Blood & Bones: Sig (Blood Fury MC Book 2)

by Jeanne St. James

  “The fuck you need to know everything,” Sig growled. “All you gotta know is she’s givin’ you this kid out of the kindness of her fuckin’ heart. That’s all you gotta know.”

  “Not good enough.”

  Carly chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced from her husband to Sig. “He needs to know.”

  “The fuck he does!” Sig yelled, feeling his temper begin to rise dangerously.

  She placed a hand on Bryson’s stomach and told him, “I don’t know all the details either, Matt. I only know some of them. And the little I know is bad... But...” She looked at Sig. “I should at least tell him who’s involved. Just in case.”

  Bryson’s eyes narrowed and his body tensed. “Who?” When no one answered, he spun toward Sig. “Who the fuck is she to you anyway? She isn’t your wife. She probably isn’t even your girlfriend. Who gave you the right to make decisions for her?”

  Sig’s jaw got so tight, it popped.

  Trip was at his side in a second. “If he’s adoptin’ this baby, he’s got a right to know, Sig. He needs to know this baby might need protection.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Bryson bellowed. “Protection from who?”

  “The Shirleys,” Trip answered.

  Bryson’s head snapped back. “Holy fuck. That kid’s fathered by a Shirley?”

  “Honey...” Carly started. “It’s an ugly tale we’re not discussing here. Not now.”

  “Willingly or unwillingly?”

  “Think about it,” Trip said.

  “Fuck,” Bryson muttered after a second. “Fuck! Our kid’s going to be a product of rape. You okay with that?” he asked his wife.

  “Yes. He’ll never know and it’s the reason she’s putting him up for adoption. Our names will be on the birth certificate and no one will know but us.”

  “Carly.”

  “Matt, no. It’ll be fine. I promise. This baby will grow up healthy and whole, and very loved by us and your whole family. This baby’s an innocent in all of this. So was Autumn.”

  Bryson’s nostrils flared and he stared at his wife for a few seconds, then nodded. Then he spun again toward Sig. “Want to know names. Every single Shirley involved so we can go up there and charge them, get them to pay for the shit they did.”

  “No,” Sig said.

  “Yes,” Bryson insisted. “It wasn’t a request. It was a lawful order.”

  “They were handled. No names left to give,” Sig said.

  “What the fuck does that mean?”

  Was he fucking dense? “Means what the fuck I said. We handled it.”

  “Christ,” Bryson muttered. He shook his head. “How was it handled?”

  “Want that fuckin’ baby? Your woman want that baby?” Sig growled. “Then all you gotta know is it’s been handled.”

  “That’s not your decision. I’ve got a legal oblig—”

  Trip interrupted him. “Heard you’re a fellow jarhead. All your brothers are, too.”

  Frowning, Matt’s narrowed gaze swung to Trip. “Yeah.”

  “You see combat?”

  Something flashed behind the pig’s eyes and his brow dropped low. “Yeah.”

  “See some ugly fuckin’ things like I did?”

  Bryson’s chest rose and fell sharply, but he didn’t say anything.

  Trip kept at him. “Do things you never thought you’d fuckin’ do?”

  Matt’s nostrils flared and his eyes became unfocused.

  “Thinkin’ you did. That shit scar you?”

  Again, no answer.

  “Scarred a lot of us. We did shit we had to do. We did shit we needed to do to survive. Sometimes to survive you can’t play by the fuckin’ rules. If you done time over there, you know that. Especially durin’ combat.”

  “Last I checked we’re on American soil and this isn’t a war.”

  Trip’s eyebrows rose. “Ain’t it?”

  “We had to fight to get Red and that baby back. Seemed like a fuckin’ war to me.” Sig then added, “One I was determined to fuckin’ win. Because of it, you’ll get the baby your wife wants so badly and we get Red.”

  “Shirleys lost this battle and there were some casualties.” Trip shrugged. “None of those losses should come to light ‘cause I doubt they’re gonna be callin’ anyone to report ‘em. If they do, then you can deal with whatever legal obligation you gotta. But doubt you’re gonna hear a peep from any of those clan members.”

  The Bryson pig still wasn’t looking any kind of satisfied with what Trip said. But before anything else could be addressed, a nurse came hurrying out of what Sig assumed was Red’s room.

  “Dr. Bryson! Contractions are now about a minute long. She’s fully dilated and feels the need to push.”

  Carly gripped Bryson’s arm and gave him a big smile, a total one-eighty of her earlier bossy, pissed-off self. “If you feel the need to discuss this further with these gentlemen, honey, you do it another time. Now it’s time for what we’ve been waiting for. Both of you stay here and I’ll see if she wants either of you in there with her. I’ll be leaving it up to her, since she probably heard you fighting like damn children.”

  “It’s not my kid,” Sig muttered. He jerked a thumb toward the pig standing next to him. “It’s his. If he agrees to forget everything he heard about what happened on that mountain.”

  Carly’s gaze slid to her husband.

  Bryson muttered, “Fuck,” scraped a hand through his dark hair and nodded. “My memory sucks.”

  With a nod and an excited smile, Carly rushed down the hallway and into the room.

  Stella followed her and waited in the doorway. A few seconds later she turned and called out, “She wants both of you. Hurry up.”

  “You fuckin’ go. Like I said, ain’t my kid.”

  Bryson’s jaw shifted. “She wants you in there. Or are you going to let her down again?”

  Damn, that was just a dick thing to say. But then, pigs were nothing but tiny dicks with big badges.

  Even so, the fucker was right. He didn’t want to disappoint Red. If she wanted him with her, he was going to be with her.

  What Red wanted, Red got.

  He was such a motherfucking sucker.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Autumn swallowed hard as she stared up at Sig’s concerned eyes staring back at her.

  She hadn’t watched when Matt Bryson, with that last hard push, caught his son and then cut the cord. She hadn’t looked when she heard their son’s first soft cry.

  But it made her breasts ache.

  And her heart ache more.

  Sig hadn’t let go of her hand the whole time she’d been in the last stages of labor. From the second he and Matt had walked in the room together, he’d grabbed it and stood by her head, talking to her, encouraging her. While Matt had moved to the end of the bed where Carly was. His face didn’t show excitement but more of a bit of panic at first, which he quickly hid.

  Autumn wondered what that was about, but then, the thought of having a new baby had to be nerve-wracking. Especially since this one would be their first.

  But no matter how hard she squeezed Sig’s hand, he never let go. Not once. And he didn’t complain about his crushed fingers, either.

  He’d wiped her brow like Carly suggested. Again, without a complaint. He talked to her low and quietly, telling her this day would be the first day of her new beginning. She no longer had to think about what happened in the past and all she had to do was think about her future.

  If only it was that easy.

  And she had no idea where she’d go from here. None.

  A sob caught her attention and she twisted her head to see Carly holding her new son and crying.

  Autumn pressed her lips together and felt the burn in her own eyes.

  She wasn’t sad. She was happy.

  She was happy that with all that had happened to her, out of all the ugliness came something so beautiful.

  Not only a healthy baby boy, but a loving family for him.r />
  “He’s normal, right?” she whispered to Sig. “All his fingers and toes?”

  “Think so. Neither of them has made a shocked face or ran screamin’.”

  Autumn’s lips twitched. “Well, that’s promising.”

  “Yeah, baby, he’s good. Looks like they love ‘im already.”

  She nodded and blinked a few times, trying not to cry.

  “You sad?”

  “Tired.”

  “No shit. I’m tired for you.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead, then pressed a light one to her lips. “That was some crazy fuckin’ shit. ‘Specially when that other thing came out. Thought you were havin’ twins no one knew about.”

  “The afterbirth?”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, whatever.”

  Carly stepped closer to the bed, the now swaddled baby in her arms and a little light blue beanie on his tiny head. “Do you want to nurse him? At least for the first time? It would probably be best for him with how he was malnourished during most of the pregnancy and also with him being two weeks early.”

  She squeezed Sig’s hand, but not as tightly as during the contractions. “I don’t know if... I can.”

  “Nursing will not only be good for him, but good for you, too.”

  She could barely make out the baby’s face, but she could hear his soft sounds. Matt moved up behind his wife and put a hand on her shoulder in what looked like a silent message.

  Maybe he was worried Autumn would change her mind if she nursed the baby. She still had time to decide to keep him. But not once during the pregnancy or even during the birth had she thought she should.

  For the longest time it wasn’t a child inside her, it was just a thing she didn’t want to get attached to. Something that had been forced on her.

  And then after deciding to let Carly and Matt adopt him, she began to let herself see him as a baby, not just that seed anymore.

  “If it’ll be too much for you, don’t worry about it. I was hoping you would, at least for the first few days—”

  “First few days?” Sig asked sharply.

  “Well, until Autumn is allowed to go home and then afterward, if she wants to pump... And we can pick up the milk. With how she was malnourished when you found her, I’d like to give our son a fighting chance by having him get the colostrum she produces in the first few days. It might help with his development. Then after that it would be up to you, Autumn, how long you’d like to pump. As long as you’re willing, we’d be willing... A mother’s...” Carly grimaced. “Shit. Sorry.”

  “So, you want her to be like a fuckin’ milk cow. Treat her like livestock just like—”

  Autumn squeezed his hand, stopping him. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. What do I need to do?” She wanted to do whatever was best for the baby. It wasn’t about her. It wasn’t about the Brysons. It was all about that unplanned life brought into this world. It was all about him.

  Carly helped get the baby settled in Autumn’s arms and after a bit of encouragement, he finally latched on and began to nurse. The pull at her breast was as strong as the pull on her heart as she glanced down and watched his little mouth suckle against her.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stop the memories of how he was conceived. Tried to forget the other half of his DNA.

  Tried to forget the reason why he even existed.

  One day. One day, when she was ready, when her life had some semblance of order and normalcy, she’d do this again. On her own terms.

  One day...

  Just not today.

  Today wasn’t for her. Today was for the new Bryson baby.

  She didn’t even know his name.

  “What will you call him?”

  Carly and Matt glanced at each other, then the doctor gave Autumn a smile. “Levi. Levi Matthew Bryson.”

  “Levi,” Autumn said softly, going back to watching him nurse. “I like it.”

  “We’ll give you two a few minutes while he nurses, okay? This way,” Carly’s voice hitched, “this way if you two change your minds... if you’re even thinking... I’d like you to do it now before we take him home. I’m not sure if... I’m...”

  Matt wrapped his arm around his wife and turned her toward the door. “We’ll give you a few minutes, Autumn, just to make sure this is what you want before we put our names on the birth certificate.”

  Then they were gone.

  Autumn slipped the beanie off Levi’s head. “He doesn’t have a lot of hair.”

  “Nope,” Sig said, sitting on the edge of the bed by her hip. “And it ain’t red.”

  “It’s dark like Matt’s. That’s a good thing.”

  Sig just tilted his head like he sort of agreed but also didn’t.

  She put the beanie back in place, checked for all ten fingers and then glanced up at Sig.

  Matt and Carly wanted to make sure she was certain. But if Autumn changed her mind, it would break Carly’s heart. It was amazing how fast humans could bond with each other and fall in love. In just the little bit of time the doctor had held the baby, she saw both of Levi’s new parents fall deeply in love with him.

  But she still needed to hear it. To make sure she wasn’t the only one who saw it. To make sure she was doing what was best for Levi.

  Because he was all that mattered right now.

  She sucked in a shaky breath. “They’ll love him forever, right?”

  Sig ran his fingertips down her jawline and then tugged up her chin. “Yeah, baby.”

  Suddenly, Sig was just a blur and her voice trembled when she asked, “They’ll care for him forever, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “They’ll protect him until their dying breath, right?”

  Sig touched the beanie lightly. And for a second, Autumn thought she saw a little bit of regret in his dark eyes. “Yeah, Red. They’ll love ‘im more than anyone. You’re doin’ right. This is the best thing for ‘im.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Ain’t you?”

  She dropped her gaze down to the baby and said, “Yes. I’m sure I’m giving him the best life possible. It’s not about anybody but him.”

  “Yeah, baby,” he agreed as they heard a light tap on the door.

  It opened and the Brysons stepped back into the room. It looked like Carly had been crying. She had probably been worried Autumn would change her mind.

  Autumn wiped away her own tears. “What do we need to do now to put your names on the birth certificate?”

  Carly smiled and began to cry again. “I’m sorry. I’m usually not like this.”

  “Jesus, baby, you need to keep your shit together,” Matt said, squeezing her shoulders but there was a little bit of a shine to his eyes, too.

  “Your parents are going to freak,” his wife said to him.

  Matt groaned. “Oh yeah. Totally fucking freak since we didn’t tell anyone this might happen.”

  “We didn’t want to disappoint any of our family if this didn’t work out,” Carly quickly told her.

  The baby released her nipple and as soon as he did, Carly rushed in and took him, throwing a small towel over her shoulder, and began to burp him, the doctor’s expression soft and her eyes full of love.

  That look of awe in the doctor’s face made Autumn’s decision so much easier. “I’ll pump for as long as you need me to.”

  Carly’s red-rimmed eyes went wide. “You mean even after the first few days?”

  “Yes. For as long as what’s best for him.” Because that was what she wanted. Whatever was best for the baby.

  “But...” Carly’s eyes slid to Sig. “Does that mean you’re staying in town?”

  Before she could answer, Sig said, “Yeah. She’s stayin’ out at the farm as long as she wants.”

  They hadn’t discussed that.

  Carly frowned. “But the Shirleys...”

  “Ain’t comin’ near her ever again. Like we said out there, got things straight with them. They ain’t gonna touch Red or Levi. They�
�re both safe.”

  “We are?” Autumn asked, surprised. Did he do something to the Shirleys that would get him in trouble? Or possibly thrown in jail?

  She had no idea what went on after Stella and Dodge drove her away.

  “Yeah, baby, we got it all handled. Your decision whether to stay or go. You stay? They ain’t gonna bother you.”

  That was good news for both her and the baby, though how he got the Shirleys to agree worried her. But, still... She and Sig hadn’t discussed her staying at the farm past the baby’s birth. And they definitely didn’t discuss where she’d stay on the farm. Did he expect her to remain in his apartment with him?

  Was that what he wanted?

  Was that what she wanted?

  She was too exhausted to think about it right now. She wanted a clear head when they discussed it.

  She was just happy she’d never be forced to go back up that mountain ever again. And she wouldn’t have to worry about that clan stealing Levi from the Brysons. They could all breathe easier.

  “Autumn, I’ll have them send in something to eat and then you can get some rest. I’ll check back later to make sure everything’s okay with you. We’ll take Levi down to the nursery for now and I’ll monitor him closely.”

  “I’ll feed him whenever he’s hungry.”

  Carly smiled softly. “Thank you.”

  Matt squeezed Autumn’s blanket-covered knee, his expression serious like he was having some heavy thoughts. “You don’t know how long she’s wanted this. Long before she got stuck with me. She’s only ever wanted to be a mother and had to put that dream off when I came into her life because I struggled with it.” He paused and took a couple of breaths before continuing. “I’d seen things... Things hard to shake. But I can promise you our son will want for nothing. He’ll be extremely loved and will be a part of a family with so much love to give, sometimes it’s smothering. He’ll have cousins to grow up with, family traditions and unity, too. I promise you won’t regret your decision.” Matt grabbed her hand and ignored Sig’s scowl. “When you’re ready, anytime... anytime you want to see him, spend time with him... We’ll leave that up to you. And if you decide to be a part of his life, you’ll also have a seat at our family’s table since there’s always room for one more. I’m sure Levi’s grandparents would love to get to know you. The door will always be open.”