“You’ve had one hell of a day, angel. You sleep until your body says it’s time to get up. There’s nothing going on that can’t wait a little while.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “We can talk about whatever you want later.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
He hugged me tighter. “For what?”
“Taking care of me.”
Sleep pulled me under. My dreams were full of monsters, dragons, and knights in shining armor on motorcycles. When I woke, the bed was empty and the sun was shining brightly. I didn’t know how much time had passed, or where Outlaw had gone. But I did know one thing… my subconscious had tried to tell me that Outlaw was my hero, and I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to listen to that little voice.
It had made me run when Garrison West was pushing to marry me, and from what Outlaw had said, it was a good thing I’d left. If an upstanding member of the community, someone who was a church deacon, wasn’t who he seemed to be, then maybe a biker really was the good guy in this scenario. One thing was for certain. I had to trust someone, and my gut was telling me to trust Outlaw.
I got out of bed and went to find him. Seeing another woman in his arms made my stomach drop. The way she clung to him, the look on her face… My throat tightened and I took a step back, but movement caught my attention on the other side of the room. An imposing man with red hair and a beard stood watching me, a boy who looked to be about three or four clutched in his arms. The man’s gaze pinned me to the spot, then a slight smile curled his lips.
“No worries, little one. That’s my wife. She’s not going to take him from you,” the man said.
I jerked my gaze back over to the couple, to find Outlaw staring at me. He pulled away from the woman and held his hand out to me. Against my better judgment, I went to him, letting him pull me against his side. My brain felt scrambled and I wasn’t sure which way was up.
“Elena, I’d like you to meet Lavender and Wire. They came to help.”
Tears misted the woman’s eyes. “I’m so glad he found you. I’ve been so worried. I thought I’d ruined his life.”
Ruined his life? How would she… and then it all became clear. This was the woman he’d protected. It wasn’t until that moment I noticed the small swell of her stomach. He hadn’t only saved her, but he’d given their child a shot at living. If she’d died, that baby would have never existed. I didn’t know how long ago he’d helped her, but it was possible the little boy wouldn’t have existed either.
I’d never felt prouder of someone than I did in that moment with Outlaw. Because of him, three lives had been saved. That was also the moment I realized all those scars, or at least a lot of them, had come from the beating he’d taken to keep Lavender safe.
I felt like such a bitch for thinking the worst when I’d walked in.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said.
Outlaw gave a soft growl. “Angel, what the fuck are you wearing?”
I glanced down. “The same shirt you gave me last night. It wasn’t like I knew you had company.”
“Go change. Now.” He gave me a nudge toward the door, and I saw Lavender roll her eyes. It seemed like she was used to the caveman behavior and I figured her husband must be the same way.
I gave her a little wave and scurried off. I hoped he didn’t plan on me returning right away because I seriously needed a shower, and I wasn’t going back out there until I’d had one.
Chapter Six
Outlaw
“Stop looking at me like that,” I told Lavender. She was giving me puppy eyes and it was annoying the fuck out of me. “I told you I was fine. I repeatedly have told you that none of it was your fault.”
“Good luck,” Wire muttered. “Been telling her that for four damn years.”
She reached out like she was going to touch me, then thought better of it. Probably a good idea considering how well Elena had handled seeing me with another woman. If she’d have fucked things up, I’d have been pissed. Thankfully, Wire noticed Elena before I had and said something before she could disappear.
“You grew your beard back,” she said.
“Yeah. Took a while for some of the scars to heal, and even now there are spots that don’t grow hair very well. It’s long enough you can’t tell.” I ran my hand over it. “Figured the scars would scare any kids I ran across when I’m in town. They tend to shy away from most of us already. Don’t need to give them nightmares.”
Wire sat, settling his son in his lap, and Lavender took the chair next to him. I leaned against the counter, waiting on Elena to come back. She’d been gone at least twenty minutes and I was starting to think she wasn’t coming back. Atlas banged his hands on the kitchen table and I smiled. The kid was cute, and if he was anything like his parents, he was fucking smart as hell too. I wondered how long before they had him at a computer, or did they already? I really should have kept in touch better, but Lavender’s guilt had weighed on me.
“Is this one a girl or a boy?” I asked, pointing to Lavender’s belly.
“We don’t know yet,” she said. “I’m kind of hoping for a girl, but we have another two months before we find out.”
She looked around the room and I wondered if she was nervous about being here. I’d been surprised as hell when they’d shown up. Should have known that Wizard would run his damn mouth about the shit going on with Elena. Something told me Wire knew more than I did at this point.
“Where are y’all staying?” I asked. “Because I don’t have a guest room set up.”
“Grizzly wasn’t around when we got here, but Slash said he had a room we could use. What’s up with the Pres?” Wire asked.
Shit. I’d forgotten all about that clusterfuck yesterday. I hadn’t gotten so much as a text from Grizzly, or anyone else, about the situation with Lilian and Dragon. If we were down a brother, I’d have surely heard about it, which meant Dragon was still breathing. For now.
“He tore out of here last night saying Dragon knocked up Lilian. That was the last I heard from him.”
Wire whistled. “Damn. I hope that boy can run fast.”
“Boy?” I asked. “You’re in your forties, not pushing sixty. Dragon is maybe a decade younger than you.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t dumb enough to knock up the Pres’s daughter,” Wire said.
“And that would be a good thing,” said Lavender, “since Torch’s oldest daughter is thirteen. The club wouldn’t even bother hiding the body because there wouldn’t be enough of you left to bury.”
Wire made a face. “It was hard enough for me to handle our age difference. That’s just sick.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, man, you brought it up.”
Lavender looked around again. She seemed almost jittery, and I couldn’t figure out why. I was about to ask if she had ants in her pants when Elena came back in, dressed in jeans and a modest teal shirt. Her hair was still wet, but she’d braided it. Before I could say anything, Lavender leaned closer to Elena and whispered something. My woman smiled and nodded for Lavender to follow her.