The images of her back and leg were displayed on the screen against the wall and Dr Manfred stood in front of it, intently studying every single one. Once or twice he leant closer to look at something, and then he would move on.
“I’m very happy to report that there’s been no damage to the bones or muscles. As you can see the work done by your specialist in New York is still in place. As to be expected there is some scar tissue build up but we can easily fix that at a later date.” When he saw Tori pulling a face he smiled. “We don’t need to do anything about it right away but I suggest we look at the knee again in six months’ time to assess.”
“What about the brace? Please say I can change to the elasticated brace. Please.” Tori begged prettily.
Dr Manfred smiled. “Yes, this one has done its job and you’re ready to move to the softer brace. But please, Ms Keating, absolutely no dancing, no heavy work outs, no unnecessary stress on the knee and lower leg. You can start with physical therapy and light work outs. You’ve been through this before so you know not to push it too far.”
“How long before I can dance again?” She asked softly and Kid heard the longing in her voice. It fucking nearly broke his heart.
This little butterfly of a woman will never again flutter across a stage and leave those watching in breathless wonder. He had found videos of her dancing solo and others of her dancing with Ilya on YouTube and it had stunned him. Her strength and grace had held him riveted, and he wasn’t a guy who liked that kind of thing.
But now. Now he would sit through an entire performance as long as the woman whose hand he held in his was the one dancing. And that did not seem to be in the cards for her. Fuck.
“I’m sorry Ms Keating, but I have to agree with your other specialists, it would be too dangerous for you to put your leg under the kind of strain required to perform. You’ll be able to dance but I’m afraid never as you used to. The extent of your injuries won’t allow that kind of stresses and strains.”
His baby sister’s face fell, becoming gloomy.
“Don’t look so gloomy, Ms Keating. Is it not better to be able to dance a little than to not be able to dance at all? According to the reports I have from Dr Rajkumar in New York you almost lost your leg in the accident. The fact that you are able to walk is in itself a small miracle.” Dr Manfred spoke softly but with conviction.
A bright smile suddenly bloomed across Tori’s face. “I’m sorry, you are right Doctor. I should stop complaining and count my blessing instead. Thank you for setting my head straight. I am so very grateful for the work done by Dr Raj, he saved my leg and fixed it so that I can still dance. This was just a little blip on the road of my recovery. I am going to dance again, I know I am. But I’m not going to perform anymore, that part of my life is over.”
When they left his rooms Tori was no longer gloomy. She had a big smile on her face and a softer brace around her knee and another around her ankle that allowed her more ease of movement.
They took her straight to the SUV and loaded her up. They had been gone for two hours and Ice and River wasn’t back yet. Apparently her doctor was running late.
Twenty minutes later they were on the road back to the compound. In the back Tori was oohing and aahing over the scan pictures of River and Ice’s babies. That’s why they had been so long. The doctor wanted to do a scan to check on the boys.
Kid only breathed easier once he drove through the gate into the compound. He had her safe behind their walls again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Beast
For the last week he had been fighting his fucking bitch of an ex in and out of court. Now they were in week two and it still wasn’t done. Her lawyer, a weasel called William Reid, painted a very dark picture of Beast. According to him there had been physical abuse and withholding of marital privileges during the marriage. He alleged Beast refused to keep her in the style she was accustomed to by not buying her a house and a car after the divorce. The cherry on the shit cake was his accusations that Beast had been abusing his little girls. It took every single ounce of control he had to stay in his fucking seat. He wanted the smirking painted up whore dead.
And every single fucking day after they finished in court her lawyer presented Saskia Gordon with a new settlement proposal, and every day Beast turned them down. He wasn’t going to pay her another single cent. He wanted his girls and he wasn’t going to pay the whore to get them.
He had no idea how she thought she was going to prove the shit her lawyer sprouted in court but he told himself not to worry about it. The bitch had been a club slut at the Iron Dogz clubhouse long enough to have heard some things and he was waiting for her to use the rumours to discredit him. He worried about what the judge would think of those accusations when they came. The Iron Dogz weren’t lily white princes riding around on white horses; they were dirty mouthed bikers doing what they wanted, when they wanted without any regrets.
His Advocate, Riaan Brandt, assured him that he had it all in hand. He was allowing their opposition to hang themselves before he set out to disprove every single accusation. He would make sure the judge was under no illusions as to the kind of woman Bettie Malan really was. He was going to expose her dirty past and show the court what she had been up to before and since the divorce. The drugs, drinking and whoring that had taken place around his little girls enraged Beast to such an extent he was finding it difficult to ignore the slut on the other side of the aisle.
But he swallowed it all down. Pushing it deep where it kept on bubbling and burning. When this was all over and the dust settled he was going take care of the bitch once and for all. She would not touch his babies ever again. He didn’t give a shit about her gender; he was going to fucking break her, piece by piece, bit by bit. The slut along with her fucking boyfriend had terrorised his babies, made them fear going to sleep. She was going to pay. They were going to pay.
Every day he sat listening to her weasel of a lawyer and kept his face expressionless, his arms stretched along the back of the bench. Relaxed. He knew exactly what the bitch was looking for. They were hoping he would lose his temper. It was not going to happen.
His babies were way more important than losing his temper over the lies they were sprouting.
He would deal with it. Was dealing with it. And having his club family in court supporting him helped him to deal.
Yesterday Brandt had annihilated the bitch on the stand. She had been crying big crocodile tears and her caked on mascara had run in black streams down her cheeks as she spoke about the abuse she had suffered at Beast’s hands. When she was questioned about their children she just brushed it off as kids being kids and getting into accidents. By the look in the judge’s eyes Beast knew he had seen right through her act. She had overplayed her hand.
Beast, on the other hand, had been calm on the stand. Had laid it all out for the judge. The reason he married the bitch, their ante nuptial contract, the money he gave her over and above the maintenance agreement set out by the court, and finally the reason why he had divorced the slut. It had been fucking difficult but he did it, for his girls. Nothing her dick of a lawyer said shook Beast’s story and he finally had to let him off the stand. Riaan Brandt had smiled like the predator he was when Beast sat down next to him.
The bitch and her pussy biker were going to pay. Oh yes, they were going to fucking pay.
On Friday Beast sat silently as Riaan Brandt gave his concluding arguments. The bitch’s lawyer had already done his song and dance during their closing arguments earlier. Sitting in a fucking uncomfortable suit in the courtroom every day would finally be done.
Brandt had warned him that it might take a week or more before the judge came back with his findings and ruled on the case. That was fine by him, as long as he ruled in their favour.
Sitting down Riaan Brandt gathered the papers spread across the desk in front of them as the judge took some time to look through whatever he had in front of him. Then he looked up and what he said had Beast
’s heart beating double time.
“I don’t need time to decide on a ruling in this case.” He said quietly but very firmly. “I have studied the evidence handed in to the court, listened to the plaintiff and the defendant and have come to the conclusion that sole custody of the two minor children should rest with their father, Joseph Maximilian Van Den Bergh.” He met Beast’s eyes as he said that.
“Therefore, it is my ruling that sole custody of the two minor children, Joslyn Van Den Bergh and Joelle Van Den Bergh, be awarded to their father, Joseph Maximilian Van Den Bergh. Their mother, Bettie Malan, is to have only court approved and supervised contact with the minor children. Mr Van Den Bergh’s previous maintenance agreements are hereby voided.” The judge looked at the bitch and her lawyer and Beast looked at Riaan Brandt who never took his eyes off the judge. What now?
“During the entirety of the proceedings the defendant had not once shown any maternal feelings towards the two minor children. While the love he has for his children has been the basis for the plaintiff’s entire case. I cannot ignore the evidence provided of abuse suffered by the children at the hands of Ms Malan and her accomplices. Therefore the record of these proceedings will be passed on to the relevant authorities to investigate further charges against the defendant and her accomplices.”
And just like that it was done. His children were safe. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Behind him Hawk sat forward and clapped a hand over his shoulder and squeezed, hard. His president and his old lady had come out today to support him, along with Bulldog, Aunt Suzy, Rider and Aunt Beryl. He had never been as grateful for his brothers as he was right now. He knew Ice would have been here if he could but he was taking his old lady to her doctor’s appointment today. Ziggy and Kahn were holding the fort back at the compound.
Standing he shook hands with Riaan Brandt and Saskia Gordon, thanking them for what they had done for him and his girls. Then DC was next to him throwing her arms around his waist and hugging him tight.
“Congratulations, Beast. Your babies are safe now.” She whispered and then the fucking Crow hissed in his ear. “Let me know when it’s time to have some fun.”
How the fuck did she know?
But he wasn’t going to think about that now. He wanted to get home and hug his babies and then he was going to have a beer with his brothers to celebrate. He hadn’t been at the clubhouse in weeks. He had been in and out of Hawk’s office a few times but he had not sat down with his brothers for a beer or attended church while this shit had been going down. He had delegated a lot of his usual work to Wolf while he was away. He had a hell of a lot of catching up to do.
He wondered what had happened with the woman they were watching for Dom. Was she still at the clubhouse or had that problem been solved?
Beast forgot all about the woman when they walked outside and more of his brothers sat on their bikes outside the courthouse waiting for them. Best of all was his bike, parked next to Hawk’s, waiting for him. A prospect stood next to the bike holding his kutte, his gloves and helmet. Shrugging out of the suit jacket and ripping off the tie strangling his throat he handed both to Will and shrugged on his kutte. As the weight of the leather settled across his shoulders he gave a silent sigh and threw his leg over his bike and sat down. And felt it down to his soul.
Family.
Freedom.
Brotherhood.
Handing the keys of his cage to Will he pulled on his helmet, fastened it and then pulled on his gloves. Even dressed in the stupid black suit pants and black button up shirt he felt at home on his bike. Sitting on his bike he waited for Hawk and DC and then the bikes roared as they all started up together and followed their president home.
It was good to be alive today. So fucking good.
Hours later, after spending time with his babies and settling them down for the night, Beast sat at the bar and sipped on his beer. He was nursing his beer as he now had two very special little people waiting for him at home. Genna had come over to baby sit and spend some time with Penny while he and Rider came to the clubhouse so he could celebrate with his brothers.
Beast looked up when a shot glass slid across the bar in front of him. Fuck. Chris.
“Congratulations on winning your case today, Beast.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes, they were sad. Fuck, he still had to fix this shit. “If you ever need a babysitter don’t hesitate to call me.”
Nope, not going to happen.
“Thanks, Chris. I’m going to be staying close to home so babysitting won’t be necessary.”
The sad eyes instantly disappeared and her face scrunched in an angry frown. “That was damned quick. Who’s looking after them tonight? You have a new woman already?”
Around them all talk ceased and everyone turned to look at the two of them.
What? Fuck no, this was not happening. He was ending this shit right here right now.
“Stop. Don’t say another fucking word, Chris. You’re not my woman. I didn’t promise you anything, we fucked, that was all. I’m sorry if you thought it meant more, it didn’t. And do not piss me off by assuming you can talk to me however the fuck you want because of the time I spent with you.” Beast spoke softly but his voice was hard as nails. He needed her to get it and back off.
He did not want to humiliate her in front of the brothers, she was a nice woman. He should have spoken to her a long time ago, explained that his heart was not available to anyone and never would be.
Pressing her hands onto the top of the bar she stared down at them, sighed heavily then looked up. Her face and eyes were filled with sadness and embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, I was out of line. I misunderstood.” She said softly before she moved off to the other side of the bar.
Beast felt like shit.
“That was fucking heavy but it needed to be said, brother.” Spider said softly as he patted his shoulder, grabbed his beer, slid off the barstool and walked away. His place was instantly taken by Sin.
“Don’t sweat it, brother. We all knew she had high hopes of you claiming her but it was clear to everyone it was never going to happen. I overheard Aunt Beryl warning her you weren’t going to claim her a couple of weeks ago, so she knew and played it her way anyway.”
“Fuck. I should never have fucking gone there in the first place.”
“Yeah, I can’t argue with that. And that’s why I get my pussy outside the club. No hang arounds or club girls ever. They are fucking trouble.” Sin said as he sipped on his beer.
“You would think I had learned my lesson but it seems I’m fucking stupid where club women are concerned.” Beast growled.
Sin laughed and clapped a hand on his back. “You need to come out with me one night, Beast. I’ll introduce you to some women who want a ride on the wild side but never get too close. The ideal kind of women as far as I’m concerned.”
“Nope. Not going near any women for a long fucking time, brother. I’m happy using my hand and not getting involved in female shit.”
“What female shit are we talking about?” DC suddenly said from his other side and Beast jerked when he realised he hadn’t even been aware of her sitting down next to him. She was damned sneaky.
“Beast just declared that he’s done with women for a while and would be using his hand for the foreseeable future.” Sin explained with a grin.
“Oh.” She made big eyes at Beast then grinned. “That’s perfect. I need your help with a project I’m about to start. I’m going to need your skills with building stuff.”
“Sure, anything you need, DC. Call me and we can set up a time to discuss what you need me to do.”
“Thanks, Beast. I’ll let you know next week, enjoy your weekend with your baby girls.” She slipped off the stool and walked over to Hawk and soon after the two of them disappeared upstairs to their room.
Looking around Beast realised that Kid wasn’t anywhere in the room. Actually he hadn’t seen him around all afternoon. While
he had looked around Ice and Ziggy had sat down on either side of him while Sin had moved to the other end of the bar to talk to Spider.
“Where’s Kid? I haven’t seen him around today.” You would have thought he had leaked a club secret with the way the two reacted. They looked around quickly to check whether anyone had overheard his question. But no one had, they were alone at their end of the bar.
“He’s here, just not down here right now. Taking care of our guest.” Ice said softly.
Beast knew not to ask any further questions as it might reach the wrong ears. So he sat there and shot the shit with his brothers until he had finished his beer and then he went home.
Home. To his babies.
Finally they were where they belonged. With him.
Safe.
CHAPTER EIGHT
DC
I had the prospects lined up in front of me and they looked confused, very confused. As they should be. I had stolen them from their duties. But I didn’t care. I needed the double garage cleaned out and I needed it done today. It was in the perfect location, set off to the side of the huge almost warehouse size garage where the brothers worked on their bikes and cars.
I had the electrician, door and ceiling guys coming in on Wednesday, the specialist flooring guys on Thursday and the glass people on Friday. It was a freaking tight schedule but I would make it work. We had two days to clean this shit hole out and get it painted. If it became necessary we would do touch up painting on Saturday. I wanted it done and ready by Monday, at the latest Tuesday.
Clapping my hands together I pulled their wandering attention back to me. “Okay, prossies, I need this garage emptied, as in nothing left inside, empty. We’re moving that perfume bombed car of Beast’s ex into the big garage along with the toolboxes and other shit. Once we’ve got everything out we’ll give it a steam clean and power wash. And tomorrow, once it’s dry, we’ll paint.”
Black Heart And Red Redemption (Iron Dogz MC) Page 8
