Chapter 8

Between moving into the house and shopping for a ton of new furniture, the past week had been a whirlwind of activity. Zane had given me free rein to buy whatever Corinne and I needed to make the house he’d bought a home, and I’d had way too much fun shopping.

But once the dust settled, we had all quickly fallen into a routine. After spending the night in his bed—and taking turns with Corinne whenever she woke up—I made breakfast while Zane took a shower and got ready to head into Iron Inkworks. While he was gone, I took care of Corinne. And just in case it was all too much for me, he’d hired the younger sister of one of the guys to come in and clean once a week.

Melanie had come over for the first time yesterday, and I was amazed at how much she got done in only a few hours. The house had already been sparkling clean when I had insisted the sixteen-year-old join me for lunch. I’d enjoyed getting to know her a little while we ate. Her brother Phoenix had patched into the Silver Saints about a decade ago, so she knew a lot about the club.

Lucky for me, Melanie was also a bit of a chatterbox, so she’d shared all sorts of gossip that she’d heard over the years. As a girl who loved going to the library, I had long ago learned that information was power. And being armed with everything Melanie shared had given me enough courage to pack up Corinne and head over to Iron Inkworks in the early evening on a day when Zane had to work late.

He had a client who always came to him for his artwork that he hadn’t been able to reschedule. Since the guy hadn’t been willing to switch to another artist, Zane had kept the appointment. Which was good because he’d been looking forward to doing the tattoo. But it wasn’t so good for me because I’d gotten used to having him around at night, except for the one time he’d had to go to the Iron Rogues compound for something he’d called “club business.”

After packing Corinne’s diaper bag, I loaded her into the late model SUV that Zane insisted I drive since my car was a decade old and didn’t have all the bells and whistles his vehicle had. Plus, with its steel frame, it was a lot safer if we ever got in an accident. Or at least those were all the reasons he’d given me when he’d handed me a set of keys when I had first started working for him.

Now that I knew more about how the Iron Rogues acted when they found the woman they planned to claim, I figured it was proof that Zane wasn’t that different from his club brothers. Which gave me hope that he was thinking long-term when it came to our relationship.

The drive to the tattoo shop didn’t take long since our house was less than a mile from the club’s compound, in territory the Iron Rogues protected. When I pulled up to the curb in front of Iron Inkworks, Molly and Dahlia hurried out of the building to help me get Corinne out of the vehicle.

“Oh my goodness,” Molly squealed as she peered into the baby carrier. “It’s not even been a week since I’ve seen this sweet little one, but it looks like she’s already grown up so much in such a short time.”

“Look at her hair,” Dahlia sighed, leaning in from the other side of the SUV. “It’s at least an inch longer. And those curls.”

“She’s barely grown at all, and it’s only been a few days since we hung out at the clubhouse with her.” Gently nudging Molly out of my way, I pulled the baby carrier out of the back seat. Dahlia grabbed the diaper bag before I could reach for it.

“Can you blame us for being baby crazy?” Molly asked with a sheepish grin.

Dahlia circled the vehicle and pointed at her rounded belly. “Yeah, we have all the pregnancy hormones roaring through our bodies right now.”

“You don’t have too much longer before you can’t use that excuse anymore,” I chided, shaking my head with a laugh.

“True,” Molly conceded, her smile widening. “Which is why we have to take advantage of it while we still can.”

“Then we can switch to exhaustion and mommy brain as our new excuses,” Dahlia added with a giggle.

“Yes,” Molly cheered. “And I’m sure we’ll come up with something else after that.”

Dahlia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, probably another pregnancy, knowing our men.”

“Yup,” Molly agreed as we walked into the tattoo shop.

As hilarious as Molly and Dahlia were, my focus immediately shifted to the man standing beside the reception desk. His lips curved into a huge smile when he spotted me. “Hey, baby. I didn’t know you were gonna stop by today.”

“I know. I wanted to surprise you.”

I heard a soft “aw” behind me, but I was too busy staring at Zane as he strode toward me to see which sister had said it.

“My favorite kind of surprise,” he murmured, bending his head to give me a kiss when he got near.

Then he took the baby carrier from me, and I turned to grab the diaper bag from Dahlia. “I also brought dinner.”

“Careful, baby, or you’re gonna spoil me,” he warned with a grin.

I returned his smile before digging in the bag for the container of spaghetti and meatballs big enough to feed an army. “Only because you deserve it with how much you spoil me.”

“Yum,” Molly hummed as she came to my side to peer at the food. “Did you bring enough for Whiskey to share?”

“Of course, I did,” I confirmed with a laugh. “I know better than to bring dinner without having anything for the two pregnant women here.”

“Smart.” Dahlia winked at me. “It saves us from having to call our men to tattle on yours for starving us.”

Zane glanced over my shoulder, his lips pressing together as his gaze returned to me. “Where’s the prospect?”

“Sorry.” I flashed him an apologetic smile. “I figured since I was coming to see you that I didn’t need to ask him to drive over just to turn around and follow me in the same direction he’d come from.”

“You don’t need to worry about inconveniencing a prospect. That’s the whole point of the time they spend earning their patch. Text him next time,” he growled.

“See?” Molly mouthed, pointing at Zane. “Neanderthal.”

Rolling my eyes, I dished up the pasta for everyone, smiling as they dug right in. Zane had just finished up and was taking care of something in the back when his client walked in. Molly and Dahlia greeted him, but the guy’s gaze zeroed in on me.

“Hey.” He flashed me a smile. “You must be new. I’m Dirk. One of Whiskey’s very best clients, so you’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

“Um, hi. Sorry, but I don’t work here,” I mumbled.

“Are you getting a tattoo from Molly?” he asked. “I can help you pick out where to put it since I have a ton of ’em.”

“Unless you want me to cut off all the art I’ve put on your skin, you’d better get the fuck away from my woman,” Zane growled as he prowled into the waiting area.

Dirk’s eyes widened, and he jumped back a few steps, raising his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, man. I had no idea she was yours.”

“Maybe you shoulda used your brain instead of thinking with your dick.” Zane glared at him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “You ever see a woman in a place owned by the Iron Rogues, assume she belongs to one of us.”

“Sorry. Like I said, I didn’t know.” He shook his head with a sigh. “If I had, I never would’ve hit on her.”

Glancing at Molly and Dahlia, I couldn’t help but think that we wouldn”t have been in this situation if Zane had given me a vest like they wore. A property patch proclaiming me as Whiskey’s would have made it pretty darn clear to any man who saw me that an Iron Rogue had claimed me. Hopefully, I would wear it someday soon.