Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
River
A soft smile crossed my lips as I walked back into the living room, finding Adelaide asleep again, her hands folded under her head, her lips parted the tiniest bit. At that moment, she looked like an angel, albeit a broken one but an angel, nonetheless.
Fuck, she took my breath away every time I looked at her, and she didn’t even realize it. She was so blind to the effect that she had on me. I was hers—a weapon for her to wield, a soldier to command. She was the only person I would ever bow down to.
I unbuttoned my flannel and slid it off, tossing it onto her coffee table as I walked over to the couch, gently lifting her and setting her onto my lap so I could watch TV while she slept since she didn’t have a television in her bedroom.
I would have placed her in her bed, but I wanted to be near her if something happened or if she needed me. And shockingly, despite the location her apartment was in, she had good walls that hid sound pretty well. If I ended up falling asleep, I might not hear her if she got sick again.
I was dozing off myself when Sam entered the apartment with the key that I had given him to her place in the rare case that he may need to get to her when I couldn’t. I slowly opened my eyes, and he arched an eyebrow at me in question as he set the crackers on the counter. “Tristan and Jesup have been waiting for you to come back to the clubhouse to finalize shit,” he reminded me quietly, seeing as Adelaide was still passed out.
I sighed, leaning my head back against the couch. “She’s not feeling good,” I told him. “The baby is kicking her ass this morning.”
“Baby?” Sam asked incredulously.
Fuck . I had forgotten he didn’t know.
I lifted my head again to look at him. “She’s pregnant,” I told him quietly. “And yes, it’s mine,” I informed him before he could ask.
“Holy fuck, Prez,” Sam muttered. He shook his head, laughing softly. “You almost made it to thirty without a kid, huh?”
I chuckled, shrugging lightly. I’d never wanted kids, but when I saw those ultrasound pictures and put the dates together, I’d never wanted anything more.
But it was because it was with Adelaide. I wanted everything with this woman.
Adelaide suddenly gagged, jerking awake from her deep slumber. I quickly released her and followed after her as she rushed to the bathroom, throwing up again.
“You sure that this is just morning sickness?” I asked her as she flushed the toilet.
She nodded. “This is mild,” she told me, her voice raspy. “It used to be a lot worse. The doctor informed me it may come back sometimes. I’d just been hoping it wouldn’t.”
I brushed the back of my fingers over her cheek, watching as she slightly tilted her head into my touch, making a small smile touch my lips. Knowing that I was the one that could make her feel comfortable and safe gave me a strange feeling inside of my chest, one I was loving.
“I need to go deal with some shit at the clubhouse. You can stay here if you want, and I can have Sam stay with you, or you can come with me. If you come, you can rest in my room there.”
“I’ll just come with you.” She sighed and rubbed at her eyes. “Let me get a shower and brush my teeth. I reek.”
I didn’t think she smelled bad, but I nodded, helping her up from the floor. Leaving her to get a shower, I walked back into the living room, grabbing my flannel off of the coffee table to shrug it on. “She alright?” Sam asked me.
I nodded at him as I fastened the buttons on my shirt. “She’s getting a shower right now, but she’s going to come to the clubhouse with us.”
“Anyone in the club know that she’s pregnant?” Sam asked.
I shook my head. “The only people that know besides you are Tristan and probably Jesup, and for right now, that’s how I need it to stay. I think Gregory is going to pose a problem and a threat to Adelaide, and I don’t want him thinking he can use my kid against me or her. I just need him to slip up so that I can boot his ass out of the club. I would do it now, but he’s got family with the original members. Makes shit a bit more complicated than it looks.” Which was a right pain in my fucking ass.
“Got it.” He inclined his head to me. “You know I’ll protect her and that baby with my life,” he assured me.
I nodded once, knowing and trusting that he would. It was why he was my VP.
My phone went off in my back pocket, and I quickly snatched it out, seeing Vern’s name on the screen. “Yeah?” I asked when I answered.
“Red is in town,” Vern informed me, cutting straight to the chase, knowing how much I hated beating around the bush.
“Fuck,” I snarled. This was the last fucking thing I needed right now, not with Adelaide around and another club in town. “Put up proper safety measures on the clubhouse. I’ll be back soon.”
I ended the call and reached up to pinch the bridge of my nose. I fucking hated my brother. Nothing good ever came out of him coming around. I never figured out what he wanted when he held the gun to Adelaide’s head either. Hell, maybe his only plan had been to sabotage what I had going on with the Sons of Death. But the fact that he was now snooping around again was bad news, and it meant my woman was in danger. Red knew she meant something to me.
Sam sighed, already sensing we had a problem. “What’s going on?”
“Red is in town.” He scowled. “You’re trailing me back to the clubhouse, and Adelaide isn’t to be left alone until he’s fucking gone and taken care of.”
I wished I could just put a bullet through his skull, but as long as my dad was still alive, that shit wasn’t happening. My old man and I might butt heads a lot, but the man didn’t have many more years left to live. I wouldn’t make him miserable in his last years by killing his son.
“He got something for your woman?” Sam asked me.
I shrugged. “Possibly.” And that possibility left a sour, bitter taste in my mouth. “He’s the reason Grim found out I fucked Adelaide. He watched me fuck her, apparently.” Sam’s face twisted in disgust. “And he knows I care about her. I don’t know what the fuck he wants right now, but I won’t take a chance that he’ll use her to get what he wants.”
Sam nodded in understanding, and I knew he also agreed. Adelaide was our number one priority, and her safety was paramount.
A few minutes later, Adelaide stepped out of the back hallway with a pair of shorts on with a t-shirt that was a couple of sizes too big for her and almost completely covered the shorts. A pair of plain black sneakers were on her feet. She was carrying a small duffel, and she gave me a sheepish smile.
“I figured I could stay with you for a couple of nights instead of you constantly having to stay over here,” she explained when I arched a questioning brow at her.
I grinned as I reached up to cup her cheek. Fuck, she was so perfect, and she had no idea. I hadn’t wanted to ask her to come stay with me, knowing that she needed to make that kind of move on her own, so I was beyond ecstatic that she was deciding to come stay with me of her own volition.
She felt the freedom that I was giving her. I didn’t have to fight to keep her with me.
I took the duffel bag from her and handed it off to Sam. “Darlin’, I’m about to be extremely protective and possessive of you,” I warned her. I didn’t want to alarm her by just becoming overbearing without an explanation. It would only drive her away from me. “I’m just warning you so that I don’t alarm you and you end up trying to pull back from me.” She eyed me warily, her guards going up against me. I stayed calm. I knew they would come back down in a heartbeat once I explained what was going on. “Red is in town,” I informed her.
As predicted, they came crashing back down, and her eyes ran over my face. “Your brother… the same Red that held a gun to the back of my head?” she asked quietly.
I nodded and reached forward to draw her into my arms. I smoothed my hands down her back, holding her with me. “I hope you’ve got a few outfits in that duffel because I’m not letting you leave the protection of my clubhouse until he’s gone,” I cautioned her. “Not without numerous members of my club with you, at the very least.”
She nodded. “Yeah, what I have should be enough.”
I gently pressed my lips to hers, being extra careful of the bruising on her face. “Good. Let’s roll, then,” I said, drawing her tight against my side as I snatched her apartment keys off of the counter.
She drew me to a stop before we could leave. I turned to look down at her, arching a brow. “Thank you,” she whispered.
My eyebrows pulled together in honest confusion. “For what?” I asked, wracking my brain for what I had done to warrant any kind of appreciation.
“For giving me the freedom that I need. No one has ever understood me before,” she confessed, her voice sounding strangely choked up, her emotions almost overwhelming her.
My woman was finally coming out of her shell and opening up to me, and I would cherish every bit of her openness for the rest of our lives.
I cupped the side of her neck, letting my blue eyes meet her beautiful, brown ones. “I stayed back in the shadows, learning all of your quirks, what you needed, and what made you tick,” I confessed. Her eyes widened in surprise. “I was willing to listen to your unspoken needs, and I will always continue to do that.” I brushed my thumb over her jawline. “I never want to smother you, Adelaide. I just want to watch you grow into the woman you’ve always been meant to be.”
Her eyes welled with tears, but she didn’t let a single one drop. I pressed my lips to her forehead, holding them there for a moment before I grabbed her hand in mine again, leading her down to my bike.