Outlaw's Vow: Grizzlies MC Romance(148)

He paused, looked up. “I did this to protect the town. I didn't want them fucking with my ma, or anybody who didn't deserve it. The cartels don't have a code. They'll fuck anybody who gets in their way, and I wouldn't let that happen to anybody. Even you, babe, and I didn't even know you were carrying my kid.”

“I always knew you had a reason for doing what you did,” I whispered, squeezing his hand tight. “Thank you.”

“Don't.” He shook his head. “I'm no hero. I'm just a man who chose the lesser evil, and by some stroke of luck, it turned out to be the right choice.”

He dragged his hand away from mine, tucking into his breakfast. I watched him eat in silence for more than a minute. The story – the truth – was so intense it left my throat as dry as cotton.

Something was missing anyway – my morning caffeine. I got up and walked to the fridge, retrieving an iced latte drink in a carton.

The coffeemaker was still in its box. Roman picked the bottle up and sneered.

“This sugary piss coffee any good, or what?”

I looked at him and smiled. I couldn't help it. “You tell me. It won't take the tattoos off your skin to try something new, you know.”

I watched the powerful muscles in his arms bulge as he picked it up and twisted off the lid, sloshing some in a tall glass. “That's all I'm doing lately, babe. I've got a skull as thick as a dinosaur, but I'm smarter than you think. I can learn, and you'll find out just how fucking fast. Just wait.”

He pointed at me as he set the bottle down, then tucked into his eggs. We mostly ate in silence. When his food was almost gone, he reached for the drink and took a long pull, slamming the glass back down on the table as he smiled.

“Well?” I said. Keeping the conservation on iced latte drinks seemed safer than everything else.

“It's all right. I still like my shit black, but I can deal.”

I returned the sharp smile tugging at his lips. My first breakfast with a badass hadn't turned into the disaster I'd expected as soon as I pulled his hands off me.

“Go get cleaned up and let's get Caleb fed. We'll set his kid seat up in my truck.”

“Why? Where are we going?”

“My ma wants to meet her new grandson and the woman I knocked up. We'll pack some snacks and water, make a day of it. There's a park nearby that the kid'll probably love too.”

Shit. So much for avoiding disaster.



The short, dark haired woman came out screaming. The screen door attached to the old house whipped open and banged against the wall before we were even out of the truck, and at first I thought her shrill excitement was some kind of strange bird making noise.

Caleb's eyes went wide and he blubbered as the odd woman jumped up and snatched him out of my hands.

“My baby! Oh God! He looks just like you, Travis.” Roman's mother beamed at her son as he rounded to our side of the truck to meet us.

Travis, huh? I smiled, amazed it had taken me to years to learn his new name. It was friendlier than the gruff sounding executioner road name he'd adopted in the club. It was also kinda stunning I'd never heard it until now.

“Lord – he's precious!” I watched in awe as the sixty-something lady alternated kissing Caleb's cheeks at light speed, as if she was trying to make up for all the grandma kisses he'd missed his first year at once.

“Come on, ma. Don't suffocate him before we get him in the house.” She laughed and grudgingly let go as Roman pulled the boy away from her.

For the first time, she looked at me forcefully, her slim lips signaling a cautious smile. “And you must be the lucky lady,” she said.

I nodded. “It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sally Jennings.”

“Not for long,” Roman growled, eyeballing the hand I'd extended to his mom. “This chick's my old lady, ma. Just waiting to get her a proper jacket from the stitch shop in town next week. We'll do something about that fucking last name too.”

She looked at me like I'd just stepped off a comet. Then, ignoring the handshake, she leaned on her toes and threw her arms around my neck, covering me in several of the same quick pecks she'd given the baby.

“Welcome to the family. If my son's done anything to screw you over, come to me. My friends call me Julie, but you'd better get used to calling me 'ma,' just like him.”

Roman showed his teeth. He was half a head shake away from rolling his eyes. “Let's go. We can talk this shit over inside.”

There wasn't much to Julie's house. It was a small, simple blue collar place in a little village outside Redding proper, right where the houses tapered off into wild country.

She served us coffee as we sat in the living room. No sooner than I sat down on the soft sofa, Roman took my hand and flattened his in my lap, dangerously close to clenching my thigh through the long dress I'd picked out for the warm autumn day.