17

STEEL

 “That fucking arsehole will find his face full of my fist soon.” Deck growled as he pushed through the compound’s huge door.

Ford came up with some intel that had that fucker Shifty’s name coming up more than once. Intel that insinuated he and Rogue were in business together. Booth being Booth, and one of the smartest men I knew, added two and two together and came up with Shifty being the reason Rogue knew so much about the women of the club’s whereabouts at all times. How he knew was still an unanswered question.

“Deck, I know you want that dickwad, but for now, I want you to keep a rein on that temper. When the time is right, you can do whatever the fuck you want to him. Until then, stay in control,” Booth warned the SAA. His tone held an air of his old role as our former lieutenant, a tone none of us had ever disobeyed. Not once.

“You know, at some point, we are going to have to broach the fact that someone is feeding Shifty information, and they are more than likely from the club,” Creed said quietly.

Looking at Booth, I could see he was struggling big time with this realisation. He, like the rest of us, valued the very core of respect and honour.

This had been playing on my mind during the entire ride back to the compound. A traitor in our own club was abhorrent, and with all of us being from the military, not one of us could comprehend such a fucking insult. I knew the men in front of me—Booth, Creed, Mannix, Deck, and Darth—had no such ability to do that. They had my back, and I had theirs. I opened my mouth to voice just that when Shiloh and her pup, C.O.D, burst from the ladies’ dance room. I loved what she called her dog. Typical Shiloh and typical Darth, too. I knew that big prick had a lot to do with her decision. Deck was just relieved and happy she could be talked out of calling the bulldog Motherfucker.

“You are in big trouble, hot, sexy stud. You didn’t wrap it, and now you knocked up Aunt Mia. Daddy, I need a effing Fanta. Pronto,” she shouted, her pixie voice echoing around the now quiet main room.

Fuck me in the arse.

She couldn’t be, could she? It was far too early to know that. Wasn’t it?

Plus we used a... Oh, shit a brick.

No, we didn’t. Three times we lost ourselves in each other, and no birth control was used. I did not wrap it. Thank you, Shiloh.

Fuck.

No one was talking.

The whole club just gawked at me—members, prospects, and a few of the ladies who hung around the compound before they went to work at the Bar and Grill or the strip club.

A small gasp of surprise caught my attention. Whipping my head around, I saw the flock standing by the pool table. They all had their mouths open, staring back and forth between Shiloh and me. I could tell Charlotte wanted to reprimand Squirt for her cursing, but the other subject matter was far more appealing to them. I narrowed in on Mia, and with just one look at her pretty blushing cheeks, I had my answer.

It might be too early to take a test, but I would bet my new Harley that Mia was carrying my kid.

Fuck, yes. I was a stud.

“Got something to tell me, Beauty?” I asked her, finally finding my voice and breaking the awkward silence.

Mia looked like she was waiting for the floor to open and suck her in, away from the situation and me. But there was no need because I couldn’t be happier. I wanted a kid. This kid.

With Mia.

It made no sense, none at all, but that didn’t change the fact that right in front of me, nearly in the palm of my hand, was the chance I had always wanted to have a family. Before I lost my leg, I never gave it a second thought. I had been too busy having any girl I wanted and becoming the best sniper in the history of the commandos.

It wasn’t until the worst day of my life that I realised I might have lost my chance. But here in front of me, in the form of this beautiful, petite, chocolate-eyed woman, it was possible I was finally getting that chance.

Mia’s mouth thinned as she narrowed her pretty eyes at me.

“There is nothing to tell. Yet. So if you will excuse me, I am going to head back to Rainn’s place. I am on at six,” she said as she tried to pass by me, but I blocked her path to the door. She was not leaving until we talked. Did she honestly think Shiloh could drop that kind of bombshell and then not explain anything to me?

“You aren’t on at six. Tori is rostered for tonight,” I informed her, glancing over at Tori, who was watching the drama unfold just like everyone else, but she was taking far too much interest in what was going on for my liking. I did not like Tori. As a waitress, she was okay. She turned up for shifts on time but flirted a bit too much with the patrons. As a dancer at the strip club, she was better than okay. Granted, she was no Rainn, but who was? Rainn was in a class of her own. Returning my attention to Mia, I waited for her to explain.

Mia started to twirl her hair around her finger. Her tell. It was her go-to move when she was nervous or uncomfortable. This situation called for her to be nervous, I got that, and being uncomfortable was also understandable, but there was something else. Something I wasn’t going to like.

“I’m doing at shift at Body and Souls,” she said quietly. Too quietly. And I got it. This would be the first time back to Body and Souls since the night Stella, Rainn, and Mia were accosted by Stella’s stepfather––who we now believed to be Rogue. The night Stella was attacked and kidnapped. The night Mia called me, and I broke her heart. Fuck, I was such an idiot.

Ignoring our audience, I moved closer to Mia and took both of her small hands in my much larger ones. I liked how perfectly she fit with me, how her hands felt in mine, even though they were extremely cold. We fit. Why hadn’t I seen this before? Callie hadn’t been a hand holder, not unless it was for a public display of affection that suited her needs, to show off to one of the other girls that she had the VP at her beck and call. But she would drop our joined hands the minute we were alone.

Mia liked to touch me, and I liked to touch her.

“Beauty, please come with me, and we can talk. Then I will take you to the club and wait for you to finish your shift.” I kept my voice low and gentle. I didn’t want everyone in on this conversation, and I didn’t want Mia to think she had cause to be scared of going back to Body and Souls. What happened to her that night was horrible and scary, and I hated that she had to go through it, but she wasn’t going to face this alone.

Holding her hands to my warm chest, I tried to infuse some of my warmth into her hands. Her eyes followed my actions, and a small smile finally played on her edible lips. I waited for a few seconds, my heart thumping wildly in my chest, and then she nodded. Thank God.

“Okay, babe,” she agreed, and I gave her my biggest smile.

Okay then, now I started to fight. Fight for my fucking life. A life with Mia and our kid.