Chapter Twenty-One
Smokey emerged from the command center intent on finding Tania and seeing what she knew about the money, if anything. He also needed to find out what else she could tell him about the piece of shit she married or any of his family.
Why had her parents kept a portion of her inheritance for themselves?
That part bothered him more than the rest. The rest he could understand, not that he would do anything like they had, but he understood the motivation.
But to steal from your own child? To sentence them to a life of abuse and pain like Mr. Bussard had by basically paying that fucker to marry her.
Had they pushed through a quick wedding so they could get their hands on it? Was that why they’d pushed her to get married so quickly?
He heard giggling and dismissed it as coming from the mama’s room and continued for the common area to find Tania.
But the giggling and laughter got louder as he got closer to the common room.
And it wasn’t just women. There were a couple of men’s voices mixed in as well.
He stepped around the corner and stopped, staring for a moment.
Tania, along with all three of the club’s current old ladies were sitting in a booth in the corner, arms waving, talking and laughing.
There were no men with them, so where had the men’s laughter come from?
He scanned the room and found Dagger sitting at the bar, watching them.
He could tell from the way the club’s treasurer sat, that he was keeping an eye on them, not just to make sure they stayed out of trouble, but to make sure no one bothered them.
Several other of his brothers watched the girls as well, most with tolerant smiles, a couple with scowls.
Smokey made mental notes of those who were unhappy.
Or at least more unhappy than usual. The last thing any of them needed was one of their brothers causing problems.
“How’s it going?” he asked Dagger as he stepped up to the bar next to the treasurer and waved at Thorn behind the bar for a drink.
“Good. They started out talking about books and forming a book club, then Taylynn told them she’s expecting, and it devolved from there.” Dagger shook his head.
“Raven’s expecting? Why didn’t they tell us?” Smokey frowned and turned to look at Dagger. Dagger shrugged.
“How much have they had to drink?” Smokey watched the group of girls as one of them said something and the others fell over giggling. “Is Taylynn drinking too?”
Dagger shook his head, “Not as much as you’d think from watching them, and no. When she made her announcement one of them asked. Apparently, Raven enlisted all the bartenders to make sure her drinks are virgin.”
“Hmm,” Smokey said, turning back to watch the women.
A few minutes later Raven came in, put his hands on his hips and scanned the room.
When he spotted the women, he headed in their direction.
After a few greetings, he held out a hand toward Taylynn, once he pulled her to her feet, he tucked his woman under his arm and turned to face the rest of the room.
Smokey suspected what was about to happen, but kept his mouth shut as he watched his president and the woman who stood by his side.
A woman they all knew was more than strong enough to stand by his side while they dealt with all the shit that sometimes came with the lifestyle they’d chosen.
A sharp whistle from Raven had the chatter in the room dying down as brothers and the one prospect in the room, David, turned to see what was going on. When they had everyone’s attention, Raven spoke.
“I know we’ve had a lot going on over the last few months.
We’ve lost men. Some permanently, some hopefully not.
But the last few months haven’t been all loss.
We’ve received a lot of gifts too, and you know I don’t mean the physical kind.
” He squeezed Taylynn against him. “Despite the losses, our family is growing. We’ve gained Taylynn, Andy, Delilah, and now Tania.
But that’s not all. Tania brought with her the first patchling we’ve had in quite a while, and I’m glad to have kids around the clubhouse again.
But Carter won’t be alone for long.” He turned and looked down.
Tenderness filled his face as he gazed upon his woman.
“Taylynn and I are going to have a baby.”
Noise instantly filled the room as people cheered and congratulated them.
Several of the brothers moved in and gave Taylynn hugs or slapped Raven on the back.
It took several minutes for the hubbub to die down.
Raven kissed Taylynn long enough there were calls for them to get a room.
When they finally parted, Taylynn went back to the table with the girls and Raven headed in their direction.
He waved at Thorn for a beer and took the stool beside Smokey, on the far side from where Dagger turned around to face the bar and watch the women in the mirror behind the bar.
“Congrats, man,” Smokey said.
“Thanks.” Raven twisted the top off the bottle Thorn set in front of him and took a long pull.
“I have one question though,” he continued without waiting for someone to ask what he wanted to know. “What’s the kid’s name gonna be?”
Raven scowled and turned to look at him as if he was nuts. “We haven’t gotten that far, haven’t even started to talk about it, and what makes you think I’d tell you before it’s time anyway?”
Smokey shook his head. “I’m not talking about first name. I mean last name. You’re Guzman, she’s Higham. Which will the baby be?”
Raven stared at him for a moment, then blinked.
“Fuck.” He turned back to stare at the mirror behind the bar as he tilted back his bottle again.
“That’s something else I’ll have to do. I don’t know how we’ll handle a wedding on top of everything else.
I’ll talk to her about it. And thanks for mentioning it.
It may not have occurred to me until we were in the delivery room, but I can bet she’s thinking about it now.
She’s a little crazy but she takes care of me in ways I never thought I needed. ”
Behind the bar, Thorn snorted.
“Shut it. I’m not talking about that, but obviously that too.
I mean she makes sure I have what I need.
I never get in the shower to find I’m out of soap.
I never run out of coffee at 4 AM when there’s now where open to get more.
There’s so much more, but she takes care of me just like I take care of her, but in different ways.
” He glanced up at the mirror, to his woman, Smokey had no doubt.
“Talk to her. See what she wants. She may not want some big production. Knowing her she’s already thought about everything going on with the club, and what will work.
” Dagger tilted his head toward where the women still giggled and laughed.
“But if it’s money you’re worried about.
Unless she wants some huge production with the entire town, we can swing it. ”
“Are you talking what I think you’re talking?” Hawkeye said, coming up and taking the stool on the other side of the Prez. “Congrats old man. Who would have thought you’d be having a kid at this age.”
Raven turned his head slowly, before pinning the tech sergeant with a look that would have withered a lesser man.
“Just how old do you think I am?”
“I don’t know. I mean I’ve seen your personal info, I know what the state thinks but from some of the things I’ve seen and heard.
I’m pretty sure you’re at least a hundred years older than that.
Personally, I think you’re some kind of vampire, but I haven’t figured out how it works yet because I’ve seen you in the sunlight, man.
It doesn’t turn you to ash, but nor do you sparkle.
Give me a little more time though, I’m sure I can figure it out. ”
Raven blinked then turned to look at Smokey.
“Did that make any sense at all to you?”
Smokey scrubbed one hand over his face before answering.
“Only to let me know we’ve got to get him out of that command center more often. He’s about to go full geek on us.”
“I don’t know why that makes me a geek,” Hawkeye said as Thorn handed him a drink. “But back to what I was saying when I came in. You know, I can do a little computer magic and have the two of you legally married in about five minutes.”
“You can what?” Raven’s head whipped back around to look at the club’s hacker.
“I can put a record of your license and marriage into the court records. It’s a simple process, and it’s not even getting into the system that takes the longest.”
Dagger cleared his throat. “If I can offer a bit of advice,” he continued without waiting for an answer. “Talk to her first. See what she wants before you have him do his thing.”
“Oh, that ain’t my only thing,” Hawkeye said.
“I don’t want to hear about it. Save that for Delilah,” Dagger said, holding up one hand.
“You’re right.” Raven tilted his bottle back and drained it.
He set the empty on the bar with a thump and slid off his stool.
“I need to talk to her. I’ll see you idiots tomorrow.
I’m gonna grab my woman and call it a night.
” He went to the booth in the corner, said something to them.
Taylynn laughed, hugged Tania who sat next to her then stood and went upstairs with the president.
“And that’s what I’ve been waiting for too.” Dagger stood, retrieved Andy and took her upstairs.
Across the room Smokey met Tania’s gaze.
He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to take her upstairs, strip her down and show her just how he felt about her.
But this wasn’t the time. Not because of Carter but because they had a lot they needed to know.
He needed to see what she knew and what she wanted to do about the divorce.
He glanced over at Hawkeye.
“You ready for yours?”
“Whenever you are, brother.”
“Then let’s go.”
Hawkeye was only a few steps behind him as Smokey headed for the booth.
“You looked like you were having fun,” he stood next to where Taylynn had sat, he didn’t want to sit down and end up down here longer than he’d planned. It would be better if he took her upstairs and they could talk without her having to worry about being overheard.
“We did. We’re forming a book club.”
“That’s great. What are you reading?”
“We haven’t gotten that far yet. First assignment is to make two lists of ten books. One of our favorites that we’ve read, the other things we want to read. We’ll look at those and choose from them.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said with a nod.
Not that he cared how they ran their book club, but if she wanted to tell him, he would listen.
“You about ready to head upstairs? It’s been a long day and I’m tired.
” He held out one hand toward her. He wasn’t lying but he thought she was likely far more tired than he was, but he didn’t want her to feel like he was cutting his night short because of her.
He’d seen and heard enough about that fucker she’d married to know she would only feel bad or worry if she thought he was calling it a night early because of her.
Tania glanced across the table at Delilah, who was yawning.
“Don’t stay because of me,” Delilah said. “It’s already past my bedtime.” She slid out of the booth and into Hawkeye’s arms. “I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast should be ready about seven, if you’re up,” she called over her shoulder as Hawkeye led her to the stairs.
“Oh, good.” Tania slid toward him and stood. “I’ve been fighting to stay awake for the last two hours. I’m exhausted but I had so much fun I can’t regret it, even if I end up all night with Carter.”
Smokey draped his arm across her shoulders and steered her toward the stairs.
“Does he keep you up often?”
“Off and on, usually only when there’s been a big shift in his routine or if he’s having a growth spurt.”
“So he’ll probably be up a lot tonight.” They reached the stairs and he removed his arm, setting his hand on the small of her back as he urged her to go ahead of him.
She didn’t say anything, just nodded.
“We’ll deal. You’re not alone anymore. I’ll help you with him.” He followed her up the stairs, wondering if maybe the talk about her soon to be ex and money couldn’t wait until tomorrow.