KATRINA

 

The first time my brother got arrested and spent the night in jail, he’d gotten into a brawl just outside of Finn’s bar. I’d heard stories about bikers getting into scuffles and the cops having to clean it up, so it wasn’t as much of a surprise as it would be to other people. My parents were upset, as they should have been, but they quickly got over it. Everybody knew what kind of man Jordan was. There was no changing him.

Over the years, we learned to accept him. My parents were proud of him and I felt the same way. He worked his way up the ladder of the Winter Cobras. I’m sure my parents would have been happy that he’d become president, even though the lifestyle of a club member was less than ideal.

I imagined it wasn’t anything new for Blake either. Every biker in Ivory had an arrest record. Just from looking at Blake, the only question was how long it was.

I was definitely bothered that both of them ended up in jail. I pictured the guards having their hands full as the two of them barked at one another in their cells. But I was so fatigued that I passed out for the rest of the day, spending most of my time sleeping on my couch.

The next day, I headed to The Bone Pit to try and distract myself with work. It was another lazy day at the Winter Cobras’ clubhouse.

It was the middle of the day when the front entrance burst open. I wasn’t looking but the number of cheers that erupted around me told me who it was. A few moments later, I finally looked up and saw my brother walking up to me.

“Kat…”

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. I wasn’t interested in hugging him the same, though I was relieved that the incident with Blake was over.

“What’s wrong?” he said as he pulled away from me.

I rolled my eyes.

“As if you don’t already know…”

Jordan’s left eye was swollen purple with a few scuffs on his cheeks. He still smiled at me like nothing was wrong.

“Look at your damn face,” I said. “You got into a fight right in front of my apartment. And for what? Because you had to insult some other club member.”

“That asshole isn’t just some other club member. He’s a fucking Reaper. I wasn’t telling that prick anything he didn’t already know.”

“Whatever…”

I kept my head down and moved to another table to wipe it down. Jordan followed closely behind me.

“It was just a night in jail,” he said. “Cops in this town are used to that shit.”

I didn’t respond to him. It was like he was being intentionally oblivious.

“I got my bike back,” he said. “Cops keep those things on lockdown, so nobody even gets a glimpse of them.”

“Jordan…” I sighed, finally looking at him.

The confident smile on his face disappeared

“Ivory is a dangerous place right now,” he said. “Especially for anybody associated with a club. The Sheriff’s Department is keeping tabs on us. The feds are up to something, too. That’s not even mentioning the Spades and the shit they’ve got going on with the Reapers.”

He put a hand on my shoulder.

“I wasn’t following you because I wanted to be nosy,” he continued. “I was just looking out for you. I wanted to protect you.”

“And does that mean you had to start a fight with Blake? Jordan, you were trying to kill each other.”

“I wasn’t going to kill him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, that’s all. It’s not safe being around him. You know that.”

“And I suppose it’s safe being around you, a guy picking fights with someone who’s trying to walk away?”

Jordan narrowed his eyes at me. I knew he wasn’t too happy with me but I didn’t care. The last person I would ever be afraid of was my brother. He wouldn’t lay a finger on me.

“Look,” he sighed. “I know that you might have had some thing with this guy. I get it, okay? And it might not seem like it now because nothing has happened these past two weeks. But the Spades are volatile. Bunch of psychotic skinheads… They’re capable of anything. I’m trying to make sure that nothing happens to you. That means watching over you and keeping away people like Blake.”

“I get it. You don’t have to explain it to me like a child.”

“Then what’s the problem? So, you have feelings for this guy. And? Is it worth putting yourself at risk like that? Kat, if you’re anywhere near that guy, you’re in danger. Period.”

“I’m in a lot more danger than you think.”

I knocked his hand away from my shoulder and went back to wiping the table in front of me. Jordan didn’t move from his spot.

“…What’s that supposed to mean?” he said.

I ignored him as best I could. But I knew I couldn’t ignore him forever.

I closed my eyes and sighed, knowing I had to tell him.

“I need to talk to you,” I said. “I need to tell you something.”

“Of course. What is it?”

“Not here. Somewhere… private. I can’t risk anybody else hearing this.”

He nodded and led the way through the back of the clubhouse. We made our way to one of the back storage rooms. The sound of music and conversation was distant but I still locked the door anyway.

Jordan leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms. He waited patiently for my answer. I knew I had to tell him but it wasn’t easy.

I paced back and forth, fiddling with my fingers, trying to find the right way to tell him.

“Jordan,” I sighed. “I have to tell you something.”

“You know you can tell me anything.”

“You have to promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“Promise me you won’t get upset. Promise me you won’t do anything crazy. Can you do that for me?”

Jordan paused. He bit his tongue. Looking into his eyes, I could see the gears turning in his head. But he eventually nodded and held his hand out.

“Okay,” I sighed. “You know that I spent more than a week with Blake…”

“He abducted you. How could I forget something like that?”

“I… I spent a lot of time with him. Together. We… We were close.”

Jordan closed his eyes and shook his head. The disgust on his face was obvious, as he did little to try and hide it.

“Why are you bringing this up?”

“Because… yesterday when I went to the hospital, I spoke to the doctor.”

“And?”

“And he told me why I was feeling so tired, why I was… feeling so nauseous in the morning.”

I stopped pacing. I sighed a deep breath and looked up at my brother. I looked into his eyes, trying to tell him without saying anything. There was a part of him that already knew but I had to say it.

“I’m pregnant.”

Jordan clenched his jaw. His eyes unblinking, he stayed leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Jordan… Did you hear what I said—”

“Is it his?”

“You know I’m not like that. I haven’t been with anybody else.”

“Yeah,” Jordan sighed. “You always were faithful. Never one to cheat. Remember when you were a teenager? Who was that one guy you liked? What was his name again?”

“Art?” I said, laughing as the memory came back to me.

“Art! Remember him?”

“How could I forget?”

“You were so into the guy… You only had eyes for him. Even with so many other men would have treated you like a queen, you were loyal to him. And he didn’t even look in your direction.”

“Yeah…”

“That’s just who you are.”

Jordan finally moved, walking forward and wrapping his arms around me. I squeezed him tight, relieved that I had someone else to share my secret with.

“What do I do?” I whispered, my head pressing against his chest.

“It’s all right, Kat. I’m here. Everything will be all right.”

My emotions started to get the best of me. I felt the tears leaking into the cotton of his shirt. Jordan held me in his arms, running his fingers through my hair to console me.

It felt like I was in his arms for so long until he finally released me. He smiled down at me with his hands on my shoulders.

“I’m here for you,” he said. “And I’ll be here for your child.”

“And Blake—”

“He doesn’t matter. The club will be here for your baby. That’s all he’ll need.”

“Jordan! I’m not going to let my child not be with his father.”

The tenderness I saw just moments ago left Jordan’s face. He dropped his hands from my shoulders and took a step back.

“You can’t tell him,” he said.

“Why not?” I exclaimed.

“Because anybody associated with him or any of the other Reapers has a target on their back. If the Spades find out you’re carrying one of their kids, then you’re in more danger than you’ve ever been in.”

“Jordan—”

“The Spades are about to go to war with the Reapers. After what happened to their old lady and the shooting at the cabin, the Reapers are gonna want retaliation. And the Spades are gonna be ready for it. It’d be best for you to just sit on the sidelines and wait for the dust to settle.”

“And what about me? What about my child? Am I supposed to just turn my back and ignore it?”

“Yes, Kat! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you to do this whole time!”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I won’t do that. I can’t! I have to tell him—”

“Telling Blake you’re having his kid only puts the kid in danger. What don’t you understand?”

I’d known Jordan all my life. He was the proudest man I’d ever known. He was smart and strong. He wouldn’t be president of the club if he weren’t.

“I’ve always looked up to you,” I said. “But now… seeing as how you won’t help the father of my child. I’m ashamed that you’re my brother.”

“Don’t say anything you can’t take back…”

“I mean it. He’s a Reaper. You’re a Cobra. You have to hate each other. You don’t even know why your clubs don’t like one another.”

“It goes back a long way… If you knew how disrespectful they were before—”

“The past doesn’t make it okay. You hate him just because he wears a different patch.”

“I hate him because he abducted you against your will.”

“That may be true but he protected me just the same. He cares about me. You have more in common with him than you realize?”

“Ha!” Jordan scoffed, looking away from me. “Don’t ever compare me with a Reaper. I’d rather be dead—”

“The most important person in Blake’s life was his brother. That was before he died. He carries his memories with him. He thinks about him every single day.”

Jordan slowly turned toward me, his eyes narrowed in some combination of confusion and anger.

“How do you know this?” he asked.

“Because he told me. I know Blake. I know that he’s just like you and me. He cared about his brother just like you and I care about each other.”

“What does that matter?” Jordan scoffed again.

“It means that I have to be there for him. You have to be there for him. How can you not care about the father of your own nephew?”

I put my hands on my stomach. It was only a few weeks but I swore that I could feel something inside of me. There was something there.

And as Jordan looked down at me, I knew he could see it.

“What would you have me do?” Jordan sighed. “It doesn’t matter what I think of Blake. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I know that. And I love you more because of it. But that doesn’t mean I have to keep it a secret. I can’t not tell Blake about his child. I know it’ll make things harder for everybody. But he has a right to know.”

Jordan shook his head. There was obvious frustration on his face. I was putting him in a hard spot but it was a spot that I had to put him in.

“If word of this gets to the Spades… If they find out you’re the mother of a Reaper’s child—”

“They won’t know. I’ll keep it a secret. It’ll be just between us.”

“Sooner or later, they’re gonna find out. They see you with him, it won’t take them long to put two and two together.”

“We’ll deal with that when it comes—”

Jordan’s phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out and his eyes widened as he read the number.

“What’s wrong?” I said, slightly confused. “Who is it?”

Jordan didn’t respond. He just turned around with the phone up to his ear.

I could hear a voice on the other line but I couldn’t make out what it was saying. Jordan was silent the entire time.

The one-sided conversation didn’t last very long.

“Jordan?”

My brother slowly put his phone down. He didn’t move from the spot.

“Jordan, what’s wrong?”

I put a hand on his shoulder and he turned back to me. The concern on his face gave me a sick feeling of worry in my stomach.

“Who was it?” I asked.

“It looks like you’re getting what you wanted,” Jordan responded.

“Who was it? Someone from the Reapers?”

Jordan shook his head.

“The Spades?”

“No,” Jordan sighed. “Someone more dangerous than the Spades or the Reapers.”

“Who—”

“Stay in the clubhouse. You’ll be safe here. Right now, I have some business to take care of.”

Before I could say anything more, Jordan leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead.

“Jordan…”

“I promise I’ll explain everything to you when the time is right.”

Just like that, he left the storage room.

I stood there. Confused. Angry. Worried. But more than anything, I was alone.

Something was wrong. And there was no telling if I would find out why.