“All right. So not too long. I’m hoping he can kick this on his own. Not relishing the thought of dragging his ass to cokeheads anonymous or some other bullshit.”
I snort out a laugh, because I can’t picture it either.
“You two still…?” He waves his hand in the air, and for such a blunt man, I can’t understand what he’s hinting at.
Oh.
“I don’t think that’s your business, sir.”
His eyes close briefly, and he shakes his head. “Everything is my business, girlie. You’ll learn.” He waits for a few seconds then sighs. “By your silence, I’m gonna assume there’s trouble in that department.”
“It’s just because of the drugs,” I grumble, smoothing my skirt over my legs. And the fact that I’d rather punch Chaser than kiss him right about now.
“You two plannin’ to have kids?”
My head snaps up. “Excuse me?”
He curls his arms together and makes a rocking motion. “Babies. You plannin’ to make some with my son?”
“Uh, that’s also not your business.”
“You don’t listen very well.”
“Oh, I heard you, Mr. Adams. I just don’t agree that our sex life or reproductive plans are any of your business.”
He cracks a smile, then full-out laughs. “Shit, I can see why he likes you so damn much.” He waves his hand at me. “Settle down. Just thinking a kid on the way might help him stay straight.”
Completely insulted and embarrassed, my cheeks burn, but I fight through the discomfort to sit forward to make my point clear. “I hardly think now’s the time to bring a baby into our lives. Not when everything’s so…unstable. Seems unfair to do to a child, don’t you think?”
He raises an eyebrow, but I keep right on going.
“A baby’s not supposed to solve problems. I’d rather wait until our child’s going to have two functioning adults to care for him or her.”
Done with my speech, I sit back and force myself not to break eye contact with the stunned MC president.
As we continue staring each other down, he twirls a pen through his fingers without looking at it once. After a few too many beats, he laughs again. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met a woman who didn’t want to trap a man by gettin’ knocked up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said. I’ll assume he’s earning some money with his music.” He flicks his hand in the air in a dismissive way I don’t care for. “He stands to earn well with the club when he eventually takes over. If he ever comes home.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve never thought of him that way. And honestly, I’m not exactly in a hurry to be tied down with a kid myself.” I pick at a bit of lint on my corduroy skirt. “Before everything got messed up, we had a lot of fun in England. Did Chaser tell you he rented a bike for us over there? We can’t really do that with a baby strapped to the back.”
“Ah, you’ve got a little wanderlust in you too, huh?”
“I get it from my mother.” I don’t elaborate, and he doesn’t ask for more details.
“All right,” he says, once again shifting gears. “I’m gonna set you two up and help you get him through this.”
I feel a “but” coming on.
“But in return, I need you to do something for me.”
There it is.
“What do you need, sir?” I work as much respect as I can into my voice to ease the tension in the room. I think I’ve smarted off to him enough for one day.
“You been in touch with your father?”
“No. He told me not to contact him.” While that’s true, guilt presses down on me. I haven’t given him a lot of thought while I’ve been off in California.
“Well, he’s…concerned about you. I’d like you to pay him a visit once Chaser’s well enough to go with you for protection.”
“Wait. Concerned about me? How? Why do you know this?”
“Who do you think smoothed things over when his guys wanted their money back? I made it clear to him and everyone else, you were under our protection—meaning coming after you again would be a declaration of war. You’re smart enough to understand men like your father and his associates don’t appreciate that too much.”
Oh dear. I never, ever considered that Stump might have put himself or his club in that much danger because of me.
“You seem like a bit of a romantic, Mallory, so I’ll lay it out for you—we got ourselves a little Romeo and Juliet thing going on.”
“That’s a tragedy, not a romance,” I mumble.
He chuckles. “Whatever. Point is, I need you to pay your father a visit and let him know you’re okay. That you’re with Chaser willingly. You’re happy.” He runs his gaze over me, and I wrap my sweater around me tighter. “You look healthy. Tell him whatever he needs to hear to be convinced his darling princess is being taken care of properly.”