“Our situation is different,” Reese said softly.
“Not thinkin’ it is,” Deacon answered her in a murmur while staring at Rev.
Rev faced his club brother and confirmed, “It ain’t.”
“Damn,” Deacon murmured. “Hear that, baby? He’s not tappin’ her ass because she’s available, he’s—”
“Yeah,” Rev just about shouted to shut Deke up.
Everyone stared at him and no one blinked.
Fuck.
Reilly suddenly snapped back into motion. Thank fuck. “Reese, I want what you and Deacon have. Let me have that.”
Reese was still staring at him, which made it worse when she asked, “With Rev?”
Why did she sound surprised? Did she believe he wasn’t good enough for her sister?
“I…” Reilly made a noise of frustration in her throat. “Does it matter with who?”
“Yeah, it does,” Rev answered Reilly’s question. “‘Cause you’re mine, so it really does fuckin’ matter.”
Reese turned wide green eyes to Rev. “This isn’t just a… a hookup?”
“Even if it is, stop trying to control my life. If I want to bang every Fury member, a different one every night, then I should be allowed to do so.”
“Yeah, that ain’t happenin’,” Rev growled.
Deacon snorted.
“You know what I mean.” She turned back to Reese. “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me. All of the sacrifices you’ve made. But let… me… go. Be my sister and not my mother. Be happy for me when I’m happy. Be there to hold me when I’m not. And I’ll do the same for you. But let me have this and stop smothering me.”
“Reilly,” Reese started.
Reilly interrupted her with, “Trip said he was leaving it up to you.”
“Fuck that,” Rev muttered. It was time for him to take control of the situation. He’d heard more than enough. This was his life. Reilly’s life. Their potential life together. “You ain’t askin’ your sister’s permission for shit. You don’t have to. You ain’t a child. I appreciate everythin’ you did for Reilly, too, Reese, but you ain’t her mother and even if you were, I’d be sayin’ the same shit right now. She’s my woman, I’m takin’ care of this and nobody got shit to say about it.”
“Oh, somebody’s gonna have shit to say about it,” Deacon warned. “You forgettin’ about the exec committee?”
“No. And that’s how I’m gonna handle it.”
Deacon whistled softly. “Yeah, you got it bad. Enough to stand in front of that table and admit you broke a club rule.”
“If that’s what I gotta do, that’s what I’m gonna do. Don’t need your ol’ lady’s permission to claim mine. Just need the exec committee’s permission for that.”
When he was done speaking, the apartment was completely silent. He took one breath, then a second and turned to Reese, expecting to see her fuming.
Her expression was actually surprisingly soft and her eyes oddly glistened. Was she going cry?
What the hell was wrong with her?
He frowned. “You okay?”
“Pregnancy hormones,” Deacon said as if that explained everything.
Reese was knocked up? Should he congratulate her? He wasn’t sure what to fucking do when it came to Deacon’s ol’ lady. She wasn’t like the rest of them.
Rev glanced back at Deacon for help. He only shrugged.
Reese wiped at her eyes. “Answer me one thing, Rev.”
He hoped he didn’t regret this… “Anything.”
“Do you love her? I’m assuming you do since you’re willing to do what you plan to do. We know what happened to Cage and I assume that bullshit will happen to you, too. You sound willing to go through that to have my sister. So, tell me, do you love her?”
Of fucking course Reese asked the one thing he wasn’t willing to tell her. No fucking way. Not when the only time he’d told Reilly was when he was blitzed.
“Ain’t tellin’ you that,” he answered Reese and moved to Reilly until their bare toes met. He cupped her face and tipped it up to him.
She was wearing his shirt and soon she’d be wearing his cut. Even if he had to take a beating to give it to her. “But I will tell her.” He put his mouth to her ear and whispered, “How soon can we get them the fuck outta your place? This way I can show you how much I love you instead of only sayin’ the words.” He pulled back and she blinked her big green eyes up at him.
A huge smile crept over her face. Without breaking their eye contact, Reilly said, “He loves me, sis. Just as much as I do him.”
Reilly’s heart pumped a mile a minute, so much so, she could hardly hear through the wood door at the top of the rough-cut steps. She sat at the top, her ear to the door and tried to hold her breath so she could hear more clearly.
Tonight was the monthly meeting of the exec committee. Deacon and Reese had agreed to keep their mouths shut and let Rev handle informing the club’s officers of breaking one of their rules.
What Rev was now calling “The Big Sin.”
He’d been punished by his father in the past what his parents considered sins, even minor ones, and he said he was used to paying for them with physical pain. He was willing to stand and accept whatever punishment the officers decided to dole out.
But what he wouldn’t accept was them not allowing Rev to claim her and make Reilly his ol’ lady.
However, the committee hadn’t expected Rev to burst into the room shortly after they all settled in their seats.
Rev didn’t even know Reilly was there. She had shown up as support and was going to wait downstairs until he was done, but her nosiness got the better of her. She quietly climbed the steps to the second floor in the barn so she could eavesdrop.
She told herself she had every right to do so since what would be discussed involved her and also her future ol’ man.
Ol’ man.
That meant she’d be limited to riding on the back of Rev’s sled from then on out. Not a sacrifice on her part at all.
That was if Rev survived and got to keep his colors.
Out of the risks involved—a blanket party, getting his colors stripped or losing Reilly—he told her that losing her would be the hardest to deal with. But he was determined to keep her, keep his colors and hope Judge didn’t strike too hard when he used “The Punisher,” the nickname for the wood club that hung downstairs in The Barn as a visual reminder.
Reilly heard a murmur of male voices through the door but couldn’t make out what they were saying until she heard Rev speak up.
“Came here ‘cause I got somethin’ to say. Somethin’ to confess.”
“This might be a fuckin’ church but it ain’t that kind of church,” Trip said. “You also didn’t approach any of us and ask to be heard, did you?”
“No. But it couldn’t wait any longer.”
“Must be important.” Judge’s deep voice was easy to decipher.
“Really fuckin’ important,” Rev confirmed.
“We givin’ this asshole the floor?” Trip asked.