I snapped out of the memory with a pitiful sigh. If only I knew for sure that Tripp was the father of this baby. Unfortunately, there was the horrible possibility that the baby belonged to Tripp’s son, Kip. What a mess. Despite knowing how it would hurt Scout, his ex-girlfriend, and another club girl, I would stick around if it was his, too. There were no romantic feelings about starting a relationship with the man. I knew his heart belonged to someone else and she was very much alive and in our faces. Still, he would make a good father, and we could raise our child as coparents easily enough.
I might have been tempted to stick around if there was a way to guarantee either one of the Martin men had fathered my baby. The sad truth was that it could be Bagger, Breakneck, or a few other members. None of them were ready to be parents. A few wouldn’t step up even if the proof was shoved in their faces. I had to be around two months pregnant or so, if my periods-or lack of-was anything to go by.
It was the end of December. That put me possibly getting pregnant back in October. It was hard to say when exactly that happened, and I wish that I knew, because it would make all the difference in figuring out who the potential father might be.
The new year was three days away, and the club was holding their annual blowout party later, since the new year would fall on a weekday. That meant I had to get packed and get gone before anyone found out. They couldn't know because I couldn't have my child tied to the club forever when their father would probably never claim me. It would ruin my chances of finding someone who might one day love me.
I knew what I needed to do, and oddly enough, it was the club's own princess who inspired me. Her father – The Savage Viper’s President – talked about her often enough, as did her uncle – SVMC’s Vice President. They were proud as hell of Star Martin. She left this club, thwarted their efforts to keep a tail on her, and she ended up super successful all on her own. That was what I would have to do for my baby. I'd prove to myself, my child, and anyone else who cared that I could do it on my own. It wasn't like I was really breaking a rule. I didn't know who the father of my baby was, so there was no one to tell.
I just finished tossing all of my clothes and toiletries into my bags when someone knocked on my door. "Vina?"
Shit. It was Tripp, the club's president. He'd never been mean to me or anything, and we had only slept together that one time, but I worried what he would do when he realized I was going to bolt.
"Yeah?"
He opened the door and his eyes immediately traveled to my bags. "Well, I was going to ask if you were okay to handle brothers from our other chapters on New Year’s, but it looks like you have other plans."
"I was going to come tell you." It was a lie and we both knew it.
"You don't owe anyone here any explanations, Vina. You're here because you want to be. When that time ends, it does. You're one of the good ones, so I'm guessing the brothers are going to be sad to see you go, but no one here will stop you."
"Thanks. Can we not make a big deal of it? I'd like to just leave quietly."
"Where are you going?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I want to go to school and see if I can get a career for myself." I chuckled. "I'm thirty-years-old and not getting any younger. Besides, one day, I want to have a family of my own. Can't do that when I belong to everyone and no one all at once."
Tripp nodded his head. "Understandable. Are you sure you're good to go and able to get yourself started off?"
I wasn't, but he didn't need to know that. I'd figure things out. The club paid us a weekly stipend for helping out around the clubhouse. They couldn't and wouldn't pay us for sexual favors, but those of us who cooked or cleaned received a weekly salary. I wasn't a fool and took the chance to earn extra money just in case something ever happened. Still, I'd also stupidly spent a lot of what I made on clothes and other useless things. I had $2,000 saved and wasn't dumb enough to think that would last very long.
"Take this, and if you need help, don't hesitate to call me," Tripp said as he handed me a wad of cash. "The side door is your best bet to avoid a scene with your bags. We have a few members due back in about an hour, then it will start getting crowded, so…"
"I'll be gone in five minutes," I promised. The promise was to myself, but Tripp nodded his head and left my room without even glancing back. I didn't bother looking at the cash he'd put in my hand until he left. There was $2,500 in the wad he'd placed in my hand. Tripp didn't know it, but he'd just handed me a lifeline. It would cover a nice one-bedroom apartment until I could find a job to help cover the monthly expenses.
I glanced into the slightly warped mirror hanging on the back of the door to the bedroom I'd occupied for a little over a year. "Well, baby," I said to my still flat tummy, “it’s just the two of us now. Don't worry, I'm going to take the best care of you. I promise."
I glanced back at the clubhouse one more time as I left in my beat-up old Chevy pickup truck. It was another worry I’d have for some time in the near future, because the thing had been on its last leg for a while. Kip promised to have a look at it for me, but never got around to it, thanks to club business and heartbreak over his recent breakup with Scout keeping him busy.
“I wish Tripp was the one,” I lamented again as I blew out a quick breath and then left the clubhouse for the last time. There was no use in looking back in the rear-view mirror. My past would stay right where it was, and no one would miss another club girl who disappeared on a whim. Not even the man I’d stupidly grown feelings for.
Chapter 5
Davina - Five Months later
“Kip knocked up that Ashlynn cunt while he and Scout were on a break, and all hell broke loose."
“Oh, no! Poor Scout. She must have been devastated. Where did she go?"
"What do you mean?" Dee asked.
"She couldn't stay there and see them playing happy family with the club," I suggested. To my horror, Dee shrugged her shoulders. I couldn't believe Scout could stick around to see that. No matter the problems she and Kip had, they were meant for one another. If I was honest with myself, it was one of the reasons why I walked away from the club so quickly. While Kip would have been one of the best options for a baby daddy, it would have destroyed my friend to know that I'd allowed him to have sex with me during their break, too.
"So, are you ever going to tell me who fathered your little miracle there?" Dee asked the question while pointing at my burgeoning belly. I was eight months along. My due date was July 13th, which was only a few weeks away. I wasn't sure if the doctor was correct about that, because there were only two men I slept with during that timeframe. Tripp, during the one beautiful night we spent together, and Breakneck. I'd slept with plenty of guys a week or two later, especially around the time of the club's Halloween blowout, but according to the doctor, there was a little bit of wiggle room in the timeline. Still, I prayed my child didn't turn out to be Breakneck's mini me.
"It doesn't matter. This baby is all mine."
"You still don't know what it is?"