“Look at him go,” Hawk said. “Carrying food to his ladies. He’s just a regular guy now, brothers. You can smell the pussy coming off him from being whipped so bad.”

Reese stood there and really considered what to do next. Truthfully, if Steph hadn’t been in the clubhouse he would have taken his gun out and shot Hawk. Not to kill him, no, that would be stupid. But a quick shot to graze his leg, knee, his foot. To send a warning to shut his mouth.

Instead, Reese just stood quiet.

“What?” Hawk asked. “You got nothing?”

“Take it easy, brother,” Brett said to Hawk. “There’s history there. You know that.”

“History. Can’t un-pop a cherry.”

“That’s enough,” Levi said as he stood from taking a shot as he played a game of pool with Ellis.

“Prez, I’m just fucking around,” Hawk said.

“I said that’s enough,” Levi said in a stern voice. “Use your mouth to drink some whiskey or eat some pussy. Other than that, shut it.”

Hawk curled his lip and turned around.

Reese carried a big tray of food to his room. It wasn’t exactly the normal kind of night he was used to at the clubhouse, but any time he could spend with Josie, he was going to take it. Not to mention that Steph closing her eyes turned into a long nap. Long enough that he and Josie took a shower (together, of course) and hung around the front of the clubhouse before the whiskey started flying with ease.

When Steph finally did wake up, she was hungry.

At the door to his room, a prospect stood there. He side-stepped and opened the door.

“There you go, sir,” the prospect said. “Next time, if you need food, I can get it for you.”

Reese nodded. “Go get a beer.”

“For you, sir?”

“For yourself. Get something to eat and a beer. Then get your ass right back here.”

Reese went into the room and found Josie and Steph in bed next to each other, watching some sitcom show. Two guys were talking fast, using big words, that somehow was funny. Reese paused and glanced at the TV but saw no value in mindless shows.

“Food,” Steph said. “Oh, Thank God.”

“Eat up,” Reese said. “You too, Josie.”

He put the food on the bed and everyone took a plate. The club had lucked out about three months ago when a guy showed up wanting to become a member. He was a chef and got tired of the kitchen life. There was a longer backstory to his life, but the two points were this… he wore the prospect cut and did as he was told without fight. And he was damn good at cooking. Which meant the MC had been eating like kings for a while now.

“This is amazing,” Steph said with a big bite of burger in her mouth.

She wiped the corner of her mouth of gooey cheese and ketchup.

“Feed that baby,” Reese said. He leaned against his dresser, chowing on a burger, drinking a beer.

Steph sat up with her legs crossed.

Reese admired the bulge on her belly, still amazed that she was pregnant. He really couldn’t imagine what Lasz would do if here were alive to see this.

Josie looked at Reese and he winked. Her cheeks turned red almost instantly.

It was a good feeling. It was a real good feeling. Almost like a sense of home. The MC was family, but this was home. Fulfilling everything he said he would. Meaning taking care of Lasz’s stepsister and falling in love with Josie. Even with the hell waiting outside the room and outside the clubhouse.

“So, are we sleeping here?” Steph asked.

“Yeah,” Reese said.

“Yeah?” Josie asked.

“Sweetheart, the guys are all getting loosened up,” Reese said. “So, anything you came here to talk about, it’ll have to wait until tomorrow anyway. You’re safe here.”

“How does it work with sleep?” Steph asked.

Reese put his plate down and pushed from the dresser. “You and Josie take the bed. Prospect will sleep outside the door. And I have sleeping bags in the closet.”

“No,” Josie said. “You’re not sleeping on the floor, Reese.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Steph said.

“You’re pregnant. You’re sleeping in the bed and that’s it. Nobody argues with me. Finish eating and watch your dumb ass show.”

“This isn’t dumb,” Steph said. “It’s really funny. It’s about this guy who moved-”

Reese raised an eyebrow and Steph stopped talking.

“Right,” she whispered. “I’ll just watch my show.”

Reese dug through his closet and made a nice bed of four sleeping bags on the floor. This whole idea of getting ready for bed this early was unheard of. It wasn’t going to happen.

He waited for Steph to finish eating before doing anything else.

“Why don’t you get ready for bed, Steph?” he asked. “I’m going to step outside. Clear my mind.”

“You mean smoke,” Steph said. “That’s not as cool looking as it used to be for me.”

“I never said it was.”

“You can’t do that near the baby when she’s here,” Steph said with a grin.

“I never would,” Reese said. “Now get changed and get some sleep.”

Reese left the room and went to the front of the clubhouse for a smoke and a shot of whiskey. As he stood at the bar, he felt someone approaching him.

It was Ellis.

And Levi.

Ellis’s eyes were glossed over from booze. Levi was straight faced, but he was feeling okay.

“What are you doing?” Ellis asked, slurred.

“Catching my breath.”

“From what? You’ve got two women in your room.”

“Respect,” Levi growled. “That’s Lasz’s sister in there.”

“Basically, my sister,” Reese said. “She’s fucking pregnant. Too young for that shit.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Levi said. “You’re doing the right thing. Just keep your focus on the right things, VP.”

“Meaning what?” Reese asked.

“Meaning the drugs, brother,” Ellis said. “We have to settle this. That shit you took from that guy Hawk popped… that wasn’t the same shit…”

“Oh, fuck,” Reese said. “Really?”

“Zac knows a guy,” Levi said. “Tested a sample of both. Different batches. Suppliers. Whatever. It wasn’t the same.”

“So that was a waste going after them,” Reese said.

“I’m not going to say you’re right,” Levi said with a grin. “Fuck DRM. We need to keep our power over them anyway.”

“Killing one of them?” Reese asked.

“No offense, VP, but I had nothing to do with that. You did. Hawk was doing his job. He’s a prick. He’s an asshole. We all hate him. But he’s the most loyal to the patch and cut out of all of us. Especially when it comes to protecting me and you.”

“True,” Reese said.

“What are you doing out here?” Ellis suddenly cut in, slurring worse. “You should be in the room with your girl, man. You love Josie. You’ve always loved Josie. What the fuck… you…”

Ellis shook his head.

Levi slapped his back. “I’d better go and find him a corner to pass out in. He was slamming drinks back pretty hard.”

“Hey, Prez,” Reese said.

“Yeah?”

“Josie brought Steph here for a reason.”

“I figured.”

“I don’t know what or why though. When I do, I’m bringing it to the club. I’m not hiding anything. I’m focused.”

“I know you are,” Levi said. “Just stay focused. It’s easy to lose sight of things when love starts fucking with your heart. I know how things went last time.”

“Don’t talk about the past, Prez.”

“Don’t get caught up in it and I won’t.”

“Deal.”

Levi gave a nod and grabbed Ellis by his leather cut and started to drag him away.

Reese finished his drink and his smoke. He then took two beers and went back to his room.

There he found Steph basically curled up in Josie’s arms on the bed. She was passed out again, Josie playing with her hair, holding her as though she were the mother and Steph was her kid. It sent a surge of pain through Reese’s heart to see that. Because in some ways, Steph was still a baby to him. He saw her as the annoying little girl in a dress that was destined to get dirty because she was a tomboy, but was always dressed too much like a girl. She would follow Reese and Lasz everywhere and get into trouble with them all the time.

Reese showed Josie one of the bottles of beer and raised an eyebrow.

Josie nodded.

She slowly worked herself away from Steph, leaving her to sleep on her side.

Reese pulled the sleeping bags all the way across the room to the closet door. He stacked some pillows and took off his leather cut. He placed it on the floor next to the sleeping bags and sat down. He kicked off his black boots and let out a breath as it felt good to sit.

The best sight of the night was watching the way Josie fell to her knees at the edge of the sleeping bag and moved toward him with seductive eyes. She crawled toward him and quickly straddled him, stealing a few kisses.

Those few kisses turned into something much hotter, leaving Reese pulling at the belt loops of Josie’s jeans, making damn sure she was tight against his body so she could feel what she did to him.

Josie finally broke the kiss and touched his face. “Hey.”

“Sweetheart,” Reese whispered.

Josie moved away from him and reached for one of the beer bottles.

Everything about her was sexy. Too sexy for Reese’s own good.

“She needs the sleep,” Josie said. “She’s been stressed. And not just the pregnancy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Talk to me about it,” Reese said.

“When we found out she was having a little girl, she started acting funny.”

“Funny like what?”

“The ride home, she wasn’t all that excited about it.”

“Shock?”

“Scared.”

“Scared of what?” Reese asked.

“You. The MC.”

“Me? The MC? What does it matter?”

“It matters,” Josie said. She slipped her hand into his, interlocking her fingers with his.

Reese swallowed hard and gritted his teeth. “What the fuck are you about to tell me?”

“Something that isn’t good,” Josie said. “She’s afraid you’re going to kill her.”

“Me? Kill her?”

Josie looked at Reese. She was being serious.

Reese took his hand away and put a little space between himself and Josie.

“Okay, sweetheart, I get it. I’m a rough and tough biker. I’ve got a sketchy past and I do what I do to survive. My brothers out there are ruthless and don’t follow the same laws you and Steph do. Fine. But we’re loyal. We believe in honor. So, what the fuck could Steph be worried about?”

Josie bit her lip for a second. “I’ll tell you this, Reese, but tomorrow, it’s up to Steph to say it. She has to own her… well, what she did.”

“And what did she do?” Reese asked.

Josie sighed. “She got pregnant by a biker in a rival crew.”

* * *

When Reese tried to get Josie into the bed, she refused. She ended up sleeping in his arms, which was fine with him. He didn’t sleep all that much though. Josie left him hanging with some of the information, wanting Steph to tell the rest. But it was pretty clear what had happened. Steph snuck into a bar, had a fun night of drinking, and ended up hooking up with a biker. That biker wore a leather cut and it wasn’t a Back Down Devil MC one. Which posed a serious problem. It was no wonder that Steph was scared half to death. Fooling around with a rival crew was one thing. But to get pregnant by one…

Shit.

Reese watched Josie sleep as the sun crept through the window and slowly began to light up the room.

The world of uncertainty was getting worse by the day. But there was one thing that Reese was certain of. The way he felt when he looked at Josie. She was everything to him. Always had been. Always would be. What happened to them was a mess. Her old man bit off more than he could chew with another MC, hoping to connect Back Down Devil in some kind of major cartel deal. He wanted to wipe out both MC’s, take down a cartel, and make something of himself. In some way though, Josie’s old man knew that what the MC did in town was for the better, even if he battled it so hard. He got in over his head and the MC got dragged into the mix of hell too. When the bullets started flying, they came from all directions. It wasn’t just one crew shooting at another for some turf war. This was bigger than anyone had ever seen before. And when the smoke cleared, a lot of the guys were hurt, but it was Lasz who took a bullet to the heart. And Josie’s old man took one to the head. An execution style murder that was nothing more than a stern warning to everyone as to what happens when you push too hard.

And it ripped him and Josie apart.

Reese mourned the loss of his best friend while Josie mourned the loss of her father. She blamed him and the MC for what happened. And Reese blamed her for what her father did to drag the MC into the mess. There was no other outlet for their anger other than each other.

Steph woke up before Josie did. When Reese saw her starting to wake up, he eased away from Josie to let her keep sleeping. He went to the door and opened it, finding the prospect sleeping with his back against the wall. The prospect listened to Reese because of the leather cut and his position in the MC. That meant Steph had protection. But Reese wasn’t sure how long that protection would last now though…

“Hey,” Reese said, kicking the prospect.

The prospect jumped and woke up, gasping for air. “What? What is it?”

“Coffee. Get three. Now.”

“Yes, sir. Good morning, sir.”

Reese shut the door and walked to the bed as Steph sat up.

“Morning, Reese,” she whispered.

“Hey. How’d you sleep?”

“Good.”

“How’s the baby?”

“Active.”

“Good,” Reese said. He slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. “I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah,” Steph said.

“Look. Josie told me a little of it.”

“Shit.” Steph pulled back.

Reese put his hand across the bed. “Don’t be like that.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know you are. Do you know who it is?”

“I think I know,” Steph said. “I mean, I know him. If I saw his picture.”

“You don’t know the MC?”

“He wasn’t wearing anything like that. The leather and all that stuff.”

Reese nodded. “Okay. What was his name?”

“Aaron,” Steph said.

“Aaron,” Reese said.

He thought. He didn’t know any Aaron in a rival crew. So that could be a good thing. Maybe it was some wannabe biker punk. Not someone that was against Back Down Devil MC.

“I don’t know that name,” Reese said. “Which is good. But we still need to take this to the table. With the guys. Give everyone what we’ve got and go from there. Just in case.”

“Just in case,” Steph said. “What if they want to hurt me?”

“They’re not going to want that. You’re here, Steph. You’re family. We’re up against a lot right now.”

“I’m scared.”

“You said that already.”

“I am, Reese.”

Reese stood up. “Steph. You’re an adult. You’re pregnant. You have a busy life ahead of you. You have a child to raise now. No more being afraid.”

“What about you?” Steph asked.

“What?”

“You and Josie. Why are you afraid to be with her?”

Reese gritted his teeth. “Deflecting to me now?”

“No,” Steph said. “I’m being honest. You should have seen her face yesterday while you were gone. She doesn’t just care about you, Reese. She’s in love with you. She never stopped loving you. The whole time I’ve been living with her she’s never had anyone in her life. Because of you.”

“Tell you what,” Reese said. “I’ll handle my business. My personal business. But right now, we need to handle your business. Thanks for worrying about me.”

“You deserve to be happy, Reese. And I know you’re happy with Josie.”

There was a gentle knock at the door.

Reese opened it and the prospect came in with the coffees.

That’s when Josie opened her eyes. Reese hurried to crouch next to her, smiling.

“Morning, sweetheart,” he said.

“I smell coffee.”

“I forgot how easy it was to wake you up. Either coffee or sex, right?”

“Stop it,” Josie said, blushing.

Reese grinned and offered his hand and helped her to her feet.

They had coffee, which was the quietest part of the morning.

“You two get ready,” Reese said. “I’m going to round up the guys. We have to talk.”

“Right,” Josie said.

Steph didn’t say a word. She just looked down.

Reese went to the front of the clubhouse and surveyed the night’s damage. It wasn’t all that bad, surprisingly.

Ellis was curled up on a pool table, snoring. A few prospects were on the floor, heads turned to the side, semi-dried pools of vomit next to them. That’s where Reese started, a couple of swift kicks to the ass to wake them up. He ordered them to start cleaning. To wake up Ellis, he just rolled him off the pool table. Ellis screamed and popped up.

“What the fuck, bro?” he yelled.

“Get a beer and round up the guys. Meeting. Out here.”

“Out here?” Ellis asked.

“Yeah. Out here.”

As Ellis stumbled his way to the bar, Levi came from the back of the clubhouse, coffee mug in hand.

“Prez,” Reese said.

“VP,” Levi said.

“We need to talk. Out here. All of us.”

“Right.”

“It’s about Steph.”

“Good. Zac did some late night work and we have something to go with.”

“The drugs?”

Levi nodded. “We forget about DRM right now. Shift our focus to the runners.”

“Fuck. No. You think…”

“I’m not sure,” Levi said. “It’s worth a shot to talk to them. Put some pressure on them. We’ll talk about that later. Table meeting.”

“Okay. Soon as the guys are ready, I’ll bring Steph and Josie.”

“Want to give me a hint of what’s happening here?” Levi asked.

Reese sighed. “Prez, I think we’ve got more trouble coming.”