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“I love it when you get all bloodthirsty.”
“Then you’re gonna love the fuck outta me, because if I could do it myself, I would in a heartbeat. I know I don’t have what it takes, but I absolutely will not mourn him.”
“Well,” Sting said as he stood. “That settles that. Brick, you and Roman get a plan together. Rage, I know this is your brother, but I won’t have you involved in this. We stay under the radar like we have for the better part of a century. Once this is done, you and her got some things to settle. Just make sure she knows the score.”
“Will do, Prez.”
Sting nodded his head. “Then Church is adjourned. We’ll meet back in twenty-four hours.”
Chapter Six
Rage
“NO! No, Rage. You are not getting our daughter her own Harley for her adoption present. A puppy? Sure. A diamond tiara? No problem. But she absolutely cannot have a motorcycle.” Then Pepper paused her tirade and tilted her head as if a thought had occurred to her. “Unless it’s pink.” She nodded her head slowly, and a grin spread over her face. “You can get her a pink Harley. With rhinestones.”
“No pink Harley, Rage,” Atlas said as he walked by. He didn’t stop, didn’t pause, didn’t look at us. Just made the decree and kept walking. “Definitely no fucking rhinestones.”
“I’ll get Cassandra and your daughter matching pink Harleys,” I called to Atlas with a grin. “They’ll be ‘besties’ and ride everywhere together.” I made air quotes around the word besties. One thing I’d noticed over the last week was how much I was relaxing into this role of protector and father. We hadn’t left the compound, but I don’t think Pepper had missed it. There was too much to do, and she was throwing herself into it with gusto. Sting had given us a house in the middle of the small neighborhood we’d begun building several months back when my brothers had started adding old ladies to our midst. For such a rough-and-tumble bunch, the mated men had taken to family life better than I’d thought possible. Apparently, I was no exception.
Atlas stopped and turned around. He looked like he was ready to do murder. He pointed his finger at me, and I was prepared for the explosion about the pink Harley. Not that I blamed the man. I’d had a visceral reaction to those two words being strung together too. Don’t even get me started about the fucking rhinestones.
“We’re not having a girl.” Atlas looked furious, as if the very thought was enough to push him over the edge.
“We could be having a girl,” Bellarose, Atlas’s woman, said brightly as she emerged from the clubhouse and moved into her husband’s arms. “Too soon for an ultrasound yet, but I’m betting on a girl.”
“We talked about this, Rose. I forbid you to be pregnant with a girl.” Atlas put his hands on his hips threateningly.
“And I told you my dad has specifically requested a girl. And you know how much I love my daddy.” Rose didn’t look one bit intimidated.
Pepper giggled before ducking her head and turning into my chest, shaking with humor.
“I don’t see anything so Goddamned funny.” Atlas looked disgruntled and scary, but Pepper didn’t apologize and continued to giggle. It warmed my heart that she knew she was safe, even when my brothers tried to act gruff and dangerous.
Rose rose on her tiptoes and kissed his chin. “The funny part will be watching you and every other man in this place treat our daughter the way you’ve been treating Cassandra. The baby talk is a riot.” She turned to Pepper. “Don’t forget it’s my turn to babysit this afternoon. I hear you and Rage have an appointment.” Rose’s grin was huge and mischievous.
Pepper looked up at me with a smile, but a confused look on her face. “We do?”
“Remember when we talked about you being my old lady and what all it entailed?”
“You mean how it was for life, and I’d have to get a tattoo?” Her smile never faltered, and she didn’t look like she was actually unhappy about it when I kind of thought it was a little barbaric. I’d never really thought about it before. Not until I was faced with having my own woman inked.
“You’re good with the tattoo?”
“I kinda always wanted one but was too scared to do it on my own. And they’re a tad pricey. Though I worked until I had Cassie, I always thought it was a luxury I couldn’t really afford.”
“We’ll work with Ace on a design for you. You get Property of Rage automatically, but he’ll help you find your own signature image for the rest of the ink. He’ll also come up with a tatt for my ring finger so everyone knows you’re mine as well.”
