Travis (Grim Sinners MC Book 3)

by LeAnn Ashers

  She covers her mouth; then she plays it cool because Gabby is watching.

  “Woah, Momma, you went down super fast! How fun.” She doesn’t know that her mom almost fell twenty feet.

  Bailey closes her eyes, holding her chest. I pull her into my arms. “Come here, Gabby.” I say gently. I need to make sure she is close to me. The worker purposely walked away. He wanted her to get hurt, and I am going to get to the bottom of it. That is for sure.

  Bailey

  Breathe, I repeat to myself over and over. I am sick to my stomach; my worst fear just happened. From the corner of my eye, I saw the worker running away. Travis saved me from being seriously hurt or even killed. I am shaking to the point that I can barely stand. He kisses my forehead. “Let’s get out of here,” he whispers, and he lets me go and helps me out of my harness. I grab Gabby; I want her close in case it really was intentional. I don’t want her to leave my side until I am sure about that.

  I notice Travis’s hands. “You’re hurt,” I choke out. The skin on his hands is completely torn and bleeding. It hurts me to see them in such bad shape.

  He shakes his head. “This is nothing, baby.” He throws the harness away. He takes my hand and then Gabby’s, and we walk out of the building. I just want to go home and snuggle on the couch. Just forget that horrible experience. I am never doing anything like that again.

  We are at the edge of the sidewalk in front of the building when a car with very dark tinted windows speeds toward us. Travis picks up Gabby, wraps his arm around me, and pulls me back. The vehicle pulls out into traffic, almost hitting another vehicle, and then it’s gone.

  “What the fuck is happening?” I say out loud.

  “We need to get out of here.” Travis pulls me tightly to his side and clutches Gabby against his chest. He practically carries me right along with Gabby. He opens my door and I get inside, and he puts Gabby in her seat.

  I lean back to buckle her in. The moment his door is shut, the same vehicle comes back around. A window rolls down; a gun is peeking out. I jump over the back of the seat and lie on top of Gabby just as the gun goes off, hitting her window. I look at the window in absolute shock; it’s bulletproof. I close my eyes and cry. I thought I was going to lose my baby.

  Travis is out of the car, with his gun out, sprinting after the vehicle. He fires three shots in quick succession. Pop! Pop! Pop! The vehicle crashes into a light pole.

  Travis

  What-the-ever-fuck is happening? The guy pulls his gun out, and I am already out of my car. I hear the gun going off, and I’m flooded with anger unlike any I have ever felt before.

  The bullets hit Gabby’s window; these fuckers are aiming for her. It makes me so fucking thankful we reinforced all of our vehicles to make them as safe as possible. Bullets can’t penetrate them.

  I catch up to the car and empty my clip, taking out all the tires and shooting toward the back of his head. His vehicle runs headfirst into a light pole, and I run over and whip the fucker out of the truck. He hits the ground, screaming. I take the mask off of his face, and he is holding his hands up. I recognize him immediately. This is one of the fuckers from the bar.

  I take out my phone and hit the alert button, sending out my location and letting my brothers know I need them. These guys are going to fucking suffer. They are going to fucking more than suffer. I will make sure they beg for their lives, but their begging will be futile. They tried to hurt Bailey and then her daughter, my daughter. That shit is unforgivable.

  I keep my gun trained on him, and I look back at the truck. There are still people in the vehicle, but I can barely see them.

  A minute or so later, I hear the bikes, and I close my eyes for a split second. They are coming. I am fucking dying to get to my girls. I want to kill this fucker and take them home, away from all of this bullshit. But this fucker is going to regret his actions. We need to figure out what this little club has planned.

  Wilder pulls up next to us, his eyes wide with anger. “What the fuck happened?” I explain everything, and Wilder takes my gun from me. “I got this, get your girls home and we’ll see you later.” He gives me a look.

  I look down at the stupid son of a bitch on the ground. I want to fucking smash his face in. I want to fucking tear him limb from limb.

  “I will be seeing you later,” I tell him before laughing. I nod at Wilder and run across the parking lot to my truck.

  I open the passenger door. Bailey is crying and holding Gabby. “I think Mommy is scared from almost falling, Ravis.” Gabby pats her mom on the back. Thank fuck she is young and doesn’t understand. I close my eyes. She needs to be sheltered and protected from all the fucking evil in life.

  “Scoot over, Momma,” I tell her softly. She slides into the middle seat, and I wrap my arms around her and Gabby. Gabby snuggles against my chest, and Bailey lays her head against my arm. Little by little, her crying starts to settle. I see my brothers coming, one by one. “You’re safe,” I whisper.

  She nods. “It just scared me, Gabby could have…”

  “Shh. I will always protect you.” I kiss the top of her head. She nods and holds onto my arm. “I think we are ready to go home and take a nap, aren’t we?” I ask Gabby, whose eyes are drooping. I carefully move her to her seat and buckle her in. I climb over Bailey and start the truck. She stays in the middle seat and places her hand on my leg.

  “I am so ready go home.” She lays her head on my shoulder. I place my hand on her right leg, holding her as best as I can. She was already fucking rattled after almost falling; then the fucker tried to hit us and shot Gabby’s window. I can’t stop thinking about the bullets hitting Gabby’s window. In a blink of an eye, your whole world can be taken away. My world could have been taken away.

  Bailey

  A Few Hours Later

  I am lying on the couch, a blanket covering my bottom half. You could not take this smile off my face. I am in heaven.

  Travis is sitting on the floor with Gabby, playing dolls. He is putting a diaper on the new baby doll, who just pooped fake poop. Gabby is covering her mouth and giggling at Travis, who is pretending to be sick. He re-dresses the baby and hands it to her. “How did I do?” he asks.

  She tilts her head to the side, like she is thinking on it. “I think you are doing pretty good, Ravis.” She grins at him and pats his forearm. She starts feeding the baby from a bottle. She is so in love with the stuff he has bought her. I love that he got down on her level and played with her; that is so important. She was surprised that he did that, and she loved the attention. I love to see her so happy. She’s only had me all these years. Her dad sure never did anything but be grouchy and want nothing to do with her.

  Travis sits down next to me and puts my legs in his lap. I sit up, snuggling closer. Ever since everything happened earlier, I just want to be as close to him as possible. He makes me feel so safe.

  “How are you feeling, Momma?” He smooths my hair over my shoulder, looking at me closely.

  “I’m okay now, I was just a bit rattled earlier.” I am sure he could already guess that from all of the crying I did. Seeing a gun pointing straight at Gabby’s window… I could have lost her. Thank goodness the windows were bulletproof.

  “It fucking scared me, too. I need to leave in an hour. There will a prospect with you until I get back. We need to figure out what happened.” He is watching my reactions to his words.

  “Just get those fuckers, they almost hurt my baby.” I close my eyes and lean forward until my head is resting on his chest. At that moment, peace comes over me. He is my safety, security, warmth. He is everything I have always needed and never knew I wanted.

  “That’s for fucking sure, baby,” he whispers so Gabby doesn’t hear.

  Gabby climbs onto the couch and gets between me and Travis. I laugh, and she pulls my blanket over her lap, snuggling into Travis’s side. He runs his finger down the side of her cheek. His face is so soft and filled with…love. He loves my baby. That is the most impor
tant thing to me. She comes first in my life, always. I love that, from the moment he met us, he has always put her first.

  I never doubted that he was hanging around with the best intentions; he is just perfect for both of us. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was falling for this man, because I am. Hard and fast. Sometimes it just hits me that this is my life, and it’s so hard to believe. I went from being so alone to sharing my life with someone.

  Travis lifts Gabby onto his lap, holding her like a baby. Gabby giggles, staring up at him. My heart... “I am not a baby, Ravis.” She giggles, covering her mouth with her hand.

  He smiles widely. “You’re my baby, always.” He tickles her, causing her to scream with laughter.

  “Ravis, stop!” she manages to get out through her laughter, tears falling down her face. He stops, kissing the top of her head. He grabs the blanket, covering her as he would a baby.

  “I love you, Ravis,” she says so casually, not realizing the full impact of her words and what they do to change lives. Travis looks at me, and I see pure shock on his face. I cover my mouth to stifle my tears. My baby doesn’t tell just anyone she loves them. This is huge. He is making a tremendous impact on her life. I just never realized how much until this very moment. She loves him.

  Travis bends down and kisses the top of her head. “You know I love you too, right angel?”

  She smiles at him. “I know, Ravis.” She pats his arm, yawning again, and closes her eyes. He pulls her more tightly against him and runs his fingers down the back of her head. He is staring down at her like his world begins and ends with her. I know the feeling all too well.

  I scoot a little closer, resting my head on his shoulder. I want more kids. I want as many as God is willing to let me have.

  We sit on the couch, watching TV just like a family would. Gabby is already asleep, and I will be out soon. Today has been mentally exhausting.

  Travis

  Both of them are asleep. I lay Gabby down on the couch and tuck the blanket in around her, and I place a pillow on the floor in case she falls off.

  I lean down and kiss Bailey on the lips. “Baby,” I whisper, and I push the hair out of her face. Her beautiful eyes open. “I will be back soon, get some rest.” She nods, closing her eyes again. I kiss the top of her head and walk outside.

  The prospect is sitting on the front porch. I nod at him and get on my bike. Then I head to the club, where the fucker is waiting for me. The moment I sit on my bike, everything changes. The softness leaves me. This fucker needs to pay.

  The interrogation room is in the basement. We keep it separate so the screams are not as easily heard.

  When I enter the room, the guy is sitting down and his arms and legs are tied to the chair. The other MC members are already here waiting for me. Lane nods at me, giving me full permission to do what is needed.

  Someone puts his hand on my shoulder. It’s Aiden, and he is pissed. He nods, letting me know that he has my back. All of my brothers do.

  I turn my attention to the fucker sitting in the chair, staring at me. I am fucking sick. I grip his face between my hands, squeezing. “Tell me everything I want to fucking know. I will let you die kind of quick, or I can drag it out.” I lean in closer, looking him dead in the eye. “Or I can make it last for days, weeks, months. It’s your fucking choice. Why did you try to shoot my daughter?”

  He throws his head back laughing.

  He wants to play it like that? Aiden walks to the wall and grabs some steel knuckles, and I slip them over my fingers. I am not fucking playing; this shit is personal. The sight of the fucking gun pointing straight at Gabby’s window will never leave me. Fucking scarred me for life. I could have lost everything before I even had it.

  Aiden stands right by my fucking side,

  I punch the fucker right on the mouth. That fucking laugh of his was wearing on my last nerve. He stops laughing as blood pours out of his mouth. He spits and teeth hit the ground. I smirk when I see tears in eyes. Yes fucker, cry. He looks at me, and I punch him again, right in the jaw. I hear a sickening crack, and I laugh at his pained-filled expression. Good.

  “’Top.”

  I laugh. “Ohh no, are your teeth hurting? I will fix that for you.” As I walk past him, I make sure to tap the side of his jaw where I shattered it. He screams for the first time. Well shit, that barely took any effort at all.

  I look back at the guys and they roll their eyes. I can’t fucking stand it when they are easy to break. This fucker will be talking any minute now. I walk over to the wall of hell and grab a pair of pliers.

  Aiden is bent over, whispering in his ear, and I arch an eyebrow when the fucker turns pale before my eyes. Then I notice his jeans are getting darker around the crotch. Aiden stands back up, grinning ear-to-ear. He is fucking vicious. He may look like a dork with those glasses, but he is fucking Dexter in the flesh.

  “Open for me.” I wiggle my pliers. His eyes widen and he clamps his mouth shut. “Fine then.” I grab the knife resting on the table next to him. Someone must have been fucking with him before I got here, probably Aiden. I use the pliers to grip his lip, then I slide the knife through. He opens his mouth, screaming, and I throw his bottom lip in his lap.

  “Fine!” He screams, his words barely coherent, thrashing in his chair.

  I take a step back, making a big show of setting the knife down on the table.

  “Fucking pussy, I hate when they are weak. They aren’t any fun.” Aiden laughs. I look at him sideways. I told you the fucker loves this shit.

  The guy in question finally looks at me. He tries to grin, but that’s kind of fucking hard with your lip gone. “In the beginning it may have been about Adeline, but we had a reason. Do you know how much one of the Grim Sinners’ or Devils Souls’ kids are worth? You guys have a lot of enemies.” I am fucking sick to my stomach. I look at the guys and they are all pale. It’s one thing to mess with us, but to know our kids have hits on them? Then it sinks in: he wanted Gabby. “Today was an attempt to grab your daughter, but she wouldn’t leave your fucking side. A sweet little thing like that would have made me millions.” He shifts in his seat. I look down and see he has an erection. I grab my gun and shoot him. He screams, looking down at his crotch, where I just fucking shot him. Aiden is jumping up and down. We are all fucking pissed.

  “Have you sold any girls yet?” I ask. I know they haven’t gotten to the MC kids.

  He nods.

  “Where?” I smack him across the face.

  “Forty-three Donna Street, yellow house,” he manages to get out, before he passes out from the blood loss. I look at the guys. I am shaking all over. What if that had been Gabby? Do not fucking go there, Travis. She is home safe with her mom. They will not touch a hair on her head, ever. We will put a fucking stop to this; we have a lot of enemies because we will not allow shit like this to go on. Yes, the law is important, but some shit needs to be dealt with another way.

  Lane is in the corner, on the phone—probably with Kyle. They need to know what is happening. I can’t fucking stand around waiting.

  “We will get them, Travis. I fucking promise.” Aiden is standing next to me, and he is fucking shaking as much as I am. I look at Lane, who is just as fucking bad because he has an eight-year-old daughter. Wilder, who also has a daughter, is fucking pale. I know in this instant the MCs will come together and we will end all of this. This is not the first time we have taken down shit like this. Being in Texas, close to the border, causes shit like this to happen more often than it should.

  Lane puts his phone in his pocket. “Let’s ride.” I take out my gun and put a bullet in the fucker’s head; he doesn’t deserve to breathe another fucking second. I want to do so much more damage, but there are other things that need to be done.

  We follow Lane out of the basement, and we don’t say a fucking word as we get on our bikes. We have just one thing on our minds: we need to get there as fast as we can.

  We arrive at the yellow house, and o
ne of the guys is stationed near the back door to make sure someone doesn’t try to escape out the back. Lane walks right up and kicks the door. A man jumps off the couch, and Wilder pushes him back down, pointing a gun at him. “Sit fucking still.”

  I follow Lane down to the basement. It’s sad but that is where everyone tends to keep people they have kidnapped. We turn on the light, and lying on a dirty mattress is a baby who couldn’t be more than a few months old. The smell hits me next and I gag; it smells like pure shit and piss. We search all over and don’t see anyone else. I pick up the baby, tucking him against my chest.

  I look at Lane, who is resting his head against the wall. This shit is something we will never forget. When we walk back upstairs, all the guys turn to look at us. The guy sitting on the couch looks at the baby.

  “Aww fuck, I just bought him a few hours ago. I didn’t touch him, I swear.” He holds his hands up in the air. I close my eyes in fucking relief. There are fucking sick people in this world. Thank God this baby is young enough that this shit shouldn’t affect him.

  “Where is his family?” Lane asks. The guy looks at all of us, way too calm for my liking. Doesn’t he know he is not only going to die—he is also going to be a message to that fucking MC? We are coming for them.

  “Apparently, he is some homeless woman’s baby. She sold him for a few grand of dope.” I close my eyes. How can someone do something like this? This baby never had a chance in this world; these people were setting him up for fucking failure from the start. Lane looks at me and at the baby I’m holding. I don’t know what to fucking do.

  “I will take him with me tonight.” Wilder volunteers.

  “If Amelia weren’t about to give birth, I would,” Lane says. “We are going to try to locate his family.”

  “I will take him,” Aiden tells everyone. I turn around and look at him. I never expected that. “Aiden, are you sure?” Lane asks.