That’s not what I wanted, to pit the guys against each other. I hold my hand up. “A lot of shit has gone down, just a missed detail. Kat said that she followed me down there and saw that Matias’ men were in fact in the house right after we left. She and Spider took out the guys that were sent there.”
Axl and Blade both turn their heads toward Spider. Blade’s eyes are as sharp as daggers. “Spider, they know for certain now that we were there watching and that we killed off their members. Matias knows without a doubt that his kid was there. Shit, we declared war on the Cartel.”
Spider shakes his head. “Kat was not going to leave until she had her way. Blood for blood. At the time, we thought her kid was gone and Tank, too. She had nothing in this world to lose but her life. If they had really taken Tank and her kid, I was going to help her. And I would do it again.” He stares at me when the words leave his mouth, daring me to say differently. In the end, he will always have my back, even if we disagree on things.
Fuego, Ghost and Cuervo sit on the opposite side of the room, listening and reading the depth of our problems very accurately. Not only have we gone to war with the Cartel, but with each other as well. Fuego runs a hand over his goatee deep, in thought.
“It’s been a storm brewing around here for a long time. We, the whole club, have been behind on this situation.” Ghost nods and Cuervo remains stoic. “We all own a piece of the blame in this hurricane of problems. We, the elder presidents, have made you the center of our club and the storm, no? It would only be right you all held onto your resentment for your losses.”
He shakes his head, “Even the smartest of men can miss things.” He looks between Blade and me. “You are all still so young and we have forgotten this, yes? I take my part in giving you my responsibilities to fix, esto también es mi culpa. Slowly, the fray of your bond started to unravel with every piece revealed along the way.”
Fuego sits back and looks at us all with his hands up. “You do see that this, todos nosotros, all of us fighting amongst each other,” he points around the room, “Is exactly his intent. Pull you apart brick-by-brick until you crumble under the pressure.” He slams his fist on the table. “Esto no esta bien, do better, and stop it with the blame.” His eyes go to Blade, Axl, Spider and then, lastly, me.
He is right, but how do you just let this shit go and walk away from it?
Blade agrees, “We hear you, Prez. Battle Born until we fucking die.” He directs his comments at the three of us, Axl, Spider and me.
“Until we fuckin’ die,” we all confirm at the same time. I know the truth now. I can never leave.
It would be impossible not to walk this life and have our doubts. But the truth always comes out eventually and it is heard.
“Hasta la muerte,” Fuego and Ghost repeat with pride.
Battle Born until we fuckin’ die.
Chapter 13
Tank
“What is this?” I ask as I’m walking into the garage the next afternoon.
“Garage party. Team building,” Solo confirms with a wide smile. I step closer and give him a fist bump with a half hug.
“This is banging, dude.” My brother is the man, this is exactly what we needed.
Jenn has her speakers set up and she plays a nineties throwback playlist. I can’t help the smile that creeps up on my face. They went all out for this. The girls are dressed in little plaid skirts or jeans with crop tops.
My Kit Kat wears overalls and a scrunchy thing in her hair. She looks fucking young with those hoop earrings, and I wish I had her even back then. “Lil’ momma, you look hot.”
Eli reaches for me and I pick him up from her arms. Even he has a little flannel and Doc Martins on. “Bro, you get to hang with the big dogs tonight dressed like a lil’ bad-a-s-s.”
Kat swats at my arm, “Don’t, Tank, he will figure it out.”
“No, he won’t. Say, bye, momma.” I pick up his hand and wave it at Kat, then take my kid to get a drink. She can’t stop me. I crack open a can of orange soda and chug half of it before handing it to him, then crack open a beer for myself.
Solo hesitates, opens and closes his mouth couple of times before he finally spits out his thoughts, “Are you supposed to give a baby soda? I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“What about his baby teeth?” Cowboy questions.
“Doesn’t he get new ones?” I answer with a shrug and they both shrug back.
Eli takes the soda and tries to drink it as fast as he can but can’t keep up and most of it ends up on his face, myself and his clothes. His eyes flare from the flavor and his little tongue licks up what he can.
“Babe,” I yell for Kat across the room, “I’m pretty sure those people you left him with,” she rolls her eyes at me, “Never gave him a soda, and I just gave him his first.” I laugh because I really wish Jane’s uptight ass was here to see this.
She shakes her head at me and turns back to her convo with the girls.
“Dudes,” this time I address Solo and the rest of the guys hanging around, “I am the only one allowed to give him his firsts, his first beer, bud, bitches, all of it, mine,” I warn them all.
“Bitches,” Eli parrots and laughs.
“What the fuck did he just say?” Cowboy laughs.
“Tank!” Kat screeches and starts heading our way.
“Fuck.”
“Fuck.” He does it again.
I glare at his face, “You messed up, dude.” When Kat is close enough, I say louder, “He said truck, K-Love.”
“Fuck.”
She glares and pulls him out of my arms, but he starts screaming at her. “He was better off with those people than you. What’s wrong with you?”
“That hurts, Kit Kat, deep inside, I know you don’t mean it, though,” I yell at her retreating back, then watch her wiping his face clean and smothering it in kisses. I’m totally killing this dad thing.
I spend the night hanging with my boys like we used to. Everyone is happy even though we have a big problem still. I can fight anything, though, as long as I have my family. After our meeting last night, a lot has settled in my mind and I realize that we really were getting too far into our own heads and getting on each other too hard.
Fuego and Cindy have each of the twins, and I’ve never seen a happier man. At some point, Snake, Vegas’ brother, showed up, and all I hear is Cindy annoying the man to death about having his own family. Vegas doesn’t help and eggs her mom on. Fuego just ignores the chaos, because it’s not really, it’s the sounds of a happy family.
Axl even has his mom, Harley, here, and, damn, the woman is still fine. She is a part of our crew, just like Tami, now.
I look to where Tami’s standing next to me. She grew up and has a place here, she belongs to me, too. I see Solo wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing Cash’s forehead. I get it, some may not understand their life, but I do. Eli is mine by choice because I want him, just like I choose Kat.
“What’s next, brother?”
Solo looks up at me from the baby. “We are getting married soon. And, after that, hopefully someday, Tami will have another baby.”
“Did you ask?”
Solo blinks, “Yeah, I asked her. She has a ring, doesn’t she?”
“No, you didn’t ask me, the Prez, Axl or Spider for her hand.”
“Are you shitting me right now?”
“No,” I glare into his face. “She belongs to us, motherfucker. You need club approval, she’s a princess. I might let it happen if you can get the other three to approve.”
He stares and doesn’t blink, waiting for me to move or say more. “May as well get to it.” I wave my hand in a grand gesture into Axl and Blade’s direction who are standing by their women.
He inhales, taking me a hundred percent seriously, and walks off with determination. My arm wraps around Tami’s shoulders, “He loves you, girl, look at that. He’s a little stupid, too, FYI. I was only kidding, but I’m not stopping this from happening.” My
body shakes with unheard laughter while watching Solo.
Tami chuckles, “That is really mean, Big T.”
Blade raises a brow at us from across the room and Axl turns and smiles before looking back at Solo with a straight, mean glare. Poor kid, they are going to make this hard.
“It really is, but don’t lie, you love it.”
“Yes, I do love it. Thank you, Tank.”
“For what?”
“Taking care of me and coming back. I wasn’t sure you would,” she confesses, a little sadness lingering in her words.
“Hey, I couldn’t leave my brothers, and definitely not you. You okay, though?”
She does a small lift with the corner of her mouth. “It’s kind of weird. It hurts that Pawn won’t see us or talk to me. I know that things are complicated, but, Jesus, what was I supposed to do? And now his son is my son. And I just worry how things will work out, you know?” She heaves after her long rant, and, this time, I just blink.
I may be in over my head here with that one. Her pleading eyes ask for direction from me. I’m stumped. What the hell do you say to that? I’ve never done any of this before.
“Hey,” Kat’s hand lands on Tami’s arm, “Give Pawn some time. He went through a lot before he went in. The time apart will help him to piece together what he needs, too. Trust me, leaving Eli behind was the hardest but also the best choice for him at the time.”
Tami’s resigned face accepts the words but still doesn’t want the reality.
“We are your family, Lil’ T. Kat and I are here for you, always.”
Eli comes running up and pulls on my hand. “Excuse me, ladies, nature calls. Come on, E, let’s go find a tree.”
“A tree? Do I dare ask?” Tami laughs and the guys listen in.
“Yep, it’s time to take a piss. Zip it, lil’ dude, before you get your mom on my a-s-s.”
Turning around, I wink at the most beautiful woman in the world. The woman I waited for my entire life and looked to the ends of the desert for. My K-Love.
Chapter 14
Tank
I howl at the sun as we’re riding down the deserted highway on our way to Las Vegas. Solo looks like a fresh little chicken out of the roost. The rest of us older guys, however, feel like we’ve been hit with a million pounds of concrete after all the shit we did last night.
I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t just snort a fat hog up my nose before we jumped on the bikes. I did. At our age, how else are we going to stay upright unless coke sobered us up?
It brings back memories of the times we did that shit on the regular before we headed out on runs. I howl again, and this one is for Maddox. I silently say, For you, brother.
Fuck, times have changed. But, no matter what, I learned that if you stick together through the hard times, you become stronger. Battle Born until we die.
The road and the club will always be my home and life. I will never walk away, and I vow to myself to never let those doubts creep in again. I’m a solid Motha Fucka. Assholes will never bring me down.
Everyone in my life held me up and waited for me to come around. Until you’ve lived on the other side of that fucked up coin, you don’t know what to expect until you’re hit with it. Never again. My brotherhood is a bond never to be broken or tested again.
With Kat, she is my life as well. After the shit that has run us over, our bond, too, is unbreakable. There is nothing that will make me doubt her, us or our family. She is mine and is a part of my blood. There is no part of me that she hasn’t consumed. Together, we are one and destined to live this life together. I don’t give a fuck if we ever get married. She belongs to me and my brand on her is enough for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I will do my best to put a ring on it. I won’t leave any part of her left untouched in any way if I can help it.
Tami, too, I have plans for her as well. As soon as I get off this bike, I am going to have a sit-down with Spider, and he is going to help me. The way I see it, he owes me.
And just like that, the road is a balm to my calm and we’re rolling up into Stryker’s clubhouse. This is the main clubhouse and it’s where the big boss himself lives with his woman, Moxie. They are both waiting for us, along with Titan, his VP, on the front porch.
We start removing any leather we can after the ride down. Las Vegas is like an oven during the middle of the day. Titan, that good looking asshole, looks like he’s been getting plenty of sun in the back pool with the two club bitches that hang off at his side in the tiniest bikinis I’ve ever seen.
Moxie hugs her son, Blade, first and then follows up with a hug for all who rode down with us, Solo, Saint and Cowboy. The Prez and I didn’t want too many of us gone for this meet with Styker, so Axl, Spider and Fuego stayed behind to keep watch over the girls and club.
“Hey, Momma Mox, I’ve missed you.” I give her a big hug and pick her up and off the floor. My own mother is a bitch, and since I haven’t talked to my parents in a long time, Moxie has become like my own, and she keeps track of me, too. I give her credit for the shit she put up with and the way she kept us in line the best that she could.
“Honey, you look so handsome and happy. You have really grown up over these past few years. Every time I see you, you change just that much more. I hate that my boys are so far away.” Moxie glares over to her Ol’ Man, Stryker, and rattles on about food waiting for us. He ignores her remark and slaps her ass when she walks past him.
“Titan, Styker.” We hit fists on our way through the door and meet Moxie in the bar area where she has food laid out for us. Audio, Jenn’s brother, is standing behind the bar, grabbing some beers for us as soon as he notices that we walked in.
It is nice coming back and seeing the old club where we all grew up and where things started. Our roots have grown, but, still, this place is our foundation.
Saint sits down next to Audio at the table and gives him details about Jenn and how she’s doing, while we eat steak sandwiches and fries. I notice that Titan absently comments, “She looked and sang really good up there the last time I saw her. She coming back anytime soon?” He asks that only to fuck with Saint. Interesting, I may have to poke into that one a little further and file it away for later.
Saint smirks at his taunt, “She looks even better when she is under me and sounds even better when she’s screaming my name. Something you will never hear or see.”
“I bet.” Titan takes a bite of his food and chuckles while chewing.
After we all had enough to eat and then showered, we meet with Stryker and his officers for a club meeting. The large room echoes with the high ceilings and the space that’s not filled with the rest of the brothers.
Blade gives his old man a rundown of it all and leaves nothing left unsaid which takes a fair amount of time.
“Spider has Kat’s computer?”
“Yes, he’s been combing through all the information she had gathered and even started looking at some other possible leads to help. Now that we know more and who we are dealing with, we may finally get to the bottom of this shit once and for all.”
Stryker’s face brightens and he leans in, interested. “What do you plan on doing?”
Blade lights up a smoke and hands one to Stryker. “The same exact shit he was doing to us.”
Take him down a piece at a time and shatter what he thought was his reality.
Chapter 15
Kat
“Eli!” I yell for him to stop. He hysterically laughs but pulls at the door handle as hard as he can and tries to escape out the back door as quickly as possible. “Oh my God, I need to baby proof this house and lock it down ASAP.”
I pick the escape artist up, with one arm around his waist. His arms fly in front of him and he squeals, kicking his feet.
“Okay, for one, you were much cuter on the monitor. Two, no wonder Jane and Danny left all the way to Europe. And three, why are you so much better when Tank is around?”
“That’s because he plays with
him. He needs a friend,” Vegas helpfully points out. “Maybe we can make the new prospects play with him and they can take turns?” She laughs and takes him from me, tossing him high into the air.
I fall back against the couch, feeling exhausted. “Maybe that will help.”
Since the guys left, we have been forced into lockdown. We all will be living here until the Cartel is dealt with.
“Let’s go buy some toys? And maybe some door handle things that lock the master escaper in. You know he is smart like his momma who’s always finding her way out of things.”
“I’m going to kill Karma if I can ever track her down,” I sigh. “We have a problem, though. Are we going to take all these kids to the store?”
“Are you crazy? Hell no. I’m going to get my mom to help watch them. We can take Maddy, she’s the best friggin kid. Just sits there. I need a kid like that.”
“She is also a girl, we have boys,” this time I helpfully point out. “All of our problems are because of boys, you know what I’m sayin’?”
We find Cindy and she is more than happy to watch the kids for us along with the help of a prospect because Eli needs one adult to himself.
I inwardly cringe at Blade and Vegas’ future. If this is what it is like with one, I can’t imagine two of them. Dana is more than happy to get out of the club, and Axl comes along with a growling Spider.
Fuego says, “There is no way in hell I’m watching a bunch of women in a kids’ store. I’ll stay here with the men.”
Walking into the store, we grab a cart and begin running our errands. Can I just say thank fuck that Dana and Vegas had a list and helped me gather food and other necessities that kids apparently need? By the time we leave, we have three carts full of toys, food and clothes. I haven’t had this much fun since, well, I really don’t know when.
Fighting for Forever: Tank & Kat's story, Part 2 (Battle Born MC Book 6) Page 7
