The last three years of my life, I’d been killing myself thinking that I’d brought that mess into our club. That I’d gotten my baby brother killed.
I swallowed hard as I walked into the main room. It was so fucking loud I couldn’t distinguish anyone’s specific voice, but my eyes caught on Molly instantly. She was standing at the bar, holding Reb on her hip as she talked to Poet. He laughed at something she said, and then Rebel’s little hand was reaching out to run down his long beard.
I reached them in seconds.
“Will?” Molly asked worriedly as she caught the look on my face.
“You’re movin’ in with me,” I replied roughly, cupping her swollen cheeks in my hands. “Okay? No argument, baby.”
“Okay,” she breathed. “What’s wrong?”
I took Rebel from her hip and pulled her against my chest, my heart thudding hard as she relaxed into me.
“I need you,” I said quietly, meeting Molly’s eyes. “Let’s go in my room and get away from all this shit for a while.”
She nodded and grabbed my hand, letting me lead her back into my room. As soon as I’d closed the door, she took Rebel from me and set her on the floor then wrapped her arm around my waist.
“What’s going on, Will?” she asked softly, kissing my chest.
My throat grew tight as I put my arms around her, pulling her even closer. “Can’t talk about it now, alright?” I asked hoarsely.
I wanted to tell her everything, and eventually I would. But looking down into her bruised face, the fear still present in the back of her eyes, I knew then wasn’t the time. Instead, I pulled her to the bed and laid down with her, curving the front of my body into the back of hers as we watched Rebel walk around the room gathering stuffed animals.
I took in the smell of Molly’s hair, the soft skin of her belly against my fingertips, and the sound of Rebel humming on the floor, and I stayed.
For the first time since Mick died, I stayed right where I was.
“Love you,” I murmured against the back of Molly’s head.
“Love you, too.” Her fingers found and linked with mine.
Yeah. I wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter 21
Molly
I climbed out of bed when Will fell asleep an hour later. He was obviously tired and I didn’t want Rebel to wake him up. As I carried her out of the room, I wondered what the hell had happened to make Will so upset.
There were things he couldn’t tell me. I was beginning to understand at least that much about the dynamics of the club. But, honestly, I was completely on board with that. After lying to the police, I didn’t ever want to have to do it again. The more I knew, the more I’d have to lie about.
These guys were clearly not just mechanics. I’d always known that. I was finding that they weren’t just criminals, either, though. They were family men. Some of them loved their wives to distraction, especially the ones in Will’s family. I’d noticed others that morning that weren’t super affectionate with their wives, but showed them blatant respect anyway. They played with their kids, helped them tie their shoes and changed their diapers.
I was finding that the one-dimensional picture my dad had painted about life inside the Aces wasn’t even close to accurate. I wondered if he’d known that they had been my safe haven after I’d left him. I wondered if his attitude about my relationship with Will would have changed if he’d known how good they had been to me.
“Hey, girl,” Trix said as I passed her in the hallway. “Will okay?”
“Yeah, he’s sleeping,” I said quietly, hitching Reb farther up on my hip. Holding her with just one arm was harder than I’d ever realized before I broke my arm.
“How about you?” Trix asked, leaning against the wall. “You okay?”
“Um,” my face scrunched up in confusion. “Yeah.”
She laughed. “I just meant with all of this.” She waved a hand around. “I grew up here, so none of this bothers me. It’s a pain in the ass, but I’m sort of used to it. But you’re new to all of it.”
“It’s a little overwhelming,” I confessed. “Everyone’s been nice, but being on lockdown? That’s crazy.”
“Yeah,” Trix said softly. “This type of shit doesn’t happen very often, but this life isn’t for the faint of heart, especially for us women. We have to deal with our men being out of town, getting locked up—” She reached over and knocked on a wood door. “—putting themselves in danger.”
“I didn’t realize what I was getting into,” I murmured. “I get it now, but at the beginning?” I shook my head.
“And now you’re stuck, am I right?” she asked with a rueful smile. “You’re not the first woman to fall in love with an Ace and get sucked into a life that you hadn’t imagined for yourself. My mom grew up here and still took off pregnant with me the minute she could, but like five years later, she came back to my pop. Hell, Will’s mom was just a teenager when she met Grease. Try dealing with all this shit as a tadpole. Crazy.”