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CHAPTER ONE

STAR

Three months and twenty-two days since we got the cunt

“Here. Eat this,” I tell Aline as I hand her a bowl of extra spicy chilli. She takes it and gives it a swift sniff before taking a bite. Her cheeks immediately heat up and her eyes begin to stream. “Shit, maybe I made it a little too hot,” I mutter as she coughs and splutters, spitting out the food before grabbing her bottle of water and drinking it like she’s been living in the Sahara. “Sorry,” I wince.

“It’s fine,” she says, wheezing. “At this point, I will try anything to get the baby out.” She coughs before drinking more water.

“I mean, you are still a week away from your due date, so there is no—” Josie begins, but her words freeze in her throat when Alina gives her a death stare.

I snort out a laugh. Alina’s first few months with chronic sickness were difficult, followed by that fucking cunt face Eugene nearly fucking killing her, and ever since then Hap has barely left her side, driving her insane. She even ran away to mine once while he was taking a shower. Just to escape his overprotectiveness. He has backed off a little since then, but not enough to allow her to relax, and now she was big, uncomfortable, and aching all over. Probably more so because of the injuries she received at the hands of Cunty Mc’Cunterson. So now she was trying everything to get the baby out.

“Why won’t he just come out?!” Alina complains.

“If I knew the answer, I would tell you, but I don’t. However, I do have the truck outside, and I know of a great off-roading track we could take her for a high-speed spin. Maybe fly over a few large bumps and speed over some mounds. What do you say?” I ask her.

“Star, that can’t be safe for the baby,” Maggie interjects.

“I have a first aid kit on board, and if you are that worried, then we can pack Alina’s hospital bag, just in case,” I suggest.

“Someone get me my shoes,” Alina states eagerly.

“I can’t bring Maisy along for this ride. How about Belle, me, and the kids follow safely behind in case of an emergency?” Josie suggests.

“Good plan. Not that there will be any emergency. Well, apart from us driving her to the hospital to have the baby,” I state. “Maggie, you are with me and Alina. Shoot a message to the others. Tell them it’s code dilation and to bring refreshments,” I say as I help Alina put her shoes on before I take her hand and ease her up off the couch.

“We need to go. Church will be over in less than ten minutes. Once they realise what we are doing, they’ll come and stop us,” Alina huffs, rubbing her hand over her large belly.

“Well then, let’s waddle!” I order.

Fortunately, Enzo is at nursery, so once we’re all in and ready to go, I put my foot on the gas and speed away before Hap clocks us on the cameras I know he has set up.

“Easy!” Maggie complains. “Jesus, we need to get her to the hospital in one fucking piece if she goes into labour.”

“Relax, I’m a good driver,” I say defensively.

The place is surrounded by fields and woodland, so it’s not far for us to go. I find the track and take the sharp left turn, my tyres screeching as the truck tries to stay on the road. Alina and Maggie let out screams, and I burst out laughing.

“Hold on girls, it’s about to get bumpy!” I warn, turning up the music. Sleep Tokens Vore vibrates through the speakers.

“This music is not soothing!” Alina yells from the back as she holds on.

I floor it over the uneven ground, which had become wet and slippery from last night’s heavy rain. There is a large mound of mud, and I let out a loud laugh as I speed towards it, making the truck fly over it.

“FFFFFUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!” Alina yells from the back. I turn to face her; she’s smiling, but her eyes are filled with both fear and excitement.

“Will you face the right fucking way!” Maggie says, panicked.

I turn back to face forward. “Calm down. I come out here around once a week,” I confess.

“You what?” Maggie asks, stunned.

“Since it’s been quiet, I’ve been looking for something to do to kickstart the adrenaline. I saw something online, not here, about rally cars speeding around a course through mud and woodland. I figured it was the safest thing to do that would still give me a rush.” I shrug as I turn the truck a sharp right, the back end fishtailing.

“Does Ghost know you do this?” Alina asks.

“Yeah, I brought him here. We challenge each other,” I say, biting my lower lip.

“Oh god, it’s sexual, isn’t it?” Maggie asks with a groan.

“I may or may not have sucked him off as he completed the lap, and he may or may not have fucked me while I did mine.” I shrug, smiling at the memory.

“How did he fuck you while you were driving?” Alina asks.

“Why would you ask that?” Maggie asks with mock horror.

I laugh. “I sat on his lap, steering as his feet worked the pedals. It was a joint effort.”

I look in the rearview mirror and see Belle and Josie bringing up the rear. I speed around until all of us have been thrown around for a good twenty minutes.

“I think we should call it quits. I don’t think it’s worked,” Maggie states.

I come to a stop and look back at Alina, and that’s when I notice her face is scrunched up in pain, clutching her stomach. “Alina?” I ask, worried.

She opens her eyes. “I’ve either pissed myself,” she says through gritted teeth, “or my waters have broken.” She pauses. “And fuck me, I’m in pain,” she cries out.

I grin wide and look at Maggie. “Call Hap and tell him to meet us at the hospital,” I order, then I lower my window and turn the truck around, constantly beeping my horn and sticking my arm out to signal them to keep up.

Maggie switches on her phone, which pings constantly with messages and voicemails. “Well, we are in shit,” she mutters, pressing the call button before putting it on speaker. She doesn’t even get to say hello.

“Where the fuck are you?!” Hap snaps down the phone.

“Calm down, we just went for a drive, and Alina has gone into labour. Get your ass to the hospital, and we will meet you there,” she says assertively.

“Shit, I’m coming to you. Where are you?” he asks, his voice full of panic.

“No point. Just get to the hospital and we will see you there,” Maggie says before disconnecting.

“Wow, he’s going to be pissed you cut him off,” I point out.

“He will just get himself in a flap, and Alina needs calm,” Maggie says.

As soon as the words leave her mouth, we hear an almighty thud as the truck hits something, lurching us forward.

“Woah!” I breathe. I look around to make sure everyone is okay, frowning because there is no sign we hit anything. I press my foot down on the gas, the engine roars, and yet the truck remains perfectly still.

“We are stuck,” I mutter.

“Shit!” Maggie curses.

“What do you mean we are fucking stuck!” Alina cries out as if she’s possessed.

“Don’t worry, Maggie. We will get the truck out. When I say push on the gas, I’ll try to push from behind,” I instruct as I jump out of the truck.

“You won’t be able to push the truck yourself,” Maggie points out.

I pause, thinking it over. “You may have a point.” I turn and wave Josie down, warning them to stop and to get them to help us push the truck out. I notice Josie’s frown as they come to a stop. As I walk over to them, my heeled boots sink into the muddy ground.

Josie lowers her window. “Are you stuck?” she asks.

“What would make you say that? Maybe I just fancied a walk in the mud in my designer heeled boots,” I state sarcastically. “Or was it the back tyre being sunken in the mud that gave you the clue?” I add.

Josie rolls her eyes. “Alright, no need to be a sarky bitch about it.”

I sigh. “I’m sorry, but Alina is screaming in the back like a banshee. Now the truck is stuck, and we can’t even get in your truck because you won’t be able to get out of here. We are fucked,” I groan.

“What if I rammed into the back of the truck? Do you think that would work?” Josie suggests.

“There’s no reason why not. Just get as close as you can and try it. We’ve got a pregnant woman crowing in the back. The last thing she needs is whiplash,” I yell over my shoulder as I wade through the mud back to the truck. I climb in and scoot Maggie back into her seat. “Josie is going to try ramming us from behind,” I state, looking in the rearview mirror before I turn on the hazard lights to tell her we’re ready.

“Arrrrghhh, motherfucker,” Alina cries out in pain from the back.

“Brace yourself. Hopefully this will work,” I state.

“You brace your fucking self!” Alina snaps back. I smirk, not taking any offense to her words.

“Okay, here we go,” I say as I watch Josie press on the gas a little too hard. “Shit,” I mutter just before she slams her truck into the back end of mine, sending it lurching forward with force. Maggie places her hand out to brace it, and we are thrown forward. I hear a thump, and Alina cries out. I turn to see her lying on her back in the back seat’s footwell. “Shit, are you okay?” I ask.

“Do I look okay?! I’ve just fallen off the fucking seat, and the spawn of Satan is trying to make its way out of me!” she snarls like a rabid animal. Jesus, I know I wasn’t this bad when I had Enzo.

I look at Maggie, who gives me a brief nod that she’s okay. “Help me get her back on the seat,” I tell Maggie as we both get out of the truck. I open one side of the back door while Maggie grabs the other. “You grab her ankles, and I will grab under her arms,” I state.

Alina is holding onto her stomach, her face scrunched up in pain.

“On three,” Maggie says.

“I am not a piece of heavy furniture,” Alina growls through gritted teeth.

“One, two, three,” I say, ignoring Alina. Maggie and I both groan as we lift and dump Alina back into the seat with a huff.

“Fuck,” I pant, placing my hands on my hips.

“Hospital,” Alina orders as she takes painful breaths.

Maggie and I jump back into the front of the truck, both covered in mud, but neither of us are concerned. I press my foot on the gas, but we still don’t move. I groan and slam my head onto the steering wheel.

“Now what?” Maggie asks.

I shrug and get back out of the car, only to see that Josie’s truck is also stuck.

“Motherfucker,” I exclaim, exasperated. Josie gets out of the truck, removing Maisy from her seat, as does Belle with River, before they carefully make their way to me.

“Looks like we are walking to the main road and then getting the guys to come and pick us up,” Belle groaned.

“There is no way Alina can walk,” I state.

“We have a double stroller. She can sit in that, and we can push her in it,” Josie suggests.

I look down at the boggy ground beneath us.

“We won’t be able to push her in it; it’ll get stuck. If we could just get her to the other side of that tree, where the ground is firmer, then we can push her in it. But this means you’ll have to carry the kids,” I state. “Where are the others? Maybe they could come help?” I ask Josie.

“Busy. Nova has a wedding cake to finish, Rhea is currently in the middle of tattooing a client, Dixie is helping out at the hospital, and Elsie hasn’t responded, which means Scar is probably keeping her occupied,” Josie says with a playful wink. “But it’s no problem! I packed the baby carriers!” Josie says with an excited grin.

“Why the hell did you bring everything?” I ask. “It was just a drive.”

“Because you never know what could go wrong,” Josie says with a smirk on her face.

I flip her the middle finger, making her laugh. At that moment, Alina lets out a howl of pain, and Maggie comes over. “Are you done gossiping like old women? Her contractions are getting closer, and I’m not ready to watch Alina push something out of her vagina,” Maggie says with disgust on her face.

“A baby, not something.” Belle smirks. “Let’s get the stroller out and put Alina in it. We’ll have to carry her to the other side of the tree. Then, hopefully, we can push her in it until we get to the main road,” I state.

“Okay, then what?” Maggie presses.

“Then we get a taxi. I have the app, and I can select the minivan,” I state firmly.

Maggie shrugs, not having a better idea; with the guys almost at the hospital, it will take them twice as long to get here. If there is a taxi in the area, everything should be fine. But the way things were going today, I was expecting the rest of today to go anything but fine.