Shaft SBMC Maryland: SBMC Maryland book 2
Author: Trejo, Erin
Date: 2020-08-28

Shaft

Soulless bastards mc Maryland

Erin Trejo

Copyright © 2020 by erin

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Created with Vellum

Contents

1. Temple

2. Shaft

3. Temple

4. Shaft

5. Temple

6. Shaft

7. Temple

8. Shaft

9. Temple

10. Shaft

11. Temple

12. Shaft

13. Temple

14. Shaft

15. Temple

16. Shaft

17. Temple

18. Shaft

19. Temple

20. Shaft

21. Temple

22. Shaft

23. Temple

24. Shaft

25. Temple

26. Shaft

27. Temple

28. Shaft

29. Temple

30. Shaft

Afterword

One

Temple

Useless fucker. I can’t even believe that I gave him the time of day. I should have let him die that night he came into my emergency room with a bee sting. I know that’s not nice and that allergies are not anything to play with, but he’s also a lying fuck.

“See how she likes this,” I laugh hysterically as I drag my key down the side of his pretty shiny red Mazda. A fucking Mazda! Each scrape of my key against the paint makes me feel a little better. At least I’m smiling while I do it. That’s positive reinforcement, isn’t it? My hand makes the loop to finish off the word “cockbag” on the driver’s side of his car. I already keyed the word slut magnet on one side. Reaching for the baseball bat I brought along, I spin it around in my hands.

“Temple steps up to the plate,” I say loudly although I know the bastard can’t hear me. “She swings.” I swing the bat around and listen to it crunch through his headlight. “Homerun!” I roar with a smile on my face. I move to the other and do the same taking great pride in the mess I’m making of his precious car. If I could blow it up and get away with it, I would, but since I can’t, this is the next best thing. Dezzy leans against the brick building laughing her ass off. Glad I could amuse her.

“He’s going to shit bricks when he sees this,” she adds making me smirk.

“Well, he would have seen it sooner if he didn’t take the ho to Florida on vacation. I guess someone is just going to have to slip up and send him an anonymous text message.” With the shrug of my shoulders, I pull the bat back and take out the back taillight.

“If I was nastier I would shit on his car seats,” Dez adds making me laugh harder.

“I actually have to go.” Is that taking it too far? I mean, that is a little nasty even for me.

“God, I love you.” I laugh as I set the bat down and lean back taking a look at what I’ve done to this car. His baby. His little pride and joy.

“Do we know how to take tires off?” I ask glancing over at Dez. She laughs. Shakes her head and pulls her phone out.

“No but I can have someone here in minutes. Can we set it on bricks?” she asks, laughing as she texts.

“If they can bring them, we sure as hell can.” Lifting the bat in my hands, I raise it above my head, bringing it down until I see the side mirror fall to the ground.

“I have backup on the way,” Dez tells me.

I turn to face her and smile as she holds out the bottle of fireball for me. I walk over and take it, wiping the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. Bringing the bottle to my lips, I take a long pull as I examine my handy work

“You think he will cry?” I ask her. She snorts.

“I think it’s going to be funny as hell to see his reaction. Maybe we should facetime him instead?”

I nod slowly. That is a good idea. That way we can all see his reaction to his surprise. We stand here passing the bottle back and forth when I hear the roar of the motorcycle. When I look up I see two coming our way followed by a truck. They pull up and park when I notice the first one. Gauge walks with a swagger that says he’s the man in charge and I’d gladly let him rule me if he wasn’t with my best friend.

“God, that man is sex on legs,” I say under my breath before taking another drink. Gauge saunters over, pulling Dez into his arms and kissing her roughly.

“What’s this?” he asks nodding to the car. “Thought you said she had a flat?” he asks as Shaft walks up. He whistles when I reach into my back pocket and pull out the switchblade, flipping it open. They all watch me as I walk over and stab the point into the tire.

“Oops. It’s flat now,” I slur before burping. Dezzy laughs and so does Shaft.

“What the hell are we doing here, Temple?” Gauge asks clearly not enjoying my handy work as much as I am.

“Would you believe car repairs?” I ask looking up at him. He huffs out a breath and motions for the guy in the truck. I watch as he climbs out and moves to the back, grabbing the cinder blocks and jack. I clap my hands together as he walks toward me.

“Am I taking one or all?” he asks looking up at Gauge. He shrugs and nods toward me.

“All and then toss the fuckers in the ocean,” I tell him. I watch the prospect get to work on the tires as I stumble my way back up onto the curb next to Dezzy.

“Have I told you you’re my best friend?”

She laughs. “A few times and you’re welcome,” she adds.

“You two are gonna cause more trouble than you’re worth,” Shaft adds. I glance over and flip him off as I roll my eyes.

“Why are you here?” I ask getting annoyed with his mere presence. Dezzy laughs, Gauge chuckles, but Shaft? He moves closer to me, annoying me further before throwing his arm over my shoulder.

“‘Cause you requested my manly services.”

“I wasn’t aware that you acquired the manly status yet,” I say raising an eyebrow.

“Damn, the dirty way you talk to me. It turns me on Temple.” I blow out a breath and watch the prospect do his thing.

Two

Shaft

She has annihilated that car. She’s still scratching at the paint when the prospect finishes with the tires. It’s almost amusing.

“So, what did he do?” I ask as I casually lean against the building.

“Cheated on me,” she says under her breath before stepping back and looking at the work she’s done. She cocks her head to the side looking at the car before looking up at me. “You should know all about that.” I snort.

“That’s pretty stereotypical of you, isn’t it?” She smirks and takes a step away from the car before moving toward the building. I watch her lean there, watching me intently.

“That’s a big word for you,” she giggles to herself.

What the hell does she think? That I’m dumb? I move toward her slowly, stopping when I can rest my hands on either side of her head. I cage her in, looking in her eyes.

“Why do you women always think that men are stupid? Huh?”

“Most of you are.”

“Yeah, most but I’m not most. Don’t go thinkin’ that you can talk to me like that, darlin’.” She stares into my eyes, her face slowly softening until she bursts into laughter. I shake my head shoving away from her before I stalk toward my bike. There’s something about Temple that turns me on yet pisses me off. I saw her the first time when Dez was in the hospital and she’s come around the clubhouse since then. She’s cute, long dark hair that hangs to her waist. Perfect length for pulling but she’s always a little off if you know what I mean.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh,” she says following along behind me.

“Drive her ass back to the clubhouse,” Gauge says pointing at Temple. I shake my head and climb on my bike ignoring his words. “Wasn’t a question, Shaft. Drive her ass. She’s drunk.” I curse under my breath before holding my helmet out to her.

“I’d rather walk,” she says taking a step back.

“Don’t make this worse than it already is. Get the helmet and get your ass on the bike,” I growl. Temple rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue with me. She grabs my helmet, pulls it on, and climbs onto the back of my bike. She wraps her arms around me and holds on tight. I don’t know if I like it or I’m annoyed, but either way, I rev up the bike and pull away from her masterpiece, heading back to the clubhouse. This is going to sound insane but women are not on my mind right now. I’m sort of in the same situation as Temple right now except I’m not the cheater in this picture.

We get to the clubhouse and everyone heads inside. Sly called church so that’s where I head. Taking my seat, I run my hand over my face before grabbing a cigarette and lighting up.

“Why do you look so pissed?” Sly asks pulling my attention.

“I’m not.”

“Yeah you are. I can see it in your eyes.” I blow out a ring of smoke and shake my head.

“You ever want to keep somethin’ that you shouldn’t?”

“This about your girl?”

I nod slowly as the other guys come in and take their seats. There was a time that I didn’t give two shits about having a woman. I could have any woman I want but not her. “Fuck her. She wants to run around with some other fucker why would you wanna waste your time?” I get what he’s saying but I also know what I wanted. I’m not as young as some of the other guys. The thought of never having a family, never seeing the woman I love carrying my kids, that’s wearing on me.

“Just wanted somethin’ more, ya know?” Sly nods as the room grows silent.

“Settle in. We got a few things to talk about. The bullshit with Dez has been over, but there are a few stragglers left runnin’ around from that asshole’s crew. They aren’t shit and won’t be, I just want them out of the way,” Sly says as my gaze moves to Gauge. Not long ago, Dez was pretty hooked on drugs. She got in too deep and luckily for everyone her dad and Gauge were able to pull her out. She’s a good person and didn’t deserve what she was handed. Gauge’s jaw clenches, the vein in his neck pulsing rapidly.

“This a vote?” I ask chiming in with my two cents.

“It is. This isn’t a club issue but she is my daughter and Gauge’s old lady. This was brought to the club by me and only me.” I nod my head but without a second doubt, I add, “I’m in.” Sly nods, a slight smile curling his lips as he goes around the room. Not a single one says no. I didn’t figure they would. Dez is loved here like a sister and she’s the Club Princess.

“Well, that’s settled. Anyone else got anything?” He asks looking around the table. Everyone grunts their response but that’s the end of that. Sly dismisses church and the guys start to file out. I’m not far behind when I see her.

“What the fuck is she doin’ here?” Gauge asks slapping a hand on my shoulder and following my gaze.

“The fuck if I know,” I huff watching her as she strolls through the room. Her hair’s tied up on top of her head in a messy bun, her big blue eyes standing out even more with all the eyeliner she has painted around them. I can’t believe she had the balls to show up here.

“This might get good,” Old Barnie says with a chuckle. I flip him off as he walks past me.

“Oh, shit. That’s her, huh?” Wolf, one of the other brothers, asks as he wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“That’s her.”

“She’s kinda hot,” he says before I pull my elbow back into his stomach. He huffs but laughs.

“She’s the goddamn devil.”

Three

Temple

“Who is she?” I lean in and ask Dez as I eye the woman who is practically dry humping half the club. She isn’t a club whore, that much I can tell. I don’t know who she is though. None of the guys are making a move to go toward her.

“I don’t know,” she adds keeping her eyes on the tramp. I’m drunk and quickly becoming a little hornier than normal. Every time I drink I get like this. I knew I could find a quick fuck here but Dez thought it was funny. She said that some of the guys may grow attached to me but I laughed at that. Look at them! They are practically walking fuck sticks.

“She looks like a skank,” I huff before taking another drink out of my glass. Dez laughs.

“She is basically humping them all!”

“That’s what I was thinking! Thank God I don’t have to get up tomorrow,” I slur, feeling the buzz as it courses through my veins.

“What are you lookin’ at?” Gauge asks as he stops and looks between us. His eyes are softer than I’ve ever seen them as he smirks at us.

“She thinks that bitch is a skank. Who is she?” Gauge looks over his shoulder to where the girl is before huffing out a laugh of his own.

“She is a skank. That’s Shaft’s ex. Or maybe they are still together. I don’t really fuckin’ know. I don’t think he knows either,” he adds his tone turning serious. “She fucks with his head. Uses him.”

Oh that’s messed up!

“Maybe someone should fuck with her back,” I say catching their attention. Dez and Gauge both look over at me as I shrug. “What?”

“You gonna go over there and cause a scene?”

“I might.” Gauge laughs a deep throaty laugh.

“Then go for it. I think Shaft could use a little cheerin’ up,” he says. It isn’t the way he says it, it’s the look in his eyes. Shaft must really be dealing with some shit over this girl. That’s it. I’m drunk. I’m in a good mood. Why not help the man out? I stroll over, okay so it isn’t really a stroll. It’s more tripping over my own feet than anything else. When I’m close enough, I stumble and nearly fall. Someone grabs me but it isn’t Shaft. His eyes jerk to meet mine as one of the prospects lift me up on my unsteady feet.

“You okay?” he asks. I stare at Shaft when that skank walks over, throwing her arms around his neck. She leans in, sucking the flesh of his neck into her big plump red lips. His eyes roll slightly but come back to me instantly. My plan to attack the man has slowly shifted into prospective. He isn’t mine. He isn’t even into me. He has her and by the looks of her, she is far hotter than I am. “Hey? You okay?” The prospect asks once more.

“I…uh…yeah. I’m good. Thanks…” Spinning around to look at the name on his cut, I slur, “Pike.”

“You sure you’re okay?” he asks once more. I nod my head slowly when I feel hands on my hips. Before I can think, I’m being yanked back into another person. Heat spirals through me and all I want to do is run. I shouldn’t have thought I could seduce the man into forgetting his model looking girlfriend. That was the stupidest mistake I’ve ever made. Or at least I think it is when I feel lips caress my neck. A shudder runs through my body and I find myself arching into his touch. I don’t know who it is behind me and at the moment I don’t give a shit. I’m drunk, I’m horny and the man I wanted to fuck me tonight is busy with a model.

“You want somethin’?” the voice asks in a low voice.

I pant slightly, his lips moving over my skin slowly. Closing my eyes, I get lost in the feeling when I’m when suddenly being yanked away. My eyes fly open just before super model swings. I duck and whoever is behind me takes the slap. It sounds through the room along with chuckles and laughs.

“You better get the fuck outta here!” Shaft roars. I jolt before moving toward Dez, my cheeks heated in embarrassment. “Not you, Temple!” The authority in his tone causes me stop short. I don’t turn to look at him but I can feel him moving toward me.

“Are you kidding me?” she squeals. Shaft slips his hands around my waist, pulling me back into his hard body. I gasp at the feel of him.

“Get the fuck out of here, Riley,” he warns her once more. She doesn’t move, pressing her manicured nail to her lips. She looks to be lost in thought, or just lost in general. I roll my eyes as she stares at Shaft. His hand moves over my stomach as she watches, slipping his hand into the front of my jeans. I gasp and nearly moan just feeling him near me, touching me.

“Stop, Shaft! Stop touching her!” she screeches once more.

“You’re so fuckin’ soft, Temple,” he whispers in my ear. I’m a panting mess when Riley screams.

“I’m pregnant!”

His finger stops moving, the air becoming thicker by the second. I want to pull away but I can’t. I want him to keep touching me. I need him too. His hand never leaves my jeans as Riley stands in front of the two of us, her eyes blazing with anger.

“I doubt it’s mine,” he says carelessly.

“It is yours!”

“Yeah, prove it. You’ve fucked half the men in this town, Riley! Get the fuck out of here before I do somethin’ I might regret later.” His words are hard, much like the man. His fingers slowly begin to stroke me once more and when this Riley girl starts to step toward him, I pull his hand free, spin around and press my body against his. His hands move quickly to lift me, wrapping my legs around his waist. Shaft wastes no time to head toward the rooms as I kiss and lick his neck. Riley screams and yells from behind until someone must grab her. She doesn’t follow and as soon as we step into what I assume to be Shaft’s room, he growls.

“I need you fuckin’ naked and on all fours.” I nod my head as he lowers me to my feet. In my drunken haze, I strip quickly and rush toward the bed stumbling again. I laugh as I fall to my knees.

“Rug burns gonna be a bitch but you look sexy as fuck on the floor like that,” his words grip me and hold on tight. I don’t move as he moves behind me. “How drunk are you, sweetheart?”

“Very. Now fuck me or I’ll find someone else to do it.” He lets out another growl before I feel him kneel behind me. His hand slaps across my ass cheek causing it to burn. Air escapes my lips in a hiss before I feel him fill me with his cock.

“Oh, shit!” he hisses.

“Fuck, Shaft!”

“You like my shaft? Huh? You like it, Temple?”

His fingers tighten around my hips, I’m sure leaving marks, and I can’t think of anything better than this. Each slap of his skin against mine just drags me further into my haze. Each roll of his hips sends me higher into another level of pleasure that I haven’t felt in so long. I trashed that bastard’s car. I totaled it and all I could think of was how I wanted to fuck someone to get his cheating out of my system. Now that I am, I can’t think straight. Shaft feels too goddamn good buried deep inside of me. Each thrust sending me deeper into my head and out of reality. This is what I wanted. This is what I was craving.

Four

Shaft

I yawn as I roll over and bump something soft. Not something, someone. Prying my eyes open, I groan when I see Temple spread out over my bed. Her long dark hair fans around her, hiding her face from my view. I fucked that girl senseless last night. I had her bent in ways that I didn’t know a woman could bend. Groaning, I look over at the clock. It’s afternoon. I shove myself up, running my hand over my face. Riley’s words ring in the back of my mind. She’s fucking pregnant. I truly doubt that it’s mine with all the lies she’s been telling. I know she’s fucked men behind my back. I know she didn’t want kids either which is why I’d always used a condom. It broke once. Once out of how many times? That baby can’t be mine.

“Oh my God.” I hear Temple grumble next to me. Looking over my shoulder, I chuckle.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her.

“I’m hungover and everything hurts,” she grumbles as she presses her face into the pillow. I chuckle again and lay back down, reaching over to move her hair away from her face.

“It was a good night though, yeah?” She rolls her head to the side and looks up at me, a smirk on her face.

“Worried about how you stand up to other men?”

“Little shaft didn’t have a problem standin’ up at all.” Temple snorts and usually that would annoy me, but with her, it’s kind of cute.

“Well, I might have a problem standing up,” she retorts. I lean over and press my lips to her temple before shoving back off the bed. I grab my boxers and jeans, pulling them on before my socks and boots.

“You can take a shower if you want. I’m gonna go see what we can eat.”

“You don’t need to do that. I’ll be out of your way soon,” she says sitting up and yawning. I let my eyes roam over her tattooed back, my cock liking what it sees. She’s not a huge girl but she has muscle which tells me she works out a lot. I felt every inch of that muscle last night too.

“You can eat. I’m not kickin’ you out,” I tell her. She glances over her shoulder, her long dark hair tumbling over her shoulder.

“I don’t usually stick around after…you know.” A slight smirk curls the edges of my lips.

“A one night stand?” I ask knowing what she means but I see the blush on her cheeks and I like it.

“Yeah. That.” She stands and I get a nice view of her ass as she grabs at her clothes.

“Who said it was only one night?” She turns her head rapidly, her eyes locking with mine.

“You have a girlfriend.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I have a boyfriend,” she says.

“No, you don’t. You have a cheater.”

“And trading one cheater for another is better?” she asks raising an eyebrow.

Riley and I aren’t together. We haven’t been for a while anyway. She tells me all the time that she wants more out of life, out of a boyfriend, but I can’t give her that. I’m not what she wants. Instead of answering her, feeling an ache of regret in my chest, I nod my head and walk out of my room. Once I get in the hallway, I press my hands against the wall and let my head fall between my shoulders.

“Rough night?” Gauge’s voice sounds from behind me. I shake my head without looking over at him. I don’t need to see the pitied look in his eyes. I don’t need it. “You think it’s yours?”

“Fuck if I know. She’s been all over town, man. You know that much.”

“But you love her, yeah?” That’s a hard question in itself. I’m not sure I even know what love is most days.

“I don’t know, brother. I…fuck, I thought I did. Maybe I do, I don’t really know.” Just as the words leave my mouth, my door opens and Temple walks out. It isn’t like we’re together and she knows that. I fucked her once although I’ve talked to her more than that when Dez was in the hospital. She was something stable while we dealt with everything Dez was going through.

“Mornin’,” Gauge says looking over at her.

“Hey. Dezzy up?” Temple asks ignoring me altogether.

I can’t blame her after what I just said. I might still love Riley and I fucked her last night. That actually makes me look like a bigger piece of shit than I already did.

“Yeah. She’s in the kitchen. Go on in,” he tells her. Temple nods and smiles over at me before walking away.

“Shit,” I grumble under my breath.

“Didn’t want her to hear that part?”

“Don’t matter. What the hell do I do now?” I ask finally turning to look at him. He shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest.

“You want a kid? You ready for that?”

“Does it matter? If it’s mine, it’s mine, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” Running my hand through my hair, I blow out a breath and try to think this over.

“I didn’t have a dad, man. I had my stepdad and he was more of a dad than my real one, but before him, it was just mom. She worked her ass off to take care of me. I don’t think I could leave my kid to wonder like I did. So many days I’d sit and think what it was I did wrong or why he didn’t want me. I don’t want that for a kid,” I find myself admitting to him.

“Then I guess you need to talk to Riley. Wolf hauled her ass outta here last night but not without a fight. You should have seen it,” he says through a laugh.

“Yeah? I can’t believe she even came here. It’s been almost month since I’ve heard from her. It’s bullshit. I can’t keep doin’ this back and forth shit with her, Gauge. She’s either here or she’s not.”

He reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder. “I hear you, Shaft. You don’t deserve the amount of shit she brings, but if that kid is yours and this is what you want, you need to work it out with her. Whether she’s here or not, yeah?”

I nod my head but I’m not sure that I actually want her around. She brings too much baggage and drama with her. That’s all the surrounds that girl.

Five

Temple

“What do you think?” I ask Dez as I try on dresses.

“Do you really like that color?” she says scrunching up her nose. That’s a no.

“Not when you make faces like that!”

“Well! If I threw some black paint on it you could be a bee. Yellow is not your thing.”

I strip out of the dress, tossing it in her face as she laughs. Grabbing the baby blue one, I step into it, sliding it up my body. I spin around and look at myself in the mirror. I don’t think I’m ugly. I don’t think I’m super model material either, but as I stare at my reflection I wonder why I can’t find a decent man. I thought Greg was. I thought he really cared about me until I saw his phone. He told me he was going out of town for work and I believed him until that text came through while he was in the shower. I couldn’t believe it. He was cheating on me right under my nose and the bad thing? We live together! He hasn’t come home yet and I haven’t told him I’m the one who trashed his car either. I wanted to wait to see his reaction in person.

“What’s wrong?” Dez asks softly coming to stand next to me. I don’t look over at her, I can’t. I’m lost in myself. Searching for what’s missing in me.

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

“What the fuck? Who told you you weren’t? Shaft?”

I shake my head slowly, tears filling my eyes. There has to be something about me that men don’t like, that causes them to cheat.

“No, he was sweet. I just can’t figure out what’s wrong with me. Why do they all cheat on me? What am I doing wrong?” Dez grabs my shoulder, spinning me to face her. Her hands come to my cheeks, holding them in place.

“Don’t do that. Don’t you dare think it’s about you! They are jerks, Temple. You’ve had shit luck with men but there is a good one out there for you. Don’t down yourself like that.” The serious tone in her voice causes me to nod my head. “You can’t give up. You can’t let them win. You’re better than that.” Taking a deep breath, I nod and sniff back the tears.

“It’s just hard some days. I feel like every man I meet is just there for a brief time.”

“Shaft has issues,” she adds quickly.

“I know that. I wasn’t looking for anything with him either. I was drunk and needed a good fuck.”

“Did he give it?” She laughs pulling her hands away from me.

“He gave me more than that. I didn’t think I’d be able to walk for days.”

“He’s not a bad guy. I don’t know what his story is with that girl.”

“Doesn’t matter. I heard him talking to Gauge in the hall. He said he thought he loved her. I don’t want to get in the middle of that mess,” I tell her as I spin back to look at myself once more. “What do you think of this one?”

“Are there going to be single men at your brother’s wedding? I think that once they see you in this they will be falling at your feet,” she laughs. I smooth my hands down the dress and smile at myself in the mirror.

“I actually like this one,” I add.

“It looks good on you. You should get that one.” I nod my head and change back into my regular clothes before we head to the counter to pay. There are a few guys roaming around wearing cuts, but since Dez doesn’t pay them any attention neither do I. Grabbing my bag, we head out of the store and into the parking lot.

“How are you ladies doin’?” a man asks behind us. Dez reaches for her knife making me giggle a little. She’s quick to pull out that thing. I turn to look at the men behind us and smile.

“We’re great. How are you?” He isn’t bad looking. Short blond hair, crystal blue eyes. I eye his cut, finding his name. March, VP of the Devil’s House MC.

“Good now. Just wanted to say hi to the prettiest thing I’ve seen all day,” he says casually. I nearly laugh but I hold it in. If that’s the way he flirts, he has a long way to go.

“That was sweet. We were just leaving though.” Turning on my heel, the guy grabs my arm and pulls me back toward him. I gasp, Dez moves. She has her knife out and moving toward him in seconds.

“Let her go!”

“Calm down. I was just gonna ask her for her number,” the guy says releasing me immediately. Dez watches them, eyeing their cuts much like I did. She slowly calms and I assume that they must be someone they are good with. I don’t push the issue but I didn’t like the way he was pulling on me either. I shake my head and huff , heading to the car. I don’t need another Greg on my hands. The men leave as we climb in.

“Those fuckers!” Dez snaps once she gets in the passenger side. I just laugh.

“They were losers,” I tell her. She doesn’t answer me as she puts the phone to her ear. When whoever she was calling doesn’t answer, she dials another number. I watch her in amusement until it isn’t funny anymore.

“We have a problem. Devil’s House.” She goes silent but someone on the other end, I assume it’s Gauge or her dad, roars. I can’t hear what’s being said but I can tell their pissed. “No. Bastard grabbed Temple though. No. She’s fine. I said she’s fine.” I listen for more not sure if I should start driving or not but interested in this one-sided conversation anyway.

“I’m fine. You’re making it a big deal, Dez,” I tell her when I hear the person yell once more.

“Oh fuck off! She’s fine! No you don’t need to talk to her. I said she was fine forty times, didn’t I?” The more she argues the more I can hear someone yelling. Knowing Dez is getting a kick out of freaking this person out, I grab the phone and bring it to my ear.

“Hey.”

“Give her the goddamn phone, Dezzy!” I flinch, pulling the phone away from my ear as Shaft screams into the line.

“I have the phone. I’m fine,” I say. Dez smirks as I start the car, balancing the phone on my shoulder as I do.

“Fuck! What did he say to you? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Shaft. Calm down.”

“What did he say to you, Temple?” he snaps louder this time.

“He said he wanted my number. I didn’t give it to him. That’s it,” I say exasperated with this whole conversation now. “I’m giving Dez the phone now.”

“Temple!”

“What?”

“I’m glad he didn’t hurt you.”

I narrow my eyes and shake my head confused by what that meant, but I pass the phone back to Dez as planned and pull out of the parking space as I listen to her talk. Whatever it’s about it doesn’t seem too bad.

Six

Shaft

I’m beyond pissed but there’s nothing I can do since those fuckers didn’t actually threaten the girls. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to snap their necks. No one has seen nor heard from them since a few days ago when Dez called me.

“You look good,” Marsha, one of the old ladies, says as I adjust my suit jacket. I’m uncomfortable. This isn’t me.

“Glad it looks good cause I feel like a fuckin’ idiot,” I tell her. She reaches up and adjusts my tie with a smile on her face.

“You look good like this. Like a mafia killer,” she giggles.

“What the fuck are you wearin’?” Sly laughs when he walks into the main room.

I flip him off and grab the beer off the counter bringing it to my lips. Taking a long pull, I sigh when I set the bottle back down.

“Got my cousin’s weddin’ today. I feel like a goddamn fool, but she would have my nuts on a platter if I didn’t dress nice.”

“What’s wrong with your cut? I think it’s nice,” Wolf laughs.

“Me too! She said the only leather I better have on is my shoes.” The guys laugh but I’m don’t.

“You look good. Shut up and have a good time,” Marsha says, giving me another smile. I nod and lean down, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Thanks for the help darlin’. I’m outta here,” I tell them as I head out the door. I can hear the bastards laughing and carrying on in there at my expense, but I love my cousin and if she wants me dressed up, I will be dressed up. I climb in the truck and take off. The ride won’t take me long seeing how she is getting married near the beach. That was her childhood dream. She wanted to meet her dream husband and have the perfect wedding and family. She got it too. David is a good man. I don’t know him all that well, which is my own fault, but from what I’ve heard of him, he’s a good one.

I get to the venue and climb out of the truck. Adjusting my jacket again, I start walking toward the door when I see her. She paces around the parking lot, her hands running up and down her dress. Her back is to me but I can see the tattoos where the back of her dress is cut out. I wonder what the hell she’s doing here? Does she know my cousin? I walk over casually with my hands in my pockets, a little amused at the nervous way she’s moving.

“Not good with weddin’s?” Her head pops up and she turns to look at me. She has nothing more than a little eyeliner on and that’s it. I’ve noticed with Temple that she doesn’t wear a lot of makeup but she doesn’t need it either. She looks around quickly before dragging her gaze back to mine.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same.” We stare at each other, a spark burning between us. I can feel a tremble deep inside of me when Temple’s near me. It’s a strange feeling but one I don’t mind.

“My brother is getting married,” she says. “I’m supposed to be in the wedding. I don’t like being up there, it makes me nervous.” I tilt my head to study her face.

“Your brother?”

“Yeah. His name is—“

“David.

“You know him?” she asks smiling up at me.

“Not really but Kimi is my cousin.” Her eyes brighten as she watches me, her mouth falling open.

“You’re kidding?”

“No. She’s the only reason I’m wearing this shit,” I tell her motioning to the suit I have on.

“I can’t believe she’s your cousin! She’s amazing by the way.”

“She is.”

“Wait. Oh my God. Are you Marc?”

I chuckle but she just stares up at me with a sparkle in her eyes. She’s fucking gorgeous.

“That’s me. Why?”

“Oh God,” she says reaching up to cover her face.

I chuckle and reach over, grabbing her wrist in my hand and pulling it from her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re cousin said I had a date to the wedding.”

“She told me that too. No singles,” I chuckle.

“Guess who your date is?” she asks with a smirk.

No way. No fucking way did Kimi set me up with Temple for the wedding.

“You’re fuckin’ with me.” I didn’t mean for it to sound rude but judging by the look on her face, it was. She pulls her arm away from me and turns on her heel to walk away. “Hey!”

She doesn’t stop. She keeps walking and I follow behind her feeling like a complete asshole but that’s kind of what I do. She enters the venue and heads down the hall. I still follow behind her. People are gathering all around but I need to fix this shit. I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings with that so when she pushes into the bathroom, a sob leaving her on the way in, I know I messed up. I don’t need to get my ass ripped by Kimi on her wedding day for messing up her man’s sister. I glance around and when I don’t see anyone looking, I walk into the women’s bathroom. She’s standing there with her head hanging between her shoulders taking deep breaths.

“I didn’t mean to be an ass. I was just surprised.”

“Fuck me, Shaft,” she says looking over at me with sad eyes.

“What?”

“I said, fuck me.” She slowly pulls the shoulders of her dress down her arms not giving a shit that we’re standing the bathroom. I watch the silk as it slowly glides down her curves, my cock getting harder. My breathes are coming faster as I watch her in front of me.

“You’re crazy,” I whisper as I lick my lips. Her fucking curves are calling to me, begging me to lick them, grip them.

“Lock the door.” Her demand does something to me. I don’t think twice before reaching back and flipping the lock. She moves toward me in a thong, bra and heels that I’d like to be wrapped around me. She grabs the front of my slacks, undoing them quickly before shoving them down with my boxers. When she looks up at me and raises her eyebrow, I move. I kick my shoes off and grab her, lifting her in my arms and slamming my lips against hers. I walk over to the counter and set her down. Reaching for the top of her lacey thong, I tear them on one side before moving to the other. She’s panting, tears still lingering in those big brown eyes.

“You sure?” She doesn’t answer. She reaches down and grabs my cock, stroking it in her hand. My eyes roll back, tingles racing through my body. I arch into her touch, wanting her to touch me more. Everywhere.

“Marc,” she whispers my name and that’s it. I lose it. Shoving her hand away, I move into her. Pulling her hips so her ass hangs off the edge, I finish removing her thong before thrusting into her. Temple’s hands slide around my shoulders, her heels digging into my ass. I lean in and suck on her neck, kissing and touching her as I thrust slowly. She moans and I chuckle.

“Want them to hear you?” She doesn’t care. She digs her heels in deeper until I hiss between my teeth. Her moans do little more than spur me on. Each thrust, each clench of her around me. Why is something I shouldn’t be doing feel so right? She wanted a night, which I gave her, and now I’m fucking her in the bathroom at my cousin’s wedding. I should feel bad but Kimi knows me and knows how I am. She wouldn’t be shocked at all to know that I did this. Temple pulls my face in her hands to hers and kisses me deeply. Her tongue slips into my mouth and groan around her. My balls tighten just as she clenches and that’s the end of our bathroom sex.

Seven

Temple

His stare unnerved me all through the ceremony. I couldn’t focus on anything but his gaze. My body was tight, coiled with tension as he watched me. I can still feel the way he felt when he was inside of me in that bathroom. I shouldn’t have slept with him again, but damn it, Shaft makes me feel different. I know he has a mess of his own to deal with but I can’t get past the feeling of being with him.

“No more, Temple,” I tell myself as I walk out of the break room and toward the front. During the day I work at a doctor’s office as a nurse. At night and some weekends I work at the hospital. I like to keep busy and keep my mind off things, and my work does that. Until I call the next name on my chart.

“Riley Hudson.” I’m too busy looking down at my chart to realize who it is I just called. Until I look up and lock eyes with her. The super model from the clubhouse.

“You,” she says snotty as ever.

“Follow me, please.” I don’t make a note to be a bitch to her. I can’t lose my job and I won’t as long as she keeps her smart ass comments to herself. “I need a urine sample and then we’ll do some blood work and your ultrasound.”

“Why?”

“It’s routine.”

“No, I mean why did you sleep with him? You heard what I told him.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before turning to face her.

“I’m sorry. It was wrong and I know it. It won’t happen again,” I tell her even though it rips my chest apart to say it. I won’t touch Shaft again. In fact, my plan is to avoid him altogether. Riley crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me before slowly relaxing.

“Thank you. I just want what’s best for the baby.”

I nod my head completely understanding that. I grab the little cup and pass it to her watching the smile on her face. She takes it and heads into the bathroom as I stand outside the door waiting on her. I take deep breaths trying to keep myself under control. I can’t tell her that I fucked her man in the bathroom at the wedding. Hell, I don’t even know why I did that. Yes, I do. Who am I kidding? He felt right, and in the moment, I know I needed him. Riley comes back out and I smile, leading her down the hall to the ultrasound room.

“Remove everything from the waist down and they will get the ultrasound before you see the doctor,” I tell her and just as I turn to leave she stops me.

“Would you stay? I know it sounds stupid but…I mean I just don’t have anyone else.”

When I turn to face her, I’m shocked that she even asked. I don’t know what to say. I open my mouth but words don’t form. Absentmindedly I nod my head. She smiles and I turn to look away while she undresses. The tech comes in and does the ultrasound, showing her all the little details as my heart hammers in my chest. I’m looking at Shaft’s baby on that screen. The man that I was fucking in a bathroom!

“Are you okay?”

I find myself startling when I realize its Riley asking me. I nod my head slowly, swallowing hard and plastering a smile on my face. That’s his child growing inside of her.

“Excuse me,” I say turning on my heel and leaving the room as quickly as possible. I hurry through the office grabbing my bag and heading toward the door. I tell my boss it’s an emergency and no one questions me. As soon as I’m in the lobby I rush into the bathroom, throwing up my lunch. I can’t believe I did that. I slept with that baby’s father. I can’t come between them. I can’t do that to a child. What is wrong with me? My cell rings, and when I pull it out I see it’s Greg.

“Hello?”

“Hey, baby. I’ll be home in an hour. Can you leave early?” He sounds so happy but he won’t be when he gets to his car. I smirk at the thought.

“Yeah. I’ll see you there.” Hanging up, I shove away from the toilet and clean myself up. I already packed all his shit. It’s all ready and waiting for him in boxes at the front door. This is going to be interesting. I dial Dez as I walk to my car needing to tell her.

“Hey.”

“Greg is going to be home in an hour. As soon as I get there I’m putting you on facetime. Keep your phone on,” I tell her through a laugh.

“Are you shitting me? This is going to be the funniest thing ever! I can’t wait to see his face. He’s going to cry, I know he is.” Her laughter is infectious. I laugh along with her.

“He’s going to be so pissed. I killed his baby,” I giggle as I climb into my car.

“Killed it? You buried it. That will teach his cheating ass!”

“Okay. I need to drive. Keep your phone on. We’ll probably get there at the same time.” I hang up and pull out of the parking lot. A part of me wonders what I’m going to do without him. I’ve grown accustomed to having him around and living with someone. Now it’s going to be and that’s going to be a little strange. Nevertheless, he cheated on me and he doesn’t deserve the love I have to give. I drive until the house comes into view. I know his car won’t be here which makes me laugh a little more. I park in my usual spot and climb out, grabbing my bag and phone as I go. I pull up facetime and call Dez before muting it so Greg can’t hear her laugh. Just as I’m walking up the steps toward the door, it flies open. He comes out in a rage like I’ve never seen him in before. Grabbing me by the neck, he drags me into the house before throwing me to the floor. Everything spirals.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he roars before kicking me in the ribs. “You ruined my car!” Another kick. I roll and grab my side, the pain shooting through my body.

“Stop!” I cry when he drops to his knees and punches me. Stars blast behind my eyes from the blow.

“Fucking bitch!” he roars.

“Temple!” I can hear Dez screaming. What the hell? Did I unmute it when I fell? I must have. “Temple we’re coming!”

Greg sneers in my direction, his fists clenching. “Called for help?” he asks snidely.

“Get away from me,” I say weakly. My body aches, my face burns. I can hear myself repeating the words over and over and I’m not sure how long as I fall in and out of consciousness.

“Never. You fucked me over and now it’s my turn to fuck you back,” he growls, reaching down and grabbing my pants. He yanks them off my body and kneels between my legs as I try to fight him. I scream, kick, and punch. He doesn’t care. Not until the front door gets kicked open.

Eight

Shaft

“I get it, Riley, I do, but we don’t work, darlin’.” I feel like I’ve repeated myself at least twenty times in the past five minutes. She holds the sonogram pictures in her hand, shoving them in my face for the hundredth time. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the baby or the spot that’s supposed to be the baby.

“He has a little heartbeat,” she says smiling. I run my hand through my hair and nod once more.

“You told me. Look, I’m not gonna disappear, Riley. I just don’t think us bein’ together is the best idea. We don’t work.”

“We can work, Shaft. We can. Don’t you remember how good things were?” she pleads with me. I grab my beer and take a long pull before leaning back in the seat.

“Yeah, before you cheated on me.”

“Don’t act like you were innocent, Shaft! Look at this place!” she screams, motioning around the clubhouse at the girls lingering around. I shrug my shoulder, because frankly she’s pulling at straws here.

“Never touched a club whore while I was with you,” I state. Her eyes widen before they narrow once more.

“And the bitch the other night?”

“Are we together, Riley?” I ask her leaning forward. Honestly, I’m about over this line of bullshit with her.

“We’ve never been apart, Shaft!”

“We’ve never really been together! Jesus fuckin’ Christ woman!” Grabbing the cigarettes off the table, I shake one out and light it up. We’ve been doing this for over an hour. The same thing back and forth. My head telling me to leave her alone, let her go. My heart longing for that connection we had when we first met. It’s not there anymore. It hasn’t been in a long time.

“Just give me another chance, Shaft,” she asks softly. I look up and see the look in her eyes. I don’t know if it’s regret or she’s just desperate, but it’s there. I’m about to open my mouth when I hear the commotion coming in the door.

“I’m fine! I don’t want a damn doctor!”

That voice. I know that voice. Turning my head to look over my shoulder I see Gauge, Dez, and Wolf storming through the doors with Temple right behind them. Her face is covered by her long hair, hiding her from view.

“Yeah, you do. Need those ribs checked,” Gauge snaps casting an angry glare Wolf’s way. He doesn’t look to be in any better of a mood. I shift in my seat so that I can take in the scene a little better when Sly comes around the corner. It isn’t until Temple looks up at him that I see the bruise forming around her eye.

“Fuck,” I grumble under my breath. She moves quickly, fixing her hair to cover it once more.

“Shaft, come on!” Riley whines once more. I look over at her, but just as I look back at the show happening behind me, Temple’s eyes raise to meet mine. Gauge and Sly are talking about how she needs to see a doctor but Temple’s eyes are begging to get away. She doesn’t want to be here, and judging by the look in her eyes, I’d say Dez forced her here.

“Shaft?” Riley says once more. I run my hand through my hair, drop my cigarette in the ashtray, and stand. Riley screams my name but I walk quickly toward Temple, grabbing her wrist and dragging her back out the door she came in. She doesn’t say a word, just follows along.

“What are you doing?” she asks when I walk past Gauge’s bike, grabbing Dez’s helmet, and passing it to her.

“Fuckin’ up my life a little more,” I grumble when we stop at my bike. I grab my own helmet and pull it on before climbing on my bike. Temple just stares at me, I can feel her gaze. Glancing over my shoulder at her, she looks like she’s about to cry. Instead of saying anything, I give her a soft smile and watch her pull the helmet on and climb on behind me. I reach back, pulling her thighs so that she sits closer to me. She immediately wraps her arms around my waist, holding tight. I can hear the door close behind us but rather than looking to see who it is, I rev the bike and pull out of the parking lot. Hitting the road, a sense of calm sweeps over me. I’d like to think it’s just the open road but I know that’s not it. It’s her. It’s Temple.

I drive for about thirty minutes until I pull off on a dirt road. Temple doesn’t tense up, she just curls her fingers, touching every muscle under my shirt. Swallowing hard, I pull to a stop. She untangles her hands and climbs off before me. I do the same, pulling my helmet from my head and leaving it on the seat. Holding my hand out to her, she stares at it hesitantly. Dragging my gaze to hers, I can see the pain and questions. I see the hurt and unsureness. I can’t blame her there. I know how hard that is. Temple finally takes a deep breath and reaches out, slipping her fingers between mine. I smirk and start walking.

“Where are we going?”

“You needed a break, yeah?” I ask looking over at her. She nods her head slowly and I smile. I don’t say any more, just lead her toward the rocks. I release her hand and start to climb up the rocks with her right behind me. “Watch your step,” I tell her nodding toward the jagged areas I just climbed up. She huffs out a breath but keeps climbing. Once she’s almost at the top with me, I hold my hand out once more. She takes it again and I pull her up next to me.

“What’s this?”

“Just watch,” I tell her turning her to face the water. The suns setting. “Closest place to God you can get on earth,” I whisper. Temple gasps and turns to look at me.

“You believe that?”

“What? That this is close to God or do I believe in God?” She shrugs her shoulders, not sure what she wants to say here. I get it. An outlaw biker who believes in God. Doesn’t make a lot of sense but I was raised to believe.

“Both,” she says softly.

“Yeah, I do. I come here when my head isn’t right. When I need to talk to him. Need his advice.”

“Does it work?” Looking back over at her, I shrug.

“I’m still alive, yeah? That says somethin’.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as the praying kind,” she says softly.

“You seem to peg me as all kinds of shit that I’m not,” I remind her. She smiles but that bruise that’s forming around her eye pisses me off a little more. “Wasn’t happy about his car?” I ask nodding toward her eye. Temple belts out a laugh shaking her head.

“I think I underestimated his love of that car,” she responds.

“Doesn’t matter. Love shouldn’t hurt.” Her eyes come to rest on mine and that’s when I see it. The fact that I’m right and I’m giving her advice that I should be taking myself.

Nine

Temple

I toss small rocks toward the water, watching as the waves slowly drag them out to sea.

“Have you thought about that a lot?” Looking over at Shaft, he sits with his knees bent, forearms resting on them as he gazes out at the water.

“More than I thought I would. At first, I thought we had everything. Thought we were in love and all that shit. I think I just wanted too much from her.”

“What did you want?” I ask seeing the lost look in his eyes. He turns his head slowly and stares at me, unnerving me before he speaks.

“What everyone wants. A lifetime of love. I wanted us to be happy, have a family. Just because I do what I do doesn’t mean I don’t want those things, you know? She didn’t, I guess.”

“What happened?”

“She cheated on me with a shit ton of others. Guess I wasn’t enough for her. She needs be told she’s beautiful. She needs to be told that she’s the best, and I’m not the guy who can do that,” he says shaking his head before he begins again. “I’m the guy who can give you that but you have to find that in yourself, you know what I mean? I can only tell her so many times, and if she doesn’t see it herself, I can’t help her.” The sad look in his eyes tells me that he loved her. I don’t need to ask that part because I can see it but it still makes me wonder.

“Ask me, Temple,” he says with a chuckle.

“Ask you what?”

“I see the questions in your eyes. Ask me. I’m not afraid to tell you the truth, darlin’.”

My heart nearly leaps out of my chest. I didn’t expect him to look so closely. “You loved her at one point. Now that she’s pregnant, why can’t you try that again?”

Grabbing a handful of tiny rocks, Shaft looks away, tossing them into the water much like I was.

“It’s not that easy. You can’t just choose to be in love with someone one minute and not the next. That baby, if it’s even mine, which is very fuckin’ doubtful at this point, can’t be the reason we stay together. I don’t know. I don’t know that I’ve ever really been in love with her.” His eyes stay on the water but it makes perfect sense. You can love someone and not be in love with them.

“What about you and your man? You love him?” I shake my head when he looks over.

“I think I loved the idea of having him. Having someone with me. Does that even make sense?” I giggle a little when he nods. He reaches for me, cupping my cheek in his hand.

“Makes perfect sense but you don’t need a man who’s gonna hurt you. You need a man who’s gonna stand up for you. Laugh with you, hurt with you. You get what I’m sayin’?” My mouth is dry. No words will form so I do the only thing I can do and nod my head. Shaft leans forward, resting his head against mine.

“What are we doing?” I ask softly, feeling it - that tug between us.

“I don’t know, Temple. I don’t fuckin’ know.”

“I told her I’d stay away from you.” He pulls back quickly looking me in the eye.

“You did what? Why the hell would you do that?” he asks in disbelief but his hand never leaves my face.

“She’s pregnant. She said she only wants what’s best for the baby and I agree. She needs you, Shaft.”

His hand falls from my face before he shoves himself up. He paces around for a second as I watch him before I stand too. I need to go home. I need to figure out my life and standing in the middle of his isn’t going to do that. I wipe the ass of my jeans before I move to walk away. I don’t make it far before Shaft grabs my wrist, pulling me back in front of him.

“Tell me you don’t feel some kind of connection between us,” he says softly, his thumb rubbing circles on my flesh. I open my mouth but what do I say? “Don’t lie to me, Temple.” God, why does he have to say my name that way? Why does he, of all people, have to be the one I feel this with? I can’t do this. I swallow hard and shake my head slowly. His eyes burn with intensity and I nearly buckle under his gaze.

“I don’t.”

“You’re lyin’.”

“I’m…I’m not.”

He steps closer, closing what little space was between us. His hard body presses into mine, his hand comes up to lift my chin. “I just told you things I’d never tell anyone else and the best you can do is lie to me?”

There’s hurt in his voice and I know I’m putting it there. I don’t want to but I am. I swallow hard, holding my head high. I can do this.

“Marc…I.”

“Right there, Temple! Goddamn it! You say my name and it’s like it was meant to fall from your lips and your lips only. Do you think God would put you in my path without a reason?”

“I was a distraction. One you don’t need might I add. You have a girl who’s pregnant with your child, Shaft! Why can’t you see that?”

“Marc! You fuckin’ call me Marc! I’m not Shaft to you, Temple. I’m Marc!”

I shake my head, feeling his fury, but I can’t stop myself. I don’t want to be the cause of a family not being together. If they have even the slightest chance of working this out, I can’t stand in the way of that. I reach up and grabs his hands in mine, slowly lowering them away from my face.

“Don’t you do this shit to me.”

“I’m sorry. We fucked a few times. I like hanging out with you but that’s all it will ever amount to, Shaft.”

“Marc,” he growls and I almost lose it.

“I just need to go. I’m sorry. I’ll find a way back.” I release his hands and turn, slowly climbing down the rocks. I don’t hear him behind me, but as I’m walking past his bike, his yells reach me.

“I’ll take you.”

I look over my shoulder and see him standing there. A mask of emotions cloud his eyes and I hate that I’m part of the reason it’s there. I nod once knowing I won’t have any service out here anyway as he walks toward me. We stand here staring at each other for a long second before he moves in quickly. His lips caress mine, slowly sweeping over them as I moan into his touch. I let him kiss me, knowing it will be the last time and hating myself every second of it. When he pulls back breathless, he looks at me.

“Tell me you can’t feel that,” he says softly.

“It doesn’t matter what I feel.” Pulling away from him, I grab the helmet and slide it on while I wait for him to do the same.

Ten

Shaft

“You okay?” Sly asks as I toss the shell of the peanut I’m eating into the pile on the table in front of me.

“I’m fuckin’ great.” He huffs out a laugh before motioning for the bitch at the bar to bring us some drinks. She walks over, shaking her ass as she goes before setting the beers on the table in front of us. I grab one washing down the peanuts before looking back up at Sly. “What?”

“It’s been a month, brother. You gonna tell her to take a fuckin’ walk?” he asks.

I know he’s talking about Riley. It’s been a month since she told me she was pregnant. I’ve avoided her as much as possible, but she just shows up whenever she wants to. I’ve thought about putting a ban on that shit, too.

“I’ve told her to take a walk. She does too, right back in the front fuckin’ door.”

Sly laughs.

“You know all you gotta do is say the words and she ain’t allowed back here.”

I know that too but what will happen to my kid if I do that?

“I know that. Just don’t wanna lose my kid over it,” I tell him when the doors open. I blow out a breath hoping it’s not her and Sly laughs. When I hear laughing though, I turn and look over my shoulder as Dez and Temple carry bags in.

“What the hell are those two doin’?” I ask.

“Temple’s stayin’ here for a while. That asshole of hers has been harassin’ her,” he says as if that means nothing.

“What do you mean?” That irritates the fuck out of me that no one said anything. I would have helped her if she would have just asked, but she’s been avoiding me since that night up at the rocks.

“Been comin’ by their old place tryin’ to start trouble. Even sent his side bitch over there a couple times,” he tells me grabbing his beer and taking a long pull.

“What the fuck? Didn’t nobody say shit!”

“It’s not a club issue. She ain’t one of us.” That reminder pisses me off a little more than it should. It wasn’t for my lack of trying to talk to her either. I called, texted, hell even I showed up over there on more than one occasion. I watch as her and Dez carry things in and down the hall. I don’t know if that pisses me off or not. She’s going to be around here just as much as anyone else. The thought alone sends a thrill through me but a dread at the same time.

“You got a thing for that girl?” Looking back over at Sly, I shrug.

“Don’t know. She don’t want shit to do with me anyway.”

“Since when has that stopped you?” He chuckles.

“True but Temple ain’t like Riley.”

“That’s the truth.”

I close my eyes and blow out a breath before turning toward the source of those words. Dez stands there with her arms crossed over her chest glaring at me like I’m about to break her favorite toy.

“What did I do?” I ask her watching as her eyes narrow.

“You… Oh you have fucked up big time, Shaft! You know what, I should kick your ass!” She looks pissed and that’s not usually something that’s directed at me. Dez and I have always gotten along but not today.

“What did I do to you?”

“You didn’t do anything to me but her?” She stops herself from saying anything more as I glance at Sly. He just shrugs not sure what the fuck is going on either.

“It’s your kid,” I tell him. He laughs.

“Yeah and she’s an adult too. If she wants to kick your ass who am I stand in her way?”

“That is a fact,” Old Barnie adds when he walks up next to her, tossing an arm over her shoulder.

“You gonna tell me what I did?” She shakes her head when OB laughs.

“I already know what you did. You fucked up. Big time.” He walks away chuckling, leaving me with the anger that radiates off Dez. I raise an eyebrow but that must be the end of what she can handle. She huffs and spins on her heel and walks away. I watch her go until the front door slams shut.

“What the fuck is happenin’ around here?” I mumble to myself.

“Might wanna ask that one,” Sly says nodding behind me.

I turn to see Temple eyeing me, wringing her hands in front of her. She looks nervous. I shove out of my chair and walk toward her, noting the look in her eyes. She is nervous. Whatever this is about, she can’t seem to stand still.

“You okay?” I ask when I’m close enough. Temple keeps wringing her hands together in front of her like she can’t keep them still. She bites her lips, her eyes moving anywhere but on me. I reach up and grab her face in my hands, stopping any other movement. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk. This is bad, Shaft. Really bad.”

“Okay. Calm down. Whatever it is we got you. You wanna go in the room?” She looks up at me now and I can see the worry in her big brown eyes. She nods slowly and I release her face, opting to grab her hand instead. Leading her down the hall and straight to my room, I close the door behind us. Temple paces the floor as I drop onto the bed and lay back, lighting up a cigarette.

“I found out something that you need to know. I didn’t want to tell you but Dez said I needed to. I don’t know what you’re going to think and I’m sorry. Let me just say that I’m sorry first, okay? I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t plan it. It’s actually all my fault.” The more she rambles the cuter she gets. It’s almost funny but I don’t laugh because whatever this is is important to her. I blow out a ring of smoke and watch as she paces a little more.

“Come here, Temple,” I tell her. She looks over and shakes her head no. I raise an eyebrow daring her to say no again. “Now.” She slowly moves toward the bed, sitting awkwardly on the edge. She blows out a breath and lowers her head before I hear her say it.

“I’m pregnant.”

“You’re what?”

“Damn it. I’m sorry! I know it was stupid! I can’t even think. I’m not ready for a kid. I’m not. I’m not that put together right now. I can barely keep myself above water but to have a kid? I can’t do this,” she rambles before standing from the bed and moving around the room. She tugs at her hair, paces the floor and I’m stunned. I shove myself up so that I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, running my hand through my hair.

“Does he know?” I ask taking another drag off my cigarette.

“I just told him.”

I choke on the smoke in my lungs. I cough and try to catch my breath. Reaching over I snuff out the cigarette in the ashtray before sitting back up and looking at her. She won’t make eye contact with me.

“Temple.” She still doesn’t look up and I know this isn’t going to end well. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want me and now I have two women who are pregnant with my kids. What kind of sick fucking world do I live in?

Eleven

Temple

This was stupid. I’m going to throw up. I should have never told him. I feel like an idiot. He has Riley and her baby. Oh, God. I told her I’d stay away from him, and now look what I’ve done! I knew better than to have sex while I was on the antibiotics. I knew it but I did it anyway. Why didn’t we use a condom? Why? I know better!

“Temple, come here,” Shaft says once more. I can’t do this. I can’t sit here and tell him that he’s going to be a dad to a second baby. I should have kept my mouth shut. I shouldn’t have told him. I should have lied and said it wasn’t his.

“I’m going to be sick,” I say as I rush into his bathroom. I grab the sides of the toilet and throw up everything I ate this morning.

“Are you sure?” His voice is soft as places a wet rag on the back of my neck.

“Yeah. I just took the test. I’m sorry,” I say before throwing up more. Shaft leaves the room and I hear the door close. I’m sure he’s pissed off that now he has this to deal with on top of Riley. I grab the rag off the back of my neck and wipe my mouth on it when the door clicks shut again. When I look up, Shaft is standing there with a bottle of water. He holds his hand out to me and I take it, letting him help me stand. He uncaps the water and passes it to me. I gladly take it, swallowing a little before he grabs my hand once more. He leads me out of the bathroom and back into his room. Leading me to the bed, he motions for me to sit.

“Lie down,” he says. I start to shake my head but he just gives me that look and I do it. As I lie down on his pillow, he moves to grab the bottle from me, setting it on the table next to the bed before climbing on behind me. Shaft wraps his arm around me, pulling me close to him. This is wrong. It’s all wrong. I shouldn’t be here doing this with him. I shouldn’t be letting him touch me.

“Are you sad about it?” he asks, his breath fanning my hair.

“I don’t know what I feel. I didn’t plan on having kids for a long time. I’m not sure I’m ready,” I admit as tears burn the back of my eyes.

“Not much we can do about that now. We kinda have to be ready,” he says softly.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m sorry,” I say as the tears begin to fall.

“Stop, Temple. We fucked without a condom. I kinda knew this could happen. I just didn’t think about it.”

“I was on the pill but I had an ear infection and I was on antibiotics and I should have fucking known, Shaft. Damn it, I’m a nurse for fuck’s sake!” More tears continue to fall when he moves. He rolls me onto my back, climbing over me, straddling my legs.

“Look at me,” he growls. I slowly pull my eyes to meet his. “Things happen for a reason, Temple. God didn’t put that baby in you for us to fear it. I know I’m not the best person in the world, but I love my family. This,” his hand moves to my stomach, slowly stroking it, “is a part of my family now. Just like you are. Trust me when I say that I’m gonna take care of you and this baby.”

“No.”

“What?” he asks, cocking his head to the side.

“I said no! Move!” Pushing at his chest, he moves off me and I climb off the bed quickly. “This isn’t happening. We aren’t doing this.”

“What the hell does that mean?” he asks standing to move toward me once more.

“It means no, Shaft! It means I am not doing this with you. I can’t do this with you. You have Riley and your baby with her. I am not going to get in the way of that.”

“Are you tellin’ me that you don’t want me around my kid? Is that what you’re sayin’? Because if it is, you got me fucked up, Temple! That baby is mine, you said it yourself!” His anger is warranted. I know I’m being an ass, but I have to think about myself. And Riley too, as much as I hate to think about that situation. It isn’t her fault this happened and it surely isn’t her baby’s.

“I’m telling you that you can see this baby, Shaft. I’m telling you that you can be a dad if that’s what you want, but there is no us. There is no taking care of me. You have Riley and her baby to think about too. Don’t you dare blow that off,” I scream at him. I know what he’s told me. Shaft has made it clear that he wants to be with me but I can’t do that. Not with Riley and her child in the middle. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us, and luckily I’m the sound thinking one of the bunch. Would I love for my child to have its father? Of course. Every child deserves that but there are too many unresolved issues hanging around. Riley was here long before me. Both of these kids deserve their father in their lives but that doesn’t mean I have to be with him.

“You don’t get to decide that,” he hisses as he moves closer to me.

My heart leaps in my chest, his lips parting slowly. I unintentionally lick mine and his eyes fall to my mouth. I have to stop this. I can’t do this, but before I can think anymore, his lips are on mine. His tongue forces its way into my mouth and I moan. Whimpers fall from my lips as he kisses me with such passion that I can barely stand it. My knees want to buckle, the feeling of him overwhelming me. When he pulls back, we’re both panting and unsure of what to do next.

“I…we…”

“Stop, Temple. This baby is mine. Why can’t you be mine?”

“We don’t know each other. We’ve fucked, Shaft. We don’t really know about each other.”

“Stop tryin’ to change the subject. We have all the time in the world,” he whispers.

“It doesn’t change anything. I can’t be the reason you walk away from Riley. I can’t stand in the middle of you and your other child.”

“What is it with you? Huh? Why do you want to push me away?”

I shove out of his arms not able to handle anymore. Storming out of his room, I rush down the hallway.

“Stop walkin’ away from me!”

“Fuck off!” I scream back at him. One of us has to be the adult around here; it might as well be me.

“Get your ass back here, Temple! Don’t make me spank your ass!” I huff out a laugh before I turn and see him. His eyes are blazing and that’s when I know he isn’t playing. He’s pissed.

“Are you laughin’?” he asks narrowing his eyes. I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow daring him to say more.

“This is stupid!” I say loudly.

“What the hell is goin’ on around here?” Wolf asks as he comes to stand next to us. He looks between us but neither of us break our stare down to acknowledge him.

“He’s an asshole!”

“She’s stubborn as fuck!”

“He thinks he can tell me what to do,” I snap.

“She doesn’t listen!”

“Fuck off, Marc!” He smirks when I use his name. Bastard.

“So what?” Wolf asks looking between us.

“She’s pregnant with my kid and tryin’ to take it away from me!” he roars.

“What?” We all turn when we hear that voice. Fucking Riley.

Twelve

Shaft

Oh, this is just fucking great. This isn’t what I needed today. I tug at my hair as Temple screams and walks back down the hallway.

“She’s pregnant?” Riley asks sounding as shocked as I was. I close my eyes and try to keep myself calm but that isn’t working out so well. I need to think. I need to get a drink.

“Not now, Riley.”

“Well? Is she?” she screams louder.

Just as I’m about to answer her, I hear Dez yell. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. This day gets better and better.

“I can’t stay here now!” Temple yells.

I look over my shoulder and see her carrying a bag, heading for the door.

“Don’t you ignore me, Shaft! It is yours?” Riley asks sounding pissed off.

“Temple,” I call out to her but she ignores me.

“Shaft!” Riley yells. My head is spinning. I don’t know what the hell is happening to me right now. I’m stressed the fuck out. I don’t know what to do or where to turn.

“Shit,” Wolf grumbles under his breath. I start to head toward Temple when Riley steps in front of me.

“Where are you going?” she asks looking up at me. Fake tears. Is that fake crying? She can’t be doing this to me right now.

“Move, Riley.”

“Shaft?” she says again sounding pissed this time.

“I’ve never put my hands on a woman before so don’t make me do it now,” I growl. Riley’s mouth falls open but she doesn’t say another word as I move past her. Temple’s already out the door walking toward the truck when I catch up to her. I grab the bag and turn to head back inside while Dez watches. She doesn’t say a word, which I’m thankful for.

“Give it to me, Shaft,” Temple says holding her hand out to me.

“I’m a fuck up, Temple. I know that much, but if you think that I’m gonna let you walk out of this clubhouse and out into the fuckin’ world where that bastard is, you’re crazy.” Her eyes narrow at me and her mouth begins to open but I slap my hand over it to stop her. Her eyes widen slightly. “Don’t you dare say a word. You came here for a reason. I’m leavin’. You’re stayin’.” Lowering my hand, she shakes her head.

“I can’t stay here now! She’s here.” The words fall from her mouth before she clamps her lips closed. That’s what’s bothering her? That Riley’s here? That’s an easy one. Riley can go. I can meet her somewhere else to hear about how the baby is doing.

“She’s gone,” I say turning and walking back toward the door.

“No she isn’t!”

“Shut up, Temple.”

“No, Shaft! She’s pregnant with your baby!”

“All of which I know, sweetheart. And so are you. Now shut the fuck up, Temple.” I pull the door open and watch her, waiting on her to move. She doesn’t. She stands there as defiant as ever, arms crossed over her chest. She’s pushing my buttons right now.

“Move it, Temple, or I’m carryin’ your ass back in there!” She looks at me like it’s all a joke. As if I wouldn’t do it. I motion for her once more, and when she doesn’t move, I do. Stalking back toward her, I grab her around the waist and toss her body over my shoulder. Smacking my hand roughly on her ass, she squeals.

“Let me go,” she yells as I stomp through the door. Dezzy laughs behind us as I keep walking. As soon as I step through the door, Riley huffs.

“Shut up, Temple,” I tell her once more. She doesn’t and yells louder. I ignore her, slapping her ass once more. That does it. She finally closes her mouth but Riley doesn’t. She keeps yelling and follows us down the hallway. I don’t stop walking until I get to Temple’s room, dropping her on the bed. She climbs back up and stares at me.

“What the hell are you doing, Shaft? This is bullshit. You got her pregnant too? And you! You said you would stay away from him!” Riley screams at the top of her lungs.

I’m completely fucked here. I don’t know what to do.

“I didn’t plan on it! In fact, my offer still stands. I will stay away from him!” Temple yells back.

Wolf and Gauge stand in the door and smile as they watch the showdown. Assholes.

“You get out,” I point toward Riley. “You shut up.” I turn to point at Temple.

“Why don’t you shut up. You’re the one fucking around with both of us!” Riley yells.

“I mean it, Riley. I’m about to lose my shit here and the first one I’m goin’ for is you,” I warn her.

Wolf must be able to see the look in my eyes. He moves in and grabs Riley even when she screams at him. Dragging her out of the room, I lower my head when I hear the door click shut.

“Go after her,” Temple says softly.

“Shut up, Temple.” I rub my temples, a headache forming.

“She needs you.”

“I said shut up, Temple.” I don’t raise my voice or look up at her.

“She’s pregnant, Shaft.”

“So are you.” I slowly lift my head and look at her, my stomach knotting up.

“What are you doing, Marc?”

“Why is it Shaft when you want to push my buttons but I’m Marc when you want me to be?” She doesn’t answer. She just looks at me, a sparkle in her eyes. She’s perfect. How can that asshole not see that but a bastard like me can?

“How many times do we need to do this?”

“No more. We don’t need to do it anymore, Temple. You needed a place to stay. You’re here. I’m leavin’, okay? She won’t be around here anymore.” Turning on my heel, I want nothing more than to grab her and hold her but I can’t. She doesn’t want this, and frankly, I’m confused. She kisses me back like she can’t get enough of me. She lets me touch her but then she shoves me away.

“This is your place,” she says softly.

“It’s the clubhouse. It isn’t just my place. I’ll be around, Temple, but I won’t stay here. You got free rein, darlin’. Don’t worry, okay? Just relax and if you need anything you got my number.” Solemnly, I turn and walk out of her room and down the hall. She doesn’t call out to me and I don’t know how I feel about that. Do I want her to?

“Shit’s gettin’ a little hot, yeah?” I nod at Sly after he speaks.

“Yeah. I’m headin’ home, brother. I can’t do this shit right now. Call me, yeah?” He nods his head and I head for the door. I need a break. Maybe I need to call my mom. Sounds like a bitch move but I’m close to my mom. I need some advice. I need some kind of guidance here because I feel like I’m spiraling into a place I might not be able to come back from. Shaking my head, I grab my helmet, pull it on, and head out.

Thirteen

Temple

I shove the last bite of my apple into my mouth before the overhead comes on. We have a crash victim on the way in in less than five minutes. Tossing the core into the trash, I head in that direction. Grabbing a pair of gloves on the way, I slip them on and wait. It doesn’t take long for the paramedics to come in rattling off their list of vitals. I take note of all of them but when I look down I gasp.

“Barnie?” I know him. Old Barnie. What the hell happened to him?

“Hey, sweetheart. Didn’t expect to see me, did you?” He tries to wink but the gash above his eye doesn’t allow it. The doctors get to work and so do I. Everyone is rushing around. His injuries aren’t life-threatening but they are bad. I’m in the hall filling out some paperwork when the doctor comes out.

“Temple? Do you know him?” I look over and nod. “He is being difficult. I don’t want to sedate him. Can you talk to him?”

“Of course, Dr. Ranger.” I turn on my heel and walk into the room. They have him sitting up slightly but I can see the anger in his eyes. It’s almost amusing to see. I know how he’s been at the clubhouse, I’ve met him more than once. He’s mouthy and doesn’t take anything from anyone.

“Are you giving them hell?” I ask raising an eyebrow. He chuckles and shakes his head coughing.

“They wanna stick a tube in me, Temple. I might be old but I sure as shit ain’t got no problem pissin’.” His eyes crinkle at the corners and I find myself laughing with him.

“But they don’t want you to get out of bed. See, there is a plus side.”

“Not happenin’ darlin’.”

“Oh, come on. It isn’t that bad. I promise they won’t hurt you.”

“I’ll make you a deal. They can shove that tube in my cock if you talk to Shaft.”

I should have seen that one coming. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen him. We keep our distance. He left just like he said he would and I’m still hunting for an apartment that I can’t find. Nothing is affordable for me right now.

“I can’t do that right now.”

“Then they can’t stick a hose in my cock,” he says smirking at me. I know he needs it. He has a collapsed lung and they don’t want him up and moving. I figured they’d knock him out but OB is stubborn as hell.

“Fine. Get the hose and I’ll talk to him.” Crossing my arms over my chest, he smirks at me once more. Evil old bastard.

“I see that look.”

“What look is that?”

“The look that says when I get outta here you’re gonna have my ass.” He tries to chuckle again.

“You might be right.”

“Love hurts sometimes, Temple. It can tear you up and spit you out. It can get hard as hell at times but that’s when you know you’re alive, yeah?”

Shaking my head slowly, one word jumps out at me. Love. We’re not in love.

“We don’t love each other, Barnie.” He nods his head toward my chest and I suck in a breath.

“That why you’re wearin’ his pendant around your neck?” I close my eyes for a second and reach up, wrapping my fingers around the little piece of gold. It isn’t much. It’s just a small circle that looks like a coin but it was mixed in with my things when I tried to leave. I’m not sure how it got in with my stuff but it was there and I knew it was his.

“It’s not like that,” I tell him as I open my eyes and look at him.

“Maybe not to you. Can you call Sly for me?” I nod my head and turn to quickly leave the room, not wanting him to see me cry because I can feel the tears as they well up. I choke them down and grab the phone to dial the clubhouse.

“Yeah?”

“Is Sly around?”

“Who is asking?” Is that Mary? Fucking whore.

“It’s Temple. Give him the damn phone,” I snap into the line before glancing around to make sure no one heard me talking like that. I could lose this job and that’s the last thing I need. I can hear movement on the other end before he gets on.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, Sly. It’s Temple. I’m working the ER today and OB was brought in. There was an accident.”

“Jesus fuck! Is he okay?”

“He will be. He wanted me to call you,” I tell him.

“We’re on the way.” The line goes dead before I can say anything further. I knew he’d rush over here. It’s how they are. They always look out for each other. When I get back into the room to tell OB, he’s sound asleep. Dr. Ranger shrugs and smiles. I knew he would fight them.

“Are you off?” he asks.

“Yeah. His friends will be in soon.” He nods his head but doesn’t say anything else.

I leave the room and head to the lounge to grab my purse before heading to the waiting room. Dropping down in one of the chairs, I sigh. I’m tired but I can’t leave until I know they are here. Instead, I close my eyes and let myself doze off. I’m sleeping good until I feel myself moving. Freaking out, I snap my eyes open and start to yell when lips cover mine. I know those lips all too well.

“What are you doing?”

“Not goin’ to jail at the hospital,” Shaft says softly.

“Put me down.”

“You’re tired.”

“I’m fine. I can walk,” I tell him. He chuckles and sets me on my feet as I look around to see where I am. ICU? What the hell? How did I get up here?

“They brought OB here to keep an eye on him,” Shaft says when he sees my confusion.

“I fell asleep that long?” I ask more to myself but he nods in response.

“I sat with you but you looked uncomfortable as fuck down there.” Rubbing my eyes, I glance around once more when he grabs my hand in his. Heat sizzles up my arm but I can’t do this, not right now. I was doing so well in the time we were apart.

“I need to go.”

“We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t. Shit, yes we do. I promised him.”

“He’s gonna be okay, right?” This is the first time since we started talking that he’s sounded unsure of himself.

“Oh God. Yes. He is going to be fine. I’m so sorry, Shaft. I should have said that,” I say in a rush. He nods and lets out a breath.

“Good. I’m glad. Kinda scared us all when we heard.”

“Sly didn’t stay on the phone long enough for me to tell him.” Shaft smiles.

“I heard that. Look, I don’t know what you been thinkin’ but that’s all I been doin’. I don’t wanna stay away from you, Temple.”

“We don’t have a choice. This is what’s best for everyone.”

“She ran off,” he says quickly.

“What?”

“Riley. I don’t know where she is. She fuckin’ left, takin’ my kid with her. What kind of mother does that?”

“I’m not her. I’m not going to leave so you can’t see the baby, Shaft. I wouldn’t do that.” He nods at my words. Even if I have to stay away from him, I wouldn’t keep him from his child.

“I know. I know you wouldn’t but fuck. This is such a goddamn mess. I don’t know what to do anymore, darlin’.”

I hate the sadness in his eyes. I hate that he’s having such a hard time with all of this, but I also know that I need to protect myself in this situation, too.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry, Shaft.”

“Marc. Why can’t you call me Marc?” His tone is nearly pleading and I want to give in but I won’t. I can’t.

“I need to go.”

Fourteen

Shaft

She walked away from me again. It killed a part of me. I want her, I want her next to me. I might not know everything there is to know about her, but fuck, I know that I want her. Running my hand through my hair, I sigh once more. My gun is in my hand, ready to kill. The kid on the ground in front of me looks to be in his early twenties. He doesn’t shake, doesn’t cry. In fact, he looks almost emotionless.

“You were one of them, yeah?” I ask once more when he doesn’t answer. It pisses me off a little that he is one of the ones who fucked with Dezzy. We knew there were a few still lingering around. Even though Sly found this piece of shit, there are still a few more around.

“Fuck you. Do what you’re doing and let’s get this over with.” I raise my eyebrow and look over at Gauge. He’s practically vibrating with anger right now and rightfully so.

“So eager to die, yeah?” Remy asks.

“Yeah, he is.” Holding the gun to the side of his head, I wait. What am I waiting for? Him to cry? Him to repent for his sins? He doesn’t give a damn that he hurt someone else’s child. He doesn’t care that he could have killed her with the drugs they were supplying her with. He just…doesn’t care. I blow out a breath and just as I’m about to pull the trigger, Gauge stops me.

“Wait,” he calls out. I turn my head to look at him wondering what the hell he’s doing. He doesn’t say anything, just stands there staring at the kid like he’s a fucking mirage.

“What the fuck is it? Havin’ second thoughts?” I ask.

“He’s someone’s kid,” he says keeping his eyes on the boy at my feet.

“Yeah? And Dezzy is ours. That’s enough for me,” I say pressing the gun harder to the side of his head.

“You think about this shit? With a kid on the way?” Gauge asks looking over at me.

I pull my eyes from the kid to Gauge’s wondering where he’s going with this. I shake my head not rightly giving a shit. He helped hurt Dez and that’s all I need to know.

“I think that if I have a daughter and this motherfucker fucked with her the way they did, I’d kill them all. I’d make every one of them fuckin’ feel the pain they caused her.” A shiver runs down my spine as I look at him. He sees it. Gauge nods his head and that’s all the go ahead I need from him. Pulling the trigger, the kid falls to the floor in a puddle of his own blood. He lies there lifeless and I wonder if this is what people feel like when they lose a child. I don’t feel it with the ones that Riley and Temple are pregnant with because they aren’t born yet but I can’t even imagine the hell I’d bring down on them if they ever touched my kid. There’s a slight pang of remorse sitting in my stomach knowing that someone out there just lost their child to my hands yet at the same time, I know if anyone ever hurt one of my kids the way he did, the end results would be the same.

“Where’d your head go?” I ask Gauge as I step around the body. I set my gun on the ledge and pull out a cigarette and light up.

“I don’t know, brother. Just been thinkin’ a lot lately. Shit with your old lady and Temple. I just couldn’t imagine losin’ a kid like that,” he says nodding toward the dead body.

“You thinkin’ about havin’ kids?” I ask offering my pack to him. Gauge moves over and takes one from the pack, lighting it up.

“Dez has been. I’m not sure I’m ready for all that yet. Shit with her is still settlin’, and I don’t want to add to the stress she already has, you know?” I watch him blow out a ring of smoke before cracking his neck from side to side.

“She has a lot to deal with but I think she knows what she can handle.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You ready for two kids instead of one?” I stuff the cigarette back between my lips, running my hand through my hair as I look over at him.

“Been thinkin’ about that shit too. I don’t know what Riley has in her head, brother. You know she took off again. Temple doesn’t want shit to do with me. I don’t know about all this.”

“What do you want, Shaft? You’re talkin’ some good shit about what they want and they are doin’ but what do you want?” His question is one I’ve asked myself more than once over the last couple of weeks and the end answer is always the same.

“I want Temple. I don’t know what it is about her that draws me in, but fuck, I’ve been feelin’ it since Dezzy was in the hospital. Every time I’d go see her, Temple was there. She was like a fuckin’ angel. Now she don’t want shit to do with me.”

“Take her to see your mom.”

“What the fuck?” I ask looking at him through narrowed eyes. He’s lost his goddamn mind.

“What? What better way to show her you are serious about her? Take her to meet your mom,” he says once more.

I chuckle as he turns and walks away but the more I stand here and think about it, that makes sense. She could meet my mom and she could see where I grew up. Maybe that would be enough to change her mind and let me in. At least give me a fucking chance to show her that I’m not a bad guy. I drop my cigarette to the ground and snuff it out with the toe of my boot before grabbing my gun and walking out of the warehouse. As soon as I stuff the gun into the back of my jeans, I pull my phone out and text her.

Me: Gonna stop by to see OB. You gonna be around? Need to ask you somethin’

Her: I’m off in an hour

Me: I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t try to sneak out early

Her: I’d never do that :P

Me: Yeah right. See you in a few

I climb on my bike and slip my helmet on my head. If this doesn’t work, if she doesn’t agree to go with me, then I don’t know what else to do.

Fifteen

Temple

I checked on OB before I came down to the lounge. He was asleep but he was doing better. I’m not sure how much longer he’s going to have to stay here but at least he is healing. Sitting on the small couch, I close my eyes and let my head fall back. I’m always tired these days. I hate it. I feel like I have no energy, and when I do, I’m throwing up. It’s the weirdest thing in the world but the doc said it’s all normal. I drift off for a while when I feel someone near me. In a panic, I snap my eyes open and see Shaft sitting next to me. His head is in his hands, but he isn’t looking my way. I take the time to look at him. He’s gorgeous.

“You starin’ at me?” he asks without looking over. He must be able to feel it. I smile.

“Not really. What are you doing in here?”

He slowly lifts his head and turns it to look at me. “You sleep a lot. You that tired?”

“The doctor said it’s normal,” I tell him wondering what he must be thinking. He probably thinks I’m some lazy bitch who doesn’t want to do anything but sleep.

“Is it? Then you need more rest,” he says softly.

“Why are you here?”

“Came to see you.”

“You came to see Barnie,” I correct him. Shaft shakes his head no.

“That was my cover. I came to see you, Temple. I wanted to see if you’d go somewhere with me. Spend a few days with me,” he asks and my heart beats faster. As nice as that sounds, I can’t do it. He has Riley, wherever the hell she is, and I don’t want to get in the way of them.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

He nods his head and shoves off the couch heading toward the door. My chest feels heavy. Defeat is written all over his face and it hurts me to see him like that.

“Hey,” I call out to him before thinking better of it. He turns slowly, his eyes looking even more tired than mine and I find myself wondering why? What’s getting to him? What’s really bothering him? “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere now.” He turns back to the door and reaches for the handle when I do the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Well, sleeping with him might have been the stupidest but here I go anyway.

“I’ll go,” I say quickly before snapping my mouth shut. He looks up at me, hope in his eyes. He smiles slightly and nods as I stand from the couch and grab my bag. Walking toward the door, I feel a sense of peace wash over me. Maybe this is what I need. Maybe I need a break and need to figure things out. Shaft is worried that I will take this baby away from him like Riley did but I won’t, and maybe the time we spend together will remind him of that fact.

“I’m glad you said that. I already took your weekend off for you,” he adds with a smug ass tone in his voice.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, darlin’. I took it off for you. You were goin’ even if you said no. I just didn’t tell you that part.” His smile could melt hearts, but at the moment, I want to kick his ass not fall at his feet.

“You do remember what I did to that asshole’s car, right?” Shaft laughs and I think it might be the very first time I’ve heard him laugh like that.

“And you remember the weddin’ right?” He winks at me over his shoulder causing my cheeks to heat. I don’t know why I thought I could pull one over on him. I follow him out of the building toward his bike when he stops.

“We’ll go get the truck first,” he says without looking over at me.

“Why?”

“You can’t ride if you’re pregnant.”

“Like hell I can’t. I can fit. I’m not going in the truck. I want to ride the bike,” I tell him crossing my arms over my chest. Since I was first on the back of his bike, I’ve wanted back on it. It was exhilarating and I couldn’t find anything else in the world to compare it to. It was freeing and frightening and I want it all over again.

“You like the bike?” he asks raising an eyebrow.

“I more than like it. We’re taking the bike or I’m not going,” I warn him. Shaft laughs, reaches for me, and pulls me closer to him. His lips press against my cheek before skating toward my ear.

“I’d like to have you spread wide open on my bike. What do you think about that?”

“I think you should try it one day,” I say even though I don’t mean to. I keep telling myself that I need to stay away from him but he just keeps pulling me back in.

“Oh, I plan on tryin’ it. I’m gonna spread your thighs, lay you back on my handlebars, and slide my cock inside of you. You’re gonna ride me hard just like I ride my bike,” he says sucking my earlobe into his mouth. I moan at the feel and the words that leave his mouth.

What if I’m making a mistake? What if I could have all this with him? Shaft presses his body closer to mine and I relax into him. He pulls his head back to look down at me, a slightly confused look in his eyes. I know he’s used to me pushing but what if I’m tired of pushing him? What if I want to see where this goes?

“What’s that look?” he asks.

“I’m just thinking. What if I want to try this?” His eyebrows shoot up making me laugh a little.

“Like you and me?” I nod once. “You mean it? You ain’t fuckin’ with me?”

“No. I’ve been thinking. I like you, Marc.” God saying his name instead of Shaft just feels right.

“You know she’s gonna come back,” he reminds me of Riley.

“I know and you’ll be there for her when she does,” I tell him just as he shakes his head but I cut him off. “No. You will because that’s your child and you can’t walk away from it. You can’t do that, and if you try to, then I walk. Got it?”

He smirks.

“Goddamn, I think I like when you get all mouthy with me, woman. Makes my cock hard,” he says.

I lean into him, his lips taking mine in a gentle kiss. It’s softer than normal but I love it all the same. I like when he’s near me. I like when he’s touching me. It’s like everything else just sort of fades away. There are no worries of what might happen later. No worries of the future and what Riley might bring with her. It’s just us.

“You changin’ your mind?” he asks softly when I’m lost in my own little world. Shaking my head, I rid all the thoughts and only focus on the good.

“No. And don’t think I will either. You’re kinda stuck with me now. I told Riley I would stay away from you because that’s what was best for you two but she left. She made that choice and I’m here. I want to be with you, Marc.” I know my words mean something to him when he smiles. It’s written all over his face.

Sixteen

Shaft

My mom doesn’t live far. Temple had no idea what was going on until we got here. Now she’s a nervous mess trying to fix her hair and clothes while we stand in front of the door. I think it’s kind of cute watching her all flustered. She looks amazing as always and I don’t think there is anything she could do to not look good.

“I hate you,” she hisses as I reach for the doorknob. I just chuckle.

“No you don’t. Stop messin’ with your hair, you look fine.”

“Just fine? I can’t meet your mom and just look fine, Marc! Damn you!”

I love watching the color rise in her cheeks and the way her eyes dart around when she gets nervous. Grabbing her face in my free hand, I pull her mouth to mine and kiss her softly.

“Calm down. We ain’t meetin’ the President.”

“Might as well be,” she grumbles under her breath.

Pushing the door open, I walk us in. “Hey mom!” I holler.

“You just couldn’t knock? You don’t live here!” Temple freaks out once more.

“The boy has no manners,” my mom says as she rounds the corner. Mom is beautiful. She always has been. You couldn’t look at her and know that she had a grown son. She looks to be in her early thirties. Mom reaches for me, pulling me into arms for a hug.

“I have perfect manners,” I tell her as she pulls away. She just laughs.

“And who is this?” she asks smiling over at Temple.

I can tell Temple’s nervous. A lot of people get like that around my mom although I have no idea why.

“This is Temple. Temple this is my mom, Wanda.” Mom doesn’t shake hands so it doesn’t surprise me when she steps in and pulls Temple into her arms for a hug. Temple’s gaze meets mine over mom’s shoulder and I have to hold back the laugh that wants to escape. She looks terrified. When my mom pulls back she looks between us.

“This isn’t the one,” she stops herself and points at Temple. She thinks she’s Riley. I’ve told my mom about Riley but never brought her around to meet her. I mainly told her about her for the simple fact that she was pregnant. Breaking the news that I now have two women pregnant at once is going to be fun.

“No.”

“Good. Temple come with me,” she says sweetly and I chuckle. From what she knows of Riley she doesn’t like her either. I can’t say that I blame her there. I follow behind them into the kitchen where my mom pulls the wine from the cabinet along with three glasses.

“You know I’m not drinkin’ that shit,” I tell her nodding toward the bottle.

“Really, Marc? Do you have to be so nasty?” She hates my mouth.

“Sometimes.”

“You don’t need to drink it then. Get a beer. Temple and I will share a glass,” she adds sliding a glass toward Temple. I reach across the counter and slide it back.

“Temple can’t drink.” My mom’s eyes shoot to mine and there it is. She knows without me telling her.

“For the love of God, Marc! Tell me you didn’t.” Walking to the refrigerator I grab out a beer and pop the top.

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” I say with a shrug as I bring the bottle to my lips and take a long pull.

“What the hell were you thinking? No, don’t answer that. I know exactly what you were thinking. Marc Sean Murphy! What the hell has gotten into you?”

“Oh shit. Mom you used hell twice,” I tell her pointing the bottle at her. She grabs her glass and downs the wine in one gulp as I chuckle.

“You think this is funny? Does she think it’s funny as well?” she asks turning her gaze to where Temple sits biting her lip. She looks to be a little shocked. Hell, she might be.

“I don’t think she’s laughin’.”

“Marc! I can’t believe you. Didn’t I raise you better than this? I’m a failure. I failed at being your mother.” She rambles on as Temple looks between the two of us.

“You should have spanked me more,” I tell her with a smirk. Her angry glare shoots my way and I laugh harder.

“You are disgusting. I don’t know where the hell this came from.”

“You said hell three times now. That’s a new record, Mom.” She looks at me with anger but no hatred in her eyes. She loves me, I know she does. She doesn’t agree with a lot of the things I do. I suppose having two girls pregnant at once isn’t ideal.

“I mean it. What are you doing, Marc?” Her tone has calmed slightly but I still see the anger in her.

“I’m doin’ what I need to do. Riley took off. There isn’t much I can do about that,” I tell her with a shrug.

“What do you mean took off? You let her leave? While she’s carrying your child?”

“I don’t fuckin’ know if it is my kid!” I roar, growing tired of this already.

“And you know for a fact the one she’s carrying is yours?” she adds, pointing at Temple.

“Excuse me?” Now it’s Temple’s turn. My mom turns to her just as I’m about to say something.

“I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are or what you’re after, but my son is a good man,” Mom snaps but so does Temple. She climbs off the stool that she’s been sitting on and moves around the counter toward her. Shit.

“Just calm down,” I say although I’m not sure who I’m talking to. They are both heated right now.

“You’re right. You don’t know me and the way you’re acting, you won’t either. I would never lie about something like this. I didn’t plan on this!”

“Oh, I bet you used protection too, didn’t you? I’m sure it was a magical thing,” Mom snaps.

“You know what? I don’t need this shit. I don’t need you, I don’t need your son. I can do this all on my own. I’ve done a damn good job at taking care of myself until he showed up!”

“Sure, blame him!”

“Can we calm down?” I say looking between them but neither of them are looking at me.

“No, I made the mistake! This is on me. The only thing I blame him for is sneaking his way into my goddamn heart and making me feel things! That is all his fault!” Before any of us can respond, Temple turns and runs from the room. I stand here stunned at what I just heard. I’m telling myself to move, go after her, but I can’t. I’m stunned into silence for once.

“Well. I suppose I need to talk to her.” I don’t argue or move for that matter when my mom walks out of the room. Instead, I grab the bottle of wine off the counter and chug it down.

Seventeen

Temple

How stupid could I be? I came here for this shit? I should have known better.

“Well, at least I know where your heart is at.” I hear talking behind me but I don’t turn to look at her. I don’t want to. “I’m sorry, Temple. I have two children who mean the world to me, but I’ve seen Marc fall down the rabbit hole some call love before. I don’t want to see that happen again.” I still don’t answer her. That doesn’t make what she said to me better. The way she accused me. Of what? Caring about her son?

“I would never force him into anything the way she did. I’ve tried to stay away from him,” I say as I reach up and wipe the tears from my face. She steps closer, pulling my free hand into hers.

“I am truly sorry. Once your little one is here, you will understand. Will you walk with me?”

Reluctantly I nod my head. Wanda walks us around the side of the house and out into a small garden before ushering me toward a bench.

“Marc used to come out here and smash all my flowers when he was younger. When I’d yell at him, he would stick his tongue out and go splash his cousin in the fountain. I knew he was a rebel back then too. He isn’t any different now.”

“I meant what I said. I know I messed up and that’s why I’m not with him. I don’t want anything from him.”

“You want his heart. That’s something,” she says softly, her hand still tangled with mine.

“I… To be honest I don’t know if I want that or not. We haven’t known each other long. Everything just happened.”

“He knows. He brought you here. He didn’t bring that Riley girl around here,” she says and it almost sounds like she’s happy about that.

“Why don’t you like her?”

She smiles sadly before she scoots around to face me.

“She’s a cheater. Now, I know my son has done things that I would hate as well but she cheated on him many times. Each time he called me and I felt his heart crack through the phone. I felt it breaking. I know what he does and I don’t like it, but I also know that deep inside he has a heart and at times he wears it on his sleeve. That’s the boy I watched grow up. The one who would help others before himself. The boy who would hold the door open for a lady and say thank you. He’s grown into a man who knows what he wants but can’t seem to find it,” she says looking a little lost. I hate that look on her. She worries about him, that much I can tell. She must have been an amazing mother. She still is.

“What is it he’s looking for?” I ask softly not sure that I want to hear this part.

“The other piece of his heart, of course. You see, men are not whole. They never will be until they find that other half. He’s searched for a long time and I think he thought he found that in her. She wasn’t what he needed and he knew it deep down but he longs for that.” Tears slowly slip down my cheeks as she grabs my hand tighter. She reaches up and pulls the pendant into her fingers and smiles.

“Now, he must see something special in you if you let you wear this. No one, not even me, got to touch this.”

“Where did it come from?”

“It was his father’s. He passed long ago before Marc ever knew him, but this, this was something special to him. He never let this out of his sight so the fact that he let you wear it means something.”

“He didn’t…it was actually…”

“You done talkin’ shit about me yet?”

Speak of the devil. I look up and wipe my eyes as Wanda leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek. Marc watches us when his eyes fall to the pendant. He swallows hard but doesn’t say anything until his mom stands and walks away.

“Watch your mouth, Marc!” she calls over her shoulder. I giggle a little. Marc walks over and sits next to me as I reach up and unhook the necklace. Holding it out to him, I slowly lower it into his palm.

“It was mixed in with my things when I left.”

“And you kept it.”

“I just…”

“Just what? Tell me. Say it, Temple,” he begs but never looks at me. His eyes stay on the necklace in his hand.

“It made me feel closer to you,” I whisper softly. Marc turns to face me, his face a mask of emotions. He reaches up and slips the necklace back around my neck and hooks it.

“Marc, I shouldn’t wear this.”

“Yes, you should. I want you to feel that closeness to me, Temple. I’m fucked in the head sometimes but I want this. I mean it. It’s not like with Riley. It all feels different. Tell me you can’t feel that spark, that connection,” he asks looking into my eyes.

I’d be lying if I said no.

“I do.”

“I’ve messed up a lot in my life. I looked for something that I never really found. I don’t know what I’m doin’ most days but I want this, Temple. I don’t care if you want me to beg, I will.”

“Don’t beg. Your mom didn’t raise you to beg,” I tease him. His lips curl into a smile that melts my heart.

“Mom is makin’ us go out to dinner. I told her no but she wants to. You can’t tell her shit,” he adds grabbing my hands in his. He squeezes them and that’s all I need. What is wrong with me? I shouldn’t want him. He has two women pregnant and yet every time I see him, I feel like I’m on fire and when he isn’t around I feel like I’m drowning. That can’t be normal, can it?

“We shouldn’t make her wait,” I say softly.

“She don’t mind.” He leans in and brushes his lips over mine.

The air around us feels lighter, like things have lifted. Maybe this was all in my head. Maybe it was all in my mind. I’ve had the worst feeling about things since the day I saw Riley in that doctor’s office, but now that she’s gone, I can breathe. When Marc pulls back, his eyes sparkle in the light.

“We should go,” I whisper. He reluctantly nods his head before standing and pulling me with him.

“Did you really kill her flowers?” I ask as we walk back toward the front of the house.

“You’re datin’ a rebel, darlin’. Of course I killed her flowers.”

Eighteen

Shaft

Her belly gets bigger, her smile brighter. My heart feels fuller. Everything just seems right. Which in my world means something is going to go wrong. It never fails. When things are good they can’t possibly stay that way, at least not for someone like me.

“You feelin’ okay? You look like shit,” Wolf asks pulling up the stool next to me and taking a seat.

“You ever feel like there is too much good in your life? Like somethin’ is bound to fuck up?” I ask looking over at him. He shakes his head, running his hand through his hair.

“This about Riley?”

“Maybe. I don’t really know. She ain’t been around but I feel like somethin’ bad is gonna happen.”

“Heard that. You can’t think that way though. You gotta keep your head straight. You got Temple and that baby to think about. Look at her,” he says nodding toward the other side of the room. Temple stands with Dez and Angel, a huge smile lighting up her face. She’s glowing. I can’t help but smile at her.

“She’s a good one.”

“Damn right she is. Saved my old ass,” Barnie adds as he slaps a hand on my shoulder.

“Sometimes I wonder why she did that,” Sly chimes in with a chuckle. We all laugh.

“You girls would miss me.”

“Not in the slightest,” Sly teases.

“Things never stay good, Shaft. There has to be some bad to balance it all out, yeah?”

“Oh my God!” Angel screams pulling all of our attention to them. I’m off the stool and rushing through the room, grabbing Temple before I even know what’s going on.

“What’s wrong?” Panic sets in, taking my chest and holding it in a vice like grip. My eyes dance over her face but she just looks confused.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“What’s wrong? She screamed,” I tell her looking at Angel and then back to her.

“I’d never felt the baby move before,” Angel says softly. I take a deep breath and step back, almost like I need the space to suck in as much air as I can.

“That’s fucked up. You scared the shit outta me,” I say pointing at Angel. The girls giggle but I don’t. Shit, that really did scare the hell out of me. This parenthood shit is awful and the baby isn’t even born yet.

“Everything’s okay,” Temple assures me, moving closer. Her hands wrap around my waist and her head rests on my chest. I close my eyes wondering when the bad shit is going to sneak up on me. I just pray that it doesn’t have anything to do with Temple or the baby. I wrap my arms around her and hold her closer.

“Way to be a spaz, Shaft!” Dez giggles before slapping me on the back and walking away. I lean down and nuzzle my face into Temple’s hair.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Sorry,” I tell her.

“Your heart is racing,” she whispers.

“Just freaked out a little.” She nods her head but doesn’t say anything else. We stand like this for a long time, me just holding her. Family has always meant something to me. Something more than it did to others. I can’t explain it and I don’t know that I’d want to. I just have a connection to my family that is hard to explain. I feel it - the love, the togetherness - on a deeper level than most. Or so I’m told. If you mess with my family, that’s when I lose myself. I can’t lose them and I won’t. I refuse.

When I feel her hands move under my shirt, I know what she wants. Her nails drag over my skin, down my back. I close my eyes and let her touch me however she wants before she pulls her head back and looks up at me.

“I need you,” she whispers, causing me to smirk.

“You’ve had me.” She smiles and pulls her hands from under my shirt, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the room. I let her have this moment. I let her have me. Following her into the room, she closes the door and pulls her shirt over her head tossing it to the side. I smile as I watch her. She’s relaxed a little more around me now. She was always tense and unsure before, but now she just does what she feels and I love that about her. My eyes roam her body but when they land on her belly, they stop.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

“We made that.”

She walks toward me, reaching for my hand. Slowly she brings it to her stomach and rests it there. The mood has shifted. It’s no longer sexual. This is more. It’s intimate.

“Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” she asks softly. I pull my eyes away from her stomach and meet her gaze.

“Does it matter?” She shakes her head slowly, tears building in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“My parents… I haven’t talked to them in so long. I always thought that when I had a baby that my mom would be there. She would help me, guide me. I feel like I’m missing that piece.”

“Why don’t you talk to them? We can talk to them together,” I tell her.

“I don’t know if I can. My dad, he was a very hard man to live with. He was in the army and he ran our house much the same. It was too much for me. When I left, I didn’t look back.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Seven years.” The tears in her eyes tell me she misses them. I can’t let her feel like this. I don’t want her to.

“So, we talk to them together.”

“You would go with me?” she asks looking confused.

“You’re mine, Temple. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. You have to know that by now.” I lean down to kiss her when Gauge yells through the door.

“We got an issue, brother!”

Nineteen

Temple

The tone of Gauge’s voice told me there was something going on that we weren’t going to like. I could feel it. Shaft pulls back and grabs my hand in his.

“You comin’?”

I nod and grab my shirt watching the smile as it pulls across his face. Slipping back into my clothes, we walk out of the room and back into the main room. That’s when I spot her. Our eyes lock before hers slowly move to my stomach then her own.

“Son of a bitch,” Shaft grumbles under his breath.

“Did you miss me?” Riley asks plastering a fake smile on her face. I knew she’d come back. It was just a matter of time. I’ve sort built myself up for this moment. I’ve kept telling myself that she can’t get in between us even if she is pregnant. According to her, she is a month and half ahead of me. She starts toward us and Shaft tenses.

“Be nice. That’s your baby,” I tell him. He looks down at me, his eyebrows drawn together. I know what he’s thinking. Why am I being so calm about this? That’s easy. That could be his child she’s carrying and there is no way that I would come between him and his child.

“I love you, Temple.”

Of all the times to tell me that he says it now? I open my mouth but I don’t know what to say. Doesn’t matter anyway. Riley stalks toward him, grabbing his hand and pressing it to her stomach.

“Do you feel that? It’s your baby. I know it’s going to be a boy,” she goes on and on. Shaft just stands there, still as stone. His mind must be running a million miles a minute right now. His eyes are darting all over my face but I just smile and walk away. He needs to deal with this sooner or later, and since she’s already here, he might as well talk to her.

“Are you okay?” Dez asks wrapping her arm around my waist.

“I’m fine. This needs to be done. That could be his child, right?” She nods her head slowly and we both stand back watching as they talk. He keeps his hand on her stomach long after she let’s go but it’s the look in his eyes that bothers me. He looks so unsure of what to do. I hate that he’s stuck in this situation but at the same time I didn’t put him there.

“This shit’s not gonna end well,” Wolf says as he walks over and stands next to us.

“Why not?” I ask looking up at him.

“New girl and ex-girl? That shit never ends well. Especially when ex-girl is fuckin’ pyscho.” I choke on a laugh and slap him across the chest. Shaft turns to look at me over his shoulder and I just give him a little nod.

“Not afraid of a little competition?” Sly asks as he walks over.

“Is it really a competition?” I giggle.

“True but I know girls like Riley. They don’t give up. You’re gonna be in for one hell of a fight if you wanna stay with him,” he says nodding toward Shaft.

My eyes follow his. Is he right? Will she really fight me for him? Watching the way she looks at him, the way she keeps trying to touch him in some sort of way, I can see it. She would. She would fight me for him. The reality slams into me. Blinking rapidly, I will the tears not to fall. I can feel them burning the back of my eyes.

“Don’t let her win,” Dez whispers.

I nod my head and shake the thoughts away. I won’t fight to be with anyone. That isn’t me. If Shaft wants to be with me then he will be. If he doesn’t, that’s a fact I have to accept.

“Can you go look at that apartment with me?” I turn to Dez. She smiles and nods her head.

“Of course. I think you’ll like it,” she says grabbing my hand in hers. I take one last look at Shaft and Riley before following Dez out the side door. This was always the plan. I wasn’t going to stay here at the clubhouse forever.

“She’s a bitch,” Dez mumbles as she climbs in the driver’s side of her car.

“She was here first. I get it. She wants him around for their child. I can’t fault her for that, Dez.” I buckle my seat belt as Dez starts to pull out of the parking lot.

“I asked Gauge about her. He said she’s just using him. He said if she didn’t have the stomach to prove it, he would think she was lying about the whole thing.” I snort a laugh.

“He’s imaginative.”

“No, he just doesn’t like her. He thinks she’s just trying to pin the baby on him so she can keep him around. He doesn’t want her.”

“We won’t know if that’s the case until the baby is born.”

“She looks a little small doesn’t she?” Now that I think about it, she did but that means nothing. I’ve worked in the OBGYN office long enough to know that.

“Some people don’t show much. We had a girl that was almost nine months along and I’m bigger than she was. Could just be a small baby,” I tell her. She huffs which makes me laugh.

“I still don’t like her,” she adds.

“I don’t either but I signed up for this, right?”

“So the two of you are together now? Like no more fighting it out. Just together?”

“I think so. After I met his mom, he seemed different. He was more open and caring. He said he loves me, Dezzy.”

“No shit? Shaft said those words?” She laughs.

“I was a little shocked but yeah.”

“He’s a good guy. He helped me through a lot of shit, you know? I’m glad that he’s finally happy.” We drive in silence the rest of the way to the apartment. When we pull up, I immediately smile.

“Second floor which sucks but it has an elevator,” Dez tells me as we climb out of the car. She’s on her phone, no doubt texting Gauge to let him know where we are. Once she’s finished we walk toward the front doors and head inside. It’s nicer than some I’ve looked at. Dez talks to the man at the desk, getting the key so we can look at the apartment before ushering me to the elevator.

“A doorman. You could have a doorman, Temple,” she laughs.

“I’m not sure how I feel about a doorman. That’s kind of weird,” I laugh as we ride to the second floor. Stepping off, Dez leads me to the apartment. We don’t even get inside when I hear his voice.

“You gonna be my new neighbor?” I turn to look over my shoulder seeing the guy from awhile back. March, I think his name was.

“Don’t know. Just looking,” I tell him as I roll my eyes and turn back toward the door. Dez shoves it open and we both walk in but the door never clicks shut behind us.

“Pregnant, huh?”

“Do you mind? Don’t you have pedestrians to torment?” Dez snaps when she turns to see him behind us.

“Wasn’t talkin’ to you.”

“Yes, I’m pregnant as you can very well see. Now if you don’t mind, we are looking,” I snap at him. He starts toward me as fear claws its way into my throat. The door that’s still open suddenly slams shut, scaring me and Dez. We both jump and scream a little when I see Shaft. He has a knife in his hand, twirling it, the tip pressed into his finger.

“What are we doin’ here?” he asks casually. March turns around to face him and the dark look in Shaft’s eyes unnerves me.

“Saw the ladies checkin’ out the apartment. I was welcomin’ them to the buildin’.”

“I bet you were. They ain’t movin’ in though. Guess your hospitality was for nothin’.” His eyes never move from March. It’s almost eerie to watch him like this.

“They wouldn’t be lookin’ if they didn’t need a place,” March says pushing his buttons. I watch Shaft, the way his eyes flicker back and forth between March’s. He’s on edge but I can’t say that I mind him being here.

“Wanna make a bet? She didn’t realize I already set up a place for her.” Shaft nods at me.

“So it’s your kid, huh? Didn’t peg you as the daddy type.”

“Didn’t peg you as the type to get off on pregnant women either but surprise, surprise. Here we are. Why don’t you take a fuckin’ walk, March.”

Twenty

Shaft

Irritation slithers down my spine. The thought of gutting him in the middle of this apartment is almost too much for me to take. I’ve seen it play out over and over in my head. My knife piercing his heart. The blood seeping from every part of his body.

“Keep your girls close,” March says as he walks past me and out the door. I close my eyes willing myself to not kick his ass and kill him today.

“What the fuck are you two doin’ here?” I hiss the words and open my eyes looking at Dez and Temple.

“I’m looking at apartments,” Temple says crossing her arms over her chest.

“Not here, Temple. You ain’t stayin’ here.”

“You can’t tell me where I can live.”

“Yeah, I can! You’re mine, Temple! I thought we went over this,” I roar. She raises her eyebrow, challenging me. I like that she does that but not right now and not here.

“We didn’t go over this. I need a place. I can’t stay at the clubhouse after I have the baby. I need a place.” Look at her arguing with me. She thinks she’s going to win this argument but she isn’t.

“You have a place,” I snap pulling my hand through my hair.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes you do! You have a goddamn place with me!” I don’t mean to yell at her. I don’t know why I am but she does this to me. She makes me insane. She screws my head up and I can’t think straight.

“Shaft, come on,” she says stepping toward me. Her hands come to rest on my chest. I look down at her and grab her face in my hands.

“Just trust me. That’s all you gotta do. Trust me, okay?” She doesn’t know what to say. Hell, if I was in her position I wouldn’t either so when she nods her head, I feel like I’ve won a little piece of my sanity back.

“I’m going home,” Dez says heading for the door.

“We’re leavin’ too. Don’t walk outta here by yourself with March creepin’ around.” Dez nods and heads out the door with me and Temple right behind her. We all head back down and outside thankful that I didn’t see March again. I might have to go with my feeling and gut the son of a bitch.

“Go back to the clubhouse. I’m takin’ her home,” I tell Dez. She looks over at me a little confused before it hits her. She raises an eyebrow and I nod subtly. Her face breaks into a grin and Temple stands there confused as ever.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“Nothin’.”

“You really doing this?” Dez asks.

“I am,” I tell her. She runs to me and leaps into my arms, hugging me.

“I’m so happy for you both. You are the best, Shaft. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.”

“What the hell is happening?” Temple laughs.

“You’ll see. I’ll see you later tonight,” Dez says when she pulls back and hugs Temple. I watch her walk to the car and get in before I lead Temple to the truck.

“Is everything okay?”

“It’s good, why?” I ask holding the door open for her.

“You two are weird,” she mumbles.

“And yet you love us both.” She opens her mouth to say something but I slam the door instead. I don’t need to hear her excuses. I don’t need to hear her say it. We have all the time in world for that. I jog around the truck and climb in before pulling out onto the road. Temple sits in silence, my eyes falling to her stomach more than once on the ride.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” she asks.

“I said I was takin’ you home. I meant it,” I tell her as I turn down my road. I’ve never brought a woman to my house. I’ve never brought my brothers to my house. The only people who come here are my cousin and my mom. That’s it. Nobody else is allowed here. It’s my haven. My place. My life away from everything else but now it’s more than that. It’s our place.

“Close your eyes,” I tell her. Temple doesn’t argue she just does it. I pull into the driveway and help her out of the truck before leading her inside. I don’t stop in the living room, I take her straight to the bedroom. “Open them.”

“What the hell?” She looks up at me quickly, confused as to what she’s seeing. She walks over and runs her hand over the crib and the little stuffed animals.

“You like it?”

“You did this?”

“With a little help from my mom and cousin.” She looks at me with awe in her eyes. I love it. I love seeing her happy. She smiles and it melts me.

“What about Riley?” Why does she have to bring her up? Why? I wanted this to be about Temple. Running my hand over my face, I sigh and motion for her to follow me. I lead her across the hall to the other bedroom.

“Two nurseries?” she asks raising an eyebrow.

“I figured if she let me have the baby sometimes it would need its own space and bed.” Tears fill her eyes as she moves to wrap her arms around me.

“You are the best man ever. Do you know that?” she sniffles.

“Family is important to me Temple.”

“I know it is. And this is amazing, Marc. Just…perfect.” I reach for her face holding it in my hands before I kiss her once more. This is what I’ve been looking for. This is what I’ve needed.

“Now you wanna see our room?”

“I don’t know if this is a good idea. Living together?”

“Temple. We live together at the clubhouse, sweetheart. This is just our own space,” I tell her as I grab her hand and drag her down the hall. I open the door to our bedroom and she smiles.

“Do I want to ask how many women have slept in that bed?” she teases with a smirk.

“None.”

“What?”

“I said, none. No woman has ever been here aside from my mom and cousin. That’s not what this place is for me. You are the first woman to ever sleep in that bed with me.” Her eyes land on mine and the more tears I see in them the more I want to kiss them away.

“I don’t know what to say,” she says softly when I reach for her, pulling her into my chest.

“Don’t say anything. This is us. This is us movin’ forward and becomin’ a family. Isn’t that what you want?” When she looks up at me, my breath catches in my throat. There’s pain in her eyes but I also see the hope. “Tell me you want this.” She slowly nods her head when I lean down and kiss her. Temple pulls at my shirt, her fingers grazing my skin. Heat seeps into my pores feeling her so close to me. I break our kiss long enough to pull our clothes off before I have her on the bed writhing.

“Marc, I need you,” she whispers softly. I smirk at her, pressing little kisses along her shoulder.

“I know you do. I just don’t wanna hurt Junior.”

She giggles. “You can’t hurt it.” She grabs my cock and positions me where she wants me. I don’t argue. Hell, what man would when you feel your woman’s hand wrapped around you? I slowly thrust into her, her hands moving around my back. Pulling me closer, I smile as I slowly fuck the woman who’s having my baby and holds my heart.

“You can’t keep going this slow,” she whines. Her pussy clenches around me and I groan. She’s trying to kill me, I know she is.

“I don’t wanna hurt you.” Temple shoves herself up and pushes me back. I pull out of her and drop onto the bed on my back as she moves to straddle me. Taking my cock back into her hand I watch her climb up and slide down my length. With her feet planted on the bed on either side of me she rises and falls quickly.

“Jesus Christ,” I hiss as she rides me harder than I’ve ever fucked her. Her eyes are clenched shut, her lips parted, moans falling freely. My hands stay wrapped around her hips as she fucks me into the mattress.

Twenty-One

Temple

Shaft hated that I came back to work. He doesn’t want me working at all, but I am who I am and I don’t plan on giving up my job for him. I did say I’d take less shifts at the hospital but that’s about it. I know he’s off on a run this week but this is also the week we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. Shaft didn’t want me to find out without him so the envelope with the results is burning a hole in my purse. I want to peek and see but I also don’t want to disappoint him. He’s been so excited lately that it makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. Riley has been around the clubhouse but on Shaft’s off time he’s been at home with me. I don’t know how I feel about that considering that baby is his.

“You are glowing,” Anne, my coworker, says as I gather my things to leave.

“I’m happy. I can’t wait for Marc to get home so we can see if it’s a boy or a girl.”

“How much longer is he going to be gone?”

“Hopefully just a few more days.”

“That will be hell to wait. Good luck.”

I turn on my heel ready to leave when I see the back of Riley. I’ve wanted to talk to her but I didn’t know how. I suppose now is as good of time as any.

“Riley!” I call out to her when she hits the hallway. She turns to look at me, pulling her bag in front of her quickly. Her eyes are red and puffy. She’s been crying.

“What do you want?” she hisses.

“Are you okay? I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“About what? How you stole my man? You said you were going to stay away from him. You’re a liar. He’ll be lucky if I ever let him see this baby after this,” she snaps. I open my mouth to say more but she isn’t finished. “You make me sick. You stole him away when you knew I was pregnant. What kind of person does that?”

“I didn’t mean to. Things just happened, Riley. I’m sorry. He will still be there for his baby, I promise.” The look in her eyes shifts to something I’ve never seen before in her.

“Do you think that’s all this is about? The damn baby? It’s about me, Temple! He was mine!”

“Look, I get that you’re mad but this isn’t about you. It’s about his child. You can’t take his child away from him.” A soft sob lodges in her throat. I don’t understand this woman. I don’t understand her motives. She moves toward me slowly, her eyes wild and deranged.

“You did this. You took that child away from him. You made the choice to shove your way down his cock so you could have him. If he never sees this baby again, it’ll be all your fault.” Each word is like a stake to the chest. It hurts to hear her say that. She steps back and turns to walk away as tears fill my eyes. I can’t believe she actually feels that way.

I listen as to the ding of the elevator before I wipe my eyes and walk down the hall. Pulling my phone out, I text Dez to see if she’s around. She doesn’t take long to text me back and say she’s at the clubhouse. I didn’t want to go there, not when Shaft isn’t there, but I also need to get myself together and I know Dez is the one person I can talk to.

When I make it downstairs, I climb in my car and pull out. I drive in a daze for a little while when I notice a car behind me. It’s been there awhile. Grabbing my phone off the seat, I call Shaft.

“Miss me already?” he teases.

“I think someone’s following me.”

“What do you mean? Where are you?”

“I just left work. There’s a blue car that’s been behind me the whole time since I left, Marc. What do I do?” Slight panic eats at my insides.

“You sure they’re followin’ you?”

“No. Not a hundred percent sure.” I’m being paranoid. Isn’t that great.

“Just calm down, babe. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. You headin’ home?” he asks keeping his tone calm. Thank God one of us is calm.

“I was going to the clubhouse to see Dez.”

“Good. They won’t follow you there,” he says and I can hear him typing. He must have put me on speaker. The car comes closer and my heart nearly leaps into my throat.

“It’s closer. Oh my God. Shaft the car is closer!” I nearly scream. My heart pounds in my chest. I’ve never felt this kind of panic before in my life.

“Baby, calm down. Just head toward the clubhouse.”

But before he can say anything further, the car collides with mine. I scream, pressing the gas harder.

“What the fuck is happenin’, Temple?” I ignore his screams and drive faster, watching my mirrors. Who the hell is that? What are they trying to do? The car behind me speeds up and I gasp. What do they want? Tears burn my eyes when Marc yells again, “What the fuck is happenin’? Answer me, goddamn it!”

“They hit the back of my car! They’re still back there! Marc, what do they want?” Tears fall down my cheeks as I accelerate.

“Can you speed up safely? Don’t do anything that will get you hurt, Temple, but I need you to speed up.”

“I am!” I scream back at him.

“The guys are waitin’ outside for you, darlin’. A few are on the way toward you, okay? You got this, baby. You can handle this.” His voice remains so calm but I can sense the fear in it. Each word is forced. He can’t lie and tell me he isn’t afraid.

“Marc?”

“I’m here, baby. I ain’t gettin’ off here until I know you’re safe.”

“I love you,” I blurt out. He chuckles.

“I know you do. I love you too. Talk to me about somethin’.”

“About what?”

“You got the results today, yeah? You think we got a little girl in there?” I check my mirrors and see the car but it’s backed off a little. My focus moves back to the road and how close we are to the clubhouse. I see the motorcycles in the mirror when I check once more.

“I don’t know.”

“Are you excited?”

“I see them,” I tell him.

“You see the guys? That’s good, baby. You’re doin’ good. Now what do you think? Boy or girl?”

I want to break down and cry when I see the car speed off in another direction but I keep my eyes on the road in front of me. Gauge’s bike comes around to the side of the car. I glance over and he gives me a nod.

“Gauge is here.”

“Good. Keep talkin’ to me, sweetheart.”

“I hope it’s a boy.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I want him to be just like you. I want him to stomp on my flowers and be a little rebel,” I tell him through a tear-filled laugh.

“You don’t know what you’re askin’ for,” he says chuckling. “Just ask my mom.”

“Marc?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I love you. I really do.”

“I know, Temple. I love you too. I’m gonna be there as soon as I can okay? Just stay at the clubhouse until I get there, yeah?” My palms are sweating, my body slowly begins to tremble as the reality of what just happened hits me.

“What did they want?” I cry as I turn onto the road leading to the clubhouse.

“I don’t know but I’ll find out. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry? They could have killed me, Shaft! Don’t worry?” I scream into the empty car. I pull to a stop right next to the clubhouse watching as Gauge climbs off his bike and heads toward me. I have Shaft on speaker phone.

“You’re fine, babe. They didn’t hurt you,” he says softly.

I know he’s trying to be reassuring but that isn’t helping. The baby could have been hurt. They could have hurt it. What kind of mother would that make me? I’m with this man, a man that does illegal things. They could have been after him.

“Temple?”

“They could have killed the baby!” I scream a little on the hysterical side. The car door flies open as my body begins to tremble.

“Come on,” Gauge says. I shake my head. Fuck him. Fuck all of this! This isn’t my life. What am I doing?

“Leave me the fuck alone! All of you!”

“Temple, baby,” Shaft says, his voice rising through the silence.

“If they were after you for something, they could have hurt my baby.”

“Your baby? Don’t you mean our baby?” There’s that anger that I’ve heard in him.

“My baby. It’s mine!”

“Calm down,” Gauge warns me as the world begins to spin. I can’t do this. I can’t be what he needs. I’m a nurse. Just a nurse. I can’t live in this life.

“Temple?” Shaft’s voice seeps into me.

“Leave me alone,” I say softly as I feel the weight of the world slowly crashing down on me. My heads a mess. My body feels heavy.

“Shit,” I hear Gauge mumble before I feel arms wrapping around me.

“Gauge?”

“She’s okay. She’s just weak, brother. Too much all at once. She’ll be fine. I’ll call you back.”

“Temple?” Shaft roars. “Temple, I love you.”

Twenty-Two

Shaft

I’ve never felt that kind of panic in my life. That uselessness. I wasn’t there to protect her. That’s what pisses me off the most. The fact that I wasn’t there when she needed me. I curse myself for a lot of that.

“You good to do this?” Wolf asks looking over at me.

I nod my head. If anything the anger in me is worse. The way I feel right now, I could take down a fucking army. I’m pissed but I know that Sly is looking into it. That doesn’t ease the ache inside of me, though.

“Let’s fuckin’ do it,” I tell him. Checking my guns once more, I shove one into the back of my jeans as I hold the other in front of me. Me, Wolf, Tag, and a few prospects were sent out to handle this job and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I glance over at Wolf and nod. He nods back as we move slowly toward the front door. One of the prospects is behind us, the others around back with Tag. I raise my hand to halt them before counting to three. On three, I kick the door open and we move in like a goddamn swat team. We’re quiet as we move through the house, clearing each room as we go. Until we get to the last one. I kick the door open and step inside when I see it.

“Jesus,” I mumble. Wolf moves in next to me and shakes his head in disgust.

“What the fuck is this?” He asks.

“I don’t know,” I tell him when we hear Tag.

“Found someone tryin’ to run,” he announces as we all turn to look at him. He holds a man, maybe in his early fifties around the back of the neck.

“What the fuck is all this?” I ask him pointing at the sleeping kids on the floor. My stomach knots.

“I don’t know anything.”

I’m already pissed about Temple and whoever went after her. I’m pissed that I wasn’t there for her and now I’m going to have to kill this fucker in front of a bunch of kids.

“You know what the fuck this is, and if you don’t talk, I start cuttin’.” Warning him is a one-time thing. I won’t say it again. Stuffing my gun into the front of my jeans, I reach for my knife instead. I stalk toward him as he bucks and tries to pull out of Tag’s grip but it’s no use. I smirk as I make my way closer to him.

“I’m in a bad mood today. More so than usual. You try to run from my boy when there’s a room full of at least thirty small kids. What the fuck is this shit?” I hiss. A child cries behind me. I want to turn and look at it, pick it up and hold it, but I can’t. Not until I handle this fucker. We came here looking for drugs, not kids.

“I just work here! I was told to watch the kids. That’s it!” His hands are in the air and he’s basically begging for his life. Fuck him and his life. What about those kids and their lives? Where the fuck are their parents? God, this is fucked.

“Why are they here? Who the fuck do you work for?” I step closer, letting him see the anger that dances inside of me.

“They sell them! Please, don’t kill me! I’m only to keep them until they show up!”

“Who are they?” I grind my teeth painfully together as I press the knife against his throat. His eyes widen, Wolf chuckles.

“My only contact is March! That’s all I know!”

That name sends a chill down my spine. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, his words from the apartment hitting me hard. He told me to keep her close. He knew Temple was pregnant.

“Son of a bitch!” I roar before plunging the knife into his throat. Tag releases him and he falls to the floor.

“What are we doin’ with this? The rest of the house is clear,” Wolf adds.

“Get out. Get the fuck out and call the police.”

“What?” I turn and look down at the crying little boy before moving toward him. Lifting him into my arms, I sit against the wall and try to soothe him.

“What the fuck are you doin’, brother?” Wolf asks cocking his head to the side to study me. I don’t give a shit what he thinks. I know what I need to do right now.

“Get the fuck out, Wolf. Call the goddamn police and give them an anonymous tip. Tell Sly I got this one.” He shakes his head unsure of what to do. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t either but I can’t leave these kids like this.

“This isn’t our problem!” Tag roars, his voice thundering through the room. I cut my eyes to our newest patched member and smirk. I’ll have his colors pulled in no time if that’s the kind of man he wants to be.

“I said get out,” I tell them once more, gritting my teeth as the little boy in my arms slowly calms. Wolf blows out a breath and shakes his head as he turns and ushers the others out of the room. I watch them go, not really giving a shit that I’m going to be caught in the middle of this mess. Looking down at the little boy, his eyes slowly fluttering closed once more, I realize this could have been my kid. We never know what’s going to happen in the future. Glancing around, most of the kids are babies. All have to be younger than two years old. They are dirty and clearly malnourished. The smell in the room is horrific but I can’t seem to care. All I care about is that they are safe now. That somewhere their parents are missing them. Somewhere out there they probably have family who are missing them like crazy. Looking back down at the little boy in my arms, I run my hand over his little head.

“You’re gonna be okay now, buddy.” I can hear the sirens and I smile knowing that Wolf did what he was told to do. It won’t be long before I’m being hauled into the local police station but just one glance around the room tells me it’s worth it. I want to run to Temple, I do but I know if anyone understood the situation it would be her. She wouldn’t have left them either. She would have stayed and made sure they were safe first.

The police call out as they make entry.

“Up here!” I call back.

In seconds the room is in chaos. The little boy is taken from my arms and I’m pinned against the wall being cuffed. It’s not that I didn’t expect it, I did. The cop is spouting off all kinds of questions as he drags me from the room and down the stairs. Shoving me into the back of the police car, I smirk. I sit in silence as I watch the scene unfold. One child after another is brought out and set onto the lawn of the disgusting house. Paramedics move from child to child checking them. My heart slowly calms inside of me knowing that they will be okay now. They will be safe but as that thought settles inside of me, so does another. March is going to die. He’s going to die for what he did with these kids. He’s going to die for looking at my girl.

Twenty-Three

Temple

The baby kicks and moves around. It’s a strange feeling to know that that is your child in there. I roll over onto my side trying to get some sleep. I was scared shitless when everything was happening but just hearing Shaft’s voice made it all better. I was in and out of it for a while, but I feel better now, just tired. Shaft hasn’t called back and it makes me worry. I hate this feeling. Dez has been by my side since I got here but she went out a little while ago thinking I was asleep. I needed to have a few minutes to myself. I do feel safe here and I don’t think whoever it was could get in, but it still makes me nervous. I’m about to roll over when the door flies open. My heart leaps thinking its Shaft but it’s not. Instead, Sly strolls in.

“Hey,” I say softly.

“Hey, darlin’. Need to talk to you.” I shove myself up and scoot against the headboard as I nod.

“Shaft is in jail.”

“What? How? What happened?”

He reaches over and grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze. “You know he was out on a run. Shit didn’t go as planned. I’m workin’ on it now.”

“What does that mean?”

“I can’t talk about that right now. I just wanted you to know that I was handlin’ it. You’re stayin’ here until we get shit handled. He doesn’t want you out on your own,” Sly says. I nod my head but I still don’t understand. “It’s nothin’ personal and he wasn’t doin’ anything wrong, Temple. I can see the look in your eyes. I’ll give you more information in a while. For now, just let me handle the lawyers and everything, okay?”

I nod one more as my stomach sinks. I’m glad he wasn’t doing anything wrong but then why was he arrested to begin with? Sly stands and leaves the room, leaving me with more questions than I had before. Now not only was someone following me but Shaft is in jail. Could my day get any worse?

Sleep isn’t an option now so I shove off the bed and head out into the main room. There are guys everywhere, the girls are sort of lingering in the background. Is this how it is when something happens around here? I see Dezzy and Angel in the corner talking and make my way over.

“I thought you were sleeping?” Dez asks pulling me in for a hug.

“Not after hearing he was in jail. Do you know anything?” Just as I ask her, my phone rings. When I pull it out, I don’t recognize the number so I move away from the group before I answer.

“Hello?”

“Temple? It’s me, Wanda.”

“Wanda. Oh my God do you know what’s going on? No one here will tell me anything,” I whisper into the phone hoping like hell that she has some kind of news that I don’t.

“He’s being held right now for questioning. I don’t have all the details just yet. All I know is that they were out doing whatever they do and somehow he was left in a house full of small kids.”

“What? Small kids? I don’t understand,” I tell her, shaking my head as if she can actually see me. I’m even more confused now. How would they have ended up in a house full of kids? Why is there a house full of kids?

“Apparently it was some kind of illegal adoption ring. These kids… my God, Temple, they were all kidnapped and were being sold to the highest bidder.” The pain in her voice nearly guts me. Bile rises in my throat as I run down the hallway and into the bathroom. I lose it. I throw up until my sides ache and my chest hurts. I grab the counter and pull myself up when I hear her on the phone still. Grabbing it, I bring it to my ear.

“I’m sorry.”

“I understand, sweetheart. It’s a mess. I know Marc isn’t involved in this. There is no way he would ever do such a thing. He loves children,” she says I can hear her heart breaking with her voice.

“I know that. He didn’t do this. We will get him out. I know we will.” I try my best to reassure her but I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes. I don’t know what all of this means.

“Try to rest, honey. I know Sly is doing all he can to get him home. When he does get there will you let me know? I’d like to know my son is safe.”

“Why don’t you just come here and wait with me?”

She laughs a little. “That’s not my place. As much as I’d love to be there, this isn’t Marc’s first round in the county jail. He’ll be fine, Temple. Just remember that.”

“Okay. I’ll call you.” The line goes dead and so does a piece of my heart. When I open the bathroom door, Wolf is standing there waiting on me.

“Wanna walk outside with me?” he asks. I nod and follow him down the hall and out the side door. The air is cooler tonight, a slight breeze blowing my hair. Wolf takes a deep breath and sighs.

“We were lookin’ for a drug house. It was supposed to be an easy hit, yeah?” I watch him following along. “House was empty all the way up until the last room in the upstairs. It was fuckin’ eerily quiet. Shaft went in and there was a ton of kids sleepin’ on the floors. One little boy started screamin’ so Shaft picked him up and held him until he stopped. There was one guy that we somehow missed that came in.” He looks off into space as if he doesn’t want me to know but I do.

“You guys killed him.” He nods slowly.

“Not until we got what we wanted out of him first. Shaft wouldn’t leave. Told me to call the cops and tell Sly he’s got this. He didn’t wanna leave them kids without protection.”

A tear slides down my cheek. “Why are you telling me this?”

Wolf turns to look at me now and the intensity in his gaze nearly knocks the breath from my lungs.

“You need to know what kind of man you’re gettin’ with him. He’s a good guy that does bad things. Some don’t see the difference but Shaft is different. He has a heart inside of him that beats for more than this club.” His words mean more to me than he could possibly know. I nod my head fully understanding what he’s saying as tears continue to flow. Wolf grabs my shoulder and pulls me into him as I cry.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Don’t thank me. He would do the same for me. I just didn’t want you sittin’ around thinkin’ the worst of the man. He’s got his head on straight when it comes to you and this baby.” And just like that, I find myself loving Shaft a little more.

Twenty-Four

Shaft

“I’m not going to ask you again!”

“Then don’t. Just like last time I’ll tell you the same,” I smart off as the piece of shit Detective slams his hands on the table in front of me.

“Who do you work for?”

“Your mom,” I say with a smirk. He’s around the table in seconds grabbing the front of my shirt in his hands.

“What were you doing in that house?” he hisses the same question once more.

“I was doin’ your mom like I told you earlier. That old pussy is some good shit. You should try it,” I laugh until his fist slams into my eye. I still chuckle as his friend comes in and pulls him back.

“You are going to hang for this! Kids? Really?” he screams as he points at me.

“Let’s be real here. I heard a kid scream. I went to check it out. I didn’t think anyone lived in that goddamn beat-to-hell piece of shit house. I didn’t know I would stumble into a whole shit ton of kids.”

“And the dead guy?” the other asks raising his eyebrow. I shrug.

“Dead when I got in there. Don’t know who the hell killed him.” They look at me and know I’m lying but I sure as hell won’t tell them what he told us. March. That motherfucker is mine and no one else’s. The club gets him.

“You expect us to believe that?”

“I called it in, didn’t I?” I ask keeping my eyes narrowed on his. We’ve been doing this for at least three hours. I’m dead tired and I’ve had about enough of this shit but if they want to keep playing, I will do the same.

“It was anonymous,” asshole adds.

“No shit! Did you think I’d call in and say ‘hey officer, I’m a member of SBMC and there’s a house full of kids’? You dumb fucks would have come in there with guns blazin’ and shootin’ for fun.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at the two of them when someone knocks on the door. Dick one moves to answer it before heading out of the room.

“Are those kids safe?” I ask needing to know. I need to know that they got them all out of there and that they are somewhere those bastards can’t hurt them anymore. The guy eyes me a minute before blowing out a breath and moving to sit in the chair in front of me.

“They were malnourished. None of them seemed to be ill or hurt in any other way.”

I blow out a breath and run my hand through my hair thanking God for that. My revenge on March would have been that much worse if they had been.

“Good. That’s good.” He’s about to say more when the door opens and a man in a suit walks in.

“If you aren’t charging my client, then I suggest you let him go.” This must be the lawyer Sly had called in. Our typical lawyer was out of town on business and made it a point to tell us to stay out of trouble until he came back but we don’t follow the rules.

“He’s free to go,” the Detective says. I shove out of my chair and head toward the door when he stops me. “Hey.” I turn and look over my shoulder at him.

“What?”

“I know you know more. It isn’t a matter of what you’re telling us. I know you know more and when you find that son of a bitch, make him pay.” I raise my eyebrow wondering why in the hell this man is telling me this. It isn’t until his next words that I know. “My son was kidnapped when he was young. He was never found.” My heart crashes into my ribs as I nod my head giving him my word without incriminating myself. I turn and follow the lawyer out of the room and down the hall. Asshole Detective gives me a few looks but I just smirk and keep walking.

“I would ask if you want to press charges for that eye but I’m assuming not,” the lawyer says.

“I’m good. Just wanna get home.”

We stop to sign all the paperwork and shit before they open the doors and let us out. The lawyer doesn’t even say a word, just passes me a card and turns to leave. I guess he wasn’t too happy about having to come out here at this time of night. I turn my head when I hear a car pulling up. One of the prospects jumps out and walks toward me, a smile on his face.

“What the fuck you smilin’ for?” I ask him watching the smile as it fades as quickly as it came.

“Nothin’. I was told to come get you.”

“And you smile like a goddamn fool to do that?” I ask as I walk past him and jump in the front of the truck. There’s a few prospects who make me wonder. This is one of them. He climbs in and we take off as I dig through the glove box for a cigarette. Lighting it up, I roll the window down.

“You really call that in yourself?” he asks. I glance over at him and nod.

“Those kids deserved to know someone cared.”

“It was nice of you. Wish there was more like you out there,” he says sounding a little sad which piques my interest.

“What’s that mean?”

“Just that I had a shit past. Didn’t know my real family. Hell, my older brother said I was adopted. I never really knew. It always felt wrong, ya know?” I can hear the emotion in his voice and maybe I was wrong about the kid. Maybe he’s just a little fucked up in the head.

“You got family now, yeah? With this club. That’s all the family you need, brother. You don’t need to know where you came from. You just need to know where you’re goin’. Keep your head straight, earn them colors, and you have the world at your fingertips, yeah?”

He glances over, a small smile curling the edge of his lips as he nods. There’s something about the broken kids that hurts my heart. I had a good family. My mother was the best anyone could ask for, but I always knew there were kids out there that didn’t have what I did. I knew there were kids who were less fortunate, and the more I hung around the clubhouse back then, the more I saw it in the men that would walk through the doors.

Nothing else is said on the ride back. The silence is golden, just as they say. It gives me a minute to clear my head and think. I know Sly wants an update on the situation but I want that bastard March. He isn’t going to be an easy target to pin down and maybe that’s what makes my blood boil. I want that chase. I want to see his face when he realizes his little scam is coming to an end. I wish I could have seen his face when he heard that I was the one who took down his house.

As soon as we pull into the clubhouse parking lot, I climb out of the truck and am greeted by the guys. I smirk and hug them all.

“She’s inside. Still worked up but Wolf talked to her,” Sly says as he walks with me toward the door.

“Thanks, brother. Can we talk tomorrow?” I ask looking over at him. He nods his head and walk inside. Dez slams into me before I ever get the door closed, her arms nearly strangling me.

“You asshole! We were scared to death,” she yells in my ear.

“No you weren’t. You were happy I was gone,” I tease before setting her back on the floor. That’s when my eyes find hers. Temple chews her lip, looking nervous as tears fill her eyes. Dezzy steps to the side, and I slowly, maybe too slowly, make my way to her. She looks up at me, something shining in her eyes now. Reaching up, I cup her cheek in my hand before I lower my lips to hers. She kisses me back slowly before I rest my forehead against hers.

“You’re here,” she whispers.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” I remind her.

“Your eye,” she says reaching up and running her fingers over it. I close my eyes and inhale, letting the feeling of her touching me linger inside.

“Tell me you’re mine, Temple. Just say it,” I beg her.

“I love you, Marc.”

My eyes open slowly and lock with hers. The love I can see, the fear of losing me - it’s all there. I can feel it in her touch. I can sense it in her kiss.

“I love you too.” Grabbing her hand, I lead her down the hallway. I don’t want to fuck her senseless. I don’t want to kiss her. I don’t want anything more than to hold her and our baby in my arms right now. I want to feel them. I want to know that they are real and they are here and mine.

Once we get into the room, I start to pull my clothes off as Temple does the same. There’s more in her eyes than lust. I can see the love. And it’s mine. It’s all fucking mine. When I’m in nothing but my boxers I climb into the bed, pulling the blanket back as she watches me.

“You ain’t never been shy before,” I tell her. Her cheeks turn pink before she walks over and climbs under the covers with me.

“Who said I was shy? Maybe I’m just horny.” That gets a chuckle out of me. Pulling her body closer to mine, I run my fingers over her stomach.

“Guess that’s gonna be an issue since you ain’t gettin’ shit from me tonight.” She flips her head so she can look at me and I almost laugh. “What?”

“What do you mean? I’ve been worried about you and now I can’t get the dick?”

“Nope. Not tonight. Tonight I just wanna hold you and my baby. Tomorrow you can tell me if I’m holdin’ a boy or a girl.”

“I can’t wait until tomorrow,” she whines. I chuckle at her impatience.

“Fine. Where’s the envelope?” Temple rolls onto her side and grabs the envelope off the table, passing it to me. I rip it open and read it before tossing it to the floor and pulling her back into me with a smile on my face.

“What are you doing?” she asks as I kiss her shoulder and press my hand to her belly.

“Holdin’ my girls.”

Twenty-Five

Temple

I’ve replayed his words over and over. His girls. We’re having a girl. I couldn’t believe it. I sit and wait for him while he’s in church. The girls are busy setting up for the weekend. I’m anxious. We are going to tell Wanda that she’s having a granddaughter. I don’t think I’ve seen Marc this happy since I met him. He’s still on edge about whoever was following me yesterday, but he is just as excited as I am about the baby. I can’t believe in four more months I’ll be holding our daughter in my arms. When I hear the men’s voices booming and laughing, I turn and look over my shoulder as they all come out of the room. Sly winks at me, Gauge smiles, but the look on Shaft’s face is priceless. His eyes are brighter than ever and it sets a flame afire in my heart. He saunters toward me, his eyes never leaving mine. When he’s close enough, he grabs my hands and pulls me to my feet.

“I love you,” he says keeping his eyes on mine.

“I love you too.”

“Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that?” His smile is infectious. I’ve never seen him so happy and beaming.

“Not long enough. I should have made you wait,” I tease him. He throws his head back and laughs when I lean in and press a kiss to his throat. He groans and pulls his head back down to look at me.

“I invited mom here.”

“You did what?” I raise my eyebrows and stare at him as if he’s lost his mind

“Figured it’d be safer for now. I still don’t know who the fuck was followin’ you but I got an idea.”

“Who?” I ask narrowing my eyes at him. If he knows, he won’t tell me but that doesn’t stop me from asking anyway.

“Nice try. I ain’t tellin’ you shit so you can go all crazy on him like you did that fucker’s car,” he laughs.

“You don’t think it’s him, do you?” Unease slithers its way through me when my phone rings.

“It’s not him. Answer that,” he says nodding toward my pocket. He pulls back and turns to talk to Gauge as I answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, babe. I know this is all wrong but I need to tell you something,” my friend from work, Dana says.

“What is it?”

“That girl you said you had issues with, Riley, she had a miscarriage.” I gasp at her words. That’s not true. I’ve seen her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I saw her chart. She was trying to transfer to another office. I don’t know, she was saying she didn’t trust her privacy here.” Just as I’m about to open my mouth the front door opens and she walks in, belly and all. I’m confused. Did she lie? Is she lying?

“Wow. Okay. Thanks for that.” I slowly lower the phone from my ear as I watch her. She looks pregnant. She has a belly. Shaft walks toward her and I see them talking when his hand rests on her stomach. She talks animatedly, her hands moving through the air. I don’t know what to think or feel. I’m stunned.

“She won’t be around long,” Dezzy says stepping up next to me.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Well yeah but she can’t prove it’s his.” That’s not what I meant but I can’t tell her. I can’t tell anyone or I’ll lose my job, but doesn’t Shaft deserve to know? I need to tell him don’t I? I open my mouth but I don’t know what to say so I quickly snap it shut.

“So, have you thought of any names for her?” Dez asks pulling my attention to her.

“Not really. Shaft said we were going to call my parents tonight to tell them. I’m nervous,” I admit.

“Don’t be. Who cares what they say? You have family here now. Shaft is going to be a great dad.” I nod my head knowing that’s all true when I feel hands slip around my waist. Fingers tickle my belly making the baby move.

“She already loves her daddy, yeah?” His lips caress my neck and I melt into him. Resting my head on his shoulder, I sigh.

“I need to talk to you,” I tell him reluctantly.

“What is it?”

“Can we go in the room?” I don’t want to tell him in front of everyone because I don’t know how he’s going to take the news. My heart beats rapidly in my chest and I’m not sure why. Nervousness? Fear? Shaft shifts and chuckles, pressing his cock into my back.

“You always wanna be in that room, don’t you?” I can’t help but smile at him but when I shake my head he must realize somethings wrong. He spins me in his arms, cupping his hands around the sides of my neck. “What is it?”

“It’s about Riley.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about her anymore.”

“I just got a call and I think you should know what I was told,” I tell him. He licks his lips and glances around quickly before blowing out a breath.

“Okay. What is it?”

“She isn’t pregnant. She had a miscarriage.” Dropping his hands quickly, he takes a step away from me. My heart moves with him.

“Why are you doin’ this?”

“Doing what?”

“Why are you makin’ shit up, Temple? Didn’t I say that I loved you? I moved you into my house. You! Not her!”

“Marc, I’m not making shit up. That was a nurse that I work with. Why would she tell me that?” I move toward him but he raises his hand to stop me. What the hell is happening right now? Marc moves back toward me, gripping my face in his hands this time.

“I know this is hard for you. I know havin’ her come around isn’t ideal but that’s my baby too and after the shit I saw in that house, I have to be a better dad, Temple. I couldn’t live with myself if anything like that happened to my kids. Do you get that?” I nod my head.

“I do, I do get it, but that’s not the point. If she isn’t even preg-“

“Stop! She is, Temple. Those are facts! Jesus, why can’t you stop? I get it - it’s hard to see her around, but I’m not sendin’ her away with my kid. I can’t. Fuck!” he roars before spinning on his heel and walking away.

I know that he’s stressed from what he saw. I know how he feels about kids. Maybe I was wrong to bring it up. Maybe the paperwork was wrong. Everyone continues to move around the room as I wrap my arms around myself and head out the side door. It doesn’t take me long to walk to the water’s edge and sit.

“Sometimes life is hard, sweetheart.” I smile as I swipe at the tears on my cheeks. OB sits down in the sand next to me holding out a bottle of water.

“Sometimes it shouldn’t have to be. Now is one of those times, Barnie. I shouldn’t be arguing with him. We should be happy and…and planning things. Picking names.” Barnie throws his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him. I rest my head on his shoulder.

“He’s a man, darlin’. Men are a different kind of human. We don’t think right when we have too much information. What’s this about?”

“I heard that Riley isn’t pregnant, that she had a miscarriage.”

“And you told him?” I nod. “He didn’t believe you?”

“No,” I say softly looking down at my lap.

“She was just there, yeah? Belly and all?”

“Yeah, which is why I’m confused. I don’t know if she’s lying or if the files got mixed up at work.”

“Is that possible? The files gettin’ mixed up?” he asks.

“It is. It’s happened before. If someone isn’t paying enough attention.”

“So, she could still be pregnant?” I know where this is going and I hate that I even opened my mouth but I just have a feeling that this is the truth. I have a feeling she is faking it.

“I guess,” I say softly. Barnie leans in and presses a kiss to the top of my head before he sighs and rests his against it. We sit in silence, just watching the water as it rolls over the sand.

“Can I interrupt?” I hear Gauge’s voice but I don’t turn to look at him. Barnie does.

“Maybe. What do you want?” he asks with a soft chuckle.

“I wanna talk to Temple.” Barnie sighs and reluctantly climbs to his feet and walks away when Gauge takes his place. He bends his knees, resting his arms there as he stares out at the water.

“I always believed that things happened for a reason. Like there was a purpose for all of it. You know how messed up Dez was, you saw it. There were days when I hated her,” he says keeping his gaze on the water.

“You still have those days?” I ask.

“Some days I don’t know. I see the look in her eyes when there are drugs around and I get pissed. I see the way she licks her lips like she could almost taste it on her tongue. I hate it. Every goddamn second of it.”

“But you love her.”

He nods before looking over at me. “I love her and I’d do anything for her. She knows that. Even on days that seem hard as fuck, that love is what keeps us goin’. You get what I’m sayin’, sweetheart?”

I nod my head slowly. I do get it. I need to be a better girlfriend.

Twenty-Six

Shaft

Each day brings me closer to meeting my daughter. Each day seems to be pulling Temple further away from me too. I know she hates having Riley around and I can’t blame her for that, but the fact is, if that’s my child, I want to be around for it. Although Riley has made it clear she doesn’t want me at any of the appointments, it still stings. I want to be there and know what’s happening with my child but I also respect her decision.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” my mom asks once more as I sit back and watch Temple out in the garden. She runs her fingers over the flowers, caressing each one. I can’t pull my eyes away from her.

“I don’t know, Mom. She told me somethin’ the other day and I blew up at her. She’s been pushin’ me away since then. I didn’t mean it the way it came out, but fuck.” My mom moves to block my view of Temple, my eyes moving to hers instead.

“This is life, Marc. Things happen, words get said, but it’s what’s in your heart that matters the most. I know you love her, I can see it in your eyes. Talk to her, be there for her.”

I nod my head before moving. I walk out the side door and around back to find her near the fountain.

“Used to splash my cousin all the time. Threw her in there once,” I say. Temple smiles but it doesn’t meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did.”

“It isn’t about that, Marc. The fact that you assumed I was lying and that it was all about her being around, that hurt. I know you want your baby.” Her eyes move to mine and I can see the hurt in them. Moving toward her, she stops me, raising her hand and pressing it to my chest.

“Come on, Temple.”

“No. This thing between us all happened so fast, Marc. It was…just fast. I need some time. I need to think about everything. I thought that I’d be okay with her being around because it is your baby but I don’t know if I can stand it, seeing you touching her.”

“It wasn’t like that and you know it, Temple,” I argue. She was there, she saw it all. There was nothing sexual in the way I touched Riley’s stomach. Just like with Temple, I wanted to feel my baby. Maybe I was wrong for doing it. I don’t really know anymore and I’ve never been in this situation either.

“That’s not really the point. I don’t know how I feel anymore. Will you just take me home?”

I try to step into her again but her hand remains on my chest, keeping me back. I nod my head and turn on my heel walking toward the front as she follows. I send my mom a quick text letting her know that we’re leaving. I can’t believe this shit. I thought everything was going so great between us and then Riley showed back up. It isn’t really her fault though. I should have expected some animosity between the two of them, but I never expected Temple to pull away from me. And that hurts. It truly hurts that I finally found something I wanted and now it’s being ripped away from me once again.

The ride back to the house was silent. Temple didn’t speak but I knew she was crying. I could hear her sniffles. I’m on edge as we walk into the house. Everything feels wrong.

“Temple,” I say her name softly. She doesn’t turn to look at me. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her body, pulling her into my chest. “I’m sorry.” Her head lowers but she doesn’t pull away. That’s a plus, isn’t it? I lean down and press a kiss to the back of her neck and listen to her sigh.

“I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap.” She doesn’t move though.

“Can I come with you?” I don’t want to push her but God do I want to be near her. I’m sick of this. I’m sick of not feeling her warmth against me, her heart beating with mine. I’m tired of all of it so when she nods her head, my heart nearly leaps out of my chest. I pull away from her and grab her hand, leading her down the hall to our room. Once we’re inside, I release her and shrug out of my cut and boots. Temple sits on the edge of the bed pulling her shoes off and I chuckle a little. She looks up, a question in her eyes.

“The baby is in your way, yeah?” I smile as I nod at her stomach.

“She’s getting bigger that’s for sure.”

I move to help her pull her shoes off, a little surprised that she lets me. When I’m done, she climbs up and lies on her side. I move in and lie behind her, pulling her body closer to mine. She hasn’t let me do this in weeks and it’s killed a part of me. I felt the ache in my chest but having her right now, that soothes it all.

“You know I was a big baby,” I tell her trying to keep her head here with me.

“How big?” she asks sounding a little afraid. That makes me laugh.

“Big. Almost ten and half pounds.” She rolls her head to look up at me and the look on her face makes me laugh harder. Her mouth hangs open as she stares at me.

“And you didn’t think to tell me this before?”

“Didn’t know I was makin’ a baby before. You can handle it, you took my cock like a champ,” I tell her with a laugh. She actually smiles this time.

“Your mom is my hero if she had you naturally,” she adds before rolling her head back to the side. I sigh and inhale her scent.

“Ain’t it a little nasty to think about?”

“What?”

“The fact that you came out of your mom’s pussy? Now that we’re talkin’ about it, that’s bad. Fuckin’ hell. I shot out of her cum ramp.” Temple bursts into laughter, her whole body shaking.

“A cum ramp?” she asks through her laughter.

“It’s like a boat ramp. You know, the boat eases in there and shoots into the water. Seems like the same concept to me. Cock goes in, shoots the baby makers. Cum ramp.” Her body jostles around as she laughs harder.

“Stop! I’m going to piss myself!” She laughs more.

“You tryin’ to give new meanin’ to wettin’ my sheets?” Her laughter doesn’t stop and I don’t want it to. This is what I want. I want us to be okay and be happy. Slowly it does stop though. She calms back into my arms.

“I’m sorry I’m making this harder for you,” she whispers.

“Temple, I love you. I don’t know what’s happenin’ in that head of yours but I’ll do whatever you want me to do and whatever I have to do to prove that you are the only one I want. I can’t stand you pullin’ away from me. It hurts, babe. I need you. I think you know that, too.”

“I need you too. I’m just so unsure of everything right now.”

“And that’s okay. You can be unsure but let me help you find what you’re lookin’ for. I love you, Temple.”

Twenty-Seven

Temple

We must have fallen asleep. I yawn and roll over to see Shaft not in bed with me anymore when I hear what woke me. Noises in the other room. What the hell is he doing out there? I climb out of bed and open the door, walking into the hallway. I only make it a few steps when I realize the noise is coming from the nursery he set up for Riley’s baby. I walk down there slowly and shove the door open only to gasp at what I see.

“Marc!” I scream his name when I see him passed out on the floor, three men standing over him. All eyes come to me including hers. Riley has a baseball bat in her hands, breaking everything in sight.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I scream as I move into the room. She turns fully to look at me, her stomach still present.

“Me? There are so many things wrong with me right now, Temple. The fact that you are you! The fact that you ruined everything! This is all your fault. All of it!”

“What did I do?” I ask although I’m pretty sure this is all over Marc.

“Just shut up, you stupid girl. I told you. I warned you to stay away from him,” she screams before swinging the bat around, crushing the mirror that hung above the dresser. I cringe at the sound and start to back away when hands wrap around me from behind. Before I can scream a hand clasps over my mouth. Panic rises inside of me, my heart leaping in my chest.

“Don’t try to fight them. They will hurt you. It’s what I’ve paid them to do.” Her eyes look almost sad but I can’t think of why they would be. She doesn’t give a shit about me.

“You about ready?” another voice says behind me. I cringe. I know that voice. When he steps into the room I nearly vomit. His cold eyes assess me before moving to Riley. March. The asshole who was fucking with me and Dez at the apartment. A chill moves down my spine as he steps toward Marc. He glances down at him like he’s the biggest piece of shit in the world before kicking him in the ribs. Marc just groans. I try to scream but it’s no use.

“Yeah. I’m done here,” she says swinging the bat one last time. She stomps from the room and I’m dragged out behind her. I try to think. What can I do? How can I get away from them? I can’t run. There are too many of them. I try to look around to see if they are taking Marc too when I’m thrown in the back of a van. I hit hard, my hip screaming in pain. A man climbs in behind me, grabbing my leg. I try to kick him but it’s no use. A small but heavy bracelet it attached to my ankle.

“Are you crazy! Why are you doing this?” I cry as I sit up and hold my stomach.

“Try anything stupid and that bracelet blows. You and your baby can kiss your asses goodbye,” she smirks and walks off.

“Are you insane?” I scream.

“Shut up, Temple!” March roars. I jolt when I see Marc being carried out of the house. He’s tossed into the back like I am before the doors slam close. Scooting across the floor, I grab his head and pull it into my lap. I check his pulse. I try to check his eyes. He isn’t dead.

“Marc? You have to wake up. Please,” I cry, begging him. He groans but his eyes never open. Crying some more, I lean down and press my lips to his. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I love you so much. I shouldn’t have pushed you. Please just wake up!” Someone bangs on the wall that has been built between the front and back trying to shut me up. I cradle his head in my lap as the van bounces and turns. I don’t know what the hell is happening. I don’t know what she wants or why March is involved. I don’t know anything and I feel useless. A few more turns and Marc’s eyes slowly begin to open. My heart races when he looks up at me, tears falling down my cheeks.

“Oh God,” I cry. He shifts, lifting his head before moving toward me. He grabs my face in his hands, kissing me. Wrapping my arms around him, I pull him closer as the tears keep spilling down my cheeks.

“You gotta run, baby. When I tell you, you gotta run, yeah?” I shake my head and pull away from him.

“I can’t. She said this would explode,” I say pointing to my ankle. Marc moves quickly, looking it over before cursing under his breath. He climbs back up and sits next to me, holding me against him.

“Do what they say. I’ll figure out how to get us out of here. Don’t give them a reason to hurt you, do you understand me?” I nod my head but I don’t want to let him go. His hand moves over my stomach pressing down gently. The baby moves under his hand.

“I’m scared,” I whisper.

“You’re strong, Temple. Do what they say and don’t let them see you break. You can do this. I’m gonna get us out of this, I promise you.” He turns his head and places a soft kiss to my forehead. He holds me in his arms as the van shifts and moves. We bounce around the back until it finally slows. My heart jackhammers inside of me. I don’t know where they are taking us. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, the baby, or Marc. I don’t want to let him go. Squeezing him tighter in my arms, he squeezes back.

“I love you, I love you,” I repeat the words over and over. His muscles tighten, cord tighter.

“I love you too, baby. More than you know. Just be calm for me, yeah?”

I nod my head when the back doors are yanked open, I scream a little. His strong hold eases the panic but only slightly.

“What the fuck is this shit?” Marc growls when March and a few more guys stand in the back doors.

“This is payback, asshole. You fucked over my boss and now I’m here to fuck you back,” March says.

“Your boss? Thought you ran the show. I should have known better,” he hisses with the hint of humor. In seconds, the men climb in the back of the van. Marc moves immediately trying to fight them off. He can’t. Not when there are so many of them. One of them reaches for me and I scream.

“You fuckin’ hurt her, I’ll kill you!” Marc roars. His voice thunders through the van but the men just laugh.

“So worried about her, are you? What about me, Shaft?” Riley steps into view and all I can think is how I can claw her eyes out.

“You set this shit up?” he asks her. “Why? Tell me why? I have done anything I can for you and that baby!”

“I know you have but you chose her!”

“I didn’t choose shit! You let that get to your head. You let her get to your head! Who was there first, Riley?” he asks and I feel my heart break in half. I know he’s just trying to get her to calm down and be rational but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

“I was.”

“Who has my baby inside of them?” Another blow to my chest.

“Me,” she says looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

“Then why are you doin’ this? Why can’t we just calm down and talk about this?” His voice calms as everyone looks at her. Is she in charge here? Is this all about her? It can’t be. They all told me she was a nobody.

“You chose her. You took her to your house, Shaft! You never took me there!”

“I made that room for you, Riley. Didn’t you see it?” Her eyes hold unshed tears. I think he may be getting to her.

“There were two rooms,” she says softly.

“Did you think I wouldn’t want my other baby? Come on, Riley. You know me better than that. I love kids.”

“You don’t want her?” she asks nodding toward me. Marc doesn’t even turn to look at me.

“No. Just my baby.” His words burn a hole through my chest. Whether they were true or not just hearing him say that wrecks me. Riley smiles and moves closer to the van, her hand on her stomach. Just when I think she’s about to give in to him, it all changes. Instead of hugging him, she pulls her hand back and slaps him across the face.

“Are you kiddin’ me?” he roars trying to fight the men that hold him back.

“You are such a good liar, Shaft. You think I’d believe anything you say? No, there’s only one way to keep you and that’s without her.” Her eyes meet mine, but like he told me to do, I don’t let her see me break. Everything happens in a blink after that. We’re both jerked from the back of the van and shoved toward a small house. Marc is yelling at Riley, trying to reason with her. It does no good. None of it does any good. She ignores him and as we’re shoved into the house another surprise awaits. Greg.

“What the hell?” I ask when I see him. Marc looks over at me a little confused.

“Miss me?” Greg asks ignoring Marc altogether.

“You son of a bitch! Is this all your doing?” I hiss as I try to pull out of the guy that holds me arms. I jerk and pull but it does no good.

“Calm down, Temple.”

“Fuck you, Greg! You piece of shi-” The word doesn’t even finish leaving my mouth when his hand slams across my face.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch her!” Marc growls and tries to fight the other men. Greg just chuckles.

“Look, I’ll make this easy and clear all upfront. Temple, you were never shit to me. You were a pawn. A toy, something I could use. How do you think I knew where to get all those kids from?” I’m confused. I narrow my eyes and try to figure this out when he blows out a breath.

“Your work. You had access to all that information.”

“I never looked up anything like that.”

“No, you didn’t but it was all there. Obviously I didn’t go after children that had been born recently - that would be too obvious, but with the records from your work I was able to track a majority of them. Most of the women lived in the same homes as they did when they had the baby. It was easy. Almost too easy,” he says shrugging his shoulders.

“You piece of shit!” Marc roars. Greg moves his hand through the air and the men move to pull Marc down a hallway. He fights and screams the whole way but my mind is still trying to catch up with what he’s said.

“Why? What does that have to do with Riley? Or me?”

“You were just part of the job. Access to what I needed. Riley, she came to me and offered her assistance as well. At first, she wasn’t even pregnant but that came later.”

“The baby isn’t Marc’s?” I ask more to myself.

“No. Well, in her mind it is, but truly that baby could belong to any number of men. She was pulling at straws to begin with.”

“She is really pregnant?”

“Her miscarriage paperwork was planted there. Don’t ask me why, I don’t get in the middle of that woman’s twisted bullshit. I’m just as shocked as you are that she’s truly pregnant to begin with.”

“What do you want with me?”

“Me? Nothing. I don’t want anything with you aside from maybe the child you’re carrying. This is all Riley’s plan. I agreed to help her since she helped me,” he says as if it’s no big deal. Riley smiles like she’s won and it makes my stomach burn. She walks over and runs her fingers over my stomach both making me sick and pissing me off. I want to snap her neck.

“You are all mine now, Temple. Greg promised.”

“You’re sick,” I hiss.

“Sick or not, you’re still mine.”

Twenty-Eight

Shaft

If my memory is right, we’ve been here for two months. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s right or not. I’ve tried to break free, tried everything I could think of. I’ve been shackled to this floor the whole time. I’m allowed to eat, I have a small bathroom and a cot. God, I want to see Temple. I think about her day and night. I’ve tried sweet talking Riley but it does no good. She doesn’t fall for it anymore. My chest aches from not having her near me. I’m sure the guys are losing their fucking minds too. I know they are looking for us. I lean my head back and close my eyes when the door opens. Sitting back up, Riley walks in looking like hell.

“You okay?” I ask her not really giving two shits after what she’s done but I need her to think I do.

“I’m not feeling well.”

“The baby?” I ask nodding toward her stomach.

“I don’t know.”

“Riley, let me help you. Let me help you with my baby,” I tell her. My stomach sinks just saying the words. She looks up at me with tired eyes before sitting on the small cot.

“Something’s wrong, Shaft. I can feel it,” she says softly. I shift, trying to get closer to her but she eyes me and I know that in seconds she could have those assholes back in her so I don’t move anymore.

“Come on, baby. Just take this shit off me and let me help you. Our baby needs us,” I tell her. Acid burns the back of my throat as I let those words linger. Us. Fucking hell. She shakes her head quickly, shoving off the cot. I don’t know if she notices but the keys are lying there.

“I can’t do this. I don’t feel good, Shaft!” she screams before turning and leaving the room. I wait. It feels like my heart beat could be heard around the world as hard as it’s slamming in my chest. When she doesn’t come back in, I grab the keys off the bed and start trying each one. I hear screams. Horrific screams that sound like someone is being killed. I work faster. I need to find Temple. I need to see that she’s okay. When I finally find the key, I shove off the floor as more screams fill the still air. Rushing from the room, I follow the sound down the hallway. Shoving the door open to the last room, I see a nursery has been set up. What the fuck is this? Glancing around quickly, I see Temple covered in sweat, panting. Riley is across the room on her hands and knees screaming.

“Marc,” Temple’s voice cuts like a knife through my chest, tearing me apart. I move quickly, untying her hands and legs before she throws her arms around my neck and cries.

“It’s okay, baby. God, I love you. I love you.”

“I love you.”

Riley’s screams pull our attention once more. Temple moves out of my arms and toward her when I grab her and pull her back.

“What the fuck are you doin’? We need to get out of here,” I tell her, clenching my jaw.

“She’s in labor!”

“So?”

“So, I can’t just leave her to do that on her own. What about the baby?” When the words leave her mouth, I nearly lose it. It isn’t mine. I’ve heard that much but still, it is a child. I nod my head and release the grip on Temple.

“What about you?” I ask moving next to her.

“My contractions aren’t as close as hers,” she says.

“Fuck me. You’re in labor too?” I can’t believe it. It’s too early. She isn’t due for another month. This isn’t happening but Riley screams again and all thoughts leave me. She’s on her back, her legs spread. I look down and there it is. A baby in Temple’s arms but Temple doesn’t move. She sits there, holding the baby in her arms as sobs shake her body.

“She’s dead,” Riley whispers.

“What?”

“I knew she would be. She stopped growing a few weeks ago. The doctor told me to have her removed but I couldn’t,” she cries.

“Jesus Christ,” I mumble as Temple moves to hand Riley the lifeless body. She takes her baby in her arms as Temple crumbles to the floor in pain.

“It hurts,” she cries. I move next to her when I see the knife on the floor. Moving quickly, I cut the bracelet from her leg and toss it toward Riley. She doesn’t move, she’s too lost in her lifeless child to think about us but I know those assholes will be back soon.

“Temple, we gotta move, baby. We gotta get outta here.” She cries but looks up at me and nods. I lift her and move her toward the door when I hear the front door close. Cursing under my breath, I take her back into the room, closing the door behind us. Riley is humming some lullaby as I shove the window open.

“You have to run, Temple.”

“It hurts, Marc,” she cries.

“I know baby. I know it does but you have to okay? For our daughter. You gotta get her out of here, yeah?” She looks up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks and nods. I lift her once more and put her body out the window. Her feet hit the ground and she shoves her hand into her mouth. Her hands hit the wall of the house, blood trickling down her hand. I know she’s trying not to scream. This is fucking with my head. I can’t help her. I can’t take it away for her. A few seconds later, she looks up at me and I nod.

“I love you.”

“Love you too, babe. Run that way. I’ll find you,” I tell her. She turns and starts toward the trees when I hear March. I watch her until she gets to the tree line when the bedroom door flies open. March’s eyes move from me to Riley and back.

“You lose, motherfucker,” I roar before going at him. I swing, taking him down quickly before grabbing the knife. I plunge it into his chest before Greg comes in.

“The baby?” he asks ignoring me and looking at Riley. She’s so fucked in the head right now that I don’t think she could respond if she had to.

“You son of a bitch,” I roar as I rush toward him. In the back of my mind I know there’s more men somewhere but they clearly aren’t here right now. If they were they would be in here in seconds. That thought causes my stomach to ache. What if they saw Temple run? What if they are after her? Fuck!

The knife slips into Greg’s chest easily, blood flowing over my hands. He quickly falls to the floor when I turn and grab the device that was attached to Temple’s leg. I can’t believe it’s been months. Fucking months and I couldn’t find a way out of this shit. I feel like a goddamn failure. I failed her and our daughter. I shake my head and take one last look at Riley before moving through the house. Once I’m near the front, I fumble around until I find a gun. I know there’s one here somewhere. They are just like me in some ways. Thank fuck they aren’t as smart as they thought they were when I find one stuffed in the drawer by the front door.

Tossing the device on the floor, I open the front door and step out onto the porch. Taking a deep breath, I turn and aim. Riley’s still in there with her dead child. I could get them out. I could save her at least. Shaking my head, I pull the trigger, hitting the device. The blast could be felt for miles. Turning on my heel, I run as fast as I can. My body is weak from being chained to the floor but that doesn’t stop me from running.

“Temple!” I scream her name as I go. Through the trees, the crunching of sticks. I need to find her. She’s out here, I know she can’t be far.

“Temple! Fuck! Please answer me!” I keep running until I hear her. Her cries pierce the stillness out here.

Twenty-Nine

Temple

My body trembles. I don’t know if it’s from exhaustion or what I saw. Her baby, her poor baby was dead. Tears still leak down my cheeks but my body gives out as I fall to the ground. Pain shoots through me as I kick my pants off. I know this baby is coming and having her on the dirty ground isn’t ideal but what else can I do.

“Oh God!” I cry out as another contraction tears through my body.

“Temple?”

“Marc?” I scream his name and glance around trying to see him. I can hear the sticks crack, leaves crackling in the distance and when he comes into view, I nearly faint.

“Jesus, Temple. Can you move?” I shake my head and bite my lip to keep myself from screaming louder. The pain is intense. I watch Marc pull his cut off and drop it to the ground before pulling his shirt over his head. He moves to position it under my legs as I watch him.

“We can’t have her out here,” I cry. It isn’t sterile. It’s out in the middle of nowhere. We can’t do this.

“We don’t have a choice,” he says kneeling between my legs. I want to laugh. This is a funny sight to see. This man ready to deliver his own baby. “You’re gonna have to tell me how to do this, babe. I have no fuckin’ clue what I’m doin’ here.” When he looks up and his eyes meet mine, I nod.

“Watch…fuck!”

“Oh shit. Is that her head? Babe, is that her head?” he asks as if I can see down there. The way my body screams in pain, I’d say yes. I try to breath but this pain is indescribable. My lip bleeds from the way I’ve been biting it but I can’t help it. Each push, I can feel my body ripping in half.

“Get it out, Shaft!” I scream. He’s down there, hands out and ready. If it didn’t hurt so badly it would be amusing. Sweat trickles down my temples as I push again.

“Oh, shit. Fuck. I’m just gonna catch it,” he mumbles more to himself than to me. One more push and I know she’s out. Marc moves, wrapping her in the shirt.

“You have to cut the cord,” I say as my head drops back onto the ground. Marc’s eyes are fixed on the baby in his arms. Her soft cries turn to louder ones making my heart speed up. She’s okay. She’s going to be okay.

“We have a daughter, Temple. She’s beautiful,” he says softly. I nod but I feel so damn weak I can barely stand it.

“Cut her cord, Marc.”

“We gotta get you out of here,” he says softly before passing her to me. I hold her in my arms but it’s hard to keep my eyes open. I’m tired.

“Marc?”

“I got it baby. I got you. I got you both,” he says moving closer to me. Marc lifts me in to his arms, keeping me pulled against his chest. Somehow he manages to drape his cut over me and the baby before he stands and starts walking.

“I’m bleeding,” I whisper letting my head rest in his arms.

“I know that. That’s why we’re gettin’ you outta here.”

“It’s a lot, Marc. I can tell.”

“Shh. I got you, baby.”

“Her name. What’s her name?” Marc keeps walking as if he didn’t hear me. I know what he’s trying to do and I appreciate it, but I can feel myself slowly slipping. I’m losing too much blood.

“Summer. You like that?” he asks looking down at me with a smile on his face. I try to smile and nod my head. “Since she was born outside. Gotta have an outside type name, yeah?” I wish I could laugh. I wish I could enjoy this time with him.

“You’ll take care of her, won’t you?” I can feel his tears as they drip onto my face. Warm, wet tears.

“Not without you. I can’t do that. I’ve fought too hard to keep you. Don’t you think you can give up on me now.”

“I’m not.” At least I’m trying not to. I want to be around for her. I want to raise her. This isn’t how I pictured my life at all. But with everything in life, you can’t always see what the future holds.

Thirty

Shaft

I look at the mangled pieces of the baby furniture in the bedroom. Each one broken and busted in some way. I don’t think every man knows what it is to feel a loss. Not when it comes to a child. Regardless of if that baby of Riley’s was mine or not, I felt its loss and it fucking hurt. It’s a pain that couldn’t be described in words. It’s an ache that penetrates your heart and causes you to bleed out. March’s death, Greg’s death - they were too quick. There wasn’t enough pain. I should have drawn it out longer. I should have caused them more suffering but I didn’t. I’ll regret that ‘til the day I die.

“You want help cleanin’ this up?” Gauge asks stepping into the room. Wolf and Sly follow behind him.

“At first, I wanted to keep it all. I wanted to be reminded, but now I just want it gone, brother.” Sly nods and starts picking up broken pieces of furniture.

“You know we’re proud of you, Shaft.” I look up at Sly and see the truth in his eyes.

“Appreciate that. I need to get goin’.” Shoving myself off the floor, I head into the room across the hall and pick Summer up out of her crib. Snuggling her against my chest, I inhale her baby scent. It has to be the best smell I’ve ever smelled in my life. Next to her mom’s of course. With that thought, I shake my head and carry her out to the living room where Dez sits with her diaper bag.

“You sure you want to take her? I don’t mind keeping her.”

“No. I want her to be there with me. Thanks for stayin’ ‘til I get back though,” I tell her. She nods and smiles at me before standing and pressing a kiss to my cheek. She moves to Summer next.

“You are the best little niece in the world, you know that?”

I buckle Summer into her seat before grabbing her bag and throwing it over my shoulder and heading out the door. Once I have her situated in the backseat of the truck, I hop in and take off. The hospital isn’t far. I’m thankful for that. I wasn’t sure how I’d deal with everything if I wasn’t close to her.

My world slowly seemed to fall apart the day we got out of that house. Temple was in labor, she lost a lot of blood. That was more blood than even I’d seen come from one person. Summer was perfect, though. Not a thing wrong with her even though she was a month early; she was still almost nine pounds. My girl did it all without any medicine. I was so damn proud of her. I don’t know anyone as strong as Temple.

We get to the hospital and I climb out, grabbing Summer and all her things. I’d never realized just how much stuff you have to carry around with you when you have a baby. I knew they needed a shit ton but this is insane. We head up to the floor and find her room quickly. When I walk in, she doesn’t hear me.

“Goddamn,” I groan, closing the door behind me. Temple flips her head around looking over her shoulder at me.

“You are sick, do you know that?”

“You ass is sexy as fuck, did you know that?”

“Six weeks, Marc.”

“Shit. We’ll see about that,” I grumble as I walk toward her, setting the car seat on the bed.

Temple pulls her pants on and turns to look at our daughter. Temple lost a lot of blood. She’s been in the hospital for nearly three weeks now. On top of the blood loss she had some kind of infection. For a while I thought I lost her. It broke me. I’ve never felt that kind of pain in my life. My heart ached. My chest felt like it was caving in. Looking at Summer all the time and seeing Temple in her almost ripped my soul out.

“She’s perfect, isn’t she?” Temple asks. I move to stand next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into my side.

“She is. I love you, Temple.”

“I love you too. Are you okay though?”

I sigh and hold her tighter. “I’ve been thinkin’ about it a lot. There was nothin’ we could have done for her. I hate her for what she did to you. I hate that you had to go through any of that because of me.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Marc. It wasn’t. She did this all on her own. I’m just sorry that you got your hopes up about the baby,” she says softly.

“I got my baby. That other one, yeah it hurt but she wasn’t mine, darlin’. Doesn’t matter how much I wanted her.”

“She was in way though. You were excited to have her. You are going to be a great dad, Marc.”

“What do you mean goin’ to? Shit, I been feedin’ her, changin’ her, and all that shit for the last two weeks,” I tease her. Temple turns in my arms, kissing me.

“I know and I’m so glad that I have you.”

“Oh yeah? You gonna show me just how much?”

Temple slaps me in the chest before turning back to Summer. Leaning down, she reaches for her but stops short when she sees what’s hanging off her bib. Her hand comes to cover her mouth before she looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

“Are you serious?” she beams up at me. I reach down and pull the ring from Summer’s bib and turn to Temple.

“From the first second I laid eyes on you in…well this hospital, I knew you were somethin’ special. You were gorgeous and held yourself in high regard. You didn’t let anyone give you any shit and to me that’s what made you perfect.”

“Thought it was my smart mouth?” she laughs.

“You gonna let me finish?” She smirks and nods her head.

“Okay, so, you were perfect, yeah? But when I saw you totaling that man’s car, I knew it was you. I wouldn’t want anyone else, Temple. Marry me. I’m not askin’. I’m tellin’ you. You’re marryin’ me. I’m done losin’ everything good in my life. It’s time I take charge of what I want.” Her eyes sparkle as she looks up at me.

“I don’t think I like you bossing me around,” she says crossing her arms over her chest.

“I don’t think I give two shits. You’re mine. This baby is mine. We’re a family.”

The end.

Afterword

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