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“I don’t know!” I roared, jumping to my feet, slamming my fist against the brick wall. Leaning my head against the hard wall, I tried to quell the raging beat of my heart.
I knew I fucked up.
I just needed to fix it.
“You can’t be that stupid.”
Rounding on my brother, I glared at him. “Really? You want to kick me while I’m down?”
“Just trying to make you see what’s in front of your face. Look around you, King. You want to show her you give a damn, that you love her and that she means everything to you. Start here, brother. Her apartment. She made roots here. We know she will be back. Her shop is downstairs. She has clients scheduled for months in advance. You said you wanted to give her time, well she wants time now. Give it to her. Jamison is at the clubhouse. She won’t leave without him.”
“She might be pregnant, Scribe.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
“Happy, scared, excited. Never thought I’d be a dad.”
“Then this is the perfect time to show her how sorry you really are.”
“Havoc is still out there. She is still in danger.”
“I still have her tagged. I know exactly where she is.”
“Where?”
Scribe shook his head. “She asked me not to tell you.”
“Is she safe?”
“Yes, and that’s all I’m telling you. You may be my President and friend, but Bailey is my best friend. I fucked her over once when I let her believe I was something I wasn’t. I won’t do that again, not even for you. I will keep tabs on her. In the meantime, you need to make a statement, and this apartment is the perfect place to start.”
Knowing that Scribe was right, I got to work.
The apartment was coming along, and though I still hadn’t talked with Bailey, I saw her many times with clients as she continued to run her business. And when her day was done, she would lock the shop up and leave. Where too, I had no clue, and Scribe still refused to let me know where she was laying her head at night. Bastard even changed his security login’s so I couldn’t look for myself. I hated not knowing where she was at night, but I understood she needed time.
I fucked up. Got it. Bailey was her own woman, capable of making her own decisions. She was smart, calculated, and strong enough to handle any situation, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to protect her. I didn’t give a damn if she could take down the whole Russian army with that snarky mouth of hers. She was my woman and now she was possibly carrying my kid.
A fucking baby. That revelation still had my head trippin’. Was I going to be a father or not? At forty-two, I never saw myself having kids. Never really wanted them, but knowing that Bailey could be pregnant with my kid in her belly gave me feelings I didn’t know I had. Those feelings rushed to the surface and gave me a permanent smile plastered on my face.
“Fuck Priest, he’s got that look again,” Gunner smirked, shaking his head.
“He has gas.”
Flipping my brothers the one finger bird, I stood and looked around her studio apartment. Priest was working on the finishing touches in the kitchen while Gunner and I were installing the new light fixtures. The place looked nothing like before. I took the time to research the original floor plan of the building and decided that instead of ripping everything up and going all modern, the place just needed some tender loving care. It took some doing, but the boys and I stripped and refinished the original hardwood floors and updated all the plumbing and wiring. I replaced all the windows in the apartment and even bought a brand-new front door. With a clean blank slate, we got to work ensuring Bailey had all the amenities, building her a functioning bathroom with a cast iron claw-foot tub, a small vanity and a new toilet. Now, instead of going downstairs to shower, my woman could soak in a beautiful new tub. The kitchen, while simple, still had everything she could need, even a small island with granite countertops.
“When does the furniture arrive?” Gunner asked, flipping the light switch a few times to ensure the new lights worked properly.
“In about an hour. Scribe, Frank and Pyro are picking it all up now. Jessica went with them to make sure they didn’t destroy anything before it gets here. Who’s with Jamie, today?”
“He’s working his shift at the coffee shop. Don’t worry, Mike and Savannah are there too,” Priest said.
With Bailey gone, Beth eventually calmed down and came to talk to me about having Jamie work for her a few hours a day at the coffee shop. The young man overheard and begged to work there. It took a few days for him to understand and get the hang of everything, but the kid was persistent, just like his cousin. Savannah refused to leave Jamie’s sight, stating that her primary concern was for Jamie and until the threat to Bailey was gone, she wasn’t leaving.
Jamie took to the club life right away. Enamored with all the bikes, he would spend most of his time asking anyone who would talk to him about the bikes and how they worked. In the end, Frank took him under his wing, and the two of them were working on a special project of their own in one of the garage bays.
By the end of the day, I looked around the apartment and smiled.
It was done.
