“And he’s not going to kill you?”
“What do you have Jones?” I barked. Speedy was being a jackass just to be annoying.
“Dez is still working on it. Trying to get the records. Says she broke her hand in a brawl and is working a little slower than normal. She came up with a name though. Capital Creation Investments. They have been buying up land all over this part of Texas. An official offer was made to purchase most of the Homeland ranch near a year ago, but Charlon declined.”
“This Investment group still buying land?”
“Constantly. Whatever they are working on is going to be big, but nothing has been announced yet,” Speedy said as we worked on hauling in the fence posts and the spool of fence wire.
“It’s possible Brad is trying to ruin Charlon to the point of him being forced to sell. Double dipping, making a profit from the stolen herd and looking to cash in on a big inheritance from the land sale.”
“We don’t know that for sure. I know you want to hang him out to dry because you don’t like how he treats Amelia…”
“I just want a solution to this whole mess,” I put the tools back just where Amelia had kept them.
“Any word on Tate?”
“I called again. Left a message with my contact on the rigs. This one even sterner. Noting the injuries to his patch brothers. He doesn’t respect his blood family he will respect his patch family.”
“Tate’s working. He only does it four months a year. Not everyone owns a string of business to keep the money flow going.”
“Yes, because Tommy’s Dead End Saloon is such a gold mine.”
“You know what I mean Callaghan. You best get your head on straight before you leave tomorrow. Don’t worry, we will keep Amelia under watchful eyes,” Speedy promised.
“Amelia is coming with me.”
Speedy’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re taking a girl home to your sister’s wedding?”
“It’s to keep her safe.”
Speedy mouthed something as he disappeared out of the barn and out of reach of being decked. I wasn’t the least bit concerned about what they would say in Sweetwater. The only ones who would dare to, would be preoccupied with the wedding to drive him nuts.
Chapter Fifteen
Amelia
“You’re going out of town with him?” Mom asked in her I’m-Mom-and-I’m-questioning-your-decisions-voice as I flipped through my closet. Simple but nice enough for a wedding was what I was looking for. Simple I had; nice, not so much.
“I need a break. And he asked, so why not go?”
“Because you know so little about him and yet you’re willing to go hours away from home with him.” Mom stared at the blankets on my bed where I sat and picked at the lint that stuck to the stitching. Before Tate left my mom was a bit of a hard-ass. Anymore, she picked her battles and was a lot less confronting. Usually this annoyed me and pissed me off at Tate for taking away her backbone, today though, I was glad she wasn’t putting up much resistance.
“Mom, I’m not a child. You were married and pregnant with Tate when you were my age. I’m a grown woman and just because I live on the ranch, because it makes sense as I work the ranch, doesn’t mean I can’t do my own thing,” I stated and decided it might be easier to pack undergarments into my small bag first. No, despite claiming adulthood it would be to awkward to do in front of Mom, especially since I was looking for something sexy. Houston had made promises after all, and so far, he had been a man of his word.
“It’s just been a long time since Andrew left and I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“It’s been a long time since Dad left us too Mom. But I am not content with just being. Houston isn’t going to stay here on the ranch. I know realistically that there is no place in the world where our two life styles cohabitate. But I plan on riding it out and be fine when it’s done. Because I want to… because I need to. Tate ran away from here just to have adventure and a do something for himself. Houston’s my chance at that without having to abandon Homeland and the family.”
“All I want is to make sure you are safe and happy. You’re all I got left,” she stood and kissed the top of my head.
“Ask him Mom. Tate apparently isn’t coming home, but Houston will tell you whatever you want to know. He’s the closest link you have to him now.”
I was left starting at my closet long after Mom left. Wondering if I really believed that I would be as ‘fine’ as I claimed I would be once Houston rode out. I survived Andrew’s leaving relatively unscathed. My heart hadn’t really been broken but I had been lonely. Lonely for a long while and while I had taken comfort in a few local men whom I had known through school and one stranger from a bar that loneliness had stayed. I hadn’t even realized it still lingered until I had Houston by my side on the ranch every day.
I rummaged through my underwear drawer and found a few sets of nice matching lace panties and bras that I had bought not long after Andrew left in an attempt to feel a bit sexier while looking for someone to fill my empty nights. I hadn’t worn them for anyone and eventually pushed them to the back as they were a little too fancy to sweat in at the ranch all day long.
I laid out a few toiletries, a tiny pair of flexible sandals and took one of the three dress I owned from my closet and a change of jeans and a top and my cotton night gown. If it all fit in this bag I would be good.
I laid awake long into the night. Wishing I had Houston next to me, reliving the pressure that had been building inside since the moment I met him. I felt like a bomb whose countdown timer had been speeding up since our afternoon swim.
From my bedroom window there was a clear view of the bunkhouse across the yard, so I slipped out of bed and pushed aside the lace curtain and looked through the moonlight and security lights in the ranch yard to see Houston sitting outside. In front of that tiny shed half way from the barn and the bunkhouse where I kept Tate’s damn dirt bike. He was still up tinkering on it.
It was like he felt my eyes on him because he turned around and stared up into my bedroom window. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’d be free with him for just a little while.
***
“Where on earth did you get that?” Houston said with a low whistle as I came out of the house with my bag slung over my shoulder. It was just before ten and the morning chores had been completed. With any luck our leaving now would put us in Sweetwater just in time for the rehearsal dinner Houston was required to be at.
I glanced down at my tight fitting black t-shirt that said advertised a bike shop in Sweetwater. “Tate bought it for me two years ago for Christmas. Shows how last-minute shopping works for my brother. I suppose you know the shop?”
“It’s mine. Or it belongs to my family at least,” Houston said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me as close as he dared. He seemed to be on the same page as me, knowing that my grandfather would likely shoot him where he stood if Grandpa George caught us together.
“I guess you like it then?” I asked with a wicked smile and bit my lower lip.
“Very, very much and you know I do,” he whispered in my ear as he took the small bag from my shoulder. I relinquished it and he put it in one of his saddlebags. “Let’s get out of here in one piece please.”
We strapped on our helmets and Houston mounted his bike and offered me his hand for stability as I swung my leg over the machine and slid behind him. I found my center on the bike and snuggled up behind him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. He fired the bike up and the vibrations of the bike did not help my bottled-up excitement.
Being on the bike left limited opportunities for talking as the wind whipped around us and we traveled down the highway. I felt a small pain in my chest knowing that more miles separated me from the ranch with every breath. Things were so stressed there right now but I had to believe my family and the hands, not to mention Houston’s men could handle it.
Houston must have felt me tense up because his voice rose over the wind. “It will be fine Half-Pi
nt!”
I released him long enough to slap him on the stomach. I could feel him laugh in response. God, I loved this. Getting to hold him without any expectations or any limits. It was just the two of us on the road.
Half the way to Sweetwater we pulled into a small diner off the highway. Houston helped me off the bike. “Stiff?” he asked.
“Just a touch. It’s not like a saddle is foreign to me,” I said as we headed towards the dinner door.
Houston grabbed my arm, “Hey,” he pulled me back into him and kissed me long and deep.
“I needed that,” I moaned breathless as we parted.
“You and I both,” he kissed my forehead and I felt the chills I was growing familiar with when I was around Houston. The kiss was too sweet of a gesture for what I knew was between us.
We walked into the diner and slid into a booth and accepted menus from the waitress. I ordered coffee and Houston a soda and his phone buzzed.
“Let me guess, Bastard business?” I asked with a teasing smile as I blew softly on the coffee and took a small sip.
“A few of the Nomads will meet us here and ride the rest of the way with us. The rest will fall in behind outside of Sweetwater,” he said and caught my nervous gaze.
“We went over this before Half-Pint. They aren’t that scary,” Houston teased.
“I know. And nothing scares me or concerns me about Josẽ, Tommy, Speedy and Sticky,” I started.
“Something is seriously wrong with you if they don’t concern you in the least. They concern me,” Houston chuckled.
“You know what I mean. I just. I imagine that I will meet your family soon. The Bastards are as much your family as anyone, so it’s nerve racking to know I’m meeting more of them... not that we’re in a relationship or anything. It’s just… never mind,” I said and watched as the waitress reappeared with our food order.
The woman set our meals in front of us and she watched as Houston swiped my coffee. “I can bring you another if you like. On the house,” she smiled suggestively at him.
“No thanks, ma’am,” Houston said pleasantly, and the woman pranced away swinging her hips but only I seemed to notice.
“You could get your own coffee occasionally. It wouldn’t be the end of the world,” I said watching him drink from my cup.
“I know, but this has become our thing,” Houston said handing it back to me. I rolled my eyes. “I’ve never known you to be nervous and now isn’t the time to start. You are as badass as Tate is and you should carry yourself as such.”
“You haven’t heard from him, have you? Tate?” I asked noticing that my emotions were leaking into my voice as it softened when I mentioned my brother.
“No. I’ve left messages, but I’m not sure he’s getting them.”
“I’m sure he is. It would require Tate to care about the ranch, about his family to respond back.”
“Tate cares about you,” Houston gripped my hand reassuringly.
“You couldn’t prove it. And anyways, if he doesn’t?”
“I can take your brother. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Well, well, well. I ain’t seen you in but a month and you find yourself a pretty little darlin’?” the voice was gruff and carried with an accent that wasn’t Texan.
“Scottie!” Houston stood and hugged the burly old man who wore a cut very similar to the one that Houston wore.
“Do you mind if I sit young lady? The boy always does carry quiet a stench about him,” the man asked with a wink and I slid farther towards the wall allowing the man to sit next to me.
“Well of course.”
“Amelia Lorbosh, Scottie to us or…” Houston started but Scottie cut him off.
“No need to go telling people that embarrassment my parents left me with. It’s just Scottie. Lorbosh? As in Tate?”
“Yes. Tate is my older brother,” I admitted with a laugh. Scottie was surely to have been a terror in his youth but now he fell somewhere between my parents and grandparents age and had appeared to have gone soft with his age. He had a safe feel to him and a warm personality.
“And you got your big brother to tote you along this weekend? Where is Tate anyhow?”
“Tate’s still on the rig. She’s with me this weekend,” Houston answered for me.
Scottie ordered a coffee from the witless waitress and raised an eyebrow at Houston that the president glared down. Something Scottie probably only allowed from the younger man due to the patch on his chest that seemed to give the Callaghan so much authority.
“I’ve been in old Mexico,” Scottie said changing the subject. “Talked to some mutual friends of ours.
“And?” Houston asked expectantly, I was left feeling trapped. I wished I wasn’t in a tight spot, so I could get up and leave them to talk about what was clearly club business.
Scottie shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry boy. Nothing we hadn’t known before. You should know by now not to get your hopes up my son.”
Houston’s face went into that emotionless state that I knew that in such brief time meant nothing good, then it fell into something else completely. I reached across the table and gripped his hand. He flinched away from me for just a second, but I held tight to him.
“I’ve got to step outside,” he muttered, and I let him go as he slid out of the booth and out the door.
Finally, Scottie moved to the other side of the table with a sigh.
“What is it?” I asked the older man.
“I don’t think that is something he wants to discuss hun. Least of all, me with you.”
“His brother? Austin? He mentioned him on an occasion, Tate had too once. That Austin was murdered? I’m guessing Houston doesn’t like the answers he was given by the authorities?”
“He’s told you a lot if you can infer all of that.”
“No. The look on his face… it was unlike any I’ve seen on him before. But, when Tate and I were kids, when our parents told us Dad was dying, that was the look my brother got. When Houston mentions his family I always gathered he had accepted his parent’s fate, but he hadn’t accepted his brothers,” I looked down at the bacon cheeseburger and fries I had ordered and over at my coffee. I wasn’t as hungry as I had been five minutes ago.
“Go to him. I won’t stop you, seems you know the bear he can be,” Scottie said with a curt nod.
Chapter Sixteen
Houston
I hadn’t expected Scottie to bring good news. Really hadn’t expected him to bring any news. Fuck. In the months after we buried Austin, my “imagination” as I kept being told, kicked in full gear. Ever since then I had been poking around. Trying to do it discreetly, backing off when eyes stared too hard in my direction.
When Austin took the gavel in Sweetwater things were calm for the Bastards. Everyone around us was on the verge of a shit storm, but then again, the life we lived, somewhere, someone we knew was in a war.
Street wars, gang wars, drug wars, whatever you wanted to call them, were the bane of the Callaghan’s existence. Literally. A war had raged through the better part of the 90’s. A local gang, the BP’s tried hard to muscle around their weight. They came from the inner cities when the Bastard cut was rising among the outlaw crowd and pushed their way to having a crew of their own open up shop in Sweetwater.
My Dad, Wes, and his men had stepped aside allowing them to come in. At the time the MC was young, and so were most of their members, Dad included were barely legal. They didn’t have the weight to stop them if they wanted to and didn’t have the foresight gained through history to know it would end badly.
BP’s dealt in drugs, hard drugs and while it wasn’t something that the MC promoted or allowed in its own ranks it wasn’t something they would shut down. Until the high school kids started dropping dead and middle school kids were going to juvie for dealing.
The Pride wanted the two things the MC had at the time, the guns and the pipeline to old Mexico. Dad, Alec and the rest of the original members declined
. The war raged for years and years afterwards. The Preacher, who they would discover years later was the shot caller, had ordered atrocious things.
The gang bangers kidnapped Fabio’s mom, my Aunt Stella, and did things to her she told no one about. But of course, they didn’t want Eric’s wife, Stella had been in my mother Breanna’s car. They wanted the biker queen not a no name “duchesses” but when they discovered their mistake, it hadn’t saved Stella.
Retaliation had been swift and bloody. Both sides lost good men. Then it calmed down. We had a few good years, Destiny was born. Then it started back up hot and heavy. Mom was gunned down in a drive by in front of our home in broad daylight, Destiny in her arms. Austin, Fabio and I had been there when she was found just minutes later…
When Austin took the gavel and the talk started about a war break out between Apache Warriors and the BP over a new drug line, Austin wanted to stomp it out immediately. The Apache they had no dealings with at the time and I would have had no problem seeing a genocide of BP.
Austin stopped it all. Stopped me from getting to hot headed. And somehow… somehow the tensions were calmed. Austin had always kept Fabio and I close to his chest. Inner circle of the inner circle. But it was Micky that he pulled tightest in those times. Destiny was deployed, and Fabio and I were relatively carefree. We were all so young, we had no club worries.
Or so we had thought.
One night, Austin didn’t show up at the house the three of us rented together. It was one night, and we thought nothing of it. Austin might have been the quiet, calm one of us three, but him finding company for the night was not uncommon.
Then the next evening Alec called. The county sheriff was at his door when he and Kristy had gotten in. Austin’s bike had been found on a back road that had little traffic, his cut draped on the handle bars.
Alec told Fabio not to let either of us ride. We took the ancient Chevy pickup Fabio kept and met at the clubhouse. Stella and Kristy’s screams were the first thing we heard when we drove in. Eric and Alec weren’t even trying to console their wives… tears streamed from their tired eyes.
Houston Callaghan: The Devil's Bastards MC Page 10
