Page 156 of Rebellious

“Val thought we should wait until I was past the first trimester.”

“Why? Is there something wrong?”

“It’s just best,” Mom said cryptically.

“How many months are you?”

“Two.”

“When will you be in your second trimester?”

“My fourteenth week.”

“How many trimesters?”

“Three.”

“Wait, babies take…” Ryan counted in his head… “Ten and a half months to be born?”

“Sometimes, although it’s normally ten months.” She yawned. “I’m so fucking tired all the time. My pregnancies with you and your brother were so easy. I hope this means I’m carrying a girl.”

Those horrifying words stuck with Ryan the rest of the night.

“I want you safe,” he reiterated.

She bit down on her lower lip, trying to hide her shock. Not too many people concerned themselves with her safety and no one saw beneath the surface of the career woman she showed the world to her inner vulnerability.

Before she processed it all and told him she’d return inside with him, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her, kissing her temple. “Thank you, gorgeous,” he whispered, caressing her cheek. “I had a wonderful time with you.”

She nodded, not missing the dismissal in his tone. “Same here.”

Using her keyless entry, she unlocked her door. As if they’d been on a date, he opened the door and held it until she got in. She smiled at him, not knowing what else to do.

He gave her a two-fingered salute and Kendall drove away, saying a silent goodbye to that beautiful man.

Kendall shuddered as the memory of her first goodbye to Johnnie swirled in her aching head. But that wasn’t her only memory from her early days at the club. They converged on her, one of top of the other, blending and melding, then splitting apart.

His gaze flickered over her hair, her eyes, her nose. Her mouth. The silver in his beautiful eyes swallowed up the gray, leaving behind a burning intensity that melted Kendall’s insides. Looking at him, smelling his cologne, hardened her nipples and wet her panties. Because he was her illusion. The man she hadn’t expected to see again but whose memories she clung to.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he greeted with a heart-stopping smile. “What brings you back to my club?”

Thoughts of Johnnie had sustained her while Logan and Spoon held her captive. She hadn’t known how much Johnnie would come to mean to her, even when she’d returned, pregnant with their Baby Biker.

One of the first people she saw was Mortician.

Mortician rubbed his chin, leaning against the shelf containing the alcohol and situated into the recessed wall. “Kendall, huh?”

She nodded, meeting his gaze a task. She might’ve been quiet and she might’ve had food issues, but she’d always liked to laugh. And…and do other things. She just had to remember what they were. Forgetting the blood and the pain was more important, though. Escaping the horrible realities of her life.

“Kendall,” he repeated. “That’s a cool name.”

Unable to form too many coherent thoughts, she faked a smile, intrigued at how his long dreads framed his face.

He’d been suspicious of her, but even then he’d been a gentleman.

“Don’t fucking point out what you think your flaws, baby. See me? I’m one simple motherfucker. Give me pussy. Make me laugh and you solid in my book. If you don’t point out your flaws, I won’t ever see them.”

“You do. All men do.”