13. Kate
Kate
That night, we were invited to the clubhouse for a BBQ.
The sound of laughter hit me before we even stepped out of the truck in the parking lot. Not the forced kind. It was real laughter that was warm and happy. Deep voices, music, the occasional shout drifting across the clubhouse yard while smoke curled into the evening sky.
I hesitated beside Finn’s truck, fingers tightening instinctively around Noah’s diaper bag.
The clubhouse looked different outside church meetings and tense conversations. Less dangerous, more alive and fun.
Brothers sprawled across picnic tables with beers in hand while music blasted from old speakers nailed beside the porch. Someone had dragged out folding chairs. Bikes lined the gravel lot in long black rows that caught the fading sunlight. Even the club girls were dressed . . . mostly.
Somehow, it all looked normal. Well, as normal as a biker clubhouse full of tattooed men wearing leather kuttes could look.
Finn came around the truck and automatically reached for Noah to get him out of his carrier.
“I’ve got him,” I said quickly.
Finn raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t say you didn’t.”
Still, his hand stayed there an extra second like he was making sure I had a proper hold before letting go.
The second we crossed into the yard, Lucy spotted us. “Oh, finally.” She stood from the picnic table she’d been sitting on and marched straight towards us. “Maria’s been threatening violence because apparently nobody knows how long to cook chicken like Finn.”
“I heard that,” Maria shouted from beside the grill.
“Good.” Lucy grinned before leaning over the carrier. “There’s my favourite boy.”
Noah kicked happily and reached out for her the second he saw her.
“Rude,” Finn muttered.
Lucy smirked. “You’re at least fourth in ranking.”
“Fourth?” Finn looked offended.
“Maybe fifth.”
Before he could reply, another voice cut in.
“Kid finally here?”
A tall dark man with glasses and a beer in hand approached us with another dark-haired brother beside him.
“Kate,” Finn said, jerking his chin towards the one with glasses. “That’s Link. Other asshole’s Spider.”
Spider looked deeply unimpressed. “Nice introduction.”
“You earned it.” Link chuckled.
Spider ignored them both completely, peering down at Noah. “Well,” he announced seriously, “he’s definitely ugly enough to belong to this club.”
I blinked, about to comment when Noah sneezed directly at him. Link barked out a laugh, and I had to cover my mouth to hide my smile.
“Kid’s got good instincts.” Finn scoffed.
Spider looked horrified. “Did he just sneeze on me?”
“Survival of the fittest,” Finn replied.
Lucy reached over and lifted Noah from my arms before Spider could continue complaining.
“Don’t listen to them,” she cooed. “They share two brain cells between them.”
“Pretty sure Spider lost his in a fight,” Link said.
Spider flipped him off. I couldn’t help but laugh at their banter.
The yard buzzed around us while brothers moved between tables and grills. Nobody stared at me suspiciously anymore. The first time I’d walked through those gates, they’d looked at me like I might destroy everything they cared about.
Now? Their eyes tracked Noah instead. They seemed protective and a little curious.
“Kate, thanks for coming.”
I turned at the sound of Reaper’s voice.
He approached from the clubhouse porch with Riot beside him, both of them looking far more intimidating than everyone else combined.
Riot still wore his sunglasses despite the sun beginning to set. I still hadn’t figured out how that man functioned.
Reaper’s gaze moved briefly over me before settling on Noah in Lucy’s arms. His frown softened and his lips tilted up just a fraction, not dramatically, but enough to notice if you were looking carefully.
Lucy noticed too. Her entire face changed when she looked at him, a beaming smile lighting her features.
“You gonna stand there looking scary all night?” she asked him lightly. “Or are you holding your nephew?”
Several brothers immediately went quiet their eyes glued to Reaper.
Reaper sighed like he was deeply inconvenienced by the question. “Luce.”
“Oh, shut up and hold him.” She shushed and held Noah out to him.
Noah looked at Reaper, studying him for a moment before chuckling and clapping his hands. To my complete shock, Reaper actually took Noah. Carefully, like Noah might break or explode or something.
Spider stared openly. “Holy shit,” he muttered.
Keno squinted towards Reaper. “Why’s he holding the kid like a hand grenade?”
“That thing goes off, we’re all screwed,” Finn replied solemnly. Then shot a wink at me causing my heart to miss a beat.
Link looked equally disturbed. “Pres voluntarily holding a baby. We all gonna die tonight?”
Riot took a long drink from his beer. “Probably.”
A reluctant smile tugged at Reaper’s mouth while Noah immediately grabbed hold of the front of his kutte and tugged on it. Lucy looked up at him, not saying anything, but smiling.
My heart swelled gently in my chest, because there was so much love in the way she looked at him. In the way they all interacted, underneath the banter and the playful smacks, I could see they cared about each other. One big, strange, happy family.
Finn moved beside me, carrying two empty paper plates.
“You okay?” he asked, handing me a plate.
I nodded before realizing my eyes had gone back to Reaper and Lucy. “They don’t have kids?” I asked.
Finn glanced across the yard. “Not yet.”
“Finn, stop standing around flirting and come help before Keno burns everything,” Maria yelled.
“I’m not flirting,” Finn shot back.
That earned him several loud laughs from nearby brothers.
Keno appeared beside the grill holding metal tongs like weapons. “The food’s fine.” Smoke billowed upward behind him.
Spider leaned towards me slightly. “The chicken’s black on one side and still raw on the other.”
“I heard that,” Keno growled.
Finn sighed dramatically beside me before taking the plates from my hands. “Come on.”
I followed him towards the grills while Noah remained perfectly content in Reaper’s arms.
Maria pointed a spatula threateningly at Finn. “Tell your brother he can’t cook.”
“He knows.” Finn grabbed the tongs from Keno before more damage could be done.
Keno looked offended. “I can absolutely cook.”
“Last time you cooked,” Riot said nearby, “Link got food poisoning.”
“That was one time.”
“It was tacos.”
“How do you poison tacos?” Link demanded.
“Talent,” Spider replied.
Laughter rolled around the yard. Even Reaper shook his head slightly while adjusting Noah higher on his hip.
Noah looked ridiculously comfortable there, not at all scared by the grumpy-looking man holding him. It was like he belonged and it was normal.
The realization smacked me harder than I expected. For months, it had been just me and Noah. Only hiding and surviving, then going on the run. Always looking over my shoulder and constantly waiting for someone to take him away.
Now he was sitting in the middle of a biker clubhouse being held between dangerous men who looked at him like he mattered.
Like he was theirs.
Lucy appeared beside me carrying drinks. “It’s happening,” she murmured.
I looked at her. “What?”
Her eyes moved across the yard at Noah. “Once they claimed him, they claimed you too. You're our family too now.”
Emotion clogged my throat. Because somehow, despite the noise and chaos and leather and smoke, they felt more like family than anything I’d ever known.
Noah suddenly squealed loudly, and the entire yard turned.
Reaper looked deeply unimpressed. “He’s drooling on me.”
Lucy laughed. “That means he likes you.”
“Pretty sure it means he’s a baby.”
Then Noah grabbed hold of Reaper’s beard and yanked on it, hard.
Spider nearly choked on his beer.
Link outright lost it. “Oh my God.”
Riot actually laughed.
Reaper stared down at Noah with betrayal written across his face while the boy looked absurdly pleased with himself. “You think this is funny?” Reaper asked him.
Noah smacked his small hand against Reaper’s chest happily. Lucy was practically glowing as she walked over to them.
Finn stepped back beside me carrying a fresh plate, this time with a burger and hot dog on it.
“You disappeared into your own head again,” he said.
I shook and looked up at him. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” His gaze moved briefly towards Noah before returning to me. “Just eat before Maria starts threatening people again.”
“I heard that,” Maria yelled.
Finn smirked slightly, and a strange warmth grew low in my chest.
It was both comforting and terrifying, because somewhere between motel rooms, fear, and constantly looking over my shoulder, I was starting to feel like maybe we could actually belong somewhere.