The Rampage MC #2: Beard and Emily

Chapter 7 (Emily): A Magician

I'd expected Beard to come back to my door and keep knocking until I gave in; I had not expected him to go away without a fight. Then when he went away, I'd expected him to come back soon. But he hadn't. I hadn't heard the roar of his pipes announcing his return.

I was not disappointed.

I wasn't.

He'd done exactly as I'd asked after I tricked him into leaving my house.

So I wasn't disappointed that he'd stayed away.

It was just that I hadn't expected it. That's all it was.

I'd fallen asleep on the couch because I was exhausted, not because I had stayed up too late waiting to see if Beard would return.

When I woke up -- something had startled me, apparently -- Beard was standing in my living room, watching me with a look of relief on his face. I yelped in surprise, even as I registered who it was.

"I knocked for about ten minutes," he said, hand held up. "By the end, I was banging on the door. Your car was still in the driveway, so I got worried and...let myself in."

"I had the alarm on," I said.

He just stared at me, blank-faced, not giving anything away about how he bypassed two state-of-the-art locks and an advanced alarm system.

"I was worried you were hurt," he explained calmly, but really explained nothing. "Some locks and an alarm weren't -- aren't --going to keep me out."

There was a little bit of warning in his words. And I didn't like it. I struggled to push myself up from the squishy couch, and Beard came over and helped me sit up. I swear I woke up some mornings and my belly had expanded overnight.

Beard sat next to me and fixed me with what I called his MC president stare. "Don't pull that shit that you did yesterday with me. It worried me for you and for our babies. And I realize you played me, but when you didn't answer the door this morning, it worried me again. That bullshit ends now, Emily. Got it?"

That got me sitting up as straight as my two-baby belly would allow.

"I realize you're used to dealing with club girls," I said, and if he'd known me better, he would have known my tone was not really as pleasant as it sounded. "But when I assure you I'm not a club girl you can order around, you better believe me. I'm not a twenty-something, Beard; I'm forty years old and no man has ever had a say over or input into my life. You won't be the first, either. I accept that now you think you want to be involved in the twins' lives, but I'm waiting for the moment before they're born that you go back to beating the no-interest-in-fatherhood drum you were banging on when I broke the news to you in the clubhouse. And I promise you now, I won't be upset when you bow out prior to their birth."

I leaned toward him, gave him a look and bit my lower lip. His eyes zeroed in on the slight movement. Men were so predictable.

"But I'll promise you something else, Beard," I said in a sultry tone I knew from our past that he liked very well. "If you act as a father to them for even one minute and then you decide to back out, I will remove your balls from between your legs, put them into a very small jar of formaldehyde, add some glitter and keep them on my desk as a snow globe."

The damn man wasn't taking me seriously, I could tell, because he leaned toward me and grinned.

"Knew I liked you before, Emily, but everything you say and do reinforces just how much I like you, and that includes outside of bed. As soon as you settle down and accept that I'm a permanent part of your life now, the easier it'll be on you."

Blood pressure, blood pressure, blood pressure, I reminded myself.

"You have yet to prove that you'll be a permanent part of the twins' lives, but you are not a part of my life except as far as we need to come up with a visitation schedule...you know, when you can work them in between club business, club fun and club girls."

"Funny girl," he said. "Since I met you, Emily, there hasn't been anyone but you in my bed. What does that tell you?"

"You've either been using someone else's bed or your Viagra isn't one hundred percent reliable?"

"Keep fighting, Emily. It just makes my dick harder and more determined to make you submit to what I want here."

Did he -- did he really just -- he hadn't -- there was no way --

Blood pressure, blood pressure, blood pressure, I reminded myself...again.

There were times in my life when I regretted not pursuing surgery. This was one of them because I would have had scalpels and other surgical instruments at my disposal. Those would have come in handy right then.

"That isn't happening, Beard," I said calmly even though inside I was not. "We'll have two babies soon and maybe you'll be involved and maybe you won't, but if you are, then I'll be polite to you. If you're not, then I won't have to be anything because I won't be seeing you. But polite is all you'll get from me going forward, Beard. I won't forget the way you deliberately embarrassed me in front of your MC and the girls. Maybe your club girls overlook and excuse your behavior because they enjoy your power and the rank you hold in your little boy band, but none of that impresses me. In fact, your behavior disgusted me. So if you're thinking of hanging around in the hopes of getting me back in bed, I can advise you that that would be the very worst reason to stay because it's not happening. So make your plans based on nothing but fatherhood and the babies. They're all your future holds where I'm concerned."

"That's where you're wrong, Emily, but we can wait to talk this out over breakfast. I need to keep you fed well."

Deep breath in, slowly exhale. Repeat until the urge to kill passes.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Was my voice a little bit shrill?

Beard crossed his arms over his chest, his T-shirt stretched tight. It wasn't hot. Nor was it sexy. At all. Who even noticed the muscles and the full sleeves of tattoos? Pfft.

"Heard what you said. I'm just choosing to ignore it until I talk you around."

Annnnd there it was...definitely not sexy.

I'd have to go with rage inducing.

But before I could explain my polite plan again in words he couldn't possibly misunderstand, there was a familiar series of five quick knocks on my front door.

Then a key in my lock...and in walked my parents.

Forget being a doctor. I should have become a magician.

Because right now? I wanted to disappear.