I hadn’t set out to fall in love with a Knight. It just happened.
I kissed the top of Little D’s head, breathing him into my lungs. He wouldn’t be here if Danny and I had resisted each other. If we’d obeyed my dad’s rule. I dropped another kiss on my sweet baby’s forehead. I’d break my father’s damn rules a million times over if it meant being with Danny and having my son.
But we’d paid a high price for our outright disregard for my dad’s wishes. Some might wonder why I’d let him tear me away from the man I loved. The answer was simple: I didn’t have a choice.
The motorcycle club life wasn’t like the average person’s. I couldn’t just say no, even though I was an adult. Things didn’t work that way in our world—the outlaw MC world.
I didn’t know the specifics, but the club had done some heinous things over the years. They didn’t hurt innocent people, but I was confident my father wouldn’t hesitate to kill Danny. He’d threatened his life several times.
I couldn’t risk Danny’s life. Couldn’t call Dad’s bluff. So I’d gone through my pregnancy without my guy by my side.
Morning sickness and cravings. Backaches and swollen ankles.
Laboranddelivery.
Danny had missed all the things he’d looked forward to because of my father’s hatred. Our betrayal had devastated my dad after the Dirty Hunters captured me. He’d suffered the greatest fear of his life during that ordeal: losing me.
I’d sympathized with his feelings at first. Any parent would’ve been terrified, not knowing if those evil men would sell me into sex trafficking or rape me… or kill me.
It’d been a traumatizing experience, but the Knights had rescued us. Everything should’ve been okay, except it got worse.
After I went back to college, Dad started acting weird and drinking a lot. I couldn’t figure out when he worked. He was home after school and on weekends. He’d tell me not to worry about it, to focus on school instead.
Thensheentered his life.
Tami was a bitch right from the start. Whiney and self-centered. I couldn’t see what my dad saw in her. None of the kittens were like her, not even Carla before Storm had made her leave the state. At least she had been decent to me.
It had to be Tami’s age Dad liked. She was a younger woman who could make him feel youthful again. Or maybe it was the sex, judging by all the racket they made at night. They went for hours. I’d even searched the medicine cabinet for Viagra because I couldn’t believe he could go so long. I hadn’t found any.
What was more alarming than the all-night sex was how Tami kept Dad on a short leash. He checked in with her constantly. It was pathetic for the kind of man he used to be. Why would he let her dictate where he went and what he did?
Then last December, my dislike of her was cemented.
The dining hall on campus was a madhouse. We only had one week until winter break, so everyone was cramming for finals. I sipped my milk and nibbled my sandwich, relishing my false sense of independence.
A pretty brunette caught my eye across the room. She had on a Knight’s Legion MC T-shirt. I jumped out of my seat and ran toward her, nearly trampling into her.
“Oh my gosh!” she cried.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to knock you into the table like that. But your shirt. Where did you get it from?” She must have thought I was an idiot.
She hiked her brow. “Why? Who wants to know?” She scanned the dining hall as if preparing for an ambush.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m Emilee. My dad is a member of the Minnesota chapter.” A small lie. If I told this girl he’d turned in his cut, she might disregard me.
“The Minnesota chapter?”
I smiled, nodding like a bobblehead. “Mhm. He’s the club’s secretary—an original member, getting his start in South Dakota with David.” I threw out Storm’s dad’s name to prove to her I was legit.
“David is my dad’s cousin. My dad is the president of the North Dakota chapter.” She tugged on her top. “Hence the shirt. I’m Piper Knight.”
Piper and I fell into easy conversation, spending the next two hours together. She was my age, studying nursing, and Storm’s cousin.
Meeting Piper was like a dream come true. I told her all about my crazy dad taking me away from Danny.
“Shit, Emilee. That’s rough.” Her gaze dropped to my stomach. “How far along are you?”
I patted my tummy. “Almost five months.”