"Not at all. She took a good, long nap."
I laughed, looking toward the door when it opened. Sax walked inside, his eyes zeroing in on me and Ava. His sharp gaze moved over her as if he were searching for something. A resemblance, maybe? Everyone knew that he didn't want kids, but he'd never said that he didn't like them. Sadness sent a pang to my heart, and I wondered if anything would change if she turned out to be his.
Then I remembered my horrible betrayal and how I'd come to have her in the first place.
Still, even if I could have, I wouldn't undo what I’d done now that I had Ava. She brought so much happiness to my life, and since I planned on having more children, Sax and I could never be together.
He continued to walk through the room as if we weren't there. "Do you know what's going on?" I asked Lulu. Sometimes the club girls heard things when they were mingling with the men.
She nodded and looked around before speaking to make sure that she wouldn’t be overheard. "Some of the businesses were hit the other night, all at the same time."
God, I prayed that no one had been hurt. I wondered if Grinders had been one of the properties hit, but I hadn't heard from Samson. It didn't matter now, because we were all on lockdown and I wasn’t going anywhere.
"Now the men are all hyped-up for war. You can practically smell the bloodlust in the air."
Well, that was certainly descriptive. I smiled. "Bloodlust?"
She shrugged with a giggle. "You know these men. They like a good fight. Apparently one of the MCs they had trouble with in the past has shown back up."
I didn't need to ask Lulu how she knew so much. The men loved her, and more than that they trusted her. She was easy to talk to and good at listening, I'd heard Bull say once. She was more than just a club girl to them, she'd become a friend, too. I often wondered what had pushed her to become an outlet for the men to appease their sexual drives, but she seemed to like sex, too.
Suddenly, several men stormed into the room from the room in which church was held, led by Demon and Sax. Loco, Snake, Chewy, Cole, Colton, and Reid looked like men with a purpose as they made a beeline for the door. Lulu and I exchanged knowing looks, while the kids watching TV remained riveted to the screen. There were other mothers in the room, too, and they looked on with concern.
Movement at the top of the stairs drew my gaze there, and I saw Bobbie leading the way down with Raven, Ellie, and Annie right behind her. Ellie had her daughter, Izzy, in her arms. JoJo trailed leisurely behind, carrying her and Oz's son, Samuel. They were practically running, and I realized that they wanted to catch up to the men. They continued through the room and straight out the door. I couldn't miss the fear and worry in their eyes. JoJo was the only one who stopped when she came to where Lulu and I were standing with the kids.
"Demon just text Bobbie and told her the guys are leaving."
"This is bad, isn't it?" I couldn't help murmur, meeting JoJo's eyes. She nodded, setting Samuel down on the blanket where the toys were. Ava, who was contentedly running her hands through my hair, saw him and indicated that she wanted down, probably because she'd claimed those toys as her own. "Where's Oz?"
She released a breath of relief for the safety of her man, but there was still worry in her eyes. "In the computer room. Demon has him looking for something."
The loud rumble of bikes starting up reverberated throughout the building. A minute later the girls came back inside, some with tears swimming in their eyes. God, this was not good sign. I knew in my heart that they knew what was going on, and glanced out the window as the men rode past.
Raven caught my eye and forced a smile, wiping at her eyes. "I'm just hormonal," she tried to explain away.
She was hormonal, yes, but those tears were caused by worry about Cole, and not by the baby she was carrying. She couldn't disguise the fear reflected in her eyes.
I went to her and wrapped my arms around her. "Honey…"
"I'm okay, really."
I pulled back and met her eyes. "None of us are okay with this," I murmured softly. I pushed thoughts of Sax and any possibility that something bad could happen to him aside.
"They'll be okay," Bobbie insisted, but she didn't sound very convinced of that. "Our men are tough."
Tough, but not invincible, I thought to myself. There was no reason to voice what they all already knew. None of us had been blind to the way the men in the club lived their lives when we’d entered into relationships with them, or that danger always seemed to be present. The Desert Rebels had spent years turning their MC around for the better, but they still walked the fine line between legal and illegal activity. The one percent patch that they all wore was a challenge to other MCs, and sometimes the Desert Rebels were forced to protect their reputation by showing their strength.
Ellie set Izzy down on the floor with Ava and Samuel. Apparently, Samuel felt threatened being sandwiched between two girls and got up and began to wander off. He didn't go far, just to where some of the other mothers were sitting. I guessed that they were the wives of the soldiers, because I didn't recognize them.
"I'm glad the Vegas Watchdogs are in this with them."
Annie's comment piqued my interest. That was news to me, but hearing it made me feel better. I also realized that if the two clubs had joined together, the trouble they were facing must be huge. I tried to push aside the worry over something that I had no control of, but that had never worked in the past, and it wasn't working now. I loved everyone in the club--they were family to me—and I couldn’t stop myself from worrying over their safety.
"Did anyone check to make sure Annabelle is okay?" JoJo inquired, keeping an eye on her son.
Raven spoke up. "I did. She and Danny are at LD's clubhouse."
"Those two lovebirds are joined at the hip," Ellie laughed.
"Well, he does treat her like she walks on water," Annie added.
"Any talk of a wedding?" I asked. It was nice that we'd moved on to talk that was safe and would keep our minds off what might be happening to our men.
"Yeah, but not lately. Demon told them to slow down and for Danny to keep his dick in his pants. That Annabelle better not turn up pregnant." Bobbie made a face and rolled her eyes. "Typical big brother."
We all laughed at that. Annabelle had been through a lot, and I was pleased to see that she was happy and had found someone. Years ago she'd been attacked and left for dead. It had taken months of healing, and more months of therapy, before she’d gradually returned to her old self again. I knew that there were still triggers for her, and nightmares that kept her from forgetting entirely, but she wasn't letting it cripple her or keep her from living.
Danny was a good fit for her. He wasn't a member of the club, but he did jobs for them and he helped his sister, Jolene, run Illuminations, a lighting fixtures business next to the MC's construction office. He’d once been a pool hustler, but he’d gotten himself into big trouble owing the wrong people money, and after the debts had been paid, LD had nipped that behavior in the bud. Jolene had told me all about it. She also credited Danny's change for the better to Annabelle's influence.
I felt a little hand against my lower leg and glanced down to see Ava clinging to my pants. Smiling, I held my hands down to her. "Take mommy's hands, honey." I pulled her to her feet, laughing as her little legs wobbled back and forth. She squealed with joy, staring up at me with drool dribbling down her chin. I let her take a few steps before picking her up. She wouldn't be walking for a while.