Page 43 of Viper

Shadow smirks. “My woman can’t keep her hands off me,” he replies smugly. “And shit happens. But she’s only two months along, so she wants to wait until she sees the doctor before we announce it to everyone. Her family doesn’t even know yet.” Then he gives me a hard glare. “So don’t you dare tell Peyton or I’ll kill you.”

It’s my turn to smirk. “As much fun as it would be to watch you try, I won’t say anything. But I can’t wait to see Rose’s reaction when she finds out.”

“Speaking of which,” Bullet drawls, getting our attention, a grin spreading across his face as he looks at Shadow. “I suppose now isn’t a good time to mention how I’m going to be starting a bail fund of my own for all the kids you boys are going to have running around here. And, Shadow, I think you should pay double considering how it will be your little girl leading the charge.”

Shadow groans while the rest of us laugh. “I don’t want to think about it,” he finally says. “Hell, I’m going to have to put bars on the windows before she’s a teenager with the shit I’m sure Macy is going to get into. And I don’t even want to think about the fact that we might have another girl…”

We all chuckle, but then we all sober as reality sets in. Shadow and I have the next generation of the club, and Vlad is threatening that. Something we will never allow to stand. “Alright, back to the matter at hand, because shit just became real,” Bullet says grimly, leaning forward. “We need to be ready for anything that Vlad and his men throw at us, no matter which way it comes. And that means here at the clubhouse we’re going to have to be ready for what I’m sure are going to be raids and anything else they can think of. We don’t have anything to hide, but if you got something you don’t want found or questioned about, get it the hell out of here, away from your bike, and away from anything associated with us. That’s my only warning. Understood?” We all nod and voice our agreement. “Good. Now, we also need to make sure we’re ready for out on the roads as well. No one drives alone unless you absolutely have to. And that includes if you’re in a cage.” He glances at me and Shadow. “And I want to make sure I know where you are and where you’re going if you have the kids.”

Shadow and I both nod. “I’ll plan on bringing Archer either to the office or here after school,” I suggest. Bullet nods his agreement.

“I’ll start taking Quinn and Macy to work and school then picking them both up at the end of the day,” Shadow says. “I’ll need to cut back on my hours at the office though.”

“We’ll handle it,” I assure him. Hulk, Bowie, and Frost all agree as well. “And now that we have Eric, we’ll move things around without you having to worry”

“Good, then that’s sorted,” Bullet says with a nod. “Now, I don’t think I need to say this again, but I’m going to anyway. You all need to be careful, we don’t know when they will strike or how, so we need to be on our toes.”

“Just a thought,” Sniper interjects, drawing our attention. “But we do have another ace up our sleeves we haven’t considered yet.” He looks my way pointedly and I arch a brow at him, uncertain where he’s going. Bullet has the same expression and then gestures for him to continue. “It seems to me, if something is coming down the pipe, or specifically for one of us, a warrant or something of that nature, which would have to go through the courthouse and since Viper’s woman is already working there…”

Anger and worry rush over me. “She’s already in danger, and you want me to put her even further into it?” I demand, letting my displeasure show. “Not to mention, she hasn’t even agreed to be my woman.” Even after last night, she barely messaged me today, which is frustrating. But I know she’s busy at work while also trying to sort out her emotions about me.

“And we have men on her, right?” Sniper reasons. He holds up a hand before I can reply. “Hold on, before you get too pissed at me, just listen. We know Vlad is using the law and court system against us. And right now, Eden is in the position to tell us what’s coming. We can protect her further by giving her a burner phone to message you or one of us if any of our names are brought up. It will give us the advantage of knowing how to get ahead of it all .”

“You’re all assuming she’s going to be willing to help us,” I point out tightly. “She’s barely agreeing to spend any time with me, let alone being part of all of this other than alerting us to it in the first place. She could think I’m just using her to get information and I refuse to let her think that. And, honestly, she takes her job so fucking seriously and keeping things confidential that she might not even consider it.”

“And if she isn’t, we don’t push it,” Sniper agrees. “But how can we know without asking?”

“So does that mean we have to give her our legal names?” Twigs whines.

“No one gives a damn about your sissy name, Twigs,” King laughs. Twigs just rolls his eyes, while a few others chuckle.

“But we’re right back to where we said we didn’t want to be,” I point out. “We’re involving a woman in club business.” Everyone goes quiet at that, seriousness covering their faces. “I know we’ve involved them in the past because we didn’t have a choice or they forced their way in, but we’ve seen what happens when we do that, and I’d be a shit brother if I didn’t remind us of that. And I’m saying this now, I’ve only managed to convince her by the skin of my teeth to consider even giving me a shot, and I’m not going to lose that progress over this.”

“And you don’t have to,” Bullet assures me. “But I think that we need to consider Sniper’s point. At the same time, I also agree with you. I’m not happy to have another woman involved in this shit, but it seems that’s always the way things fall around here. But this time, we know of the woman before Vlad does, and this time, we can make sure we have contingencies in place to protect her.”

I know he’s right, but at the same time, I’ve seen what’s happened with all the other women, and I don’t want that to happen to Eden. No matter how tough she thinks she is, she’s never faced down the damn mafia before. “And are we willing to let her know who it is she heard?” I ask. “Because she’s going to insist on knowing.”

“Does she really need to know?” Titan argues. “I mean, what’s it going to change by knowing that?”

“You haven’t met her,” Shadow says drily. “She’s a mixture of Rose and Sage.” Some of the men laugh, a few others wince, and Titan groans. Myself, I grin, proud that my woman has already caused this kind of reaction. “And just like those two, she’s blunt, opinionated, and tougher than she looks. By telling her, I don’t think it’s going to send her running, but I also think we need to be careful about how much she’s made aware of.”

“But if she’s like my woman and mother, she’s not going to stay out it for long,” King snorts.

“At this point,” Bullet interrupts before any further discussion can be had, “it’s up to Viper. She may not be your woman officially, but since I have a feeling that will change very soon, you’re the one that’s going to have to approve this proceeding right now.”

And that’s the problem. I know what I should do, what I need to do, but the idea of putting Eden in danger makes me want to immediately say no, and then take her and Archer and run with them out of town. But that’s not an option, so I sigh and reply, “I’ll talk to her and see what she wants to do.”

Bullet nods. “Alright, then we’ll leave that with you. On to the final piece of business.” He looks at Cryos. “Any news on your contact being able to help us?”

Cryos nods. “They just contacted me before Church started and said that they’re willing to help us out. I’m going to send them the data shortly and then they’ll get right to work on it. Hopefully, we’ll have answers within a couple of days .”

“Good. The sooner we have that, the better,” Bullet nods. “For now, we’ll adjourn Church. You all make sure you’re riding together and reporting anything suspicious.” He bangs the gavel and we file out of the room.

I head out of the clubhouse and to my bike, needing to head back to the office and get a few things finished before I have to pick up Archer after school, and then figure out a way to sneak into Eden’s apartment without being seen. Or, you know, without her trying to kill me. Shadow falls in step beside me, and then we head out without a word. Hulk, Bowie, and Frost all follow me, with Crypt taking up the rear since he was guarding the Church door.

When we get back to the office, Eric is waiting for us with a few messages, and seems to have things well in hand. I go to my office, sitting and running a hand over my face. Damn it, I need to figure out how the hell I’m going to talk to Eden about any of this. I said I would, but I also worry that she’s going to run away from me. Deciding that this all is too much and be done. I don’t have a choice but to talk to her and hope I can convince her to still give me a chance.

I’ll do whatever I have to convince her. First though, I need her to call me, or at least respond to my messages. I look at my phone again but pause when I see a message from Carson, who is on guard duty for Eden. I nearly groan when I read the words on the screen. I glance at my watch, stand, and head for the door. I go into Shadow’s office, jerk my head, and then head out the door, knowing he’ll be right behind me. When we reach our bikes, he looks at me curiously, all I say is, “She’s out for dinner, and the Coven have arrived at the same restaurant.”

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