But the VP was a good choice. He glances back over his shoulder, then nudges my man. Pyro’s eyes gleam in appreciation and can’t remove his gaze as I finish my journey to him. When I reach him, Pyro takes my hand, squeezing it so tightly, his expression so full of love, my heart feels like bursting with overflowing joy.
The ceremony itself passes in a blur. I stammer out the vows I committed to memory, and Pyro speaks from the heart. We exchange rings, then sign our names on the marriage certificate. Then it’s done.
Dad’s hired a professional photographer, and it takes an age as we pose for a hundred different shots, but I don’t care, this is a day that I’ll always want to remember. Most of the photos have me cracking up with laughter, as Beef, Demon and Pal lift their women into the air trying to make them the same height as Beth. Then Beth folds to her knees for the bridesmaid’s group shots, and, as Jay had predicted, gets several inappropriate offers which she dismisses good-naturedly.
Tables are laid out with cloths matching my colour scheme in the dining room. Speeches are said. Pyro pretending to slide under the table when Demon lists what he’s done for the club with obvious embellishments, which have everyone rolling with laughter.
It’s a great afternoon, and everyone around me seems to be having fun, just as I wanted. It’s our special day, and everyone we care about is here to share it.
When the formal activities are completed, Pyro and I have our first dance together. Once that’s finished, I lead him off the floor, picking up my purse on the way.
“Where we going?”
“Just come with me, Ro.”
“Fuck, Mel. This is the Ladies’ bathroom.” He looks around as if there’s a firing squad waiting to kill him for simply having stepped into the female domain. There’s no one else in here, so I reckon he’s safe.
Instead of answering him with words, I take the pregnancy test out of my purse. I don’t need to say anything. Immediately Pyro stops worrying about anyone coming in, in fact, I think he stops breathing as I enter a stall. Moments later I come out.
“What’s it say?”
“Got to give it a minute,” I remind him. And, as I’d done so many months before, I put it into his hands.
I could be pregnant, or the nerves of the upcoming wedding might have muddled up nature. Pyro stands, his eyes fixed on mine. I know he wants this to be positive, as much as I do.
I don’t look away from his face as he glances down. Then he throws back his head and draws in a deep breath.
“Fuck,” he growls.
My face falls.
“Best fuckin’ wedding present in the world.”
Wait. What?
“Ro?”
Before he can answer the door opens behind him.
“Get out,” he roars, without turning around to check who it is. The unknown person must have decided their need wasn’t urgent as the door immediately closes again.
“Ro?”
His hands tremble when he hands me the stick so I can see for myself. There’s a plus sign. I’m having Ro’s baby.
He picks me up, spins me around, then quickly puts me back down. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have…”
“I’m not made of glass, Ro.” I grin, wondering just how protective he’ll be now I’m pregnant again. “And let’s keep the news to ourselves, for now.”
But Pyro’s looking at me intently as he seriously says, “No, Mel. I want everyone to know. If heaven forbid, anything is going to go wrong, I don’t want to suffer in silence or hide the pain.” His hand cups my face. “Everyone out there, sweetheart, well, this will make their fuckin’ day too.”
Put like that, how can I refuse?
We exit the bathroom, finding a line waiting outside. Beth’s crossed her legs and is bouncing with her hand between her thighs. It’s so exaggerated, so I know she’s putting it on. But I don’t have a chance to say anything, as Pyro grabs my hand and takes me back into the ballroom.
He motions to the DJ who cuts the music mid-song, then bangs a spoon against a glass. When everyone is looking our way, he, to my embarrassment, holds the stick I’ve just peed on high in the air and yells, “My wife’s fuckin’ pregnant.”
The room erupts.
As if he hadn’t made it clear the first time, Pyro shouts again, “Mel’s havin’ my baby!”
My parents are the first to come up to us. Mom has tears in her eyes, and I know she’s remembering what happened before. Dad congratulates Pyro, then has to move off as everyone comes over to give us their best wishes. When I’m hugged for the tenth time Pyro starts warning them off, pulling me to one side protectively.
“It’s early days,” I repeat over and over again. But no one seems to care about that.
When my friends and the Tucson club have had their say, Red approaches. “Really good fuckin’ news, Mel.” He leans in and kisses my cheek, then shakes Pyro’s hand. “If anyone deserves to be happy, you two do.” I expect him to walk away, but he hasn’t finished. “Clare’s staying close to the Vegas club, thought you should know.”
“She okay?” I ask, genuinely wanting to know.
Red’s brow creases. “She’s strong, became independent when he was gone such a long time. She’s well able to cope on her own. Problem is, the bastard isn’t taking it well, and is trying for custody of the kid. Threatening her to get her to go back to him. She’s worried about him planting evidence to say she’s an unfit mother. Seems none of us knew what a motherfucker he really was, not even the woman who’s been by his side for seventeen years.”
“Asshole,” Pyro snarls, then raises his jaw toward Red, who jerks his chin in return.
“Hey, girl.” Beth’s pulling my arm, dragging me away from the two men.
They both wave me off, Ro’s eyes following me as I’m pulled across the room.
Giggling as I have to run to keep up with her long strides, I ask, “What, Beth?”
“Him, there. What’s his name?”
I look around. There are three Devils propping up the bar. “Which one?”
“The one with no ink.”
Lizard’s there with full sleeves on both arms, Mace standing alongside, is also heavily tattooed. There can only be one man who fits the bill. “Ink.”
“That’s what I said,” she says indignantly. “The one with no ink.”
“Ink,” I say again, feeling my lips curve.
“Jeez. Have pregnancy hormones already gotten to you? What’s the man in the middle’s name?”
“Ink,” I laugh. “That’s his name.”
“Ink? But he’s got no tattoos.” She stares over my head as if to check.
“I rather think that’s the point,” I tell her drily.
But she’s already lost interest in his name. “Can you introduce me?”
This is what I feared might happen. “Are you sure you can handle a biker?”
“If you can, I can,” she winks, “and will you look at that.” I turn to see Ink, who’d been leaning against the bar, is now standing straight. Beth fans herself. “I do believe he might actually be taller than me.”
Well, she’s a grown woman, I sigh to myself. She can make up her own mind. For an answer I grab hold of her hand, and much in the same way as she’d done to me, drag her across the room.
“Hey, Mel,” Liz calls out as we approach, “are you going to introduce us?” His eyes roam over Beth appreciatively, taking more than a moment to reach from her head to her toes. With her height, there’s a long way to go.
I admit I’ve probably been around bikers too long as I never used to be this direct. “Sorry, Liz, it’s not you she’s interested in.”
Mace raises an expectant eyebrow.
“Or you.” I chuckle when he exaggeratingly puts his hand over his heart.
“Yeah, Ink. It’s you. Ink this is Beth, Beth this is Ink. The rest is up to you.”
Beth gasps, but now it’s me winking at her before I leave and go to find my own man, my husband and father of my child.
/> Chapter Forty-One
Pyro
I’ve been a married man for four months. Four months, which have brought me nothing but joy. A couple of weeks back Mel had her scan and we saw our daughter for the very first time.
I’ve watched over her as though she’s made of china, trying not to let anything upset her. Reassuring her how glad and fucking happy I am that she’s mine whenever she gets that lost look in her eyes, a look I’m overjoyed to be seeing less often as time passes.
We’d had good news a couple of weeks back. Her claim had been settled in full. The judge had reviewed the evidence and determined she had been dragged into something by an agent who hadn’t paid sufficient attention to her safety. If, as was expected at the time, she was walking into a dangerous club, he’d put an innocent civilian at risk. Her good character, as vouched for by so many people, had shown she’d had no previous criminal leanings. He awarded the amount that had been asked, and I’d applauded as she’d made an anonymous donation to a charity that Cad had investigated and said was trustworthy.
Now I’m free to concentrate on our life, my wife and child. A daughter. A little girl. I’ll still mourn the son I never saw born, but hell, I’m going to be a dad. I can’t fucking wait.
I watch Mel sleeping, there’s a small smile on her face as though she’s having a good dream. I hate to wake her, but I promised that I would.
“Mel, Mel, darlin’?”
“Huh?” She rolls over.
I grin and roll her back. “Mel, darlin’. Just saying goodbye like I promised to do.”
“You will come back?”
One time another man told her goodbye and never returned. “You can bet you’re fuckin’ life on it. I’ll be back later today. If I’m delayed, it will be tomorrow at the latest, okay? You stay here at the club. Vi’s going to talk baby shit with you.”
“Demon and Vi are pregnant too.”
“Yeah, how about that? They kept that quiet for a while.” They’d announced it last night. Vi’s three months along now, so our babies will only be a couple of months apart.
Mel’s more awake now. “Jay’s over the moon. She’s already offering to babysit. Hmm,” her hand is exploring, “someone’s woken up horny.”
I’m as hard as a fucking rock, but that’s normal around her. “Shit, Mel. I’ve got to get going. But hold that thought, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She gives me one more rub to torture me. I put my hand over hers and lift it away. “I’m sorry I’ve got to go, but there’s this special part…”
“I know, I understand, Ro. It’s just…” Her face falls and she bites her lip.
“I’m coming back,” I tell her again, “and soon. I’ll pay you back for making me spend the whole fuckin’ day sporting a hard-on. You just think how you’re going to deal with that when I get home.”
Having made my threat and suggestively waggled my eyebrows to make her giggle, I kiss her, then pull down the sheet, putting my lips to her stomach where my daughter is nestled inside. “See you soon, baby girl. Be good for your mom.”
Mel chuckles. “Right now, she can’t be anything else. It’s when she gets bigger that she’ll give me grief.”
Neither of us can wait until she starts to move.
“Don’t lift anything heavy, don’t…”
“I know, I know,” she sighs, and grumbles. “I’ve got another four months of you nagging me to be careful, haven’t I?”
“It gets worse. You wait, Mel,” I threaten. “I’ll…"
She gasps, puts her hand to her stomach.
“What is it?” I’m leaning over her, my face taut with concern.
“She moved. I swear. She moved.”
I place my hand where she’s just had hers. For a second nothing happens then… I feel a faint fluttering under my palm. “Is that her?”
“Yeah. I think it is.”
My fucking God. I’ve just felt my baby move. All of a sudden it makes what I’ve got to do more imperative. But I’m reluctant to leave now, when my daughter’s just nudged my hand.
A hoarse whisper sounds from outside my door. “You in there, Ro?”
“Go on,” she says. “We’ll be here when you get back.”
“I am coming back to you.” I hold her gaze with mine.
“I know you are.”
I stand, look at her one last time, then sliding my gun into my cut and taking my wallet and keys off the stand, exit the room.
Mace is standing outside. “Ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
“Archer’s expecting us,” Mace tells me as we descend the stairs, keeping our voices down. It’s four am and most of the brothers are sleeping. “Got everything you need?”
“Yeah, I gave it to Karl to stow on the bike.” He won’t get patched in if he’s fucked this up, so I’ve got every confidence he’ll have followed my instructions with the utmost care.
“Best get moving then. Got a long ride ahead of us, Brother.” He slaps me on the back, and I follow him out front.
The prospect is waiting by the bikes, his mouth open wide in a yawn. “Want me to come along?”
“Nah.” This is one trip we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. Mace and I have already left our cuts behind. I’m a mechanic, unless we’re unlucky enough to get a puncture, there’s not much I can’t fix by the side of the road. I can’t carry much else in my own saddlebags, but Mace has got the toolkit I wanted to bring in his.
The bikes start with a roar, but if we’ve woken anyone up, the brothers will understand. What we’re heading out to do has been carefully planned in church.
It ends today.
After three hours of riding we stop to top off our tanks, then waste no time getting back on the road. It takes two more tank fills before we reach our destination, a shady bar on the edge of town.
A man comes out as he hears the Harleys.
“Archer?” I approach him, holding out my hand.
“Yeah. Pyro?”
“That’s me. This here is Mace.”
Archer kicks out at a stone on the ground. “Fuck this,” he growls, wiping his hand over his face. “You fuckin’ sure?”
I can understand how he’s feeling. “No doubt.”
“I’ve kept it quiet, only my VP knows. And of course Huff, who picked it up on the dark web.”
“It’s the best way,” I tell him. “Fucker will be on his guard the whole time, anyone looking at him sideways will make him run and go to ground.” Not only that, if they don’t know, they can be completely truthful when the inevitable questions are asked.
He’s shaking his head, then looks up over toward the distant hills, but I don’t believe he’s taking in the view. “We’ve got a shipment coming in next week. If,” he slams his fist into his hand, “if Huff hadn’t found the info your crew’s been posting around, we’d have all gone down.” His eyes come back to me. “Owe you, brother.”
“Nah. Got personal reasons for doing this. You don’t owe me fuck all. It’s my thanks you’ll get when the job’s done.”
“You gonna stay? Meet the club?”
“No,” Mace puts in fast. “Trust you, trust your men. But the fewer people who see our faces around, the better.”
“Gotcha there.” He looks from me to Mace. “Which one of you is the explosives expert?”
“That will be me, and I’ve got it prepared.” I walk back to my bike. The small amount of C4 and remote-controlled detonator is well disguised. “Put it under the seat, it’s magnetic.” I show him where I mean by demonstrating on my bike.
“Collateral damage?”
“Explosion won’t be big enough, as long as no one’s riding up close. I’ll be watching, and I’ll pick my time.”
“Got an errand he can run. I’ll send him out on his own. My VP will make sure he doesn’t get a chance to check his bike before he leaves.” He waits a moment, weighing the equipment of death in his hand. Then jerks his head to the building behind him. “Does
n’t look like much, but the food’s more than edible. You wait here, and I’ll tell you when it’s in place. Shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.”
We take his advice. He’s right, the food’s good. But we eat more to pass the time than to satisfy any appetite. My current hunger is not for food.
At last I get a call with instructions. I follow them. Archer has picked a good spot, somewhere for us to hide, with good visibility of anyone coming along the road. It’s an isolated and dangerous spot, the road twisting and mountainous with steep drop-offs.
“He’s coming,” says Mace into my ear.
I heard the engine too. The bike comes into sight. Using the binoculars I brought along, I check it is indeed my target, then I choose my moment and press the innocuous looking button on the remote I’m holding.
The bike bursts into a ball of flame.
Archer really has chosen well. In his final split second the rider’s veered to the right, and the bike’s flown over the guardrail and disappeared below.
I even totalled my bike in a ravine. Thought you’d have found it by now.
Not then, we hadn’t. But you certainly have now Skull, or whatever name you’re going by at the moment.
“Agent Jordan has been retired.” Mace slaps my back. “Permanently.”
It’s only on the ride back that I let myself feel the relief that at last Mel has gotten the justice she deserves. The citizen law might not have done its job, but the Devils got revenge in the end. I grin, confident that Cad’s made sure a certain security tape in an auto parts shop in San Francisco, on the other side of the country, has a picture of myself clearly picking up the part that I needed.
We ride through the night, both of us eager to get home. It’s the early hours of the morning when I at last walk in.
Karl, again yawning, takes a package from under the bar and hands it to me.
In the bedroom, I put the custom-made part on the dresser, then look at my sleeping wife.
I’d walk through hell and high water for her and my kid.
Another black mark on my soul? Worth it for her.
Devil's Dilemma: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #4 Page 36
