Page 2 of Bella

"Damn glad to see you, brother," Jake boasts, shaking Riggs' hand. Jake then greets Wick, his pregnant wife, Tequila, Nova, Promise, Kiwi, and Piper. Finally, he reaches Fender and his woman Jo. Jake glances around. "Glad to have you and your families with us."

Bella faces me, rises onto her toes, and presses her lips to mine. "I'll help the women settle while you and the men catch up before we head out." Bella turns and walks over to Luna, embraces her with a warm smile, then pulls back and signs, "Come on, I'll show you guys where you'll be sleeping."

"You've been practicing," Luna says and signs back with a huge smile. I'm proud of how kind and considerate my Bella is to the needs of others. She's been working on ASL for several months now because she and the other Kings women have started doing online group chats at least every other week, where they always have a drink in hand and catch up with each other. She never ceases to fucking amaze me.

"This pregnant momma smells something mouthwatering," Tequila chimes in, rubbing her swollen belly. "Grace, where are you hiding the goods? I'm starving."

Grace, who is across the room, laughs. "I made some brown butter triple chocolate cookies in the kitchen, especially for you."

"Hey now, I didn't see those delectable sugary delights earlier," Quinn quips, rubbing his greedy paws together with a look of surprise on his face.

"That's because I hide them from you." Grace looks at Quinn. "You would’ve stood there eating all of them if I hadn't."

Quinn clutches his chest. "My feelings are crushed. Those are my favorites too," he teases.

After kissing Wick, Tequila makes a beeline for the kitchen but stops and looks at Quinn. "Oh, come on." She waves her hand. "I'll let you have one."

"Just one? I bet there are at least a dozen. Can't you let a starving man have more than one cookie?" he begs, and eagerly follows behind Tequila. Knowing my brother, he sampled everything sitting in the kitchen the moment he arrived at the clubhouse this morning. Tequila spins and looks at Quinn, who stops in his tracks. Several of us in the room chuckle at the two as Tequila stares him down.

Quinn looks back, his eyes seeking Wick out, and asks, "Should I be scared?"

"Absolutely. She spent several hours in a passenger van and is tired and hungry. Proceed with caution, brother." Without saying a word, Tequila turns and disappears into the kitchen.

Quinn hesitates, then looks at Emerson, who, like all of us, is captivated by the scene of a man attempting to come between a pregnant woman and her brown butter triple chocolate cookies. "If I don't make it out alive, know I love you," he says, and Emerson rolls her eyes at his dramatic exit as Quinn turns and strolls into the kitchen.

"Dat man crazy," Nova chuckles.

"Pure damn luck is what's kept him alive this long, brother." Doc shakes his head.

"Alright, men. Let's go to church before we hit the road," Jake announces, so we leave the women and children and file into another clubhouse area.

Quinn is the last to enter church, and just as he's closing the door, my father's hand stops it, and behind him is my brother Nikolai. "Dad." I stand to greet him and my brother. "Glad you two could make it." I wasn't sure they’d be able to tear themselves away from business overseas to participate in today's events, but I'm happy as hell they managed.

"The perk of being who I am is doing whatever the fuck I want," my father says with a sly grin and powerful tone. He and Nikolai take a seat at the table, joining the rest of us.

"Brothers," Jake starts church. "I believe everything is smooth sailing from here. Logan's woman has done a hell of a job spearheading this rally to raise funds for the building of New Hope's second facility. All our women have done a kick-ass job ensuring this event goes off without a hitch. I'm damn happy to have every man in this room joining us today. But let's not forget the safety of our women and children is a top priority. This may be a family-oriented occasion, but sometimes bikers get a little rowdy. Polson is our town, and we’re the peacekeepers. Let's ensure they know rules and respect are to be followed and maintained." Jake grabs the bottle of whiskey in front of him and pours the liquor into more than a dozen shot glasses. One by one, they get passed around the table until each man has a shot glass in hand. Jake raises his drink in the air, and we follow suit. "No road is too long when you have good company." To that, we all down our whiskey.

“Laissez les bons temps rouler!” Riggs shouts, slamming his glass down on the table, to which we all holler.Hell yeah!

2

BELLA

"Hey, Emerson, have you seen my sister?" I ask, slinging my purse over my shoulder. "I told Charley we'd meet him at the bar by ten o'clock."

Before Emerson can answer, Quinn butts in. "Lisa and Ember wrangled all the kids up and headed out about twenty minutes ago." Quinn winks. "I saw Gabriel and your sister slip out soon after." He nods toward the stairs. "Pretty sure they're bumpin' uglies."

Emerson jabs her elbow into Quinn's side.

"Hey!" He rubs his hand across his ribcage. "What the hell was that for?"

"You know." Emerson narrows her eyes at her husband. "I swear I can't take your ass anywhere."

"Well, she asked," Quinn grumbles.

Just then, I notice Gabriel making his way down the stairs with my sister trailing behind, looking a bit out of sorts in her wrinkled shirt and lopsided ponytail. I giggle when she tries adjusting her hair as she approaches me. When Alba notices she has eyes on her, she blushes. My sister is a grown-ass woman but still blushes when she's been caught slipping off to have a quickie with her man.

"Are we ready to go?" she asks, avoiding eye contact.

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