Gypsy's Lady

by MariaLisa deMora

On the way to the apartment, Slate was full of talk about the chapter, how well Fury was doing with the president office he’d recently been appointed to. Everything was peachy, it seemed, and Gypsy knew what his friend was doing, appreciating the effort. “I know the chapter will be fine,” he interrupted one particularly convoluted tale and Slate choked. “Mason’s too smart to have any one chapter too dependent on a member, regardless of their position. Jase will get someone to run Marie’s, and Fury will get someone to cover my club shit. In a year, it’ll be as if I wasn’t here at all, except when you get feelings stuck in your ass and cry because you can’t see me anymore.”

  “Fuck you,” Slate shot back, amused and annoyed. “I don’t get feelings stuck in my ass.”

  A little girl’s voice yelled, “Daddy’s not supposed to say the ef-ue words.” Gypsy laughed at Slate’s face then, as he reddened and blustered. “Or the ef-me words. Mommy paid me to tell her how many times Daddy was bad.”

  “Fuck me.” Louder, he asked, “Dani, what’d she promise you if you nark me out?” Slate focused on the street in front of them, making the final turn towards the apartments.

  “Half a dollar.”

  “I’ll double it for you to not tell her.” Gypsy laughed at his heavy sigh. “Woman’s trying to get me to not cuss around the kids, says it’ll corrupt them. I reminded her how she grew up around a group of men who didn’t mince their words and she came out fine, but no, she doesn’t want the mothers of the other kids at school to think our kids are heathens.” He raised his voice as he called, “Allen, you know better than to say the ef-word at school, right?”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  “See? If my boy knows better, the girls will follow, and it’ll be a fucking non-issue, but not to Ruby.” He pulled the van into the parking lot, angling into a spot in front of Gypsy’s apartment.

  “I’m gonna miss you.” Gypsy laughed. “You’re the most ridiculous man I know.”

  Slate grinned back, his lip curling into a fake sneer. “Now who has feelings stuck in their ass?”

  “You coming in, man?” Gypsy asked as he swung out of the vehicle and reached back to open the side door for Kelsey.

  “Nope. Gonna get my terrors back home, check on the old lady.” Slate leaned on the steering wheel and glared at him. “No talking you out of this path, is there?” Gypsy shook his head. “Fuck me. I’m gonna miss you, too, asshole.”

  Kelsey pressed against Gypsy’s side and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “See you tonight,” Gypsy said. Slate tipped his chin up and Gypsy closed the doors, standing and watching as Slate backed out and drove away. “Let’s go up.” He sighed, turning her with him. “Sounds like you’ll have company tonight. That’s good.”

  “Mmhmm.” She yawned and he smiled, watching as her nose scrunched up. “Still seems a bit odd, but I’m game.”

  “Gypsy. Oi, wait a minute, mate,” a familiar voice called across the parking lot and Kelsey stiffened beside him, her back going straight, taut lines of muscles and tendons pressing against his arm. Twisting, Gypsy looked to see Bulldog trotting across the lined cement headed their direction. “A word, yeah?”

  “Bulldog.” He pointed towards the building. “We’re headed up. Let’s take it inside.”

  “Sounds good enough.” Bulldog walked beside Gypsy, angling his head to look at Kelsey. A stirring of jealousy snaked through Gypsy’s gut. “This the missus, then? Hello, lovely.” Kelsey stumbled, and her fingers scratched the leather of his belt, trying to gain a grip to hold herself upright. “Welcome to the States then. Will be good to have another Aussie around.”

  “She’s shy…” Gypsy started to say when Kelsey interrupted him.

  “A-Alan?” Fuck, she knows him. Of course she’d know him. What were the odds of two ex-patriot Australians knowing each other when they meet in a remote city in Indiana, a United States flyover state? “A-Alan, is that really you?”

  Bulldog gripped his forearm, dragging Gypsy and Kelsey to a stop only feet from the apartment door. “Cherilyn?” Gypsy glanced at him and watched the blood leave his face ashen in the sodium lights. “Bloody hell, Cheri?”

  Kelsey took a step forwards and turned to face Bulldog. She was shaking, hands trembling as she lifted her hands towards him. “Alan. Oh, God, Alan.” She slipped out of Gypsy’s hold and threw herself at the man, tears already streaming down her face. “Oh my God, it really is you.”

  Arms wrapped around Kelsey, over her shoulder Bulldog met Gypsy’s gaze, his expression stunned, eyes watery. “Bloody hell.”

  “Someone wanna clue me in on what’s going on?” Gypsy knew his tone was sharp, but he needed to know what had his woman standing in another man’s arms. He reached a hand to rest against Kelsey’s back, rubbing in soothing circles as she sobbed. “Why’s my wife bawling her eyes out?”

  “Your wife?” Bulldog’s voice shook, his words a whisper. “What the fuck, man?” His voice rose in volume until his last words were a shout. “My sweet sister is your wife?”

  Sister?

  ***

  Kelsey

  Seeing Alan again for the first time in years had been surreal. She’d heard his voice from across the car lot and her breath stuck in her lungs, not even a wheeze of air escaping. Only Gypsy’s arm had kept her moving forwards, and her motions felt robotic, like a dream. Then he’d peeked at her around Gypsy, flashing the smile which had always gotten him out of trouble as a young man, the man she remembered from her childhood. That smile was what sold her on the idea, and she’d forced his name out, and then…oh, God, then he’d recognized her, calling out the name she’d gone by as a child.

  She leaned back against Gypsy. He’d wedged himself behind her on the couch, seeming to need the contact as much as she did. Alan had been holding one of her hands in both of his for the past two hours as the siblings brought each other up to date on their lives. Most of her life, anyway, but she’d avoided the one topic which had made it so they could be reunited after everything. Baxter. Kelsey flinched at the thought and Gypsy’s palm smoothed across her stomach, gliding until he gave her waist a squeeze. Alan hadn’t missed the reaction either, and his grip tightened gently around her hand.

  “Kelsey…” Alan shook his head with a smile. “That’s gonna take a fair bit of getting used to, won’t it? My baby sister, Cheri, all grown up and making her mark in the world.” His gaze flicked over her shoulder towards Gypsy, then back to her face. “Right then. The elephant in the room and all that. I know what happened, Kelsey. I know how you came to be Gypsy’s wife. You don’t have to ever say a word about it, unless it’s what you want. I can’t promise I will be calm if that happens, but I trust the man behind you to have dealt with whatever was needed. I don’t know everything, but I know enough. He saved you. That’s all that matters, in the end. You were saved, and you’re here living and breathing in front of me, when I’d given up all hope of finding you.”

  “Y-you knew I was missing?” Kelsey swallowed hard, the knowledge he might have known and hadn’t cared clawing at her insides. “Y-you knew?”

  “Not for months, Cher—Kelsey.” He shook his head. “You’d been missing for more than half a year before I got a call. I rang up all me mates back home and came up empty. You’d withdrawn from your work program, and then left Melbourne. From all appearances, you’d dropped off the edge of the earth, never making it home.” His fingers flexed, and she twisted her hand to curl around his hand, gripping tightly. “I called all the favors I knew. Mates from the service, blokes who’d gotten out to go back and do civvie service, anyone I could contact in an A&E…nothing. I looked at a hundred photos of young girls who fit the description I got from your friends. I went home twice, trying to stir the interest. I looked, love. I promise you.”

  “Ba-Ba—” She stopped and swallowed hard. “Baxter said there was no one.”

  “Jesus, you don’t believe that, do you?” Alan swore under his breath and stared at the floor for a moment. “I wouldn�
��t have let it happen, not like that.” He stopped and swore again. “For now, it’s enough to know you’re safe.” Alan smiled, that same beam he’d directed her way earlier. “Tell me what’s next. I heard you and Gypsy were headed back to California. You reckon you’ll be back, or stay there for a time?”

  Gypsy pressed a soft kiss against the side of her head, and she knew that was his answer. What happened next would be up to her, no matter what they’d already decided. For her, he’d give up moving to where he felt most at home. I can’t do that to him. Alan was found, that was the most important thing. He won’t be lost again. No matter what. “Planes go back and forth every day.” Alan snorted. “Could you come…?” She twisted to look up at Gypsy. “Can I invite…?” Alan placed her hand on Gypsy’s arm, patting it twice in a paternal manner.

  “Darlin’, you can have whatever you want.” Gypsy ducked his head and kissed the tip of her nose. “You want to stay here for a while, we’ll make it work. You want him to come to visit, that’s entirely doable, too. You want him to move with us…” Kelsey giggled at the idea of making Alan do anything, and Gypsy smiled. “You’ll have to take that up with him.”

  “I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the ocean again.” Alan’s voice was soft, and when she turned to look at him, his expression matched the sound, sweet and affectionate, and entirely accepting of whatever she wanted. “That’s actually what I’d come to talk to Gypsy about tonight. I like the Rebels right enough, but it’s not quite what I want. I thought if he’d found a place in the Malcontents, there might be a place for me.”

  She twisted her neck to gawk up at Gypsy when he laughed. “What?”

  “Not every day a man finds out his friend is his brother-in-law and wants to move cross-country to live with him in the grand land of California.” Laughter slowing to a chuckle, he shook his head, strands of his hair escaping the man-bun he’d put it up in on the plane. Dipping his head, he took her lips in a hard kiss, driving all thoughts of anything other than Gypsy out of her head. Breathless with need, she relaxed in his arms, cuddling close when he pulled back. “You want him to come with us, I’ll make it happen for you, honey. Whatever you want.”

  “How did I get so lucky?” Suddenly tired, she closed her eyes. “You think the girls are still coming over?”

  “Yeah, I do.” He moved underneath her, and Kelsey opened her eyes to see Alan staring at her, one corner of his mouth curled up.

  “You staying, Alan?”

  “Couldn’t beat me away with a stick.” He pushed off the couch to pace the length of the room. “Do ya think you could introduce me to your friends, Kelsey?”

  Gypsy relaxed his hold when Kelsey started struggling up, reaching for her bag to pull out her tablet. Kelsey didn’t say anything, just flicked her way to the video app, waiting until it connected. “This better be good, Kels.” Nary’s voice came through even though the screen was dark. “It’s freakin’ early.”

  “Nary, Nary. I found my brother.” The video on the tablet flashed and Kelsey saw the bathroom in the background, heard the click as the door closed behind Nary. “I found Alan. Well, he found me, but whatever happened, he’s found and I’m found, and he’s here.”

  Inarticulate screeching sounds came through the tablet’s speakers and the video jittered around, jumping up and down. “You did not! Tell me you did. You aren’t lying, are you? I’d be destroyed if you were being an arse and lying to me.”

  “I’m not lying, and he’s right here.” Kelsey turned the tablet around, and Alan waved towards the screen. More screeching but it cut off abruptly, and Kelsey brought the tablet back around. She saw Nary standing there, Saxon behind her, his hand across her mouth. She waved and Nary returned the wiggle of fingers. “Hi, Saxon.”

  “Gypsy, brother. Wanna tell me what’s got your woman so excited she’s calling my woman at this time of night?” Saxon knuckled his eyes, carefully removing his palm from Nary’s mouth. “Don’t threaten the teeth, woman. I’ll swat your arse.”

  “Kelsey’s brother is here. She wanted to tell Nary, I guess.” Gypsy reached out and gripped the tablet, turning it so Saxon could see Alan, who once again gave a little wave.

  Kelsey leaned over so she could see the screen of the tablet in time to watch Saxon’s expression soften, and she smiled as his eyes sought hers through the screen. “Love you, little sister.”

  Unable to bring herself to attempt speech, Kelsey kissed her fingertips and blew across them.

  ***

  Gypsy

  Standing in the clubhouse meeting room behind the bar, Gypsy scanned the faces of the men arranged around the table and along the wall. More than just officers, Mason and Fury had invited key members into church tonight. Those two men were seated along one side of the table, a practice Mason had started long ago. The president was never positioned at the head, but in the midst of things, just like they were expected to serve. He saw Bear, Jase, Gunny, Brute, and a host of other men he’d called brother for years now.

  Gypsy forced his throat to work, swallowing through a sudden tight feeling. My time here mattered, he reminded himself. The club members had worked together to shut down dealers in an ever-widening radius from the club’s official territory, and had killed two different trafficking rings in the past two years alone. His time here had counted, and he knew it.

  Movement pulled his attention to see Fury raise the gavel, bringing it down on the table with a sharp double rap.

  “Shut up, assholes.” That was Gunny, and Gypsy smirked at the annoyed look on his face when Jase continued to talk to Bear. “Cap’n, I’m advising you right now to shut up.”

  “Jesus, you’d think someone gave the big guy authority or something.” Jase flashed a grin which earned him a glower from Gunny. “He’s my brother-in-law. I should get special treatment. A chat-all-you-want pass, maybe?” Gunny lowered his chin towards his throat and his brows furrowed more. “Jesus. Get a grip, Gunny. I’m being quiet now, eh? Holy shit you’re scary. Remind me why my sister loves you?” Gunny shook his head and glared at the rest of the room.

  Fury cleared his throat quietly, the noise still enough to end all sound in the room. “Before we begin, is there past business that needs to be covered? Anything outstanding to talk about?” No one spoke. “Okay. This special church was called to hear the petition from Gypsy. Mason’ll chime in with some info from Tugboat after. Gunny, are we good to begin?”

  “We are. All phones were secured before closing the door, and the room was swept after. We’re clear.” He angled his chin towards Gypsy, his eyes snapping in anger. “Not happy about why we’re here, but we’re good to start this bullshit.”

  “Gypsy, you want to jump in, or need me to recap what sent you to San Diego, and the things that happened there? It’s not Rebel business, but due to the special circumstances, I want to be sure we’re not stepping on Blue Line’s toes.” Fury waited, elbows propped on the table.

  “I’ll do my own talking, if that’s okay.” He paused for Fury’s nod, echoed by Mason. “Some of you here know my background with the Rebels.” He scanned the faces, noting all the new ones. “But a lot of you won’t. Even before the Rebels, I had a place in a club out in Cali. It was under false pretenses, which kept me from making it my home, but the hunger for a brotherhood began there. I was a cop, and a damn good one. I had a part in a lot of busts, some I know the Rebels would get behind, because we don’t approve of child abusers or the kind of men who make money off sickness. But that hunger I had to belong to something bigger than myself didn’t go away. Years ago, while I was still on the FWPD, I met Winger.” Several heads nodded their encouragement. “That man was club to the core. He seemed to know what was coming, because he maneuvered things so when the force failed me, the club was there to catch me as I fell. I didn’t look West, because that door was closed, or so I thought. But more than that it was Winger who made the Rebels feel like home. We lost him just as I joined, but his legacy carried onwards, meshing with what Mason wa
nted for the chapter. I found my place and worked at holding it, making myself into whatever the club needed. I found my place, and it was good. The Rebels were good to me.”

  He took a deep breath. “There was one night a few months ago where Mason told me to pack my bags. Said I’d be crossing to Oz and partnering with a club there called the Hawks. We had a mission and the members of the Hawks worked alongside me to achieve our goal.” This felt like a debriefing after a bust now, and he tried to soften his language. “We saved the girls, and in the process, I got my old lady. You’ve met her.” More nods. “Things she’s been through, she’s suffering still. It’s been hard on her, and that means it’s been hard on me. You men had my back through it all, and I thank you.” He reached forward to grip the back of an empty chair.

  “Two weeks ago, Mason came to me again and told me to pack my bags. Pack her bag, too. We were headed to California, which for me was full circle, back to where that need began.” Gypsy flexed his fingers, tightening his hold on the wood. “Back to the side of the man I’d first called brother a long time ago.” He took a deep breath, looking around at the faces staring at him. “I’m here tonight to thank you for the honor of bearing the Rebel Wayfarers patches. Thank you for the privilege of riding alongside some of the best men I’ve ever known. But I’m also here tonight to tell you I’m handing them back to the club. They don’t belong to me. These things never do. I have treasured the loan, and how long you’ve allowed me to keep them, but tonight these patches come home.”

  Moving slowly, he shrugged out of his vest and adjusted his grip, holding it by the neck. Gypsy reached into his pocket and brought out a knife. A flick of his wrist unfolded it. He stood still for a moment, hearing nothing but a profound silence in the room. Circled around by mute observers, he set the tip of the knife to the threads holding the patches in place and paused. “Jesus, this is hard, brothers.” He blew out a breath and began snipping the fibers.

  “My brothers in loyalty.” He finished the top rocker, shifting his grip to hold it along with the vest before beginning on the bottom rocker. “My brothers in honor.” Swallowing hard, he paired the second freed patch with the first, working studiously for a moment to align the edges as perfectly as he could. “My brothers in respect.” Halfway through the center patch he paused and looked up, seeing an array of expressions on the faces surrounding him. “You men mean everything to me. You’re my brothers, and all you need do is call and I’ll answer. My oath to you.” It was silent in the room as chin down, he focused on the work left to do, making his way through the rest of the threads quickly, surprised his hands had stopped shaking somewhere along the way. “I have no right to ask it—” He slipped his vest on, and shrugged irritably at the strange way it hung, unsettled by the odd weight pulling at his shoulders. “—but I’d like it if you could see your way clear to wish me luck.”