Page 30 of Unmasked Anarchy (Fallen Sons MC #3)

I don’t plan the morning I walk into Gage’s clubhouse. I just do it. I wear my old boots, my battered black jacket, and a top that covers my slowly rounding belly. The place smells of gasoline and hot metal, the roller door thrown open and full of bikers working on cars and trucks.

That’s when I notice him. Gage is halfway under the frame of a Harley, shirtless, grease on his arms, sweat beading at his spine, muscles bunching with every movement.

For a full minute I stand there, staring at him, a stark reminder of just how fucking perfect he looks when he doesn’t know anybody is watching.

I’m in love with Kael, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Gage has a way of sucking the breath out of any woman who passes him.

He rolls out, wipes his forehead with the back of his wrist, and spots me.

He goes still, hand hanging in mid-air, blue veins pulsing under the skin.

His gaze lingers on me, and I honestly don’t know how I’m going to do this.

I don’t know how to say it, or how to approach it.

And before I can think too much, my mouth starts moving.

“I’m pregnant. For real. I know I told you I wasn’t, and that I just said that, but it turns out my little threat was actually correct, and I am indeed with child. ”

He pushes the creeper aside, stands, and wipes both hands on an old rag. His eyes never leave me, not even as he circles the bike and comes closer, slow, his face expressionless. He stops a foot away. “Mine?”

I nod. “I had the DNA run. It’s yours.”

Everything on his face goes blank. The world feels like it stops spinning as I wait for his reaction.

He blinks. “You’re sure?”

I bite down on my bottom lip. “I’m sure.”

The silence is so thick it makes me shift uncomfortably. Gage finally lets out a breath, his hands shaking just the tiniest bit. “Fuck me,” he growls.

“Yeah,” I laugh, bitterly.

He looks to my stomach, then back up at me. “Kael know?”

I nod.

He closes his eyes, exhaling. “You gonna keep it?”

I nod again. “Yes. I’m not asking you to do anything you don’t want to do.

I want you to be the dad if that’s the position you wish to take, but I need you to accept Kael will be in its life, too.

You know what you used to say about the club, about how we’re all family whether we like it or not?

I want that. It’s your kid, you get that.

But don’t ask me to pretend Kael isn’t my future.

Please, Gage. Don’t make me choose again. ”

He licks his lips, his eyes unreadable. He steps forward, plants one hand against the workbench behind me, caging me in. He speaks so quietly I have to read his mouth. “I’m gonna be a dad?”

The world blurs.

I nod.

He sucks in air. For a second, I think he’s going to break. Instead, he lets out a low laugh. “Fuck, Sabie. After all that, you come here and just drop this on me.”

My own eyes are burning now. I swallow it down. “It’s not what I wanted. But you deserve to know. I would never take that from you.”

He leans harder against the bench, staring through me. “How the fuck is this goin’ to work?”

I have already thought of that. “I want agreement. I want a plan, set in stone, before the baby is born. You want to be a part, you can, but you gotta show me a plan I can believe in. I need to know my baby is safe.”

He studies my face, then steps back and nods. “Get that.”

“I can’t have this baby unsafe, so I won’t be able to hand it over for custody until it is older.

You can see him or her whenever you like, and when they are old enough, you can have them as part of an agreement.

I don’t want a war with you, Gage, I just want this baby raised properly.

Together. With two families that love it wholeheartedly. Can you do that?”

He crosses his arms, then nods. “Yeah.”

I exhale.

“You know what that means, Sabie?”

I stare at him. “What?”

“You can’t get rid of me.”

I snort. “Yes, well, it seems the universe thought I hadn’t had enough of you, so it gave me your junior.”

He grins. “I told you that I’d always be around.”

Indeed he did.

“We’ll talk more soon, I just wanted you to know.”

I turn on my heel and he calls out my name. I glance over my shoulder and meet his gaze. “Tell me again,” he murmurs.

“You’re going to be a dad, Gage.”

He smiles, and I realize it is the first real smile I have ever seen from him.

Maybe, just maybe, this is a blessing in disguise.

I guess time will tell.

~*~*~*~*~*~

M ERA AND NIA ARE IN the kitchen when I return, spreading peanut butter on graham crackers and swigging something bubbly from the bottle. They see me walk in, eyes hungry for news. I head for the fridge and before I’ve even closed the door Mera starts.

“Well? You good? What did he say? Did he lose it? Go crazy? Throw down? Threaten to lock you up and never let you out?”

I laugh. “No, he was actually happy. He agreed to a plan, and to Kael being in the baby’s life.”

Both girls stare at me. “Seriously? Gage? The psycho?”

I giggle. “Yep. Maybe when the shock wears off he might lose it, but for now, we’re good.”

Mera claps her hands. “I am so excited. A baby! Yay!”

A sweetbutt walks into the kitchen, staring at the three of us with her nose all twisted. “There is some girl here lookin’ for Knox. Do you know where he is?”

We shake our heads and she leaves. Nia turns to me. “Are you all curious, or is it just me?”

“Oh,” I say, heading towards the door. “We’re curious.”

The two girls laugh and we rush outside.

There on the porch stands a girl with the longest, thickest black hair I have ever seen.

Her skin is as pale as a cloud and her eyes are so yellow it hits you when she pins them on you.

She’s wearing a pair of jeans that hug her ass and a shirt that shows every curve of her body.

She is gorgeous.

She looks over at us, features unreadable, then breaks into a smile. “Hey. Is Knox around?” Her voice is soft, with a sassy undertone.

Mera squints. “Who’s asking?”

“Callie. Just Callie.” She sticks her hands in her back pockets, unfazed by the way we all stare at her.

“Uh, you got a last name, Just Callie?” Nia asks, chin raised.

These two.

I try not to laugh.

“Didn’t think I needed one.” Callie’s eyes flick to the bikes and then back to us. “Is he here or?”

“He’s inside,” Mera says, her eyes still skeptical. “How do you know him?”

“I’m his old lady’s cousin.”

We all go silent, staring at her confused.

“Knox doesn’t have an old lady,” Mera says, shaking her head in confusion. “I have been here long enough to know that.”

Callie crosses her arms, her face growing a little sad, a secret behind her eyes that haunts her. “He did. She died.”

More silence.

None of us knew this.

Knox had an old lady that died? How? When? What happened?

Mera looks to us, her face twisted in confusion. “Wolfe has never mentioned that.”

Before we can say anything more, Knox walks out. His eyes scan over us, settling on Callie, but there is no recognition there. He doesn’t know her.

“Knox,” Mera says, her eyes locking onto him. “This is Callie, your old lady’s cousin.”

Her tone is tight and when the words come out, Knox flinches and his eyes dart to Callie, who is staring at him in some kind of shock, like he was not what she was expecting at all. The two of them stand there, staring, and I wonder what the hell is about to go down.

“You don’t know me,” Callie says, her voice careful. “But I’m here to tie up some loose ends with the family farm. I wanted to let you know I was in town.”

Knox doesn’t speak.

He just stares at her.

We all stand, waiting.

“Get the fuck out,” he growls, and with that, walks away.

Not another word spoken.

What the hell.

All of our eyes swing to Callie and she is watching him go, her mouth slightly open. Then, she turns to us. “Well, isn’t he just a ray of fucking sunshine. I guess I have that to look forward to.”

Mera snorts, and Callie smiles.

I think she is going to be fun.

Mera and Nia walk her out, and I stand, watching them go. Kael comes outside onto the porch, draping an arm over my shoulder. “What’s the show?”

“That is Knox’s dead old lady’s cousin...”

Kael flinches and looks at them walking out. “Fuck.”

“I’m guessing that is a story you don’t share often?”

“Not my place baby, but I’m sure it’ll all come out if her family are in town.”

That sounds interesting.

“You talk to Gage?” Kael finally asks.

“Yeah. He agreed. I think it should be okay.”

“Fucker won’t get a choice. Nobody touches my family. He follows the rules, or he’s out.”

I laugh and lean into Kael, feeling more at home than I ever had in my old life, in my old skin. The world is still a mess, full of blood and bad plans and people who keep trying to hurt us. But on this porch, in this moment, I trust that it’ll be okay.

Kael presses a kiss to my forehead. “So, you gonna let me name the kid?”

I laugh, a burst of noise echoing through the lot. “Absolutely fucking not.”

He grins, and finally, the world is right again.