Chapter Seven

Laurel

Getting up from his lap, I sighed. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“Well, I found out I was pregnant with Nash about eight weeks after you disappeared. Talk about a shock. No fifteen-year-old girl ever wants to hear the words congratulations, you’re pregnant . My mom lost her fucking marbles. Total LeeAnn meltdown and in public, of all places. By nightfall, everyone in town knew. School was fun after that. I became the most talked about girl and the boys thought I’d be fun for a good time. Everything settled down and when I had Nash, I did the unthinkable. I continued on with my schooling instead of staying home with him. That caused another round of gossip, but eventually I graduated, and when I received my diploma, I packed up Nash and we left for college. Things were good for a while until I met Kai’s father.”

“You love this guy?”

“Hell’s nightgown, no. I had just graduated from college when I met Kai’s father. Kane Foster was everything I thought I wanted until he found out I was pregnant and up and ran for the hills. Fucking pansy ass, whiney douchebag. After college, I tried to stay around and make it work with Kai’s father, but when the fucker took a job out of state and didn’t ask us to go with him, I said fuck it and moved on. So, there I was, a single mother with a fifteen-year-old pain in the ass and the sweetest six-year-old boy, who, like his brother, looked nothing like me. I thought about moving back to Rickett Creek, when the company I worked for offered me a job here in Rosewood, Virginia, about a year ago. I took it and never looked back.”

“And this place?” he asked, looking around the storage room.

I smirked. “This place is all Kai, Cameron and Benny’s idea. I hated my job and the long hours away from the boys. Kai knew it and talked me into starting my own business. Kai and I are a lot alike. We love comics, superhero movies and gaming. Kai may not look a thing like me, but he is all me, down to his love of Marvel.”

Nikoli groaned, shaking his head. “You are corrupting that boy. DC is better and you know it.”

I huffed. “Anyway, with Kai and his friends’ help, I got the loan for this place, and I open the doors this weekend.”

“And Nash?”

I groaned, sitting on the table. “The only way I can explain Nash is he’s angry. He’s angry we moved here. He’s angry that I forced him to leave his school and friends. He’s angry he’s surrounded by women. He’s just plain angry. Nothing I do or say seems to make him happy, and now he’s hanging out with the wrong crowd. When we first moved here, I thought when he made the football team, things would get better. Nash has always been good at sports, but over the summer, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. I’m worried about him.”

“Does he know about me?”

I nodded. “I think so. After that day, when I picked them up from Martha’s and you were there, that night I found him going through some of my old pictures. He found the one of you and me at Lilly’s birthday party. He hasn’t talked to me since.”

“Well.” Nikoli sighed, getting to his feet and stretching his arms over his head while he looked around my new shop. “You got any plans for the rest of the day?”

“Got a delivery of comics arriving this afternoon around three. I need to be here to sign for it.”

“Good,” he said, taking my hand, pulling me off the table. “You are coming with me, then.”

“Where are we going?”

“Gotta swing by the clubhouse and talk with King. Then you and I are going to sit down and figure out when you want to get married, because I’m not leaving you again. You need help and apparently my son needs his ass beat into compliance.”

“Married?” I gasped. “Are you fucking nuts? I’m not marrying you!”

Nikoli grinned, pulling me close. “Oh yes, you are, Laurel Shay McDonald. I walked away from you once because I didn’t have a choice. Now, I do, and even if I have to bring your mother, sisters and my club into this, I will have my ring on your finger.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Leaning close, he smirked. “Is that a challenge?”

The Sons of Hell clubhouse was beautiful. A large two-story log cabin nestled deep in the surrounding woods of the Shenandoah Mountains. The clubhouse looked more like a resort lodge than a clubhouse for a bunch of bikers. With several smaller cabins surrounding the clubhouse, the place looked peaceful, almost serene.

Yet, when Nikoli parked his bike and cut the engine, I could clearly hear someone yelling when I stepped off his bike.

“I’m telling you, King, it wasn’t me!”

“The fuck it wasn’t!” someone shouted back. “I told you flat out, no more pranks!”

“It wasn’t me. I swear!”

Chuckling, Nikoli hoped off his bike, shaking his head. Grabbing my hand, he walked me into the clubhouse, where I found Bailey’s husband King pointing a finger at Scribe, Henley’s husband. I’d seen the man around town before, driving the Sons of Hell wrecker, but had never actually met the man.

“I mean it, Scribe, if I find out that you’ve started up that shit with my wife again, I will have your ass on the obstacle course until your kid leaves for college!”

“Hi, Laurel.” Sarah smiled, walking over to me. “How’s the store coming along?”

I liked Sarah. She was young, but really sweet. I met her when her mother Beth introduced her to me shortly after I got the loan for my store.

“Hey, Laurel,” her husband Gunner said before I could respond to Sarah as he walked over, ignoring the standoff between King and Scribe as if it were nothing new for the men to go at each other. “What are you doing here?”

“She’s with me,” Nikoli answered for me.

Looking up at the idiot, I snarked, “He was talking to me, not you.”

At least Nikoli had the sense to close his mouth quickly. Turning to Sarah and Gunner, I smiled. “Nikoli brought me here. Why, is still a mystery.”

Gunner frowned, tilting his head at his brother. “Nikoli?”

Nikoli groaned. “Long story. How long have they been going at it?”

“Long enough,” Sarah moaned, then turned and whistled loudly, halting the two arguing men. “We’ve got company. Manners!”

And just like that, every head turned toward me.

Talk about being put on the spot.

King and Scribe walked over, both smiling as if they weren’t just fighting like cats and dogs a minute ago. King greeted me, “Welcome to the Sons of Hell, Laurel. What brings you by?”

I just pointed at Nikoli and King groaned.

“So, it’s true then?”

The big oaf next to me grinned. “Yep.”

King shook his head while he rubbed the back of his neck. “Laurel, I want to apologize now for what happens next.”

“Huh?” I muttered, confused. Then, Gunner moved me out of the way as King threw back his arm and punched Nikoli in the face.

“You son of a bitch! I asked for one day. One motherfucking day with no drama. Every one of you bastards promised me a drama free day. It hasn’t even been three hours since school started. How is this a drama free day! Scribe started up his prank war with my woman again, and now you come here needing my help with a miniature you! I just got Cameron under control.”

“Uh,” Gunner said, holding up a finger. “I think it’s more like Carnage brought you to heel.”

King growled at his brother, who, like Nikoli moments before, quickly shut his mouth. Rounding back to Nikoli, King growled. “I swear to God, Banks, if that son of yours gives Cameron any ideas, I will hold you personally responsible. So, what’s the fucking plan?”

Rubbing his jaw, Nikoli smirked. “That’s why we’re here. I don’t know what to do next.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know what to do? He’s your son. Little shit is fucking you, only smaller. Figure out what you would do and then do the opposite. I have my own hell on wheels to contend with.”

“What did Cameron do now?” Skylar, Cameron’s big sister, groaned when she walked into the clubhouse with her husband, Pyro.

“Nothing yet,” King snarked. “But the day is still young.”

“Hi, Laurel.” Skylar smiled.

“Hello,” I replied just as my phone started ringing.

Reaching into my back pocket, I groaned when I saw who was calling. Shaking my head, I answered, “Good morning, Principal Williams. What did he do now?”

“Nothing yet, Ms. McDonald. I am, however, calling to confirm our appointment at two thirty today.”

“Oh crap. I totally forgot about that. Yes. I will be there.”

“Good. I will see you then.”

Hanging up the phone, Nikoli asked, “Nash already in trouble?”

“No.” I shook my head. “But I have a meeting with Principal Williams at Rosewood High School at two thirty today to go over Nash’s behavioral requirements for the year.”

“What requirements?” King asked.

“Last year, Nash kind of set a record for infractions. The principal wants to set some rules in place to prevent another year of suspensions, detentions, and whatever else may occur. He’s labeled Nash a problem student and doesn’t want him to disrupt the other students. As it is already, Nash is on probation with the football coach because of what he did over the summer. Sheriff Mike has also warned Nash that one more mess up and Nash would spend the night in jail, and he would press charges against him that would go on his permanent record.”

King growled, looking at Nikoli.

“Shit,” I groaned. “I have to be at the store to sign for the shipment of comic books. If I’m not there to sign for them, I won’t be able to open the store this weekend.”

“Sounds to me like this is the perfect opportunity for Banks to step up and learn more about his son,” another brother said, rolling over to us in a wheelchair.

Nikoli paled. “What? You want me to speak with the principal?”

“You are the kid’s dad, Banks,” Scribe scoffed.

Looking at Nikoli, placing my hands on my hips, I added, “And didn’t you tell me not even an hour ago that you weren’t going anywhere? That you wanted to marry me? Well, welcome to fatherhood, Nikoli, it’s a boy.”