Fighting for Forever: Tank & Kat's story, Part 2 (Battle Born MC Book 6)

by Scarlett Black

  I edge closer to him, “I would have fucking told you had I been in your shoes. Because I would have known that losing her would have broken you.”

  “And the club, Tank?” Blade doesn’t let go. “What would happen to Dana or Jenn if Matias got to them next in his attempts to bring us all down? I can’t control Kat, that’s between you two. You willingly walked into it, taking things on with her, when you knew the score.”

  “I thought she had died!” I roar, “I thought my life was over.”

  “Tank,” Spider calls, “It was me who agreed to help her, not Blade. He’s covering for me. Doesn’t change what happened, but it wasn’t supposed to be that you thought she’d died.”

  Anger swarms my head and I swing at the wall, punching a hole through the plaster.

  “You were supposed to come back to the clubhouse, but, instead, you took off. We didn’t—”

  Cutting Blade off, I demand an answer from Spider. “What the fuck did you give her?” I roar and charge at him. My fists fly for his face and I land a few before we are on the ground, wrestling on the floor. He can’t handle my weight and I sit atop of him with my hands wrapped around his throat and squeeze. Blade and Axl come rushing forward and tackle me, dog piling on top of me to hold me back.

  “Calm the hell down, Tank,” Blade tries to reason with me. “We had to throw Matias off, get him into thinking that Kat had died, brother. We would’ve never let him take her. That was the plan.”

  “What the ever-loving-fuck have you two done? And don’t fuck with me right now, it’s not the time. I’m about to start killing motherfuckers.” My vision starts blurring, and the room starts spinning. “Assholes,” is all I manage. And I black out.

  Eventually, I come to and Blade is sitting next to me on the floor, with a knife in his hand. “I will cut your ass if you swing at one more person. You hit me, and I will stab your fist.” Blade’s eyes give a warning that rings true. He tosses me a bottle of water and I sit up with my back to the wall, chugging about half of it.

  “What the hell is going on?” My head swims, unsure of what the hell just happened.

  Ready or not, Blade picks up where he left off. “We wanted Matias to come and take Kat. She said he would beat her and torture her within minutes of taking her. Our plan was to wait for him, and, when he did that, it’d be there, where we could control it. Fake her death so he would believe he killed her. So that the Cartel believed that she was dead.”

  “You have got to be kidding me! How did you do this?” Kat did tell me what she had done, but I need to hear it from them, too.

  “Right before she was to be taken, she swallowed a paralytic and a sleeping pill. Basically, all her muscles, including her lungs, were so relaxed that, unless you looked closely, it would appear that she was dead. If they did happen to figure it out, Matias most likely wouldn’t hurt her while she was under. It was also meant to give us time to get to her.”

  I grab my head and hold on tight while I try to grasp what I’ve been told. “My woman faked her death. You realize that she was planning on waking up and killing him herself? She didn’t think you would protect her. And, guess what? It was me who stopped them from taking her.”

  “She’s like Juliet, man. I thought she’d died, too,” Axl takes a seat next to me on the floor. “It worked, though, brother. The scene you made… You know that Matias was watching. He knows she died but you also put a target on your back specifically.”

  “Good,” I grind out, “Let him come for me next. We have a score to settle.”

  “Technically, she’s not married anymore,” Axl helpfully points out.

  I growl at Axl and Blade points the knife at me, “Don’t.”

  I take a deep breath before I knock Axl the fuck out. “Have you heard from him?”

  “No, he’s the best at hiding. That’s why we had Kat as a decoy. I think he knows about the kid now.”

  I nod my head, “He knows. Kat saw his men at the house she was hiding their kid in. It’s why I am here. I can’t protect them alone.” I push myself off the floor and they follow me up.

  Blade lets out a long breath. “Tank, I knew you cared for her even though she wasn’t branded yet. However, you both knew she was a job until this mess was settled. The club is my number one priority.”

  “Sometimes we mess shit up, brother,” Axl tries to reason with me. “When I went crazy, I fucked it all up. Dana and you all forgave me for my shit. Life is never easy. It’s not black and white.”

  I don’t say anything because I don’t feel that Axl was responsible. I just don’t know if I can forgive Spider and Blade yet. That is a real problem with them being the Prez and Sergeant-at-Arms of the club.

  “We didn’t do shit right by you as our friend, but we also didn’t do it just to be assholes to you behind your back. Not to be a dick, but you and Kat had your own part,” Spider comments with no remorse.

  “Tank, you can’t have your personal shit wrapped up in the club. That shit isn’t fair to anyone. You both need to talk, too. It’s not our job to have Church and discuss what you and your Ol’ Lady have discussed or not. Had you not run off, we could have told you that she was okay, and you would’ve saved yourself a lot of fucking trouble.”

  “You are a dick.”

  “Yeah, I am. But you knew from the beginning that I wasn’t a fan of all this shit mixing together, working together and your relationship. Don’t put us in the middle of your personal shit.”

  “Fuck this shit! You know what? I was there for all these girls, no matter what. Each one of you fucks, too.” My finger points at each one of their faces. “We’ll finish this war that’s been brewing and see where shit is at afterward.”

  I storm out of the room, not ready to face anyone, and end up in the garage where I would usually be if not at the tattoo shop. Heading to the small fridge, I pull out a beer and chug half of it before looking around only to find Solo watching me.

  “Bro, you’re back.” He wipes his hand on a rag and walks my way.

  I just grunt in response because I don’t know that I am back all the way or not. “Fuck, brother, I don’t know. Everything has been fucked up around here.”

  “What do you mean?” He grabs a beer and sits on a stool, waiting for me to continue talking. I love this little fucker like he’s my little brother.

  “C’mon, let’s do some of that team building bullshit,” he chuckles and takes another swig.

  “Solo, I had the heart of a fucking Olympian. Nothing, and I mean not a damn thing, could tear me down. This last year, I focused on the club, and I put me and Kat on the back burner until we could deal with it. It feels fucking cold when you know that your brothers didn’t give you a heads up.”

  Solo watches me intently but doesn’t say a word for a few moments. “Tough situation you put yourself in. Can’t blame you for how you feel.” He takes a drink. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to kill Matias and keep Kat and her kid as my own.”

  Solo chokes on his beer, “Kat has a kid with the Cartel?”

  “Yep, but he’s mine now. She has a kid with me, and we are taking the Cartel down. Hey, I need to talk to Tami. She around today?” The smart kid leaves that alone and takes the hint that I would rather talk about something else, needing to let the anger go for now.

  “Yes, she should be home with Cash. You want to ride over there?”

  “I do. What about Pawn, have you heard from him?”

  With a pained expression, Solo explains, “We have heard from him. Tami writes him letters that he gets. But he refuses to see Cash or Tami. It bothers her a lot that he won’t see them. He sends me letters addressed to me only and I give them to Tami to read. But they don’t really say anything.”

  “You’re not buying into his bullshit, are you?” I ask a little worried.

  “No, man, you can’t have your life rip apart like that and be okay.”

  I couldn’t have said it better but the next thing that S
olo does say means something more to me than he realizes.

  “Life is not fair, and forgiveness is needed to survive.”

  I know he’s talking about the three of them. But it rings true for me, too. Nothing that’s happened with any of us has been fair, but will forgiveness help me to survive this? If I can’t move past my feelings, it could end up getting one of us hurt.

  Chapter 11

  Kat

  “I saw Big T yesterday,” Tami casually mentions while holding Cash in her arms.

  I can’t hold back, I really missed seeing this little guy. “Give me Baby T.”

  Don’t ask me why but Tank started calling him that. That man claims everything as his. It’s just him, his love knows no bounds. That’s why it confuses me that he hasn’t been able to forgive his brothers for something that I started.

  She passes the blonde-haired baby over. He is dressed in a tiny little onesie that has the Battle Born club logo on it. “These are the cutest things that Blade has ever made, other than the twins, Easton and Cortez.”

  “Seriously, I have to agree.” Vegas comes into the common room holding one of the boys, and sits in a chair where Blade sets Cortez down in his car seat next to her. “Thank God Emilia is coming. These boys are draining me.”

  Vegas wanted to have a club dinner and ordered the guys to barbeque meat. She insisted that Eli met his family, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  “I think Emilia will be overwhelmed with all these kids to look after but happy.”

  Dana and Axl come in next with baby Maddison in her pretty little summer dress.

  Spider walks into the room with Cowboy and groans, “I remember when we had beer and strippers here. Clothes were also optional.”

  They both move past, carrying beer and meat to the grill outside where the guys have started on setting up tents so that the rest of us could sit outside with them.

  “Thank you,” I say to Vegas.

  Her eyes sparkle, “For what? You’re family.” She knows what I mean, this is as much for Tank as it is for me.

  “Hey, you never did tell us what it was like working with Spider for a few days.”

  This time I groan. “He’s such a moody asshole. I couldn’t wait to get Tank back. While he’s obnoxious, he’s sweet and fun. Spider is like a moody bossy brother that argues about everything.”

  Spider hears the end of what I just said when he walks back in. “You only had to argue because you knew I was right, there was no argument. Happy to give you back to Tank to watch over your psychotic ass. I like my woman easy.”

  “Not true, Jazz isn’t easy,” I smart back.

  He snarls and heads to the kitchen after flipping me off. Axl snickers, “You had to say her name, didn’t you?”

  “I did. That man needs a little humility and I’ll be the first to deliver if needed. Is she coming?” I ask the girls, hoping that she is.

  Dana holds her finger to her lips, “Damn it, I did miss something. Vegas, we fucked up.”

  “Totally, fucked our entertainment up.”

  It’s so nice to be back. It feels right to be here. If only I could get Tank to see it, too.

  The girls and I make a salad, then other side dishes, and I introduce them to my baby. They love Eli and everyone has been enjoying talking with him. Tank came back shortly after running out, with wrapped birthday gifts, toy trucks and guns. He had Eli unwrap them all which made the girls swoon in approval and Tank smile like the king that he thought he was.

  As we speak, Tank is sitting with Eli in the dirt, explaining the differences in the cars and motors to a two-year-old. God love that man.

  Tank

  Damn her! Vegas and her little crew of crazy ass chicks. There is nothing I like more than a party. As soon as I heard that we were having one, I thought that I’d give Eli something from me. I hated that he had been away from us for so long. If I pressed Kat about everything, we could have had him here a lot sooner.

  It doesn’t escape me that these sneaky bitches are up to something. They are showing me what life would be like as a family and using Eli to seal the deal. I feel used. Vegas, Jenn and Dana wave from across the yard. I point two fingers to my eyes and then point to each one of them. I mouth, “I’m watching you.”

  “Who are you threatening, mijo?” Vegas’ grandmother walks into the backyard, followed by Fuego and his wife, Cindy.

  “Nobody,” I play coy and pick the little woman up. “I missed you, abuela,” I tell her as I keep her in a tight hug. “Come over and meet my son.”

  The yard falls silent, and, do I give a fuck? No, not at all. He is my son because I am going to marry Kat.

  Abuela gets lost in hugging all the girls and gushing over all the kids. “I’m stealing her from you,” I inform Fuego, and Ghost, too, who joined the BBQ while I wasn’t looking.

  “You couldn’t handle her,” Fuego laughs. "She’s all sweet and loving looking, but, trust me, that woman came up here to meddle.”

  “Meddle in what?”

  “Oh, you’ll see.” Fuego, the cryptic asshole, leaves to go see his grandkids.

  Kat walks into the yard when she sees abuela, and her steps falter.

  “Katherine?” abuela calls to her, “My little niña, is that you? Mi hijita, eres tu?”

  “Sí,” a stunned Kat doesn’t move until she and abuela are hugging.

  Abuela pulls back. “I’ve missed you so much. Why didn’t you come to me for help?”

  “I didn’t want to put you at risk.”

  “Hold the phone,” Vegas interrupts, “How do you guys know each other?”

  Abuela smirks and gets a Corona out of the cooler, pulling a chair up. The entire yard moves in to hear this story.

  “Many, many years ago, Katherine’s mother, Maria, would see Rosa regularly, when Katherine was very small. All you girls played together and loved each other.” Abuela stops and hands her beer over to Blade who pops the top for her with a smile on his face. Wow, Blade smiled.

  “Gracias, you are a handsome man, my Alessia did well.” She takes a drink and winks at Vegas.

  “Anyway, Katherine’s mother was the sister-in-law to Cuervo. You see, that is a bond that’s bound by blood. But, more importantly than that is that we are bound by familia. Maria loved Rosa like a sister and that bond grew tighter than blood. Maria knew that she was in trouble, and I promised to watch over her daughters like I would my own. I’ve kept my promise because I love my family, and I loved both Rosa and Maria.”

  Abuela looks at all of us around the yard, with a knowing look. “Make amends when needed, swallow the pride, and show compassion for tu familia.” And there it is. That’s what Fuego brought his mother for, and also for her to see her granddaughter by choice.

  “I never lost contact with Katherine, however. I figured out early on that her twin sister was her father’s daughter and no amount of love would bring her to me.”

  We all must be wearing confused looks on our faces. Kat fills in the gap, “We wrote letters to each other for a long time after my mother passed. Abuela kept me together, the only person who could understand and help me. As time went on and life changed, I called her and kept in touch. She was the first person to know when I was pregnant with Eli.”

  Fuego had known, he had to. My head snaps in his direction and the devil grins back at me. “An old wise woman once told me to let the ones you loved find themselves in their trials. Give them enough to support them, but also not too much, just enough to keep them ambitious to earn their choices.”

  Abuela chuckles and agrees, “You see, there is a flower that can only bloom in darkness.”

  Nosy sons of bitches, and I know the one who did this. Vegas. She loves her husband, the club, and I can’t say that I don’t appreciate her a little bit for the effort she put into helping us move past this. She’s just like her father and grandmother, all scheming meddlers.

  The girls huddle in the corner and abuela’s words hit me in the heart. She wants us to
get along and set aside our differences, keep our bond tight within the club.

  Our family.

  Chapter 12

  Tank

  The Church room doors click shut before they are locked. It’s been a while since we stood behind these doors as brothers, and the doubt that has crept in lately has no room here. There never was that before now, at least not for me.

  I’ve been the Road Captain since we moved here and formed the Reno chapter. I look around at all the men. Saint and Solo are the two newest members that have joined, that I personally vetted into the club and gave my support to. Now, here I sit, swimming in my own guilt from my thoughts about possibly leaving after this is all over.

  It feels as if the tables have turned in a way. I feel that Blade and Spider betrayed me by not telling me what they knew. Ironic that I sit here, as an officer seat holding member, contemplating leaving them all behind. It feels like betrayal to me. Withholding any information is lying, but will it happen?

  Well, shit, Karma is an ugly bitch.

  “Tank,” Blade calls for my attention. I have no clue how long I was lost in my own thoughts. “Can you update everyone on what has happened?”

  Sitting up a little straighter, I start talking. “Matias, as far as I know, thinks that his wife is dead. What everyone didn’t know, was that Kat had their kid in hiding. I think Matias started piecing it together and came here to get her to take him to Eli. That must have been the abrupt reason he came here and took her himself.”

  “So, you knew about the kid? Since when?” Blade’s assessing eyes watch me for a while. And, again, it is not lost on me that he is keeping count of my own faults.

  “I knew she had someone who she was protecting. Who that was exactly, I hadn’t confirmed yet. I told you all in Church but didn’t know who it was. When I went down there, after I thought she had died, to move the family myself, I figured out who the kid was.”

  Solo speaks up. “He did say that, I remember. He wanted help from Spider to confirm who they were.” He doesn’t see what is happening underneath it all and the question is clearly written across his face until he figures it out, and even scowls at Blade and Spider.