Gonzo (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 7) by Candace Blevins

hydrated, and then getting me to drink sports drinks to try to get fluids and calories into me. Most of those two days are a haze, but I remember enough to say Angelica can be damned bossy when she wants to be. I also remember being freezing cold at one point, and having Angelica and Harmony on either side of me in bed to help keep me warm.
    I could finally eat again on Thursday, and I started with dry toast that morning, graduated to scrambled eggs an hour or so later, and had about ten steaks for dinner. I had to get my strength up in time to see my kids Friday.
    Connie called midday Thursday to ask if I still planned to come. I told her I’d bring a barbecue feast for us all, and warned her it wouldn’t be homemade but assured her it’d be delicious.
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    C onnie had set the table on her deck to look like we were having a picnic, and the kids thought eating outside was awesome . They told me about their day, and they pantomimed their teacher as they told some of their stories. They had me laughing more times than I can count, and I realized how little laughter had been in my life. Sure, I’d laughed with my MC brothers here and there, but not with this kind of joy.
    We played hide and go seek, and a few other games in the yard until their aunt informed us it was time to start the bedtime routine.
    Connie drew a bath for Chloe while I kept them company in their room, and then it was just Declan and I while his sister took her bath. I’d been instructed by their aunt that once we come upstairs it’s quiet time — no running or jumping because we’re slowing down in preparation for going to sleep.
    This was their routine so I did my best to keep Declan calm, but I had a feeling she’d set me up to fail.
    Still, I did my best, and when she and Chloe came into the room Declan and I were on the floor playing with the big Legos, designed so kids can’t swallow them. It looked like Connie approved, and I said, “I assume it’s time for Declan’s bath, now?”
    She called him into the bathroom, and little Chloe took his place on the floor.
    “You’re really my real daddy?”
    “I really am.”
    “You knew my mommy?”
    “Not very well. I only saw her a few times.”
    “Aunt Constance says babies are made when people get married.”
    I sighed and tried to figure out how to answer without calling her aunt a liar. “That used to be the case, but I think just as many babies are made by people who aren’t married, now.”
    Thankfully, that answered her question and she skipped from one topic to the next at lightning speed until her aunt returned with Declan.
    Apparently, it was Declan’s turn to have the bedtime story in his bed, so I climbed into the tent-like structure, settled between the two of them, and read books as they handed them to me until it was time for lights-out. I wanted to make sure I was invited back so I had to be firm and tell them it was time to go to sleep when they begged for ‘one more book’.
    I carried Chloe to her bed, kissed her little forehead, and then went back to give Declan a hug and kiss before I turned out the light and left. I sat on the top step with Connie for ten minutes, and when she was certain they were asleep we looked in on them before heading downstairs.
    “I have a confession to make,” she said as she led me into a den I hadn’t seen yet. “I’ve been watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix to try to get an idea of your lifestyle. It bothers me that they have their kids around so much, knowing the levels of violence that can crop up at any time.”
    “The twins can’t hear us in this room?”
    “Not from their room. I moved the television in here so I could watch it without disturbing them after they went down for the night.”
    “Some of the show is accurate — the women available pretty much anytime, the partying, the brotherhood. We don’t run guns, though, and we’ll never be involved in drugs in any way. Sandy was sent away because I caught her running a