Page 111 of Suspicious

Sadie smiles. “I mean, you can never go wrong with fried chicken. And honestly, I don’t know what this baby is doing to me right now, but I feel like I could eat, like…so much.She better be buying. A. Lot.”

Maverick chuckles under his breath, making Sadie snap her head to him, giving him the worst death stare. He shuts up instantly as Sadie folds her arms over her chest, letting out a huff. “Did you laugh because you think I’m putting on too much weight?”

Clover widens her eyes, trying to fight back her smile, slowly lifts her cell, and starts recording behind Sadie’s back. I smirk at the scene unfolding.

Maverick groans like this is a normal occurrence for him now. “Baby, I will love you no matter what size you are.”

I grimace along with Alpha and Phoenix as Sadie jerks her head back with a scoff. “Youdothink I’m fat?”

Maverick clenches his eyes shut, rubbing his temple. “That’snotwhat I meant by that. Clo, help me out here.”

Clover continues to smile and record as she shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, big bro. You’ve never been good at dealing with the emotions of females.”

Sadie spins to face Clover, her eyes wide, and she nods.“Right? I mean, when Mav and I first met, he wassomean.” She snaps her head back around to Maverick, glaring at him. “Why do you have to be so mean?Oh God, I’m pregnant to an asshole!”

The rest of us try hard to keep in our laughter as Maverick simply reaches out his hand to grab hers. He looks her in the eyes and softly smiles. “You’re my cute little ten, Cupcake.”

I have no clue what that means, but it obviously struck a chord with Sadie because her eyes instantly well with tears, her bottom lip trembling as she bursts into tears, throwing herself into Maverick’s arms. “Oh fuck, I’m the asshole. I’m sorry, baby. It’s the hormones. They’re making me fucking crazy.”

Maverick smiles, holding onto her as she cries in his arms. He strokes her hair, comforting her. “It’s totally fine, Sadie. You’ve always been a little crazy. I can handle it ramped up for nine months.”

Sadie pulls back, looking at him, a slow smile crossing her face. “I love you.”

Maverick smiles back. “I love you, too, Cupcake. And our baby, who will probably be just as crazy as its mama.”

Clover ends the recording, placing her cell on the table. “You guys are so freaking cute. I hope I have a love like yours one day.”

Phoenix chuckles. “What, completely unhinged?” he teases.

Maverick glares at him.

Alpha shrugs. “Brother, unhinged romance is the best kind.”

Phoenix glances across the table at Clover, a slight smile crossing his face. “I dunno… sometimes I think going for someone sweet could be nice too.”

Clover’s eyes meet his. She tries to fight back her smile as a bright red flush crosses her face. Sadie notices her brother eyeing Maverick’s sister, and she elbows Phoenix in the ribs before Maverick can catch on. But Alpha and I both saw. Weside-eye each other, raising our brows.

Clover goes to say something as Rip races into the clubhouse, completely out of breath, gaining all of our attention. “Pres! Dude, like… Iseriouslyneed you. Right fucking now!”

The urgency in his tone has us all standing immediately and rushing toward him while he continues to catch his breath. Alpha places his hand on Rip’s back, his brows furrow. “Rip, brother. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

He pants a few times, then slowly rises, looking up at Alpha, his eyes full of concern. “There’s a package at the gate. I didn’t open it. The gnarly-looking dude who left it said onlyyoucould open it. Pres, the outside package is a fried chicken box.”

Alpha’s face falls.

My stomach sinks through the floor as Alpha takes off running so fucking fast I can barely keep up.

“Alpha! It could be a trap! I need to scan it for explosives!” I yell as everyone chases after him, but he doesn’t stop.

Dropping to his knees as he reaches it, I tense as he grabs hold and begins tearing at the cardboard.

I don’t stop running.

If it is a bomb, I’m going down with him.

He rips off the lid just as I reach him.

I drop to the concrete, his breathing frantic as he pulls out a handwritten note.

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