“What the fuck was that about?” I asked.
“She probably has to pee. Again,” Wire said. “I swear when she’s pregnant she goes about every half hour. And when she’s closer to her delivery date, it will seem like she goes closer to every ten minutes.”
“I didn’t need to know that.”
He shrugged a shoulder, then smirked. “You brought it up.”
Fucker. I flipped him off and he only laughed. I’d have worried about corrupting Atlas, but if that kid hung around the Reapers, he’d likely heard and seen far worse.
“Do you want to talk about your situation with or without Elena present?” Wire asked.
“Probably better if I hear it first and then figure out how to break it down for her. She’s led a very sheltered life.”
He nodded. “All right. Anyone else need to know about this?”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. I hadn’t told anyone what was going on, and I knew Griz would be fucking pissed at me. Or rather, he would be if he weren’t worried about his daughter. If there was ever a time to fuck up, this was it. At least the fallout would be minimal. “We’d better tell everyone. They don’t know shit about this yet.”
“When the girls get back in here, I’ll leave Atlas with Lavender and we can head over to the clubhouse. Better text your crew and let them know to get their asses to Church. It would be nice if just once we could find a woman who didn’t have hell riding on her heels. But then, I guess our lives would be too fucking dull,” Wire said.
That was the damn truth. Every single ol’ lady at every single club we called friend or family had arrived with a shit ton of trouble following, except maybe Isabella. Then again, she’d been part of a deal brokered between Torch and her dad, Casper VanHorne. Yep, we definitely didn’t do anything the normal way when it came to our women. Why bother starting now?
I sent a text to Demon, Grizzly, and Slash. I figured they could chew my ass out now, but still get everyone gathered at the clubhouse. Even though Wire hadn’t told me what he’d discovered, I knew it had to be bad if he’d come all this way with his family in tow. Any other time, he’d have just picked up the phone. Of course, there was always the possibility that Lavender had used it as an excuse just to come visit. She might not have been convinced I really had found someone and needed to see for herself.
The only one to respond was Demon. The Pres and VP are dealing with an issue. Church in 10.
I showed Wire the message and he gave a nod, then yelled out for Lavender to hurry the fuck up. If I didn’t know he worshiped the ground she walked on, I’d have thought he was being an asshole to her. Lavender was just as crazy about him, for whatever reason. It was clear the two were meant for each other, both badasses in their own right, but I didn’t know how she put up with him. I had no doubt if they’d have been at home and he’d done that, she likely would have smacked him on the back of the head, but she wouldn’t disrespect him like that in front of others.
They worked together, even if at first glance they seemed like an odd pair. Even pregnant, Lavender was wearing her jeans, mint-colored Converse, and a Dark Crystal shirt. With her plastic-framed glasses perched on her nose, and her hair pulled back in some sort of messy knot, she looked every inch the geek. Wire was just as bad as her, except he kept that side hidden. He looked like any other biker, and I knew he was a force to be reckoned with both behind a keyboard and in person. Anyone who went after his brothers or his family was going to be fucked-up when he was finished.
Elena and Lavender came back into the room and Wire handed Atlas to his wife. I crooked a finger at Elena and she came close enough that I could pull her against me. Reaching up, I smoothed her hair back from her face and gave her a quick kiss.
“I have something to take care of and Wire is going with me. Think you can keep Lavender and Atlas company?”
She tipped her head to the side. “Are you in trouble? Or am I?”
“Wire looked into a few things for me, but we need to discuss it with the club. Not sure how long we’ll be over at the clubhouse, but I’ll send a Prospect this way. He’ll stay outside, but you can let him know if you need anything.”
She ran her fingers over my beard. “I’ll be fine.”
I winked at her, gave her one last kiss, then headed out with Wire on my heels. I stared at the large SUV in my driveway, knowing it had to be Lavender’s because Wire wouldn’t have let her walk from the front of the compound, and realized that Elena’s car wasn’t here and must still be at the clubhouse. I’d have to make sure it was moved at some point, but right now, I kind of liked knowing she didn’t have easy access to make an escape. She seemed content enough to stay where she was, but I hadn’t officially claimed her yet. Until I had, I wasn’t taking any chances.
I led the way to the clubhouse on my bike and parked right out front near the steps. There was a small car toward the end of the building and I knew it had to be Elena’s. I’d never seen it before and she certainly hadn’t walked here. Wire pulled up next to me and we headed inside. One of the newer prospects, Dax, was behind the bar. I motioned him over and he jumped the bar to rush over. Sometimes these guys were more like eager puppies, which amused the shit out of me.
“I need you to go to my house, but stay outside. Wire’s woman and kid are there, and my woman is there too.”
His eyes went wide, but he gave a jerky nod. “I’ll go right now.”
He took off at a run out of the clubhouse and I just shook my head before heading to the back. Almost everyone was already in Church, so I took my usual seat and Wire leaned against the wall. Even though we had guests often enough, there were only enough chairs for the patched members. When we added to our ranks, we’d bring in more seats as needed. While guests were honored in some ways, having a seat at the table during Church was a respect thing. If you weren’t patched in, you weren’t sitting at our table.
Demon banged the gavel on the table and I realized Griz and Slash wouldn’t be joining us, nor would several members it seemed. It seemed Slash was helping track down Lilian. I hoped he’d already gotten everything situated for Wire and Lavender. I didn’t know where they were, and it wasn’t my place to ask. I scanned the room and realized Dragon was one of the guys missing. I hoped Grizzly wasn’t working the poor guy over. There was no fucking way he’d forced himself on Lilian, which meant she had to have consented. I still didn’t see how he’d gotten that damn close to her, but she must have liked him more than the rest of us. The woman still jumped whenever I got too close.
“As you can see, Grizzly, Slash, and several others aren’t here today,” Demon said. “Dragon got Lilian pregnant, but before Griz could talk to her, she packed her shit and left.”
Whoa. I hadn’t seen that one coming. No wonder we were a little light on brothers today. I’d be willing to bet the Pres had them all out searching for his daughter. This was seriously fucked-up.
“So that’s who she was waiting for,” Dingo said.
“What?” Demon narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck do you know about it?”
Dingo lifted a hand to calm the Sergeant-at-Arms. “Nothing really. One of the nights I was at the clubhouse I saw her lurking in the shadows outside. Told her to get home, but she said she was waiting for someone. She mentioned Dragon, but said she just needed some advice. Didn’t think it was my place to do anything more than warn her away from the clubhouse, and it seemed harmless enough.”