Page 5 of Kingpin (Blackjacks MC #1)

Chapter four

Hattie

“Hattie, you don’t have to earn your keep,” Connie said with fond exasperation. “First you make breakfast, and now you’re doing dishes.”

I sank my hands into the hot, soapy water, grateful for something to do, something to keep myself busy.

“It’s really no trouble,” I replied. “I like being useful.”

“Honey,” Nathan said gently. He reached across the table to take Connie’s hand. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, all right? Let’s enjoy someone else doing the cooking and dishes besides us for a change. God knows I’m not complaining.”

He carved into his stack of syrup-drenched pancakes with his fork, nodding in my direction with gratitude.

A pang settled in my heart to see how much Connie and Nathan loved each other. They were so domestic and sweet, so normal . Holding hands over breakfast in their pajamas. Bickering lightly over cooking and dishes.

Their lives were never tainted by bikers. They didn’t have club business permeating every aspect of their existence.

Wylie jumped down from his chair, carrying his syrupy plate with both hands over to me.

“Can I have another pancake, Aunt Hattie?”

“Of course you can, cowboy.”

Drying my hands off, I scooped a smiley face pancake off the cooling rack and placed it on Wylie’s plate.

The past two days with Connie and her family had been wonderful.

Playing with my nephew in the backyard. Helping Connie around the house.

And preparing for the arrival of my niece. I barely thought about Neil at all.

“Are you still planning to testify in court about that bank robbery, Hattie?” Nathan asked.

Connie frowned.

“Do we have to talk about this at breakfast? I hate that Hattie is involved at all.”

I returned to the sink, fishing around in the water for the sponge I’d dropped.

Four months ago, during a visit with Connie, I stopped by the bank to open a savings account for my niece.

I did the same for Wylie when he was born.

If I couldn't have kids of my own, I would make damn sure that my niece and nephew had a tidy nest egg saved up for college one day.

While I waited in line, three bank robbers wearing garish Halloween masks swarmed in, carrying semi-automatics. I should have kept my head down and stayed quiet. Attracting attention would only get me into trouble.

But I saw my chance and I took it, stripping the mask off one robber to get a look at him.

I was backhanded across the face for my effort, earning me a bruise on my cheekbone that lasted over a week. But I remembered his face, reported it to the police, and now he was on trial.

“I’m not backing down, if that’s what you’re asking,” I replied.

Connie sighed.

“Of course you’re not. You have a spine of steel. I wish you would chicken out for once in your life. I can’t wait for the whole thing to be over.”

She rested her hand on her stomach with a reassuring pat, for herself or the baby, I couldn’t tell.

“I’ll be fine, Connie,” I said. “I’m not worried.”

“I am,” she countered. “You could stay here until your court appearance.”

I sputtered.

“That’s two whole weeks . I’m not sticking around that long. I would drive you crazy. And I have summer school classes to teach.”

Nathan pointed at his pancakes with his fork.

“Two weeks of eating this well? Hell, you can move in and stay for a year.”

“Nathan,” Connie scolded lightly.

He shrugged, shoving a bite of food into his mouth.

“What? It’s a compliment.”

“We are not turning my sister into our personal cook.”

I chuckled.

“I appreciate your hospitality, but I’ll be getting back to Seattle pretty soon. As long as I’m paying rent on an apartment, I should actually spend some time there, instead of freeloading off you. Especially with a baby on the way.”

“Promise you’ll stop by and say hello when you testify,” Connie said. “You can’t come to Brightwater and not see your dearest, sweetest little sister.”

Considering she had kept me sane for the past two days, she had no idea how much I needed her.

I booked a return flight for the following morning. Even though I loved spending time with Connie and her family, I was still intruding. And I needed to get Neil out of my head. Throwing myself into work again would be a welcome distraction.

I sighed as I stared at the ceiling while the clock ticked closer to midnight, memories of our lives together spinning through my mind.

Meeting Neil for the first time at a summer festival had been utterly intoxicating.

Tattooed biceps straining at his white shirt, dark ink visible through the thin fabric.

The blatant appraisal of his gaze as he looked me up and down, licking his lower lip.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

After a few frothy cold beers, talking about everything and nothing, Neil curved his hand over my hip and pulled me closer. Grazed his lips against my temple in a kiss that ignited my blood like the fizz of champagne, turning me into a hazy, giddy mess.

I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to me with a kiss that I never recovered from. I was no stranger to flirting, to grasping hands and the flushed, frantic lust that accompanied attraction.

But this magnetism I felt when I looked in Neil’s stormy gray eyes was something stronger, more electrifying than anything I’d ever experienced with anyone before. Or since.

Holding my hand up in the faint light from the street lamp outside, I examined my barren ring finger.

Two years after the divorce, I started to date again. Determined to find a man who wasn’t Neil. Someone who wanted the same thing I did.

And I found him. More than one, actually.

Men who checked every box on my list—aspiring to be a husband and father, financially stable, with normal homes, normal jobs, and normal cars. Not a single motorcycle in sight.

They were perfect. On paper.

But I felt nothing for any of them.

Not even remotely close to that toe-curling, bone-melting, panty-soaking kiss I’d had with Neil when we first met.

Even though I didn’t wear my wedding ring anymore, I still had it. Tucked away in my sock drawer in Seattle, along with my engagement ring—a fat, princess cut diamond that must have cost a small fortune. I never knew how Neil managed to afford it, since the bastard refused to tell me.

I cleared out everything else I owned that belonged to Neil—the shirts I loved to wear because they smelled like him; the lingerie he gifted me for our anniversary; those panties with the motorcycle printed across the ass that said RIDE ME.

I packed up our pictures and my wedding dress, keeping them in a storage unit that I hadn’t touched since the divorce.

It still jolted me sometimes, to see my finger without Neil’s ring. And it took a second or two before I calmed down, reminding myself that I hadn’t lost it, hadn’t watched it slip down the sink drain or slide off in the pool. I wasn’t wearing it on purpose.

For twelve years, that ring felt like a natural part of me. Even though my mother never missed an opportunity to inform me that I was throwing my life away. Even though everyone said we were insane to rush into our marriage after only a few months of knowing each other.

I reached up and traced the empty space where Neil’s ring should have been. After the divorce, I hated the tan line that remained there, thin and pale, like a ghost. I went to a tanning salon to get rid of it, so I didn’t have to stare at the reminder that my marriage was over.

The soft creak of my door made me startle. I glanced over to see Wylie on my threshold, his golden curls tousled and sticking up on one side. He rubbed his eye with a fist.

“Aunt Hattie? Mama said she’s not feeling good. She said to stay with you while Papa takes her to the hospital.”

Voices emanated from the kitchen in hushed whispers. I was out of bed in an instant, smoothing down the nightgown I’d borrowed from Connie. I made a beeline for the kitchen to see my sister doubled over, clutching Nathan’s arm.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“My water broke,” Connie said in a strained voice. “Baby’s coming. Can you watch Wylie? I know your flight—”

“Don’t worry about the flight,” I cut in. “I’ll cancel it. I’ve got Wylie. Go.”

Connie released a breath of relief with a pained smile.

“Thank you. I can't tell you how good it is to have you here."

A knot formed in my throat as I watched Connie and Nathan make their way to the car. Wylie shuffled up behind me and rested his head against my hip with a yawn.

Even though I wanted to get back to my normal life in Seattle and forget about Neil, Connie needed me here. At least for now. I wasn’t going anywhere.

I scooped up Wylie, smoothing his ruffled hair.

“Time to sleep, champ. You’re going to be a big brother before you know it.”

After putting Wylie back to bed, I couldn’t sleep a wink. Nathan kept me updated with texts periodically, until Connie went into labor around 5:30am. Then my phone was silent.

An hour later, I had Wylie dressed, fed, and we were on our way to the hospital.

Connie and Nathan were still in the delivery room, so Wylie and I wandered the halls to keep ourselves occupied.

Apart from a crossword puzzle book in my purse, I hadn’t brought any toys for him, and the celebrity gossip magazines in the waiting room didn’t interest him either.

When Wylie and I went in search of a vending machine for snacks, I found myself in the same corridor where Neil’s hospital room had been.

Don’t look for him, I thought.

But I counted the room numbers anyway.

This one. This was Neil’s room.

The bed was empty. He must have checked himself out.

My stomach twisted with disappointment and relief. Neil wasn’t here. I didn’t have to see him. I didn’t have to fight that irresistible pull I still felt in his presence.

“Aunt Hattie?” Wylie said, peering up at me. “What are you looking at?”

I shook my head, combing my fingers through his unruly cowlick.

“Nothing, cowboy. Nothing at all.”