by A. Lynn
“Are you being serious right now? Horse has done all of my ink. Except for the watercolor tulip on my foot. I had planned to go see him when the large mark on my hip healed, but then I found out I was pregnant. No one wants to tattoo a pregnant woman.”
“Seeing as the club knows the deal with the mark, Horse may be willing to cover it right now. Maybe do some research and present your case to him, Axle, and Bane.”
“I might just do that. So, do they know who is responsible for the damage? Is it who is responsible for attacking me?”
“It could be the Rippers, but we don’t know yet.”
“The Rippers? That’s who attacked me?”
“Yes, but that stays between you and me, Gunner would have my cut if he knew I told you.”
“I’ll keep it to myself, I promise. So you think that is who shot up Stamped?”
“Maybe, but there are other things I need to tell you. Some shit has gone down since we were apart.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Okay, so you know that when you were being attacked, Gunner, Axle, and I were interrogating Cleo for information on who helped her drug me.”
“Yes, I know that.”
“Well, an hour or so before that we were in Church deciding what Cleo’s and her accomplice’s punishment should be. The brothers voted to exile them from the club and the city.”
“I know that you can exile them from the club, but can you really exile them from the city?”
“Don’t know, never had to do it before. Them being an enemy of the club is the meaning behind it. I guess we would just make life hard on them around here. Our fingers are in a lot of the pies in this city, we could make it hard for them to stay.”
“Lord knows I hate that bitch, but that’s kind of fucked up, Crow.”
“The club has always been good to the women who offer their services to the brothers. There is no reason for any of them to take a negative action against us.”
“I’m not saying I disagree—because fuck her and anyone who aligned their bitch-ass with her—I’m just saying your reach is vaster than I would have ever thought.”
“Well, we do like to think of ourselves as entrepreneurs,” I say, breathing on my fingernails and then buffing them on my jeans.
She pushes my shoulder, rolling her eyes. “Continue with your story, dumber.”
“So when we were in Church deciding what to do with them, Dec opens his mouth and says something to the effect of ‘why do we have to lose two club pussies just because Crow can’t handle his shit?’.”
“What a dick.”
“Just wait. At the start of Church, we had come to a group decision that when it comes to the Rippers that we will exact just as much force as they would. We tried to talk to them civilly, and look what happened, they attacked you. I want you to know that Terry is dead when I see him. I have never wanted to kill anyone in my life, but he fucked up when he came after my family. I won’t let him have that chance again, I won’t lose you, little man, and Peanut.”
She just nods and brings her lips to mine.
“I love you, Kane, so much,” she croaks.
“I love you, baby,” I reply against her lips.
She pulls away, saying, “Tell me the rest.”
“After Church, we went to talk with Cleo. The only reason Gunner said I could do was observe, not speak, but she wasn’t interested in telling us more than she did in Ma’s office at the salon. But she was steadily trying to talk to me.”
“Doesn’t surprise me.”
“So, Gunner let me talk to her. She didn’t have too much to say still, but she then she said ‘it’s not like we would believe her anyway’.”
“What does that mean?”
“That’s what Gunner asked. You know what she said?”
“What?”
“That it was a fucking brother.”
“What? Surely she’s lying, right? She doesn’t have the most honest track record from where I’m sitting.”
“Yeah, we didn’t believe her… until she presented us with evidence.”
“Dios, Mio, Crow! This shit is better than Telenovela!”
“Except it’s not funny. What I am about to tell you is beyond fucked up.”
She sobers. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Please continue.”
“She kept saying your brother this and your brother that; I started to get pissed and I yelled for her to tell me something that I didn’t already know. I knew it was a brother, but who? Then she got mad and yelled that I wasn’t listening to her. It wasn’t a brother, it was my brother.”
“No way… Your blood brother was the brother helping her?”
“She recorded one of their meetings. I know what his voice sounds like.”
“What did he say to being outed?”
“He ghosted everyone after Church that day. He didn’t come back until yesterday, so Gunner called Church. When I walked in there he was sitting at the table laughing with Cash and Moose—his best friends since they were kids—like he hadn’t been MIA for the last month. He hadn’t even talked to Ma or Skylar.”
“What did he say then? Did he try to deny it?”
“He didn’t try to deny it. Said that it was all her idea and that he was just trying to get me laid. But they failed the first time they tried because she didn’t give me enough to carry out their plans. But the second time, she gave me too much and my body seemed to completely shut down.”
“How could he play that angle when there is a video?”
“Because nobody knows about the recording apart from me, Gunner, Cleo, Axle, and now you.”
“Oh. So what is to come of Dec, now?”
“Pop and Dec’s friends tried to play it off as pranks between brothers and he shouldn’t be punished.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“Don’t worry, baby, Trigger—Gunner’s dad and MC founder—said that it wasn’t as simple as that. The club has rules and we uphold these rules to keep everything running smoothly. A member is a member is a member, and even though we don’t think that there is a divide between ranks, to some there is. I am Road Captain 1, a patched officer of the club, but Dec is just a patched member. So Trigger said by the laws of the MC a punishment has to be enforced against Dec because he took a negative action against a patched officer.”
“What does all that mean, honey?”
I exhale a labored breath. “It means that the officer's council had a meeting to decide Dec’s fate within the club from that day forward.”
“What was the vote?”
“A couple wanted to revert him back to a prospect, a couple wanted to give him grunt work for a year, and a few others wanted to strip his colors.”
“Strip his colors?”
“Take his cut and kick him out.”
“Oh.”
“When the vote came around the table, Gunner said that since the action was against me that I would have the deciding vote.”
“That’s understandable. So what did you vote for?”
“I voted that we present the options in front of him and let him pick the punishment. He made his bed, it was only fair that he got to pick what was in it.”
“That’s diabolical.”
“That’s the same thing Tex said. I wasn’t trying to be though,” I sigh. “I didn’t want to be the deciding factor that kicked my baby brother out of the club he’d dreamed of being a part of since forever. It wouldn’t have mattered what I picked, one way or another, Dec was walking away from the club. The big surprise was that Cash went with him.”
“But not Moose?”
“They wanted him to, but he refused to leave the Kings just because his best friends did.”
“That was very brave of him.”
“I agree.”
“So, Dec is out? How are your parents handling that?”
“Pop is crazy mad that I didn’t do something to help Dec out. I haven’t talked to him or Ma since yesterday.”
“How di
d you not try to help you brother. You didn’t vote. What else could he possibly want from you?”
“ I don’t know but I got to go, baby. Church is calling.”
“Okay. Do you still have a key to the front door?”
“Yeah.”
“Come back.”
“I will. Is the code on the security still the same?”
“Yeah, Asher is changing it out tomorrow, though.”
“Speaking of him, can I get his contact info? We need some work done over at Stamped before it can be reopened.”
“Sure, I have his card in my purse.”
“Thanks, baby.” She hands the card to me and I use her extended arm to drag her into my arms. I grip her low on her stomach and raise her up until she is eye level with me.
“How good would it feel if you were sliding into me right now.” She states matter-of-factly, there was no question in sight.
“Too fucking good.”
“Then maybe you should.”
“You have no idea how bad I want to right now.”
“Want to show me?”
“Behave. I’ll be back in a little while.”
“Do I have to?”
“I love you, baby,” I say against her lips.
“I love you more,” she mumbles back.
“Not possible,” I say, breaking the kiss and setting her on her feet.
“Cock blocker,” she glares.
“You’re too cute. Now, off to bed with you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay. Night, honey.”
“Night, baby,” I say kissing her one more time before slipping out of the door.
Chapter 5
Crow
“Alright,” Gunner says as he smacks the gavel on the tabletop. “Now that we are all here, let’s think this through.”
“How do you suppose we ‘think this through’ without all the people that were present at the shop?” Pop mockingly demands, using actual air quotes.
“Pop! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Why would you think that something is wrong with me?”
“Because of the way you are fucking acting right now. Your attitude isn’t helping!”
“I better shut my mouth then, before I get railroaded like Dec did.”
“That’s about e-fucking-nough, Colt!” Axle leaps to his feet to lean over the table. A very apparent threat.
“What-the-fuck-ever,” Pop mumbles.
“Since it is such a big deal,” he glares at Pop, “I have already put in a call to Kimberly.”
“Well, where the fuck is she? Hiding because she is scared of being caught in a lie, I bet.”
“Are you even hearing yourself right now, Pop?”
“What the fuck does she have to lie about? I can assure you that neither Horse, Bane, or myself have discussed Dec or Cash deciding to leave the club with her. But since you are so disbelieving of anyone’s loyalty whose name isn’t Declan Greene, let me tell you where she is. She has been in the fucking hospital, being treated for a bullet wound in her arm. Is that okay with you, Colt?”
He opens his mouth to answer, but I trump him. “Shut the fuck up, Pop. Is Kimberly okay, Axle?”
“Yeah, she said the bullet passed through the muscle just above and behind her collarbone. Shouldn’t be too much trouble healing, but she’s going to need physical therapy because the damage to the muscle will most likely be nerve related.”
“Damn, that sucks. Will she have to stay over?” I ask. “That reminds me, here is the card for the company doing work at Reagan’s,” I say fishing it out of my pocket.
“Thanks, man. I’ll call them tomorrow. But no, I spoke with Kimberly just before Church started and she was leaving the hospital. She was going to stop and pick up her meds and then she’ll be here. She should be here any time.”
I nod. “Fun fact, the construction company is Dub’s day job.”
“I didn’t know he did construction,” Gunner says.
“I didn’t either until he called me from Reagan’s house the other day with a situation,” I chuckle.
“Situation? Is she okay? The baby?” Pop rapid fires at me.
“Wait… baby?” Tex asks, wounded.
“Hold on, I’ll fill everyone in. Pop,” I say, making eye contact, “her ex-boyfriend ended up being one of the owners of the construction company, they didn’t end so well, so they were kind of arguing when I got there. But yes, she and Peanut are fine. I have a picture, want to see?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
“Yeah, Pop,” I laugh and dig out my wallet. “I have a couple, so you can keep this one.”
“Thank you,” he rasps. “Peanut.”
“Alright, fucker, we waited long enough,” Tex grumbles.
“To keep from repeating old news, I’m going to give the highlights. I met Reagan at Fallen when we were there for Skylar’s party, but I didn’t see her after that for a month or so. The next two weeks we were kind of together all the time, but it didn’t get physical until the weekend before she was attacked.”
“Couldn’t seal the deal, huh?”
“Fuck you, Tex,” I laugh. “Then she was attacked. The hospital did blood work when she was brought in but it didn’t come back until a couple of days after she was already home. I wasn’t there because I was getting my great-grandmother’s ring, so I could propose.”
“Then why did you guys break up?” Moose asks.
“I’m getting there,” I say. “The hospital said that a hormone in her blood was elevated, indicating that she was pregnant. I was in shock because she just told me that she was pregnant and we had only slept together like five days before. I wasn’t buying it. I said some super shitty things and walked out the door.”
“A pregnancy test won’t give any results that early, though,” Axle states.
“That was my reasoning, too. But she disappeared for a month, and then the next time I saw her was when she was forced to be in the same room with me by Ma and Skylar.”
“See, Crow? I told you your Ma is fucking scary.”
I laugh and continue. “Skylar wanted to know what Reagan had said exactly and why I denied the baby. I didn’t listen when she was telling me the first time, because she didn’t say that she passed a pregnancy test, only that a specific hormone was elevated. Sky said that the HCG—CGH—GCC or what-the-fuck-ever it’s called, begins elevating at conception. A five and under is a clear negative, six to twenty-four is a gray area and needs retesting, and anything over twenty-five is a clear positive.”
“What was Reagan’s number?” Unit asks.
“Twenty-three.”
“And you denied that shit?” Unit follows up.
“I did then, but I don’t now. She has a paternity test set up for February twentieth.”
“You shouldn’t let her do that,” Shadow states.
“I don’t want her to, but she wants to remove any doubt that anyone might have?”
“Who gives a fuck what anyone else thinks? You’re not the father of her little boy, but that doesn’t make him any less yours.”
“Trust me, Shadow, I know. But this is something she feels like she needs to do right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to spend the next almost two months changing her mind.”
He opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by someone knocking on the door before Motherfucker has it opened far enough to poke his head in. “Uh, hey guys. I know I’m not to interrupt while you are in Church, but Kimberly Reeves is out here. She says you’re expecting her?”
“We are. Show her in,” Gunner says. “And bring an extra chair in, too.”
“Sure thing, Prez.”
“Kimberly, sweetheart, come on in. He is running to get you a chair, shouldn’t take but a minute.
“Thanks, Gunner,” she says, stumbling into the room.
“Here, babe, you can have my seat,” Bane offers, jumping to his feet and rounding the table towards her.
“Thanks
, B,” she replies being ushered to his chair by a hand that is a little too low on her hip. Intimately low, perhaps?
“How are you feeling?” Axle asks.
“It’s not the worst pain I have ever experienced. They gave me morphine in the hospital a few hours ago, so I’ve kind of felt numb until the last hour or so. That’s why I needed to get my meds before I came here.”
“Have you taken your meds, now?”
“No, I’m going to wait until I go home. I don’t want to drive on them.”
“We could set you up in a room here,” Doc adds. “I’d feel better being able to check on you.”
“She’s going to be staying in my room,” Bane declares before going to the door and screaming, “Killy!”
“No, I’m not, Bane. I’m going home.”
“You are.”
“I’m—” she starts but gets interrupted.
“What’s up, Bane?” Killian pants.
“Grab a water and some cheese crackers, so she can take her medicine.”
“On it,” he says, almost running into Motherfucker behind him.
“One chair,” Motherfucker smiles.
“Thanks,” Bane says before sliding the extra chair beside Kimberly. So close they are definitely sharing air. “Alright, babe. What happened tonight?”
Before she can answer, there is a knock on the door. Then Killy pokes his head in, “There were only peanut butter crackers in the kitchen, is that okay?”
“She’s allergic to peanuts,” Bane states, causing the brothers to snicker. “What, Fuckers?”
“Okay,” Killy says. “Here is the bottle of water, I will go and make you a grilled cheese real quick.”
“That’s not necess—” Kimberly starts.
“That would be great,” Bane talks over her.
I’ve been holding in a laugh since he flew out of his chair towards her. If I didn’t know better, I would think that he claimed her. But it’s the look she has on her face that has my gut busting.
“Problem, Crow?” Gunner smirks at me.
“Just enjoying watching Bane try to hump a doorknob!” I pant, drawing a chorus of laughter from my brothers.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Kimberly demands.
