Hadley (The Club Girl Diaries Book 3) (29 page)

I joined my brothers, starting my bike and feeling the motor rumble between my thighs.

The hearse pulled out of the church and drove down the center of the street. As it passed each member, they revved their engine, a chorus that was so sweet, so perfect. As it passed by me, I revved my throttle until the vehicle had moved on. I watched it continue down the street.

“Thanks, man,” I whispered quietly. “Without you, I wouldn’t still have her. I’ll never forget this.”

“Anything I can help with?” I looked up from the carrots I was cutting to see Callie standing in the doorway. The other women looked around.

Callie smiled. “I know the routine.”

“Girls, this is Slider’s sister Callie,” I introduced.

They all welcomed her with warm hugs, introducing themselves. Chelsea handed her a bag of potatoes and a peeler, and she got to work.

“So, Callie…” Rose started casually as she cut up lettuce for salad, “…how did you meet that beautiful specimen of a man you came in with?”

Callie laughed, and Chelsea swatted her friend’s arm. “Rose!”

Rose just rolled her eyes. “Like you weren’t thinking it.”

“No, it’s okay,” Callie offered. “My mom was young and stupid and didn’t like her dad always telling her who she could hang out with, and what kind of guys she could see.”

I listened intently, hoping to get a glimpse into Slider’s life that he never discussed.

“My dad wasn’t a good guy, but she couldn’t see past his charm.” She sighed. “Long story short, my mom died of a drug overdose and Josh, and I got put in foster care.”

“I know the feeling,” Chelsea said, offering an understanding smile.

Callie nodded. “We got split up when I was about twelve. I was quiet and well behaved, but Josh was always in trouble. The other kids would sometimes pick on me, and he’d always come to my rescue, which usually meant throwing a punch.”

My heart warmed as I watch her talk about her brother as though she’d just seen him yesterday, but the reality was, they had been separated for at least fifteen years.

“The family that adopted me, they refused to take him, too,” she said sadly. “And the day I left with them was the last time I saw him.”

I reached out and touched her arm, she looked over at me, forcing a smile.

She inhaled deeply. “So anyway. When I was about twenty-one, I went looking for my mom’s family. Found my granddad at the Royal’s clubhouse and also found Switch.” The sadness inside her was replaced by obvious adoration for her man. “We got married not long after, and have two little ones.”

“Aww,” Chelsea said sniffing and rubbing her growing bump.

Harmony laughed. “Calm down, hormonal.”

Chelsea shot a glare at her. “When you and Kit finally get to this point, you’ll understand!”

Harmony rolled her eyes and turned back to her work. Just as we finished putting together the makings of a feast, the rumble of motorcycles filled the air. We all smiled, washing off our hands and walking out to greet our men.

The yard was bursting at the seams with people. Ham was over at the playground with a handful of children, NERF gun in hand as he chased them around.

“Hadley!” Hearing Op’s voice, I turned. Leo smirked next to him, and Kit just laughed, shaking his head. I frowned, walking toward them. “I’m thinking we should get you up at the shooting range again, but Kit is scared.”

I laughed, sneaking in under Leo’s arm as he raised it for me.

“I don’t want to hurt Rifle’s feelings,” I joked.

Kit laughed. “You see, this is what happens. We give these women a voice and they never shut up.”

A hand came around, smacking Kit upside the head.

Bright Eyes appeared next to him, her stunning green eyes glaring at her son. “You’re not too old for me to tan your hide, boy.”

I put my hand over my mouth to try and hide the laughter. The boys around us didn’t care, though, loudly crowing and slapping him on the back.

“I’d be careful, boy,” Oz said as he walked over with a beer in his hand. “She has some power behind that slap. She’s made my ass red on more than a few occasions.” Oz wiggled his eyebrows as Kit forcibly gagged.

“Stop, please,” He pleaded before spotting Harmony standing on the patio laughing hysterically. “Harm, help me out here!”

“You’re on your own!” she called back.

Voices filled the clubhouse and the backyard for hours. There was a lot of laughter and memories shared. But no more tears. We’d said our goodbyes to Slider, and now it was time to celebrate his life.

“When are you due?” Callie asked Chelsea.

“I’m only fourteen weeks,” Chelsea replied, sipping her lemonade. Callie tilted her head, looking at the bulge with confusion. Chelsea laughed. “I’m having twins.”

“Oh!” Callie said excitedly. “Wow, that’s great!”

“I’m going to get another drink,” Harmony commented quietly as the two women began to gush about pregnancy. I frowned, pushing out of my chair and following her inside and into the kitchen. She braced her hands on the counter and hung her head between her arms.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “No,” she whispered softly. I walked over and placed my hand on her back, rubbing softly. “We’ve been trying to get pregnant.”

“Sometimes it can take a while,” I offered.

She shook her head again. “It happened twice and both times it was ectopic.” Her voice caught. “It was lucky that we caught them early, and there’s this medicine they can give you to…”

She didn’t have to say the words.

“Oh, Harmony,” I whispered.

“Kit refuses to do it anymore. I don’t think either of us could go through that for a third time.” Tears dripped onto her cheeks.

“There are other options. Adoption maybe.”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

I pulled her into my arms, understanding now why whenever Oz mentioned them having grandbabies that she brushed it off, and now, getting upset seeing Chelsea with hers and Op’s babies in her.

She wants to be happy for her friend, but she’s still hurting too.

“It’ll happen, some way, some how,” I told her, squeezing her tightly before I stepped back. “You stay here, I’ll send Kit in.”

She smiled and sniffed. “Thanks, Hadley.”

I pushed my way out the doors, weaving and ducking through the maze of people until I spotted Kit sitting at a picnic table outside by the fire with Leo, Optimus, Switch and another of the Royal Rebels.

I tapped Kit on the shoulder, and he turned. “Harmony needs you. She’s in the kitchen,” I told him quietly.

He stood up fast. “She okay?”

“Too much baby talk,” I said with a sad smile.

I watched his face sink. “Thanks.” He threw over his shoulder as he took off toward the clubhouse. I sighed before moving closer to Leo and leaning over his back as he chatted with Switch.

“Hey baby,” he said softly.

“Macy needs to go to bed soon,” I told him. It was dark and getting late, but the kids were running around like they had all the energy in the world. “Who’s been feeding them sugar?”

“Blizzard got the ice-cream out,” Op laughed.

“Awesome,” I grumbled.

Just as I was about to go and find Blizzard and give him a piece of my mind, the sounds of a motorcycle filled the air over the music.

“Jesus Christ, who is it now,” Optimus groaned, heading around the building toward the front of the clubhouse.

Leo took my hand as we followed.

The gates opened, telling me that this biker was known to the club. He didn’t wear any colors, though, and as he pulled in closer, I noticed he was dressed in all black, hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans and he had a bandana covering his face. He stopped his bike and kicked out the stand, leaning it to the side as he climbed off. I squinted my eyes, trying to see through the darkness.

“Was wondering if you’ve got any extra space at the club,” the voice said, and my eyes lit up.

“Skins!” I laughed, rushing forward.

He chuckled as I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. “Hey, Had.” He pulled down his bandana and took off his helmet, scruffing his short hair.

Optimus and Leo both smirked as we walked back toward them.

“We’re pretty packed at the moment, man,” Leo said, gesturing to the bikes crowding the lot. And a lot of them had already left for hotels.

“Don’t mean for just tonight,” Skins said as he pulled off his gloves revealing his heavily tattooed hands. “I mean permanently.”

“You leaving the Bureau?”

He shrugged. “I was never really in it for very long before I decided to take that gig with Judge. They needed younger agents to act as prospects and to keep the cover going, so I jumped at it. But the reality is, now I’ve been in the lifestyle longer than I’ve been with the feds.”

“You can just say it. You like riding the bike,” Optimus teased.

Skins laughed. “Yeah man. And that.”

“Optimus, the fire’s ready,” Camo called from the space in the fence.

“Come on,” Op said, gesturing with his hand to Skins. “We can talk to the boys in the morning.”

Skins smiled and nodded. I saw the tension ease out of him, and I realized he’d been prepared for rejection. We rounded the corner, and a few of the brothers came over to welcome him in as we walked over to the fire.

“What’s going on?” I asked Leo.

“We’re going to burn Slider’s Cut,” he said simply and I stared in awe as Oz handed Optimus the club cut.

“What?” I gasped. “Why?”

Leo chuckled. “It’s just what we do. We hope that by burning it that its ashes will find him and protect him in the afterlife.”

I squeezed his hand tightly, and the crowd became silent as they gathered around. Optimus tossed the cut in the fire, and no one spoke for a few minutes as they watched it burn. I hoped Leo was right, I hoped it did find him and protect him.

Wherever he was.

Optimus raised his drink, and everyone around us mimicked. “To Slider.” It was when he turned to me with such a devious smirk that my eyes widened, and I shuffled nervously. “Hadley, it would usually be Slider making this kind of bullshit comment, so in his name I felt it needed to be done.”

I watched the brothers all grin around me and looked to each of them in confusion.

“Would you like Leo’s balls gift wrapped?”

The crowd boomed with laughter, and I smiled, even though I really didn’t understand the joke. “I’ve got big pockets,” I called back, earning another roar of laughter from the people around us.

When everything calmed down, I went in search of Macy, ready to take her to bed. She was exhausted, cuddling into me as I picked her up and went in search of her daddy. He was still standing next to the fire.

“I’m going to take Macy and go to bed,” I told him, passing her over so she could give him a cuddle and say goodnight.

“All right boys, that’s me. I’ll catch you all tomorrow,” he announced, getting a mumble of goodbyes.

I frowned. “Leo, it’s okay. Stay. I can do it.”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, walking in through the patio doors and up the stairs. I followed behind him, waving to the other girls as they attempted to round up their little ones too. We walked into the bedroom, and he helped Macy into her pajamas and tucked her in. She was asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

Leo pulled off his shirt and started on his jeans.

“You can go back to your brothers. I don’t mind staying with her,” I told him again as I watched, attempting to keep focused on my words and not his body as the shadows of the room hit him at just the right angle, highlighting his magnificent physique.