by Erin Trejo
“Shaft, come on,” she says stepping toward me. Her hands come to rest on my chest. I look down at her and grab her face in my hands.
“Just trust me. That’s all you gotta do. Trust me, okay?” She doesn’t know what to say. Hell, if I was in her position I wouldn’t either so when she nods her head, I feel like I’ve won a little piece of my sanity back.
“I’m going home,” Dez says heading for the door.
“We’re leavin’ too. Don’t walk outta here by yourself with March creepin’ around.” Dez nods and heads out the door with me and Temple right behind her. We all head back down and outside thankful that I didn’t see March again. I might have to go with my feeling and gut the son of a bitch.
“Go back to the clubhouse. I’m takin’ her home,” I tell Dez. She looks over at me a little confused before it hits her. She raises an eyebrow and I nod subtly. Her face breaks into a grin and Temple stands there confused as ever.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“Nothin’.”
“You really doing this?” Dez asks.
“I am,” I tell her. She runs to me and leaps into my arms, hugging me.
“I’m so happy for you both. You are the best, Shaft. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.”
“What the hell is happening?” Temple laughs.
“You’ll see. I’ll see you later tonight,” Dez says when she pulls back and hugs Temple. I watch her walk to the car and get in before I lead Temple to the truck.
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s good, why?” I ask holding the door open for her.
“You two are weird,” she mumbles.
“And yet you love us both.” She opens her mouth to say something but I slam the door instead. I don’t need to hear her excuses. I don’t need to hear her say it. We have all the time in world for that. I jog around the truck and climb in before pulling out onto the road. Temple sits in silence, my eyes falling to her stomach more than once on the ride.
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” she asks.
“I said I was takin’ you home. I meant it,” I tell her as I turn down my road. I’ve never brought a woman to my house. I’ve never brought my brothers to my house. The only people who come here are my cousin and my mom. That’s it. Nobody else is allowed here. It’s my haven. My place. My life away from everything else but now it’s more than that. It’s our place.
“Close your eyes,” I tell her. Temple doesn’t argue she just does it. I pull into the driveway and help her out of the truck before leading her inside. I don’t stop in the living room, I take her straight to the bedroom. “Open them.”
“What the hell?” She looks up at me quickly, confused as to what she’s seeing. She walks over and runs her hand over the crib and the little stuffed animals.
“You like it?”
“You did this?”
“With a little help from my mom and cousin.” She looks at me with awe in her eyes. I love it. I love seeing her happy. She smiles and it melts me.
“What about Riley?” Why does she have to bring her up? Why? I wanted this to be about Temple. Running my hand over my face, I sigh and motion for her to follow me. I lead her across the hall to the other bedroom.
“Two nurseries?” she asks raising an eyebrow.
“I figured if she let me have the baby sometimes it would need its own space and bed.” Tears fill her eyes as she moves to wrap her arms around me.
“You are the best man ever. Do you know that?” she sniffles.
“Family is important to me Temple.”
“I know it is. And this is amazing, Marc. Just…perfect.” I reach for her face holding it in my hands before I kiss her once more. This is what I’ve been looking for. This is what I’ve needed.
“Now you wanna see our room?”
“I don’t know if this is a good idea. Living together?”
“Temple. We live together at the clubhouse, sweetheart. This is just our own space,” I tell her as I grab her hand and drag her down the hall. I open the door to our bedroom and she smiles.
“Do I want to ask how many women have slept in that bed?” she teases with a smirk.
“None.”
“What?”
“I said, none. No woman has ever been here aside from my mom and cousin. That’s not what this place is for me. You are the first woman to ever sleep in that bed with me.” Her eyes land on mine and the more tears I see in them the more I want to kiss them away.
“I don’t know what to say,” she says softly when I reach for her, pulling her into my chest.
“Don’t say anything. This is us. This is us movin’ forward and becomin’ a family. Isn’t that what you want?” When she looks up at me, my breath catches in my throat. There’s pain in her eyes but I also see the hope. “Tell me you want this.” She slowly nods her head when I lean down and kiss her. Temple pulls at my shirt, her fingers grazing my skin. Heat seeps into my pores feeling her so close to me. I break our kiss long enough to pull our clothes off before I have her on the bed writhing.
“Marc, I need you,” she whispers softly. I smirk at her, pressing little kisses along her shoulder.
“I know you do. I just don’t wanna hurt Junior.”
She giggles. “You can’t hurt it.” She grabs my cock and positions me where she wants me. I don’t argue. Hell, what man would when you feel your woman’s hand wrapped around you? I slowly thrust into her, her hands moving around my back. Pulling me closer, I smile as I slowly fuck the woman who’s having my baby and holds my heart.
“You can’t keep going this slow,” she whines. Her pussy clenches around me and I groan. She’s trying to kill me, I know she is.
“I don’t wanna hurt you.” Temple shoves herself up and pushes me back. I pull out of her and drop onto the bed on my back as she moves to straddle me. Taking my cock back into her hand I watch her climb up and slide down my length. With her feet planted on the bed on either side of me she rises and falls quickly.
“Jesus Christ,” I hiss as she rides me harder than I’ve ever fucked her. Her eyes are clenched shut, her lips parted, moans falling freely. My hands stay wrapped around her hips as she fucks me into the mattress.
Twenty-One
Temple
Shaft hated that I came back to work. He doesn’t want me working at all, but I am who I am and I don’t plan on giving up my job for him. I did say I’d take less shifts at the hospital but that’s about it. I know he’s off on a run this week but this is also the week we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. Shaft didn’t want me to find out without him so the envelope with the results is burning a hole in my purse. I want to peek and see but I also don’t want to disappoint him. He’s been so excited lately that it makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. Riley has been around the clubhouse but on Shaft’s off time he’s been at home with me. I don’t know how I feel about that considering that baby is his.
“You are glowing,” Anne, my coworker, says as I gather my things to leave.
“I’m happy. I can’t wait for Marc to get home so we can see if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“How much longer is he going to be gone?”
“Hopefully just a few more days.”
“That will be hell to wait. Good luck.”
I turn on my heel ready to leave when I see the back of Riley. I’ve wanted to talk to her but I didn’t know how. I suppose now is as good of time as any.
“Riley!” I call out to her when she hits the hallway. She turns to look at me, pulling her bag in front of her quickly. Her eyes are red and puffy. She’s been crying.
“What do you want?” she hisses.
“Are you okay? I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
“About what? How you stole my man? You said you were going to stay away from him. You’re a liar. He’ll be lucky if I ever let him see this baby after this,” she snaps. I open my mouth to say more but she isn’t finished. “You make me sick. You stole h
im away when you knew I was pregnant. What kind of person does that?”
“I didn’t mean to. Things just happened, Riley. I’m sorry. He will still be there for his baby, I promise.” The look in her eyes shifts to something I’ve never seen before in her.
“Do you think that’s all this is about? The damn baby? It’s about me, Temple! He was mine!”
“Look, I get that you’re mad but this isn’t about you. It’s about his child. You can’t take his child away from him.” A soft sob lodges in her throat. I don’t understand this woman. I don’t understand her motives. She moves toward me slowly, her eyes wild and deranged.
“You did this. You took that child away from him. You made the choice to shove your way down his cock so you could have him. If he never sees this baby again, it’ll be all your fault.” Each word is like a stake to the chest. It hurts to hear her say that. She steps back and turns to walk away as tears fill my eyes. I can’t believe she actually feels that way.
I listen as to the ding of the elevator before I wipe my eyes and walk down the hall. Pulling my phone out, I text Dez to see if she’s around. She doesn’t take long to text me back and say she’s at the clubhouse. I didn’t want to go there, not when Shaft isn’t there, but I also need to get myself together and I know Dez is the one person I can talk to.
When I make it downstairs, I climb in my car and pull out. I drive in a daze for a little while when I notice a car behind me. It’s been there awhile. Grabbing my phone off the seat, I call Shaft.
“Miss me already?” he teases.
“I think someone’s following me.”
“What do you mean? Where are you?”
“I just left work. There’s a blue car that’s been behind me the whole time since I left, Marc. What do I do?” Slight panic eats at my insides.
“You sure they’re followin’ you?”
“No. Not a hundred percent sure.” I’m being paranoid. Isn’t that great.
“Just calm down, babe. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. You headin’ home?” he asks keeping his tone calm. Thank God one of us is calm.
“I was going to the clubhouse to see Dez.”
“Good. They won’t follow you there,” he says and I can hear him typing. He must have put me on speaker. The car comes closer and my heart nearly leaps into my throat.
“It’s closer. Oh my God. Shaft the car is closer!” I nearly scream. My heart pounds in my chest. I’ve never felt this kind of panic before in my life.
“Baby, calm down. Just head toward the clubhouse.”
But before he can say anything further, the car collides with mine. I scream, pressing the gas harder.
“What the fuck is happenin’, Temple?” I ignore his screams and drive faster, watching my mirrors. Who the hell is that? What are they trying to do? The car behind me speeds up and I gasp. What do they want? Tears burn my eyes when Marc yells again, “What the fuck is happenin’? Answer me, goddamn it!”
“They hit the back of my car! They’re still back there! Marc, what do they want?” Tears fall down my cheeks as I accelerate.
“Can you speed up safely? Don’t do anything that will get you hurt, Temple, but I need you to speed up.”
“I am!” I scream back at him.
“The guys are waitin’ outside for you, darlin’. A few are on the way toward you, okay? You got this, baby. You can handle this.” His voice remains so calm but I can sense the fear in it. Each word is forced. He can’t lie and tell me he isn’t afraid.
“Marc?”
“I’m here, baby. I ain’t gettin’ off here until I know you’re safe.”
“I love you,” I blurt out. He chuckles.
“I know you do. I love you too. Talk to me about somethin’.”
“About what?”
“You got the results today, yeah? You think we got a little girl in there?” I check my mirrors and see the car but it’s backed off a little. My focus moves back to the road and how close we are to the clubhouse. I see the motorcycles in the mirror when I check once more.
“I don’t know.”
“Are you excited?”
“I see them,” I tell him.
“You see the guys? That’s good, baby. You’re doin’ good. Now what do you think? Boy or girl?”
I want to break down and cry when I see the car speed off in another direction but I keep my eyes on the road in front of me. Gauge’s bike comes around to the side of the car. I glance over and he gives me a nod.
“Gauge is here.”
“Good. Keep talkin’ to me, sweetheart.”
“I hope it’s a boy.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I want him to be just like you. I want him to stomp on my flowers and be a little rebel,” I tell him through a tear-filled laugh.
“You don’t know what you’re askin’ for,” he says chuckling. “Just ask my mom.”
“Marc?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I love you. I really do.”
“I know, Temple. I love you too. I’m gonna be there as soon as I can okay? Just stay at the clubhouse until I get there, yeah?” My palms are sweating, my body slowly begins to tremble as the reality of what just happened hits me.
“What did they want?” I cry as I turn onto the road leading to the clubhouse.
“I don’t know but I’ll find out. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry? They could have killed me, Shaft! Don’t worry?” I scream into the empty car. I pull to a stop right next to the clubhouse watching as Gauge climbs off his bike and heads toward me. I have Shaft on speaker phone.
“You’re fine, babe. They didn’t hurt you,” he says softly.
I know he’s trying to be reassuring but that isn’t helping. The baby could have been hurt. They could have hurt it. What kind of mother would that make me? I’m with this man, a man that does illegal things. They could have been after him.
“Temple?”
“They could have killed the baby!” I scream a little on the hysterical side. The car door flies open as my body begins to tremble.
“Come on,” Gauge says. I shake my head. Fuck him. Fuck all of this! This isn’t my life. What am I doing?
“Leave me the fuck alone! All of you!”
“Temple, baby,” Shaft says, his voice rising through the silence.
“If they were after you for something, they could have hurt my baby.”
“Your baby? Don’t you mean our baby?” There’s that anger that I’ve heard in him.
“My baby. It’s mine!”
“Calm down,” Gauge warns me as the world begins to spin. I can’t do this. I can’t be what he needs. I’m a nurse. Just a nurse. I can’t live in this life.
“Temple?” Shaft’s voice seeps into me.
“Leave me alone,” I say softly as I feel the weight of the world slowly crashing down on me. My heads a mess. My body feels heavy.
“Shit,” I hear Gauge mumble before I feel arms wrapping around me.
“Gauge?”
“She’s okay. She’s just weak, brother. Too much all at once. She’ll be fine. I’ll call you back.”
“Temple?” Shaft roars. “Temple, I love you.”
Twenty-Two
Shaft
I’ve never felt that kind of panic in my life. That uselessness. I wasn’t there to protect her. That’s what pisses me off the most. The fact that I wasn’t there when she needed me. I curse myself for a lot of that.
“You good to do this?” Wolf asks looking over at me.
I nod my head. If anything the anger in me is worse. The way I feel right now, I could take down a fucking army. I’m pissed but I know that Sly is looking into it. That doesn’t ease the ache inside of me, though.
“Let’s fuckin’ do it,” I tell him. Checking my guns once more, I shove one into the back of my jeans as I hold the other in front of me. Me, Wolf, Tag, and a few prospects were sent out to handle this job and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I glance over at
Wolf and nod. He nods back as we move slowly toward the front door. One of the prospects is behind us, the others around back with Tag. I raise my hand to halt them before counting to three. On three, I kick the door open and we move in like a goddamn swat team. We’re quiet as we move through the house, clearing each room as we go. Until we get to the last one. I kick the door open and step inside when I see it.
“Jesus,” I mumble. Wolf moves in next to me and shakes his head in disgust.
“What the fuck is this?” He asks.
“I don’t know,” I tell him when we hear Tag.
“Found someone tryin’ to run,” he announces as we all turn to look at him. He holds a man, maybe in his early fifties around the back of the neck.
“What the fuck is all this?” I ask him pointing at the sleeping kids on the floor. My stomach knots.
“I don’t know anything.”
I’m already pissed about Temple and whoever went after her. I’m pissed that I wasn’t there for her and now I’m going to have to kill this fucker in front of a bunch of kids.
“You know what the fuck this is, and if you don’t talk, I start cuttin’.” Warning him is a one-time thing. I won’t say it again. Stuffing my gun into the front of my jeans, I reach for my knife instead. I stalk toward him as he bucks and tries to pull out of Tag’s grip but it’s no use. I smirk as I make my way closer to him.
“I’m in a bad mood today. More so than usual. You try to run from my boy when there’s a room full of at least thirty small kids. What the fuck is this shit?” I hiss. A child cries behind me. I want to turn and look at it, pick it up and hold it, but I can’t. Not until I handle this fucker. We came here looking for drugs, not kids.
“I just work here! I was told to watch the kids. That’s it!” His hands are in the air and he’s basically begging for his life. Fuck him and his life. What about those kids and their lives? Where the fuck are their parents? God, this is fucked.
“Why are they here? Who the fuck do you work for?” I step closer, letting him see the anger that dances inside of me.
