Page 23 of Reacher's Ride or Die

“I’m so happy for you, Gloria,” Brandi said, swiping at the tears.

Gloria laughed, “Oh, your hormones. I’m afraid that they won’t get much better even after the baby is here.”

“I know, but I can’t help it. I’m just so happy. Our baby is going to have you in her life, and that’s the best news ever,” Brandi said.

“Wait—you’re having a girl?” Gloria asked. “I thought that you two were waiting to find out the sex when he or she got here.”

“We were,” Brandi said, shooting Reacher a look that could melt a glacier. “But someone looked a little too closely at thesonogram monitor two days ago, and now, we know what we’re having. I’m not too upset though, because now, Reacher can help me shop for all the girl things.”

“Well, Yonkers and Wren are coming down next week to visit her family, and they are bringing a few baby gifts from me,” Gloria said.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Reacher insisted, “just hearing that you’re in remission is the best gift ever.”

“Thanks for saying that, but my new granddaughter will need some cute little outfits, so I need to do some shopping.” Hearing Gloria call their daughter her granddaughter did strange, mushy shit to his heart. He had never had a mom, and after his father died, Reacher was lost. He had no family, but now, he had so many family members, that he couldn’t keep them all straight. He had more brothers than he ever imagined possible, and now, Gloria had become his surrogate mom. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten so lucky, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He could hear a car honking on Gloria’s end of the call and she looked out her front window. “Got to go,” she said. “My date is here. Love you both,” she said.

“We love you too,” Reacher and Brandi said in unison causing Gloria to giggle as she ended the call.

He pulled Brandi into his arms and kissed her. “What was that for?” she asked as he broke their kiss.

“It was to thank you for being my family,” he whispered as he palmed her belly. “You and our daughter are my whole world.”

“Well, we feel the same way about you too,” Brandi said, as she covered his hand with her own. They sat there for what felt like forever, and Reacher didn’t want it to ever end. He finally had everything that he ever wanted, all wrapped up in his arms, and that was more than he could have ever asked for.

The End

I hope you loved Reacher and Brandi’s story! Now, buckle up and get ready for another Yonkers, NY Royal Bastard! Harley’s Hex (A Royal Bastards MC: Huntsville/Yonkers Crossover Halloween Novella Book 3) is coming in October 2025 from K.L. Ramsey!

Hex

Hex hated this time of year. Halloween was absolutely the worst, and this year, he planned on skipping the whole day. He had twenty-nine days to figure out how to do just that. Knowing Savage, it was going to have to be one good plan too, because he wasn’t going to just let Hex miss out on the busiest night at the club.

Savage Hell was usually a busy place, but for some reason, on Halloween, all the members seemed to camp out at the club. It was a tradition that started years ago, and this year, Savage told all the guys that he expects them to show up, bring a date, and have a fucking good time. Of course, arguing with Savage wasn’t going to work out for him, but he had a few hang-ups with his club’s Prez’s demand. For one, Hex didn’t have a date. Hell, he didn’t date at all these days. Instead, he picked up women and fucked them, not meeting up with them a second time for fear that the women would become too attached. He'd figure out something because there was no way that he was going to spend Halloween partying with the Royal Bastards. He was going to sit at home in the dark so that none of the neighborhood kids would know that he was home, but not handing out candy. The lastthing he needed was to have his house egged or toilet papered, as they had done a few years prior.

He tried to catch the little shits, but they were too fast for him. The next year, he sat in the dark, keeping a lookout for the little assholes, but they never showed up. It felt as though they were taunting him, but they probably had better things to do—like getting as much candy as possible before the night was over.

Hex decided to head down to Savage Hell before he had to report for duty at Redstone Arsenal. He loved that so many of the guys in the Royal Bastards were active and ex-military. His club’s Prez even worked at Redstone as a civilian. The guy was actually a fucking rocket scientist and his husband, Bowie, was ex-military. They both met on the base and Bowie liked to give him shit about not meeting anyone at Redstone after he had been there for over five years now. Hex didn’t bother telling his Vice Prez that he wasn’t really looking for anyone at the moment. If Bowie knew that, he’d tell Savage and those two would stick their noses in his business, and that was the last thing he needed. Why was it that people who were happy in a relationship always tried to set their friends up, hoping that they’d find the same happiness?

He parked his bike in the back of the lot, hoping to find Savage alone, but from the bikes parked back there, that probably wasn’t going to happen. Bowie stuck his head out of the back door and shouted for him to get his ass in the bar, and Hex wondered what the hell he was walking into. Hex ran to the back door as Bowie held it open for him.

“It’s about fucking time,” Bowie growled.

“What’s about fucking time?” Hex asked.

“You showing up here. I think that Savage needs to go to the hospital, but he’s being a stubborn ass. Would you mind watching the bar while I drag his ass into the ER?” Hex almostwanted to laugh at the mental picture of Bowie dragging his behemoth husband anywhere.

“What’s wrong with Savage?” he asked.

“He’s having chest pains, and he insists that it’s probably indigestion, but I just want to have someone with a medical degree check him out.”

“I don’t blame you,” Hex said. “I’m an Army medic if you want me to take a quick look at him.” He was trained as a medic and when he was out in the field, he fell in love with the work, so when he got back to the States, he decided to go to medical school. After he graduated, he owed the Army ten years of service, and they let him pick where he wanted to be. Since he had a couple of buddies in Huntsville, he picked Redstone.

“That would be great,” Bowie said, “he’s in his office.” Hex followed Bowie back to Savage’s office. He had only been back there a handful of times and each time, he felt as though he was being called back to the principal’s office. Hex didn’t spend that much time in the principal’s office as a kid either.

Bowie walked into the office and Hex found Savage lying on the big leather sofa that took up a large portion of the room. “Hex is an army medic, and you will let him check you out,” Bowie ordered.

“This is ridiculous,” Savage grumbled, “but I know that you won’t leave me alone until I agree to let someone look at me. So, have at it, Hex.” He knelt on the floor in front of Savage and took his pulse. It was racing while he was just sitting down, and if he had to guess, Bowie was onto something when he said that Savage needed to go to the emergency room.

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