Page 69 of Pirate

Steel took her hand, kissed her palm. His lips remained on her skin longer than one would consider standard. When he finally lifted her hand from his mouth, he folded her fingers down gently, as if to let her hold onto his kiss.

Jenna turned to face them. She met everyone’s eyes, slowly going around the room. “I’ve been keeping a secret from all of you. I thought… Well, I think I thought if I managed my symptoms then none of you would notice and I wouldn’t have to tell you at all. It’s very—” Her voice cracked. “It’s very painful for me to see everyone here, so sad and forlorn. Many of you have suffered enough and I hate to bring more despair into your lives.”

Taking Steel’s hand as if to borrow his immense strength, Jenna declared, “I have late onset multiple sclerosis, or MS. I was diagnosed last year, shortly after Halloween.”

Curses and gasps reverberated throughout the room, though none were spoken loudly.

“There is no cure,” she stated as if she was confessing to murder. “They caught it early enough where they hope to manage my symptoms and advancements in medicine are made nearly every day. There ishope,” she stressed. “MS is not thedeath sentence it once was. But, eventually and God willing not for a while, it will one day take me from all of you.”

Tears fell freely. Wives gripped their husbands. Someone sobbed. Jenna was such an integral part of their lives. No one could imagine the club without her. And Steel? What would become of him once Jenna was gone? There was no Steel without Jenna. It seemed an impossible reality.

Abby, who was sitting close to Jenna and Steel, reached over and touched her arm. “Are you in pain?”

Jenna shook her head. “Not at the moment. I have flare ups, but they’re mild right now, manageable. I still have all of my functions. But I tire a lot easier now and my fingers don’t like to grip things for too long.”

“What happened today?” Bulldog asked. His eyes, like most of theirs, were on her bruised arm and cheek.

Jenna’s cheeks pinkened with embarrassment as she admitted, “I fell in the shower. Steel was not in the house. Ollie called Bear and Tessa to help me.”

“I can very easily install grab bars and whatever else you need, Jenna,” Cage offered. He looked to Bear, “Get me a list of everything she’ll need around the house and I’ll take care of it.”

Bear nodded.

“We’ll work out a schedule too,” Harper offered. She held her baby close to her chest, Lucky’s arm draped protectively around her shoulder. “One of us can be on hand to keep you company or help you shower. Whatever you need.”

“We can postpone the wedding,” Jasmine said from her seat between Jumper and Sophia. “If you’re not up for it?—”

Jenna held up both her hands. “No, no. Of course not. I’m doingreallywell, considering. Today was a fluke, a one-off. I wouldn’t dream of asking you to postpone, Jasmine. I actually hadn’t had any plans of telling any of you until after the wedding anyway. I didn’t want to risk taking away your day from you.”

Jasmine stiffened. “Excuse me?”

Eyes shifted from the older couple on the loveseat to the normally shy, curvy veterinarian on the couch who looked uncharacteristically pissed off.

Jenna tried to defend her words. “I only meant that your wedding day is special and I didn’t want to?—”

“Youare special!” Jasmine shouted. She stood up, her fists clenched at her sides. Tears streamed down her red cheeks. “Goddamn, Jenna. You are always talking about family first and how theVia Daemoniatake care of their own. Well, who do you thinkyouare? You had no right to keep this from us and then say you were doing it so you weren’t taking away frommyday. That’s bullshit!”

Everyone saw Steel stiffen underneath Jenna. His gaze disapproving, he scowled deeply at Jasmine.

Jumper stood, putting his arm around Jasmine’s shoulders. He whispered something in her ear before turning to Steel and Jenna. “We’re sorry. All of this is a shock. She shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. We appreciate you trying to make considerations for us.”

“No,” Jenna piped up. She put a hand up to stay whatever it was Steel was about to say. She was probably the only person in the world who could get him to heed her so readily. “You’re right, Jazz,” she told the soon-to-be bride. “I used your wedding as an excuse not to tell you.” Her chin trembled. “I didn’t want to say it out loud. I couldn’t even tell my kids and had to have Jack do it.” Tears flooded from her eyes. “I am so sorry.” Looking around at the room, she repeated, “I’msorry. If I didn’t say it out loud, then it wasn’t real.”

Steel grabbed hold of her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He buried his face into her shoulder. Everyone could see him trembling beneath her. Jenna reached up and clasped her fingers into his silvering hair.

One by one, the ladies got up. They worked their way over to Jenna. Hugging, kissing her cheek, or just touching her hand, they offered her their support.

Then Lucky stood up. In the club hierarchy, he was directly after Steel. “We’re family,” he announced to everyone. “Those are not just meaningless words.” He tapped his rockers on his cut. “These words of honormeansomething. Whatever comes at us, we face it together. We might get knocked down but we always get back up. What affects one of us, affects all of us.” He looked to Jenna. “More than our pity, you need our support. We’re here for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. No task is too big or too small.

“And when the end does come, by God Jenna Duncan, you better believe that you will have every single one of us on our knees praying for just one more day with you. Because you are beyond loved. You are cherished and we will be utterly lost without you.

“So you do what it is you have to do to keep yourself healthy and alive. And we will be here to support you in any way we can.”

The collective agreement to the VP’s words was followed by silence.

Detangling herself from her husband, Jenna made to stand. Many moved to assist her but, of course, Steel was right here. Jenna carefully made her way over to Lucky, where she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Thank you,” she told him softly. Taking a step back, she said louder, “Thank you. To all of you. There is nothing more important than family and I am so thankful that every single one of you is in mine.”

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