Page 114 of Fighting a Riot

Warped

Yak

Yak entered the common room at quarter to five the following afternoon.

Cal sat at the bar with a bottle of Yuengling. He held up his bottle. “You want one?”

Yak shook his head. “Nah. I’m hoping we can keep this short.”

Cal shook his head, his hazel eyes narrowing. “But we couldn’t do this shit over the phone? Or in my backyard?”

Yak settled on a barstool. “No. It’s sensitive… or Mallory would probably take it that way.”

“What the fuck does she have to do with this?”

He inhaled. “Why did you get Mallory pregnant?”

Cal looked away and chuckled. “Once I claimed her, I made it my mission to knock her ass up.”

Yak fought shaking his head, because he’d heard that from Cal at the time, but he chalked it up to being bluster. “I could have swore you said you never wanted kids, no matter who you met.”

The sight of Cal tipping back the green bottle almost made Yak wish he had a beer, too. Cal swallowed. “I did say that, but that was before I met Mallory.” Cal cocked his head to the side and stared into space for a moment. “No, that’s wrong. That was before someone took her right out from under me. Shit like that opens your eyes. Hell… after what happened with Nora, you ought to understand that.”

Yak blew out a breath. “Yeah, yeah. I guess.”

“What’s this really about, Yak?”

“Aren’t you scared Alexandra could end up in the system? Growing up in some shitty foster home?”

Cal smacked the bar. “How big of a dumbass are you?”

“What? You’re one of the reasons I joined the Riot, how am I a dumbass?”

Cal’s hazel eyes rounded. “Yeah. I remember. You joined the Riot for what? Brotherhood. We’re fuckin’ family. Some shit goes down, you think anybody here’s gonna let Alexandra go into the system? You think nobody’s gonna step up and take care of my daughter? Come the fuck on, Yak.”

Yak sighed. “You sound like Nora.”

Cal laughed. “I heard she was smart.”

He shook his head. “Or maybe I’m the smart one. I can’t do that to a kid.”

Cal leaned back on his stool. “I’m itching to knock some sense into you, brother. Are you hearing yourself? You aren’t dying, and Nora’s only got two more treatments left.”

Yak shot Cal some side eye. “How the hell would you know?”

“Trixie. She checks in on Nora every day. Hell, Roll thinks it’s twice a day.”

Yak pressed his lips together and considered Cal’s words. Nora hadn’t said outright she wanted kids, but the way she asked about adopting kids in the system, he knew she wanted a family.

“Were you followed again?” Cal asked.

Prime’s day in court had come and gone. After he missed his date, many of the brothers noticed police officers following them. At first it was unmarked cars, but over the past week they’d dropped the pretense and used cruisers.

“No. I’m surprised, too,” Yak said.

“Don’t be,” Volt said, joining them at the bar.

“Why’s that?” Cal asked.