Zodiac & Elle (Crimson Guard MC #3)
Elle Reed
Romance never interested me. Guys were my friends rather than anyone to charm. Despite his good looks, my older brother had been the same way. Clint’s mind was on bigger things than dating. Mainly, he wanted to build his own motorcycle club, which he eventually did with the Crimson Guard.
Clint’s club was filled with our family and friends, both guys and foxes. I jumped at the chance to ride with them. The club was my main focus until I went wild on a Mexico trip. Apparently, my drunken self was far more interested in men than the sober version.
I didn’t remember much about my first baby daddy except that he had thick brown hair and a dumb laugh. The son we created during our drunken fun inherited the guy’s tawny hair. If the sperm donor was exceptionally intelligent, our kid inherited his big brain, too.
Sutter Cane was a remarkable boy. His mind grabbed hold of facts and never let them go. At seven, he grasped high school-level work. I couldn’t even imagine what it was like to be inside his head.
Though my life revolved around Sutter, I wasn’t a spinster.
I still rode with the Crimson Guard Motorcycle Club.
I got into fistfights at our clubhouse, The Fire Hooch.
I was tight with the female members who lived at the Sorority House on the north side and the male members who lived downtown at the Five Points Lofts, like my brother.
But romance wasn’t a thing for me, even now, when I suffered from a ridiculous crush on a bad man who was the father of my second oops baby.
Zodiac Bondi was the president of the Black Rainbow Motorcycle Club.
He got where he was by pushing out the men who founded the club.
Zodiac was known to be ruthless, but he’d been a good ally to the Crimson Guard.
When my older cousin, Lula, was abducted by a mobbed-up organization called the Void, the Black Rainbow was able to track her down within hours.
Zodiac apparently had a snitch within our enemy’s ranks.
The Void had been quiet since they lost Lula. Clint and our club VP, Rock Savo, spent months hunting down every lead until our hometown felt safe again.
The alliance between the Crimson Guard and Black Rainbow was how Zodiac and I made our special little oops. I’d been drunk and curious. He’d been gorgeous and persistent. We had a few minutes to spare in the empty office at the Fire Hooch. I barely remembered our time together.
Zodiac was a terrible person to lust after, but his good looks left me hot and bothered.
The biker was tall, perfectly muscled, and blond.
His icy blue eyes refused to give away anything about the man lurking inside.
Exuding confidence, Zodiac dressed slick in tight button-up shirts, open enough to reveal his tatted chest. His thick blond beard was tidy.
When he smiled at me, I felt him digging around in my heart and claiming what I didn’t want to share.
Telling him no was easier when I was sober and sane. But that night, he smelled so good, and his voice held such promise.
Denying myself was never easy. I ate what I liked. Drank when I wanted. Mouthed off when the mood struck. I was always a hundred percent me, and I was horny as hell for Zodiac.
My positive pregnancy test left me feeling like a dipshit. I had rightfully kept my quickie with Zodiac secret from my family and closest friends. Now, people would know!
My parents responded to my baby news by arranging an intervention in the large family room of the house I shared with Ford and Shay. Sutter and I lived in the finished basement. My parents never showed the least bit of interest in us moving out.
Yet, Ford still announced during the impromptu intervention, “Your irresponsible drinking and fucking are filling our house with bastard children.”
My father looked like a wild man with his shoulder-length silver hair, bushy silver beard, tanned skin, and pale blue eyes.
In contrast, my mom looked lovely and soft with her silver hair and gray eyes. They sat together on the couch in matching white T-shirts and washed-out blue jeans.
With my parents putting on a united front, I pointed out, “You adore Sutter.”
“Yes, but who knows what this bastard will be like,” Ford insisted, though I felt him wanting to laugh at the entire situation.
However, once Clint outed the identity of my baby daddy, my parents switched from an intervention to planning an exorcism.
“He’s a weird, wicked man,” Shay insisted. “He said my rice casserole was dry.”
“I kicked his ass back in the day,” Ford muttered while stroking his beard. “So, clearly him knocking up my drunk daughter is how Zodiac plans to get his payback.”
Unable to defeat their arguments, I decided to play the drama card. “This baby will be a gift just like Sutter!” I insisted before faking tears and running out of the room.
Sutter wasn’t thrilled about my pregnancy. For the first few days after learning about the baby, my disappointed son kept looking at me and shaking his head.
“I swear I took my pill just like I was told.”
“You need to use something else,” Sutter insisted. “Medical science has come a long way.”
“Is it really my fault? I religiously take my birth control pills. I’m super careful. But then, I have sex twice in my life and get pregnant each time. Could I have been cursed by a fertility gnome?”
“A what?”
Shrugging, I hugged him to me and insisted, “Nothing will change.”
I kept my promise by putting my baby news on the backburner and focusing on Sutter. After he finished first grade, we traveled to Los Angeles to visit the Griffith Observatory and Disneyland with Clint and his tiny, blonde fiancée, Ivy.
The big plan for the summer was for Sutter to attend a day camp called the Institute of the Gifted and connected to Bryn Mawr College.
My parents came along for the trip, claiming to be curious about Pennsylvania.
I suspected they were actually worried about our safety after what happened with Lula.
The four of us stayed at a rental house. During the week, my parents and I explored the area while Sutter did his big brain stuff with other genius kids.
By the time we returned to Little Memphis for my brother’s wedding, I’d gotten used to my unexpected pregnancy. My symptoms were mild. I felt like myself with a slightly bigger belly and a new obsession for tortilla chips.
However, one sticking point remained. No one had told Zodiac Bondi about the baby.
His club VP knew, of course. Exile, his sister Nova, and her two girls, Skylar and Lyric, had moved to Little Memphis to live with Lula.
My cousin’s house was two doors down from my parents’ place, meaning Exile was in the mix during our family drama.
Yet, the cowboy hat-wearing biker hadn’t shared my secret with his club president.
Ideally, I could wait until the baby was born to spring the news on Zodiac. Clint kept telling me how that wasn’t possible. Zodiac and his other club guys often visited Little Memphis. I had begun to show. Zodiac was a big guy at over six-four. His kid would likely make me huge.
The issue finally came to a head when Boone and Goldie Chester visited our house.
Earlier in the year, Boone had been locked up in a Missouri jail over a brawl he didn’t start.
His release had spawned a week of celebration in Little Memphis and our sister town of Rawlins, where his parents lived.
I’d nearly run into Zodiac twice during the endless parties.
The sexy biker was on my mind while I sat outside with Boone, Goldie, and Clint. My brother and Boone were tight. The two men—tall, wide-shouldered, and dark-haired—stood side by side near the lake.
Nearby, Goldie ran her fingers through her bleached blonde hair. She and Boone had inherited their dad Blackjack’s dark eyes. I saw hers flashing at me regularly, and I grew suspicious of who she was texting.
Following Clint to where I sat, Boone asked, “What’s happening with the baby situation?”
Feeling on the spot, I went with my more rational plan. “I was thinking I’d wait until late into the second trimester to tell Zodiac. He and I can take a NIPP test. Once he knows he’s got a kid on the way, he can go away while I finish cooking the baby.”
Clint shook his head nearby. “You need to tell him sooner. Exile can’t keep your secret for much longer. It’s bound to cause issues in their club.”
“I don’t care about anyone except me, my family, and friends, and maybe a few select strangers.”
“Isn’t Exile your friend?” Clint asked while Boone eyed me.
“No, he’s more of an acquaintance.”
Boone was a big, burly guy with thick brown hair, a bushy beard, and kind brown eyes. He could be a grouchy bitch at times. Other days, he was downright terrifying. Today, he acted like a goofy bear by wrapping his powerful arms around me and squishing me to his buff chest.
“You got knocked up by a guy whose name you know,” he announced, winning snickers from Goldie. “What a glorious experience this must be for you.”
Failing to free myself from his bear hug, I asked, “If a woman told you about a baby you made during a quickie at the clubhouse, would you respond positively?”
“No, because I have quickies with crazy sluts. Can you imagine my poor kid’s future?”
“What if she wasn’t a crazy slut?”
“Well, then, I’d be suspicious about why she was hooking up with me.”
Frowning up at his face, I asked, “Can you please let me loose?”
“No, I plan to hug you until you agree to share your big news with the sperm donor.”
“Why rush toward that clusterfuck?”
“You’re healthy and happy right now. Why wait until you’re bloated and miserable?”
Frowning up at Boone, I found him waiting for my negative response. He flashed me a smile and released his bear hug.
“You’re a tough fox, Elle. No one can understand why you’re hiding from this guy.”
“I’m not hiding. I recently saw Zodiac in passing and waved.”
“Really? Because I remember when you hid in the bathroom at my welcome back party at the Sorority House. Oh, and I also recall you begged the foxes to warn you whenever Zodiac was around. Why are you scared of a guy you nailed?”
“He nailed me, not the other way around.”
“Sure, but you’re hiding,” Boone said, and I caught Goldie nodding.
Sensing this conversation was my real intervention, I backed away and prepared to battle the whole lot of them.
Before I could throw negativity at him, Boone hit me with, “When I was about to do time for a bullshit rap, I got obsessed with the day I’d be locked up.
I kept counting it down in my head. No matter what I was doing, that worry haunted my every thought.
Showing up at the jail was actually a relief. ”
Boone wasn’t wrong. Though I’d likely feel better once Zodiac knew, I was still afraid to face him.
“Zodiac scares me. What if he flips out or mocks me?”
“What would be the ideal response from him?” Goldie asked.
Her deep brown eyes had a way of breaking down my defenses. Goldie could simply stare at me and wait until I gave her whatever she wanted.
“The best scenario would be if he were indifferent. I don’t want to share the baby with a stranger. I also think he’ll be a crappy dad.”
“You don’t know,” Goldie said immediately, and Clint nodded nearby. “Your father was a bad man with a worse reputation, but he helped Shay raise your uncles. He was a good dad to you and Clint. People are complicated.”
“Remember how no one thought you’d be a good mom?” Boone asked and chuckled when I smacked his arm. “Your pregnancy felt like a mistake, but you proved us wrong. As Goldie said, people are complicated.”
Glancing at Clint, I realized he had organized this conversation when he accepted that I wouldn’t bend to his will.
I sighed dramatically and sat next to Goldie. “How should I tell Zodiac? Would a text be sufficient?”
“We’ll organize a meeting,” Goldie said, clearly repeating whatever Clint told her earlier. “You can do the NIPP test ahead of time. Exile can get Zodiac to Little Memphis. Clint will be there. You won’t have to do it alone.”
“What if Zodiac flips out or calls me names?”
“You can flip out and call him names right back.”
Goldie was right. I wasn’t a lost little girl begging a man to save her. I had my shit in order. If Zodiac yelled, I would yell louder!
For fuck’s sake, I was Elle Reed! My dad killed men with his trusty baseball bat. My brother built a motorcycle club over a damn weekend. My mom survived a mass shooting. I came from tough stock. No way would a sexy biker’s temper break me.