Cole pulled in the clubhouse parking lot at sunset. He had ridden all through the night, stopping only once he was back across the California state line. He’d pulled into a rest area and slept on a picnic table for an hour or two. When he’d woken up, he’d rolled to a sitting position on top of the table, his feet on the bench. He’d lit a cigarette, and stared at the horizon. Then he’d walked back to his bike, pulled his cut out of his saddlebag, and put it back on—where it belonged—thinking what a fool he’d been to try to be anything but what he was. The club was all he knew, and he was good at it.

Being back on home turf felt right. He dismounted.

Green and Cajun came over and slapped him on the back, welcoming him home. It had been almost two months since he’d left.

He walked inside.

Crash was at the bar with Mack. They both rose off their barstools and gave him bear hugs.

“Glad to have you back, son,” Mack said.

“Glad to be back,” Cole replied.

“How’s your little girl?” Crash asked.

“Doing well. She should be released to go home soon.”

“Hey, if there’s anything we can do, anything you need or…” Crash offered.

“Thanks, man.” Cole nodded.

“Thought you were staying until she got out?” Mack asked.

Cole shook his head. “I needed to get back.”

Mack could tell something had happened. He let it go, sensing that Cole wasn’t ready to talk about it. “We’ll catch up later, okay?”

Cole nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” He watched Mack walk out the door. He turned back to Crash, who was holding out a beer to him. “Thanks,” he said, taking it.

“Your wife’s been driving us all crazy.”

Cole shook his head and blew out a breath. “Yeah, me, too. Been callin’ me night and day with her bitchin’.” He lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply.

Crash took a hit off his beer. “Well, she’s been a real pain in my ass.”

Cole exhaled, squinting at him through the smoke. “What do ya mean?”

“Constantly around. Asking me questions. Guess she thinks I know something she doesn’t.”

“Questions?”

“Yeah. You might as well know she’s been hittin’ up everybody in the club for info on Angel.”

“Christ.”

“How’s she doin’, by the way?”

Cole shrugged. “Things were goin’ real good.”

“Yeah?”

“Until she found out I was married.”

Crash nodded and smiled. “Yeah, that’s a mood killer, all right.”

Cole shook his head and smiled back at him. “Smartass.”

“You been by your house yet? Seen Mandy?”

Cole took a sip of his beer. “Nope.”

Crash drank his beer, studying Cole.

Cole looked over at him. “I need to talk to you. Come on.”

Crash followed Cole up to his room.

They walked in, and Cole closed the door. He moved into the room, leaned back against the desk, stared at Crash a moment, and then asked, “Did you know Mack sent Angel away?”

“What are you talking about?” Crash asked, confused.

“Three years ago.”

“Hell, no. I thought she left.”

Cole shook his head. “He ran her off.”

“No shit?”

Cole took a hit off his cigarette. “Yeah.”

“And now that you’ve seen her again?”

Cole shook his head. “I don’t know. She still has me tied in knots, just like she did before.”

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when she showed up here,” Crash admitted.

“Yeah, me, too.”

“She sure was gorgeous. I didn’t even recognize her.”

“Me, either. Until she pulled off those sunglasses.”

 

***

Mandy walked into the clubhouse. She’d seen Cole’s bike out front and knew he was back. He could have at least called her and let her know. Just wait till she got her hands on him.

She looked around not seeing him in the main room, so she headed upstairs to his room. She smiled, thinking maybe they could have a little private reunion. When she got to the door and was reaching for the knob, she heard voices coming from inside. She hesitated, listening.

 

***

“So, now what? Are you going to see her again?” Crash asked.

Cole nodded. “Yeah. I just have to divorce Mandy first. I talked to an attorney before I left.”

Crash laughed. “What attorney are you using? Not the one I used, I hope. I got screwed. Royally.”

They both laughed.

“Yeah. That you did, Brother,” Cole agreed.

 

***

Mandy froze. A divorce? He was going to divorce her? So he could go be with that bitch with the two kids? Oh, hell no. That wasn’t going to happen. But how was she going to stop him? Her mind darted from one idea to another. There was only one way she could think of. She smiled. After all, it had worked for women since the dawn of civilization.

She knocked on the door. “Cole, honey? Are you in there?”

Cole and Crash looked at each other.

Shit, Cole thought.

Crash smiled and whispered, “Speak of the devil.”

Cole walked over and opened the door.

Mandy stepped into the room. Her hand slid up Cole’s chest, and she leaned up to kiss him. She could feel his coldness, his lack of excitement to see her. Well, he wasn’t going to get rid of her that easily. She wasn’t giving up without a fight. “Hi, sweetie. I’m so glad you’re home,” she purred, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Crash moved toward the door. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.”

Cole gave Crash a dirty look over the top of Mandy’s head. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Crash smiled back. “No problem, bro.”

The door closed.

Cole looked down at Mandy, pushing her out of his arms. “I hear you’ve been asking all kinds of questions around the club.”

Mandy looked back at him. “Darlin’, I just wanted to know who this girl was. Lord knows you wouldn’t tell me.”

“It doesn’t concern you.”

“Doesn’t concern me? I’m your wife.”

“Yeah. We need to talk, I—”

Mandy cut him off quickly. She couldn’t afford to let him mention divorce, not before she told him her news. “Baby, first I have to tell you something.”

“What?” Cole asked impatiently.

She smiled up at him, her hands resting on his waist. “I have some news. I’m going to have a baby.”

Cole stared down at her, and he felt the floor drop out from under him. “What?”

“I’m pregnant, Cole. We’re going to have a baby.”

“What? How?”

“What do you mean, how? You know how. We’ve done it enough times.”

“When?” Cole swallowed. “How far along are you?” God forgive him but he hoped he could talk her into an abortion if she wasn’t too far along.

“Four months. Aren’t you excited?” She hugged him, burying her face in his chest. He missed the sly look that passed over her face. She’d chosen the number with care. Not too far to be showing yet, but not so little that he’d try to make her get rid of it.

Cole stared at the wall. Four months.

Mandy pulled back and looked up at him. “You’re happy, right?”

He looked down at her and pushed her out of his arms. “You need to go. I’ve got some club business to take care of.”

“But, Cole—”

“Mandy. I’ll meet you back at the house later. Now get out of here.” He turned away, holding the door for her.

Mandy forced a smile. She could play nice, if she had to. “Of course, darling. I’ll make you dinner.”

“I don’t know how late I’ll be,” he said stiffly.

“Well, I’ll keep it warm for you. I can’t wait to get you back in our bed, sweetie.” She leaned up and kissed him before turning and walking out.

Cole closed the door and fell back against it.

***

 

Crash was sitting at the bar when he saw Mandy walk out the front door of the club. A few minutes later, Cole walked down and sat next to him. He looked sick to his stomach.

“You okay, Brother?”

“No.”

Crash watched as Cole rested his elbows on the bar and lowered his head to his hands. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Cole slid his hands down his face and looked at Crash. “She’s pregnant.”

“Who? Angel?”

“I wish.” Cole shook his head. “Mandy.”

“Holy fuck. What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know.”

Trying to lighten the mood, Crash nudged him with his shoulder. “You can always push her down the stairs.”

Cole gave him a look.

“I’m kidding.” Crash took a sip of his beer. “That’s rough man. But you can still get divorced.”

Cole stared into space. Could he? What kind of mother would Mandy make? Someone as spoiled and self-centered as her? A shitty one, that’s what kind. This baby would need him, probably more than Angel’s kids did. At least they had a decent and loving mother who cared more about her own children than she did about herself. Who would this kid have if Cole left? God knows who she’d dump the kid with just so she could go out partying or shopping. And she’d probably end up bringing around a line of men. Men his child would be exposed to, and he wouldn’t be able to say shit about it. He couldn’t do that to a child, could he? Here he was, always admiring Angel for always putting her children first, above her wants and needs, and isn’t that what he needed to do? Put what was best for his child first and to hell with what he wanted? That meant staying with Mandy no matter how miserable he was with her.

Crash slid a shot of whiskey in front of him, and he downed it. He thought about everything he and Angel could’ve had together and would never have now.

Crash refilled Cole’s shot glass. “Drink up, Brother. I may not be able to help, but I can sure get drunk with you.”

Cole gave him a weak smile and clinked his glass to Crash’s.

It was hours before he headed home.

 

***

Cole pulled in the drive of the house he shared with Mandy. It was down a quiet, shady street of an older neighborhood. There was a white picket fence in front and a wrap-around porch. The driveway to the left of the house ran back to a large, two-and-a-half car garage in back that he had taken over completely. It was filled with partly built bikes and parts of all kinds. He spent most of his time there when he wasn’t at the clubhouse. Crash or some of the other guys would come over and they’d sit around drinking beer and working on bikes.

A rear-side entrance faced the driveway. A couple of steps led up to a covered porch.

Cole walked up the stairs and into the house. He walked over to the counter that overlooked the small kitchen and flipped through the pile of mail. She can’t even open a damn electric bill and pay the damn thing, for Christ’s sake. He flung the envelope down.

“Cole? Is that you?”

“You expecting somebody else?” He turned and saw her standing in the doorway that led to their bedroom, which faced the backyard. She had on a sexy nightgown. What shit was this?

She walked to him and slid her hands around his waist. “I missed you baby.”

He pulled out of her arms. “We need to talk.”

“Can’t we talk in bed?” she purred.

“No. We can’t. I’m moving into the guest room until the baby is born.”

“What? What are you talking about?” she asked, her tone sharpening.

Cole shook his head, staring at her. “I’ll stay with you, for the baby’s sake. But you need to understand, that’s the only reason I’m staying.”

“You’ve been drinking.”

“Yeah. I have.”

“Tomorrow, once you’ve sobered up, we’ll talk about this. Now come to bed, baby.”

He gave up talking and walked into the guest room.

She followed him to the doorway. “You’re serious? You’re really staying in here, tonight?”

“Yup. And not just tonight.”

“Why, Cole? I don’t understand. What did I do?”

“Nothing. I just don’t want to be married anymore.”

“So you’re going to divorce me? Is that it?”

“No. I said I’d stay for the baby.”

“It’s her, isn’t it? You want to go be with that bitch.”

“Leave her out of this. This is between you and me.”

She stormed off, and he was relieved. He got up and slammed the door. After locking it, he stretched out on the bed. No matter how much he’d drank that night, it wasn’t going to ease this pain he felt.