Diesel watched his aunt pace across her small kitchen. She and Kelsea lived in one of the ten cabins that were situated behind his parents’ farmhouse. The small farm had originally belonged to his grandfather, Doc. But since Doc was doing life at SCI Greene for murder, Ace and Janice had moved into the main house to take care of both the farm and D’s cranky grandmother, Lonnie.

Ace’s sisters, Annie and Allie, lived in two of the cabins so they could be close and help Janice take care of the crotchety old woman. D’s grandmother certainly didn’t make life easy on any of them.

Even though the older woman had lived the MC lifestyle being married to Doc, once D’s grandfather got tossed into prison, the woman didn’t want anything to do with the club or bikers. And since her son was a biker and so were her grandsons, it sort of made things uncomfortable when it came to holiday get-togethers since all she did was bitch about the MC. D and Hawk usually tried to find an excuse not to come to the farm at all. Unfortunately, Ace was stuck taking care of his mother, but because of that, he spent a lot of time at the pawn shop. More time than was necessary to run the business and D didn’t blame him. He’d want to escape, too.

If it was up to Diesel, he’d stick his grandmother in a home and wash his hands of her. But D’s mother, Janice, had the patience of a saint, so Lonnie still lived with them and probably would until the day she died.

If she didn’t kill them all first.

Most of the cabins on the property were rented out long term since they were pretty decently sized. Ace had even offered one of them to Diesel so he could move out of church. He didn’t accept since he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be tied down to anything more than a room with a bathroom like he had now. Even if it was a shithole. And with his room at church, he could drink as much as he wanted and just head upstairs when he was done. He could raid the kitchen for grub when he was hungry and, even better, he could get one of the sweet butts to clean up his room, scrub his toilet, and do his laundry.

Out on the farm, he’d have to find someone else to do it. Someone would be needed to pick up his shit and make sure he had food. And that most likely meant having a woman around. Like a house mouse.

Or Jewel.

Even though the cabins were a good size, he didn’t feel like sharing the space with a house mouse. Or anyone, period.

It was bad enough he was climbing in Jewel’s bed every night. Even the thought of that little bit of commitment made his skin crawl. Though, once he was in bed with her, that uncomfortable feeling quickly disappeared.

And by morning, the opposite happened... He found himself not wanting to leave. But he did.

He wondered how the talk between Jewel and Kelsea was going. As soon as they arrived earlier, Jewelee locked her and his cousin in the bedroom so they could talk privately.

But now, D watched his aunt pace, which made him suspicious.

“So, no problems with workin’ at the shop? Know Pierce can be handsy an’ shit, Annie. Just wanna make sure he ain’t doin’ nothin’ to you that you don’t want done.”

Annie paused in her pacing and turned her head his direction, her brown eyes bugged out. “Diesel, really... I’m not sure I want to talk about this with my nephew.”

“Just tryin’ to look out for you an’ Kelsea.”

“I get that, but still...” She stopped in front of the kitchen sink and stared out of the window. Since it was dark outside, there wasn’t anything to see. But her face was clearly reflected in the glass.

That reflection showed that something was bothering his aunt and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

“Anythin’ goin’ on between him an’ Kelsea that you know of?”

“What?” she whispered and turned to face him, her face paler than normal and showing a look of shock. “Why would you ask that?”

“Wanna make sure he ain’t doin’ shit to her, either.”

“He wouldn’t... he couldn’t...”

Her insistence that Pierce wouldn’t or couldn’t didn’t make any sense. The man thought he was God’s gift to women and Kelsea was a woman. A young one, but still... “Why not?”

“Oh my God, D.” Annie covered her mouth with a shaky hand, closed her eyes and then turned away again. This time he couldn’t watch her face in the window since she stared down into the sink instead.

D scowled at his aunt’s back. “What?”

When he didn’t get an answer, his heart began to thump. What the fuck was going on?

“Annie, what?” he barked. Any patience he’d held onto was now gone.

“I... I always thought this would stay a secret...”

Diesel pushed off from where he’d been leaning against the wall and strode over to Annie. “What?”

When she still didn’t answer him, he grabbed her arm and gave her a shake to snap her out of wherever she was stuck in her head.

“Annie.”

She turned slowly and faced D, her face now as white as a sheet. “Pierce is...” She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she seemed even more uneasy. “Kelsea’s father,” she finished in a whisper.

His head jerked back and he dropped his hand, stepping quickly away from his aunt, as what she just revealed sunk in. Then it hit him. This complicated everything. Even more than it already was. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” he muttered. Suddenly, it hit him even harder. “Did Pierce force you?”

“Force me?”

Fuck. “To have sex.”

“No.”

Relief flooded through D because he knew the club president had an issue with being pushy with DAMC women in the past. And his aunt worked part-time for the asshole at the gun shop. He couldn’t imagine that Annie would work for him if he’d forced himself on her. That wouldn’t make sense.

But then, life could be fucking strange and things didn’t always make sense.

“He got no idea?”

Again, Annie didn’t answer him.

“Annie, fuckin’ talk to me. Pierce know?”

“No.”

“Sure?”

Eyes wide, Annie whispered, “You can’t tell him.”

Jesus Fuckin’ Christ. D was definitely not telling him. But now that he knew that information, it made more sense why Pierce was watching Kelsea when she danced with a Knight. But that would be only if he knew.

Or suspected.

“Why’d you keep it from ‘im?”

“For God’s sake, Diesel, it’s Pierce, that’s why. I was young and stupid. I thought... Shit. I don’t even want to admit to what I thought.” She waved a hand. “We hooked up a few times, especially when we were partying heavily all those years ago. The club was a lot crazier back then.”

“Nothin’ happened since then.” It wasn’t a question. He wanted, no needed, for her to confirm that.

Once again, Annie stayed quiet.

D scrubbed his palm over his short hair. This was not good. Her silence revealed that Annie was still hooking up with Pierce on the side. And with Kelsea being Pierce’s daughter...

“He ever ask you ‘bout Kels?”

“Yes.”

“An’ you denied it.” Again, not a question; in his gut, he already knew the answer.

“Yes.”

“Anybody else know? Ace?”

“No. Nobody knows. Not even Kelsea. That’s why when you asked if...” She shook her head. Her worried eyes hit Diesel. “Do you think...”

Holy fuck. He hoped not. Again, his take on it was Pierce might suspect something. But hopefully Jewelee was making sure that Kelsea wasn’t doing anything stupid like hooking up with Pierce without anyone knowing.

Even if Kels wasn’t Pierce’s daughter, it would still be a whole fucked up situation if her mom and her were both having sex with the same man and neither knew the other was doing it.

Jesus fuckin’ Christ.

D could even see Pierce thinking that was funny because he was getting one over on both women. The fucker. D had no idea why Randi, Pierce’s ol’ lady, didn’t kick his ass to the curb. Or just fucking shank him.

But, that wasn’t his problem. His problem was making sure Kelsea wasn’t partaking in things that would turn most people’s stomach. Like his. Because the thought of that possible snafu just made D want to fucking puke.

“Still don’t get why you kept it from both of ‘em,” D finally said.

“Once I got pregnant, I stopped partying and backed away from the club. I didn’t really want Pierce having a say in raising her. And you know what it’s like with my mother. She hates the club now and all you bikers. It was bad enough when I was a single mother but to be knocked up by a biker...” She shook her head. “I didn’t need to add any more to my grief. Didn’t, and still don’t, need her judging Kelsea, either.”

“Think the woman would be more understandin’ since she was married to a fuckin’ biker...”

“One that committed murder and mayhem,” Annie stated, lifting a hand, then shaking her head. “Not a proud moment for her. She totally switched gears after all that shit went down.”

“Right,” D grunted.

“Even so, Pierce’s ol’ lady at the time would’ve stabbed me in my sleep if she found out I was carrying his baby. He always preferred the crazy ones.”

That was true. He still did. That’s why he didn’t understand why Annie was still chasing the man’s dick. And when he thought back, he never remembered his aunt being with anyone. Not once. Never married, never dated. Nothing.

She was in love with Pierce. Had to be. D could figure out no other explanation why she’d deal with him all these years. And keep it a secret.

This made him reconsider how they would need to handle Pierce’s removal from the president’s spot. He wasn’t sure whether they’d impeach him or wait for the next club election, and then have to decide even if they’d go so far as turning their back on him and kicking his ass out of the club.

Fuck.

He had ties now. Blood ties.

“Ain’t gonna tell Pierce. Ain’t gonna tell Kelsea. Gonna leave that shit up to you, Annie. If she finds out, she might never forgive you for keepin’ that shit from ‘er.”

Annie nodded, walked over to the small kitchen table and pulled out a chair. She slid onto the seat and dropped her head into her hands, her dark blonde hair falling over her face. “You’ll have to tell me what Jewel finds out,” she said, her voice muffled.

“Yeah.”

“Even if it’s bad,” she added, without looking up.

“Yeah.”

She groaned. “Then I’ll need to find a solution if it is.”

Fuck. “Yeah.” He glanced toward the kitchen doorway. He needed to talk to Jewelee, to hear what she found out.

The possibilities were churning his gut. He pulled his cell from his back pocket and texted her. Got news. How long?

His phone dinged not even thirty seconds later. Now?

He slowly typed a message back. Yeah. Out front.

Ok was her answer.

He lifted his head from his phone. “Gonna go out an’ talk to Jewelee. Will let you know.”

Annie took a deep breath, then nodded.

With a last look at his aunt, who sat there looking wrecked, D turned and left the kitchen, strode through the front room and out the door.

He approached his sled, then began to pace. He needed a fucking cigarette and he hadn’t smoked in over five years. He actually dreaded to hear what Jewel may reveal.

He had to stop thinking the worst.

If he couldn’t have a smoke, then he needed a whiskey. Not one shot, not even ten shots. The whole fucking bottle.

He kept his eyes peeled to the front door and he jerked when Jewel finally stepped out.

Thank fuck. He couldn’t take any more waiting.

She had her eyes on him as she approached. She wore a serious expression and that scared the fuck out of him.

“Talk,” he barked.

She frowned. “Jeez, D. Cool your jets.”

“Woman. This is serious shit.”

She looked up at him in surprise. “Why? What now?”

“Tell me first,” he insisted.

“She’s not doing Pierce, thankfully. Actually, the idea grossed her out. Hell, it grossed me out. Fucking perverted motherfucker.”

Relief flooded D and he could breathe somewhat easier. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I mean Kelsea screws some questionable people, but I don’t think she’d lie to me about that. Hell, she was doing that guy Slash from the Demons. I mean, if you want to talk about questionable...”

D’s nostrils flared. “That his name? Slash?”

Jewel’s mouth dropped open and her eyes rounded. She placed her palm flat on his stomach. “D, let that go. Don’t cause enemies with the Demons because of Kels being stupid.”

D blew out a breath. She was right. He had enough on his plate right now and so did the club. But if he ran into this Slash any time soon, he’d deal with it. Until then, he needed to deal with the Warriors and this whole Pierce thing.

It all made his fucking head hurt.

Then he had to deal with the woman who stood inches from him, looking good enough to eat.

But before he could do that, he needed to finish his business here and let Annie know that everything was okay. Or as okay as it was going to be with the secret she’d held for the past twenty-six years. D dreaded the day that secret ever broke. He had a feeling he and Hawk would have to hold Ace back from killing Pierce himself. And they would only do it for their pop’s benefit, certainly not Pierce’s.

“C’mere,” he ordered Jewel.

She didn’t even hesitate. When she stepped into him, he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.

“Gotta tell you somethin’. Somethin’ that’s not for you or me to tell anyone else. But you gotta know ‘cause you’re close with Kels.”

She blinked up at him. “What?”

He dropped his head down so he could lower his voice. “Pierce is Kelsea’s pop.”

Jewel jerked in his arms. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“She doesn’t know?”

“No.”

“Pierce know?”

“Don’t think so, but not sure. Annie never told ‘im.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah. See Kels gettin’ too close with Pierce or him chasin’ her, need to tell me right away.”

“Holy fuck, D. The way Pierce is... he tries to get it from all of us.”

D’s spine snapped straight. “What’re you sayin’?”

“He hits on all of us. Usually whenever no one else is watching.” Her blue eyes blinked up at him in surprise. “You can’t not know that.”

“Know he’s a fuckin’ asshole. Know he’ll be a dead man if he tries to touch you.”

“How about Bella and Ivy? Diamond... Wouldn’t doubt Sophie or Kiki, either. Hell, he hit on my mom, too. I saw it. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he tries to get a piece of Kelsea if he hasn’t tried already.”

Blood rushed into D’s ears and he thought his head was going to blow right off his shoulders. “None of you say shit ‘bout it.”

“Yeah, ‘cause we’re used to it, D. You gotta remember that he’s been around us our whole lives. It’s nothing new.”

“How young were you when he first hit on you?” Jesus. He was about to burst a blood vessel and her answer may very well be the spark to cause it.

“D...”

He grabbed her chin and made her look at him. “How old?”

“You were right the first time. Question should be ‘how young?’”

“Jesus fuck.” He was going to beat the bastard to a bloody pulp. Then he was going to strip him of his cut and remove the club’s colors off the man’s back with an acetylene torch. Pittsburgh PD might find his toasted ass floating in the Allegheny River.

Jewel sighed. “Well, the good news is that Kels has resisted his so-called charms so far.” She pressed her fingers into D’s gut and he wrapped his hand around hers.

“Gotta tell Annie,” he muttered.

“I’ll wait here while you do that. Then you can take me home and fuck me.”

“Right.” He lowered his head until his lips were right above hers. “Fuckin’ your ass tonight.”

Her fingers curled against his stomach. “D...” she breathed.

He let her go and walked back into the cabin to deal with the shit. Then he was taking his woman home to fuck her until he could forget not only the Pierce business but the Warrior bullshit, too. At least for a little while.