Lily laid her head on his shoulder, her hand massaging the tension out of his muscles. “Shade, do you know what happened to Bethany?”

Shade rolled to his side. His angel always was more concerned with someone else rather than herself. She was the one in danger now. Brooke had hurt Bethany for no reason other than he had fucked her more than the others because she enjoyed being dominated by him.

“She’s still living in Georgia, happily married with two children.” He had made sure when he began making money that Bethany had the best care and had given her a sum of money she would be able to live off for the rest of her life.

“Good.” Lily stroked down his arm. “I bet she still misses you. You would be hard to replace.”

“Not so hard. She managed to find someone.”

“I wouldn’t. If you left me, I would still be waiting,” Lily murmured drowsily.

“Angel, me leaving you isn’t going to happen.”

Chapter 77

Shade was facing his wife while she leaned against one of the large oak trees, waiting for him to finish his conversation with Viper and Rider. It was the Fourth of July picnic, which he’d had no intention of attending, nor had he been planning to let Lily until she had told him Brooke had returned to Georgia for a visit with her mother.

Shade thought it suspicious the way Brooke kept going back and forth between Georgia and Treepoint, but he really didn’t give a fuck other than wishing she would keep her ass there.

“When are you going to fill the club in on what’s been bothering you the last couple of days?” Viper asked.

Shade kept his eyes on Lily who had started looking pale recently. He had been deliberately trying to get her pregnant since their wedding night. Only when she had his child would he feel less threatened by the thought that she would leave him.

If she found out his final secret, that he was a cold-blooded killer, the child would tie her to him. He felt no rush of emotion at the thought of his child. He would be a good father and simply pretend like he did with everyone else.

He shrugged.

Lily was staring at him with a soft smile on her face. For a flash of a second, her face turned to one of heated desire before she blushed, regaining her composure. Shade caught the look and returned it with one of his own. With her not feeling well, he hadn’t touched her the last week, wanting to give her time to rest and regain her strength.

“Had a couple of things on my mind, nothing to worry about. I’m going to go back to the clubhouse. Later.” Shade didn’t wait to hear their replies.

He strode across the yard to his wife who was frantically looking around to make sure no one was watching them. He gave her a wicked grin as he drew closer, and she tried to escape to the picnic table.

“Come here.” He caught her around the waist, pressing her against the tree.

Shade slid his hand across her flat belly. If she didn’t feel better in a few days, he was going to make her go to the doctor.

Bending down, he whispered, “Going somewhere?”

“I was going to get something to eat,” Lily murmured shyly.

“You ate just a little while ago. Let’s go home and have dessert. I have some chocolate mousse in the refrigerator. I made Evie get the recipe off Henry.”

Once Lily nodded her acceptance of them leaving as she smiled, Shade placed an arm around her shoulder, maneuvering her through the crowd.

As they approached the gate to the backyard, King reached out to open it with Evie by his side.

“Leaving early?” King searched her face as Lily turned a bright red.

“The heat is getting to Lily. We thought we would go home until it cools down then come back for the fireworks,” Shade explained with an impassive face.

King smiled down at Lily. “I’ll see you later tonight, then.”

“You two have fun,” Lily said quickly as Shade led her to his bike.

“They make a cute couple.”

Shade rolled his eyes at her. “Cute doesn’t come to my mind when I see them together.” Shade said, getting on his bike.

“Really, what does?” Lily asked, getting on behind him.

Shade looked at the couple still watching them. Evie had been the happiest he had seen her these past few months since high school. King had returned to town not only to get to know Lily better, but to continue the relationship with Evie which had started in Queens City.

“Never mind. They are cute together,” Shade said, starting his bike. He could just imagine King’s expression when he told him Lily’s choice of words. “We need to invite them to dinner,” Shade suggested to his wife. He would have to cash in another of Winter’s IOUs to get her to make another batch of mousse, but it would be worth every spoonful.

* * *

They had been out on the water for over an hour. Shade and Rider both had their fishing lines in the water. He looked over at King as he lit a cigar. The man was hopeless at fishing. Shade had to give him credit, though; he had never really expected King to show for the fishing trip.

Evie was giving Beth a baby shower at her house, and Sex Piston was attending along with her crew. Those bitches had been a powerful motivator for the fishing weekend the brothers had organized.

Stud had fucked it up for the men when he had attended Sex Piston’s baby shower; therefore, the brothers had decided the fishing trip would save Razer’s ass from having to go.

Lily had pressured him into inviting King. Bonding with King wasn’t high on Shade’s to-do list, but Lily had promised him a night of sex when she would do anything he wanted. That was all Shade had to hear to move King up his list. Shade consoled himself with the knowledge that he wasn’t the first man to be bribed by pussy, nor was he going to be the last.

“We could go back to shore and get you another pole,” Rider offered.

“No, thanks. I would probably lose that one, too,” King stated, biting down on his cigar in frustration.

Shade’s lips twitched. King had lost his pole when a fish he was trying to land took off with it. King’s face had been priceless when the pole had disappeared under the water.

“Don’t feel bad. We’ve all lost poles. Of course, we were all drunk as shit at the time,” Rider joked.

King looked toward Shade, who was sure he was waiting for a smart-ass comment to come from him; instead, he kept his eyes on the lake.

“How’s Lily adapting to the new minister and his wife?” King asked.

“She’s adjusting, but there’s not a connection with Merrick like Lucky.”

“Dean’s living at the clubhouse now?” King broached the subject Shade was sure he was the most interested in.

“Yes,” Shade answered.

“How’s that working out?”

Shade sighed while turning to look at him, noticing Rider had a smile on his face as he listened.

“If you want to know if he participates in the club’s activities, yes, he does. Not that it’s any business of yours. Lily and I have our own separate house. Neither of us want Lily to see him when he’s partying, so I text him when Lily’s in the house. Dean cares about Lily and has no desire to tarnish his image to her.”

“That’s a lot of work for you two to make sure Lily isn’t uncomfortable.”