little girl had been knocked up by some stranger and refused to talk, so he’d put his foot down and I was left to my own devices. Mostly. I knew he was waiting on me to come crawling home and beg for forgiveness, but I wouldn’t. I’d done nothing wrong. And if he even tried to tell me he’d been a saint at my age, I’d just stand back and wait for the lightning to strike him dead for being such a liar. I’d heard the stories. Until he’d met my mom, he’d been a man whore.
Even after he’d met her, he hadn’t exactly been a boy scout. He’d gotten her pregnant without even knowing it. When he’d found out, he’d married her. But Hawk wasn’t like my dad. He wasn’t an officer of the law but more the type to break it. I didn’t think they exactly had the same moral compass.
“Come on, Hayley. I’m trying to help!”
“At the clubhouse,” I murmured. “Cuddles ran into the compound and I chased after him. It was just some guy visiting from another club. I didn’t even pay attention to which one.”
Delilah groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Great. The truce between the Dixie Reapers and your dad is about to blow the fuck up. Do you at least remember the guy’s name?”
“He just went by Hawk,” I said.
Freya started to quiet down again, having cried herself to sleep in my arms. Tears streaked her cheeks and she took a shuddering breath before settling against me more.
“Hawk?” Delilah asked softly. “How old is Freya?”
“Three months.”
Delilah’s lips thinned and her cheeks flushed with anger. “Goddamnit! I need to talk to Titan. Forget your dad being pissed at the Reapers, Torch is about to go nuclear.”
I didn’t understand what any of that meant, or why the President of the Dixie Reapers would give a shit about who I’d slept with. It wasn’t like the guy was part of the club here. Unless he was related to Torch? It didn’t seem likely, unless he was a nephew or something.
Delilah pulled out her phone and walked out the apartment door. I heard the murmur of her voice in the hall and not much later the sound of motorcycles pulling up outside. She walked in with her husband and four other bikers, crowding my already tiny apartment. I hadn’t realized exactly how small the space was until just now. With only me, Cuddles, and Freya, there was enough room.
“Hayley, you’ve met Titan before. And you’re familiar with Torch and Venom. The other man is Kraken. He’s the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Hades Abyss, and he’s also with Titan’s daughter. They’re here to help,” Delilah said.
Help? Were they going to pack up my apartment? Or create a miracle of some sort? I didn’t understand why she’d called them. Just because Freya was the result of a one-night stand with a biker didn’t mean they owed me anything. Unless they planned to haul me to wherever Hawk lived.
“Help me how?” I asked. “I’m not showing up on some strange man’s doorstep telling him he’s a daddy.”
“You got pregnant about a year ago, right?” Torch asked.
My cheeks burned as I nodded. “I didn’t mean to go through your gates, but Cuddles got away from me.”
“Where is he now?” Venom asked, scanning the apartment. I knew he meant my pet raccoon and not the biker I’d slept with.
I pointed to the far corner where I’d put a wooden cat tree. It wasn’t the perfect solution, but Cuddles liked going into the cubbies to hide. I knew he’d be in there right now, sleeping through all the chaos.
“And you’re sure the man said his name was Hawk?” Titan asked.
“I’m sure.”
Torch glowered and pulled the phone from his pocket. He dialed a number and put the call on speaker. When someone answered, the man’s deep voice sounded fierce.
“What do you want, old man?”
“I’ll show you old,” Torch said. “We have an issue here, but it’s not my problem, Beast. It’s yours. Remember your trip here about a year ago?”
“What of it?” Beast asked.
“Your VP knocked up one of the local girls. A cop’s daughter. Actually, her dad is the chief of police. Hawk has a three-month-old little girl,” Torch said.
Something crashed on the other end of the line. “What the fuck? Why the hell didn’t she say something sooner? Are you sure it’s Hawk’s?”
Venom glanced at me before focusing on the phone. “She’s scared, Beast. Even now she’s trembling so damn hard