“You look like shit, brother,” Hawk said as he sat down at the breakfast table.

Reese had been nursing a mug of coffee for way too long, staring down into it. He couldn’t get the sight of the word pregnant out of his mind.

“You awake?” Hawk asked.

“Yeah. I’m good,” Reese said.

“You look like you missed out on some pussy last night or something.”

A second later, a hand smacked Hawk’s face so hard, the slap echoed through the house and everyone stopped eating. A couple of utensils clanked to the plates.

“The mouth. The mouth on this one. At my table?”

Hawk stiffened and rubbed his cheek. “Sorry about that, Aunt Athena.”

“Now shut up and eat. And don’t talk about women like that. They’re beautiful. Like flowers.”

Aunt Athena moved down the table, carrying a giant pot of scrambled eggs, refilling everyone’s plate. She was Levi’s aunt, by blood, and she was as ruthless as a person could come. But she believed in her traditions, which included having the MC over several times a week to cook for them. In some way, her table was their second table. Levi had called meetings at that table several times, using a fork or a spoon as a gavel to make decisions.

There were a few rules at the table though. Aunt Athena’s rules. There was no cursing during meal time. There was no real business talk either. Everyone was to enjoy their food. Take a sense of thankfulness that they had food. It was long rumored that her lost husband was the original member of BDD MC. The one who founded the name, the club, wore the first cut and the original patch. It was said that Aunt Athena had that original patch somewhere in the house. That meant she was the true queen of the MC. And you did not mess with her.

“What’s wrong with him?” Aunt Athena asked Levi as she slapped eggs on his plate. She pointed the spoon at Reese. “He looks too tired.”

“He’s a growing boy,” Levi said. “Probably discovering his body. Up too late, you know what I mean?”

“Pigs,” Aunt Athena said. She put the spoon under Levi’s chin and showed her teeth. They were false, but that look on her face was real. Her blue eyes still shined brightly. Her hair was thinned and puffy. She was short and a little stout, but she packed a punch with her attitude that made the biggest and toughest of men fall on their knees and cry. “Are you done talking like that, Levi?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Levi said.

She took the spoon away. “So, what’s been happening at the clubhouse?”

Levi looked at Reese and nodded.

Reese snapped out of his trance and lifted his coffee mug to his lips for a sip. “The usual, Aunt Athena. The police have been pushing hard against the entire MC. Chasing charters out of towns. We have a close eye on things so it doesn’t happen here.”

“Good,” she said. “You can never take your eyes away from anything. It’s smart to be ready. No matter how successful you think you are, you’re not.”

“There’s a pep talk for you,” Ellis said.

“Am I wrong?” Aunt Athena asked.

“Never wrong, Auntie,” Ellis said with a grin. “Hey, how about that bacon? Was that not perfection?”

“Here, here,” Jason said and slapped the table.

Everyone started to slap the table, shaking everything on it. Half the guys cheered, the other half started to oink like pigs. Brett stuck two pieces of bacon into his mouth and growled like an animal.

Aunt Athena tried to stay calm, but ended up laughing.

Levi finally stuck his fingers into his mouth and whistled to get everyone calm.

“The bacon is perfect,” Reese said.

“I had the butcher cut it thick for me.”

“A butcher, huh?” Zac asked. “You’re like straight out of a TV show.”

“Except she’s packing heat under that apron,” Levi said.

“Bullshit,” Zac said.

He quickly covered his mouth, realizing his error in cursing during eating.

Aunt Athena stepped forward and put the bowl of eggs between Jason and Brett. Her perfect U-shaped apron with the frilly pattern at the edges flipped up and sure enough, Aunt Athena had a gun.

“Wow,” Zac said. “You never fail to amaze me.”

“Now eat,” she ordered everyone. “I can make seconds and thirds. You need to fill up for your busy day.”

“How do you know we have a busy day?” Brett asked.

“Because if you don’t, then you’re a pussy. And no pussy is going to wear that leather cut,” Aunt Athena said in a bold voice.

Everyone fell silent again.

“Whoa,” Hawk whispered.

“That’s why you don’t mess with the best,” Reese said. He raised his coffee mug to Aunt Athena. “The best ever.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Levi said.

Everyone lifted their mugs.

“Now eat,” Aunt Athena said. “Before I start shooting you all.”

They all laughed as she walked back into the kitchen. She never ate with them. She always picked and made a small plate and ate in the kitchen. So she could watch everyone fill up the large dining room table. She told them it was her favorite thing in the world, other than playing bingo at the fire hall and winning cash off a lady called Marge, the grumpy old bitch with a broom stuck up her wrinkled ass.

Reese pounded the food as though he would never eat again. One thing about Aunt Athena’s breakfasts was that they were huge. And if you didn’t eat at least four plates, you were ridiculed by her and the guys in the club. You ate until the plates were cleared. Anything left over, Aunt Athena would then take down to the shelter to give to anyone who needed a real meal.

“I’m tapping out,” Hawk said. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach. “I need a couch and a toilet.”

“I second that,” Ellis said. “That was good.”

“Hawk, Ellis,” Levi said. “Go do the dishes.”

“Really, Prez?” Hawk asked. “I went to jail last night.”

“You were in a holding cell for a few hours,” Reese said.

“Go clean up,” Levi ordered. “Zac, help clear the table.”

“I got it,” Reese said as he stood up. “If I sit here I’m going to fall asleep.”

“No sleep?” Levi asked.

“Not much,” Reese said.

The entire day into night had been a blur. They had to get their members out of the holding cells, based off bogus charges of resisting arrest. That meant a threatening call from their lawyer, Larry. He was old school, mean, and loved to fight with words. And he loved to charge the MC a fortune for his services. He was the best and he understood the MC life as a former member of the club.

By the time they got back to the clubhouse and got settled, it was a little late. Reese told Levi about the junk in the bag but didn’t give the exact full story yet. Reese wanted to talk to Josie first about the entire story before giving it all to Levi. Because it would lead to the club pursuing their own investigation and that would lead to fights, and maybe even a war. Right on the streets. Right when the badges were breathing down their necks.

As Reese carried a stack of plates to the sink for Hawk to clean up, Aunt Athena grabbed his arm. “You look tired.”

“Rough night.”

“You need sleep. Good sleep. I can have my doctor write you something for sleeping. Pills… something to smoke…”

“I’m good, Auntie,” Reese said. “Thank you.”

“You letting a woman tear you up again?”

“Me? No.”

“You’re like your father was,” she said. “Oh, he would fall in love so easily.”

“I think we all fall in love easily,” Levi said as he walked from the table to the kitchen.

“Yeah, with the stuff between your legs,” Aunt Athena said.

“That’s the best way to do it,” Zac said. “You fall in love and then fall right out.”

“Unless you fall in love for a second or third time,” Brett said with a laugh.

Aunt Athena reached for a powder blue dish towel swung it at Brett a few times.

Levi chuckled. “She hates hearing that. She wants us all to settle and have a big family.”

“Is that wrong?” Aunt Athena asked. “A little baby to hold and take care of?”

Reese’s mind went right back to the pregnancy test he found in Josie’s bag. She was pregnant, and it certainly wasn’t his. They hadn’t been together in years.

“Hey, you okay?” Levi asked Reese.

Reese cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’m… yeah.”

“Let’s go have a smoke,” Levi said.

“Those will kill you,” Aunt Athena said.

“So will greasy bacon,” Levi said.

“Don’t you say anything bad about my cooking.”

“Never would, Auntie,” Levi said. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Reese touched her arm and smiled. “Thank you for the food.”

“You should get some rest. And clear your mind.”

“You got it,” Reese said.

“The rest of you,” Aunt Athena said, “Clean up or I’ll shoot you in the ass.”

They all laughed, but Reese was pretty sure she wasn’t joking.

Now that breakfast was over, it was time to talk about what was really going on.

* * *

“You know they were just fucking with us, right?” Levi asked.

“Of course,” Reese said. “But as I was leaving, Josie gave me her bag.”

“Josie, huh?” Levi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me shit for that right now, Levi.”

“I’m not saying a word.”

“Listen to me. She gave me her bag because one of the girls had some shit. And Josie took it. She freaked out and thought she was going to get busted.”

“Drugs.”

Reese nodded.

“Fuck,” Levi growled. “I know that shit sometimes floats around there.”

“This wasn’t floating stuff, Levi. This wasn’t for a little fun at the end of a long shift. This was a lot.”

“What do you mean a lot?” Levi asked.

“A lot.”

“Someone moving it then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Goddammit,” Levi said. “Someone pushing garbage through one of the girls? Who was it?”

“I want to find out more and having a meeting, Levi. I’m telling you this now, so you know what’s up. I don’t want anyone busting into the club down there and stirring up shit.”

“Get your spoon ready, Reese,” Levi said. “I’m stirring.”

“I know.”

“This isn’t good. We can’t have the badges break our balls all the way. Colt has a hard on for the MC. And with the other charters getting heat, he thinks we’re weak. Something like this though, could hurt us bad. Even though we’re not involved directly, we’re tied to Jefferson and he’s tied to the girls.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Prez,” Reese said.

“You want me to take a back seat because you want to get into her pants, don’t you?”

“No,” Reese said. “It’s more than that.”

“What? Because you two have a history?”

“Because I also found a positive pregnancy test.”

“Shit,” Levi said. “Baby yours?”

“Not unless my seed was sitting for years waiting to attack,” Reese said.

“Shit,” Levi said again. “She’s knocked up and you’re going to pry into it.”

“You know what? Don’t do this to me right now.”

“Reese, be real here, brother.” Levi put a hand to Reese’s face. “You two were wild together. But that was a lifetime ago. I’m sorry what happened to her father. To Lasz. Okay? If she’s moved on and she’s pregnant, it’s not your job to take care of her.”

“I didn’t say I was,” Reese said. “I just want to make sure she’s okay. And I want the full story on the garbage, okay? If we bust into the club, it’ll rattle everyone, and they’ll close up. If I get the entire story from Josie, we can approach it better.”

Reese finished his smoke and reached for the door to go back inside.

“Hey, VP.”

“Yeah?”

“You know what this means, right?”

Reese nodded. “Yeah. I know what it means.”

Things were going to get bloody… and soon.

* * *

Hawk had a smoke between his lips as he lined up a shot, calling the eight ball into the corner pocket. He sank it with ease and stood up, tossing the pool stick to the table.

“Pay up, motherfucker,” he said to Reese.

Reese folded his arms. “What’s the magic word?”

“I said motherfucker,” Hawk said with a grin.

“Funny.”

“VP… pay up.”

Reese stuck his hand into his right front pocket and took out a twenty.

Hawk snatched it out of his hand and nodded. “Some more pussy money.”

“See, that’s the problem with you,” Reese said as he leaned against the pool table. “You pay for it. I don’t.”

“Nah, that’s not for pussy,” Ellis said, carrying a beer in one hand and a folder in the other. “That’s for the antibiotics he has to give women in advance.”

“Eat shit, Ellis.”

“You know how some guys will wine and dine?” Ellis asked. “Hawk does med and bed…”

Reese started to laugh.

Hawk turned to face Ellis and Ellis opened his arms. “What, bro? What are you going to do?”

“Gentlemen,” Reese said, pushing from the pool table. He got between them. “Hawk, nice win. Take your cash and go find something to do. I’m sure there’s a reliever hanging around that has an empty stomach for you.”

“Fucking right,” Hawk said.

“Ellis, what’s the folder for?”

“Lawyer’s bill,” he said. “And a copy of the bullshit reports from the police.”

“Anything we need to worry about?” Reese asked.

“No. As long as the check clears for Larry, we’re good.”

“Is the check going to clear?”

“That’s my problem to worry about,” Ellis said.

“Hey, Reese, check this out,” Zac called out as he walked from the meeting room with a phone in his hand.

“What do you have?” Reese asked.

“I hooked up the outside security to my phone,” Zac said. “So, we can monitor all activity. I have cameras everywhere. Nobody does a thing without us knowing.”

“That in our budget?” Reese asked and eyed Ellis.

“No budget needed,” Zac said. “I have a friend of a friend…”

“Meaning what?” Reese asked.

“Meaning an order might have disappeared with my help…”

“Oh, Jesus,” Ellis said. “Knocking off online orders? That’s what we’ve become?”

“That’s prospect shit right there, bro,” Reese said.

“Are you going to ride my ass, or do you want to know that Josie is here?”

“What?” Reese asked. He grabbed the phone out of Zac’s hand and looked at the screen.

“Josie is here,” Zac said.

Sure enough, there was Josie, parking her car on the opposite side of the lot from where the guys all parked their motorcycles. She climbed out of the car and looked around.

“Can I zoom in?” Reese asked.

“Why? Just go talk to her.”

Reese gritted his teeth and tossed the phone back to Zac.

It was a little risky to have Josie here right now. Reese wanted to trust that Levi wouldn’t say anything to the other guys about the drugs. But Levi was the club’s President and the highest acting President, considering all the takedowns going on. Which meant his priority was always the MC over anything else.

Reese just didn’t want everyone to go after Josie. She was pregnant and stress like that could hurt the baby.

Why the fuck do I care? It’s not my kid. She got herself pregnant… and having a pregnancy test in a bag like that? That’s not something planned. That’s a scared to death thing. Trying to think back to a month ago and figure out who she fucked.

By the time Reese got outside, he was seething. Josie was maybe twenty feet away and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes looked up to the building and back down to Reese.

“I forgot you have cameras,” she said.

“Security purposes, sweetheart,” Reese said. “Did you come back for your bag?”

“Actually, I did,” Josie said.

They both started to approach each other slowly.

“I have your bag,” Reese said. “Some stuff obviously missing.”

He watched her swallow hard. “Did you talk to the guys about it?”

“Not yet. Mentioned it to Levi though.”

“Everything okay here?”

“We’re solid,” Reese said. “Everyone is out of jail.”

“That’s good. I talked to Harvey for a few minutes. He said it’s all bullshit. Which I figured. Trying to get someone to flip and turn on you guys and Jefferson.”

Reese grinned. “You still talk like you’re around this place.”

“Cop’s daughter,” Josie said.

“More like an outlaw tongue.”

“Whatever, Reese. Tell me what you need from me. I don’t want Starla to end up in trouble. Or any of the other girls…”

“First off, sweetheart, I don’t give a shit about Starla and her precious, silicone feelings. Okay? Or anyone else in that place. This MC is tied to that club. We keep it alive. We have rules that have to be followed. We’re not the fucking badge where you’re going to get warnings and trials and prison. We deal differently.”

“Yeah, you just kill people,” Josie said and swallowed hard again.

“I’m trying to do you a favor here, Josie. So, we can figure out where that shit came from. You and I both know that that stuff wasn’t just for fun. And if Starla is moving garbage through this town for another club or a gang…”

“I know,” Josie said in a whisper. She reached out and touched Reese’s arm. “I know. But I care about those girls.”

“Enough to take the fall?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Right. Because you needed me to do something for you. Which I did. Now the club needs to do their part. Maybe you should go somewhere else for a little while. Your boyfriend’s place or something.”

Reese knew the game he was playing. Toying with Josie, wanting to see how she reacted.

“I don’t have a boyfriend, Reese. I work and go home. That’s my life.”

“No boyfriend,” he said, suddenly feeling angry. “So, you fucked things up and have no boyfriend.”

“What? I fucked things up? What did I fuck up?”

“Yourself,” Reese said. He pulled away from Josie. “I saw the damn pregnancy test, Josie. You handed me a bag with drugs in it and a positive pregnancy test. Now, I’m not a fan of your old man, never was. But I can see him spinning in his grave right now at that.”

“Reese…”

“No. I have to give this to my club. I’m the goddamn VP. It’s part of my job here. And we’re going to go after Starla and the rest of the girls. And you need to tell us everything you know. I’ll do my best to keep Levi back if you want to talk to the girls first. But you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be in the middle of this shit.”

“Reese. Stop.”

“What? I don’t give a shit, Josie. What you do between your legs is your business. Same with me. But you fu-”

Josie jumped forward and slapped Reese across the face.

That shut him up pretty quickly.

He touched his cheek and felt his nostrils flare.

Josie touched his face again. “Sorry. I had to do that.”

“Right.”

Reese gritted his teeth. He was flustered. The thought of some guy touching Josie… his Josie… getting her pregnant…

“You look really angry,” Josie said.

“I am.”

“Why?”

“I’m always angry, sweetheart,” he said. “I’ll get you your bag. You should talk to Levi though.”

Reese backed away. She grabbed his leather cut and tugged.

That brought back a flood of memories Reese thought he’d left burning a long time ago.

“Josie…”

“I have to tell you something,” she said.

“Lay it on me then.”

“It’s about the pregnancy test.”

“Of course it is.”

Just twist the fucking knife a little more in my heart, sweetheart.

Josie bit her lip and hesitated.

“I don’t have all day here,” Reese said.

“Fine. Here’s the truth, Reese.” Josie inched closer, still holding onto his leather cut. “That pregnancy test isn’t mine.”