Page 51 of Dev

“More the fuckin’ merrier, I say yay.” He nods proudly.

“Vike?” Raze looks at him across the table.

“Nay.” His voice cracks and his eyes narrow as he continues looking out the damn window toward Greaser. I look out at him, too, and see he’s got his head down, actually looking a little nervous. Maybe coming home is more important to him than I thought.

“Tawk?” Raze moves on.

“Yay,” he agrees, looking up from the point of the knife he’s sharpening.

“What about you, Ruck?” Raze finally comes to his Sergeant at Arms, and Ruckus looks down the table at Vike apologetically before he nods.

“It’s a yay from me, too,” he answers.

“Then it’s decided. Rocco, go call him in.” Raze stands from his seat at the head of the table and waits until Greaser is standing at the other end.

“We took your request into consideration and made the vote,” he explains.

“And?” Greaser looks as if he’s gonna combust from waiting.

“Welcome home, brother.” Raze tosses the Long Beach patch across the table at him, and we all clap our hands. All of us, except for Vike, who sits with his arms crossed and snarls.

“This is gonna be fun.” Sinner leans across and whispers before standing up and welcoming Greaser back with a pat on the shoulder.

Vike didn’t stick around for the celebrity breakfast Polly put on. He stormed outta church as soon as Raze slammed the gavel and left the clubhouse. Raze didn’t hang around for long either. He said he had some business to take care of, but I could tell from the way he was looking that he just wanted to be alone.

I know how he feels. These days, I much prefer my own company. I like being alone with my thoughts, even if they all seem to be about her.

“Looks like I’m sticking around.” Greaser heads over to the girls' table to tell Alicia, and I can’t read how she feels about that just from her face.

“That's great.” She smiles, looking awkward. I don’t know if she noticed the way Vike left, I don’t even know if she has any idea how bad he’s got it for her. I guess the girl’s got enough of her own problems to worry about. Having her kid’s uncle here should help a little with that. I’ve never been Greaser’s biggest fan, but I know that when it comes to family, he steps up. I sit with Sinner and eat my breakfast; neither of us has much to say. He’s hung over, which means it won't be long before he lets Saint take over the suffering.

“Dev, we need to talk to you.” I look up and see the girls all standing in a very intimidating semicircle around our table.

“Can I help you ladies?” I ask, putting down my fork so they know they got all my attention.

“We want to invite Millie to Alicia’s baby shower. She’s been through a lot, and she’s a nice girl. She deserve–”

“Fine,” I cut Peyton off before she’s even gotten started.

“Oh.” She looks at Eden, a little shocked.

“I won’t be attending no baby shower, anyway.” I shrug, getting up to take my plate to the hatch.

“Well, we’re holding the shower here,” Freya points out, causing me to stop and turn around.

“Here?” I check I’m hearing her right.

“Yeah, here. Why not here?” Eden bites back, shocking me a little with her tone. “Sorry.” She must see the way I step back because she bites her lip. “Hormones.” She giggles, and I look over toward Wrath, feeling fuckin’ sorry for him.

“But she has a point, why not here?” Peyton questions me with ‘Prez’s old lady energy’ oozing outta her.

“Ummm, let me think. Because this is a biker’s fuckin’ clubhouse,” I remind her and everyone else who’s listening. “Surely you can think of a better venue to hold one of those shower things than here?”

“It’s safe here. Polly can easily do the catering, and we plan on having it out on the balcony,” she states her case.

“We’re gonna dress it up real pretty,” Lettie adds with an excited smile on her face.

Sinner bursts out laughing, and suddenly all the girls’ eyes fall on him.

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