Liliana huffed, pushing her now straightened hair behind her ears as she wiped down an endless amount of tables. The lull after lunch was making the day drag on and it wasn't good for her overactive mind. After Daminger had tracked her down the day before, she was more shaken up than she would have liked to admit.

That day, she left Rowan with Esmerelda just because Daminger knowing where her daughter was without her made her heart feel close to exploding.

She needed to tell Gunner and she planned to but doing so would require dropping the bomb about Rowan days sooner than anticipated.

And those few days were specifically to build confidence before the conversation.

Pressing her lips together, she had to acknowledge that Gunner might not react well to the news. Seeing as dating her seriously meant no matter what he was tied to Rowan. Lily didn't want to put expectations on him, but if the relationship were to affect Rowan negatively in any way it would be over.

And Lily didn't want it to be over so soon, her throat closed with emotion at the thought.

Her breath hitched at the fact that it was becoming hard to deny how much she cared about the stupid biker.

Ugh, stupid man.

And as if summoned, strong calloused hands slid over her hips. So lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the bell going off in the practically empty pub.

"Sweet thing." Gunner furrowed his brow after calling her a few times.

Sucking in a sharp breath, she turned quickly and instinctively shot him a smile. Her arms slid around his trim hips and she rested her forehead against his broad chest.

Gunner's eyes widened for a moment, cradling the back of her head while toying with the newly straightened hair.

"Hey Lils," he murmured softly while kissing the top of her hair. Pulling away just a little, he cupped her pretty cheekbones. "Ya alright?"

He thumbed underneath her lashes slowly, raking his eyes down her face.

"I'm okay, might've missed you possibly," she said dismissively while resting her face on his shoulder.

A giddy grin slid onto Gunner's face, as he hugged her tighter while rocking the two of them back and forth to the soft music playing in the background.

"Wow, how big of you to admit." He smirked. "Here I thought I was the only one missing ya. C'mere."

Tugging her up into her tip toes, he planted a firm kiss against her mouth. Moaning lowly at her taste, he attempted to deepen it eagerly.

His hands slid downwards from her hips, cupping her rear in the dark corner of the dining area.

She squealed lightly when he gave her ass a rough, greedy squeeze.

Parting from him, she laughed softly. Kissing his chin, Liliana poked his side. "Let me work, you're distracting me again."

Grumbling at her, he followed her.

"Alright... Yer sure you're alright, babe?" His southern twang made her body heat up even more.

"Yeah," she sighed and even she knew she wasn't sounding convincing. "Have something to tell you about after my shift. Is that okay?"

When she saw his face she added, "Nothin' bad."

His eyes were narrowed as he watched her. "Sounds bad."

"It's not bad." She smacked at him with her rag. "It's important but not bad, swear."

He held his hands up, fixing one of the tables for her as he moved around. As she passed him, he leaned down. He pressed a quick kiss to her pout. "I'm all yers t'night."

Nodding gratefully, she got back to her job, but Gunner could see the anxiety rolling off her in waves from a mile away.

Before Lily knew it, the pub was full of bikers. From what she caught, they had been looking for Gunner and instead of just calling him down to the club they showed up. Or maybe they did call and he refused to leave. But luckily, it gave her something to do while still focusing on cleaning up the back like Gale had requested of all the waitresses. Of course, none of the cooks took the recommendation to heart.

And while she worked, she thought over the conversation she'd have with Gunner. And how he might react.

How should she start it? Gunner, I've been keeping something from you... Only because it was really important to me.

Swallowing hard, she began ringing her hands together. With a grunt, she gently kicked the mop bucket near her and watched it barely move. Frowning tightly, Lily rolled out her shoulders mid-pep talk before walking back onto the floor.

Her eyes slid up from the ground as she walked from the kitchen, her attention flew to the door instinctively. The bell dinged and almost immediately her customer service smile slid onto her face.

Except her face froze when she saw the newcomer.

Daminger smirked when he caught her attention.

Her stomach dropped. Instinctively she took a step back behind the counter. As if he had a sixth sense radar on Liliana, Gunner glanced up and found her with his eyes. When he too saw who was in the pub, he was out of his seat in seconds. And the bikers around him followed as well, with Butcher and Jude were on either side of him.

Abruptly, Gunner stood in front of the officer. Becoming a physical barrier between the two. The blonde kept his cool—his face didn't give away the brewing anger in his gut.

"Thought we were workin' on boundaries here, Daminger. This droppin' in shit isn't cute anymore."

Daminger held his hands up into the air, his smirk still hadn't fallen. Cocking his head, he looked past Gunner to Liliana who looked nervously between the two men. Her fingers itched to find Gunner and clutch onto him as her eyes flew from Daminger's holster down to where she knew Gunner kept his gun.

"Don't fuckin' look at her. Look at me," Gunner immediately snarled. Daminger, who'd been caught off guard by the tone shift, focused back on the blonde. Usually, the biker president left the anger to Butcher, but it seemed Lily brought out a different side of him.

Daminger thought that made this all even better.

"Hard not to look at her, I mean have you seen 'er. I certainly have seen her around town."

Gunner's teeth clenched, fists tightening up as the bikers around him all shifted at their Presidents palpable anger. Liliana almost clammed up, but she found herself edging her way past the counter and towards the two men. "Daminger can you just-"

"Do you know all the places she goes around town, huh Gunner?"

But the biker didn't falter, instead his features hardened as he pushed in closer to the cop, seething by now.

"Obviously she's here a good amount, that house of hers. Her little property only about ten minutes from here. Ever think it's a little bit too much space for one chick? Oh- or has she not let you in there yet? Course she hasn't."

Liliana's mouth fell open as her skin crawled at the idea of Daminger knowing anything about her home.

With his eyes glancing to the side, Gunner could see her entire body curl in on itself. Finally, he'd had enough. This was ending now, his hand slid to the back of his pants for the handle of his gun.

Watching the movement, Daminger continued on quickly. "And of course she's at that daycare. Picking up little Rowan."

And then there was silence. Tense, rigid silence.

The only thing Lily could hear were her own shaky breaths.

"Oh shit. You didn't know that, did you?" Lily could feel all the other bikers other than Gunner looking at her. "Her little girl, from the info at the precinct I saw she's fifteen months today?" He looked at Liliana to confirm but all of the blood had drained from her face, and she didn't look like she was in any state to answer.

Shrugging, he looked at his watch. "Well, that's all the time I have on break. We'll have to do this another time... it was fun. Always a pleasure to see the Mayhem Men taking on the town." His last sentence dripped in sarcasm as he shot Lily a wink on his way out.

Her hands trembled as she pressed them to her chest. Jude who was besides her hesitated to reach out, "Lily- hey..." He awkwardly patted her shoulder.

"Gunner I-"

He held up his hand and she immediately cut herself off. His hand came up, pinching at the bridge of his nose as he exhaled through gritted teeth. Finally, when he forced himself to look her way Lily got a view of those green eyes she's grown fond of. And the betrayal seeping through his gaze made her sick.

"So, ya were just never gonna tell me, huh?" He couldn't wrap his head around it. A baby? He felt nauseous at the revelation. That threw a wrench in everything. He could barely take care of himself, and she was taking care of a baby on the daily? How would he ever be able to keep up with that?

"Fuck!" he barked. His fist slammed against the bar besides him as he broke out into a pace. Liliana flinched away, her hands wringing together for the umpteenth time again.

"I was going to tell you tonight," her voice was barely above a whisper. "He showed up at the daycare when I was picking her u-up." She hiccuped as her eyes stung. Everything was piling up on one another. "He was waiting for us, and I wanted to call you immediately. But I couldn't without explaining and I wanted to wait until this weekend because I-I was ready to tell you and then it couldn't wait-"

"It shouldn't have waited at all!" Gunner stressed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I mean what the hell, Liliana? What were you even thinkin'? Lead a guy on and then drop off kid on their lap? It's fuckin' cruel. I mean I thought we were getting somewhere finally!"

"Lead you on?" she spluttered but he kept going.

"How am I supposed to handle that? I can't be that guy. Have ya seen who I am? What I do everyday? What the fuck were you thinking?" Gunner's throat swelled with emotion as his stomach twisted. The tears in her eyes were making him sick but he couldn't see past his anger and the fantasy he'd imagined with her crumbling.

Quickly, she wiped under her eyes and nose. Sniffling, she snatched the rag she'd left on the counter. "I was thinking I'd give you a shot after you begged me for a chance. But you just did e-exactly what I knew you'd do. Exactly what every man will do after you, too," Lily hissed.

"It was stupid of me to think you'd give it a chance after you found out. I don't need anybody helping me raise my daughter. So, leave like I knew you would-" She waved at the door. Her eyes narrowed right on Gunner who pressed his palm over his chest.

Rubbing over his thudding heart, his eyes softened for a short moment. "Lily-"

"Leave!" Her voice cracked. "You can go back to doing whatever you wanted with whoever you wanted. No love lost right?"

Before he could even utter another word, she stormed into the back and slammed the door shut.

Itching to follow after her if only to continue the argument, Gunner stopped when Butcher placed a hand on his chest. It was as if they'd reversed rolls that Butcher was the one reigning him in from self-destruction.

With his thoughts racing, he turned and stormed outside, the door cracking violently against the doorway after he'd barreled through it.

"Fuck!" he hollered as soon as his boots hit the pavement. Throwing the beer bottle that'd still been clutched in left hand, he ignored how it shattered in the parking lot.

"What the fuck was that?!" He whirled around to Butcher who'd followed after him. "What the hell was Daminger doing, huh? Who does he think he is?"

"Well, he just did exactly what he set out to do, I can tell ya that much. And you're lettin' him."

Sneering at the redhead, he waved him off in his frustration. "This is fuckin' bullshit, she doesn't tell me she has a goddamn kid. That's fucking psychotic."

"Your reaction is definitely proving her wrong right now."

"Fuck you," Gunner didn't even wait for a response, yanking his keys out and within seconds he'd pulled off treacherously on his bike.

Butcher sighed, glancing back at the now empty diner while scratching the back of his neck. Whistling sharply, he gathered the bikers back up.

"Go make sure the pub's closed up," he began grunting orders. "Jude, tell Gale the pub needed to close early. Blame it on a brawl or somethin'. Say we'll pay 'er the business she might've lost. Everybody else move out."

Hopping on his own bike, he knew he'd have to make his way to Gunner to knock some sense in him. He may not have been an expert in romance, but he knew Gunner was going to regret not fixing this sooner rather than later.