Born Into Destiny

by Shelly Morgan

  “You don’t need to do that! Let me give you some money. Here,” she says as she goes to hand EJ over to me, and I can’t believe my luck, but then she hesitates. Looking from me, to EJ, then down to the sling. She decides to not give him to me, but it looks like she’s going to try and put him in the sling. I can work with that.

  “Let me just get him situated, then I can go out and get you some money,” she says as she lays EJ on the coffee table, but she is still too close to him. I keep a close eye on her and once I know she’s not looking at me, I look around the living room, trying to find something that will help me get her away from him. And then I see it. My purse.

  Lying on the table behind the couch is my purse and inside it my gun. I don’t want to have to use it with EJ so close, but I’m desperate right now. I can’t let her take him out of the house. Stepping slowly and quietly over to it, I keep my eyes on her. She seems to be struggling with the sling, which is good, because it gives me more time.

  Once I’m close enough, I reach out and grab my gun, but she sees me move. I put the gun behind my back and act like I’m scratching, but instead place the gun in the waistband of my pants. “What are you doing?” she asks, suspicious now.

  Knowing I’m running out of time, I say, “I was grabbing his pacifier for you.” She doesn’t believe me so I switch tactics.

  I take a step forward and hold my hands out. “Here, let me help you.” That does the trick. She instantly stands up and holds out her hands to ward me off, but it’s too late. She’s far enough away that I’m confident I can take care of her and not harm EJ.

  Reaching behind me, I pull out my gun and take aim. As soon as she sees what’s in my hands, she tries lunging for my son, but it’s too late. I pull the trigger and watch her fall to the side, dead. She misses landing on the coffee table where EJ is lying, now crying, by just a few inches, but I had no choice. I had to shoot.

  Running over to EJ, I drop the gun and pick him up just as I hear loud footsteps coming from the kitchen into the living room. I don’t know how, but I know it’s Zane. He’s here and everything will be all right.

  “Dani!” he shouts when he makes it into the room.

  “I’m here,” I say, then start to whisper soothing words to EJ, trying to get him to stop crying. “Shhh. You’re safe, baby. Mommy has you. I’ll never let anyone take you from me. You’re safe…you’re safe.”

  Zane rushes over to me and EJ and I see Louie step over to where the nurse is lying on the floor. He’s checking to see if she’s dead, but he doesn’t need to bother. I aimed right at her head, knowing she needed to be stopped. I wasn’t going to allow her to do this to anyone else. She’s dead.

  “Are you both okay? Are you hurt?” Zane asks, panic written all over his face.

  Reaching out a hand, I try to reassure him. “We’re fine, we’re okay.”

  “I was so fucking scared, Baby Girl. I was just getting ready to leave with Harley when a nurse told me you missed your appointment. I’m so fucking sorry I wasn’t here. I’m so fucking sorry,” he says, dropping his head into the crook of my neck and he starts to shake. A few seconds later, I feel wetness dampen my shirt. I’ve only seen Zane cry one time in my life and that was when his brother, Zeke, died. Knowing that he’s crying now breaks my heart.

  “Hey, we’re okay, Zane. We aren’t hurt. You got here just in time. It’s okay. Everything is going to be just fine.” And somehow, I know it will be. Everything is going to be fine, perfect even. With Zane, my son and daughter, and everyone at the club by my side, I know that my life is going to be perfect—happy.

  I look at Louie, who is watching us, and I give him a reassuring smile. He still hasn’t recovered from when he walked into the shop and saw my office with all the blood and thinking the worst happened to me. Then when I was in a coma for four days, it really tore him up. But now, he gives me a smile back. We’re going to be okay, all of us.

  Chapter 19

  Meet Your Uncles—All Of Them

  Zane

  “Zane, I’m fine. EJ is fine. Everyone is expecting us and excited to meet Harley and see EJ. So we’re going—with or without you,” Dani says as she holds both babies, one in each arm. If I didn’t know that my woman and my son were in danger twenty minutes ago and if we didn’t just dispose of the nurse that Dani killed, I would be smiling at seeing her with both of our children.

  “Baby Girl, you’ve just been through hell. We almost lost our son, for fuck’s sake!” I try to reason.

  I can tell she’s starting to get pissed off, and not at what she should be right now—what just happened to her and EJ—but at me, when Mack comes up behind me and places his hand on my shoulder. “I think this is exactly what she needs, what we all need, Blaze. Something like this happens and it’s always better to be surrounded by those who’ve got your back. Plus, we’ve got the bar stocked to celebrate EJ and Harley, but now it looks like we’ll be celebrating more than just their birth.”

  Turning to look at him over my shoulder, I feel myself deflate. Mack is the meanest motherfucker I have seen when he’s pissed, and that doesn’t happen often, but if he’s not freaking out about what just went down, maybe I shouldn’t either. He’s right, I suppose. We do have more than just the birth of our babies to celebrate tonight. My girl is happy and healthy and she was able to keep her cool when she and our son were in danger. She was able to eliminate the threat without hesitating and without getting herself hurt or putting our son in more danger.

  Looking back at Dani, I smile and walk toward her. She’s hesitant at first, probably not knowing why I went from being a stone wall to carefree. I take her in my arms, a little awkwardly since she’s holding our son and daughter, then kiss the top of her head. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Baby Girl. And not just with how you handled what just happened. When Mack and I left this morning, you were different. Shit, you’ve been different since we came home without our daughter. But now…fuck, now you’re glowing. And the way you look holding both of my children, it makes me love you even more.”

  I don’t usually voice my feelings well or very often, but since nearly losing her four separate times and almost losing both of my kids, I think it’s about time I change that.

  Dani is still holding our babies between us when I feel her start to shake. Thinking she’s laughing at me, I release her and step back, ready to ask what’s so funny when I see that she’s standing there with her eyes closed and tears rolling down her cheeks. Caught off-guard, I just stand there for a few seconds before I look back at Mack and motion him to grab one of the babies while I grab the other.

  “What is it, Dani? Why are you crying?” I ask. She’s never really been one to show any type of emotion besides anger and happiness. Aside from when she was pregnant, that is. I’ve really only ever seen her tears when Zeke and her grandmother died. But since she’s been home from the hospital, she hasn’t shed one single tear. So why is she crying now?

  Once Mack and I have the babies out of her arms, she takes off down the hall and up the stairs. “What the fuck just happened?” I whisper more to myself than to Mack, but he answers anyway.

  “She’s probably just emotional. She’s been through a lot these past few weeks. Just give her a few minutes, she’ll be all right.”

  I pace the floor for what feels like hours with Harley in my arms, but I can’t stand waiting here any longer not knowing what is going on with Dani or what she’s feeling.

  Putting Harley down in the pack-n-play, I don’t even bother looking at Mack or telling him where I’m going—he already knows.

  When I reach the bathroom upstairs, I hear the faucet running. Knocking softly, I wait for Dani to answer. “Just a minute,” she says. I can still hear the tears in her voice, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

  She opens the door a few seconds later and before she can even say anything, I take her in my arms. “What was that, Baby Girl? Are you okay?”

  She wraps her arms around my back a
nd squeezes me tight. “I’m fine, Zane,” she whispers into my chest.

  Pulling back a few inches, but still holding her to me, I look down at her and see that her face is a little red and swollen, but the tears are no longer present.

  “Why were you crying?”

  Looking away, she says, “I don’t know. I guess I was ready for you to fight me on going to the club. But then you surprised me by saying what you did. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved everything you said. It’s just I wasn’t expecting that, ya know?”

  Taken aback, I feel like she’s slapped me. Am I that much of an ass or that closed off that me voicing my love to her so openly surprised her so much that she cried?

  “Zane, look at me,” Dani says, but I just can’t. I feel like I’ve failed her. And by failing her, I’m failing us—our family.

  When I don’t do as she says and look at her, she steps up to me and grabs my face in both her hands. “Zane. Look at me. You didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, you may not have always said those things or are mushy about your feelings, but I know you feel them. I know you love me, and Zane, that’s all that matters. I don’t need you to tell me you love me every five seconds of every day. That’s not who you are and it’s not who I am.” She pauses for a moment and then speaks again. “You just surprised me—in a good way. Those were tears of joy, I can promise you that, babe. But you have to admit, if you were expecting a fight out of me and I turned around and was happy go lucky or something, you would be surprised too. And that’s okay. I think it’s great that we can still surprise each other.”

  When she’s finished talking, I still don’t feel better about what just happened.

  “What does it say about me or about our relationship if we’re always expecting a fight out of each other, though, Dani? Or the fact that me telling you that I’m proud of you and that I love you is so fucking surprising? Tell me what’s so fucking good about that, huh?”

  Now I’m starting to get pissed. I fucking love this woman more than my own life and would do anything for her, but what if what we have is unhealthy? What if our love is toxic and no good for the other? Can I live without her in my life? Without her by my side?

  “Zane, fighting is what we do—it’s who we are. It’s not unhealthy, it’s just us, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Yes, we fight sometimes, but that’s all it is. It’s a fight. That doesn’t mean I love you any less or that you love me any less. Fighting is passion, Zane, and passion is love. So if you’re asking me if I’d rather have a passionless relationship, then the answer is no. I would live through everything that has happened in my life—my grandmother dying, knowing my father didn’t want me, and getting raped—I would do it all again if I knew that it led me to you, to what we have right now. I love you, Zane Hendricks. I’ll love you ’til the day I fucking die.”

  Hearing her say that she’d go through all that shit again just to be with me has me pissed, but I get it.

  Hearing her tell me she loves me is all I needed to know. Grabbing her face in my hands, I look her in the eyes. “I fucking love you too, Baby Girl. Always,” I say, then I take her lips in a rough kiss.

  A few minutes later, we break apart, breathless. “We should probably get going or the guys are going to get worried,” she says wistfully.

  I kiss her once more, but this time softly before I take her hand a lead her downstairs.

  ***

  Pulling into the parking lot of the clubhouse, I feel almost nervous, though I can’t pinpoint why. I do have a surprise for Dani, but that’s not it. There’s nothing to be nervous about. We’re introducing our son and daughter to my brothers tonight—their uncles—but I still feel like this is a big deal. It is a big deal, all of it.

  “Are you nervous?” I ask Dani, who is sitting in the truck beside me, not moving.

  Turning toward me, she smiles. “Yes, but not about them meeting their niece and nephew. More about what we’re about to walk into,” she says with a laugh.

  Not really following, I look at her and wait for her to elaborate.

  “Before we left, Mack told me that the guys put this party together. Said they even went as far as cleaning and decorating. I’m afraid to think of what they used for decorations—colored condoms and sex toys hanging from the ceiling?”

  Picturing what she just said has me grimacing at first, but then laughing so hard that my stomach hurts before I get serious again. “Fuck, Baby Girl, you don’t think they’d really do that, do you?” I ask. Maybe I should just turn around and head home. It can’t be sanitary to bring two newborn babies in there knowing what goes down inside when the boys let loose.

  I’m almost ready to turn the truck back on and head back home when Dani laughs and gets out of the truck. “Zane, it’s fine. No, I don’t think they would really do that, it was just funny to think about. Let’s go. I can’t wait to show our babies off to everyone.”

  She shuts her door, only to open the back door behind her to get EJ out of his car seat. Following her lead, I do the same and get Harley out of hers.

  When I meet her in front of the truck, she holds out her free arm, silently asking me to give her our daughter so she can hold both babies. Even though I want to hold Harley, I know she needs this more than I do. She missed so much already, so I can give this to her.

  I follow her into the clubhouse and once we’re inside, I stop and stare at all my brothers. They’re are all dressed nice, and looking around the room, I see a huge banner hanging over the bar that says, “Welcome home, EJ and Harley.” Blue and pink streamers hang haphazardly around the room, and blue and pink balloons are taped to different surfaces; walls, bar stools, the bar, pool table, even on the stripper pole.

  Looking toward Dani, I see her face light up like the Fourth of July. She’s smiling at our family and introducing them to our son and daughter. She looks so happy and carefree. Looking at her now, I know that I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make her look and feel like she does right now.

  Seeing Jaxon sitting in a dark corner, I head his way.

  “You ready to reveal the surprise?” I ask, anxious to see Dani’s reaction.

  When Jaxon came into town, I was pissed and leery of him, but now…I’d trust him with my life. But more importantly, I’d trust him with Dani’s and my kids’ lives.

  After all the shit went down with that nurse, Jaxon got real angry. Said he felt helpless. That something could have happened to EJ and Dani, and he wouldn’t have been able to do a single thing to help. I never expected him to come at me with his proposal of joining the club, but frankly, I’m glad he did. He’ll make a great brother.

  “Hell yes, I’m ready,” he replies.

  Slapping his shoulder, I pinpoint where Dani is standing by the bar talking to Sara and Toby, who are each holding one of the babies, then make my way toward her with Jaxon trailing behind me.

  “Baby Girl, I’ve got something to tell you,” I say in a voice void of all emotion. I don’t want to give anything away.

  Turning around to face me, she looks at me questioningly. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah. Well, actually, it’s more like I wanted to show you.” I step to the side so she has a clear line of sight to Jaxon.

  As soon as she sees him, she knows what it is I wanted to show her. Jaxon is wearing a cut with a Prospect patch on it clear as day. Gasping, she looks between me and Jaxon before hurling herself into his arms.

  “Oh my God! Are you for real right now? You better not be playing a sick joke on me or so help me, I will kick your ass; right here, right now,” the excitement clear in her voice.

  “It’s for real, Dani girl. As of this morning, I’m officially a Forsaken Sinners Prospect.”

  I only have a slight need to rip her away from him as she jumps into his arms, but I know she needs this right now. She was so happy when Jaxon came back into her life and even more so when he decided to stay. I’m just happy I was able to play a part in keeping him here for her. It’s just icing on the
cake that I got a new employee out of it and now a soon-to-be brother.

  Chapter 20

  First Birthday

  Zane

  A year ago today was the scariest and happiest day of my life; it was the day I almost lost Dani, but it was also the day my son and daughter were born. I thank God every day that He saved all three of them.

  Then the day I brought Harley home, I thought I was going to lose her again. Walking into the house and hearing that gunshot, I thought that was it. But when I saw her and our son safe, I broke down. I’ve only cried twice in my life: the day my brother died and the day I thought I lost Dani again, and our son. But once again, Dani proved that she can protect herself and that she would do anything to protect her children.

  Things are perfect now. The kids are healthy, the club is running smoothly and with no problems from rivals, and Dani got a clean bill of health from the doctor. When she was finally able to re-schedule her missed appointment from when that nurse tried to take EJ from us, they found cancer cells on her cervix. I was devastated and pissed off at the world. But then they did a biopsy to see if it was cervical cancer, and the results came back great. She’ll get checked more often, but as of today, she’s cancer free. I still freak out and worry that I’m going to lose her, but I’m trying to get better. I guess I’ll always be an “overprotective caveman,” has Dani puts it. She’s just going to have to get over it.

  I know I drive her crazy, but I need her and the kids to be safe. I know that if something were to happen to even one of them, it would destroy me. She’s just going to have to live with it, and the kids too. I’m sure when they get older, I’m going to drive them insane, especially my daughter. I’ve come a long way, but I’ll always be protective of my Dani and the kids. More so with Dani and Harley, though. It’s going to drive them all crazy.