Page 58 of Wildcard's Wager

“Just glad I could help,” Trouble grins. “Hope I didn’t hurt you when I covered you.”

“No, you didn’t. Scared me when you spoke to Misha. Almost had me convinced you were turning me over to him.”

“I was channeling Squiggy. The bastard. But I almost lost it when Chill called me daddy.”

“She what?” Corinne asks, spluttering as she was just taking a sip of her drink.

Trouble pats her on the back before slinging his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “She was pretending to be my drugged up side-piece, so Misha and his thugs would disregard them. Didn’t want the bastards to know that they were the biggest threat in the room.”

“I imagine they had the two goons on the floor before they knew what hit them,” my father says.

Trouble lifts his beer up in a salute.

“You got it. Had them on the floor and out cold while Misha was still looking around for who crashed through the wall.”

“What?” Claudia asks.

“We were in the conference room that has a sliding divider. Rafe, Detective Sully, Puma, and Dice were on the other side, listening. As soon as Misha admitted to killing Mike, Puma slammed open the partition.”

“That was the crash I heard,” I muse. “I still can’t get over Sully being a good guy. He was so rude when he came to the clubhouse. Was that an act?”

Trouble snorts. “Doubt it. He doesn’t like bikers. Or at least he didn’t. Wonder if he’ll change his mind now that we’ve handed him the head of the Russian Bratva in Boston.”

We chat while waiting for Max to attend his party. My phone rings, but when I go to answer it, the call drops. I don’t recognize the number, but the area code is local. Before I can hit call back, Alisa shouts out that we have to get in position. Max is on his way to the clubhouse. Colt runs over to me.

“This is so exciting,” he says. “Elina said that getting patched in is more important than a birthday, but less important than a wedding. Mal said patching in is more important than getting married. They’ve agreed to disagree, but Elina is mad at Mal.”

I have to stop myself from laughing at the drama of five-year-olds. These kids are going to have a lifetime of disagreements as they grow older together. Knowing Colt will be right there with them makes me happy. We’ve found our home and I couldn’t be happier.

Puma and Wildcard enter first. Puma heads for the bar, but Wildcard comes right to us. He lifts Colt up and places his hand on my waist so I can snuggle in close. Correction. This is the happiest I’ve ever been. Right here, in Wildcard’s arms.

Chill and Dice come in together and break off to find their significant others. Then it’s Max’s turn. We’re all grinning at cheering, but he doesn’t recognize that this is all for him.

“Get the fuck over here, Max,” Puma bellows.

Max walks through the crowd to stand in front of Puma.

“You came to us looking for your sister, but you stayed to become someone we all rely upon. You’ve protected the kids more often than I can count. They love you and that makes you someone special. Every member recognizes the effort you’ve put in as a prospect. You’ve earned this. We’re proud to call you brother.” Puma opens the box and pulls out the leather kutte. The club logo is on the back. The rockers above and below read,Demon Dawgs Las Vegas. Max rips off his denim prospect kutte and lays it on the bar. Puma holds up the new kutte for Max to slide into. He rubs his hand over his new name. Rattler.

“Thank you,” Rattler says, choking up. “I won’t let you down.” He glances around the room at each of us.

Puma smacks him on the back. “You never have, doubt you ever will. Now let’s celebrate!”

“Why Rattler?” I ask Wildcard.

“Because of all the snakes. Rattler and Viper have a room full of snakes back there,” Colt says, waving toward the bedrooms.

“What?” I choke out. “I thought you were joking before.”

Wildcard grins at me. “Scared? Don’t be. They don’t get out much.”

“What?”

Wildcard laughs as he lowers Colt to the ground, so he can go congratulate Rattler with the other kids.

“We need to pick out a house plan and get it built right away,” I tell Wildcard, who chuckles.

“Only if I get you pregnant.”

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