Page 12 of Owning the Prez’s Ol' Lady

Only my heart.

“Yeah, but we’re tired of running, and poor Ramona needs to rest.”

Josie’s smile spread when she noticed Ramona’s pregnant belly. “I offered them our guest house for the night.”

“You did what?” Joe practically yelled. “They’re strangers, Josie. You can’t just invite complete strangers into our home.”

“I’m not inviting them into our home. Just our guest house. It’s only for the night, Joe, and you won’t even see them, you’ll be here.”

“And what happens when they end up murdering you, and I return to the house in the morning to find you dead and our house ransacked? I don’t want to deal with that shit.”

My hand was still on Joe’s arm for some reason, and I gave it a squeeze, getting his full attention. He looked down at my hand, jerking his arm from beneath it.

“I promise you nothing will happen to your sister. We just need somewhere safe to crash for the night. We’ve been driving for days, and I’ve barely slept. I almost wrecked the car before we pulled in here. I’ll pay you if that helps. We don’t have much money because we used most of it to fill my gas tank, but I can give you what I have left after we buy our food.”

He took a step back, staring at Ramona’s pregnant belly, and her plate of food, then frowned.

“Fine, but they need to be out by morning.”

“What about the waitress jobs?” Josie asked.

“I said what I said, Josie. Don’t test me.”

She held up her hands and grinned. “Fine. Fine.”

Joe disappeared into the back just as Josie turned to face us.

“You’re in! Consider yourselves hired!”

“But he just said...”

“Joe is a big softie underneath all that disgruntle bear. Trust me, by next month you’ll be calling Platte your new home. I’m about to clock out, then I’ll take you to our guest house to get you guys settled.”

Ramona’s belly growled in protest. “Shasta, if I don’t eat this plate of pancakes and eggs, I’m afraid this baby is going to have a fit. Can we eat then sleep?”

Chuckling, I plopped down on the stool next to her, and shot her a wink. “Let’s get this pregnant lady fed. Can I have the same as she’s having?”

Josie squealed with delight. “Yes!”

Ramona watched Josie dance away, her eyes trained on the two big globes of her jiggling ass. When Josie was out of view, she shot me the biggest smirk I’ve ever seen on her face. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

Chapter Ten

Skid

My heart felt like a heavy brick inside my chest. Today was the day of Warrant’s funeral, and everything felt so surreal.

My club, broken, wounded, and down numbers, stood in silence as his heavy body was lifted down into a grave—one that for some reason, had already been picked, and paid for.

Did he anticipate his own death? Why would someone so young already have a grave plot ready for him?

I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Wasp standing there staring at me like he somehow knew these tears were deeper than the ones on all my brothers.

He didn’t say a word, just left his comforting hand on my back, as if he was saying everything would be okay. But would it?

Warrant’s life was taken far too soon, and it made me wonder if our time with Shasta was to blame? If we had not touched her, would he still be alive? But on the other side of the coin, had we not touched her, would I know what it felt like to have him inside me, to possess me the way he did?

Wasp gave me a few pats, then moved on, taking his place next to the rest of my brothers. We were sending him off in honor, unlike Sabbath, who we buried out in the middle of nowhere with no way of identifying his body. Everything that made him who he was, was stripped and burned. His cut... his teeth... his fingers. Anything that could identify him, short of his DNA, was gone and scattered all over Austin.

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