Obsession (A Bad Boy's Secret Baby) (11 page)

Several agonizing minutes later I finally heard sirens in the distance, the fire department had finally managed to reroute some of the water trucks up here. But what good would that do now?

I had gone completely numb and was in a daze. I let an officer sit me in the passenger's seat of one of the cruisers. They would never get in there in time to rescue Mal or Brendan or that little girl. I idly rubbed my stomach, feeling for a bump that wasn't there yet.

What am I going to tell our child, Mal?
My whole world was crashing down around me. My face was ruined with sobbing tears. How could I even go on after this?
You promised you'd never leave me again.

You promised.

I watched the orange tendrils lick out the open windows and was soon lost in the hypnotizing flames that consumed the blazing building. It was so hideously beautiful that I felt sick.

And then there was another crash of exploding windows. A huddled mass of something was launched out of the second floor window, on the side of the building. Flames licked out after it, as if angry that whatever it was had escaped.

Part of the smoking form on the grass rolled away, then stood up and peeled off his breathing apparatus.

I screamed and ran from the car like a madwoman.

EMTs and a few nearby officers beat me to the human wreckage. Mal was stripping off his ruined leather jacket and helmet when they arrived. He helped the EMTs and officers move Brendan and the little girl to a safe distance, then took me into a massive embrace. He was sweaty, covered in char and soot and smelled terrible. I didn't care.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.” I whispered, sobbing near uncontrollably. I was so relieved that it felt like someone had lifted a boulder off me. “I thought you were gone.”

“I made you a promise,” was all Mal replied. I never wanted to leave those strong, stinky arms but I tore away anyways. I needed to check on Brendan.

Brendan was in rough shape, the young girl was worse, but it looked like they were both going to make it. They were both loaded onto stretchers and were made ready for transport to the hospital.

“On the ground!” Officer Winter came running over, gun drawn. It took everyone, even the other officers, by surprise. “Malik Long, you're under arrest!”

“What!” I shoved Winter to little effect, then was pushed out of the way. “Are you fucking joking?”

Captain Demoe ambled up to us, but didn't intervene. He watched as Mal was forced to the ground and cuffed in front of everyone.

“Captain,” Brendan wheezed from all the smoke he'd breathed in. He reached out for Demoe, who took his hand and moved in closer so that Brendan wouldn't have to shout.

“Don't do this...” Brendan's words were broken and incredibly labored. It must have hurt him considerably to talk at all. “Malik saved my life. The girl's life too. We broke into his firehouse earlier today. Roughed him up and he still came. To help.”

Brendan was standing up for Mal? It was something I'd never thought I'd see, ever. Brendan
hated
Mal, didn't he? Maybe having his life saved by his enemy changed his perspective.

I hoped so.

“Get him out of here,” Demoe told the EMTs, releasing himself from Brendan's grip. Demoe muttered that he'd let the fire chief decide what to do with Mal, then impatiently waved for the EMTs to take Brendan.

“Hey, Ness,” Mal said, with officer Winter's knee on his back. His hair was matted, his face was stained with black streaks and sweat, but his smile was pearly and glowing and incredibly sincere. “This might not be the best way to do this, but... Will you marry me?”

“For fuck's sake, Long,” Winter complained, but we ignored him.

“Yes.” I nodded, crying again. I laid on the charred grass next to Mal and kissed him. It was an awkward angle and he tasted like barbeque, but it was the single best kiss of my life. “A thousand times yes!”

“Let him up,” Captain Demoe declared, ending his call with the fire chief and gesturing toward Mal. “You too, Kait. This is still an active crime scene, come on.”

“Sir?” Winter whined.

“Are you going to make me repeat myself, Winter?” Demoe gave the man a glare that lit a fire under the officer's ass. Then he extended a hand to help me off the ground. I smiled and apologized for the display. When the old man had me back on my feet he even congratulated me on the engagement, in his own gruff way.

Mal was released and swept me into another monster hug.

“Thank you for saving my brother,” I whispered into his ear. “But don't you ever do anything so risky again. You're going to be a father, remember that. I need you.
We
need you.”

His embrace became a vice, and I knew, he needed us too.

Kait

––––––––

“H
ave you unpacked yet?” I asked, repositioning my four-month old, Sean, in my arms.

Mal had suggested that we name our boy after my father's memory. I absolutely loved the idea.

It was hard to believe that it had already been just over a year since Brendan's wedding and Mal's return. Life was moving so fast, now.

I had become a wife, a mother, and I was about to buy my first home as well. It was all so
adult
. Too adult sometimes, but I had Mal. He kept me grounded in so many ways. After what we had been through to be together, nothing felt overwhelming anymore. Life's problems were just challenges that we hadn't overcome yet.

“I like to do it gradually. It's like Christmas every day.” Brendan loaded coals into the grill and lit it. He had on this ridiculous hat and apron that made him look the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show.

Brendan and I had sold my father's house. It was hard, but it was also time to bury the past and start our own lives. Brendan used his share from the sale for a deposit on a nice raised ranch with a big backyard.

Mal and I were still in an apartment across town, but yesterday we started the paperwork on an incredible Dutch colonial nearby. House shopping was a very married thing to do.

Our wedding had been smaller than Brendan's, but that was fine by me. I had gotten my big wedding fix helping Mariela and wanted something more intimate for my own.

Mal's brother, Kyle, had finished boot camp and had flown out for the ceremony as a surprise.

It made my heart swell to see Mal that excited. Kyle couldn't stay long, unfortunately, because he was being deployed shortly thereafter, but it was really nice to see him as a grown man.

Kyle had mentioned that Tonya was arrested for something, but he didn't care to know any of the details. Neither of them had any contact with their mother anymore, and that was fine by them.

“
Too
gradually,” Mariela corrected, giving her husband a knowing look. It had been a cold, wet Spring so far this year, but seeing Mariela's yellow rose print sundress–which complemented her olive skin wonderfully—made me feel like warmer weather was right around the corner.

“Oh, he's so big now!” Mariela kissed my cheek, then kissed Sean's as well. She eagerly held her hands out to take the baby. “May I, Mamá?”

“Absolutely!” I handed my son to his aunt, who immediately began rocking him in her arms. Mariela could always make Sean smile and that, of course, made me smile. She was great with children.

“Where's that deadbeat husband of yours?” Brendan asked, setting up the patio chairs for us.

“Sorry I'm late,” Mal said as he came in with groceries and a bottle of wine. “I had to let the station know you were grilling. I told them to have the water truck ready.” He placed everything on the table, kissed Mariela on the cheek, then did the handshake-into-a-hug thing with Brendan that guys do with each other.

Mal had been hired on full time at the firehouse and was something of a local celebrity after news of his daring rescue swept across the community. He downplayed the whole thing, like he always did, but the experience rekindled his and Brendan's brotherly bond.

If you saw Brendan and Mal together now, you'd never know that there had ever been bad blood between them. They had defied nearly a decade of hostilities. I was originally so worried that their history would divide my family, but now it was difficult to pry them apart sometimes.

“Hey there, Ness.” Mal cupped an arm behind my back and kissed me, long and sweet.

I would never get tired of that.

I still worked at Children's Hope and had taken over an event organizer position. It made me miss my kids, but the promotion was good for my career. I still popped in and took Ashley and the others out to Bounce and the movies every once in a while, though.

“It's been a year, when are you two going to knock off that young love nonsense?” Brendan protested jokingly; he was quickly backhanded in the shoulder by his wife. “Here. Let me show you how it's done.” He dramatically pulled her close and gave her a wet, sloppy kiss on the cheek. Mariela squirmed away, laughing, but was caught in his embrace. When he was done, he looked at her seductively.

“I see they stole our baby again.” Mal shook his head, which was the appropriate response to most of Brendan's antics, and held his arms out. Mariela broke free from her husband and gave Sean to him. “Hey there, little guy.” Mal bounced Sean lightly in his arms. “Tell Auntie and Uncle that you're ours and that they need to make their own.”

Both my brother and his wife went uncharacteristically quiet at Mal's ribbing.

“Funny thing about that,” Brendan said with a half smile, scratching his head.

“No!” I gasped.

“Yes!” Mariela squeaked loudly, no longer able to contain her excitement, and threw her hands in the air. “Surprise!”

“Congratulations!” I shouted, hugging her. Mal shook Brendan's hand as well, patting him on the shoulder.

The cookout was wonderful and stretched late into the evening. We all had so much to be thankful for. It truly was amazing how much things had turned around in all of our lives. Occasionally, it was hard to get my head around it.

Later that night, I woke from a bad dream, one where neither Brendan nor Mal made it out of that apartment fire. It left me panting, shaking in cold sweat. Slowly, as I lay there, everything good that happened over the last year came back to me, calming my heart.

But part of me still wondered when the other shoe would drop. It all felt too perfect to be real. Would I wake up from this magical life, too?

Then Mal's big arms wrapped around me, and I knew that I was just being crazy. This was my life now, and it was okay to let my guard down and just be happy. It would be a struggle sometimes, but Mal would always be there for me.

And that was all that mattered.

FROM
USA TODAY
Bestselling Author

Nora Flite

&

Adair Rymer

Ronin

––––––––

“W
hat's your name, hon?”

The speaker—a bored Irish girl in a buttoned up leather halter top and tight, cut-off denim shorts—slipped into the seat next to me with practiced ease. She propped her head up to look at me, diluted emerald eyes fluttering. It was an expression that was
just
flirty enough, keeping this interaction from feeling too forced.

I knew immediately that she was an old lady—a girl claimed by one of the much older Road Devils club members sitting across the room. They'd sent her over to feel me out; to see if I was a cop, a part of a rival MC, or just some stupid fuck that had lost his way.

This charming dove was a warning shot. They wanted me to know they were watching and that I should vacate the bar while I still had use of my legs enough to walk out of here.

Otherwise, I'd end up leaving in a black body bag.

“Trouble, to most,” I said with an easy smile. A spark of interest flashed across her eyes. Maybe I
was
looking for a black bag my size. It would certainly explain my compulsion for shitty bars like these.

Nah, I didn't want to die. I wanted to live. Living, to me, wasn't the same as just being alive. It was why I chose the nomad MC lifestyle instead of falling in with any one chapter. Freedom within a free institution. Nowhere else on earth could I have what I had now.

“Buy me beer,” I said, reveling in the confusion that marred her fair features. The comment took her off guard. If I were a betting man, I'd say that this was the first time she'd ever been on the other side of such an instruction.

And I was sure as hell a betting man.

I disregarded her, calling out to the bartender. “Killians, if you have it.” Then I leaned in and breathed in the fruity satin tang of her cheap perfume. “What's
your
name, love?”

She eyed me cautiously. “Tash.” It was said with a bit of reluctance. She freed a pack of smokes from her small purse.

The surly bartender popped the bottle cap and poured the heady, dark auburn brew into the glass that he'd set down in front of me. “Four-fifty,” he said, eying me suspiciously.

“Put it on Tash's tab.” I shifted my gaze to the girl with a smirk, daring her to say otherwise. The bartender followed suit and looked at her, his brows furrowing.

Tash regarded each of us in turn. “It's alright, Pete.” Her voice was silky with curiosity.

I had her now.

The bartender disappeared to wait on another member. Tash's full lips trapped a hanging cigarette as she brought her lighter to it. She pulled the smoke in, long and slow, her eyes narrowing as she tried to figure me out. “That was ballsy for man who knows where he is.” She blew a long line of ghostly white out of the far side of her mouth “Who are you?”

It was the second time she'd asked me. Answering her only seemed right. “Your old man can call me Ronin.” I brushed a hanging strand of her hair behind her ear, then closed the gap between us. I was close enough for her to feel the heat of my breath on her cheek. I looked past her at the fifteen grizzled bikers, all of whom were staring at me. “Now run along, Love. Before I find something thicker for those pink lips to wrap themselves around.”