“What made you move here?” Jinx asked. Her face shuttered. She hesitated which made me come to attention even more. Something had happened to make her move. Was it a man? Had someone done something to her? If one had, I’d find him and put his ass in the ground.
“I just got tired of the city. I saw an advertisement for an ER physician here and I applied.” I knew she wasn’t telling us the whole truth. I’d file that away, and we’d be talking about this again later, after she knew she could trust me.
“Well, we’re lucky as hell to get you. She does amazing work,” I told Jinx.
“No doubt. You said you met them when Jessica was hurt. What happened? How did these bastards snag you into their group?” He gestured to me and my brothers.
“I took care of Jessica when she came into the ER a few weeks ago. She and I hit it off. I made sure when she was discharged to come and check on her. It kind of just evolved into including these bastards,” she said with a grin. I growled as I pulled her tight to my side. She gave me a startled look.
“That’s right. No way she was getting away.” I wanted her to know I wasn’t going to back down on my pursuit of her. She’d turned down my first request for a date, but I was going to get one and many more before we were done. Zara Newton was going to be mine. I wanted Jinx and every other man in this place to be in no doubt of my claim. His knowing look and nod let me know he’d gotten the message loud and clear, again.
The rest of our meal was a jumble of loud discussions going on all around the table. We laughed, joked, talked, and ate. The women decided they were going to go shop in Nashville when we got back to the compound. Zara volunteered to stay behind and watch the kids. They had protested, but she insisted. I was happy. That meant she would be there with me. No way was I going with the others on this trip if Zara was going to be at the compound. All too soon, it was time to go back. The lunch rush was close to full swing, and they needed our tables. I helped her out of her chair. We hurried out to the bikes and cars. The trip back was quick, and in no time, we were all situated in the common room.
Besides me, Outlaw, Maverick, Tate, and Jake chose to stay behind to watch the babies. I knew Jocelyn and Devyn were a little worried about leaving us with three babies who were three months or younger. I doubt they would have done it if Zara wasn’t there.
We had to reassure them more than once we’d be fine before we got them out the door. Once they were gone, I sat down with Zara. We had the babies with us in the common room. Tate was at the gate, and I had Maverick, Outlaw, and Jake in here with us. They were having fun just holding Caeden, Corrine, and Hayden.
When it came time for them to eat, I took Hayden and Zara had Corinne. Outlaw and Maverick competed in a round of rock, scissors, and paper to decide who got Caeden. I had to laugh. Anyone watching would never believe tough-ass bikers were fighting over who was going to feed a baby, but that was one of the things that made the Warriors unique and such a tight-knit family.
I watched Zara as she held Corrine. She had a soft look on her face. I could tell she loved babies. Hell, I loved them too. I couldn’t get enough when we saw Hunter and Emmie, Harlow’s kids. I picked Hayden up on my shoulder to burp him when I finished giving him his bottle.
“Do you want kids, Zara?” I asked her out of the blue. I wanted to know because I knew I did. Jinx had said she did, but I wanted to hear it from her own lips. I prayed she’d say yes. If not, I’d make do with my brothers’ kids. She gave me a startled look then nodded.
“Yeah, I’d love kids, someday. I even thought about adoption. There are so many kids in need out there.”
“What about having some of your own?”
“Well, yeah, if I found someone I wanted to spend my life with, and he wanted them too. I’m not sure that’s in the cards for me, but it wouldn’t stop me from having kids. I could adopt or do artificial insemination.” Her response shook me. She didn’t think she’d find someone.
Shit, I wanted to shout at her to look in front of her. She’d already found him. I wanted to be that man. The thought of her having some man’s anonymous sperm inserted into her body offended me. I was the only man who would be giving her children, not that I wouldn’t consider adoption in addition to a few of our own. I fought hard not to just blurt it out. She was skittish enough. I had to take my time with her, to feel her out and get in her mind.
“I wouldn’t rule it out just yet. You’d make an amazing mother.”
“You think? When I do start with kids, I need to change my job. The ER is too unpredictable with the hours. I’d want something more stable.”
“Like what?”
“That urgent care clinic I mentioned earlier would be great. I wish we had one in Hunters Creek. Not everyone needs to go to the ER, but when it’s after hours for the regular doctors’ offices, they don’t have a choice. I’d love to work at one of those.” I filed her idea away for a future discussion.
We’d got the babies fed, changed, and settled down in the portable playpen we’d brought into the common room. I got up to grab myself and Zara a drink. Outlaw and Maverick had moved over to play a game of darts while the kids slept. Jake was relaxing by the bar in case we needed anything.
I’d just grabbed our drinks from Jake when a loud boom followed by the whole clubhouse shaking rang out. I instinctively turned to race to Zara. She had screamed and was leaning over the playpen, like she was trying to shield the babies with her body. I heard Outlaw and Maverick swear. I grabbed Zara, and one of the babies. She had another and Jake hurried over to get the last one. I ushered them to the panic room.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. What was that, Demon?”
“I don’t know but we’re going to go find out. Stay here with Jake. And Zara, take this.” I handed her my backup pistol from my ankle. She took it without comment. I gave her a hard kiss and then ran out the door behind Outlaw and Maverick. Before I did, I told Jake, “You stay here and protect her and those babies with your fucking life.” He nodded. I was glad to see he had his handgun out.
Outside, I saw the others running toward the guard building at the gate. Tate had been out there. I looked around to see if I could see what had caused the noise and shaking. I didn’t have to look far. Out near the front wall, in the front area that was technically the front yard, was a big depression in the ground. I went over to investigate. I could see the other two talking to Tate. He seemed to be fine.
Walking around the area, I knew immediately what had made it. This was a typical pattern from a grenade. Who in the hell would be throwing one of those over the fence? What had they hoped to accomplish? The clubhouse and any other structures sat far enough back that they had no hope of hitting one of those. The only people we currently had problems with were Jessica’s stepfamily. Had this been them or the two guys they had helping them?
As the others came over to me, I took out my phone and called Bull. He answered after two rings. I got straight to the point. He knew I wouldn’t call unless it was important.
“Hey, Pres, I think you need to get back here. Someone just threw a damn grenade over the fence. No one got hurt. It didn’t touch anything, but it scared the shit out of us. I think it’s safer to have everyone together.”
“Fuck! Are you kidding me? We’ll be back as soon as we can. In the meantime, get everyone back farther from the wall. Take them to my house. We’ll meet you there.”