Payne (The Soldiers of Wrath MC: Grit Chapter Book 3)

P
AYNE (The Soldiers of Wrath
: Grit Chapter)

Sam Crescent and Jenika Snow

http://www.CrescentSnowPublishing.com

P
ublished
by Crescent Snow Publishing

Copyright © August
2016 by Sam Crescent and Jenika Snow

Digital Edition

First E-book Publication: August 2016

Editing: Kasi Alexander

A
ll rights reserved
.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

V
icky is
in love with Payne. But Payne is a complicated man, and she knows he only sees her as a warm hole to relieve himself in. The heartbreak over that is real, but she loves him too much to stop what they share.

Payne and Vicky are explosive in bed, and he doesn’t want that to stop. But he also won’t admit how he truly feels for her. Maybe he’s a bastard for keeping his mouth shut, but he doesn’t want to ruin what they have by saying anything.

Keeping her at a distance, and only having her by his side when they are between the sheets is what’s best for both of them.

When Vicky finds out she’s pregnant with Payne’s baby, she knows she can’t stay with a man that doesn’t want a commitment. Leaving is the best option for her and her unborn child.

When Payne finds out Vicky left, he realizes how badly he screwed up. Now he’ll do anything to bring Vicky back, and make her his old lady. She’s it for him, and he’ll prove that to her any way he can.

I
t is highly suggested
that King (Grit chapter, 2) be read before Payne, as the two storylines are connected.

V
icky’s heart was thundering
, her palms were sweating, and she was scared as hell.

She looked down at her hands and twisted her fingers together in her lap. What in the hell was she going to do if this was really her fate? Shifting on the table she sat on, the paper gown she had on crinkled, the sound seeming so damn loud. She was sweating, beads dotting her forehead and the valley between her breasts.

What in the hell am I going to do?

She closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly.

There was a knock on the door a second before it was opened, and Vicky snapped her eyes open and stared at the woman who came in.

“Vicky?” the woman in the white lab coat said. She looked down at a file and then glanced at Vicky again, smiling.

“Yes,” Vicky said, her throat tight, her mouth dry. She twisted her hands even tighter in her lap.

“How are you doing?” the doctor asked.

Vicky shrugged, thought about lying, but figured she’d just be honest. “I’m scared as hell.”

The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile. “That’s normal.” She flipped open the file. “The urine test came back positive.” The doctor looked at Vicky again, and then set the file down. She pulled over a machine that had been pushed against the wall. “So you’re here for an ultrasound verification?”

Vicky nodded. “Yes. I took three tests at home, and even with the one I took here today I wanted to make sure.”

The doctor nodded and started working on the machine. Vicky stared at the screen that was currently black.

“Go ahead and lie fully back. Because you’ve said you have a history of miscarriages—” The doctor glanced at her, and Vicky nodded. “—we want to make sure everything is okay.” She typed on the ultrasound machine again. “How many miscarriages have you had?”

“Just one, when I was in high school.”

“How far along were you?”

“A few weeks, I think. I don’t know for sure.”

The doctor nodded. “We’ll just make sure things are okay.” She smiled again. “This is an internal sonogram since you’re so early.”

For the next few moments Vicky watched the doctor get the machine ready, and once the internal exam was underway she felt her heart seize as she saw that black screen light up.

The doctor turned the screen more toward Vicky. She started typing on the keyboard with one hand, and Vicky was transfixed. “There’s your baby.” The doctor lifted her hand and pointed to the tiny bean-shaped thing on the screen. More typing, and then the woman said, “You’re about five weeks’ gestation.”

Vicky couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think as she looked at that little person on the screen.

That was her baby, hers and Payne’s baby.

God, how in the hell was she going to get through this alone? She sure as hell wasn’t going to bring this up to him, not since he’d completely shut her out for unknown reasons over the last few weeks.

No, Vicky was doing this alone, but she knew she could do it. She could handle anything.

I hope.

* * *

V
icky had to do this
, not just for herself, but for the secret she’d been holding onto. God, she didn’t want to leave, but she had to. Her heart couldn’t take rejection if she went to Payne and told him.

But she had to speak with Clara, because her best friend had always been there for her. Clara would always be there for her, she knew that, and Clara deserved to know the truth right down to the bare bones.

She stared at Clara through the open doorway, and a second later her friend turned around and smiled at her.

This woman has been with me through thick and thin.

They’d been through so much in this life, but it was only the beginning; that was clear by the revelations that had just transpired.

“Hey, you,” Clara said.

“Hi,” Vicky said, trying to stay positive, happy. “How are you?” After the incident where Clara had gotten hurt, Vicky had been so worried about her friend. Of course Clara didn’t need the bullshit Vicky was dealing with right now, but she had no one else to talk to.

They were like sisters, family.

Clara smiled again. “I’m good. Just thinking.”

Vicky looked out the window across the room. She needed to keep her emotions in check, but seeing Payne out there, oblivious of what she was going through, made this so damn hard.

It had only taken a short time for Vicky to fall for Payne, but he was this hardcore biker, and she knew there was no room in his life for a permanent fixture … that being her. She thought about the last interaction she’d had with Payne, and her stomach twisted, her heart ripping in two.

All I want to do is have that happily ever after.

She closed her eyes for a second, knowing that wasn’t in her future, at least not with Payne.

Vicky might have closed up when Clara had asked her what was up, but now wasn’t going to be that time.

“You know I’m here for you,” Clara said and moved over to Vicky.

Vicky nodded but didn’t say anything, her thoughts running wild in her head.

Just tell her. Tell Clara you have to leave, that you can’t be here anymore, can’t deal with this.

“If this is about Payne, I can make him leave, Vicky. You don’t have to hurt like this.”

Vicky looked at her friend, and Clara gave her an empathetic look. The secret she’d held inside was right at the surface, but then Vicky looked at her friend, at her healing injuries, about how happy Clara was despite that.

No, she didn’t need more drama, and that’s what Vicky would be giving her.

“I know you care for him, and wearing your heart on your sleeve doesn’t have to be your reality, Vic.”

“I can’t stay here,” Vicky whispered, finally saying what she had been thinking.

“I can make Payne leave, Vicky. You don’t have to leave because of him.” Clara sounded so adamant, the pain clear in her voice.

Vicky shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m the one that came here. This is his home, where he lives.” She gave Clara a hug. “I just need some time to think.”

Clara nodded. “I know how you feel, honey, but you know I’m here for you.”

Vicky smiled. “I know, and I love you for that.”

Without dragging this out, Vicky left, keeping her head downcast as she made her way out of the clubhouse and away from the bikers. If this life had taught her anything, it was that she needed to worry about herself, and what was going on in her life.

She needed to be happy, as well.