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Chapter Twenty-three

“What the fuck did my niece want with you?” Link stares me down.

“She found out some shit about Sabrina and thought I should know.”

“What the fuck is it to her?”

“I guess she felt like she owed me a favor after the stuff that happened last year with her father.”

“And that’s all it was?”

“Yup.”

“Keep it that way.”

“Of course.” I nearly choke out the words. He doesn’t have to worry. Kiesha hates me. I made sure of that by breaking her hurt along with my own.

“So, what was the information?”

“Sabrina lied to me. About being pregnant.”

“Fuck for real?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What I should have done months ago. Cut her loose.”

“Good. You’re doing the right thing. Just getting started with the club. The last thing you need is a bitch like that dragging you down. Go handle your business.”

“Right.”

I roll up to the apartment I share with Sabrina and park my motorcycle. I finally got it running. Just in time for summer. I was looking forward to taking Kiesha for a ride, but that’s not going to happen now.

I run a hand over my head after removing my helmet and hanging it off the handlebars. Time to get this over with. As mad as I am that she lied, part of me understands. I’ve done a helluva lot of lying to myself this past year.

I trudge up the stairs that lead to our door. Sabrina has it open and is waiting for me with a big smile until she appraises my ravished demeanor.

“You’re back early.”

“We need to talk.” I squeeze past her.

“What about?” She closes the door and follows closely behind.

I take up the recliner, leaning forward, elbows resting on my knees, head in my hands, forcing her to sit elsewhere. Normally, she sits on my lap. Not today, though. Not ever again.

“About us.” I look up, meeting her curious gaze.

Her smile fades, replaced by a look of concern. “What about us?”

“I know about the pregnancy, Sabrina,” I say, my voice cold and void of emotion.

She blinks at me, surprise etched on her features before she quickly schools her expression to one of confusion. “What... what do you mean?” she stammers.

“You’re not pregnant. You used Ember’s test to trick me.” The words come out harsher than intended, but I make no effort to soften them.

She flinches, her eyes widening as she desperately tries to maintain her deceit. “That’s not true,” she pleads, but I can read the truth in her eyes. The guilt.

“Save it, Sabrina,” I cut her off. “We’re done.”

Her face crumples as tears well in her eyes. “Jimmy, I love you.”

“I loved you, too,” I say firmly. “But we can’t build a relationship off lies.”

“I didn’t lie to you.” She twists her fingers into knots. “I may have been wrong about the timing, but I am pregnant.”

“Stop lying.”

“I’m not lying. I swear. Look.” She stomps over to the fridge and rips something from the door. “Here.”

I stare at the test results. She could have easily faked them like everything else. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You knew about Kiesha the whole time, and this was your way to get back at me.”

“Of course I knew. You didn’t do very good of a job hiding it. But this wasn’t a revenge plot. I want to be with you. I don’t want to lose you to her.”

“I don’t think you ever really had me, Brina. Not really. If I loved you the way I thought, I never would have looked twice at someone else. But I did.”

“You made a mistake. I told you I’d forgive you,” she retorts, her eyes spitting fire.

“No,” I reply coolly, “I’m in love with her and I fucked it all up.”

Her eyes well up again and she wipes angrily at a tear snaking down her cheek. “How can you say that? After everything we’ve been through together.”

“Everything we’ve been through doesn’t justify your lies, Sabrina. Love isn’t about deceit or manipulation. It’s about trust, respect, and honesty. You should have told me the truth. I should have been honest about everything. I’m not placing all the blame on you. I know what I did is inexcusable. You should hate me. Not be trying to manipulate me into staying with you based on more lies.”

“I’m scared,” she whispers, biting her trembling lip.

“Of what?”

Sabrina stares at me, a desperate plea in her eyes. But there is no room for negotiation, no room for unraveling what has already been done. “I fucked up. Really fucked up. I’m not lying about the baby, Jimmy. I swear. But you are right. I was trying to deceive you. I did something and I don’t know what to do.” Her shoulders sag and she shakes her head slowly, tears streaming down her face now. “I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me.”

A heavy sigh leaves my lips. “I don’t hate you, Sabrina. Now tell me what you did that’s so terrible.”

“If you don’t hate me yet, you will. I am pregnant, but the baby isn’t yours. I…I went to the clubhouse one night looking for you and I had a few drinks with Angel and the next thing I knew, I was in a room with her and that Crawl guy.” She buries her face in hands and bursts into tears.

“Be so fucking for real. You’re having Crawl’s kid and thought you could pass it off as mine? The dude is old enough to be your dad.”

“I was scared. I’m terrified.”

“Does he know?”

She shakes her head.

“You’ve gotta tell him.”

“I know. You’re right. I just thought if I could convince you that you’d never know, and we could be happy.”

“It would have been a lie.”

“I know that, Jimmy. You have no idea what it’s like to watch the man you love fall in love with someone else and feel helpless to stop it.”

“I don’t understand, but I know what it feels like to lose someone. I can forgive you, but you’ve got to tell Crawl the truth. He deserves to know that he’s going to be a father.”

“I know. I promise. I’ll tell him.”

“Now would be good.”

“Today? I can’t. Not yet. Can’t we talk about this? We could work through this.”

“No. We can’t. I don’t want to. I’ve said all I need to. I’ll be around tomorrow for my stuff.”

“Where will you go?”

“That’s for me to figure out. Take care of yourself. And tell Crawl or I will.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Nothing about any of this is fair. There are no winners.”

One Week Later

“Yo, Prospect. Prez wants to see you,” Bridger, one of the club members, tells me. “Out back.”

“All right.” I follow him through the empty clubhouse, wondering what’s going on. Everyone’s bikers are parked out front, but there’s not a soul around other than Bridger.

“Do you know what he wants?”

He ignores me and when he opens the back door, I see all the guys standing around a massive fire. Shit. Did Kiesha tell her uncle about us? Are they going to burn my body after they kill me?

Bridger waits for me to step out and shoves me forward as the group parts to clear a path for me.

I gulp but keep walking until I’m at the fire pit where Prez stands waiting for me. Next to him are the club officers fanned out, forming a half circle around the blazing inferno.

“Prospect,” Murder’s gruff voice calls.

“Yeah, Prez.”

“You’ve been with us nearly a year. The time has come to decide whether or not you’re worthy of a cut. We’ve tested you. Pushed you to your limits. You’ve done everything we asked of you.”

I glance around, noticing no one is wearing their cuts. This can’t be good. I find Smoke and he looks away. Shit. He’s my sponsor and likely means that this is it. I didn’t make the cut.

Serves me right after all the shit I’ve done. The lies I’ve told trying to get here.

“Before I make my decision, there’s some business we need to handle.”

My heart pounds against my chest. This is it. He’s going to confront me about Kiesha and let Prodigy and Link punish me.

I look around for them, but it’s Crawl who steps forward. “No hard feelings about Sabrina.” He holds his hand out for me to shake.

I haul back and punch him, aiming to hit him square between the eyes but popping him in the nose right on the bone.

“What the fuck, man?” he grumbles.

I stick my hand out. “No hard feelings.”

Crawl shakes my hand reluctantly with the one he’s not using to staunch the blood flow.

Prez chuckles and slaps me on the back. “All right then. Welcome to Bastard Sons MC, Knuckles.”

I look at him funny, not understanding the new club name as he hands me a leather cut, and that’s when I notice what’s burning. Everyone has thrown their Royal Bastards MC cuts into the fire. I stare at my cut and a sense of pride washes over me. This is what I’ve been working toward.

What I sacrificed everything for.

Prez starts handing new cuts and patches to everyone.

“You did it. Congrats, brother.” Trenton gives me a bro hug.

“Thanks, but what the fuck is going on? We’re not RBMC anymore?”

“I couldn’t tell you what was going on since you weren’t patched in, but yeah. A lot of the other chapters haven’t liked the direction shit was headed and have severed ties or disbanded. Prez and Kingpin met with some of the other Presidents while in Anarchy. Came to a decision to patch into a new club. From now on we’re proud members of Bastard Sons MC.”

The name isn’t important. It’s the men I serve with. The brotherhood and found family I’m now a real part of.

The party gets underway and after about half an hour, the women show up. I watch the brothers of the club mingling with their ol’ ladies, and all I can do is think about Kiesha. The one person I want to celebrate with the most.

I pull out my phone and dial her number, but the call is rejected.

I’m still blocked.

“Hey,” Sabrina says, her voice timid as she approaches me.

“What are you doing here?” She’s the last fucking person I want to see.

“I’m here with Crawl. I just wanted to say I’m happy for you. That you got what you wanted.”

Not everything. I keep the thought to myself. “So, are you guys a thing now?” I take a hard pull off my bottle of Budweiser.

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess we’re going to try for the sake of the baby.”

I snort. “Good luck.”

“I really am sorry, Jimmy.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“I’ll see you around.”

I fucking hope not. I don’t say it aloud, but she can sense how much I despise her with the look I cut her way.

“Or not,” she mutters and returns to Crawls’ side, where she fucking belongs.

“Hey, Knuckles. Get your ass on over here,” T-bird calls from the other side of the fire. He’s got a wicked grin on his face and a bottle of liquor in his hand. “We’re gonna initiate you properly into the Bastard Sons MC, brother.”

I’m not sure what they have in store for me, but I’m ready for anything at this point. I don’t feel like celebrating, but I know these guys won’t let me wallow in self-pity.

“Man, he’s already got his initiation from Crawl.” Smoke chuckles. The others join him, and I force a laugh to keep up with their banter.

Fucking assholes. Like I need a reminder that my ex is here and is on her way to becoming another man’s ol’ lady. I’m not jealous, but I thought I’d have Kiesha on my arm when this night arrived.

“Who wants some new ink?” Roane announces, opening up his tattoo station.

“Time to get your first official ink,” Ember says, motioning me over. I don’t know if I trust her after she tattooed a cartoon bird on T-bird. I don’t know if she’s holding a grudge for Sabrina’s sake even if they are still on the outs. “What will it be?”

My mind flashes to Kiesha and the way she always tasted of strawberries. I settle on a skull with a strawberry coming out of its mouth.

Later on, Kimber approaches me. “You really did a number on my sister, you know?”

“I never meant to hurt her.”

“Well, you did.”

“Kind of hard to apologize when she has me blocked.”

“It wouldn’t matter. She’s gone.”

“What do you mean, she’s gone?”

“She moved to South Carolina with Sam.”

Damn. She didn’t even tell me or say goodbye. It’s what I deserve.

“Next time you talk to her, can you tell her I was asking about her?”

Kimber rolls her eyes and grabs another beer for her man.

“I’ll take that as a no, then?”

She saunters off without a response.