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“Aww, don’t be a sore loser, Jig,” Mav called as Jig headed off to Copper’s office, walking like a man going to his doom. Copper in a good mood proved a formidable man. Copper in a bad mood…Mav shuddered.
No thanks.
Jig gave the door a light knock. “The fuck you want?” Copper bellowed.
Without turning around, Jig held his middle finger up to the three of them left laughing their asses off at the bar.
What could Mav say? He was getting married, and it was his favorite time of year. Fate was on his side.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
COPPER
A baby.
A fucking baby.
The words replayed again and again in his head as though on a repeat loop. Shell was having a baby.
His baby.
My baby.
Nothing else penetrated his mind but those words. Not the freezing air as he’d ridden his bike in the thirty-seven-degree weather. Not the business with the Chrome Disciples. Not the burn of the Scotch he’d pulled from his desk drawer. Not the look of complete devastation on Shell’s face as he lost his shit and screamed at her.
Nothing but the baby made it through his skull and into his neurons.
A sharp rap on the door jerked his attention away from the nothing he’d been staring at. “The fuck you want?” he yelled.
A second later, Jigsaw appeared in his line of sight, dropping in the chair directly across from Copper’s desk.
“Thought you might need this,” Jig said, setting a bottle of Scotch on the desk. “But I forgot you keep a stash of the good shit in here so you don’t have to share it. Selfish bastard. Guess you don’t want this piss.” He shoved the bottle to the side.
With a grunt, Copper pulled two glasses out of the same drawer he’d unearthed the Scotch. After pouring himself three times as much as he’d usually drink, he held the bottle over the other glass and cocked his head at Jig.
“None for me, brother,” Jig said a with wave of his hand. “Izzy can go at any second. You know what that woman will do to me if I show up tanked?”
Fuck, he was really off his game if he’d completely forgotten Jig’s kid was past due to be born. “Shit, wasn’t thinking. Sorry.”
With a shrug, Jig leaned back in the chair and propped his ankle on his opposite leg. “Ain’t a thing. You and Shell get into it?”
Copper leaned back and swallowed half the liquid in one healthy gulp. Finally, the burn registered, waking some of the nerves that had gone into shock at Shell’s announcement. “Something like that,” he said. One more swallow polished off the drink, then he poured more. Just as much as the first time.
From across the desk, Jig stared at him with a raised eyebrow. “You crashing here tonight?”
“Planning on it.”
Jig nodded, then he smirked. “You musta fucked up good. Didn’t think Shell was the type to kick your big ass out. And so close to Christmas.” He chuckled.
“Didn’t. I left.”
The grin slid off Jig’s face. “You left?” He dropped his leg, straightening in the chair.
He took another drink. “Yep. Shell’s pregnant.”
Jig’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “Wha—uh, let me get this straight. You’re saying Shell told you she was pregnant, so you left her?”
For the first time since walking out of the house, unease replaced anger as his primary feeling. “You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.”
“I know your woman is one of the best I’ve ever met.”
Copper narrowed his eyes, causing Jig to laugh and raise his hands in surrender.
“That look doesn’t scare me, prez. I also know your woman loves you more than you fucking deserve.”
That drew a snort out of Copper. Who could argue with that statement?
“Know she’s a phenomenal mother. She and Iz are tight. Even tighter since I knocked Izzy up. Shell’s the only one of Iz’s friends with a kid. She’s been a lifesaver for Izzy through the pregnancy and planning. Iz told me how much Shell wants another kid.”
Christ, he’d failed his ol’ lady. First, telling her he didn’t want kids, then flipping his shit. Even knowing how royally he fucked up, it didn’t change his feelings on the matter. Having another child scared him to death. “You looking to have my fist in your face, Jig?”
As he lowered his hands, Jig shook his head. “No, brother. You’re the one who needs some sense knocked into him. Wanna hear the last thing I know?”
Like he had a choice. “Spit it the fuck out.”
“I know that there ain’t a goddammed thing in this world better than holding your kid for the first time.”
Jig met his gaze, a mixture of sadness and determination in his eyes.
Fuck.
Copper tossed back the last of his second drink, only this time the burn of the alcohol made him want to vomit. If anyone should understand his reservations, it was Jigsaw, whose first wife and child had been brutally murdered. Yet there he was, condemning Copper for his actions.
