Page 3 of Wild Side (Vicious Reapers MC #3)

CHAPTER TWO

MAVERICK

My brother may be my twin, but we do not share a brain. In fact, I’m not sure how much we really have in common outside of the club. Never in my wildest dreams would I think that my brother and I could be anything other than best friends who did everything together.

When you share a womb, when you share everything, including fucking the same woman… it doesn’t feel like anything could come between us. But as I watch him from across the bar, I just feel… lackluster.

The bond we shared is different, or maybe I’m the different one. Something inside me changed the minute I saw that girl standing in a field outside of the Rivara Vicious Reapers clubhouse.

Princesses, or so they said. I don’t know whose fucking kids they were, but Zadie was different. She definitely wasn’t a clubwhore. Maybe her friend was, but she wasn’t. Maybe she was just a town girl out there for a good time. But maybe not. I’ll probably never know.

Taking a cigarette out of my pocket, I light it as I lean back on the sofa and look up at the ceiling. Music is playing in the background, no fuckin clue what song. I think Viking is in charge of the tunes today.

I don’t know how long I sit and smoke in silence, watching the smoke swirl around, when I feel someone kick my boot. Straightening, I blink a few times, my eyes lifting to see Bullet standing in front of me.

“Going to have church in a few minutes, get some bids for VP.”

I don’t know why he’s waited this long to get his second-in-command all sworn in and shit. He really doesn’t even need our votes. This is something he could do without us, but I know Bullet wants to do the right thing by the club.

“You got any ideas?” I slide my palms down my thighs.

He shrugs a shoulder. “Trust you all, so I’m open to suggestions.”

Jerking my chin, I stand to my feet, stubbing my smoke into the ashtray beside the sofa. “Mav?” Bullet calls out.

Lifting my head slightly, I turn to look at him, arching a brow in question. Thankfully, he doesn’t make me wait. He continues with whatever is on his mind, because it’s something, and I have no fucking clue what.

“I feel like something is going on with you since you got back from Rivara.”

He would be right, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to say it out loud yet… or ever. Actually, I hope the feelings just go away. I’m sure they will in time, anyway. I can’t imagine that I fell in love with this girl. I don’t even know a damn thing about her.

“Just working through some shit,” I say.

It’s not a lie. I am indeed working through shit. I just don’t know what it’s going to look like on the other side. Thankfully, Bullet doesn’t prod me any further. He turns and makes his way toward church.

Goose is already in his seat, which surprises me. We’ve been keeping our distance from one another lately, or maybe it’s me who's been keeping mine, I’m not sure. I also don’t know if I care too much.

I love my brother, but right now, I need to do exactly what I told Bullet I was doing… work through some shit.

As I approach, Goose jerks his chin in my direction but otherwise doesn’t say anything else.

I walk over to the drawer where I keep my notebook and tug it out.

I’ll be taking notes, then I’ll transcribe them and publish them later so everyone can have access.

As the club secretary, I have to pay attention to the meetings, always.

Sinking down in my seat, I lean back and look down at my boots in front of me as I wait for shit to get started. Goose clears his throat beside me. Tilting my head, I look up at him. He is watching me, and I can tell he’s working through his own shit, but he’s confused.

“I’m good,” I lie.

“No, you aren’t.”

Of course, my twin knows if I’m good or not. “I will be,” I amend.

His brows snap together. “You will be once you get sorted, but I don’t know what you need to do that.”

“Nothing,” I mutter. “Space.”

“Space is one thing I can’t give you, Chase.”

“Trent,” I rasp.

I love my brother, not in an incestuous way, or maybe there are some people who think that.

But I love him. He’s part of me in ways that no other person could ever be.

We have always been joined in a way that was likely deemed odd by everyone around us.

Most brothers don’t fuck the same women. And that’s where this stems from.

I don’t want Goose to fuck Zadie. I don’t even want him to look at her. And sex with anyone else has felt like a chore, like a means to an end, an itch to scratch—with or without my brother. I’ve done both.

Nothing can satisfy me or even make me feel content. Nothing. There is nothingness. I haven’t felt emptiness in years. I don’t know how to describe it, how it makes me feel. And, honest to fuck, I don’t want to think about it, either.

“I’m calling this meeting to order,” Bullet announces, which shakes me out of my self-absorbed thoughts and brings me into this moment.

“Today is short and sweet. I want to touch on two things. One, I need someone to go to Norfolk, Virginia, and deal with these fucks from the port authority. I need that shit fucking offloaded, and at this point, I’m ready to kill first and ask questions later. ”

“I’ll go,” I state, raising my hand into the air.

Goose grunts beside me, but I ignore it.

He hates doing shit like this. He doesn’t mind going to other clubs, or making a run, anything where he can go in and out without drama.

He doesn’t like to be stuck at the shop unless necessary.

I don’t blame him. I would rather be out, feel the wind in my face, and ride.

But right now, I need to get away, and this accomplishes that task.

“And secondly, we need a vice president. It’s time. Do I have anyone who wants to nominate a member in good standing?” Bullet asks.

The room is silent for a moment. Everyone is in good standing, even Hogg, who is in prison for life.

Piggy lifts his hand before he stands slightly and speaks. “I nominate Razor,” he calls out

And before I realize what’s happening, it’s voted on and confirmed that Razor is the vice president of the original chapter of the Vicious Reapers MC.

He’s got my vote. I know he’s one of the best men for the job.

Really, Bullet was right when he said it could be anyone.

I’ve never met a group of men who I could trust with my life other than these men.

They are my family.

ZADIE

His back is to me, the cut on full display in front of me. I have the entire thing memorized. Every single patch is seared into my brain. But the three most important ones are: Vicious Reapers MC. Rivara chapter. President.

“You wanted to talk to me, wanted me to come here to talk,” he says before he turns his head, looking back over his shoulder at me. “So, talk.”

Ever to the point, my father.

“A few months ago, Sable and I came down to the clubhouse when you guys were having a big party,” I begin.

I don’t know why I’m saying all of this. My dad doesn’t want these kinds of details. Really, I should have probably just run away and never looked back, maybe told my dad all of this after the baby was born.

I’m really freaking stupid.

Wringing my fingers together in my lap, I try to calm my breathing. Taking long inhales and exhales in an attempt to soothe myself so I don’t hyperventilate and pass out completely, because I feel like I could do that right about now.

“Continue,” he states, though I can hear the bite to his tone, and I don’t like it one bit. He knows something that he isn’t going to like is coming.

I do, but only because I opened this can of worms already. I shouldn’t have. I should have screwed the top of that can down and pretended it didn’t exist. But I’m fucked now. Deeply, truly, and royally fucked.

“Well, I met someone there and basically, well…” I’m unable to speak the words.

“Tell me,” my father grinds out.

“I’m pregnant.”

I lift my head, and the words just pour out of me, and as I look across the room at my father, who is now facing me, I wish I could take them back and stuff them down my throat. I wish I hadn’t said any of them.

“You’re… who the fuck did this?” he demands.

I don’t tell him Maverick’s name, because I’m pretty sure my father would find him and kill him, and that would endanger my father because Maverick is part of the original chapter… This whole thing is a mess.

I’ve made a complete mess.

“It doesn’t matter,” I whisper.

He snorts. “It sure as fuck does if he’s one of my men. You are off-limits. They all know that, and if they disrespected me that way, then they’re going to answer to me.”

His words come out in a boom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this angry before. Granted, I’ve always made sure that I have never given him a reason to be this angry, and yet, here I am.

“I’m twenty-one, Dad,” I say, although my words come out in a whisper.

If I thought I had any bravado, it’s been sucked out of me and the room simultaneously. He clears his throat, letting out a chuckle that sounds less like a chuckle and more like a foreign noise from somewhere in the back.

“I don’t give a good goddamn how old you are. One of my men broke my fucking rules and disrespected me. This has less to do with you and is more about me. I want to fucking know who it was.”

His words come out in a roar, and my spine straightens. “It wasn’t one of your men.”

“Girl, you better start fucking talking in a straight line real goddamn fast,” he snaps.

And that’s when I know that this man is done-done. He is not only done, but he is over it, and he wants answers like yesterday. Pressing my lips together, I stare at him, trying to decide how I can tell him who the father is without telling him at the same time.

“It’s not someone from the club here. But I need to tell him, and I don’t want you to kill him before I do.”

My father’s eyes widen, then they narrow before he takes a step toward me. He stops directly in front of me, his eyes searching mine for a long moment before he speaks. And when he does, I don’t know how to respond. I’ve never felt like a disappointment to my father before, but I do know.

“I can’t believe you ruined your life, you whore.”

And with that, he walks out of the room, out of the house, closing the door quietly behind him. A few moments later, I hear his bike come to life before he roars out of the driveway.