“I’m not going to argue with that assessment.”

“Every time you walk out that door, I’m afraid you won’t be back. I should have told you in the truck what she said to me. I hate myself for that and walking away from you, and the members all hate me now because of it, too.” Lily’s bottom lip trembled.

Shade tugged her face upward. “Don’t you dare say that. It was my fault. I should have told you the whole truth about my past. Actually, it’s a relief that we don’t have any more secrets between us.”

Lily lowered her eyes. “No more secrets,” she agreed. “And I’m going to become strong and capable like Rachel and Killyama.”

Shade rolled his eyes, recalling how she had been unsuccessfully channeling Sex Piston the previous year. “Let’s not get carried away. Killyama might be more than I can handle.”

“Aww, you could handle Killyama,” Lily bragged confidently.

Shade shook his head in disagreement, thinking his wife had entirely too much faith in him. “Angel, I’m man enough to admit that I’m not up for that job.”

Chapter 93

“You ready?” Beth asked as she and Razer waited patiently for Lily to grab her purse and jacket.

“Yes, thanks again, Fat Louise. I really appreciate you babysitting.”

Fat Louise was holding John as he sucked on his pacifier.

“No problem. I’m going to enjoy taking care of him.”

“I’ll be right outside in the yard. The men and I are going to tie some things down before the storm hits tonight,” Shade told her, walking outside with the others as they left.

“Damn.” A strong wind struck them as they walked down the pathway.

“Make sure you don’t stay in town long. You should wait until tomorrow—”

“We’ll be fine, Shade,” Beth said. “It will be good for Lily to get out and get some fresh air.”

“She’ll get plenty of that today,” Shade said sarcastically, watching a hard breeze blow the women’s hair into their faces.

Lily reached up, giving him a brief kiss before getting inside Beth’s car. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“You better be. If you get caught out in this storm, I’ll be pissed. The forecasters are predicting tornadoes a couple of towns away.”

“I won’t let them stay long,” Razer promised, setting the Crockpot on the floorboard of the backseat before climbing behind the steering wheel. “We’re going to stop and pick the twins up at Evie’s after they visit Cal’s mother. I don’t want them out in the storm any more than you do. The clubhouse has a basement; Evie and King’s house doesn’t.”

“Bye. Love you.” Lily blew him a kiss as they pulled out.

Shade would have reached out and caught it, but he knew an amused Train and Rider would never let him live it down.

“Get to work,” Shade snapped. “Where’s the rope? We have to get all this shit tied down before the storm hits, or that gazebo everyone loves fucking in will be torn apart.”

Shade and Rider went to the backyard to secure the gazebo.

“Think the picnic tables will be okay?” Rider asked.

Shade reached out, easily lifting a corner of it into the air. “We should tie it down to be careful. I’d rather be irritated tomorrow having to untie all this than have it blow down the hillside into the road and cause someone to wreck.”

They placed a couple of stakes and tied it down as Train gathered the trashcans, placing them in the shed which held the lawnmower. It took them over an hour to secure everything. When they finished, Rider went inside to grab them some beers.

Shade frowned down at his watch. The sky was beginning to darken, and the wind was getting stronger.

“Son of a bitch. This is going to be a nasty storm,” Train commented.

Lily, Beth, and Razer should be back any minute. If they weren’t back soon, he would call. He surveyed the yard critically for anything they had missed. His house was against the hillside, but he had reinforced it against mudslides before he had begun building it. The huge trees were swaying. Although he had taken down a couple of them, there was one he knew he should have taken down. However, the tree cutter he had hired had assured him that, if it fell, it wouldn’t touch the house.

A vicious wind struck just then, nearly knocking them off their feet.

“The winds are getting stronger. I’m going to call Fat Louise and get her to—” Shade’s words ended in horror as both he and Rider began running toward his house. Train came outside, dropping the beer and yelling to the brothers inside for help.

The tree cutter had been right; the tree hadn’t fallen on his house directly, but a massive branch had broken loose from the trunk, landing on the back of the house and causing it to crumble like a foot on a tin can.

Shade was unaware of the sounds coming from his chest as he began to dig in the debris, looking for his child.

Viper tried to pull him back. “Let us, brother.”

Shade jerked away, his hands a bloody mess as he dug through glass and broken wood. He had volunteered for several natural disasters, digging family members out for terrified relatives, never dreaming that one day he would be doing the same for a member of his own family.

Viper had everyone organized in a matter of minutes, sending Cash and Rider for the equipment they needed from the factory while Lucky called for an ambulance and Knox.

They were in the living room when Shade stepped back outside where they had been digging first. “Everyone quiet!” he yelled.

The members stopped digging, listening. The faint sound of Fat Louise could be heard, and they rushed to the side where the kitchen was located, digging hastily as her voice became clearer. Finally, they pulled back a board and found her lying with debris covering her.

She rolled back, and Shade saw his son, still sucking his paci. He quickly and carefully bent down to pick him up, holding his son close to his chest as he moved away, his heart aching as his son’s arms waved in the air. His trembling hands ran gently over John’s body, checking him for any cuts or bruises.

“Little man, you scared the fuck out of me,” Shade croaked. “You’re not allowed to take that particular trait after your mother.”

“I was fixing us both something to eat when the house crashed around us,” Fat Louise said shakily.

“The ambulance is here,” Lucky told him.

They went down to the parking lot to have the baby and Fat Louise checked out. Other than a scratch on Fat Louise’s arm, both of them were fine. The EMTs cleaned and bandaged Shade’s hands when he refused to go into town to the hospital. He wasn’t willing to let go of his son just yet, holding him close and switching hands as they worked on him.

Shade took his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to call Lily. I don’t want them pulling in and seeing the ambulance, or she’ll freak out.” He frowned when her phone went directly to voicemail.

He was calling Razer when Lucky’s phone rang next to him. He stepped away as he talked.

Razer didn’t answer his phone, either, and his heart began to pound in the same fear he had experienced when he had seen the tree limb fall onto his house.