I shrugged. “Need pain medicine. Reina isn’t feeling good.”
Adelaide thankfully didn’t ask any questions. She just walked into the kitchen without a word. I waited, and when she came back out, she was holding chocolate candy bars, potato chips, and a bottle of Midol. “Take her these. She’ll thank you for it.”
I nodded once and headed back down the hall. After Reina took her medicine, she munched on the junk food with me wrapped around her, my warm palm spread over her lower belly to act as a sort of heating pad. And I watched fucking rom-com movies with her until we both eventually fell asleep to Julia Roberts.
I’d never tell a living, breathing soul about watching fucking chick flicks. And I’d punish Reina’s sweet ass if she ever breathed a word of it, too.
I steppedinto the chapel that night for church, nodding once at River in respect before I took my seat at the table. Reina was feeling a bit better, and it was for that reason alone that I’d told River we could go ahead and hold church. Otherwise, my ass would still be right in bed beside her, and I knew River understood that. Soon as I’d told him ‘woman issues’, he had just nodded and walked off.
“Sons of Hell are currently riding in with Alejandro and some of his men,” River began. I paused mid-sip, my coffee cup raised to my lips as I looked at my president and best friend. “I don’t like the silence, and I’m tired of waiting. My patience is fucking gone. We will be ambushing the mother charter and taking out the president and the VP. From there, Alejandro will take control of the remains of that club.”
Murmurs began to sound around the table. I understood why River didn’t want to take over the club and their business. We weren’t in the business of expanding. When you expanded, you brought more shit on your club and your family than was needed.
“Why not us?” Tank asked, finally being the first to speak directly to River.
River shook his head at Tank. “I’m not power-hungry. Besides, having an ally like Alejandro close by will make our lives a bit easier. It means more money in our pockets and, if we ever need it again, we’ll have protection close at hand.”
Tank nodded in understanding, and the table finally quieted, everyone on board with River’s plan now. River looked at each of us. “Be prepared for shit to get bloody, brothers. Wiping them out won’t happen without a bloody fight.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said with a shrug, leaning back in my chair. A grin pulled at my lips. “I don’t mind getting bloody.”
In fact, Reinalovedit when I came home bloody. My cock hardened as I thought about her reaction to me.Fuck.
I knew the sex would be hot as fuck afterward, and sue me, I was a fucking man; I was looking forward to it.
Joey clappedme on the back when he walked up to me. He looked tired, but I knew he enjoyed riding. Wouldn’t make a good president if he didn’t. He moved to stand beside me as I watched Elaina get out of Alejandro’s SUV and grab Alejandro’s hand in hers. I looked back at Joey. He narrowed his eyes at me. “None of your business, so don’t ask.”
I shrugged. “Wasn’t planning to, brother. If you both share her, doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me.” Besides, with the shit I’d seen Joey and River do over the years for Adelaide, I’d known for a while that Joey was a bit different than most other men I came in contact with. He wasn’t as red-blooded as the rest of us were when it came to our women. He loved differently than we did.
His love was one hundred percent unconditional. I could never say with certainty if I’d ever share Reina with another man. Just the mere thought of it made me want to smash my beer over someone’s head.
Adelaide stepped out of the clubhouse and enveloped Joey in a hug. He grinned and buried his face in her hair before dropping a kiss to her temple. “Hey, pretty girl.” He brushed his thumbs under her eyes. “You look exhausted. You need some fucking sleep,” he reprimanded.
She shrugged at him, her eyes softened as she looked up at the man that once held her entire heart. “Little one’s been giving me hell,” she informed him.
“Let’s get inside,” I told them. “Don’t like sitting out here in the lot.” It wasn’t bad a few weeks ago when she and Reina had been cleaning the bikes. The silence now made me weary.
Reina was walking toward me when I walked inside, and she handed me a fresh beer with a sweet smile as she took my empty one from me and tossed it into a bin. I dropped a kiss to her lips. “How are you feeling?” I asked her. I’d been asking her all day. I was sure she was getting annoyed with me, but she hadn’t voiced it yet.
She just shrugged before hugging Joey. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. I forced myself not to punch him in the jaw. I knew he had no romantic feelings for her. Just fucking hated seeing anyone else’s hands or lips on my woman. It made me destructive.
“How’s your back?” he quietly asked her.
I gritted my teeth when she turned around and pulled her shirt up. Thankfully, she was wearing a bra, but still, I didn’t want any mother fucker in the clubhouse to see a single bit of her.
Joey released a low whistle and looked at me as she tugged her shirt back down. “That’s pretty fucking serious, brother,” he noted. He knew how I was. I’d done a lot over the years to prove I would never tie Reina down. But I’d gone against everything I’d ever said and sworn the moment I’d almost been killed.
Life was too goddamn short to continue playing bullshit games. And I’d gotten damn tired of playing them with Raina.
I shrugged, reaching out to tug Reina closer to me. She giggled at my possessive move. “She’s mine,” I told him, and to men like us, that said everything any fucker needed to know.
His eyes zeroed in on my neck, and a smirk twitched at his lips before he dropped into a chair, tugging Elaina on his lap. Alejandro headed into the kitchen with Antonio—his and Elaina’s son—on his hip. Reina looked up at me. “Something I should be made aware of?” she asked, referring to the Sons of Hell and some of Alejandro’s men being at the clubhouse.
I dropped a kiss to her lips. “I’ll tell you later.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her; I would. I just didn’t feel like getting into all of it right now. I’d fill her in on everything when we were alone later.
She nodded, letting it go. I sat down across from Joey, and when Reina moved to go to the bar, I dragged her down on my lap. Her shocked eyes snapped up to mine.
“Your place now is on my lap,” I told her. When we got visitors, she no longer worked the bar. She sat at my side. I’d been slowly adjusting her to being my old lady—didn’t want to spring too much on her at once.