Page 40 of Pirate

An unexpected surge of anger rose up from Pirate’s gut at Carlos’s voice. What the fuck was that? “There’s a possibility Harper’s in labor,” he rushed out, hoping if any anger slipped through it would be mistaken as anxiety for the situation. “I’m driving her to the hospital. Lucky’s on his way. Tell your deputies not to pull us over.”

“Fuck,” he heard Carlos curse. “I’ll radio over. I’m on my way.” His girlfriend, Zoe, who was also one of Jasmine’s bridesmaids, had recently announced her pregnancy. In six months, this panic would be his.

Harper wasn’t his woman or having his baby and Pirate felt like he was going to throw up. How the fuck did parents survive this? Why would they want to? And more than once? This was fucking terrifying and he’d served overseas in a war zone.

Mount Grove was a small town but it was large in land. They only had one main drag, one high school, and one hospital. Unfortunately, the high school and the hospital were on the opposite sides of town. Even speeding, it was going to take a good twenty minutes to reach their destination.

Pirate hung up the phone without saying anything else. He wasn’t sure hecould. Why the fuck was he suddenly pissed off at Carlos? It made no sense. Like he’d told Sophia the night before, he had no right to be.

Scotty leaned forward, but still had his seat belt on. “Mommy, are you okay?”

Harper tried to turn to look at her son. She ended up wincing, hissing, and then grunting before sitting forward again. “I’m fine, baby.”

Fuck, she did not soundfine.

“Then why is Uncle Pirate bringing us to the hospital?” Scotty asked, and Pirate cursed himself for letting the H-word slip infront of Scotty. He’d been so careful and then he’d blurted out their destination to Carlos. “I thought we were going home.”

Harper started to do that huffing breath he’d seen women on TV do when they’re trying to breathe through a contraction. Well, shit.

Pirate swerved around another vehicle and pressed harder on the gas pedal. “Scotty, you know how women can create a baby in their belly?” He saw the teen nod in the mirror. “We just want to make sure your mommy and your baby sister are okay.”

Scotty’s face scrunched up in thought. “Doctors like Aunt Tessa are going to help you, Mommy?”

Harper nodded, struggling to breathe. Her face was extremely red. “Yes, baby. Just like Aunt Tessa.”

Scotty nodded once. “Good. Then let’s go to the hospital.”

The news spreadlike wildfire that Pirate had taken Harper to the hospital. Not only had Lucky rolled in on his hog, but Bulldog, Steel, and Keys were right behind him. Shortly after Harper and Lucky had been taken up to Labor and Delivery, others started to pour into the waiting room. Tessa and Jenna remained behind with the younger club kids while Angel and Cage brought Bree, Ollie, and Aaron to the hospital in their accessible cage. Some members remained behind to guard the property with the prospects. Jumper and Jasmine came, after stopping by the school to pick up Pirate’s hog. Jasmine drove it with Jumper dual riding next to her. Sissy and Scissors were on their way, having been in Pittsburgh when they’d received the call about Harper.

Then Sophia came bursting through the doors. Their eyes met from across the room. Pirate was sitting with Scotty, whowas playing on Pirate’s phone as a way to distract the teen. Rather than acknowledge Pirate, though, Sophia just turned her head and walked towards where Jasmine and Jumper were standing.

Pirate’s eyes narrowed. What was that about? Not even a wave or a smile or anything. He did not like it. When they’d parted ways the night before, things had been good between them. They’d spent the afternoon in bed talking and had even ordered a pizza. Pirate couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat with a woman he’d just had sex with andchattedwith her.

Probably because he’d never done such a thing before.

He wondered what she and Jazz had been talking about that morning. He assumed Sophia was following through with her plan to tell Jasmine about how he and Sophia were fake dating in front of her mom at the wedding. Sophia had been sure Jazz would support the lie to get her mom off her back and to keep Fletcher from attending her wedding. What if Sophia had been wrong? What if Jazz had been upset or didn’t support the two of them dating? Was that why Sophia had just given him the cold shoulder?

What business was it of Jazz’s anyway? She might be his soon-to-be sister-in-law, but she wasn’t his mother. She did not have any say in who he dated.Fakedated, he corrected himself. What did it matter if Jasmine gave herpermissionor not?

But she and Sophia were best friends. Sophia wouldn’t do anything to upset Jasmine. It was why they were keeping their accidental marriage a secret from her.

Unless it was something else. What ifSophiawas the one who didn’t want to be seen with him. Was she embarrassed by him? By his leg? Pirate didn’t think so. Not with how readily she always jumped on the back of his bike on club runs. But no one thought anything of that. They didn’t know that Sophia and he were sleeping together. They might just think he was a suckerfor letting her ride with him. After all, that was supposed to mean something. Pirate certainly wouldn’t like it if she’d gotten on anyone else’s bike. Or if she hopped from bike to bike. The implications of that were…not nice.

Pirate was starting to spiral down a rabbit hole of insecurities, which wasnotlike him, when a nurse came into the waiting room. She asked for Bear and then brought him back with her. A few minutes later, Ronald and Cindy Hannigan came in through the electric double doors. Paige, who had been sitting with Demo, walked up to them, embracing. The club might not be a fan of the former sheriff, but he was still Harper’s father and her child’s grandfather.

Time dragged. Conversations were staggered. The worry and tension in the room were palpable. No one was sure if no news was good news or not. When Steel’s phone rang, more than one person jumped. The MC’s President walked out through the double doors to take the call. Someone offered to go get coffee, but only a few people accepted.

When Steel came back into the waiting room, he motioned for Bulldog and then searched the room until he found Pirate. He crooked his finger. Surprised, Pirate told Scotty he’d be right back. There were enough adults around to watch the teen and Pirate’s phone should keep him out of trouble. As Pirate passed Jumper, Jasmine, and Sophia, Sophia turned her head and wouldn’t look at him.

Pirate scowled but couldn’t ignore his President to deal with his woman. Shit, nothiswoman. Sophia was not his woman. She was just… Well, Pirate didn’t really know. Technically they were married, but they were about to get a divorce in less than six weeks. They weren’t friends with benefits, because they weren’t friends. They weren’t dating either and she wasn’t his ol’ lady. Sophia would castrate him if he called her his concubine.Though the look on her face would be priceless, it was not worth the damage done to his family jewels.

Following Bulldog and Steel outside, Pirate tried to push Sophia from his mind. But she stayed, front and center. Fuck, how had that woman buried herself so thoroughly into his brain was beyond him?

Steel led them down the sidewalk away from the main doors. He turned to Bulldog. “That was Viktor. He’s manning the gate. Apparently, we forgot to call the prospect interviewee to inform him of the family emergency and reschedule.”

Bulldog ran his hand down his long beard. “That was my bad. I completely forgot. I’ll call him to reschedule.”

“Well, that’s where the crux of the issue comes in. Viktor told him we were at the hospital dealing with an emergency.”

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