Bitter Sweet Deception (The Kingsmen M.C Book 4) (3 page)

“
You know
,
”
 
I explain,
 “i
t would really help narrow the field if we could just concentrate on one gender, here
.
”

Li
l’
s shakes her head.
 “
Sorry.
I’
m not telling. Jay does
n’
t want to know
.
”

She rests her hand on her rounded belly, swollen fingers prancing on the fabric-covered firmness.

“
Do
n’
t
you
want to know, though
?
”
 
I ask.

Li
l’
s smiles,
 “
I already do
.
”

Sunny and I look at each other, confused. For months now, we have all been guessing, offering up little boy and girl names, when it all could have been so much easier. We even have a pool going down at the clubhouse, with its own blackboard above the bar. So far, the odds are 2:1 that i
t’
s a boy, even though I put my money on a girl.

“
You found out
?
”
 
I whisper. What a switch! She has insisted time and time again that they were
n’
t going to find out the gender.

Li
l’
s purses her lips smugly,
 “
Nope. I did
n’
t find out. I just know
.
”

I sit back and laugh,
 “
I do
n’
t think tha
t’
s always reliable, Li
l’
s
.
”

“
Wha
t’
s not always reliable
?
”
 
Clink walks up behind me, moving the hair from my shoulder, lips planting in the hollow, teasing my flesh.

“
Li
l’
s says she has motherly instinct on the sex of the baby. She wo
n’
t tell us, though
,
”
 
I let Clink into our conversation.

His one arm wraps around me, the other lifts his beer bottle to sip.
 “
As long as that intuition is where I put my money,
I’
m cool with it
,
”
 
he winks across the flaming fire pit to the mother-to-be.
 “I’
ve got five hundred riding on you, Li
l’
s.
I’
ll split it with you
.
”

Li
l’
s shakes her head, rolling her eyes.
 “
Just wait till i
t’
s your turn. Le
t’
s see how you like the pressure
.
”

My body tenses at the insinuation. Clink and I have been together a little while now, but the topic of babies has been carefully avoided by the both of us. Each for our own reasons.

Jay and Tiny join the group with a fresh round of cold beers to pass around.

“
Yeah, well,
I’
ve got some fatherly intuition going myself. Le
t’
s just say Li
l’
s and I do
n’
t exactly have the same findings on what color to paint the nursery
.
”
 
Jay sits down next to his wife, pulling her in close.
 “
Ai
n’
t that right, baby
?
”

“
Just give in and find out for sure, already, guys
,
”
 
Tiny contributes.

“
Hayden! For a boy
or
a girl
,
”
 
Sunny spits out, excitedly.

Jay and Li
l’
s look at each other, quietly pondering the recommendation, before both shaking their heads in unison,
 “
Na
h….
”

Oh God. W
e’
ve got two more months of this.

Jean calls us all in to supper, as the group disbands with leather vested men leading the charge into the clubhouse for some grub. Jay helps a wobbly Li
l’
s to her feet and Tiny takes the opportunity to throw Sunny whimsically over his shoulder, slapping her barely covered ass hard as she whelps in surprise, before charging off towards the food line.

Sunday club dinners have become routine for me, now that
I’
ve been accepted into the group as one of their own. Clink is out of town on club business more often than not, so i
t’
s a special night when we get to go together. Even if we were more than an hour lat
e…
it was well worth it, I smile to myself.

Clink moves to step toward the clubhouse, extending his hand out to me,
 “
You coming
?
”

I smile warmly at his invitation, but shake my head.
 “I’
ll follow in a bit. You go save us some seats
.
”

He laughs,
 “
OK, but you know Tiny shows no restraint at a buffet. Ca
n’
t promise the
y’
ll be much left
.
”

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly and watch him join the flock. I take a deep breath and eye each of them as they laugh, talking animatedly with one another.
I’
ve gotten to know most of these people by now. The
y’
ve taken me into the fold and treat me as one of their own. There are a few Club Mamas strewn about, clinging onto bothers here and there. I recognize some of them, some are new to me. Even they are polite to me, treating me with the respect due to a higher standing in this delicate hierarchy of theirs.

Everyone has a place, a ranking. I
t’
s taken me plenty of time to figure this all out. Hell,
I’
m still learning. But one thin
g’
s for sur
e…I’
ve come to need them as much as they need me. It sure shocked the hell out me. But I ca
n’
t lose it, not now. What happened this morning was a close call. Too close. I ca
n’
t be that careless again, ca
n’
t risk the truth coming out.

These people demand loyalty from their own. They wo
n’
t understand. I ca
n’
t risk them not understanding, and ther
e’
s only one way to make sure that does
n’
t happen. They can never know.

CHAPTER TWO

CLINK

Damn! My lady is one hot chick. I take a swig of my warming beer and watch as her fine ass makes its way down the chow line, too many other brother
s
’ eyes watching, for my liking. Ca
n’
t really blame them, with her being relatively fresh meat and all. They can look, but they sure as hell know they ca
n’
t touch. Not if they want to keep their fucking fingers.

I’
ve got enough seniority around here to render her off limits just by the fact that
I’
m fucking her. But, sh
e’
s more than that, more than just a piece. The guys have been riding my ass the last few weeks to put a tag on her, make it official. I
t’
s more complicated, though.

Sh
e’
s new to this life, even though sh
e’
s seen some pretty dark shit already, with the Slayers fiasco, and Jay almost doing hard time. She needs to make sure this is really something she wants, not just a phase sh
e’
s going through. And not just the whole
 “
bad bo
y
”
 
thing, you know.

Sometimes, I think sh
e’
s in it for real. Other times, like this morning, I get the sense that sh
e’
s ashamed of us. I do
n’
t know any broads who do
n’
t have some sort of hang-up or another with their mom, but Charlie is deliberately hiding us from her ma.

“
Your girl gonna ride on Saturday, or what
?
”

Blue is
n’
t one of my favorite brothers, with him being semi-new and all, but the fucke
r’
s got a special place in my heart. H
e’
s an endless source of entertainment.

“
Yo
u’
ll just have to wait and see, now wo
n’
t you
?
”
 
I try to sound as confident as I can, when truth be told, I have
n’
t decided yet.

Our charity run is coming up this weekend, with a six hour ride up to a campground, and all of the local charters taking part. In order for a chick to ride, sh
e’
s got to be wearing a rag or a ring. Most wear both. I have five days to decide whether or not Charli
e’
s riding.

She reaches our table and I shoot Blue a warning to watch his tongue.

“
Here, baby. I brought you something
.
”
 
Charlie hands me a cold one as she takes the seat next to me at the picnic table. I take the bottle, raking my eyes over her thankfully as she leans over.

“
So, Charlie, you got plans this weekend
?
”
 
I shoot Blue a death stare. The fucker is gonna pay for that one. He smirks.

She looks mildly uncomfortable,
 “
U
m…
no. Just the normal stuff
.
”

“
Hey, bro, is that Sable over there? I hear sh
e’
s got a thing for new brothers
.
”
 
I use my fork to point over to the kitchen area, where Sable is carrying some sort of tray for Jean.

He follows my point, and eyes the goods.
 “
No shit
?
”

I shrug my shoulders, and raise my eyebrow.
 “
Go find out
.
”

Blu
e’
s boner is practically jumping out of his goddamned pants as he gets up and bolts.  Charlie rolls her eyes,
 “
Pig
.
”

I flag down one of the new prospects.
 “
Cage
.
”
 
Jay gave him the name, because although he can ride a bike like a fucki
n’
pro, he ca
n’
t drive a car to save his life. He crashed the cage the first time we had him make a pickup. Prospects do
n’
t usually earn a name that fast, but we could
n’
t resist. He crashed it into Jea
n’
s ca
r…
in the parking lot. Vince was livid! I nearly pissed my pants from laughing so hard.

“
Yes, sir
?
”

I fucking love the first six months of prospecting. These poor suckers are willing to do anything.

“
Blue is about to go into a backroom with Sable. Do me a favor, move his bike into one of the sheds, and then go knock on his door and tell him his rid
e’
s missing
.
”

Suga
r’
s mouth is left open as she listens to me give the order. She may be shocked, but the prospect knows bette
r…
he does as h
e’
s told. H
e’
s gone on his mission before he even has a chance to process the full command.

“
No, you are
n’
t
,
”
 
her eyes are wide.

I take a swig of my beer before sliding it away, jumping to my feet, and answering,
 “
You bet your sweet ass I am
,
”
 
I smirk.
 “
Tiny, Jay, T.
J…
fall out
.
”

My brothers eye me to see how serious I am, before they make the decision whether to leave their half-eaten plates. Especially Tiny. This is a tall order for him.

“
T
!
”
 
I call out to Trojan, wh
o’
s busy holding his new son so his lady can eat some,
 “
Yo
u’
re taking pics. Le
t’
s go
.
”

They all reluctantly drop their forks,
 “T
” hands his baby back to Sarah, and plays with his phone while walking, setting up the camera.

******

My side hurts like hell from laughing so hard. Tha
t’
ll teach Blue to keep his fucki
n’
mouth shut when I tell him to. Sabl
e’
s being a good sport about it all, i
t’
s not like she was the one with her pants around the ankles, dick in the air, shimmying out the door while trying to hike her jeans up before they tripped him. Blue nearly fell flat on his face. T got a great picture of that part, too.
I’
m gonna make sure i
t’
s framed and put on the wall.

I
t’
s been hours since he went scrambling around the yard with his stiffy, looking for his wheels, yet i
t’
s still the highlight of the night.

“
Happy with yourself
?
”

Shit. Jea
n’
s not happy. She looks downright pissed.

“
The next time you set up something like that, you make sure ther
e’
s no kids around
.
”

I sober up, quick,
 “
Yes m
a’
am
.
”

She looks satisfied enough.
 “
Vince says he wants a copy of the video emailed to him
.
”

I smile,
 “
Yes m
a’
am
!
”

She winks as she continues on toward the kitchen.

******

Li
l’
s may be the closest to Charlie, out of all the club women, but i
t’
s good to see her getting on with the other ones, too. I
t’
s later than late, and Li
l’
s called it quits a while ago.

“
You girls almost done, or you tryi
n’
to clean us out
?
”
 
Tiny asks his o
l’
lady as we walk up behind them.

Sunn
y’
s been around a long time now, and can hold her own at the bar. I take a quick count of the shot glasses in front of her and then at Charlie, hoping my girl did
n’
t try to keep up. I really do
n’
t want to have to crash here tonight, but ther
e’
s no way
I’
m putting her on the back of my bike if sh
e’
s drunk.

My worries are unnecessary. Sunny won by a long shot. Looks like she and Tiny are shacking in one of the back crash rooms tonight.

Sunny turns around, wobbling on the barstool.
 “
Bab
y…,
”
 
sh
e’
s piss drunk.
 “
Charlie is so fucking interesting. Sh
e’
s lik
e…
fascinatin
g….
”

I give my brother a look. He rolls his eyes at me, bending down to scoop up his woman. Yea
h…
h
e’
s probably gonna get puked on. I grab Charli
e’
s hand and move to get us the hell out of dodge before that happens. We do
n’
t look back as we hear the dry heaving from behind.

“
So, my place
?
”
 
Sugar suggests while buckling the chin strap to her helmet.

“
Nope. Mine
.
”

She freezes, eyeing me suspiciously.
 “
Your plac
e….
”

I rev the engine, bringing it to life from its idle. She hesitates but eventually gets on, holding tight. I understand her pause. W
e’
ve never spent the night at my place. Other than waiting on the back of the bike when I ran in to get something or other, sh
e’
s never even seen it. But, tonigh
t…
ther
e’
s no more pussy footing around this thing. I
t’
s time.

******

The light from the headlights bouncing back off the garage disappears as I cut the engine. The porch light is on, the timer sticking to its routine, but the yard is dark. The gravity of the situation is setting in, with both of us stuck in our seats, unable to move. My name may be on the deed to this place, but it has
n’
t been my home in a long, long time.

Suga
r’
s gotten the hint that it was
n’
t really a topic for discussion. I did
n’
t come here often, I sure as hell never brought a chic here, and she never pressed why. It was one of the things I liked best about he
r…
she knows I can be a moody fucker, and she knows how to avoid the triggers. I try to return the favor and not ask too many questions about her past, but I know tha
t’
s gonna come to an end soon. W
e’
re about to cross a line.

I squeeze her outer thigh, signaling the time to get moving. She swings off the bike, taking the cue and works on her helmet. I take a deep breath, here goes.

I
t’
s windy tonight. The leaves rustle and branches sway. The metallic creaking from the yard begs my attention, but I do
n’
t look.The swing-set is holding its own against the heavy breeze but I do
n’
t look. I ca
n’
t.

Suga
r’
s fingers find mine and interlace themselves. She knows this is big. I lead her to the door and through the threshold. Sh
e’
s next to me, by my side, in more ways than one right now. I flick the light on when we enter, closing the heavy door behind us as our eyes adjust to the change. I
t’
s pretty bare, but clean. The prospects see to that. Most furniture and things went with Barbara when she packed and left. I wa
n’
t gonna argue about dishes and pillows and shit, when she was taking something far more precious from me.