“It’s not easy, so don’t expect miracles. This scar, it’s nothing. It wasn’t even one of the bad days.”
She leaned into him, cuddling up in the crook of his arm. No more words. The strong sound of his heart soothed her. The fact he’d opened up at all said a lot. He was trying—for her. Right now, she just wanted him to feel safe sharing, to know she wouldn’t judge him.
It wasn’t until later that night when Brick left with a lot of the boys when someone knocked on her door. Her nerves were already on edge. She hated being without Brick, but mostly she worried if he’d get hurt—or worse.
“Hey.” It was Ally, Lord’s old lady. They’d chatted a few times but hadn’t spent too much alone time with each other.
“Hi.”
“Could I come in for a few minutes?”
Callie shrugged and stepped aside. “Sure.” She’d been warned to behave herself with Ally because she was at the top of the pecking order with the women. Lord wouldn’t tolerate anyone being rude to his woman.
Ally sat on the armchair next to the bed. There wasn’t much room for company in their bedroom. For some reason, the vibe Ally gave off calmed Callie somewhat.
“When I first came here, it wasn’t under ideal circumstances, trust me. It wasn’t even willingly. Everyone hated me. The other women even beat me up pretty bad in the beginning until Lord dealt with them.” She ran a hand through her hair. “What I’m trying to say is that I understand what it feels like to be the new girl. I know some of the club pussy can be a real pain in the ass, but you learn to ignore those ones. If they push you too far, you come to me.”
She smiled. It was nice to know someone else had her back. The entire MC lifestyle was so new to her. “Thank you.”
“I’m serious. It’s nice to have you around here. And I’ve never seen Brick so happy.”
“Really?”
Ally chuckled. “Definitely. Of all the men, I thought he’d be the one to die alone. He tried his best to convince Lord to ditch me, too.”
Callie bit her lower lip.
“But now he’s different. So focused. I swear you’re always on his mind. Lord said he’s pussy whipped. But I know the truth.”
“What’s that?”
“Brick’s fallen in love. Our boys, they’re not like any other. When they fall, they fall hard. No going back. He’ll do anything for you, Callie.”
Just the thought of that filled her with a unique satisfaction and maybe a bit of arousal.
“What if they don’t come home tonight?”
Ally frowned. “Don’t start worrying now or you’ll never make it. They’re always doing something that’s life-threatening, but Lord always comes home. Sometimes I think they’re invincible.” She laughed.
Callie laughed too. She felt so relaxed, her nerves fading away.
“Do you have family outside the club?” Callie asked.
Ally shook her head. “This is my family now. My dysfunctional little family. Now you’re a part of it.” She rubbed her belly. Brick mentioned she was expecting again.
“Are you excited for another baby?”
“Very. Especially Lord. We’re kind of making up for our own shitty childhoods, you know. They call it breaking the cycle, but we’re just giving our kids the lives we should have had.”
Callie imagined having Brick’s kids. They’d be beautiful babies. For the first time in a long time, she was looking forward to the future.
Chapter Eight
“What’s your fucking problem?” Lord asked Brick that night.
“Don’t have one.”
“Could have fooled me. You look like you’ve just found out you’ve got a limp dick.”
“Fuck off.”
He lifted the binoculars to check the activity outside of Skull Nation. He and the rest of the guys had all done a drive by and confirmed for themselves it was up and running again.
Those fuckers. He didn’t know how they did it. Clearly, they had contacts that went a little deeper than the local hardware store.
“I don’t like this,” Brick said.
“Me neither.”
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
They weren’t in any danger, but considering a clubhouse had just been rebuilt, he would have expected a little more celebration going on. There was nothing. He didn’t understand it.
There was no joy. No happiness.
Why?
There wasn’t even a crowd of guys. Just a couple of bikes in the parking lot and a few of the men wearing the leather cut, marking it as theirs.
“Abort,” Lord said.
Brick glanced to the side as he pulled out his cell phone. He dialed each man, giving the alert.
“They know we’re out here,” Lord said.
He hung up on the last call. “The guys are heading back to the clubhouse. What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I want to stay a while, check it out.”
Brick gritted his teeth. Tonight, he was supposed to be taking Callie to the lake, but that was going to have to wait. Work always came first, and he wasn’t about to start changing the rules to suit her needs.