Chapter 26
Devyn
Ilooked over at the table, where the snacks were all set out, then down at myself, smoothing out my t-shirt to ease some of my nerves.
I’d gone for comfort over style tonight.
The other old ladies were coming over for non-alcoholic drinks and girl chat.
I hadn’t let them in on the fact that I wanted to ask them about the lifestyle, but they probably had some idea.
It would make sense to me that women new to this would have questions.
I paused as there was a knock at the door and frowned.
My last thoughts had kind of put me into the position of old lady.
I hadn’t really meant to do that. Though living here with Bolo and having his baby sort of did shove me closer to that label.
The crazy part? I wasn’t nearly as scared by the notion as I was before.
Probably because Bolo was wearing me down.
The sneaky jerk. I smiled and shook my head.
It was hard to actually mind when I woke up to him staring at me in a way that couldn’t be described as anything other than devoted.
He brought me flowers and snacks that I actually wanted to eat right now—I knew for a fact that there were only two stores in the city that sold the snack cakes I liked, and they weren’t close by—and made sure I got as many orgasms as I could handle by the close of each day. Who wouldn’t want that?
He was gorgeous, attentive, and funny. I didn’t last long in his presence without laughing like a lunatic. I was falling in love with him, one day at a time. And now that we were living together? It was happening at an exponential rate.
Opening the door, I smiled at Camila and Rue. “Thanks for coming over.”
“Thanks for having us,” Rue told me with a grin. “How’s everything going?”
“You settling in okay?” Camila added.
It’d been a little over two weeks since the dinner party but everyone was always so busy and we hadn’t had much time to catch up. “Yeah,” I said, answering Camila’s question first. “Everything is good. Blood pressure seems to be stabilizing a bit, which is a relief.”
“Yeah, it is,” Rue said with a nod.
We chatted a little as I put a take and bake pizza in the oven—my version of cooking—and caught up with everything that had happened in the last two weeks with each of us. Once the pizza was done we began eating and learning a bit more about each other’s backgrounds.
I hadn’t realized—though maybe I should have because of the boys’ ages—that Ryan was Rue’s brother and Teddy was his friend. Rue and OD had basically adopted them as their own though. Same with Norman, apparently.
“Hopefully, I’ll get to meet your mother and sister one day,” I told Camila, then took a bite of my pizza.
The gooey cheese burned my mouth a little, but it was so worth it.
Thanks to the Zofran I could actually eat and felt almost human again.
The morning sickness had been a killer. It still wasn’t a complete fix for me, and I had to be careful to eat often enough, but not too much or I’d still end up throwing up, but it was a huge improvement.
“I’m sure you will!” Camila replied.
“And we can’t wait to meet your family, too. Four sisters.” Rue let out a whistle. “Your parents had their hands full.”
I laughed and nodded. “We didn’t always make it easy for them.”
We all fell silent as we continued to eat.
Camila finally looked around and said, “Thank you so much for having us over. We’ve been meaning to get together with you, but fully understand how hard it can be during this time.
” She rested a hand on her huge belly. She was past due at this point, according to Bolo.
That was going to be me soon. Well, hopefully not the past due part, but having a big belly like hers.
And I was really looking forward to it. I wanted to feel my baby kick so badly.
To have reassurance that she or he was in there.
Other than the throwing up—and now the blood pressure fiasco—I only had small indications that he was in there.
My clothes were fitting a bit tighter and my stomach was starting to round out just a little bit.
I gave them a sheepish smile. “Well, I wanted to have you over to get to know one another. But also…”
They gave each other knowing looks.
“You have questions,” Rue said, finishing my sentence. She didn’t seem to be having any troubles with morning sickness as she started in on her third slice of pizza. I made a mental note to go over pregnancy symptoms with them later.
I blew out a relieved breath. They seemed like they expected this. Camila confirmed it by leaning over and patting my hand. She and I were sitting next to each other on the couch while Rue was in one of the recliner chairs. “I do.”
“We figured you would,” Camila told me. “It’s only natural.”
“Yeah,” Rue said, lifting the slice of pizza up and taking a large bite. She chewed a few times, then swallowed. “This is kind of a crazy lifestyle for normies.” She pointed between herself and us. “We’re all the normies by the way.”
I laughed at that.
“How much has Bolo told you?” Camila asked, sounding a little hesitant.
“That they protect the city.” I went on to explain the conversation that we’d had. The girls were nodding along as I spoke.
“As an old lady you’re allowed to know the details,” Rue told me. “Some clubs don’t, I guess? But Ruck told us that wasn’t the way their club did things. He says if we don’t know what they’re involved in, we won’t know the threats coming at us.”
“And they’d rather we knew so we could avoid them if possible,” Camila finished.
“That makes sense,” I replied. Steeling my nerves, I asked the most pressing question first. It should be one for Bolo.
But I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear the answer from him.
I didn’t want to have to temper my reaction.
I wasn’t even sure what that reaction would be until I had my suspicions confirmed. “D-Do they kill people?”
The women looked at each other again, then focused back on me. “Yeah,” Rue said, as Camila nodded along, “they do.”
“But only bad people,” Camila added.
I absorbed that for a moment and was surprised that I didn’t feel as freaked out as I thought I would.
Probably because I’d suspected it ever since Bolo said they ‘take care’ of criminals.
Obviously they weren’t taking care of them in a caring way.
I wasn’t stupid. And leaving them in the city would just cause extra trouble and potential risk to their families. “That doesn’t…worry…either of you?”
Camila bit her lower lip, then sighed. “I think it would help if you knew how we came to meet the MC.” Rue nodded at her to continue. “My mother, sister, and I were on the run. A really…bad man…was trying to kill me, and wouldn’t have hesitated to kill them or use them to get to me.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?” They both nodded. “Oh my God. The police?”
“They were trying. The Marshals were barely keeping us safe in witness protection. They didn’t know it at the time but they had a leak. The FBI was trying to take down this man for all his crimes.” She hesitated. “He murdered my father and I witnessed it.”
I sucked in a horrified breath. I couldn’t even imagine watching anyone in my family be killed in front of me. Reaching over I grabbed her hand and squeezed, but didn’t interrupt.
“There were many times they barely got us moved in time. Then we came here, to Phoenix, and I moved in next door to Kilo.” Her smile softened.
“We fell in love even though I tried not to. I didn’t want to love him then have to run again.
He and the club went after Kruzman. They made it so I never had to worry about him again.
Never had to worry about my mother and sister’s safety again.
It was a huge burden lifted off my shoulders.
I’ll always be grateful to them. And they became like another family to me.
I’ll take their secrets to my grave.” There was a fierce determination lighting up her eyes.
“I get it,” I told her. “That sounds so…insane. Like a fiction story, not real life.”
She nodded. “Right? But I lived it.”
“My story isn’t any less fantastical,” Rue said with a laugh. “I met OD when this one fell late in her second trimester and he called an ambulance for her.”
I quickly looked over at Camila.
“It was fine,” she said.
“Fine,” Rue snorted. “Just a busted wrist.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “No falls for you, Missy. We’re not doing that again.”
“Okay, I promise,” I laughed.
“Anyway. The second time I met him was when I called him out of desperation, because I had a mountain of a man unconscious at my feet and I needed a way to move him discreetly.”
My mouth dropped open. I listened in shock as she described trying to find Ryan, helping Teddy, and how the MC had saved all three of them. And Norman. We couldn’t forget him.
“So no, we really can’t be bothered about the lives they take. The things they do. Not without being complete hypocrites,” Camila said with a wry smile. Rue’s expression matched hers perfectly.
“I think maybe you’re questioning it,” Rue continued, “because you’re not in an insane situation. Your life is normal.”
“It won’t stay that way,” Camila warned. “Sometimes they have to put us on an unexpected lock down.”
“To keep us-” Rue started.
“And themselves,” Camila interrupted, then fell silent so Rue could finish.
“Safe.”
It was a lot to absorb. And again, I wasn’t freaking out about it.
Which was a little unbelievable because we were talking about these guys killing people.
But…it all made sense, too. Both Camila and Rue would be dead if it hadn’t been for Bolo and his brothers. So would Ryan and Teddy, most likely.
This was a complicated situation. It wasn’t just as black and white as killing wrong, not breaking the law good.
The things these men did saved lives. Lives that the cops couldn’t save.
The good people the MC helped far outweighed the lives they took—in my opinion—because those people chose to harm others first.
“I still need to think about this,” I admitted.
“Totally understandable,” Rue said. “Your whole life will change being a part of all this.”
Camila and I both nodded, in agreement for her and acceptance for myself.
“I’m already sort of a part of it,” I told them, placing a hand on my stomach.
“That’s the truth,” Rue said with a laugh.
“Thank you,” I told them. “For explaining all of this to me. For telling me your stories.”
“We’re here anytime you need to talk,” Camila offered.
“Yeah, or if you have more questions. Though we’ll let Bolo do as much of the explaining as possible.” She gave me a wry look. “It’s better coming from him anyway.”
We all stood up together. Somehow, hours had passed and I knew Bolo would be back anytime. I waved them away when they offered to help clean up. “I’ve got it. I’m hoping we can do this again soon. I mean after the baby comes.”
“Yes please!”
“Absolutely.”
They’d said it in unison and with as much enthusiasm as I felt.
There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to become great friends.
And even though I had five built-in best friends in my sisters, I was so glad that I could become a part of this family, too.
At least, that was what I was hoping for.
They’d really managed to set my mind at ease. I wanted to have a talk with Bolo again. To wrap my head around this fully, I needed a few more questions answered. But I was feeling more comfortable with the idea of him and I becoming something more permanent than just co-parents to this baby.