with Erica. I wanted to wrap her up in cotton wool and protect her at all costs. Every inch of her was pure femininity, from the subtle curled, glossy red hair and perfect skin, the sweet tits and softly rounded ass, down to her shapely ankles and pretty manicured toes in her high-heeled shoes.

Even her voice was soft and womanly, which was probably why she knocked me on my ass whenever she gave me shit. It was such a contrast to everything else about her.

Perfect, while at the same time, being a total head fuck.

There was never a dull moment with Anna Bouchard, which was probably why I found her so damned fascinating.

“Freya, Bones, and Tristan are staying,” she decided, her eyes drifting to Dad and softening. “You can too.” Then her eyes went to Diablo, Ice, and the two girls with him. “The rest of you can mind your beeswax. It’s weird.”

“Nothing’s private in a biker club, Anna, babe,” Ice pointed out. “We all live together like one big, happy family, and believe me when I say things border on intrusive.”

Her lips curved. “Nice try, honey, but we gotta have some boundaries, and my vagina’s strictly off-limits.”

“Damned straight,” I agreed. “Now, you heard the lady. Get the fuck out.”

Ice rolled his eyes, and with his arms still slung across Arizona and Fifi’s shoulders, he turned for the door.

“Can we see the scan picture later please, Anna?” Arizona called over.

“Of course, honey,” Anna assured her.

“I love babies,” Fifi murmured to her friend, falling into step with Iceman as he led them out the door. “They’re so cute.”

“Me too,” I heard Arizona reply excitedly, their voices fading as they walked away.

Diablo shifted on his feet awkwardly. “I’ll just...” He gestured toward the door.

“You do that,” I told him pointedly.

He jerked a nod and made for the door. Blade went after him, throwing Anna a wink before he disappeared.

Dad turned and made for the bed, shoulder-checking me as he went. I wasn’t expecting it, so the jolt of it sent me a few steps back. The fucker took the opportunity to get past me and approach the bed, pulling up a chair to sit beside Anna.

“Anna, sweetheart. We haven’t been formally introduced.” He stuck his hand out. “I’m Will, Jimmy’s pop. It’s good to finally meet you.”

Anna took his fingers in hers and squeezed. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Will.”

He skewered me with a glare. “All good, I hope.”

She shrugged. “Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. I make my own mind up about a person. If I listened to gossip, I wouldn’t have any friends at all.”

“Best way to be, sweetheart,” he crooned. “Pleased to see my boy has good taste in women. He gets it from me, you know. Jameson’s maw was much the same way as you are, and she was a redhead, too.”

“I knew it,” Bones muttered to himself, his eyes flicking over me thoughtfully. “Psychoanalyst’s dream.”

My hand went to my forehead, and I rubbed at the ache there.

These fuckers were driving me insane.

“He’s always had a thing for redheads,” Dad continued. “Even lost his cherry to one when he was nineteen. I mean, the girl had great hair, but she had one of those Kardashian asses except more jiggly.”

Slowly, I closed my eyes.

For fuck’s sake.

“Nothing wrong with a bit of jiggle, Will,” Bones pointed out. “And there ain’t a Kardashian sister alive who I’d kick outta bed.”

“You’re right,” Pop agreed. “Except Jameson’s girl looked like she’d been beaten in the face with an ugly stick a few times.”

Freya lifted Anna’s top to expose her rounded belly and sighed. “You shouldn’t talk about women’s looks that way, Will.”

“Just callin’ a spade a spade, girlie,” Will replied, waving off her reprimand. “I mean, she was nice an’ all, but she reminded me of that English singer from the sixties, Cilla Black, you know, the chick with those buck teeth.” He shook his head, his eyes glazing over as he thought back. “Glad she never gave my boy a blowie. She’d have probably shredded his dick to pieces with those gnashers. Though admittedly, he was no oil painting himself at nineteen. Skinny arms, bandy legs, and the acne—” His eyes went big, and his mouth twisted. “—Let’s just say it took him joining the military before he came into his looks.”

Anna rolled her lips inward to stop herself from laughing.

Freya rolled her eyes.

“Dad!” I barked. “Shut your fuckin’ mouth, please...” My eyes caught movement on the sonogram screen, and I did a double-take, my words trailing off because of the wave of long-forgotten feelings punching me square in the chest.

It was there as clear as day.

A fucking baby.

I could see the outline of a perfectly shaped head, a round belly, and little stick-like legs kicking out all frog-like. A sense of awe fell over me, and my jaw dropped at the innocent, pure beauty before my eyes.

Suddenly, my throat clogged up with emotions I hadn’t let myself feel in years.

This was a human being untouched by anything dark or evil. All it had ever experienced was its mother’s nourishment, goodness, and pure heart.

Experience had taught me the world was filled with evil people who did vile, vicious things to each other. I’d witnessed the worst of humanity and believed this life was our Hell because we all went through it at some point.

But this tiny, pure person was a blank canvas, a clean slate, a precious thing who could be molded into somebody clean and decent who could bring beauty to the world.

“Aww,” Freya murmured. “He’s got hiccups, look. You can see him blowing bubbles.” She pointed to the outline of a tiny circle coming from the little nipper’s mouth.

Mesmerized, I leaned forward to take a closer look, and my heart flipped over before melting into goo. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, barring his mother. Something about him called to my soul. Even looking at the pixels of his sonogram image made me feel something profound, like I was always meant to be here to protect him.

That was when a revelation hit me.

Maybe everything me and Anna had been through was meant to happen the way it did, just so we could get to this point. God knew kids weren’t in my future, so what if this was always my destiny?

What if he was always meant to be mine?

And what if I was always meant to be his?

Anna turned her misty eyes on Freya. “Does everything look okay?”

Freya ran the sonogram wand over Anna’s belly and clicked a few buttons on the machine so she could highlight and zoom in on certain areas. “Everything looks great. Baby’s got a strong heartbeat, he’s growing right on schedule, and we can all see how active he is.”

“He’s so precious,” Tristan exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t wait to tickle that cute lil’ belly and hear his sweet baby giggle.” He leaned over and gently clasped Anna’s shoulder. “We’re gonna have so much fun all raising him together in Wyoming. It’ll be so nice to have a little one running around the salon again. Sunny, Gabby, and Kady are getting older now. They don’t wanna spend time with their Uncle Trissy like they used to. Now, it’s all about the social media apps and TikkyTokky dances.”

An ache gripped my insides at Tristan’s words, and a low growl escaped my throat.

Anna’s eyes slid to mine, and she must’ve recognized the look on my face because her lips parted. “Are you okay?” she mouthed.

I stared at her, my heart flipping over like an Olympic gymnast.

What the fuck just happened?

Dad shot me a look as if to say, ‘ Shut the fuck up, asshole.’

I jerked my chin in assent, trying my best to hold my shit together.

Dad was right. For now, I had to keep my mouth shut and play along. Anna had it in her head that she was going back to Hambleton. There wasn’t much I could say to stop her from leaving, at least nothing she’d listen to, anyway. Anna wouldn’t be in danger there, seeing as I’d knifed her husband’s throat, so I had no excuse to keep her close. If I knew my woman, she’d want to restart her life and return to work so she could make plans to provide for the baby. I could already see the fierce love she had for the kid, and I recognized her need to provide for him.

Except, she didn’t need to.

I was the only provider they would ever need, and I was gonna look after them both, not just financially but in every way a man could look after his woman and kid.

If Anna thought she was gonna take off with that baby in her belly, she could think again. I’d lost her once and the regret had sliced me to the core every day since. She was crazy if she thought it would happen again.

Anna Bouchard and her kid were going nowhere.

They were mine.

Mine to protect.

Mine to love.

Mine to claim.