by A. Lynn
Nicole: I don’t think that, Rea.
Me: You could have fooled me.
Nicole: I’m sorry you feel that way, but that is not what I meant to say. I just think you deserve so much more.
Me: I’m sorry that he doesn’t let many people see the man that I see, but he is a good man, Nicole. One of the best people I have ever known which is why when he asked me to marry him, I accepted.
Nicole: What the fuck? You’re marrying him? You have been together for like 5 fucking minutes and have been fighting for 4 of those minutes. Don’t do this, Reagan.
Me: Your opinion in who I take as my husband is redundant. I gotta go…
I really hope I didn’t just lose someone who has shown to be a truly amazing friend. She is moderately close to being considered a best friend, but not quite yet. Gun to my head, if I had to name a bestie, it would be Skylar. Shocker, I know.
Whether it is Skylar, Nicole, or even Lynna—who I love to pieces—I don’t know that I will ever be able to say the word ‘biffle’ let alone have one. Fucking Ryan. Her bitch ass has been gone for a little while now yet somehow that fucking bitch is still affecting me day to day.
Chapter 13
Crow
“I’s wish mine’s was big wike you’s, Daddy.”
“We will get you a bigger one when you get older. Why don’t you run in and tell Moma all about riding?” I suggest.
“Otay!” He screams and runs toward Sky on the porch. “Aun’ Skywa! Did you’s see me? I’s was fast!”
“I know! Let’s go tell Moma, Nana, and MiMi all about it!”
“Wace?”
“You know it! You’re going down, J!”
“Otay,” he says mockingly and I can almost feel him rolling his eyes. I don’t tell Skylar that he is a speed demon, that is a lesson she has to learn on her own. I will revel in her loss right beside my little man. “You’s weady?” She nods. “TWENTY, TWO, SEVEN, GO!!!!” And suddenly he is gone. Yup, I know the feeling causing that look to cross her face.
I chuckle and turn to talk to Pop now that we are alone. “I’m going to sit Reagan down today and tell her about the video. Keeping this inside of me feels like something is trying to eat its way out. I would like for Ma and Sky to be there, too, so we don’t need to repeat it.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“She wants to get married soon but I need for her to go into this with all the puzzle pieces in front of her.”
“Are you okay with an expedited wedding date?”
“I know what I want and it’s her and our kids. Do you think it would be pressing our luck too much to let little man stay at Sasha’s tonight? I can call Killy and have him sit on Sasha's house all night. I hate to do it on Christmas but I need to be with my woman tonight and I can only imagine that Ma will need you just as bad.”
“Put a call into the prospects. Not Motherfucker though. Let him be with his family today as they try to celebrate a holiday without Ellery.”
“I’ll just call Killy, he has been J’s shadow since Monday anyway, might make it easier for Sasha, too, knowing that little man accepts him.”
“You’re probably right about that. While you are calling him, I will go ahead and load his bike up in the truck to take to the clubhouse,” he states before turning in the direction of little man’s Harley.
Without an ounce of hesitation, I retrieve my phone from my pocket and hit the little green phone next to Killy’s name.
It only rings once before Killy’s voice is on the other end of the line. “Crow? You good, man? Jordan ok—”
“Yeah, we’re good.”
I hear a heavy yet relieved sigh before he speaks again. “Good. You need something?”
“Yeah, I hate to do this to you on Christmas but Pop and I have some things to take care of with Rea, Ma, and Skylar so little man will be staying with his other grandmother. I need for you to sit on them overnight.”
“I got you. Where does she live and when do you need me?”
“They are both over here with us at Rea’s house now so just come over here so you can meet Sasha beforehand.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Good looking out,” I say, ending the call.
“He going to be able to do it?” Pop asks, walking over to me.
“Yeah. I told him to come over here now to meet Sasha so she doesn’t flip out.”
“Smart.”
“Did you grab the plug-in for his Harley?”
“I did,” Pop informs me just as I hear the rumble of pipes. “That was fast.”
“Yes, it was,” I agree and turn expecting to see Killy, but I see Dec and another rider—whose face is completely covered with his helmet—riding slow enough down the street to give his undivided attention to me instead.
The son-a-bitch finger waves and blows a kiss to me. I move to take out after him but Pop grabs my arm to halt my progression, making a laugh I can’t hear expel from his mouth before the two of them twist their throttles and shoot down the street.
“He is really fucking brave bringing his ass over here,” I seethe. “He has to know that we know it was him by now, he’s been shoving it down our fucking throats. And did you see the fucking cut he was wearing?!”
“I have no clue what the fuck he was thinking. How did he even know we were here?”
“I know who told him, it was fucking Ma. She was on me the day of the explosion about him. She’s a champion for him more than you are.”
He shrugs. “He’s our son, Crow. You and Reagan will be Jordan and Peanut’s champion, too. It’s what we are supposed to do as parents. We won’t always like or agree with things that our children do but we will love you through it.”
“I know, Pop. I can only hope to be half the father you have been.”
“You have already surpassed me,” he attests just as I hear pipes rumbling towards us again.
I jerk around with quickness, ready to snatch him off his bike this time, but when I see that it is Killy pulling up to the curb, my defenses lower a bit. “Thanks for coming man,” I say extending my fist to him.
“No worries,” he replies pounding his knuckles into my own. “Colt, good to see you.”
“You, too, kid. Should we head in?”
“I’m going to call Reagan out here for a second and let her know what I have planned before we take it to the rest of them.”
Me: Will you come here for a second, baby?
My Baby: I’ll be right there.
Less than a minute later she is coming through the front door and down the sidewalk to me. Her pace stutters for a second when she sees Killy standing next to me. My heart drops a little when I see her slap that fake smile she gives when she doesn’t feel like smiling but doesn’t want to be rude.
“Merry Christmas, Killy. What brings you by?”
“I wanted to see if we could get Sasha to keep little man tonight and Killy said that he would sit on the house all night to make sure they are fine,” I answer for him.
“I’m sure she would love that,” she replies with a smile.
“I thought it would be best if they met on neutral ground.” She just nods, not meeting my eyes. “Pop, will you take Killy in and introduce him to Sasha? We’ll be in in a minute.”
“Sure. Come on, kid,” Pop waves him on as he heads back to the house.
“You know that Sasha is going to have a heart attack when Colt introduces him as Killy, right?”
“It’s his name, babe.” She just shrugs and stares at the ground like it is the most interesting thing in the world, but I want her attention so I step into her space and wrap my hand around the back of her neck until she looks up at me. What I wasn’t expecting to see on her face were tears. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing.”
I see a little spark of anger in her eye just before she speaks. “Why did you ask me to marry you if you didn’t want to get married t
o me?”
“What are you talking about? Of course, I want to marry you, I just told you I couldn’t wait.”
“Then why would you do something that would prevent that from happening?”
“I’m at a loss here, Reagan, you’re going to need to spell it out for me.”
“I said I wanted to get married soon and you said you had to tell me something.”
Oh, I see where she’s going. “Baby, I promise I didn’t do anything but there is something that you need to know.”
“Then tell me what it is, Kane.”
“That’s why I want Jordan to go with Sasha tonight. I need for you, Ma, and Skylar to know something. Trust me, if I could marry you right this second I would, but after what Pop and I share, you may want an exit. It would kill me but I would let you go if I had to.”
She raises up on her toes and pulls me closer. “So it’s not just a conversation for just me and you?” She asks with traces of a genuine smile pulling at her lips.
“No, it’s more like a family meeting,” I answer just before I drop my lips on hers in a sweet, yet too chaste kiss. “Let’s go get Jordan squared away and then get this over with.”
“Kane, don’t fret so much about whatever it is that you need to tell me. If you didn’t do something that would come between us, then there is nothing to worry about. We can work through all the rest.”
“I know, it just seems like all we have been doing is working through. It would be nice just to stop and enjoy each other.”
“I don’t think that us enjoying each other has ever been our problem.”
“You know what I mean, just enjoying little man before we are too uncool to hang out with or watching a movie together. Mundane things that most people take for granted.”
“I do know what you mean, that’s what I have always worked to give to J. And I don’t think a cool factor is something you should be worried about, he’s all about you and the MC life.”
“I wasn’t talking about me, I was worried for you. You can only ride my coattails for so long, you know,” I tease and take off running toward the house.
“You are such an asshole!” She yells as she gives chase.
I stop in my tracks and turn to catch her as she runs into my body. “But I’m your asshole.”
“Damn straight. You better remember that,” she lightly threatens with a smile.
******
“Somebody better tell me what the fuck is going on, right now.”
“Babe—”
“Don’t ‘babe’ me, Colt. You two have been acting sketchy since this weekend and that ends now. So, I repeat, somebody better tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“How have I been sketchy?” I demand.
“I don’t know, Crow, why don’t you ask your fiancée why she was crying this afternoon?”
“Touché. But I can assure you that none of you want to know what Pop and I know. And the only reason we kept our mouths shut was because Reagan wanted Jordan’s first Christmas with us a family to be special.”
“Okay, Mijo,” Ma says, letting some of the wind out of her sails. “It was great Reagan. The gift of grandchildren is the most amazing present you could ever give me. I am so very thankful you have allowed us to be a part of your and Jordan’s lives.”
“Didn’t have much of a choice,” she shrugs. “Colt threatened to fight me for custody if I didn’t!”
“If I remember rightly, you suggested it and I just agreed.”
“I don’t know, Daddy, the threat was very real,” Skylar offers with a giggle.
“So I agreed with vigor… sue me,” Colt laughs.
“I hate to be a mood killer here, but we need to get through this,” I state firmly, despite the anxiety that is swirling in my gut. Getting nods around the room, I go to the backpack I brought to retrieve the laptop and cables that Einstein said were universal and would adapt to any television after 2005 and start hooking it up.
“It’s a video? I thought you had something to tell us,” Ma questions.
“You just need to see,” Pop replies, sitting down beside her and pulling her into his side before reaching out and doing the same with Skylar.
“You ready, baby?”
“I don’t know, but it kind of feels like I shouldn’t be,” she whispers, wringing her hands. “Just play it.” I push play and rush to her side, pulling her into my arms.
When the video starts we see Reagan running up the stairs in her house calling out for Ryan.
I can feel the instant Reagan realizes what she is about to watch because her body goes deadly still.
“What are you doing in my house?”
“I need for you to give your friends a message.”
“Who?”
“The Unsaintly Kings.”
“What kind of message?”
“The painful kind.”
When Terry makes a move in her direction she shoots to her feet and turns to glare at me. “What the fuck is this?”
“Colt, pause it,” Ma demands causing Reagan to turn and glare at her.
“You want to watch this shit, Stella? You want to watch that man use my face and body like a punching bag? Good to know we aren’t as good as I thought we were.”
“It’s not like that, Rea. I love you like you are my own and the last thing I want to see is you being broken, but they wanted us to watch it for a reason.”
“And what fucking reason is that, Crow? Huh?”
“Let’s go upstairs while they see what they need to see and I will tell you what I know. Please, baby.” She nods so I grab her hand and lead her up to our bedroom, not stopping until I have her sitting on the bed with the door shut.
“That was pretty fucked up, Kane. You couldn’t have given me a little bit of a fucking warning that you were about to show the lowest point in my life to the people I consider family? Where the fuck did you get it anyway?”
“I know who the second man is.”
The color drains from her face at the same time I hear an anguished outcry from the room below us, and I know without a doubt, my mother just heard his voice.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Dec, baby. I’m so sorry that he is a piece of shit.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense. He was still a part of the Kings when I was attacked.”
“He’s been playing both sides. He’s also been sending me messages from an unknown number. The first time it was of the explosion that took Unit and Rock, and the second was you.”
“This is all so fucked up, Kane. Why would they do this to me?” She asks through a cascade of tears. “What do we do—”
She is interrupted by a hard knocking on the door just before it flies open, displaying the very red and tear-stained faces of Ma and Skylar for a second before they are charging Reagan and wrapping their arms tightly around each other. Ma is saying something to Reagan in a low tone that I am unable to hear, but that’s fine, Reagan needs this mothering and sisterly experience.
I start to join them when I notice Pop in the doorway looking conflicted. Once I reach the three women I wrap my arms around them and throw my head at Pop in a ‘get the fuck over here manner’. We must have stood there for a good thirty minutes before Reagan rasps out, “I have to use the bathroom.”
“I’ll go make some coffee and then we can decide where we go from here. You want some tea, baby?”
“Please.”
******
“So, what now?” Skylar asks to get the conversation going.
“I’m interested to know what everyone else thinks,” I say, holding onto my opinion. “Who wants to go first?”
“Why don’t you go first, Crow?” Pops throws in with a raised brow.
“I really didn’t want to start, but whatever,” I say never taking my eyes off Pop. “When the opportunity presents itself I am going to put him to the ground.” Gasps fill the air. “He has fucked me over one too many times. Have Cleo drug me? Fine, I can deal with that and mov
e on. But standing by while my girl gets brutalized is something that I will never be able to get past.”
“Crow, he’s our brother. Are you sure it has to be so drastic? What he did was fucked up—and Rea, I am so fucking sorry for what happened to you—but killing him?” She shakes her head and goes silent.
“I can’t have Reagan feeling like she is looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life. This discussion is just a formality, I’m not going to change my mind.”
“As much as it pains me to say this,” Ma starts, “but I agree with Crow.”
“You can’t be serious, Stella.”
“But I am though. He stood by and watched what the monster did to her, Colt. You saw the video the same way I did, that is not the man that we raised. I don’t know what happened and when but something fundamentally changed the foundation of Dec.”
“He didn’t do anything in the video though, did he?”
“That’s the fucking point, Pop, he didn’t do a damn thing!” I snap.
“I would be willing to bet he had something to do with Harley and Roen’s sister getting taken. Gauge is gone because of their actions and let’s not forget he fucking blew up two of your brothers. There is no redeeming him, Colt,” Ma mutters sadly.
“What do you think, baby?”
“I kind of agree with all of you, but the bottom line is that he—and when I say he, I am referring to the Rippers as a whole—is hurting people, myself included. So, I don’t care what is done to him, I just don’t want to live in fear.”
“Do you really think they will come back for her?” Pop demands.
“Are you being serious right now? We just saw Dec riding down the street. Which reminds me, who told him where we would be at?”
“What?” Reagan gasps. “Do we need to get J and go back to the clubhouse?”
“He will be safe with Killy on patrol,” I try to assure her but I don’t think it is working.
