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Hallow and I went to bed. Thankfully, he passed out. But I had too much to think about. I couldn’t sleep. There was no way in hell, I could continue to let Hallow think he actually did the horrible act anymore. It was almost time to tell him the truth anyway. I’d kept my word to Kingpin. Sky would have her twins without knowing about his other baby. I’d be free to tell Hallow that this wasn’t his child inside me. Because it didn’t matter how much I loved him. My heart belonged to someone else as well. My fate was tied to another man. My heart broke in two halves. I was caught between the past, all my hopes and dreams for me and Hallow, and an unknown future with a man I never wanted but could not possibly escape no matter how hard I tried.
Chapter 24
Eve
The news came like a thief in the night. By morning, everyone knew Sky lost one of the twins. Pagan called Church. I followed Hallow to the clubhouse. I waited out in the bar while he attended the meeting.
I wasn’t the only one waiting.
“It was stillborn. It happens,” Memphis said.
Just hearing about it caused my head to spin. Poor Sky. Poor Kingpin. Poor baby. I thought of my own baby. I felt him tumble around, and I was mighty thankful.
“These kinds of things happen,” Sweet Tea added. “I lost a twin myself back in the 90s.”
“How horrible. Can you imagine?” Paisley said right to me.
Placing my hand on my stomach, I said, “Oh yeah, I can imagine, Paisley.”
“Who sucked the red off your candy?” she asked, full of attitude.
“Hallow said he never got his ring back. Where is it?” I didn’t care who heard me say it.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” she tried to play it off.
Memphis made a noise, letting me know Paisley was lying. Hell, I knew she was lying anyway.
“You told me Hallow asked for my ring back. He said he never got it back. And that he never asked you to bring me my things either.”
“Well, don't throw a shit fit. I'll get it to you. I didn't sell it or anything.”
I couldn't fucking believe it.
“You’re a goddamn bitch. I thought you were just a whore. I didn’t think you were the one sleeping with Hallow.”
Paisley gasped. “How dare you? Have you no feelings for poor Sky. Why would you?”
And I couldn’t really say anything else about it. There was a greater topic of conversation. I knew going off on Paisley, I was just trying to distract myself from it. But her words were a threat. I shut up. I listened to everyone talk. Mainly, they were sorry, going on about how unfortunate the whole business was. Those sentiments were always followed by the happy fact one child survived.
“And Kingpin has the other one,” Memphis added.
I about jumped out of my skin until I remembered Felicia’s kid, Johnny.
Leo remarked, “I'm just worried for Sky. She's not been herself in a long time. This is liable to push her over the edge.”
Hells bells. Things just kept getting worse.
The steady stream of Royal Bastards flowing out of the Throne Room meant Church had been dismissed. Hallow joined me at the bar, putting his arm around me. Nuzzling my neck, he rubbed my tummy. The news had affected him too.
“It’s a boy,” Opry announced, slipping behind the bar. “That'll make Kingpin proud as a peacock.”
Then the bad news, Pagan revealed that the baby boy was in the NICU. “Kingpin might not be back for a while.”
Sky hadn’t been too early, having her babies on February fifth instead of the twentieth. I asked Pagan what exactly was wrong, but he didn’t know.
Hallow left on his morning ride, and I went back to the house in a daze. More than anything, I understood that when Kingpin got back, things wouldn’t be the same. There was no way that I could tell the truth after Sky lost a baby. Full of hormones, I cried for the loss myself. I could sort of imagine the anguish she must feel. There was no way Kingpin and I could be together, ever.
In sorrow, instantly, I turned to Hallow. After all, he was the good man I was intended for. And Kingpin was the bad man, I couldn’t have. But that night I still couldn’t make love to my biker. All I could think about was my lies. Shame threatened to swallow me whole.
