After Burn (Lost Kings MC 10)

We follow him into the office, which has changed quite a bit since the last time I was here. “Things look good, Z.”

“Thanks. You didn’t come down here and you sure as fuck didn’t drag Hope here to give me a pat on the head, so what’s going on?”

I’m not quite sure how to say it and Hope’s waiting for me to speak first. The moment of hesitation makes Z frown.

“Is everything okay?” He glances at Hope and a more concerned expression darkens his face. “With the baby? Are you all right?”

“The baby’s fine,” she assures him. “It’s not about the baby. Well, not mine, anyway.”

Z starts shaking his head. “What are you—”

“Inga’s suing the club. For child support. She’s requested a paternity test from a bunch of us, including you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He jumps out of his chair and paces behind the desk a few times before stopping dead. “Oh fuck me.”

“What?” Hope asks.

“She called not that long ago.” He lifts his chin at me. “Looking for you.”

“Jesus Christ, why? What the fuck for?”

“I don’t know. But Willow ended up talking to her.”

“Get her down here,” I say.

Z picks up the phone and a few minutes later a there’s a hesitant knock on the door.

“What’s up, Z?”

She smiles when she sees us and closes the door behind her. “Hi, Hope!”

Hope gives her a patient smile and Willow’s happy expression falters. “What’s going on?”

“You talk to Inga when she called?” Z asks.

“Yeah, I told you I did.” She turns her head my way. “She wouldn’t stop asking about you. I told her you and Hope were really happy and having a baby, so she needed to get over it and move on.” He gaze skitters between the two of us. “Was that wrong?”

I open my mouth to say, “Yes” but Hope pats my hand and speaks first.

“No, Willow. That’s fine.”

“Is she causing trouble now? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start anything. It’s just been so long, you know?”

“It’s okay.”

Z lifts his chin. “Thanks, hon. Go on.”

After Willow shuts the door, Hope sits back and closes her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Z says. “I’ll talk to her about blabbing about personal shit.”

“It’s not her fault,” Hope says.

“I—”

“Rock,” Hope says, cutting me off. “Inga would’ve done this one way or another. She would’ve found out eventually. Yes, I would prefer that Willow leave me out of all future discussion with your exes, but it’s not her fault.”

Z seems relieved Hope doesn’t want Willow’s head on a stick. “Let me finish up with the contractors and I’ll be there for church.”

I stand and help Hope up. “Don’t take too long.”

He gives Hope a hug. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. You shouldn’t have to put up with this. Not now. Not ever.”

His words and body language are all brotherly affection, but it still pushes my buttons. A short growl bursts out of me.

“Easy, caveman.” He laughs. “I’ll see you guys in a few.”

“Was that necessary?” Hope teases on our way out.

“Yes.”

She squints at me. “Don’t take this out on the guys.”

“Why not? I swear to fuck if this kid belongs to one of them, I’m gonna straight up murder—”

In a swift move, she covers my mouth with her hand. “Please don’t tell me about future crimes you plan to commit.”

“How can you keep your sense of humor?”

“What do you want me to do, Rock? Cry? Get mad? She’s not worth it. She doesn’t deserve my energy. Or yours. Let’s just get this done, over with and move on.”

“That’s the problem, though. When do we get to finally move on? When is it enough and these things stop happening?”

She shrugs. “That’s life. We don’t get the one we want, we get the one we’re given. The only thing we can control is how we react to things out of our control.” She grabs a fistful of my shirt and yanks me closer. “I’m not letting anyone steal my joy. Or yours. We’ll get through this.”

I’m so stunned by her passionate words that I can’t find any of my own.

“Let’s get home so you can talk to the guys. Then when you’re done I’m going to call this quack and we’ll find a lab to get the tests done as soon as possible.”

“Jesus,” I breathe out, utterly awed by how calm and rational she’s being, when I’m feeling the exact opposite.

“It should be a simple cheek swab,” she continues. “Nothing too invasive. But I want a reliable place. Everyone needs to go in personally and have the lab take the sample so the chain of custody is clear and can’t be contested. That little bitch isn’t going to keep coming at us. I want to slap her down now. Hard and fast so she doesn’t know what hit her.”

“I don’t know what’s hotter, when you’re all sweet and soft or pissed and passionate.”

“Well good thing you’ve got all of me for the rest of your life to figure it out.” She takes my hand and leads me toward the car. “Come on. Let’s get this first part over with.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“Everyone’s here. You gonna tell me what this is all about now?” Wrath says as soon as we walk in the front door of the clubhouse.

“Inga’s suing him,” Hope says in a way-too-chipper-for-the-situation voice. “Rock will give you all the glorious details.”

Wrath slides his confused gaze between the two of us. “What?”

Hope turns to me. “I’m exhausted,” she says in a lower voice. “I’m going to go upstairs and take nap—”

“Go home and—”

“No. I want to make that phone call today. If the guys have any questions, have them stick around and I’ll answer the best I can.”

She reaches up on tiptoes and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “An hour enough time? I’m going to set my alarm.”

“Give me an hour and a half.”

“You got it.” She pats Wrath’s arm on the way upstairs.

“What the hell is she talking about?” Wrath asks. “Why are we even talking about Inga?”

The basement door opens. Sparky and Stash stumble into the living room, clearly high-as-fuck. I’m irrationally irritated with Sparky, since it’s his stoner ass that’s responsible for Willow visiting the clubhouse and getting chummy with my wife.

“Can’t you go a day without getting fucked up?” I snap at him.

The smile slides off his face. “What’s wrong, boss?”

“Church, now.”

“Yeah, we heard,” Stash says. “That’s why we’re here. We’re testing the new—”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Rock,” Wrath says. “What crawled up your ass?”

“Where is everyone?”

“On their way.”

“Get ’em in here.”

Twenty minutes later all the brothers are seated around the table. I’m still furious, but I set it aside.

“Hope received some legal papers today. Inga’s suing us for child support.”

“Whoa!” Ravage practically jumps out of his chair. “What the fuck?”

“How pissed is Hope that Inga’s dragging your ass into family court?” Dex asks. “Poor girl doesn’t need this right now.”

I sit up and fling the envelope with all the legal papers at him. “I ain’t goin’ alone, brother.”

I tip back in my chai

r, cover my face with my hands, and laugh. “Fuck, at the moment I think Hope’s amused more than pissed.”

Dex passes the papers to Wrath, who explodes when he gets to the part of the summons with his name. “I never fucked that bitch. Why the fuck is she draggin’ me into this bullshit?”

“Probably to get at me. Or she genuinely doesn’t remember who she fucked.”

“Wrath’s kinda hard to forget,” Sparky says.

“Uh, not just you, brother,” Dex points out. “She’s dragging Z, Teller, Stash, Ravage, Sparky, and me in too.”

“Holy fuck.” Stash whistles. “Way to let the whole world know you’re a whore. Why now?”

“Who the fuck knows? She probably ran out of money and can’t do porn anymore,” Dex says.

I glare at Z, who leans forward to explain.

“Uh, actually Rock and I solved that mystery earlier.” He turns to look down the table so he can see Sparky. “Your girl Willow had to brag to Inga all about Hope being pregnant. Inga musta gotten her panties in a twist.”

“Willow ain’t my girl and she wouldn’t…” Sparky trails off. “She’s been into planning all the girly baby shower shit with Trinity and Swan, so yeah. Maybe.”

“She flat out said she did,” Z informs him.

“This isn’t helping,” Dex says. “Doesn’t matter why. What the fuck do we do about it?”

“Track her down and kill her?” Ravage suggests.

“Don’t think I didn’t consider it,” I grumble.

“Rock, you actually fucked her. Over a long period of time,” Bricks says.

I snarl his way. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“What are you gonna do if the kid’s yours? How’s Hope gonna feel ’bout that?” Bricks asks.

“I’ve asked myself that all afternoon.” I mumble from behind my hands, deciding to keep my conversation with my wife private. “If Inga’s telling the truth, her timeline doesn’t add up for me to be the father. I hadn’t been near her for more than year at the time she’s saying she got pregnant.” Setting my hands on the table, I toss a smirk at the rest of my brothers. “If it’s a baby King, it’s one of yours.”

Wrath shakes his head. “Jesus Christ. You know how much Trinity hates Inga? How am I supposed to explain this fuckery to her?”