Page 57 of Slayin Villain
“You heard me,” he said.“You wrote the goddamn new rules, asshole.”He pulled out the book and flipped through the first few pages.“You laid down with both of ’em.You own that.You don’t get to pick and play.You man the fuck up,” he said, pointing at the rule.
“Knock up a club girl?Congratulations, you have an Ol’ Lady in the eyes of the club.”
And then he flipped to another.
“Members may have more than one (1) OL ' lady.”
Pagan nodded.“That means child support.Housing.Medical bills.Respect.Whether you’re with either one of them or not.”
“And if you are with either,” Riff added.“Then you make damn sure you ain't dragging the club's rep through the mud anymore.No more sneaking around.They both need to know.”
I looked around the table.My throat burned.
“And if I don’t?”
Kingpin leaned back, exhaled smoke.“Then you hand over your patch.Today.Them are the new rules.”
The room spun a little.I gripped the edge of the table so hard my knuckles cracked.
“I’ll never walk away from this club.”
“Then prove it,” Knox said.“Start acting like a man who wears that cut.”
I swallowed.“They hate each other.”
Knox shrugged.“That’s your problem.”
Kingpin’s eyes locked with mine.“We all got ghosts.Women we can’t fix.Mistakes that rot under the surface.But this… this ain’t about love.It’s about duty.You figure out the love part later.Right now, you take care of what’s yours.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe.For a moment, I saw their faces.Rachel’s wild red hair, that look in her eyes like I broke something deep.Ember, crying when I didn’t say anything after she told me she was pregnant.
And in both of their hands, maybe, was a baby.
My baby.
Babies.
“I’ll handle it,” I said hoarsely.
“You’ll start tonight,” Kingpin said.“Call ’em both.Tell ’em what we decided.”
“Together?”
“If you’ve got the bollocks,” Irish muttered.
Knox stood, giving me a rare look of sympathy.“You don’t gotta do it perfect.But you gotta do it honest.”
And just like that, Church was over.
Only now, the reckoning was mine.
Chapter 24
Villain
I’d faced down rival clubs, crooked cops, and the barrel of more than one shotgun.
But nothing made my palms sweat like walking up to my own front door, knowing Rachel and Ember might both be behind it.
