“I should go.” He stroked her hair. The adoration in his eyes was impossible to dismiss. He was being genuine. She wondered if he’d ever tell her he loved her and mean it. Ally would take what she could get, and being named his old lady said a lot.
“You only just got here.”
“You think I want Rancher knowing I was here? He’ll never let me forget it. I have a reputation to upkeep.” He winked at her.
“Lord, you better come back to us or I’ll kill you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He began walking backward. She admired his muscular frame, wanting to keep him in her bed for a week straight. Not wanting him to leave and risk his life.
She knew bits and pieces of his past, his childhood, and all the scars. He deserved a happily ever after, even if it was an unorthodox one. If he died in a club war, who would remember him? Maybe only her.
Not even their child would know who he was. Only what she told him. Or her.
Every cell in her body fired off to spill the truth, but she resisted the instinct to run after him. Ally was pregnant. She’d found out late last night. There were several unused pregnancy tests in the bathroom cupboard. With their love of kids, she wouldn’t be surprised if Betty and Rancher were actively trying for another one.
Ally couldn’t burden Lord with this revelation before he rode out. He needed a clear and level head in order to stay safe and come back to her. And she wouldn’t use the baby to blackmail him into staying behind tonight.
When she told him about the baby, it would be once they were together, their world not in chaos.
“I’ll be back soon,” he said before hopping over the fence. “Behave yourself.”
She nodded.
As soon as the bike engine fired to life, her emotions bubbled up. She put on a happy face, fighting away the tears. The sound meant he was leaving. She already knew the loneliness and dread she’d feel once he was too far for her to hear that roar.
No matter how great Rancher and Betty treated her, this was their home, their life. She felt like an outsider because she was. What she needed was the club, which was the last thing she’d expect to want in her life.
“Please come back to us,” she whispered to herself.
Ally held her stomach, not knowing if she could face a pregnancy alone. She didn’t want to be a single mother. If Lord died, she doubted his men would respect his wishes to look out for her. She’d be on her own.
He rode off alone and her tears began to flow.
Part of her knew it would be the last time she ever saw him again.
Chapter Eleven
The motel where the Skull Nation VP was hanging out was a pile of crap. Lord looked at the place and truly believed it was crawling with termites or some shit. He’d seen four rats as they scurried across the street, clearly not caring if they were seen or not. He hated vermin so much.
His boys stood at his back, ready to do whatever he asked.
They’d left their bikes a few miles down the road.
“Holy shit, I didn’t think I had standards,” Brick said.
“Me too, but I wouldn’t stay in this shit hole.”
“Anyone think the VP is getting desperate?” Reaper asked.
Tarmac let out a shudder. “Guys, we’ve got to go in that place.”
“You think there’s more than one of the assholes in there?” Brick asked.
“No, I guessing the VP is in there alone. They’ve spread out, trying to gain ground by splitting down their group.” It was a trick Lord had done a few times but he’d learned fast from his mistake. What the Skull Nation had done had split them down too far and too wide.
There was no sense in splitting up to only a singular person. All it did was make it a lot easier for enemies to take you out one by one.
He hadn’t lost men for the decision to split like that up, but it had been close. They’d been hurt badly and had taken months to recover. This was years ago. Now he knew there was safety in numbers. Like now.
“I don’t like this,” Brick said.
Rather than roll out the entire club, Lord had kept a selection of men back at the clubhouse, while he’d taken the other few to the motel. This way, if the Skull Nation MC planned to take over his clubhouse, they were in for a rude awakening. There were two prospects on the lookout while the others were loaded up, ready to take them on. No one would get through his walls.
His club was sticking together. They had their weapons at the ready and he was done waiting around, staring at a parking lot with a couple of cars spread out here or there.
He stepped forward, pulling his gun out of his back waistband. As he advanced toward the enemy, his thoughts returned to Ally. Brick had caught him returning. Neither of them had spoken, but his VP knew where he’d been.
Ally was the woman he didn’t want to give up.
He loved her. He couldn’t deny it.
She’d started out as a plaything, and he’d been addicted to her virginity, but it had soon advanced from there.
He wanted to keep her. There was no way he could be without her.
With his men at his back, he took the stairs leading him to the third floor. He slowed down so as not to alert the VP they were coming.
Once he stood in front of the door, Brick took the left, Reaper took the right. The rest of the men were tense and ready.
One.
Two.
Three.
He slammed his booted foot against the door and it flew open, crashing back as a woman screamed. Storming into the room, he caught sight of the naked woman scrambling to get off the man.
Her fake tits barely moved and the man himself was none other than the VP, who reached for his gun next to the pillow.
Lord fired and the man screamed as the bullet went straight through his hand.
The woman quickly wrapped a blanket around her. Her entire body was shaking. He caught sight of her clothes, and he grabbed them, throwing them at her.
“Get out,” Lord said.
The woman rushed toward him, taking her stuff, and then glanced back, biting her lip.
Lord pressed his gun to her head. “Do you want me to kill you?”
“He hasn’t paid me. Please, I don’t want to die. I’ve got children to support.”
Lord saw the man’s wallet, went to it, took out all the cash, and handed it to her.
She scampered out of the way.
He heard the unmistakable sound of one of his men slapping her ass as she left, along with her answer to call her.
This was why he didn’t think he’d ever be able to love a woman. But Ally was nothing like them. She’d entered his world and completely obliterated his idea of what he thought a woman should be like.
The VP sat on the bed and laughed. “You found me.” Perspiration dotted his brow.
Lord stared at him, not impressed by what he saw.
All he could think about was killing him. It would be easy. A single bullet to the head. It was what he knew. Between the cold, clean kill and the way the Skull Nation had pissed him off, he was ready to take them out, one by fucking one. He’d be happy to allow the streets to run red with blood. Relished the idea in fact.
Causing death didn’t upset him. He reveled in it.
Counting in his mind, he stared at the heavily inked man. The Skull Nation was a fucking menace. A disease. Toxic. No one would miss them from this world.