Page 8 of Burned in Stone
Something about the word ‘family’ causes the energy to shift. Josie’s professional mask slips. A flicker that looks a lot like longing crosses her face before it’s gone, replaced by a polite, distant smile. My eyes cut to Mercy. She’s gone still, her smile from moments before vanished. It’s the same look I see on her face at the bar, when she’s in the middle of a shift and her phone buzzes. The look of a hunted animal. One that says the word ‘family’ means something sharp and dangerous to her.
A look I know too well.
The need to fuck her senseless is replaced by something colder, deadlier—the urge to destroy whatever put that expression on her face.
My knuckles go white on the edge of the magazine, the paper crinkling under the pressure. I want to cross the room, pull her into my arms, and demand the name of the bastard who hurt her.
But before I can move, a harsh, buzzing vibration cuts through the quiet waiting room. Everyone’s head snaps toward the sound. It’s coming from Hawk. He pulls his phone from his pocket and answers it immediately, his expression intense as he listens.
“Yeah… OK… we’ll be right there.”
4
CASH
When Hawk hangs up, the entire waiting room is silent. I set down the magazine.
“Well?” Bones demands.
Hawk’s typically stoic expression cracks into a rare smile. “It’s a girl. Eight pounds, two ounces. Both mom and baby are healthy.”
A wave of whoops and back-slapping relief washes through the room. The tension that’s been coiling in my gut for hours finally snaps. A genuine, unguarded smile lights up Mercy’s face. Something in my chest eases.
“Can we see them?” Her voice cuts through the celebratory noise, softer than the rest but just as eager.
Hawk nods, his expression serious again. “Give them a few minutes to get settled. Then family can go in, two at a time.”
There’s that word again. Family.
I see the light in Mercy’s eyes dim just a fraction, a subtle shift no one else would notice. She thinks that word excludes her. I know what it’s like to be on the outside. To not belong anywhere until someone decides you’re worth keeping. Bones gave me that. The club gave me that.
And I’m about to give it to her, whether she thinks she deserves it or not. The need to pull her onto my lap and brand the club’s mark on her myself is a physical ache.
Bones claps Duck on the shoulder. “You and Maggie go first. Club elders get priority.”
“Watch your mouth, kid,” Duck mutters, squaring up at Bones playfully. “You might be less than half my age, but I’ve still got a mean right hook.”
Maggie scoffs as she tucks her knitting away. “Quit being ridiculous, you old fart. Come meet our newest club member.”
“You got lucky,” Duck tells Bones, who then proceeds to chase after Duck, making a show of play fighting the older man. Axel appears in the doorway to the ward, looking wrecked and happier than I’ve ever seen him. He gives Duck a tired nod, and Maggie links her arm through her old man’s as Axel leads them back.
“Who’s lucky now?” Bones calls out, chuckling to himself as he slumps into a nearby seat and lets out a contented sigh.
The moment the door to the ward closes, Mercy’s shoulders slump. I quickly make my way through everyone to stand beside her.
“What’s going on?”
She looks up as though I startled her. “Nothing. Just…will you tell Poppy congratulations for me when you go in?”
My brow knits. “Why? You can tell her yourself. It’ll be our turn soon.”
“He said family.” The words are a whisper.
“Club is family,” I say, my voice low and rough.
“I’m not club.”
“Yeah, you fucking are.” I grab her hand and pull her to the chairs Duck and Maggie just vacated. They’re far enough out of the way that we can have a moment’s privacy while everyone else talks about the baby and coos over the photos Axel sent through.
