I had never been afraid of Hunter Hargreaves.

Hell, even if I stopped to try, I couldn’t even count the times that I had defied him – either as a willful teenage girl high on enjoying the ultimate streak of rebellion, or as a private investigator keen on carving her own way in the world.

But the silence between us made me afraid.

“Say something,” I murmured.

Hunter sat up on the edge of the bed, taking his head in a hand. That rugged, handsome body racked with emotion would have brought me to tears any other time, but not now.

Now, I had to stand my ground.

“Babe, you know why that’s a bad idea,” he finally groaned, shaking his head.

“I need this.”

He turned to face me.

“It’s not just about you and me, Sarah!” Hunter was holding back his anger. “Your father called down the raid that almost destroyed this club. On my word, the Devil’s Dragons have never sought retribution. But what the hell do you think they’re going to do if they find out we’re trying to mend bridges with one of their oldest enemies?”

“He has a right to know,” I tried to insist.

Hunter growled. “Not necessarily.”

I tried to sit up. “Excuse me?”

Here it was.

Everything I feared, crashing down.

Hunter stood up from the bed, throwing on his pair of jeans in a furious huff. It was rare that I ever saw him angry like this, especially lately. But I knew my man, and I could tell that a storm was brewing behind those dark eyes of his.

By the looks of it, it was a bad one.

I swallowed and waited for him to burst.

“Your father, huh?” He muttered angrily. “Good old Sheriff Dad has always fought against us from the start, or have you forgotten that?” He glowered at me. “Remember how he got me removed from your classes in school? Or how he had officers come knock on Ma’s door, raising all that fuss over me?”

“He was just doing his best,” I cut back. “He was trying to protect me. Daddy was doing what he thought was right.”

Hunter scoffed.

“What he thought was right?”

“That’s right.”

He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

My arms crossed. “I don’t get the big deal.”

“The big deal?” Hunter sat back down, lacing up his boots. “The big deal is that your father almost ruined my life, time and time again… and then, one day, he did!”

I was indignant. “If you really, truly think your life was ruined, then what do you think you have right now?” I motioned at myself, at the baby in my womb. “What do you call this?”

Hunter threw on his shirt and grabbed his worn, weathered leathers. He wouldn’t even look at me as he threw open the door with a clatter.

But he paused. “You stayed.”

I didn’t understand.

“I stayed?”

He didn’t look at me. “In the raid, Sarah.”

My memory trailed back ten long, painful years to that fateful morning. I’d snuck out past my sleeping father to surprise my boyfriend, then the newest member of the local biker gang…

But I’d fallen asleep in his arms.

That was definitely not part of the plan.

I hadn’t been home the next morning, safe back in bed. That meant that the local sheriff, my stern father, rustled up enough police officers to launch a full raid on the building.

Men on both sides died.

Dad had walked with a cane ever since.

Hunter kept his haunted eyes off of me as he similarly relived the tragedy. “When we woke up to the shoot-out in that strip club, the one that crippled the Devil’s Dragons and cast us out into the desert… there came that moment. We were alone together, you and I, with the chaos still rooms away. I was ducking out a broken window and turned back for you…”

His eyes finally met mine.

“You chose him over me.”

Before I could figure out how to respond, the door was closed and he was gone.

* * *

It had been a long time since I’d cried.

Even during the pregnancy, even in the predicaments I’d found myself in since rejoining this life with Hunter, with danger threatening to snuff either of us out forever, I’d never cried.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d held back all this time, not until I let it all out.

Great, heaping sobs racked my body as I pulled the comforter up and wept huge tears into the bedding. The foundation of my entire world had fallen out from under me, and I let myself cry out every last drop until there was nothing left inside me to weep.

When that was done, I dried my tears.

And I rose.

I dressed myself for war, storming out of the room and into the club. Half the Dragons were out running errands to put things back in order, but I tracked down Hunter’s beloved right-hand man, one of my closest and dearest friends.

“Grizz,” I touched him on the shoulder.

Grizz Hawkins was always hard to describe. As he turned his burly, bearded form, I watched how his pale blue eyes locked onto mine. Some of the others joked that his eyes were otherworldly. Whether or not that was true, it always seemed like he could look right through you, straight into your soul. It didn’t hurt his mystique that he was a quiet, stoic man, always thinking and watching.

Before falling into place alongside the Devil’s Dragons, Grizz was a combat veteran of some sort. I knew that he was in the Marines, but that was about all that I could ever get out of him.

He didn’t like to talk about it.

Briefly, I wondered if Kate knew more.

“Sarah,” he acknowledged me in that gruff yet compassionate voice of his. How he fit into this complicated biker world so obviously wrong for him, I didn’t think I’d ever know. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Where did Hunter go?”

He paused.

“Out,” he replied.

I put my hand on my hips. “Don’t be like that, Grizz. Where did that asshole father of my child wander off to this time?”

He merely blinked.

“Hunter didn’t say, honest. Although, if I had to hazard a guess…”

The heavyset biker glanced at the door.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s riding around the city. He came out deeply annoyed. My best guess is that he’s blowing off steam.”

“Typical,” I muttered.

He hesitated: “What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter. Bunch of bullshit anyway.” I looked over his shoulder, seeing a notebook on the bar counter and a pen in his hand. It was filled with all sorts of numbers and scrawled notes. “I need one hell of a distraction. Got anything I can help with, big guy?”

Grizz smiled.

“I appreciate the offer, but you are a deeply pregnant woman. Get your rest, Sarah. I’ll notify you if he wanders back home and doesn’t make a beeline for your room.”

“I’m stir-crazy in here,” I muttered. “Besides, I’m awake now. Give me something to do, or I’m going to find something…”

His cheery expression faltered.

“Oh. Uh, let me see here…”

Grizz flipped a few pages back, looking over a few notes. “I’m afraid that the others have nearly everything covered, but perhaps I could ask you for a personal favor.”

“Like what?”

He glanced up sadly.

“Kate isn’t feeling too well. If you’re up to it, could I ask you to keep her company for a little while?” He looked guilty. “I try to be diligent, but I’m so tied up with all these responsibilities right now, and the time keeps slipping away from me.”

“I’d be happy to help, Grizz. She’s a wonderful woman. Where did you find her again?”

“Lafayette, over in Louisiana. There was some trouble down there with an old flame of hers, but we sorted it all out in the end. In a way, the man drove her back into my arms.”

“Funny how that happens sometimes…”

Grizz nodded in reflection.

“Quite… I would have never guessed that I’d ever see Kate again, let alone have her back in my life for good. She was the woman I loved above all others, and I am grateful to God for putting her back in my path.”

He kissed the cross around his neck.

“My long-lost love, reunited at last…” the biker offered me a small smile. “The parallels in our lives are not lost to me. Hunter and you came back together, and out of those ripples I found myself pushed right back into Kate’s arms. Had you two never found each other again, I would never have seen her again.”

I hadn’t thought of that.

The sentiment was deeply touching.

“Speaking of Kate, let me go take a peek in there. Are you sure it’s okay? To bother her, I mean.”

Grizz nodded politely.

“Kate likes you. You’ll be fine.”

Convinced, I gave him a soft squeeze on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Grizz. I couldn’t be happier that you two found your way back to one another, especially after everything we’ve all been through together these last several months…”

“Chaos follows us,” he smiled. “It’s a fact of life in this club. But the sentiment is mutual. It’s clear to me that you and Hunter are both quite… strong-willed. When you two are on the same page, you're unstoppable.”

“It seems hard to keep on the same page.”

“Your troubles will come and go,” he nodded. “But I have full confidence in you two. Trust one another. See things from each other’s eyes.

“And go,” he added, waving me off with a friendly grin. “You distract me from my work, and I have a sick lover who needs tending.”

I bunched my face in mock indignation.

“I’m going, I’m going…”

Feeling much more relaxed – Grizz certainly had that effect on you – I wandered down the hall and towards their room. With my ear to the door, I could only faintly hear activity from within.

I knocked on the door. “Hello?”

“C-come in!”

I quietly let myself inside, closing it behind me. Sitting up in bed with a fatigued look in her eyes, Kate smiled at my approach.

“Hi, Sarah! What brings you in?”

I rolled my eyes. “The men are busy.”

She pouted. “That Grizz… it always seems like he’s so wrapped up in club activities that he rarely has the time for me.” Her gaze fell to her lap, the blanket wrapped up over it. “He said he’d be in to check on me sometime…”

I sat on the edge of the bed near her.

“Hunter’s saddled the poor man with a lot of responsibility,” I replied sympathetically. “But I’m sure that he’ll be in soon. Until then, I’m happy to keep you company. Can I get you anything?”

Kate raised her eyes coyly.

“You got anything for morning sickness?”

My eyes went wide.

“Holy shit! Kate!” I couldn’t resist throwing my arms around her. “Are you pregnant too?!”

She nodded emphatically.

“I haven’t told him yet. This is all so new that I don’t know… I’m afraid of how Grizz will react. Even as much as I understand him, there’s just no telling what really goes on in that thick head of his sometimes…”

“I’m confident that the old lug can handle the news,” I reassured her, stroking her upper back with my palm. “It seems like everyone’s getting pregnant around here. Is there something in the goddamn water?”

“We’re the only women,” she reminded me.

“That’s true, but still,” I grinned. “But this just means that the two of us need to stick together.”

Kate cheerily grinned.

“I’m good with that.”

“I wish I had some tablets, but I haven’t really needed anything for morning sickness. It’s pretty rare that I get symptoms, and I didn’t think I’d need to keep any around…”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Kate shrugged offhandedly. “I’m actually already feeling a little better for the company, although…”

“Although what?”

Kate hesitated. “It’s probably not my place.”

“Go on,” I insisted.

“Well… it’s just… I overheard the two of you fighting a little earlier. You and Hunter, I mean. Now, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to, but can I help with that? Might help me keep my head distracted from my nausea.”

I thought for a moment.

“Give me one second.”

“Sure thing.”

I left the room, grabbing a bottle of Pepcid from the nearest bathroom. When I returned, I handed her a capsule with a glass of water, and she gratefully took both.

As she downed the nausea medication, I was lost deep in thought. I trusted her, and I knew that the trust went both ways.

“I don’t mind telling you,” I admitted.

Kate paused. “I mean, I don’t mean to pry. But it’s just that, well… as kind as you’ve been to me since I’ve gotten here, maybe I can offer some sort of second opinion?”

“On what?”

“Whatever made him shout like that, I guess.”

A second opinion did sound great…

“Well, you see…” I began telling her the story. I was fully unaware of the emotional rollercoaster that I was setting in motion with every last word. “There’s kind of this little spat between Hunter and my father…”