I hear Nicole scream out and then yell, “I said, no!”

I lose my fucking mind. I trusted Skull to watch over her. What kind of shit is he trying to pull? When I yank the door open, the last thing I expect to see is my woman lying down in the limo seat with Skull bent over, and his head between my woman’s legs. His hand is up under her dress, and I am about to tear the motherfucker’s head off. That’s when I notice the gun wavering in Nicole’s hand and hear the discharge. I dodge the motherfucker, but I’m so close it tears into my upper shoulder. Son of a bitch hurts like fuck, but I ignore the pain, and grab Skull by the back of his neck, hauling his fucking ass out of the car. He yanks away from me, and I let him, turning to my woman. Rage is boiling inside of me.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Nicole’s face is pale as a ghost. She just lays there, breathing hard. Motherfucker was Skull that good? I know it’s not rational, but you do not see what I just saw and be rational.

“Are you…Dragon, is that you?” she asks, and I suddenly remember she thinks I am dead. Which would have calmed me the fuck down, except there was a man between her legs.

“Yeah Mama, surprise, it’s me. I sure as fuck didn’t expect to see you getting it on in the back of a limo, pregnant with my baby, on the day of my funeral, with gunfire every-fucking-where.”

She squeaks. Starts to speak and then stops. She awkwardly rolls to sit up, flashing some black silk panties in the process. I guess I should be thankful she managed to keep them on. Then she slides out of the car and stands in front of me. I don’t know what I expected. A kiss? Her falling into my arms? Something, but I didn’t expect her to slap the shit out of me. She’s got some power in her hit, too. It rings my jaws.

“How the fuck are you still alive?”

“Gee? I don’t know, because I am? That don’t explain why Skull had his hands up your dress, Mama.”

“Oh my God! Are you being serious with me right now?”

“It don’t get much more serious than what I just saw, woman!”

She raises her hand to slap me, and I grab it this time. Oh, hell no, that’s not happening again.

“Don’t you dare slap me again, Mama. I gave you the first one, that’s it.”

“You gave it to me? Oh my God!” You insufferable….”

I should have been watching, but fuck, days of watching my woman hurt and not being able to hold her have taken its toll on me. The last two nights, I’ve snuck into her bed after she fell asleep, just to hold her. The way her eyes light up in anger now, grab my attention, and I can’t look away—even if I tried. Which is a shame because if I had been watching I would have seen her take her free hand, that still has the gun in it, and slam the butt of it into my balls.

Motherfucker.

Skull reaches over and grabs the gun and secures it. I would have done it, but I’m too busy grabbing my nuts and fighting to stand up.

“Did you just fucking punch me in the nuts with a loaded gun?”

“Yes! And I’d do it again if Skull would give me the damn gun back!”

“Woman! You could have shot my dick off!”

“Don’t give me any ideas!”

“What the fuck, Nicole? I figured you’d be upset I kept this hid from you, but hell you…”

“If I might interject…”

“Shut the hell up, motherfucker! I’ll deal with you in a minute.”

“That’s all well and good compadre, but perhaps you can finish your fighting for after we get to the hospital.”

“The hospital?”

“Well, as you have been shot and Nicole is in labor, it seems to me that would be the place to continue this…discussion, sí?”

“Labor?”

“Oh hell, I shot you,” Nicole says.

It’s then I notice the way Nicole is holding her stomach.

“Mama, let’s get you in the car,” I respond, trying to tap down the anger. I know it was stupid of me to jump to conclusions in the first place. Trouble is, when Nicole is involved I don’t think logically.

Before I can help her, she yells, “No! Don’t you touch me!”

I freeze and step back from her. She looks around and her eyes stop on Dancer. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Mama, we don’t have time for this right now. It’s too early for you to be in labor. We need to get you to the hospital.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me, Dragon! It’s your fault I’m in labor. What the fuck were you thinking by letting me believe you were dead? Do you have any idea what you did to me?” she cries out and tears are pouring down her face now.

“Damn it, Mama.”

We stop, as Bull and some other members pull up outside. Crusher comes out about that same time, and they are all staring at me, like they see a ghost. Probably because to them, I am.

“Bull? Did you know?” Nicole asks.

Bull’s eyes lock on mine and his body goes rigid.

“No, I didn’t, Little Mama.”

Oh fuck no. That is not okay, no one calls Nicole anything close to that. Before I can argue, Nicole speaks up again.

“Will you take me to the hospital?” she asks and I breathe a sigh of relief, thinking she finally has come to her senses.

I take a step towards her and stop when I realize that it’s not me she’s talking too. No, it’s Bull.

“What’s wrong?” Bull asks, getting off his bike.

“My water just broke,” she whispers, sounding more broken than I remember her being, even when she thought I was dead.

Bull sweeps in and lifts Nicole into his arms, like he’s carrying her over a threshold. The sight of it fuels my anger again, and I step up to stop this shit and shut it down, when Nailer grabs me by the arm.

“What happened to your arm, man?” he asks, but I know he’s keeping me from Bull. I may even understand why, but I don’t like it.

“I shot him!” Nicole calls out and those blue eyes I’ve always loved stare at me with so much anger they freeze me where I’m at. “And if he comes near me again, I’ll shoot more than just his shoulder.”

I watch as Bull loads Nicole up in his truck. My gaze stays right there until the truck is out of my line of sight.

“How the fucking hell are you standing in front of me?” Crusher asks. I turn away, not bothering to answer.

“Nailer, get me to the hospital.”

“Answer me, motherfucker, how are you standing here and none of us knew?” Crusher looks around at his brothers thinking they will join in. Trouble is they can’t. The only motherfuckers who didn’t know I was alive was him and Bull. It doesn’t take long for that shit to sink in.

“Oh, I see how it is.”

“Do you?”

“What the fuck man? I’m your VP! Bull’s your Enforcer! Where the fuck do you get off, not letting us know what is going on?”

That’s it. I snap. I’ve gone my limit.

“Tell me, motherfucker, why didn’t you bother letting me know what the fuck you were doing? Better yet, did you even try to get a hold of me after our call dropped, to tell me about the damn bomb? Did I know one thing about you killing a prisoner and burying his body? Did you clear one motherfucking thing with me?” I growl.

Crusher steps back, “Drag man…”

“While you thought I was dead, man, did you do one thing for this fucking club? Did you takeover in my stead like you were supposed to do?”

“Drag you got to understand, she needed…”

“I don’t have to understand a fucking thing. My woman is pregnant, and I still put the motherfucking club first. You’re done here.”

“Drag, man…”

“You are fucking done. Turn your motherfucking cut in.”

“Drag man, we should vote on this,” Hawk speaks up.

I turn and look at him. As a full pledged in member he has a right to call for a vote. I could veto it, but I’m too fucking tired to fool with it. I need to get to the hospital to see Nicole. She’s way too early in her pregnancy to give birth to our baby and she didn’t look good.

“Whatever. Lock him down. I need to get to my woman.”

“I’ll take you, hermano,” Skull says.

I haul off and punch him. It’s not as hard as it would have been if my woman hadn’t shot me, but it still gets my message across.

“What was that for?”

“For having your hands up my woman’s dress.”

“I was worried about the bebé.”

“Yeah, until I see an M.D. after your name, keep your fucking hands to yourself.”

With that, I turn and get in Nailer’s car. I imagined my homecoming a hell of a lot different. Instead, I’m heading to the hospital because my woman is in labor. I don’t have a woman, and I got nothing but a gunshot wound and sore nuts. Welcome home…yeah right.