Monroe, Marla - The Bikers and the Socialite [The Dirty Dozen 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just stiff. I’ll be fine once I move around.”

Shane climbed off the bed then helped her down. He waited while she walked into the bathroom. She was glad he hadn’t followed her in. She didn’t feel comfortable enough around him to share bathroom time.

Once she had freshened up, she opened the door to find both he and Allen standing there waiting on her. She swallowed and offered them a tentative smile.

“Hungry?” Allen asked.

“A little.”

“It’s just soup and sandwiches. Nothing fancy.”

“Sounds good. Thanks.”

They followed her downstairs and into the kitchen. Allen served her, and then he and Shane got theirs.

“Um, when we finish eating, we need to go see Cole and Zack. They’re the leaders of our gang.”

“Oh, well, I’ll leave right after lunch, then. You should have woken me earlier. I didn’t mean to cause a problem.”

“We want you to go with us, Parker. It concerns you. We need to let him know what is going on, because by our claiming the baby as ours, it’s going to put us in the spotlight which will bleed over to the gang.”

“Oh. Oh! I’m so sorry. If you want to keep this secret, I’ll do my best to do that. I wasn’t thinking.” She set down her spoon and leaned back in the chair. “I hadn’t thought about how it could affect your job.”

She noticed Shane and Allen exchanged glances. They seemed to communicate without talking half the time. She waited to see what they were going to say.

“Baby, we’re not going to keep this a secret. We’re proud you’re having our baby. It’s not your fault. We used protection, but accidents happen, Parker. We’re in this together.” Allen reached across the bar and squeezed her hand. “Now eat up. You’re eating for two.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not that hungry yet.”

“Have you had morning sickness?”

“Not really. I guess I’ve been lucky so far. I feel bad in the mornings, but I don’t actually get sick.”

They finished the soup and sandwiches in relative silence after that. Parker was relieved that it wasn’t a stressful silence. She was nervous about meeting their bosses and having her dirty laundry aired. They had a right to know what to expect, though, and it was all because of who she was. It had never really bothered her before. Now that she had someone else to think about, it did.

Do we need to go in your car, Parker, or can you ride on back of the bike?” Allen asked when they were cleaning up the kitchen.

“I can ride. I don’t have a belly yet, but I should probably take my car so I can leave after that.”

“We want you to come back home with us and stay tonight so we can talk,” Shane said.

“Stay?”

“Yeah. We have a lot to talk about, Parker.”

“I suppose we do, but I could come back tomorrow.” She was sure staying would be a bad idea.

“Stay tonight. No pressure, Parker, just talk and sleep.”

She looked over at Allen who had a bland expression on his face. He was obviously trying to look neutral about how he felt. It meant he expected her to say no. She should say no.

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

Allen smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She hoped she wasn’t making a bad decision already in their relationship.

Ten minutes later, they were leaving the house headed for Zack and Cole’s place. Evidently it wasn’t that far away. Allen had told her that all of the gang lived in the same general area of Dallas. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into the drive of a stunning two-story home. She’d ridden over on back with Allen. It was Shane who helped her off and escorted her to the door.

The door opened before they had even reached it. A tall, dark-haired man stood in the doorway with a slightly surprised expression on his face. He held the security door open for them to come in.

“Parker, this is Cole, and over there is Zack. They’re our leaders. Cole, Zack, this is Parker Montgomery.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Cole shook her hand. Zack walked over and shook it as well. They both turned and looked at Shane expectantly.

“Um, can we sit down?”

“Sure. Come on in.” Zack led them to the living room.

Shane, Parker, and Allen sat on the couch with Parker in the middle. She felt very uncomfortable sitting between the two men across from their bosses, especially when she was going to be the cause of problems.

“Parker is pregnant.” Shane said.

Zack and Cole’s mouths twitched.

“I think it’s her dad you have to ask permission to marry her, not us, guys.” Zack obviously couldn’t hold it in.

“Oh, we’re not getting married.” Parker was quick to correct them.

“Not yet, anyway,” Allen said.

“Why not?” Cole asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

Parker could not believe these guys were so old fashioned.

“It’s complicated. The thing is, she’s the heiress of Montgomery Oil, so she’s going to be in the spotlight over being pregnant. That means we will.” Shane spoke up.

“And that means the gang will get some news time,” Cole continued.

“Right.”

“I’m really sorry. I wouldn’t cause you any trouble for the world. I’d keep it quiet, but they don’t want to stay in the background.”

“Of course not. It’s their baby, too.” Cole stood up and walked over to a pile of newspapers and picked up one. He brought it back over and flipped through it.

Parker’s heart sank. He had seen the picture and recognized her. Sure enough, he handed the article over to Shane.

“I thought I recognized you when you walked up to the door,” Cole said.

“Hell!” Allen had pulled the paper out of Shane’s hands and was reading it. “It says here they are speculating between that Greek tycoon, Papadopoulos, and Michael Humphrey.”

“The way I see it, you need to get out in the public pretty damn quick to stop any nasty rumors,” Cole said.

“Michael has already threatened to have a dozen guys come out of the woodwork to claim paternity if she doesn’t marry him.” Allen handed the paper back to Shane.

“Why? What is his angle?” Zack asked.

“He needs her money,” Shane said.

“You’ve been looking into him.” Parker frowned.

Parker should have realized they would. They’d had plenty of time while she had been sleeping.

“They’re going to make you two out to be gold diggers,” Cole said.

“I could care less. We know we’re not. That’s all that matters,” Allen assured him.

“Do you need us to quit so this won’t spread over into the gang too much?” Shane asked.

“What? No! You can’t quit because of me.” Parker couldn’t believe they would actually give up their jobs.

“No, there’s no need to do that,” Cole assured them. “We’ve weathered worse.”

“Our way of life might come to light,” Shane persisted.

“I’m not worried about it. But if you are, I’ll talk to everyone else and see what they think.”

“Way of life? I don’t understand.” Parker frowned.

“She doesn’t know?” Zack asked.

“We haven’t gotten that far,” Shane said.

“Just how fucking long
have
you know each other?” Cole asked with a sigh.

“Twenty-four hours almost eight weeks ago,” Shane told them.

“Fuck.”

“I think we need to have a gang meeting tomorrow night. We’ll have it at your place. How about at six? We’ll eat before we come,” Cole said.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Shane looked over at Parker. “You’ll need to be there.”

“I seem to be spending a lot of time there all of a sudden.”

“You know how I feel about it.” Allen finally spoke up again.

“How is Tina doing?” Shane asked.

“She’s fine. She’s working tonight, or I would introduce her to you, Parker.”

“Is she your wife?”

“Yep, mine and Zack’s”

“Excuse me?” She wasn’t sure she heard him right.

“We are both married to her. That’s our way of life here, Parker. Two men marry one woman.”

“I see.” She really wasn’t sure that she did see, but that was their business, not hers.

Cole chuckled. “I don’t think you do, but you will.” He stood up and ushered them out of the living room back to the hall. “We’ll see you tomorrow. We’ve got some phone calls to make.”

“Thanks, Cole. Bye, Zack.” Shane wrapped a hand around Parker’s wrist and guided her outside toward the bikes.

They mounted up, after putting on their helmets, and rode off. When they pulled into the garage, Parker expected them to head on in the house. Instead, Shane held out his hand.

“What?”

“Keys to your car, please. We’re going to your place to pick up a change of clothes for you. You’re staying with us for a few days while we get everything settled.”

“I’m not moving in with you, Shane.”

He smiled. “I know, Parker. Just a couple of nights until we have everything situated.”

Parker reached into her purse and pulled out her keys. She dropped them into Shane’s hand and followed him to the car. Allen opened the door of the Escalade for her and helped her inside before climbing in the back. They made the trip to her condo in silence. She kept thinking about Cole’s revelation that they lived in ménage relationships in their gang. That meant that Shane and Allen would want that as well.

Well, weren’t you thinking about that before everything blew up?
Things were different now. She had a child to consider.

When they walked into her condo, her phone began to ring. She realized she had left it at home and never even missed it. She reached for it only to have Shane grab it.

“Don’t tell anyone where you’re going yet. We need to give our gang the chance to make a decision before the shit hits the fan.”

“I understand.” She took the phone and answered without looking at who it was. She wouldn’t do that again.

“Hello?”

“Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to find you all fucking day.”

“None of your business. What do you want, Michael?” She lifted her eyebrows at Shane.

He leaned in to listen as she talked to him.

“We need to talk. Have you made up your mind?”

“I told you that I wouldn’t marry you.”’

“Think those two bozos of yours are going to believe that brat is theirs once all your past lovers start showing up?”

Parker’s stomach dropped, and she nearly dropped the phone. How had he found out?”

Shane put his hand over the phone and whispered in her ear.