“Speaking of rings,” I say, getting down on one knee.
“Atticus? What…what are you doing?” she whispers.
“Making it permanent, Hellcat. You gonna marry me or what?”
“You didn’t exactly ask, Atticus!”
“Not gonna ask, Piper. There’s no need, I won’t take the chance of you saying no. I won’t ever let you go, Piper. Swear it on my life, I’ll do everything I can to be the best husband to you. I won’t be perfect, we won’t be perfect. We’ll probably fight like cats and dogs, but I’d rather you scratch, pull, and throw me down a flight of stairs every single day of our lives, than to not wake up with you in my arms each and every morning. So, slide the ring on and let’s start planning a trip to the justice of the peace already.”
“Well, when you put it like that, how can I say no?” she questions, taking the ring and sliding it on her finger. “And for the record, we wouldn’t have gone down that flight of stairs if you hadn’t decided to run from me.”
“Shut up and kiss me, Hellcat.”
15
Piper
Six weeks later
Destiny has healed physically, but not so much emotionally and psychologically, she’s still an absolute wreck.
Silas has become her protector, even from me. Like I’d ever do anything to upset her, or hurt her. Anyways, today is the day that Atticus and I are getting married. And I have a huge bomb to drop on him after we say our I do’s. We’re getting married at the house, we hired a justice of the peace to come here and perform the ceremony.
Jonas has a new love interest, but that’s his story to tell. Suffice it to say, he’s gone more than he’s been around, and his comments when he’s asked why, are monosyllabic in nature.
I look in the mirror, and am both surprised, and happy with my appearance. I’ve regained the weight I lost, something that Atticus seems to appreciate. Fondly. I managed to find a dress that was appropriate. Still not sure how I was able to go to an actual store, but Mr. Growly Britches allowed it. Destiny went with me and even though she didn’t say much, when I put this one on, I saw a glimpse of who she was before her abduction.
I can only hope that Silas and the people he’s hired for her to talk to will bring her fully back to me. I don’t know what happened to her while they had her, because she’s been tight-lipped, but based on her reaction to the simplest of things, it was bad. My heart breaks because she was an innocent in a villain’s game and I think she’ll be paying for it for a very long time to come.
Then again, Silas has been a man on a mission. He’s always bringing her things when he comes back and I’ve seen the rare smile whenever he gets it right. I see her watching, and following him around. He seems to make her feel safe, and there’s nothing else I could ask for her right now than that.
I hear a knock on the door, then a masculine voice say, “Piper, sister, it’s time.” I smile when I realize that it’s Silas. I love it when they refer to me as their sister.
“Coming!” I call out, taking one last look at myself, and pushing my long hair off my shoulder and watch as the curls fall down my back. I smile at myself, and for the first time in my life, it’s a genuine smile, not one I’ve had to plaster on my face. I grab my flowers, a simple bouquet of daisies and baby’s breath, and open the door. “Ready,” I tell him.
“You look absolutely stunning, sister.” He bends over, and places a gentle, yet brotherly, kiss on my forehead.
“You clean up nicely yourself, Silas. Where’s Destiny?” I ask, because usually where you see one, the other is right next to them.
“She’s sitting with Jonas, he’s keeping an eye on her for me.”
“I’m surprised he’s even here,” I mock in surprise.
“Do you think either one of us would miss this day? This is the day that you officially become one of us.”
“Don’t make me cry, Silas! I mean it, I worked really hard on making sure my makeup is perfect.”
“You’d be beautiful with a sack over your face, you don’t need that shit anyways.” Well, I can’t tell if that was a compliment or not.
“Thank you? I think.” I hear the wedding march begin to play. He takes my elbow and intertwines it with mine.
“It’s time to make it official. You do still wanna do this right? Because if not, I have a really fast car and I could zoom you on outta here.” I can tell he’s teasing me, just last night he told me I was too good for his brother and Atticus didn’t deserve me.
“Yes, I still want to do this. You got a death wish?”
“He’d have to catch me first,” Silas jokes.
“He’d love the chase and you know it,” I seriously say. Because my man loves a good chase, trust me, I know that for a fact. I had him playing ‘chase the floozy’ just the other night. You know what they say about role playing in the bedroom and never letting things get dull. Let’s just say, we took that idea to a whole other level.
My next words stall in my throat as I see Atticus waiting for me next to the justice of the peace that came to the house. I can’t believe he allowed someone to come in and transform the backyard into our own mini-paradise. As I draw closer, I see his eyes look a bit glassy and I can’t help but tease him, just a bit.
Leaning up on my toes, I stroke his cheek and whisper, “Those aren’t tears I see, are they, Roughrider?”
“Allergies, Hellcat.” I call bullshit on that one.
Allergies my ass. My man might be a ‘bad motherfucker’ to those he’s assigned to take down, but deep inside, there’s a side of him that only I get to see. “Love you, Atticus,” I whisper as I take my place next to him, my hand firmly grasped in his.
“Love you more, Piper.” The first time he came out and said those words to me, I nearly slipped and hit my head on the shower stall. He had been saying ‘ditto’ every time I would tell him that. Then out of the blue, we’d just finished having sex in the bathroom and he said those three magical words. I was shocked, to say the least.
“We are gathered here today…” I hear started, I semi listen out of my ears, but my eyes are drawn to his the entire time. We both repeated what we were told to, and before I know it, I’m hearing, “You may now kiss your bride.” And he does, he bends me backwards in a dramatic dip, and kisses the holy shit out of me. It wasn’t really a kiss appropriate for company, but that’s my man for ya. He never does anything half assed.
“Well, Mrs. Nelson, what adventure should we take next.”
I place my finger on my cheek, pretending to think before I say, “It’s a road we’ll have to cross when we get there.” I’m not ready to share my news…just yet.
*
Atticus
*
We’re sitting at the picnic table in the backyard. Piper is laying her head on my shoulder as she rubs her fingers up and down my new tattoo on my arm. It has her name scrawled in cursive. With two wedding bands joined together. I don’t do hearts, so the rings were my consolation. I surprised her with it two nights ago, I wanted to give it forty-eight hours to heal before our big day.
She cried when I showed it to her, and has even insisted on being the one to clean it and put the cream on it.
“You’ll need to get another one placed right here,” she says, pointing under her name.
“Never, that’s a place reserved for you.”
“What if we have kids, where will they go?” I see mischief dancing behind her eyes. She’s up to something, but I’ll give her time, she’ll tell me when she’s ready.
“I’ll find a place for our childrens’ names.”
“You may wanna get started on that, because in seven and a half months, you’ll be too late.” I look down at her, and it takes me a minute for it to sink in.
“Holy shit! I’m gonna be a dad!” I hear a bunch of cheers, but my eyes and ears, are only for her.
“That you are, Roughrider.”
*
The End…until the Epilogue
Epilogue
It’s been a little over six weeks since I started my stakeout of Sinclair’s widow. I was drawn to her from her photographs, but those have nothing on the real live version of her.
*
Raven Robenstein.
Now that’s a woman I can sink my teeth into.
She has long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a body that makes a man quiver in anticipation. And those legs, don’t even get me started on those.
I just need to figure out how to approach her without giving away the fact that we were responsible for her asshole husband’s sudden disappearance, and demise. I did manage to do some things behind the scenes, and the monies that were in his name were delivered to her house.
In cash.
I remember the look on her face when she opened her door and saw the bag sitting there. She carried it in side and I watched through her open living room window as she opened the bag and pulled out the note.
*
Raven,
Trust me when I say that you’ve earned every penny of this and more. Please use it to take care of yourself and your son.
Forever your new and devoted friend,
J
*
She was smart, though, she didn’t just run to her bank and make a hefty deposit, which would have drawn suspicion her way. No, she opened several new accounts, made a decent deposit, and put the rest in the firesafe box that I know is in her bedroom closet.
But yet, I sit. I watch. I wait.
I’m biding my time, and getting as much of a paper trail as I can to show her. I mean, without proof, why would I expect her to believe a word I say? I’m a stranger to her.
I wouldn’t trust me.
Not without an indisputable amount of documentation.
But I long for that day to come, the one where I can knock on her door and speak to her face-to-face. Her kid is standoffish with anyone but his mother. I’ve seen proof of this when I’ve followed her to the grocery store, bank, and when she took him to purchase a new pair of shoes.
My fists clench wondering what that bastard said or did that has that little guy scared of his own shadow. I remember how that feels and mentally vow to do everything I can to help him overcome that feeling.
My goals set, I leave and head back to the office to see if any of the feelers I put out into cyberspace have caught anything yet.
*
Raven
*
I don’t know why my husband has suddenly up and disappeared. He’s never given me the freedom before. What’s happened now? I don’t ask because I miss him, I ask because I’m terrified he’ll come back.
My son is scared to death of him.
My family refuses to have us over because of the way he acts and treats us.
My friends, the few I had anyway, have abandoned me.
It’s weird, because my dad’s the one who insisted on this marriage merger to begin with. I couldn’t stand my husband on first glance, but I did what I had to do for my family. It was sheer dumb luck that I got pregnant the first time out of the gate. Thankfully, he hasn’t touched me since that one time. I shudder at the memory of him.
In a nutshell, it was awful.
I know he has women on the side. I’m not dumb enough to believe a man like him can go without. If I had proof of it, it would be enough to file for a divorce without any backlash from my family. Not that they like him, but they like his contacts.
But with his sudden disappearance, I have a feeling that something bad is coming my way.
Stay tuned for Jonas’ and Raven’s story
About Liberty
Liberty has been an avid reader for most of her life. When she was younger she used to sit and fill spiral notebooks full of stories for her grandmother. As she got older, she took the jobs needed for raising her boys as a single mom until she met her amazing husband. She has stopped working in the last few years and started off by promoting authors, then she took up blogging and reviewing for authors. This has led her down the path of writing and creating characters and telling their stories. She loves getting creative and working behind the scenes with her characters and bringing her imagination to life.
*
Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlibertyparker/?ref=bookmarks
About Darlene
I am a transplanted Yankee, moving from upstate New York when I was a teenager. I live with the brat-cat pack and a small muffin dog, all rescues, as I plot and plan who will get to “talk” next!
*
Find me on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/darlenetallmanauthor
Other Books by Liberty
*Rage Ryders MC*
Taken by Lies
Taken by Rage
Taken by Vegas
Taken by Sadistic
Taken by Chaos
Taken by Temptation
*
*Current Standalones*
What Should’ve Been
Charlee’s Choices
*
Diva’s Ink Trilogy
Blank Canvas
Clean Slate
Beautiful Template
Other Books by Darlene
*Mischief Kitties*
Co-written with Cherry Shephard and Alex J.:
The Mischief Kitties in Bampires & Ghosts & New Friends Oh My!
The Mischief Kitties in The Great Glitter Caper
*
*Standalones*
Want to read my books?
“Bountiful Harvest”
“His Firefly”
“His Christmas Pixie”
“Her Kinsman-Redeemer”
“Operation Valentine”
“His Forever”
“Forgiveness”
“Reese Black Tuxedoes MC
“Christmas With Dixie”
“Our Last First Kiss”
Liberty and Darlene’s Co-written Series
RGMC
Braxton
Hatchet
Chief
Smokey & Bandit
Law
Capone
*
Old Ladies Club
Book 1 you can find under author Erin Osborne
Book 2 you can find under author Kayce Kyle
Book 3 you can find under Darlene Tallman
Book 4 coming soon and will be published under Liberty Parker
*
Next Generation of RGMC
Talon and Claree
Jaxson and Ralynn…TBA
*
Nelson Brothers Trilogy
Seeking Our Revenge…
Seeking My Forever…TBA
Seeking My Destiny…TBA
Seeking Our Revenge Page 15
