Page 2 of Buried

I put my bag and my hoodie in the locker, leaving me in my extremely short jean shorts and my tank top that clung to my curves like a second skin and was cut low to reveal a lot of cleavage. I’d gained quite a bit of weight over the past few months, but it was my doctor’s orders.

I was a little over three months pregnant, and my doctor had me on a strict diet to help me gain weight so I would be healthy enough to nurture my baby because when I’d gotten pregnant, I sure as fuck had not been. I was malnourished and extremely underweight. I’d been following his instructions to a T to make sure I gave my baby a healthy start to life.

I walked out of the back and headed for the bar. The bartender working slid me a list. “Can you make these and take them to the table that ordered them?” he asked.

“Sure thing,” I murmured. I set to work mixing the drinks and setting them on a tray. Making my way across the floor, I headed for the table that had ordered the drinks, not bothering to look up as I called, “Jack and Coke?”

“Right here,” that man I dreamed about every night said, his voice low and gruff.

My eyes snapped up in shock, and I dropped the tray of drinks in surprise, my eyes locking on River’s blue ones. The same ones that haunted my dreams every single night. He tilted his head to the side the slightest bit, his eyes running over me in a way that had warmth pooling in my gut. A shiver danced down my spine, my skin flushing beneath his intense gaze. His eyes darkened to a stormy blue color, his lips tilting up the tiniest bit.

He hadn’t changed, not really. But the one thing thathadchanged was that he was wearing a cut clearly labeling him the president of the Fathers of Mayhem.

Riverwas the owner of the bar.

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“I’m—I’m so sorry,” I choked out, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

I couldn’t believe River was right here in front of me. Had been right under my nose formonths.

“Adelaide!” my boss roared, storming over to me. I snapped my wide eyes from River’s to look at him, swallowing thickly. Henry was a fucking asshole, and I tried to steer clear of him as much as possible. He was always making passes at me, and since I always shot him down, he’d been getting more aggressive. I could handle him. Just didn’t fucking want to. I needed this job.

“I’m sorry, River. She’s normally not this dumb and clumsy,” Henry apologized to River.

Anger flashed in River’s eyes, but he smothered it. “It’s fine,” River grumbled. He nodded toward the open seat next to him. “Take a seat, darlin’. Henry, get someone to clean up that mess and bring me another drink, as well as a watermelon vodka for Adelaide,” River ordered without removing his eyes from my face.

Henry nodded, sending me a hateful glare that River either didn’t notice or didn’t bother to pay attention to before he rushed off to go get one of the other girls to remake the drink orders.

“I didn’t know you were in town, darlin’,” River drawled, bringing my attention back over to him as I cautiously took a seat beside him.

“I didn’t know you were the president of another club,” I shot back, feeling a tad bit defensive because trust me, if I’d known he was here, I would have sought him out.

Now, I was in my shit too deep.

“Watch your tone, girly,” a guy a couple of years older than me spoke from the other side of the table, drawing my eyes to him.

He had black hair that hung to his shoulders and eyes so dark, they were nearly as dark as his hair. His cut labeled him as the vice president. He wasn’t that bad looking, but danger rolled off of him in waves, making me edgy and wary of him.

But if I did anything, I loved playing with danger.

“Was anyone talking to you?” I snarled at him.

“Leave her be, Sam,” River commanded before Sam could open his mouth to retort something that’d no doubt piss me off. His VP swung his angry eyes to his president. “Adelaide is an old… friend of mine.” I snorted, making River grin at me.

Friend, my ass. You went balls deep in my pussy over and over and cuddled with me afterward on the garage floor.

River ran his eyes over me for a moment, like he was trying to commit the new me to memory. Reaching forward, he began to play with a lock of my brown hair. My pulse jumped. “You gained some weight, darlin’,” he noted. He let those mesmerizing, blue eyes lock on mine, sucking me into their beautiful depths. “Looks good on you.”

You don’t want to know why, I admitted silently.

Fucking hell, how was I supposed to tell him that he was going to be a fucking dad? And I knew it was his. I had called Tristan when I’d found out, and we’d had a DNA test done. It wasn’t Tristan’s, though he offered to support me and the baby anyway. Needless to say, I turned him down flat and sent him back on his way to the Sons of Death.

“You couldn’t find a better job than serving drunk, sleazy assholes?” River asked me as Natalia began cleaning up my mess on the floor.

I shrugged at him, my nerves feeling frayed as he continued to play with my hair. “It pays well, and I’m good at making drinks,” I reminded him as Amber came over with our drinks.

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