Sig needed to not only get his brothers at the table on board, but the rest of the brothers in the MC, too.
He needed everyone to do their part in protecting her. And they needed to do it like she was club property. For at least as long as she was living in his place. Until that kid was born and safe from the clan.
After that?
Hell, he had no fucking clue.
Sig sat out on the landing in a folding chair, his bare feet up on the metal railing, and an open beer on the floor next to him. He’d set up two chairs out there so Red could get some fresh air and sunshine when he wasn’t out there smoking.
He didn’t want to smoke anywhere near her, since seven days after finding her running through the woods, she was already starting to look better and not as much like a haunted skeleton. Her skin wasn’t so translucent, her hazel eyes more focused, her speech a lot clearer, and her cheeks no longer hollow.
They shouldn’t be. She was eating more often and now finishing every meal he put in front of her. She was even starting to putt around the kitchenette a little, sometimes making herself a snack. Once even making him a big pot of spaghetti.
She had eaten more of it than he had and was turning into a bottomless pit.
And he knew why.
The kid inside her was becoming a lot healthier, too. Her belly had popped out almost overnight and seemed almost twice as big as when he first found her. Though, she never talked about it. Never touched it when he saw it moving, even through the maternity tops Stella had picked up for her. He’d been tempted to reach out and feel a kick or two himself. But he didn’t.
She didn’t want to think about what was growing inside her. She still called it a seed and never called it a baby.
Not once.
Sleeping on the couch this last week really fucking sucked. His back was killing him, his neck was stiff and his ribs slow to heal.
It wasn’t just Red holding him back from going on the club run that afternoon, it was the thought of hitting all those bumps in the road. He needed to finish up healing so he could get back to normal.
He lifted the joint pinched between his thumb and middle finger to his lips, took a long drag, tipped his head back as he held the smoke deep in his lungs and he stared up at the clear blue early October sky. Perfect fucking Fall day for a run, too. Not nut freezing cold or ball sweating hot.
He blew a long stream of smoke up toward the clouds.
Fuck.
He could use that run.
He was as tense as a motherfucker and a long ride might help. He’d been smoking weed every fucking day in a desperate attempt to keep his temper in check. But he was still on edge.
A very sharp one.
Most of it was due to him trying to talk to Red about her family. About her home. About her fucking life.
About anything which would give him some clues about her. About what happened to her.
She gave him dick.
She’d sleep, eat, watch TV, and clean. His apartment hadn’t looked this fucking spanking clean since the day he’d moved in. He didn’t ask her, she just did it. Stella said it was good for her since it kept her moving. Kept her mind busy.
It was good for him, too, since his place had been a shit pit.
Sometimes her eyes were glazed over like a fucking zombie and sometimes she was more coherent. Like when Red watched the news. She’d ask him about current events. Shit she’d probably missed in the months she was up on the fucking mountain.
But Sig couldn’t give a flying fuck about current events. He wanted to know what happened to her.
Stella would take her on walks around the property and on those outings she’d also try to get Red talking. Trip’s ol’ lady failed every damn time. Red was more interested in learning about the town, about Stella and Trip and about the club.
She asked Stella a lot of questions.
Even about Sig.
He gave Stella permission to answer any questions about him honestly. He didn’t give a fuck and Stella didn’t know everything about him, anyway. What she did know, everybody else did, too. Including Trip. So, it wasn’t like Red would hear any of his deepest, darkest secrets.
If he wanted her to know those, he’d tell her himself.
Sig made sure they were never out there walking alone. Someone was always following. Usually one of the prospects.
Just in case.
Trip had been handling all the repo jobs for the past week, but he was bitching about it. So, Sig had no choice but to get back to it. He’d just need someone to stay with Red while he was gone. Someone other than only Stella.