Page 66 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

Knox takes a deep breath. Slowly but surely, all three come closer, their steps heavy but steady. Their energy envelops me wholly with a sense of relief and safety. “You were running away tonight, weren’t you?” Knox asks.

I nod once. “I panicked. But please don’t hold it against Paulie. He had no idea.”

“He wasn’t at his post.”

“I told him Kyra wasn’t feeling good and needed medicine,” I add miserably.

Knox shakes his head. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d left us…”

I take a step forward and place my palms on his chest. There’s comfort in the feel of his leather jacket beneath my fingertips. “Forgive me. I saw Marlo. Calvin. Samson told me about the DEA thing…”

“Samson and his big mouth,” Diesel mutters.

“No, he was right to tell me since you wouldn’t,” I reply. “I had no idea it was this serious. They’re coming at you from all sides.”

“They’ll certainly try,” Knox says. “It doesn’t mean they’ll succeed.”

“Say it again,” Diesel cuts in. His hand comes up, fingers brushing my earlobe as he tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “I want to hear you say it.”

“What?”

“You know what.”

I give him a wry smile. “I love you.”

“And it’s becauseweloveyouthat you’re here tonight,” Diesel replies and pulls me into a hungry, stern, and decisive kiss. “It’s because we love you that this even happened between us.”

“We never would’ve come to you if we didn’t feel this way,” Jagger says, his gaze softening. “Robyn, I fell for you from the moment we met. I saw that your heart was somewhere else at the time. Nobody could really resist Calvin’s charm. I kept my distance. But I’ve always felt this way about you.”

It gives me pause to hear them say such things. My heart blossoms and swells to the point where it might no longer fit within the confines of my ribcage. All I can do is kiss Jagger, then Knox, then Diesel again, pouring everything inside me into every single gesture. Every touch and caress. Letting my body speak for my soul.

“I am in love with you,” I whisper against Knox’s soft lips.

“And I swear I will burn the world down if you ever try to leave like that again,” he replies. “Don’t you tear my fucking heart open like that, you hear me, Robyn?”

“I’m sorry,” I say, meaning it from the bottom of my being. “I won’t. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Maybe I’ll even work up the courage to tell them about my pregnancy soon. But a baby coming in the middle of a brewing storm… I don’t want to cloud their judgment any further, not when they have so much on the line.

“I love you,” Knox says, his voice trembling slightly as he takes me in his arms. “We’re in this together, Robyn, all the way through to the end.”

We retire to my bedroom and make love the entire night.

21

Robyn

The days that follow are relatively quiet.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but life as we know it continues its steady flow. One morning, I lead my daughter downstairs, both of us ready to start the day.

“Come on, let’s grab a pancake or two before school, what do you say?”

“Ellie!” Kyra exclaims before she can answer my question as she spots Ellie behind the clubhouse bar. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here now,” Ellie replies with a warm smile.

“You’re off to an easy start, thank heavens,” I chuckle as I sit Kyra on a bar stool, hop up next to her and look around. Barely a dozen people are in here at this early hour. “How do you like it so far?”

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