Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Tango wasn’t kidding about the boy being nervous. Gabriel was trembling as Tango gently led him down the porch of his mobile home. He had Gabriel wrapped in his leather jacket, his arm securely wrapped around his shoulders. Gabriel looked at us where we parked by the road, and his eyes landed on Sophia. She waved at him with a smile tilting her lips, and he relaxed a little, allowing Tango to put him on the bike.
He was wearing Tango’s clothes, which were way too fucking big for him, but the boy didn’t seem to mind. And instead of riding behind Tango, Tango slid on behind him. The move spoke volumes about how much he adored and wanted to protect the kid. It even made my heart clench in my chest, and not much affected me unless it was Sophia. Not to that degree.
“He’s breaking my heart,” Sophia whispered, resting her head on my back.
I reached down and grasped her hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Tango will take care of him,” I promised her. Of that, I was absolutely certain. Because I’d never seen Tango like this.
I watched Tango strap a helmet to Gabriel’s head. Then, he pressed a kiss to Gabriel’s cheek and slowly made a circle, heading back down his drive to the highway. We followed behind him, and once we were on the highway, Tango dropped one of his hands from the handlebar and wrapped it around Gabriel’s waist.
Sophia tightened her hands around me as we picked up speed, and she laughed against my back. I grinned, dropping one of my hands to grip her thigh, loving how free she felt riding behind me.
She was made for me. No fucking doubt about it.
16
Chase
Sophia groaned in protest when I slid out of bed the next morning, and I cringed a little, hating that I woke her up. She was still recovering and needed as much rest as possible, especially since she was still waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares and flashbacks.
Leaning over her on the bed, I pressed a kiss to her forehead before walking over to the dresser.
“Do you have to be up already?” she mumbled in complaint, squinting one of her eyes open to look at me.
I nodded as I tugged a pair of jeans up my legs, fastening the button before yanking up the zipper. “Yeah, cupcake. Mother charter will be here any minute now,” I told her. “And not being awake when Johnston rides into town is just asking for trouble.”
She huffed. “Sounds like a douchebag,” she muttered.
I snorted. She just about hit the nail on the head with that assumption. Johnston was a cruel mother fucker, but this club was family, and he was a true ride-or-die. “He can be, but he also gave every single one of us in this club a place to belong, and he gives us structure. That’s something that most of us would never trade for anything else. We thrive best in this environment. Because even in the midst of chaos, we’ve got family. A home. People to rely on. A leader we can turn to and trust.”
She watched me for a moment as I tugged a shirt over my head and shoved my feet into my boots. “Do I need to get up, too?” she finally asked.
I shook my head. “Nah, cupcake.” I shrugged on my cut before sitting on the edge of the bed to lace up my boots. “You go on back to sleep and come down whenever you’re ready. Probably going to head straight into church.” After standing back up, I leaned over her again for the second time that morning and gripped her chin, turning her head so I could plant a kiss on her lips. “Go back to sleep,” I gently commanded.
She nodded and snuggled back beneath the covers, hugging my pillow to her chest. I quickly left the room and jogged down the stairs right as the sound of multiple bikes riding onto the lot met my ears. Jessica was holding Destin on her hip, though he was beginning to get too big to be held like that. But if there was one thing I knew about Jessica, it was that she would coddle her son for as long as she could.
She was a damn good mom.
The doors opened a moment later, and Johnston strode through, Aaliyah’s hand clasped in his. She was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a plain black shirt with a leather jacket, a pair of leather combat boots on her feet. Her red hair was a mess around her shoulders, though it honestly looked like it had been styled that way. She pushed her shades up, smiling at Jessica and quickly making her way over to the other queen.
“Chapel,” Johnston grunted, not even bothering with so much as a hello, though none of us had expected it. I arched a brow at my best friend, but Scorpion shrugged at me before we followed him inside the room. It was standing room only by the time both charters were piled into the space. I gave my seat up to Johnston, moving to stand against the wall next to Blayke, Johnston’s VP.