by Freya Barker
“What?”
She blows out a breath through pursed lips and her eyes make it up to mine.
“They found Bernie and his sister.”
There’s something about the way she says it that has my breath get stuck in my throat.
“Oh, no…” I manage.
“When local feds flew the drone over the grounds, they spotted a patch of earth behind the complex that looked freshly turned. This afternoon they dug up their remains.”
I surge to my feet and rush to the bathroom, when the cup of tea I just finished makes its way back up. Luna follows me and has a wet washcloth ready when I’m done tossing my cookies.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I didn’t want to tell you, at least not yet, but I don’t want to lie to you either.”
“It’s okay.” I wipe my mouth and face. “I think part of me already knew.”
“You know, you’re right though, one of the Amontinados we took into custody had a makeshift sap tied to his belt. No more than a tube sock with a pool ball tucked inside, but an effective and potentially deadly weapon. We think he’s the one who attacked Bernie at the Backyard—we’re starting to hear rumors he may have been skimming some of the drugs for his own profit—and Mandy in Albuquerque, likely with that same weapon. I haven’t talked to Ravi yet to confirm, but I suspect that same guy may have been the one who knocked you out.”
“Did he have a cut on his chin?”
Luna looks surprised. “He did. How—”
“When we kicked open the trunk of the car, it connected with his face. That’s the guy who took me.”
I toss the washcloth in the sink and head out of the bathroom right as Tse comes walking into the bedroom. I stop in my tracks and take in his dirty, sweaty shirt, and the bloodied knuckles of his hands.
“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Luna mumbles, slipping past me and out of the room.
“Sorry I disappeared on you,” he starts, his eyes never leaving mine. “I needed to blow off some steam.”
I walk up to him and take one of his hands, studying the damage.
“I see that. I need to clean these but you need a shower first.”
He looks at me funny but then nods and walks past me into the bathroom, yanking his shirt over his head on the way. I hear the shower turn on as I grab the first aid kit Lisa used on me and set it on the bed, getting some disinfectant and pads of gauze ready. Then I pull open a few drawers in the dresser, looking for something clean for him to wear. I’m sure Ouray won’t mind.
I find a shirt and a pair of sweatpants and carry them into the bathroom just as the water turns off. His showers are always fast, but this one probably broke a record. I hand him a towel when he steps out and he doesn’t waste time toweling off.
“Didn’t think you want to borrow a pair of Ouray’s boxers,” I tell him.
“You’d be right,” he grumbles.
I watch as he puts on the sweats commando, and almost feel guilty for wishing he’d just stay naked for my viewing pleasure. I love his body. Big, solid, strong, with just the right amount of padding to make it comfortable. I’m disappointed when he tugs the shirt down.
“Now let me have a look at those hands.” I give him a little shove into the bedroom and he takes a seat on the edge of the bed. “How is the other guy?”
I try to make light of the situation, because truthfully, the way he’s looking at me makes me a little nervous. I carefully dab some gauze soaked in disinfectant on his raw knuckles but he doesn’t even flinch. I can feel his eyes on me the whole time.
“I love you.”
His voice is raspy and so soft, I’m not sure I heard him right.
My hands still as I search his face.
“What?”
“Never used those words before. They feel a bit strange on my lips.” He takes my hands in his and pulls me between his legs, his warm eyes aimed up at me. “I love you, Fee,” he says a little stronger, and his words—aided by my pregnancy hormones—have my emotions well up. “Not gonna lie, I’ve had a lifetime of second thoughts about this just in the last couple of hours. I’m not sure if I can be who you need, and I’m scared as fuck, but when I think of a future that doesn’t include you all I see is a black hole.”
“Baby…” I take his face in my hands.
“I don’t have the logistics worked out yet,” he continues, obviously not done yet. “We’re gonna need a bigger place for sure, but I’ve got money socked away. I can afford to look after you and the babies—”
I cut off the flow of his words with my mouth, kissing him deeply and putting all my feelings into the kiss.
“You are everything I need,” I whisper against his lips. “Just as you are. I’ve never trusted someone this completely, and I love you so much.”
A knock sounds at the door, interrupting our moment.
“Shit. Ravi,” Tse mumbles. “He wanted to see you. He’s been worried.”
“Go, let him in.” I step out of his hold. “I’m gonna wash my face and be right out.”
I head to the bathroom when I hear him call my name.
“Never heard those words either,” he admits when I turn my head. “Feels good.”
When I walk into Ouray’s office a few minutes later, Van is so excited in his greeting he almost knocks me off my feet.
Ravi is more cautious in his approach and stops a few steps away, staring at the mark on my face.
“I’m sorry.”
My narrowly regained composure threatens to crumble again, but I hang on. These guys are gonna have to stop apologizing or I’ll be blubbering the next nine…wait…seven months.
I close the distance and fold him in a hug.
“Sorry? Are you kidding me? If you hadn’t gotten away, you wouldn’t have been able to give Tse the information he needed to find me.” I set him back and look him in the eye. “You saved me, kiddo. You and Tse both.”
The smile is barely distinguishable, but I see it. Just a slight tug at the corner of his mouth as he ducks his head and turns to the dog for distraction.
I meet Tse’s eyes and smile. His mouth doesn’t move but I read the smile in his eyes.
These guys break my heart. Both so closed off, yet I see all of them.
“I’m hungry.”
A chuckle escapes me. Typical teenage bottomless pit.
“I could eat something too,” I admit.
“Then let’s go see if we can raid Lisa’s kitchen,” Tse suggests.
Before he has the door all the way open, Ravi darts past him, Van Gogh on his heels.
CHAPTER 29
Tse
I STARTLE AWAKE when Sophia suddenly shoots up straight in bed.
I stroke a finger over her arm and she almost jumps out of her skin, her eyes wide when she swings her head around.
“It’s just me.”
Recognition washes over her features and I gently pull her down on top of me.
“Ugh.”
“Nightmare?”
She groans in response.
I reach over to flick on a light on the nightstand and check the clock. It’s after four in the morning.
“Wanna talk about it?”
I stroke a hand up and down her back, trying not to notice she’s not wearing panties underneath an old T-shirt of mine she’s using as a sleepshirt.
“Not really,” she mumbles against my chest.
It’s the second night we’re staying at the clubhouse. After the attack on Lea and Sophia’s abduction Thursday night, Ouray shut down the restaurant for a ‘family emergency.’ It’ll stay closed today, tomorrow being Monday it would’ve been closed anyway, and the plan is to reopen on Tuesday. Sophia is determined she’ll be back at work then.
If it were up to me she’d take more time, but yesterday she announced she wanted to get back to normal. That included heading back to her place and being at the restaurant on Tuesday when it opens. We compromised. She’s going in to see her own doctor on Monday and if he gives the all-cl
ear, we’ll head back to her place tomorrow night and she opens the restaurant Tuesday morning.
We dropped in to see Lea yesterday, who is recovering well but has to stay in at Mercy until after the weekend. Something she was not that happy about. Sophia was a mess when she saw her, feeling guilty she’d been attacked but Lea waved it off. Told her it was the best compliment she’d received in years, being mistaken for the younger—and according to Lea, prettier—Sophia.
I’d kind of hoped, maybe after seeing Lea, Sophia would’ve been able to relax enough for a good night’s sleep. Instead, another nightmare.
“It may help, Fee.”
She lifts her head and rests her chin on her hands, a sly little smile on her face as she wiggles her pelvis against my fast-awakening cock.
“You know what would help?”
I grab a healthy handful of her bare ass cheek.
“What’s that, Fee?”
She drops her legs on either side of my hips and I can feel the heat of her pussy against my bare skin.
“Do I need to spell it out?”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
She answers by leaning forward, licking at my lips with the tip of her tongue. With a hand I cup the back of her head to keep her still and open my mouth, sucking her tongue inside. Fuck, yeah. I shift my grasp on her ass and dip my fingers between her legs. Slick, warm, and ready for me.
Her moan is muffled when I play with her, rolling the pad of my finger over her clit before slipping one, and then two digits inside her tight pussy.
She tears her mouth from mine and pushes herself up, reaching between her legs to take my cock in a firm hold.
“Make me forget, Tse,” she whispers, as she brushes the crown along her wet crease.
She’s beautiful, her lips swollen and eyes heavy with lust. My gaze drops to her full tits and—ignoring the bite mark—slides down to her belly, which I swear already looks a bit more rounded.
She looks wholesome and ripe, and the need to claim her erases any lingering concerns as I grab on to her hips, plant my feet in the mattress, and power up inside her.
Her mouth falls open and she drops her head back, the long lines of her neck exposed. I grunt with the effort, lifting my shoulders off the bed so my mouth can close around a dark pink nipple. The moment I suck deeply, her hands clamp on to my head as she grinds down on my cock.
It’s uncontrolled—wet, hot, and wild—and we’re not exactly quiet about it either. When she comes she cries out, and with her body still pulsing around my cock, I follow not long after on a roar.
Still connected, she collapses on my chest, both our bodies slick with sweat as we catch our breath. She whimpers when my softening cock slips out of her.
“I should clean up,” she mutters, suddenly sleepy again.
I tighten my arms around her.
“Later. Close your eyes.”
I don’t have to wait long for her breathing to deepen as she succumbs to sleep.
Sleep eludes me but I hold her safely in my arms while she grabs a few more hours.
I use the time to plan for our future.
_______________
“We got the dealer. The suspect in the attack on Lea. Picked him up yesterday.”
“Where is he?” Kaga growls, instantly on his feet.
We’re crowded around the big table in Ouray’s office. Gomez, Luna, Ramirez, Sophia, and most of the brothers.
“Sit your ass down,” Ouray barks. “Last thing Lea needs is a fucking husband behind bars.”
Kaga turns on him.
“He. Cut. My. Wife.”
I feel him. Fuck, what I wouldn’t have given to kill that bastard, Manny, myself. Instead, I have to live with the knowledge he still haunts my woman in her dreams. For that alone I’d like to have seen him suffer. At least I have some comfort in knowing his brains are splattered all over that room where he kept her.
“Karma will get him eventually,” Ramirez promises. “It’s inevitable with lowlifes like him.”
Gomez just briefed us that the FBI was able to lay charges against nine members of the Amontinados, not counting Salinas. Some of the names are familiar, despite not being in the same line of business anymore, we’ve continued crossing paths with the club over the years. Mostly at rallies, like the one in Moab.
Most of the charges are drug related—the feds found a cache of illegal narcotics during the execution of a search warrant at their clubhouse—but there are also several charges for murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and assault.
In short, the Amontinados have been decimated, with the bulk of the brotherhood facing lengthy prison terms.
Can’t say I’ll be mourning the loss.
Sophia
“Let me do something.”
Lisa looks up from the dough she’s kneading on the flour-dusted counter when I walk in.
Tse just left with Honon, for the FBI office, to pick up their bikes Gomez had arranged to be towed back to Durango. I voiced concern for Honon to get on the bike with a fresh gunshot wound to the leg, but he just laughed it off. Told me he’d had injuries worse than a little hole in his leg.
These guys, so tough and casual when it comes to their own well-being, but they treat their women like precious cargo. Kaga’s reaction at yesterday’s briefing by law enforcement was evidence of that.
As a further case in point, when we got back from my appointment with the doctor this morning, Tse’s overprotective side came out in full force. Dr. Cairns told me to be prepared to need more rest and take some extra naps where I can. Apparently carrying twins takes a lot out of you.
Tse interpreted that to mean I have to take naps and therefore can’t go back to work full time. That resulted in a doozy of an argument when we got back to the compound. I’m sure anyone anywhere in the clubhouse would’ve heard us, because despite being behind closed doors in Ouray’s bedroom, we weren’t exactly quiet.
Tse stormed off and I felt it prudent to hide out in the bedroom a little longer. Especially since I didn’t want to walk into the clubhouse with those damned tears I seem to be shedding at the drop of a hat still damp on my face. When I felt it safe to come out, Tse and Honon had already left, as Wapi informed me.
I’m thinking when Tse goes back to work on the house tomorrow and I start at the Backyard, we’ll soon be able to find some normalcy back. At least I hope so.
“Can you handle rolling meatballs?” Lisa asks, pointing at a large metal bowl with a massive amount of ground beef. “I’ve already spiced it.”
“Yeah, of course I can.”
I wash my hands at the sink and dive in.
“Hmmm.”
I glance at Lisa.
“What?”
“No nausea? No weird aversions?”
Shaking my head I tell her, “No. Why?”
“Some pregnant women don’t have the stomach for it.”
I drop the ball I was shaping onto the tray and turn to face her.
“You heard.”
She snorts and rolls her eyes.
“Honey, don’t think there was anything living between here and the city that could’a missed that. But I already knew. Not from you mind you.” She wags a dough-covered finger at me. “Had to find out from Brick.”
Right away my eyes well up. Dammit.
“He didn’t get it from me,” I assure her. “Look, Lisa, I would’ve told you before anyone else, but we agreed to keep it to ourselves a little longer. At least I thought we did. It was a surprise—”
“Oh, I bet it was,” she scoffs, but she does it with a twinkle in her eye.
Thank God.
“I’m only eight weeks. I…I mean we weren’t even sure and so much happened. We’ve barely had a moment to let it sink in. I just wanted a moment to get used to it myself before making any announcements.”
Lisa bursts out laughing.
“Well, honey, I have news for you. By now the entire club knows you’re having twins
. These boys are like old wives the way they talk. Trust me, the word’s already spread far and wide.” She gestures at the big bowl of meat I have my hands in. “Why do you figure I’m making twice my usual? That clubhouse is gonna be full tonight. Everyone’s gonna be flocking in for dinner and congratulations.”
Of course that breaks the dam and I end up sobbing on Lisa’s shoulder. She assures me the tears are better than morning sickness—which I seem to have been spared, at least so far—and that I’ll get back to my normal self soon enough.
God, I hope so.
I finished rolling eighty-seven large meatballs, and am tossing the second of two salads when I feel Tse’s lips on my neck.
“You’re on your feet,” he rumbles against my skin.
Despite the sweet kiss and the endearing concern, his words annoy me.
“Let’s make a deal,” I snap, turning around. “How about you let me decide when I’m tired and need to get off my feet. I understand it’ll become tough soon enough, but I’m not about to lie in bed for the next seven months, give or take. If you think I have a temper now, I’ll be downright violent then.”
I hear Lisa chuckle and notice Tse is grinning as he pulls me to him.
“Glad to see that bite hasn’t suffered,” he shares before laying a wet one on me.
He makes me forget my surroundings as I wind my arms around his neck.
“Excuse me, I’m trying to cook dinner here,” Lisa grumbles, bumping my hip with hers.
Tse grins against my lips.
“Love you, Fee.”
I smile into his soft eyes.
“Love you back.”
“Well, good Lord Almighty, my teeth hurt with all that syrup. Ya hafta do that here?”
Tse chuckles as he releases me and turns to Lisa instead, planting a big smooch on her cheek.
“You’re a shit liar, Lisa,” he teases her. “You love it.”
She pushes him off and swats him with a dish towel.
“And you’re a menace,” she taunts back with a sparkle in her eyes. “Go on—out—both of you!”
_______________
She wasn’t lying.
The entire club turned out—brothers, wives, children—there’s no room left to sit.
