Crossroads (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series) - DD Prince Page 0,154

breakfast in The Roadhouse, which was still not technically open to the public. A lot of the guests that stayed nearby in motels and at peoples’ houses, including Christian’s family came. A mouthful into my pancakes, Christian got a text from someone he was still in touch with from his old life, he said. He called over all the club members who huddled around our table to share the news from this text. It was news that Alec Wylde was in the hospital and had been admitted to palliative care. He’d been released to his home from jail as we heard, and had planned to die there, but the amount of care and pain relief he needed, they moved him to the hospital.

He’d been mostly unconscious for two days so far, so deep into the pain meds.

Ella, sitting with us, breathed relief.

“I’m not convinced it’s over until I know what happened to my father,” Christian said.

Ella winced.

“And we don’t know that he didn’t set something else in motion before he went under,” Dad said.

We all went quiet.

“He’s right,” Ella’s dad, Rob, said. “I’ve got feelers out with people Willie might reach out to, non-bikers he’s always stayed in touch with, but I’ve heard nothing.”

“He won’t stay gone. He’s not smart enough for that,” Jonathan called out, bitterly, from two tables away.

“We’ll just all be very vigilant,” my dad said. “The fact that Freebooters backed off partly based on the low number of Jackals left makes me think they brought all available patches to the table and if so, your old man probably was one of ‘em. If that’s the case, he’s close. Without that, which was only revealed to ‘em three days ago and now with Alec on the way out --- he’s likely close. My guess: Sarge knows where he is.”

“Sarge’s always been one of the few with his head on semi-straight,” Christian threw in.

Justice, who was leaned against the wall near our table, said, “And he’s one of the most diabolical. Mantis and Gordino outta the way, he woulda expected to be prez of whatever club they became. I think we need to talk about a plan.”

“Church is in session after breakfast and our loved ones are settled,” Dad said with a nod.

Everyone dispersed to wrap up their meals.

Christian and I said goodbye to his mom, uncle, brother and Katie not long later.

We also said goodbye to the Valentine family members visiting, many of which were being bussed via The Mystery Machine, to the airport. My grandparents got taken by Brice in his cop car as a treat for my grandma who’d joked she’d always wanted to ride in the back of a cop car, which shocked all of us.

They had been good sports but were anxious to get home. The biker and loud party lifestyle wasn’t really their thing and they hadn’t stayed too late the night before.

And then the girls were told (unsurprisingly) that we were on lockdown in either the clubhouse or the bar under watchful prospect eyes while the men went to church and then went out to do whatever bikers did when things like this happened. My guess? Ride around looking for trouble (though they’d call it scouting for information). This always bothered me thinking of my dad and my brothers out there, though part of me had always thought of them as indestructible. Now though? Now that my husband was among them? I knew he seemed indestructible, but I couldn’t help but feel petrified out of my mind.

Not only was he a former Jackal who’d turned against his club, but he’d shot his father and other members too and whoever was remaining out there in addition to Wild Will Forker would undoubtedly want revenge on Christian more than anyone in the Dominion Brotherhood. He’d killed Unc and Kiddo. He’d brought Justice, Nico, and Bick with him. There were a few former Jackals from Sioux Falls that went to our Sioux Falls charter, too. The Freebooters deal had been killed, and all the Jackals woes were because of what Christian had started.

***

A lazy Sunday is what it should’ve been.

But it wasn’t. Something really awful happened.

And … we had our first rip-roaring fight as a married couple.

18

I was in The Roadhouse. It was early Sunday evening and we had reopened around three o’clock. We were devouring a nachos platter with a pitcher of long island iced tea. It was me, my brothers’ girls as well as Deanna and Gianna. Gianna had missed the party