by Joy Blood
“That motherfucker. I should have kept him alive so I could tear him limb from limb. Fuck!” He grips at his bandana and rips it off his head, ringing it between his fists.
“Dad,” Brook tries to stop him, but it doesn’t work. Gin is too far gone in his anger.
“We will get whatever you need, baby girl. Anything. Grace can help. She’s gone through this—”
“Gin, stop. It’s okay.”
“Okay? That motherfucker rapes you and—”
“I wasn’t. I promise.”
“Weren’t? You’re sure?”
She nods. “The doctor said there was no sign. It happened before I was taken,” she explains, sitting up further in the bed.
“Before,” Gin says, then goes quiet again, looking over Brook, trying to solve the puzzle—a puzzle he instantly solves when Brook’s gaze flicks to mine behind him. He isn’t stupid. With the one glance, he turns, a whole new look of fury written all over his face.
“Something you need to tell me, brother?” Gin all but growls, getting his chest up close and personal with mine, his face right in mine.
“I love her, G.” The words leave my mouth in a whoosh as his heavy fist collides with my midsection.
“You motherfucker! You dare tell me that shit!”
“It’s not a lie.”
“I bet it ain’t. You love ‘em all, don’t you? Love and fuck them all. Jesus. You take advantage of my little girl while I’m fucking dead, then you let her get taken right from the clubhouse steps! I should fucking gut you here and now, you prick.”
“Gin! Don’t, please. It wasn’t all him. God, I’ve had a crush on Sage since I was fifteen!”
Gin looks to Brook, then back at me, right before he slams a fist into my face.
“Since she was fifteen?”
“No! Shit. Nothing happened between us back then. She was a kid.”
“She’s a kid now!” Gin roars, lunging forward to grab my letter jacket his grip. “Get the fuck out before I do something that ends in red.” Gin shoves me backwards toward the door and I barely catch himself before falling. I nod in understanding and chance a glance back to Brook, who’s trying to get out of the bed to stop me. We lock eyes for a brief second, and I shake my head for her to stop.
“We’ll talk later,” I promise and walk away, hoping to fuck it isn’t the wrong call.
Fifty-Three
Brook
“Gin. Dad. Please, just listen. Please,” I plead, trying to keep him from going after Sage and beating him into the ground. “He tried to keep away from me—”
“Not fucking hard enough,” Gin growls, turning to face me again. There’s so much hurt and anger in his eyes. “I can’t do this right now. I need to work this out.” He walks out of the room before I can answer.
“Oh god. This is all going to hell.”
I wake when the nurse comes in to take my vitals and says something about the doctor coming by to check on the status of the baby. I shake my head when she says it, as if I had forgotten what happened earlier. I’m having a baby. Sage’s baby. Crap, Gin is going to kill Sage. I try to get out of bed, but my feet touch the floor and almost give out from under me. “And what do you think you’re doing?” Grace asks, bustling into the room, a bright smile on her face. Gin coming back from the dead has brought her back to life too. She no longer has dark circles under her eyes and her smile isn’t fake.
“I need to get to Sage. Gin is going to kill him.” I try to pull my stupid hospital gown tighter around my backside.
“Might pound on him a little, but Sage is his brother, has been for a long time. He won’t kill him, and even if he wanted to, the club wouldn’t let him,” Jason says, coming into the room behind Grace.
“You need to go to the clubhouse to make sure. Please, Jason. He can’t hurt Sage. Not for this. What’s between us isn’t just some fling,” I explain as Grace forces me back onto the bed and tucks the covers over my lap.
“He’ll calm down. Just give him a little time. It took him forever to be okay with me and him together. Fuzz was Gin’s best friend, and I’m his daughter. He’ll come around. Trust me,” Grace assures me, but still I have my doubts. When someone else comes walking into the room rolling a machine behind them, I push my thoughts to the side.
“Hello. I’m Doctor Madison. I’m the OBGYN. I’m here to give you an ultrasound. See how that baby is doing,” she says, a big red lipstick lined smile on her wrinkle free face. I settle down for her to get everything into place, and Jason and Grace stay when I tell them not to leave. I wish Sage were here to see this, but I’m glad my brother and stepmom are.
Doctor Madison goes about pulling up my gown and squirting some blue goo on my flat stomach. “Now, I’ll warn you, the fetal heartbeat can’t be detected until the six to seven week mark, so don’t panic if you don’t hear anything. We are just checking to make sure there aren’t any complications due to your abduction,” she explains as the screen fills with a static image. She clicks away at the keyboard, then points to a black oval in the middle of the white and black mess. “Right there, that teeny tiny little gray speck, is what you have growing inside you. Kind of hard to believe in just a few months that will be a baby.” She clicks at the keyboard again. “I’ll get a picture to show off. Oh, and look here, it’s small, but that little flicker? That’s the heartbeat.” She shines a smile at me, but I don’t see it. I’m too focused at the little spot on the screen. All too quickly, it vanishes as she takes away the wand, but then she hands me a piece of paper. “Congratulations, Ms. Mathers. You’re going to be a mom.”
Fifty-Four
Sage
My brothers around the table don’t look my way as I step into the room—except Gin. He glares at me as if I’m not the person he took in all those years. “Close the door behind you, Sage,” Rock tells me, as if I’m walking into my very own execution. I do as instructed, and move farther into the room. For the first time, I feel unwanted by my club, like an outsider. “Gin, you want to start?” Rock asks from the head of the table. Gin doesn’t say anything, just keeps his eyes trained on me as he stands from his chair and starts toward me, fury set deep in his features. He doesn’t hold back. Full force, he slams his fist into my face, then goes for my ribs. I double over, and take another hit to my face. Fire builds inside me, the urge to fight back as any man would but I tamper it down. I deserve this, knew it was coming and accept it. I take my punishment like a man, like a member of the Hell’s Riders MC. It goes on, Gin hitting me until he tires and steps back. I can already feel my left eye closing shut and the blood running down my chin from my mouth as he stands tall in front of me.
“I want you gone. I don’t want to see your face in this clubhouse,” he tells me, making my world crumble apart, but I take it. It’s what I deserve—what I knew would happen when he found out I fell for his daughter.
“Already talked to Eagle. He’s expecting you,” Rock informs me as I straighten and square my shoulders, looking Gin directly in the eye. The promise of not being stripped of my cut but going back to where it all began, in Rhino, serves to bring my spirits up slightly. Gin has every right to want me gone and I won’t argue. This is his way of dealing and must have brought it to a vote, which, since I’m leaving, they voted and it passed.
“You can hate me all you want, but at some point, this needs to get behind us. For her and the baby, you know that. I will go, but if she wants to come with me, you can bet your ass I’m taking her,” I declare, almost earning another round with Gin’s fists, but Jake holds him back, whispering something in his ear that calms him.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Gin growls with venom, pointing toward the door for emphasis, but I don’t get far before Rock calls out my name.
“Going to need your patch, brother.”
Nodding, I strip off my cut and toss the leather down to my President, who promptly takes out his knife and begins cutting my Sergeant at Arms patch from my cut. With each stitch being sliced, I feel
the blade pierce my soul, but I hold steady.
“Ringer,” he calls out, tossing me my leather. I catch it in one hand and watch as he slides the patch I’ve had stitched to me for over a decade to Ringer. I force myself to swallow down the bitterness forming in my throat.
“See you on the road, brothers,” I say, nodding to the ones who look my way. Then, I’m out the door, slinging my cut back over my shoulders.
“Voted against it. Sorry, brother,” Ringer tells me, leaning against my door as I gather my things together.
“Appreciate that,” I grunt in response.
“He’ll get over it. Give it some time. He’s just pissed now. Pres figured it best given Gin’s temper to have you elsewhere until this blows over.” I nod, agreeing. Gin and his damn temper. “You going to try to get her to come with you?” I pause in my packing. Driving to the hospital and tossing her over my shoulder and taking her with me has crossed my mind, but it would only make shit worse.
“I will let her decide. She’ll know where I am and how to get there. Rest is up to her.”
We talk for a while more before I’m packed and ready to leave. I bypass anyone who sees me go and walk out of the clubhouse, hoping it won’t be the last time I step foot in this place.
Fifty-Five
Brook
“He did what?” I yell at my brother, as if it’s his fault Gin had Sage kicked out of the club. Well not out, but—
“He’s part of the Rhino chapter now. Nothing you or me can do about it, sis. Just is.”
“I need to see him.”
“He left already. Three days ago.” His words cut too deep. I find myself floating back down onto the bed. I’ve been out of the hospital for two days now, living with Gin and Grace again. Gin still hasn’t talked to me—hasn’t even looked my way since I have been here. Grace, on the other hand, has been everywhere. She won’t leave me alone, and the only time I get to myself is when I’m in the bathroom or sleeping. Let’s just say she probably thinks I have a stomach issue.
“He didn’t say goodbye.” I don’t even realize I’m crying until the fat teardrops hit my arms.
“Sis, Dad told him to get out. He did what he was told. At least Dad didn’t kill him.” My eyes widen and my hand clasps over my mouth as another sob gets lodged in my throat. “Relax, it was a joke. Dad wouldn’t kill him. They go way back, probably part of the reason he is so pissed. I mean, what were you thinking? Gin and Sage are practically the same age and have been in the club just as long as each other.”
“I guess I just can’t help but fail people…especially Gin,” I grumble into my hands, rubbing the tears from my cheeks.
“You didn’t fail me, Brooklyn. If anything, I failed you,” Gin says, breaking the long silence between us and stepping into my room. “Give us a second, Jason.”
“You got it. See ya later, sis.” Jason shoots me a wink and walks out of the room, Gin closing the door behind him.
“I didn’t think you could stand the sight of me.” He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out as he steps toward me on the bed.
“Not even close. You’re my little girl, and I have known—I know who he is. How he works, and to find out you two…fuck.” He bends his head and tugs at his hair, ready to rip it out.
“He’s good to me. Believe me. He tried like hell to stay away from me.”
He curses again and steps closer to the bed. “Do me a favor and let’s not talk about…that. Okay?”
I nod my response, but don’t say anything else, not knowing what else to even say. I know this man, he’s my father, but I don’t know him as my dad. Not like I should—not like Jason does. We stay there in silence, not looking at each other until he speaks again.
“I’m sorry. For how I handled things with you back then. I fucked up and I didn’t know how to fix it. I told myself I was doing the right thing by letting you go stay with your mom, but I was just copping out. It’s what I have always done. Shit, I still do it now, though Grace don’t let me get away with it much anymore,” he admits with a smirk.
“I’m glad you two have each other. And I’m glad you aren’t dead,” I whimper the last part with a slight smile at the end.
“Me too. I hate the shit storm it all caused, but having you here now with me, talking to me, it’s almost worth it.” I smirk and hold up my hand, showing off the bandaged stump of my pinky. “I said almost,” he declares with a smile.
“Stay as long as you want, Brooklyn. You are always welcome in this house. Don’t ever forget that.” He looks me right in the eye and gives a nod when I smile and tell him I won’t. “He wants you with him. I won’t stop you if you decide to be with him either. As long as you come back for holidays and shit, I would like to get to know my grandson.” He pauses, wincing only slightly. “Or granddaughter. I’d also like to know my daughter once again too. Just don’t bring Sage with you, makin’ no promises not to shoot him if I see the man again.” With that, he steps out of the room and closes the door behind him, letting his words knock the wind right out of me.
Fifty-Six
Sage
Two months later
I nod at Pria to fill my glass again, and let the liquid roll down my throat, the sting no longer present. “Hitting it hard today, aren’t you?” Pria asks, raising her perfectly plucked eyebrow at me. I wave her off. It’s no business of hers why I’m drinking. The past two months have been great, when it comes to being welcomed into the Rhino chapter. But the past two months regarding Brook and the fact that I haven’t heard from her have been fucking hell. No, hell isn’t quite the word for it—purgatory comes close, but it feels much worse. Each day after I left, I picked up my phone with the intention of calling her, just to hear her voice. Then two fucking weeks after picking my balls off the ground, I called, only to find her phone disconnected. From there, I called everyone else I could think of. All of the women married to my brothers. None of them would help, and I swear to fuck one time I called Ari, Brook was right there across from the woman, but still, I got nothing. I even called her brother, but he was fuck all help too. Telling me when she was ready to talk to me, she would. But today isn’t the fucking day, nor were the last sixty.
I gesture for another round when Brood comes stomping up to sit next to me at the bar, roughly pulling his stool out in a huff. “Fuckin’ women,” he grumbles, and Pria promptly drops down a fresh glass and a bottle of Lord Clavert. Brood bypasses the glass and twists the cap off, tossing it onto the floor without a care before taking a long pull straight from the bottle.
“You have to pay for the whole bottle, Brood. No freebies,” Pria warns, and he just glares her way.
“I got it, Pria.” I toss another bill onto the bar, which she quickly snatches up. “Old lady problems?” I know Brood has an old lady, has since high school, though she isn’t much of a wife to the man. Gone more than she’s around, and when she is around, she’s high as a kite.
“Nah. That shit hasn’t changed,” he grumbles, taking another swig. “Cora,” he says, coming back to the problem after another long drink. “Bitch says she’s knocked up. My kid too, she claims.” I give a noncommittal shrug, knowing full well what he means by claims. The woman has been with every man in the club who ain’t tied down, even tried to climb up on my dick once or twice since I’ve been here. “She just showed up at the club and asked for money to get an abortion. I tossed some at her and got the fuck out,” he says, making my gut churn, wondering if that’s something Brook has considered, or god fucking forbid has already gone through with. It gives me an overwhelming urge to try calling for a third time today.
“You aren’t concerned it might be yours?”
“‘Course I am. But, fuck, that woman is in no way mother material. Shit, she probably gets higher than my damn wife, and maybe even together. No, whoever the kid belongs to, it’s a courtesy to the poor kid. No one should have to come into this world addicted to smack and grow up with a drugged-out mom. No fucking way,” he says, hitting at s
omething deep rooted in his soul I decide not to touch on. Skeletons have a way of hanging around to drag you down, right back to the grave they refuse to rest in.
“I hear ya, brother,” I say, and watch as he tips his bottle to fill my empty glass.
“You ever hear from her?” he asks me as I knock my drink back. The whole damn club knows my business, Gin made sure to let them all know the reason for my forced transfer.
“No. Still won’t answer,” I admit, then glance down at my phone to see if she may have called. Of course she hasn’t, but I still keep looking. “She won’t either. Got a lot to process, and if Gin has a say in it—which he does—I won’t ever see her again.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, brother. He’s a hard ass, but wasn’t it him who married his best friend’s daughter?” Brood asks, referring to Fuzz, Grace’s biological father she never got the chance to meet before he died. Gin promised he would look out for the girl, but the fucker fell in love with her.
“Yeah, that would be him. Only difference there is Fuzz is gone and ain’t coming back from the dead to kill him for touching his little girl, like Gin did. Fucking Ringer warned me. Said Gin would come back from the dead and kill me for being with Brook. Never in a million would have believed him.”
“Fuck yeah. Ain’t that some shit,” Brood chuckles.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad my brother is still alive, I fucking am, but damn—it’s just fucked up.”
“Agreed.” We sit there at the bar in the small town of Rhino and finish off the bottle, shooting the shit with the customers who come in and out of the establishment. Some are members, some just people who live in the town, population of one-fifty. It’s small, the club taking up a big part of the town. When the school shut down due to a decrease of funds and teachers, the club came in and bought it and made it into the Rhino Chapter. Then they bought up all the houses surrounding it, most of which were empty or close to being condemned. The remaining occupants either moved away to get as far from the club as they could or took a payout to move to the closest town seventeen miles away. There still are some who live in town, like Pria. She owns the bar and lives above it, handed down to her from her dad. If I remember correctly.
