Thursday

Sitting at the kitchen table in the clubhouse, I hunkered over my food as Sugar moved about the room, cooking breakfast for everyone. It was a club breakfast, which meant I had to be there.

I loved these mornings. I loved having all the brothers and Bettys together, sitting around the table. It reminded me of when my own parents were alive and we would all sit together, laughing and eating good food.

Looking up from my plate, I noticed he was staring at me.

Reaching for his coffee cup, King took a swallow of the steaming brew, then placed his cup back on the table.

Shifting little Rose closer to him, he smirked.

I knew that look. He would not let this go.

Crap!

"Answer me this, you two. Why did you take Cameron across the state line yesterday?"

The room went quiet.

Banks and Hawk slowly looked up from their plates as they both gulped.

Shit. This was not good.

I knew King was like a dog with a bone. Never, in all the time I'd known the man, had he ever let anything slide.

This was his club, and he ran it with an iron fist.

I knew that, and so did everyone else.

To make matters worse, King asked a straightforward question.

There was no room for evasive maneuvers.

The only way he would stop was to give him something.

Problem was, what could I give him without him figuring everything out? This had now become a battle of wits, and only the smartest president would win.

When Banks whipped his head to me, I sighed.

Donkey Balls!

I was going to have to help the knuckle draggers.

Would wonders never cease?

Laying my fork on the plate, I grabbed my napkin and wiped my mouth before leaning back in my chair.

"I'm blackmailing them."

King handed little Rose off to Bailey, before leaning forward in his chair. "You? You're blackmailing two grown ass men?"

"Yes, sir."

King looked at the now pale brothers. "You two are letting a seven-year-old blackmail you?"

"It's not what you think, King," Banks quickly said.

"He's evil," Hawk sneered, glaring at me.

"Totally innocent. We swear!" Banks added.

"He's maniacal."

King glared at the knuckle draggers. "Are you telling me you two let a seven-year-old get the upper hand?"

And that's when Banks lost his mind. "You don't know him like we do! The little shit is devious as hell. He's always thinking and plotting. He's too fucking smart for his own good. He knows everything and uses it for his own gain. Hawk is right. He's evil. Pure evil!"

Leaning back in his chair, King stared at the two men in disgust. Shaking his head, he sighed. "This is my fault. I should have known better."

Never in the entire time I'd known King had he ever apologized.

He was up to something.

He was smart, like me. He couldn't be the president and not know things. We were alike like that. I also knew King wouldn't let this slide. He was too cunning for that.

Nope.

He would wait and bide his time, watching and waiting for clues.

Only when he figured everything out would he act.

Problem was, I didn't want him to figure anything out.

At least not yet.

So, when he looked at me, I waited for him to lower the boom.

And boy howdy did he.

"Banks, Hawk, you're off babysitting duty."

"Thank fuck!" Hawk grinned happily, jumping to his feet, grabbing King's face and kissing him on the cheek. "I'm Free. Thank God, I'm free at last!"

Crossing my arms over my chest, I asked, "So who's gonna babysit me now, King?"

King looked right at me and smiled. "Me."

Well shit!

"What are you gonna do now?" Benny asked as I paced his bedroom.

This was not good.

After breakfast, Benny and I hightailed it up to his room for an emergency pow-wow. Mainly I needed to figure out how we were going to pull off this coup with King breathing down my neck.

I had it easy with the knuckle draggers.

Those idiots didn't see shit.

King, on the other hand, was like me.

Nothing was going to get by him.

"Maybe we should just end this before everything gets out of hand."

"Can't," I muttered. Even if I wanted to, it was too late. I already set things in motion that I couldn't take back.

No.

I had no choice.

I was going to have to follow through with the plan.

It was the only way.

"We need a clincher. Someone who doesn't care, who wouldn't think twice. Someone like me."

"Who?" Benny asked. "Other than King, there is no one like you."

Looking at my best friend, I smiled. "Yes, there is. There is only one other person in this club who loves a good payback more than me. And she is the perfect patsy."

Benny vehemently shook his head.

"No. You said no Bettys."

"She's not a Betty. I don't know what she is, but she's no Betty."

"This is wrong. So wrong."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Ben," I declared, slapping my hand on his shoulder. "Brace yourself. We're going to enlist the evil mastermind herself."

"I want a new best friend."

Leaving Benny in his room to contemplate life's mysteries, I headed for the club nursery, where I hoped Bailey was alone.

Should have known she wouldn't be.

Woman was holding court as all the Bettys listened in rapt attention. And when I made my presence known, all talk ceased as Bailey smiled at me, motioning for me to come closer.

"Welcome to the Darkside, Cameron."

"You know why I'm here?"

"I do. You want me to run interference with King so you can enact your plan."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I sighed. "What's it gonna cost me?"

Bailey grinned. "Just a tiny little bit of information."

"What do you want to know?"

"I want you to tell me what Scribe is doing in the greenhouse."

Damn it!

Sighing, I trudged downstairs.

Bailey was a bust.

No way was I ratting out my main man, Scribe.

I couldn't do that to him. No matter how much Bailey could help me.

Sometimes it sucked not being a rat.

"Cameron!" King shouted, walking out of his office. "Let's go."

Looking up, I sighed. "Where to?"

King stopped, tilted his head and asked, "Does it matter?"

Shrugging, I muttered, "Guess not."

"Glad to hear it." The man smirked, heading for the front door. "Don't have all day, son. Move it!"

Following, I didn't know what King had planned for me, and honestly, I really didn't care. My mind was elsewhere. I needed to find a way around his eagle eyes because nothing was going to stop me now.

Think of it this way. You know how there is a red button, and everyone is telling you not to push it, but you can't stop yourself? Well, that's me right now. That's how I'm feeling.

Any other time and I would kill to spend time with King, but not when I am so close to achieving my greatest feat.

Nothing and no one is going to stop me.

Climbing into King's truck, I buckled up as he slid behind the wheel. Pulling out of the compound, King was a man of few words.

Like me, he was always thinking about everything and everyone. He left nothing out, always trying to find ways to better the brothers and the clubhouse.

He was a good president.

An honest man, someone I looked up to, but even King had his faults.

The biggest one.

Shackling me with the knuckle draggers.

That was unforgivable.

Putting his vehicle in reverse, he groaned, stepping on the brakes. Reaching for his phone, he picked it up and growled. "What? Now? Yeah, I'm on my way. No, I will not stop at Beth's for coffee and donuts. No, I will not call Mike and have him clear the damn road. Jesus Fuck, Savage, stop being a pussy and man the fuck up. This isn't your first kid!"

Throwing his phone on the seat next to him, he sighed.

"Jessica dropping the kid?"

King slowly turned toward me. "Remind me to beat Gunner's ass."

I smiled. "Only if I can watch."

"KING!" Scribe shouted, running out of the clubhouse like a fucking lunatic, loaded down with bags as if he were going on a long ass vacation.

Groaning, King dropped his head to the steering wheel.

"You know, if you would just let me do what I want, then you wouldn't have to be bothered with me."

"Cameron?"

"Yeah?"

"Not now."

"Just offering my support, Prez," I muttered as Scribe huffed, gasping for air while he leaned against the driver's side door.

"Henley!"

"What about her, Scribe?"

"It's…it's…"

"YO! Pussylips!" Bailey chuckled, walking out of the clubhouse, her arm wrapped around Henley, who looked to be breathing heavily as she cupped her big belly. "You forgot something!"

Scribe turned and rushed to Henley, who swatted him away like a fly, leaving my good buddy dejected. Poor sucker was actually pouting as he hovered around my princess.

Opening the back door, Bailey helped Henley inside to sit next to me, and Scribe ran around the truck and jumped in the passenger seat.

"What are you waiting for? DRIVE!" the crazy man shouted.

"Go." Bailey laughed, stepping back. "We will meet you there."

With that, King pulled out of the compound and headed down the mountain.

"Breathe, baby!" Scribe yelled, leaning over the seat.

"I AM!"

Scribe flinched, then muttered, "No need to shout."

Shaking my head, I looked at the man and wondered if he was ever going to get his man card back. Henley was only having a baby. It wasn't like she was going off to war or something. In fact, my princess was a trouper. She hadn't screamed or cried out once. Unlike her girly husband, whose panic mode was set to ten.

Annoyed, King sighed. "Scribe, if you don't sit the fuck down, I will stop this truck and kick you out and you can walk the rest of the way to town."

When Scribe didn't listen, King turned to look at me, twitching his head toward Henley. Nodding, I reached for Henley's seat belt and made sure it was secure. Looking at me, she breathed heavily but understood, reaching for the ‘Oh Shit' handle above the door.

"Go for it, Prez," I simply said as King slammed on the brakes, propelling Scribe toward the front of the cab.

"What the hell!" the annoying fucker shouted. "That hurt!"

"Move from that seat and I will make sure you hurt a lot more."

I wish I could say the rest of the drive was uneventful, but it wasn't. By the time King pulled into the ambulance bay at Rosewood Memorial, Henley was begging for someone called Epidural, Scribe was sporting a bloody nose, and King was ready to kill his brother.

Me, however, I was enjoying the hell out of this.

"Sit down and don't move. I need to check on Jessica," King ordered as nurses rushed Henley and Scribe into a room.

"I want to see her too."

"Later," King grumbled. "She doesn't need an audience."

"Then why are you going?"

"Because I'm family."

That stopped me.

Got it.

I knew when I wasn't wanted.

Didn't have to tell me twice.

Narrowing my eyes at the man, I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the asshole as he walked down the hallway.

And to think I wanted him to be my dad.

Boy howdy, was I glad I didn't push that issue.

Now I knew how he truly felt. Sucked to be him, because nothing on this planet would stop me now. For a short, hot second, I'd actually thought about calling everything off. I'd actually felt a twinge of guilt.

Not now.

Nope.

It was on like Donkey Kong!

I was going to show King and his Merry Band of Misfits exactly who they were dealing with. Never again would they take me for granted. If they thought I was a pain in the ass now, wait until they saw what I had in store for them.

Sitting there stewing, thinking all kinds of devious ways I could add to my destruction, men from the Tennessee Chapter of the Golden Skulls MC, along with the Sons of Hell, walked over, all talking at once.

"The kid here yet?" Digger asked.

"Where is she?" Phoebe asked.

"Did we miss it?" Beth asked, walking over.

"I don't know," Trout replied. "We just got here too."

"Where is Claudia?" Sarah asked, looking around. "She would know."

"Cameron, you were with King," Enigma stated as everyone turned to me. "Well?"

Looking up at all the faces, I turned to Digger and simply said, "Game on."

Digger blinked a few times before the biggest grin appeared on his face. And just like that, the brothers from the Golden Skulls MC all stepped to one side, like the parting of the Red Sea, pitting the Golden Skulls against the Sons of Hell.

The battle lines had been drawn.

There was no going back.

This meant WAR!

Now, since I didn't know much about babies or how long it took a Betty to drop them, I found myself pacing around with the other brothers, bored out of my mind.

Waiting sucked big time.

The hospital should have games, a TV, hell, even a PlayStation to pass the time. But no. There was nothing.

Not even a damn book or magazine.

The only ones not bothered by the boredom were the Bettys. They were all hunkered around each other, gabbing up a storm about shit that made no freaking sense.

However, when the elevator doors opened, and I spotted Dr. Claudia sitting in a wheelchair out of breath, as a nurse rushed her into a room, everyone around me stopped pacing.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Bailey shouted, jumping to her feet. "What the fuck? Is there a full moon tonight?"

"Actually, tonight is a crescent moon." Phoebe smiled.

"That was a rhetorical question, Pheobe," Bailey huffed while Frank ran after his wife.

"Well, you asked." The woman chuckled.

"All three of them?" Sarah gasped. "At once?"

"I read once that shit like this happens," Stella, Digger's wife, added. "Kind of like when one woman gets pregnant, others close will soon follow."

"But all three?" Sarah muttered. "I get Henley. She is two weeks late, but Jess and Claudia? They aren't due for a few more weeks."

"Sweetie." Beth smiled. "Jess is a pro. This isn't her first rodeo. As for Claudia, she's having twins. They tend to come early. You remember when you had the triplets? You delivered four weeks early."

King walked into the waiting room, rubbing the back of his neck. "Was that Claudia I saw in another room?"

Everyone nodded.

The waiting was the worst.

Bored stupid, I leaned my head back, looking at the ceiling, and started counting holes as I swung my legs back and forth before my ass went numb. I wanted to be anywhere but here.

There was absolutely nothing to do.

NUTTIN!

"A GIRL!" we all heard Savage shout. "But it was supposed to be a boy!"

Sitting up, I watched as the brothers of the Golden Skulls all smiled happily, hugging and congratulating each other.

King grinned, looked at Priest, then held out his hand.

"I fucking hate you," Priest grumbled, reaching for his wallet, and so did several other brothers in the Sons of Hell MC.

Shaking my head, I sighed. "Well shit. An unexpected Betty."

It was late by the time we all made it back to the clubhouse. No one wanted to leave until all the babies were born.

Me?

I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Shortly after Jess popped out a Betty, instead of a boy like she was supposed to, Claudia had her two boys. They were little, like really tiny, but Georgie said they were healthy and would soon pack on the pounds. Considering who their dad was, I wasn't worried. However, my princess took her ever-loving time. In the end, Georgie said enough was enough and took Henley into another room and removed the kid himself.

Little Orion weighed twelve pounds, eight ounces and was twenty-three inches long. According to everyone, he was a big boy. Even I had to admit, seeing Orion lying next to Jess and Savage's little girl, Helena, and Frank's twins, Theodore and Beckett, that the kid was going to be a bruiser when he got bigger.

While everyone laughed and celebrated the new arrivals, I stood in the center of the main room, glaring at one person in particular. Of course, he didn't see me. Why would he? He was celebrating with his family. However, when my own sissy joined in the merriment and King kissed her forehead, that was it.

I'd had enough.

Storming out of the clubhouse, I didn't bother telling anyone where I was going. There was no reason to.

I wasn't part of their family.

Never would be. He'd been crystal clear.

He didn't want me.

Well, I didn't want him either!

I was a Hobbs. I was born a Hobbs and would die a Hobbs.

Nothing wrong with being a Hobbs. The Hobbs' men were strong-willed, determined and self-sufficient.

I didn't need anyone.

I could take care of myself.

"And just where in the hell do you think you're going?"

Stopping dead in my tracks, I turned as Hawk stepped out of the shadows.

"Why do you care? You hate me. You couldn't get away from me fast enough. You called me evil."

"That's because you are, but that doesn't mean you get free rein to spread fear and worry. And I don't hate you. Don't particularly like you, but I don't hate you. Now where are you running off too so late?"

"I'm leaving. I'm done with this place."

Hawk sighed, looking around the compound.

"So, you're running away like a scaredy cat?"

Balling up my fist, I sneered, "I ain't never been scared of anything in my whole life."

"So, you're just acting like a spoiled brat, then?"

"Hey!"

"Look, kid." Hawk groaned. "I don't care what the hell you do or what you have planned, but I know there are several people in that clubhouse who would lose their shit if you took off. Now, I don't know what burr you have stuck up your ass, but here's some friendly advice. Get over it. Just because shit doesn't go your way, doesn't give you the right to make everyone else's life miserable. It's called owning your shit and growing up. Understand?"

Digging the tip of my shoe in the dirt, I muttered, "I understand. Don't like it, but I get it."

"Don't have to like it, kid. None of us do. Now, you want to tell me why you've suddenly changed your mind about being a brother in the club?"

"I'm not family."

Hawk frowned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but your sister is in that building."

"Yeah, but she's married to Pyro. I ain't got no one."

Leaning against the clubhouse, Hawk said, "I'm gonna tell you a secret, kid. You can have everything in the world. All your heart's desires, and then, in a blink of an eye, it can all disappear. When that happens, you only have two choices. You can either stay and fight for what matters most, or you can be a scaredy cat and run away with your tail between your legs. Now, you don't strike me as a man who would run away. You are a fighter, Cameron. If it means that much to you, then fix it. Do whatever you can to change it, because trust me, kid. You will regret it for the rest of your life if you don't."

"What happens if I fight and I still lose?"

"At least you can say you tried. Win or lose, Cameron, you never give up. That's what it means to be a brother in the Sons of Hell. If you can't fight for what matters, then how can we trust you to fight with us when the time comes?"

"What about you?"

"This isn't about me."

Looking up at the man, I asked, "Did you stay and fight?"

Hawk narrowed his eyes. "Not talking about me, kid."

"You just said that only scaredy cats run away."

"I didn't have a choice."

"Who's the scaredy cat now?" I said, turning to head back into the clubhouse.