Page 51 of Otto: The Hawthornes

Chapter 8

Otto

My entire bodyjerked forward, and I barely kept myself from stumbling. I hadn’t anticipated the hard slap to the back of my head, but I should’ve. I braced for the second one.

“The fuck were you thinkin’?” my gramps snapped the moment Esther disappeared into the back hallway.

“Forget the fact that you defiled that sweet girl,” Uncle Casper added quietly. “God knows how you fuckin’ managedthat. You also didn’t think it was pertinent to disclose your connection to the Brothers of fuckin’ Calgary?”

“She was gone,” I replied defensively, knowing in my gut it was no excuse. “I tried lookin’ for her but they’d already stashed her in that cabin.”

“You think you’re talkin’ your way out,” Dragon said, her voice completely devoid of any emotion. “It’s fascinatin’ to watch you dig the hole deeper.”

“I fucked up,” I blurted, looking between the men who were staring at me with varying degrees of disgust.

“Understatement,” someone murmured under their breath.

“I’ll fix it,” I promised, swallowing hard.

“You’ll marry her,” Uncle Casper replied firmly. “As soon as fuckin’ possible.”

“What?”

My stomach lurched as I stared at him in horror. I’d barely even spent any time with Esther, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t know her, and she definitely didn’t know shit about me.

“That girl is—” Uncle Casper started.

“Naïve,” Cam finished.

“Scared,” Dragon added through his teeth.

“And goddamn pregnant,” Gramps barked.

“That doesn’t mean I should marry her,” I replied dubiously. “She can live with me, obviously.”

“Oh, obviously,” Leo muttered dryly.

“We don’t have to be fuckin’ married,” I blurted, my heart pounding. “It’s not the 1950s.”

“You a member of this club?” Dragon asked softly. His voice may have been low, but there was a thread of steel in it that made me stiffen.

“Yes.” I fisted my hands at my side.

“You give your word to this club?”

I ground my teeth. “Yes.”

“You agreed to give your life to this club?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll do what you’re fuckin’ told.” His voice rose with every word until I was staring at him in shock. I didn’t think I’d ever heard him raise his voice in my entire life.

“Of course I will,” I replied automatically, everything inside me clenching. I looked around the table.

“She’s loyal,” Casper said after a moment of silence, glancing over his shoulder toward where the women had gone. “To the point of stupidity, maybe.”

I beat back the urge to fly across the table. Esther wasn’t stupid.

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