Page 47 of Biker's Baby

TWENTY-ONE

Abe

“How’s the family?”Glenn asked as I sat next to him on lunch.

“Pump the breaks,” I said. “I’m not ready for that.”

“Sorry. Just figured since you let me into your little secret world you wouldn’t mind me asking about how everyone’s doing,” he said.

“It’s not that,” I replied. “It’s the fact that Iris is still leaving. I’m not letting myself get attached.”

“You’re already attached. That’s plain to anyone who just looks at you.” Glenn chuckled.

“Still, you know what I mean,” I said. “I don’t want to get hurt when she leaves like I did the first time.”

“Ask her to stay maybe?” he suggested.

“I don’t know,” I said.

We turned our attention to the food, and I tried not to think about the fact Iris was leaving. Ever since letting Glenn in on what was going on in my life, I’d felt lighter. It was good not to be alone in this, even if there wasn’t much Glenn could do about my situation.

“Any sign of the guy?” Glenn asked.

“None.”

“Maybe he’s done enough research about you to know he better steer clear,” Glenn suggested.

“I thought of that, but it kind of has me worried,” I told him.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Think about it. If he’s only staying away because of me, then what happens when she leaves?” I asked.

“Maybe it’s a way to get her to stay.” He shrugged.

I gave him a look.

“I don’t want to be with her because she’s too scared to leave me,” I said. “That’s practically the same situation she was in before, only I’m not the one scaring her, he is.”

Glenn shrugged but said nothing. I didn’t want to argue, so I let the conversation drop. He didn’t fully understand where I was coming from, but then, he’d never been in this situation himself, either. I had to remember that and give him the grace of ignorant bliss.

“At least you’re concentrating a lot better on the job,” Glenn said. “I don’t feel like I’m flirting with death every time I come to work.”

“Just when you go on assignments?” I asked.

He sighed. It was something else we both had been meaning to bring up. I could sense it by the way he was acting the last time Tad talked about the drug run we’d accomplished. Though he’d been so calm and collected during the run, I could tell that he was having second thoughts once we got back to the clubhouse and our president was a little too excited about how it had all gone down.

“Yeah. I don’t know what’s gotten into Tad these days. I really thought he was going to stop when we reached the level of cocaine – but moving onto meth, I don’t know,” he said.

“It’s not just the fact that we’re moving onto meth!” I retorted. “He had us picking up six kilos of that shit the other day without us knowing what the fuck was going down until we were in the thick of it! Do you have any idea how that could have gone wrong? And we were outnumbered. I didn’t even want to count how many they had per each of us, but I can tell you one thing. If guns started going off, there’s no way in hell any of us would have made it out of there unless the cartel wanted to make sure one of us was alive to deliver the message.”

I took a breath, realizing just how much I had been ranting, then I shook my head as I took another bite of my lunch. “It’s like he’s getting power hungry or something. He’s making a lot of money with the drugs, but I can’t see him being so wrapped up in the fact that he’s got more money that he’s putting us out there like that. I don’t want to believe that he’s reached that level in his leadership.”

“He’s changed, Abe,” Glenn said. “You know it as well as I do.”

“I don’t want to believe that it’s come to that, even still,” I insisted. “The man I decided to follow was into protecting women from men who were hurting them and making sure the streets were clear of the very thugs we are now supplying! After that last drug deal, you mark my words. It’s just a matter of time before he has us running more guns than we know what to do with.”

There was silence between us for a few moments, and I knew Glenn was thinking about what I’d just said. We had never talked about why he had joined the MC. He’d grown up in the lifestyle much the same way I had. I had joined with the intent of getting my inheritance, but I didn’t know what Glenn’s story was.

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