by Brook Wilder
This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, events, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Redemption copyright @ 2018 by Brook Wilder and Scholae Palatina Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
REDEMPTION
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty Three
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REDEMPTION
Chapter One
“How’s the search going?” Beth asked, sipping at her coffee.
Maddie sighed in frustration, idly chasing her fries around the plate. Moments ago, she had been ravenous and could have eaten most of the menu. Now she was looking at the food and it was making her queasy. But Jace was always urging her to have some to eat, even if it was little and often. He worried too much about her and pushed food at her whenever he could.
Maddie couldn’t be angry at him for that. It was annoying having something that made her stomach churn every time it was visible, but she did need to keep up the nutrition. Jace was much like a mother bear when it came to that.
She stabbed at a fry and grimaced before eating it.
“It’s going absolutely nowhere,” she lamented. “I can’t find anyone who’s willing to hire a woman who’s going to go on maternity leave in a few months to give birth. Nobody wants to hire a pregnant woman.”
It sucked. Maddie knew she had little to no chance of getting a job at that moment in time, but she wasn’t one to sit about twiddling her thumbs. She needed something to do. One of the reasons she loved having a job was having money that was hers and she didn’t need to ask for handouts. It felt good to be independent.
There were times when she regretted leaving her job at the surgery. She was good at it and she enjoyed talking to the various patients. But if it meant avoiding the one man who creeped her out and was stalking her, so be it. Maddie preferred to be jobless and less violated.
“Everyone at the office misses you.” Beth picked up her wrap and took a big bite. She spoke around her mouthful. “Even Mandy says she misses you there.”
Maddie snorted.
“She’s missing the impending baby arrival and being a ‘grandmother.’”
Beth laughed.
“That may be true. She keeps saying she’s going to set up a registry for you and then bring the items over.”
“No need. Several of Broken Hounds are fathers already. There is so much stuff that they’re willing to give me, and one of the new mums says she’s got far too many diapers and is offering to let me have her extras.”
Broken Hounds MC certainly couldn’t be faulted for looking after their own. Once they had found out about Maddie’s pregnancy, all of them were supportive. They weren’t too keen to hear that the new guy was the father, but they set that aside and Maddie found herself not needing to pay for anything beyond a car seat in the future. Even the crib and stroller were being provided for nothing.
Maddie wished she was brave enough to ask for help with money. But she had enough in savings to last her a while. Only when she was really desperate would she ask Jeremy for help.
Maybe she could ask Jeremy if he would pay her for checking out the books.
“Martin’s asking after you as well.”
Maddie was shaken out of her thoughts by this. Beth was watching her closely. She knew Martin Roberts was a sore topic. Her friend was just as appalled at Martin’s behavior and both admitted that it was incredibly creepy. She supported Maddie’s decision to keep Martin’s name off her lips.
Evidently, that wasn’t working right now. Maddie scowled and sipped at her lemonade.
“And what have you said to him?” she asked curtly.
“That you are not a topic for discussion. I will not talk about you with him and you don’t want to hear from him.”
“That’s something, at least.” Maddie rubbed at her belly. The cramps in her pelvis seemed to be getting worse. “I can’t believe he would abuse his position like that.”
“He was showing that he cared.”
“If he cared, he would have waited for me to ask for help. He still violated my privacy, Beth.” Maddie pushed her plate away, leaving it half-full. Suddenly the talk of the doctor made her feel less hungry. “With the sudden change in behavior towards me, he would go crazy stalker on me. I don’t want that.”
“I know.” Beth paused, munching thoughtfully on her wrap. “How are things with Jace? Are you together yet or is he still the baby’s daddy and nothing else.”
Maddie couldn’t stop herself from smiling a little at the mention of Jace’s name. It had been a week since she had been moved into the clubhouse for her own protection. While it gave her cabin fever and made her cranky, Jace made sure everything was provided for her. He worked hard and came home to lavish attention on her. And the sex… It gave Maddie shivers just thinking about it.
They were still in the honeymoon stage and Maddie knew just the slightest thing could turn it all around for them, so she was taking it as slowly as she could. Which wasn’t easy when Jace could make her frustrated and flushed with arousal at the same time.
The man was infuriating but Maddie wasn’t about to complain. Yet.
“I think we’re taking it slowly.” The relationship, yes, but not the sex. Maddie would have to be dead before the sex stopped. “There is a lot of demons and things between us to work through.”
“I presume you’re still sharing the same room.” Beth gave her a meaningful look. “And the same bed.”
Maddie rolled her eyes.
“I know what you’re getting at and yes, we have. Every night so far.”
She knew she had a high sex drive and Jace certainly made her libido go out of control. It was amazing what the man could do in bed; he was very inventive. Maddie blushed when she realized what she was thinking. Beth laughed.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that someone’s got so much energy.”
“Beth!”
“What? I’d hit Jace up if I didn’t know about his past. He’s certainly good to look at,” Beth smirked. “Mind you, a one-night thing with him sounds pretty fun…”
“Oh, no way.” Maddie wagged her finger at her friend. “He’s off the market. Don’t even think about it.”
The thought of any other woman, even Beth, having their hands on Jace didn’t sit well. Maddie’s cramp tightened even more at the image of Jace in another woman’s embrace. Beth raised her hands in her defense, still grinning.
“No harm in thinking it. I’m not going
to do it, though, so don’t worry about it.”
“I should hope not,” Maddie grunted, scowling. “I had that problem with Drake. I don’t want the same with Jace. And not with you.”
“Well, I doubt Jace will look at any other woman, considering the way he looks at you.” Beth licked some mayonnaise off her chin. “He’s not very good at showing it but he does care about you.”
“I know he cares.” That part Maddie didn’t doubt. Jace was a man of action and through his actions she didn’t need to guess how he felt about her. “But I do doubt his ability to protect me.”
“How do you mean?”
“Can he protect me when I need him?”
Beth looked confused.
“What are you talking about? I’m sure he can protect you. That man is very protective of you.”
“You know what I mean, Beth.” Maddie waved her hands about. “He says he’ll always be at the other end of the phone and he’ll be there as soon as he can. We’ve not had to test that out yet.” Then she gasped as a wave of pain hit her and washed through her belly. “Until maybe now.”
“Maddie?” Beth lowered her food and stood, hurrying around to her friend’s side. “Maddie, what’s wrong?”
“My stomach hurts.” Maddie gripped at her belly and gritted her teeth as the cramps tightened in waves. “I think I’ve been sitting too long. Help me up.”
Beth didn’t argue. She took Maddie’s arm and helped her to her feet. Maddie’s backside felt very wet and her jeans and panties were sticking to her. She hoped she hadn’t wet herself. That would be just typical and, frankly, embarrassing in a public place.
But then Maddie saw her chair. It wasn’t urine. It was blood. It was spreading across the chair cover, soaking into the fabric. Maddie could feel it trickling down her legs under her jeans.
“Oh, God!”
She began to panic. There was so much blood? Was something wrong with the baby? Was she suffering from a miscarriage? Maddie suddenly couldn’t breathe. Beth grabbed onto her as she collapsed and lowered her to the floor, signaling to a nearby waitress who was hurrying over.
“Call an ambulance and tell them a pregnant woman is bleeding. Quick!”
The waitress didn’t argue, hurrying off into the back. Maddie waved her hand in the direction of her purse. She was beginning to feel light-headed.
“Get my phone. I need to call Jace.”
Chapter Two
Jace sat back in the seat with a relieved and heavy sigh.
“Well, that went better than I expected.”
“It certainly did,” Schuman agreed. He grinned at his passenger, his hands looking huge on the wheel. “You’re better at your job than I expected.”
“You didn’t expect me to get the hang of it so quickly?”
“You could say that,” Schuman chuckled, stopping at a set of lights. “I think you made the guy wet his pants.”
Jace grinned. They had been going around suppliers for Broken Hounds to gather payment. Jeremy had pulled Jace aside at the start and warned him a lot of them could get snarky and would refuse to pay because they thought they could get one over on him. Even after Jeremy had proven he was not to be messed about with, the vendors kept pissing him off. Jace had asked why Jeremy didn’t change vendors and that had resulted in a long, hard stare, so he had shut up.
The transactions, for the most part, had gone off without a hitch. But not so well with the last one. The vendor had decided he wasn’t going to pay and said Jeremy would have to be a big boy and sort it out himself. Jace couldn’t understand why people thought it was a good idea to have a go at Jeremy, the one person trying to keep them in business. Jeremy never backed down and, shrewd businessman that he was, could easily take anyone down in a fight.
Jace had felt some pleasure in making sure the vendor knew he had made the wrong choice. It hadn’t taken much but a few swings and hits to the face and kidneys and the man had coughed up. Schuman had stayed back, letting Jace take control of it, and it had been very satisfying. He didn’t need to say anything; he merely stood there with a blank expression.
Jace had thought he was stuck being an errand boy but this was a lot more interesting than collecting payments.
“It’s amazing what a few words will do to a person.”
“That it is.” Schuman raised an eyebrow, sitting back and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “By the way, what did you say to him to make him turn white as a ghost?”
Jace winked and tapped the side of his nose.
“That’s a trade secret. I’d have to kill you if I told you.”
“I’m sure you’ve got those two mixed up somewhere.”
“I probably have.”
They moved off from the lights again. Jace sat back and thought about Maddie, wondering what she would be doing when he got back. She had mentioned going out to lunch with Beth as usual and looking around for jobs. She hadn’t been very enthusiastic about it but Jace had urged her to try. There was no harm in trying.
Maybe she was lying in bed sleeping. Or maybe she was completely naked, using her multitude of toys while she waited for him. Jace had been surprised by the number of sex toys Maddie had in her bag and realized it was a huge turn-on watching Maddie pleasure herself with them. She had put on quite a show for him a few times.
There was something about Maddie grinding away on a nine-inch dildo while worrying her clit with a vibrator that was intensely arousing. Jace’s cock twitched at the memory of the night before, wondering if he would get a repeat performance later.
He was startled out of his thoughts by his cell phone ringing. Jace had heard it going off earlier while he was busy but had ignored it. His work was more important and all of it would unravel if he had to stop. He saw two missed calls from a number he didn’t recognize, two missed calls from Maddie, and one from Beth.
“Random number’s calling me.”
“Don’t answer it,” Schuman said immediately. “It’s always a cold-caller.”
“It’s got the area code for Tucson.”
“They’re smart, cold-callers. Leading us into a false sense of security to get us dragged into something we don’t even want.”
Jace chuckled. Schuman was very suspicious of his cell phone, to the point he didn’t quite believe it when Jeremy’s number popped up. Nevertheless, he answered. It could have been Maddie calling from another number because her phone was out of juice. She got into the habit of forgetting to charge it.
“Howard.”
“This is Doctor Roberts.”
There was an emphasis on the ‘doctor’. Jace frowned. How did this man have his number? And why was Roberts calling him?
“Doctor Roberts? What can I do for you?”
“You can get out of Maddie’s life, for a start.”
Schuman was looking at him curiously. Jace took the phone away from his ear and put it on loudspeaker.
“I beg your pardon?”
“She was fine until you came along. I told her being associated with bikers was going to get her into trouble. And now it has.”
Schuman gave Jace a look that bordered on confusion. Jace had the same sentiment.
“Maddie’s part of a biker family and her brother’s the president. That’s a little difficult to break away from. And what exactly have I done, for you to say I’m at fault?”
“Because Maddie called in and resigned last week. She didn’t come out and say it, but she was blaming me for getting fired.” Roberts’ voice dripped with venom. “But we both know that’s not true, don’t we?”
“Do we?”
“Well, you like your women barefoot, unemployed and pregnant, don’t you?”
Jace had never heard such gobbledygook in his life. Schuman was staring at the phone as if it had started speaking another language. Jace had to bite his cheek to stop himself from laughing.
“And what exactly are you basing that on?”
“Once a biker, always a biker.”
“An
d I think you’ve got us mixed up with the 1950s married couple. Maddie’s certainly not a housewife.” If he ever suggested it to Maddie, Jace was sure she would have his head. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t care if Maddie has a job. I do care, however, if she’s getting harassed and finds out a colleague has violated her patients’ rights to find things out about her, things she didn’t want known.”
“It was only to find out where she was,” Roberts protested.
Did he not think that this was wrong? Jace shook his head.
“And how would you have known about that? Because you were stalking her, that’s why. How long have you been doing that?”
