Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“I told you to stay the fuck in the room,” Elden bit out from across the room. He was charging forward, probably to growl at me some more. But Sariah was closer and more determined.
She pulled me into a tight hug.
“Careful, you’re gonna squeeze the baby out of me,” I joked, happy for her embrace.
I’d missed my friend. I had only been able to send her a quick text last night about the pregnancy to which she’d replied with a bunch of emojis and curse words even I hadn’t heard of.
She had been surprisingly quiet for the rest of the day, which made sense because she had been making the trek here.
She let me go, still keeping hold of my upper arms. Elden was hovering close by. “Chill, dude, she doesn’t swing that way,” she muttered, eyes flitting to him for a moment. “Plus, you’ve already impregnated her, it’s too late for anyone else,” she added with a wink.
Colby, who by the grace of God was the only person in the common area right now, gaped at me.
“You’re really pregnant?” he asked. I hadn’t had a moment alone with him since yesterday.
I tugged on my ear, looking from Sariah to Elden to him. “It seems so.”
I was pretty sure there were rules about when to announce pregnancies, and I knew a lot of women kept it secret until the twelfth week because of all of the risks in the first trimester. But none of that mattered anymore. Now that it had been announced here at the club, I knew it wouldn’t stay secret for long.
“Oh, shit, I didn’t ruin the announcement, did I?” Sariah winced. “What do bikers do to announce pregnancies? Shoot guns in the air?”
I smiled at her. “You have to remember that this is an unplanned pregnancy. I’m not sure the protocol is the same.” Though I didn’t know if you could consider it unplanned when both parties stopped using protection and had crazy amounts of sex.
I was still coming to terms with that I had on some level—on multiple levels—wanted to get pregnant.
“No one knew,” I told Sariah. “Well, except you. And Elden. And now Colby. And my mom.”
Sariah’s eyes bugged out. “How did your mom take it?”
“She was shocked at first,” I sighed. “Mostly because she didn’t even know we were…” I trailed off, looking to Elden.
“Fucking?” Sariah offered.
I swallowed a chuckle. “Yeah, that. But she’s supportive. I don’t think Swiss will take it as calmly, though.”
Nausea coiled through me as I looked to Elden again.
“Parents will be parents,” she shrugged. “Oh, shit, that’s going to be you!” her hands covered her mouth. “You’re going to be a parent in like eight months.”
The nausea increased, making me wonder if I needed to start heading toward the bathroom again . “Don’t remind me,” I groaned, suddenly overcome with worry.
I had been focused on not freaking about the actual pregnancy and not on the fact that it would indeed result in a child in eight months.
I would be a mother in eight months.
“Okay, she looks like she might faint or vomit or something,” Sariah exclaimed, letting go of me. “And, honey, I love you, but this is Valentino,” she gestured to her outfit.
Elden took advantage of Sariah’s retreat to make his approach, putting an arm around me. “You good, baby?” he asked sweetly.
I didn’t get to answer that question because all hell broke loose.
Chapter Nineteen
Elden was no longer in front of me. No longer touching me. When the door crashed open and the angry man barreled through it, Elden created as much distance between me and him as possible. Colby moved quickly too, grabbing onto Sariah’s arm and dragging her out of the line of fire.
A low ringing had erupted in my ears the second the door smashed against the wall, and my stepfather entered the room, gun pointed at Elden.
A gun pointed at him.
My mother had rushed in behind him, grabbing onto me as we both watched in horror.
Hansen and Jagger entered after them, either having come from the garage area or having arrived at the same moment. They’d obviously seen Swiss storming across the parking lot holding a gun and hauling ass.
But when he strode across the living room and held it to Elden’s head, they didn’t do anything.
No one did anything.
I didn’t know what I expected everyone else here to do … something, like, I don’t know, tackle Swiss. Everyone just watched.
“I should blow your brains out right here, right now.” Swiss sounded nothing like the stepfather I had come to know and love.
My stomach dropped at the sincerity in Swiss’s tone. The lack of humanity.
Elden didn’t say anything. Didn’t do anything. I knew he had a gun because he had just been holding it to protect me from unknown intruders only a few minutes ago.