Josie looked around, her heart racing, even though this was nothing she hadn’t seen before. She knew the room where the guys usually met was sacred. You needed to be patched in or invited to step in there. And even if they did invite her and Steph into the meeting room, there was no way they could have sat there and talked and acted normal. Plus, that room sort of bothered Josie. That was the room where they made decisions. Lives were decided in that room. With some thoughts and opinions and the final crack of a gavel, lives were instantly changed.

Then again, look at the mess Steph was in.

The guys all stood around a pool table. Half had coffee. Half had beer.

“Morning, brothers,” Levi said.

“What are we doing here?” Jason asked. “I wasn’t quite done with my morning.”

“She’ll wait for you,” Reese said.

“Then she can come visit me,” Hawk said.

Josie felt Steph get closer to her.

“I’m going to give the floor to Reese,” Levi said.

“Okay,” Reese said. “Brothers. I’m sure you recognize who we have here. Josie and Steph.”

Everyone looked at Josie.

She gave a wave.

“Oh, great,” Luca said in a tired, old voice. “A blast from the past. Are you getting married, VP?”

“No,” Reese said. He eyed Josie and winked.

Josie felt her cheeks turn red.

“Steph is Lasz’s sister. And she’s pregnant. How about a congrats and wishing her a healthy baby girl.”

“A girl?” Zac asked.

The guys all started to clap and cheer.

Reese gave them a few seconds before waving to get them to calm down. “That’s the good part. But we have a situation here. And you know that Steph is family to us. After Lasz was killed, I let things slide and I lost track of her. Josie didn’t. She took good care of her. I tell you all this because Steph knows who the father of the baby is. And it’s probably not a situation we all want. But we have to respect it.”

“Meaning what,” Hawk asked.

“She got pregnant by a biker.”

All eyes went to Steph.

“She doesn’t talk to him or anything,” Josie said. “It’s not like they’re together.”

“Thanks,” Steph whispered. “Make me feel like a whore.”

“Stop,” Josie said.

“The point is this,” Reese said, taking control again. “We need to support Steph right now. She met some guy at a bar, shit happens. He wasn’t wearing a leather cut. He wasn’t flashing some MC shit to get her in bed. So, whatever happened… it happened.”

“We’re really having a meeting about this?” Brett asked. “Why the fuck do I care that Lasz’s sister got knocked up.” he looked at Steph. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Steph said.

“She wanted to be honest,” Josie said. “Just in case something happened. Or things were talked about.”

“I don’t follow this,” Ellis said. “I’m sorry. I respect everyone here, but why is this our problem?”

“She thought maybe he was a patched in guy to another crew,” Reese said. “His name is Aaron… I don’t know any Aaron in a local rival crew. So, no big deal.”

Zac quickly stood up. “Hold on a second.”

“What?” Reese asked.

“Don’t move. Give me a minute.”

Zac hurried away.

“Probably going to puke,” Hawk said.

Josie watched Zac charge down the hall. She didn’t like that at all.

“No matter the father of the baby, this is family,” Reese said. “This is Lasz’s niece. Think about that. This is important. To remember Lasz by.”

“Right,” Luca said. “We’ll have a baby shower and everyone will wear pink.”

“Really?” Steph asked.

Levi started to laugh. Everyone else started to laugh.

“I don’t think there will be a baby shower,” Josie said.

Zac came back to the table with a folder. “I have something to show everyone.”

“What’s that?” Reese asked.

“Info on other MC’s. This one is for DRM.”

DRM? Josie thought. It sounded familiar.

Zac opened the folder and started to flip through the papers. “There’s an Aaron in their crew.”

“Fuck,” Reese said instantly.

“What does that mean?” Steph asked.

Luca turned his head. “Means you might be in bigger trouble than you realize.”

Josie slipped an arm around Steph.

“Show me,” Reese said.

“Here,” Zac said. “Look.”

He gave Reese a piece of paper. Reese turned his head and looked at Levi. Levi took the paper and gave it right back to Reese.

“What is it?” Josie asked.

Reese walked around the pool table where the guys were all standing.

“He’s a member of a rival crew,” Reese said. “He doesn’t go by the name Aaron in the MC though. That’s why I didn’t recognize the name.”

“Okay,” Josie said. “So, what then? It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t love him. He doesn’t even know…”

“I’m going for a walk,” Ellis said. “We can figure this out later.”

“That’s fine,” Levi said. “We can split this up for now. We have to think this out.”

“Think what out?” Steph asked.

The table broke apart and it was just down to Levi, Reese, and Hawk.

Josie saw the way Reese looked at Hawk.

“Reese, what’s going on?” Josie asked.

“Is this the guy?” he asked Steph as he handed her the paper.

“Yes,” Steph said. “That’s him. He wasn’t wearing his leather or anything though. He was a pretty nice guy. I mean, I could tell the way he was talking to me that it was all for show. I didn’t mean…”

“Okay,” Reese said. “You got pregnant by a patched in member of DRM.”

“What does that mean then?” Josie asked.

“It means that the MC can take claim of the baby,” Levi said. “Use it as leverage against us. Turn it into a custody battle just to throw it in our face. Really become a pain in the ass.”

“But we don’t have to worry about that,” Reese said. “Don’t even say that shit, Prez.”

“Why don’t we have to worry about it?” Josie asked. “We can just keep a secret?”

“I don’t really mind,” Steph said. “I mean… I guess. It’s just… I’ll have a baby and she’ll have no father. I don’t know how I feel…”

“Steph, you don’t have a choice,” Reese said.

“So, you’re making my decisions now?”

“No,” Reese said. He took the paper from her. “This guy… you knew him as Aaron. His name in the MC was Digg.”

“Oh, fuck,” Hawk said.

“Yeah,” Reese said.

“Oh, fuck what?” Josie asked.

Reese touched both Steph and Josie. “I’m sorry… he’s dead…”

* * *

Steph grabbed her stomach and leaned against the pool table. “What?”

“We were out on that run…”

“You killed him?” Josie asked.

“I did,” Hawk said. “I was protecting the VP. If I didn’t shoot him, he would have shot Reese.”

“Shooting?” Steph asked. “Ohmygod… I’m going to throw up.”

Steph started to run.

Josie hesitated for a split second. She looked at Reese and frowned.

The life never ended. Just when you thought there was a small clearing of hope or happiness, something went wrong.

Josie caught up to Steph and led her back to Reese’s room. She went right into the bathroom and made it to the sink before getting sick. Josie stood there, rubbing her back.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not fucking okay,” Steph yelled. “The father of my baby is dead. Killed by the people that are supposed to care about me.”

“They didn’t know.”

“Fuck them,” Steph cried.

Josie reached for a towel and wet the edge of it and gave it to Steph so she could wipe her mouth.

Josie didn’t know what else to say. Seconds were ticking away, and she knew that Steph was waiting for her to say something important. But this was the truth. The whole biker life. This was it. You never knew when something was going to go wrong. When someone was going to get shot. Get killed.

“What am I going to do?” Steph asked, tears running down her cheeks.

Josie helped her out of the bathroom and to the bed. “First thing, we’re going home. We don’t need to be here anymore.”

“They’re going to hurt me.”

“Who?”

“Someone. I know it. The guys here are mad because I got pregnant by another group or whatever. And what about the other group? What if they know about me? Or they find out?”

“They won’t,” Josie said. “Okay? Nobody is going to know a thing.”

“What do I tell my daughter? Huh? That her father… what? He was a biker that got killed because of a guy who is basically her uncle?”

Josie lowered her head and shut her eyes. “I know. I get it.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do,” Josie snapped. “I understand this life more than you ever will. Dammit, Steph. You did this to yourself! And now look where we’re at. I finally start to fall in love with Reese again and look at this. This is the life. Be thankful…” Josie closed her mouth.

“Be thankful of what?”

“Maybe be thankful that your daughter will never know her father,” Josie said. “She’ll never know of what he’s done or the life he lived. Because there’s no changing this life. It’s going to hurt for her to grow up without a father… but she won’t be without love. And you can always find someone who can be a father to her. Give her a life she deserves. And you. Without looking over your shoulder that someone is going to come after you or the baby.”

Steph swallowed hard. “Josie…”

Josie stood up. “No. I need a minute. Just stay here.”

When Josie opened the door she didn’t expect to see Reese standing there. Before anyone could speak, she slapped him across the face. As hard as she could, probably hurting her hand more than his cheek.

Josie then punched at Reese’s chest. Hitting him over and over, growling as she did so. Reese backed up and Josie stayed with him, still hitting him.

“I hate you,” she said. “I hate you. I hate this life. I hate everything.”

Reese grabbed her arms and stopped her from swinging again. He looked into her eyes. “I know you do.”

Josie gritted her teeth as tears filled her eyes.

“Fucking Christ, sweetheart,” Reese said. “I’m so sorry.”

Josie tried to get away, but Reese wouldn’t let go.

“You know what I just told Steph?”

“What?”

“That it’s better this way,” she said. “Because she can be free. Without this life bearing down on her. Because he’s dead, he can’t follow her. He can’t track her down. He can’t harass her. He can’t scare her. Because that’s what you all do to people. How fucked up is that?”

“Nobody had any idea,” Reese said. “It was a bad situation.”

“And someone had to die?”

“That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

“Sometimes? How about all the fucking time.”

Reese nodded. “Right.”

“Tell me what happened, Reese? At least give me that.”

“Sweetheart…”

“Don’t give me that sweetheart bullshit, Reese,” Josie said. “I’ve been around this longer than some of the guys out there. And you’re going to say sweetheart to me as though that’s going to melt my heart and panties. I’m not some club whore looking for a quick fuck.”

“I never said you were.”

“Then tell me,” Josie yelled. She attacked his chest again, knowing it was useless because of how built he was. “Just fucking tell me, Reese.”

Reese gently held her elbows and turned, putting her against the wall. He hurried and put his hands to her face, thumbs stroking her tear filled cheeks.

“You don’t know what this club is up against right now,” he said. “Even before we started… you and me… again…”

“What? What does that mean? You’re choosing the club over me? Over Steph? What happened to family?”

“You’re all family,” Reese said. “Steph is going to be okay. I’ll make sure we take care of her. You know I love you, Josie. I don’t want anything bad to happen…”

“Too late,” Josie said. “I’m taking Steph and leaving. She doesn’t need this. Neither does the baby. You saw the look on her face. She could end up getting hurt. She now has to face the fact that no matter what, her daughter has no father. Worse yet, she has to figure out what to tell her daughter years from now. That’s a lot for an eighteen-year-old to take on.”

“I know it is,” Reese said. “So, stay. Let’s figure this out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out,” Josie said.

She slid along the wall and broke away from Reese. He stood there and looked down. There was a part of Josie that wanted him to grab her. Pull her toward him. Kiss her. Throw her against the wall - hard - and do more to her.

But they weren’t young anymore. This was as real as life could get. Back then, there was a sense of wildness and innocence all mixed together that made it fun. It made it super sexy. Maybe now it was still fun and sexy, but there were other variables.

Josie opened the door to Reese’s room and Steph was on the corner of the bed, crying.

“We have to go,” Josie said. “Right now.”

“Where’s Reese?”

“We’re leaving,” Josie said. “Don’t mess around with me.”

Josie was stern and fought back her own emotions as Steph cried, packing everything up to leave.

When they exited the room, Reese stood in the same spot, only facing them now.

“Reese,” Steph said.

“Steph,” he said. “I promise… you’ll be okay…”

Josie wrapped her arm around Steph and kept walking.

It hurt really badly to leave like this. Josie could feel her heart just chipping away into pieces. She had to walk through the front of the clubhouse and through the front door. That meant enduring the looks of all the guys. But nobody said a word.

It was risky to challenge the MC. It was even riskier to challenge Reese.

Josie got Steph into her car and looked at the clubhouse one more time. She knew it was wrong to just leave. There was a lot to talk about. A lot to figure out. But she had to put Steph and the baby first. There was no other choice. The truth hadn’t even sunk into Josie’s mind yet.

As she got ready to drive, the door to the clubhouse opened.

Out walked Reese.

Staring at him right then gave her the same heartbreaking feeling as the last time she lost him.