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CHAPTER ONE
Ingrid
I never thought my life would turn out this way.
If someone told me I would marry a single father of twin boys, who also happens to be the president of an outlaw motorcycle club, I would have told them they were out of their freaking mind, especially considering I have two of my own children.
A blended family was never something I thought would be on the cards for me, particularly after my last husband, Harry, left the way he did. The damn bastard had another family on the side I knew nothing about, and to make matters worse, he left us for them.
My daughter, Novah, was devastated.
My son, Nash, wanted to prove he was worthy of Harry’s love.
Me?The second Harry walked out that front door, my love went with him.
But so did—as far as I was concerned—any hope of finding another love.
When Remy walked into my life—this tough, burly biker who was the complete opposite of Harry—I hadnoidea what I was in for, and I had no clue I would be swept into the club lifestyle. I had never stepped foot on the wrong side of the law, but finding the thrill of being Remy’s Old Lady, or Reaper as the club calls him, is something else.
And I never knew finding love again in my early forties could be so… intoxicating.
Even if I am still new to all this.
Reaper is the president of the NOLA Defiance MC, and while his twenty-one-year-old twins, Lynx and Blaise, are back at the clubhouse, we couldn’t leave my children in New Orleans to fend for themselves. Nash, maybe, but Novah is still a little too young. That sweet sixteen naivety can get her into trouble. Though I must admit, her stepbrothers have stepped up and taken care of her. Blaise, in particular, has made sure none of the brothers at the club go anywhere near her in an inappropriate way. I feel more than assured that Novah is safe.
But as I sit back, drinking my gin and trying to keep an eye on Novah and Nash as they walk around the foreign clubhouse in Los Angeles, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. I’m fairly new to all this, and coming to a brother chapter and sitting at their bar while waiting as the presidents talk business is, I guess, something I’m going to have to get used to.
Letting out a soft sigh, I sip at my drink again, and a soft chuckle comes from behind the bar. “It gets easier,” a soft voice chimes.
I turn my head to the woman with kind eyes, who must be in her mid-to-late thirties. “What do you mean?” I ask curiously.
She tilts her head toward Reaper and the LA President. “The sitting back and waiting. Honestly, if you learn to have a good time yourself and not worry about what the men are doing, you’ll get through this a lot smoother, honey.”
Pursing my lips, I inhale, thinking about her words. “So don’t try to figure them out and don’t wait up, is what you’re saying?”
She reaches out, placing her tender hand on mine. “They love with everything they have. Don’t get me wrong, Reaper will give you absolutely everything, even his life, if it comes down to it. But, baby girl, don’t give yourself a heart attack waiting by the door when they ride out or waiting for information when they’re in Church because you’re going to end up stressed the fuck out. You gotta take it as it comes. It’s part of being a First Lady, and if you can’t handle the heat that title brings, baby, then you gotta bail right now before this world eats you up.”
I throw back the remainder of my gin and slide the glass across the bar, spinning my back to Reaper, blocking him from my view. “What’s your name?” I ask the woman.
“Ellie, and for the record… I think you’re gonna do just fine, Ingrid.” She slides another drink my way, and I smirk, taking it from her.
“Thanks, Ellie… how long you been at the club?”
Ellie wipes down a glass, tilting her head. “How long’s a piece of string?” She chuckles, glancing up at an old photograph behind the bar of past brothers. “My father was a brother. So was my uncle. My mother, an Old Lady…” She smiles, and the memories seem to touch her eyes. “So this club is in my veins. I don’t think I have evernotbeen here.”
A sense of pride washes over me as I stare at the picture, such a long history that I’m now a part of. Even though Ellie is LA Defiance, and I’m NOLA, we still share that uniting bond that is unique to us all. I can’t help but be caught up in all that. “I hope I’m in Defiance for as long as you’ve been.”
Ellie chuckles. “Oh, baby girl, you will be. I see that sparkle in your eyes. You belong in this club. Defiance has a chokehold on you too. And we all like being choked every now and then, am I right?”
My eyes widen as I let out a laugh. “You’re a lotta fun, Ellie.”
She smirks, tilting her chin up. “I think your old man is done with our pres.”
I turn to see Reaper backslapping the LA president as he reaches out, wrapping his arm around Nash and Novah on his way toward me. I spin back, grab my glass, throw back the rest of the gin quickly, then tap the bar. “Thanks for the pep talk, Ellie. I’ll see ya ’round.”
“Have a safe flight back to New Orleans.” With the cloth still in her hand, she waves as I stand and meet my family on the way out of the clubhouse.
Reaper smiles in that boyish way he does. “Catchin’ up with Ellie, she tell you bullshit stories about me?” Reaper asks as he ushers us all to the rental car.
