Page 21 of Oz (Marked Skulls MC 4)
I brushed past her to go wash my face and mouth.
“Hun, did you get sick?” Melody asked me. I looked at her reflection in the mirror as I washed up. I didn’t have to tell her for her to know.
“What happened?” she asked me and I shrugged.
“I think I’m just panicking, I’m nervous…”
Melody watched me and smiled weakly.
“Just drink some water and take a rest. I’m sure you’ll be fine in a bit.”
I nodded and sat down on the bench. My stomach still hurt a little, and the lower back pain seemed to be getting worse. Melody sat with me to give me company.
“You don’t have to do this. You can get back to work if you want. I’m just going to take a minute,” I said. Melody was looking at me intently now. I could sense there was something on her mind.
“Hun, are you sure you’re not pregnant?” she asked.
I squinted my eyes at her. That was a ridiculous question to ask! But my heart started sinking when I started to count the days. In the middle of everything that was happening, I hadn’t even noticed I was late by a couple of days.
“I’m late,” I cried. Melody reached for my hand and squeezed.
“Okay, calm down, Kaya. It’s only a couple of days. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“What am I going to do?” I was panicking. I was sure now. I hadn’t thought of it before, but now I knew. This was why I felt so sick, why I was so emotional and breaking into tears!
“Okay, you stay put and I’m going to go out and buy a few tests, okay?” Melody suggested.
I couldn’t reply to her. All I could do was nod. She patted my hand once more before she left. I rocked myself back and forth on that bench. My mind had gone numb and blank. I didn’t know what to think or what to expect anymore.
***
Melody returned with a packet of pregnancy tests fifteen minutes later.
“That guy was asking about you. I think he’s really anxious. I told him you’re not feeling well and just taking a break,” she said.
I could feel myself breaking out in a sweat again. Melody could see how nervous I was, and she sat down with me on the bench again.
“You don’t have to do this here if you don’t want to, sweetie. You should take the rest of the day off, go home, and take the tests,” she said.
“I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to be alone right now. Besides, I took half the shift off yesterday. I can’t keep doing this,” I told her.
Melody squeezed my knee.
“Whatever happens, I know you’ll figure it out. It’s going to be okay, hun,” she said and I nodded my head.
“I just…I don’t know if I’m prepared for this.”
Melody was gentle, friendly, and just the person I needed right now. I took the tests and went into the stall. I came back out and saw that Melody was pacing the floor.
“We have to give it a minute,” she said, and I placed the test down on the counter.
“What am I going to do?” I asked her as we waited.
“You don’t have to do anything, or think about anything for the next minute. This could be nothing. We’re both probably just overreacting,” she said.
But the minute passed by and the second red line started to appear on the pregnancy test. I stepped away from it, completely in shock.
“Here, take another one. This one could be faulty!”
I went into the stall again and emerged with the second one. Another minute went by and this test was a positive too. Melody made me take the third one just in case and there was no doubt about it now—I was pregnant.
I could feel it too. I felt pregnant. When Melody asked, I couldn’t describe the feeling to her. I just knew I was carrying something inside me. Something was growing.
Neither of us could do anything, or speak for several minutes, after we realized it was actually happening.
“We should go back to work,” I told her.
“Kaya, c’mon hun, we need to talk about this,” Melody said, but I was shaking my head.
“We don’t need to talk about it right now. We need to get back to work. God knows I can’t lose this job right now. Besides, Dash is probably losing his mind already,” I said.
I didn’t wait for Melody to hold me back. Before I could panic again, I needed to immerse myself in work and keep busy. There would be enough time to worry later. My whole life was changing, and I didn’t want to take a moment and acknowledge it, because I was afraid.
How was I going to do this alone?
Chapter 27
Oz
After everyone decided we were going to give Kaya the club’s protection, Church continued. None of us could still wrap our heads around the fact that the Dark Legion had now appeared out of nowhere. We were going to put up a fight for the territory that we had gained over the last year.
But we still needed more information on them.
Who else was working with them?
How many were there?
How strong were they now?
Time seemed to be going slowly while we waited for more information. All the prospects except Dash were out there, working their asses off with their contacts and collecting intel.
I spent the time trying to have conversations and plan for future attacks with Rodeo and Girth. I also kept looking out across the street in the diner’s direction. I knew Kaya would be there by now, and Dash was with her, too.
It was over between us. I just had to accept it and move on, but I was going to miss her. I finally thought I’d found someone who could be my woman. Whose face I would love waking up to every morning.
Abe burst into the bar, pulling me from my thoughts, and from the redness of his neck—we could tell he was pissed off.
“I fucking saw them again!” he growled.
“The Dark Legion?” Girth asked as Abe strode over to us.
“Yeah. I was talking to Diego near the warehouse, and I saw them drive-by. Think they’re trying to round up all our possessions and territory. They’re definitely planning something,” he spat.
A can of beer was handed to him and he drank from it thirstily.
“And those motherfuckers weren’t alone,” he added.
“Who did you see with them?” Lewis asked. Abe threw me a look and shook his head.
“Hell’s Drifters. Whatever they’re doing, they’re working together,” Abe replied.
“Fuck them!” Lewis growled and kicked a chair. The Hell’s Drifters were the club that killed Fred last year. The club thought their beef with the
m was over, but apparently, they just joined up with the Dark Legion to attack the Marked Skulls.
“This is why they’ve emerged from whatever shithole they were hiding. They have the Hell’s Drifters on their side. Those scum,” Rodeo was pissed too.
“We need to figure out what they’re planning,” Girth added.
“They are planning to take back what they think is theirs. It’s as simple as that. And they are going to use Kaya to get to us,” I spoke up.
“Kaya?” Abe asked, looking confused.
“She’s Oz’s girl,” Rodeo said, and he had that smirk on his face again. Abe was in shock while he glared at me.
“You have a girl?”
“The point is they know I have a weak point, and they’re going to use it. All our other women are protected, and she’s not,” I replied.
“Well, we have to make sure not a hair on her head gets touched then,” Abe said. He was smiling now, and came over to thump my back.
“Wait till Alexis hears about this!” he said to me, and I clenched my jaw.
“Don’t get her hopes up just yet. Kaya hates this whole thing. She’s not going to stick around for more,” I told him and Abe shook his head.
“You’re giving up too easily, brother,” he added, but he had no idea. Kaya was too precious for this.
Chapter 28
Kaya
I tried to keep my mind off the pregnancy for as long as I could. Then, when it was my break, I had no other choice but to revisit those thoughts again. Before I left the floor, I walked back over to Dash again. He’d been sitting there at the booth for several hours already.
“Hi, how are you doing?” I asked him, and he smiled at me. It made me feel strange knowing what I knew—I was pregnant with his friend’s baby.
“How are you?” he asked and I nodded.
“Thank you for doing this. I feel much better knowing you’re here,” I said and Dash continued to smile.
“Don’t worry about it. This is part of my job. And if Oz wants something done, I’ll do it,” he replied. I could see that Dash and Oz were good friends, and that Dash looked up to him.
