Stripping Callum (Last Hangman MC Book 6)

by Muriel Garcia

  “How dare she?” I try to sound as outraged as he is.

  “I know!” he exclaims.

  “Sorry.” Bella shrugs and chuckles. “When can you come home?”

  “Next week.” I sigh.

  “Why are they keeping you here for so long?” She frowns.

  “Because they think I’m just going to be reckless and not listen to their advice and go crazy the minute I get out of here.”

  “They would be right.”

  “Don’t side with them!”

  “I’m not, but I know you.” She laces our fingers. I look at our hands, and her tiny hands fit perfectly in my big ones.

  “You should move in with me when I get out of here.” I look up at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She seems stunned for a minute.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I don’t want us to keep going back and forth between my place and Suzie’s. It would be easier on everybody.”

  “What do you say, Elijah?” she asks him.

  “Duh! Yes!” he exclaims making us laugh and me wince on top of it.

  “Be careful. Looks like it’s settled.” She smiles wide at me, squeezing my hand.

  “I know, it’s the fucking stitches. They are pulling on the skin every time I make the smallest move.” I frown.

  “Don’t say bad words,” Elijah scolds me.

  “Gotcha, little man.” I kiss the top of his head. “I’m happy you’re moving in with me.”

  “Us, too.” She kisses my knuckles.

  “Feel free to move in while I’m still in here. Ask Jase and Gabe for some help.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you to think I’m overtaking your house.” She chuckles.

  “I’m sure. There’s enough space for all of our stuff.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What are you thanking me for?” I ask, confused.

  “For making me the happiest woman ever.” She beams at me.

  “You make it sound like I asked you to marry me.” I chuckle.

  “I don’t care much about getting married. If it happens cool, if it doesn’t, cool.” She shrugs.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, never been into marriage. You asking me to live with you means the same thing to me as if you asked any other woman to marry you.” She shrugs.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you.” She gets up and kisses me deeply as Elijah is asleep on my chest.

  I rarely see the positive in the fucked up things that happen in my life, but maybe I was supposed to go through what I did to find Bella and appreciate her being in my life that much more. I’ve always been happy with the ones around me that I overlooked my own happiness. Now that I finally happy, I don’t want to imagine my life without the ones who make me smile. It makes every little moment that much sweeter. I know, I’m turning into a fucking pussy. Fuck my life.

  Annabella

  It’s been a week since Callum has asked me to move in with him, and today is the big day. It’s also the day before he comes out of the hospital, finally. I was slightly putting it off in the eventuality that he would change his mind and that I would have to move back to Suzie’s. I wouldn’t have minded, but I didn’t want Elijah to be crushed by the possibility that it could happen. I was told off yesterday when he asked me yet again if I had moved my stuff in.

  Though he’s been put through hell, he’s recovered very quickly. I’m surprised. I wasn’t sure he’d make it out alive at first, and now he’s ready to come out and get back to his normal life. The doctors told him to take it easy or he’d be back in no time. I’m not sure if it’s gone through one ear and out the other or if he actually listened to them. Time will tell.

  Gabe, Jase, Aleck, and Bennett have been helping me get the little stuff I had from Suzie’s to Callum’s and install a security system at Suzie’s in the eventuality that someone could come after her because we are linked.

  They also sorted the place out to make it childproof as over the years Callum removed the kids’ security stuff.

  I’m still surprised that despite all that has happened, he isn’t pushing me away and saying it’d be best for me to stay as far away from him as possible. I’m so happy that he’s changing and wants a life with Elijah and me. It’s just weird knowing that a couple of weeks ago, he pushed me away so much that I left him.

  The threat of his father still being out there is putting a shadow over our newfound happiness together. Hopefully, he saw what happened to Shane and won’t bother us. I know it’s wishful thinking, but I have to try and stay positive or I’ll drive myself crazy.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ayden asks me as I’m putting my clothes in the closet.

  “All that we’ve been through.”

  “I know the feeling. We’ve all been through that moment of reflection about what happened to us. It’ll fade out eventually,” she says, patting my shoulder.

  “What will?”

  “The feeling of being watched and having a weight on your shoulders about the what ifs and the possibility of someone striking again.”

  I nod. “It’s scary to know that his father is still out there and could follow up what Shane started.”

  “Rightly understandable, but you’ll get there. It’ll take some time to adjust to it, just know that Callum or any of the guys for that matter will never let anything happen to you or Elijah. They are like overprotective mothers. They will be on your back twenty-four-seven but it’s out of love and care.”

  “Good to know.” I chuckle.

  “Nothing that a blowjob or some sexy time can’t fix.” She shrugs and grins holding up a sexy nightie I bought a while back to tease Callum but never got to wear.

  “Oh, shut it.” I laugh and take it from her.

  “I’m glad Callum found you. You two are perfect for each other.” She smiles, looking content.

  “Me too. Is it weird that he’s almost double my age?”

  “Is it weird to you?”

  “No, I don’t care about his age.”

  “Then it shouldn’t matter.” She smiles. “I think it’s good that you’re younger than him and have a kid. Probably makes him feel younger than he is, and he gets a redo of the life he wanted and never had.”

  “It’s fucked up what his father and Shane put him through.” I sigh sitting on the bed.

  “I know, Bennett told me.” She frowns and sits next to me. “What’s going through your head?”

  “I’m wondering how it’s all going to affect him emotionally.”

  “He’ll get there with Elijah and your help. Don’t worry. If not, we’ll kick his ass. Trust us with that.” She smirks, and I believe her. I’ve heard some of the crazy stories of what they’ve done to their men.

  We finish putting my stuff in his room while Charline and Viv take care of Elijah’s stuff in Billy’s old room. They decided to give the room a slight makeover and change the color and some of the decorations. I don’t know how he’ll take it, but it’s a new beginning for all of us so hopefully he’ll approve.

  The next day…

  Last night, the girls stayed the night, and we had a good old girl’s night. It was a welcome change and something we all needed. We ordered food and decked the place with Christmas decorations and welcome home decorations. I’m sure he’s either going to hate us or knows that we’ve done something like this already. I’ve seen the pictures of what the girls did to their compound after they rebuilt it.

  Elijah loved the attention he got from all the girls, having six of us give him cuddles and kisses. He was in heaven, although he kept asking when Callum could come home. He really took to Callum and loves him. I’m so happy about that. I was dreading that he would hate him in the beginning and I’d have to stop seeing him.

  That’s always been a big rule for me. In the eventuality that I found someone, if Elijah didn’t like them, I would break up with them because Elijah’s happiness comes first to me.

  Gabe and Jase are picking up C
allum from the hospital. There was no point in me going even though I really wanted to. Callum still has to be careful and lie down as much as he can. With him being so tall, he’d take the whole backseat, and the two front seats would be taken so there would be no space for me.

  Elijah wanted to come too, so it would have been too much of a trouble, which allowed me to help with the food preparation. The MC always goes all out when it comes to any kind of celebration, and this one isn’t any different.

  Food lines the kitchen counter and the dining room table. Josie made enough cakes and donuts to feed an army, and the drinks are ready.

  I’m excited to see Callum back in our home. It’ll be the first time we will be here together since he asked me to move in with him. It may not seem that important, but it really means as much to me as if he actually asked me to marry him. It means he wants to live with me and spend as much time as he can with me. I don’t need a ring to display that, but living together is pretty special to me.

  What bothers me is that it’s the house where he lived with Alina and Billy. The house where they were killed. A house his father knows about and could come here at any given time and fuck things up for us. I’m not worried that I’m filling a gap, but with all that’s been revealed about how Alina came to meet Callum and what happened between them in the beginning, I’m still wondering if Billy was his kid, if she actually loved him, how he feels now knowing it. Surely, it’s affecting him in a way. I want to talk to him about it, but I don’t want to bring bad memories, or new memories for that matter, back to the surface and mess with his head. I know we’re going to have to talk about it at some point, but I want him to start the talk, not me. He has to be ready and willing to talk about it of his own accord instead of me prompting him to talk about it.

  “They’re here!” a very pregnant Nancy squeals clapping.

  We all hide as Elijah squeals excitedly, bouncing around. There was no point in asking him to hide to surprise him as he’s too excited. I know the second the door is open, he’ll run to Callum and jump in his arms, or at least try to as he would struggle to pick him up.

  Instead, Elijah is standing by the door with a big sign he made saying ‘Welcome home, daddy Callum’. I wasn’t sure about the daddy part. We haven’t talked about it, but that’s how Elijah feels about Callum when he knows he’s not his biological father. He doesn’t seem to care. He loves Callum as his own father, and I hope Callum won’t shut off because of it. That’d be heartbreaking for Elijah.

  The door slowly opens, and I can see the excitement in Elijah as he’s bouncing on the spot. As soon as he sees Callum, he squeals loudly. The looks of sheer happiness on Callum’s face is a sight to be seen. I’ve never seen him this happy.

  “Hey, little man.” He kneels as best as he can and wraps his arms around him. Elijah climbs in his arms, and Callum stands up. “What do you have here?” He takes the sign Elijah made for him, and for a second that seems to go on for forever; Callum is quiet. He looks at Elijah and lets out a shuddering breath. “Thank you, son,” Callum says, and I’m pretty sure all the women in the room start tearing up at the same time, starting with me.

  “I missed you, Daddy,” Elijah says, wrapping his little arms around Callum’s neck.

  “I missed you, too,” Callum says through the tears he’s desperately fighting holding back.

  We all come out from our hiding spots, and Callum smiles at us holding his free arm out for me. I walk to him and wrap myself carefully on the side he has stitches in.

  “Way to make me look like a softie to all of them,” he whispers and makes me laugh.

  “That wasn’t the plan, we were supposed to surprise you. This little one wanted dibs on the first hug so we let him have it. Didn’t expect you to tear up.” I shrug and kiss his chest.

  “This is the best welcome home ever, suck on that, all of you!” he says looking at his friends.

  “Yeah, you win,” Jase says, chuckling, picking up his and Nicole’s son.

  “How do you feel?” I ask him as he gives me Elijah. He still isn’t supposed to lift much weight.

  “Exhausted and I’ve been doing fu—. I haven’t been doing anything for ten days,” he groans and goes to the couch. “Not that I’m trying to be rude, but I’m still in a lot of pain so you can all be my slaves for the day.” He sprawls on the couch and motions for me to give him Elijah again. I place him on the couch, and he cuddles into him.

  “What do you want?” I smile, kissing him properly.

  “Anything, you know I’m not picky.”

  “Okay.” I smile and go to the kitchen to make him and Elijah a plate.

  Everybody starts getting food and chatting to each other, the party a lot quieter than what I’m used to from the compound, but it’s better this way; at least he’s not tempted to do anything crazy.

  Having a big family has never been something that appealed to me. I was good with Elijah, Gail, Suzie and Danny in my life. Along the way, I found Josie and then the MC. They all slowly became family. I might be closer to some than others, but they all mean the world to me. I don’t know what I would do without them in my life.

  Bringing my men their plates, they dig in and if I didn’t know better, I’d really think that Callum is Elijah’s father. Besides the hair color and some physical features, they are two peas in a pod.

  My life is complete. I’m finally content with it. We all struggle through life to find happiness, trying to achieve the perfect life you imagine, but sometimes, reality is very different than what you had in mind. Sometimes it’s that much more special to you even if it’s something you never planned to have.

  Callum

  December 14, 2016

  It’s been a week since I’ve been out of the hospital, and it’s still a struggle to do some of the stuff I used to do. I still can’t work out or lift much weight. I have to be careful with Elijah, too. He likes to jump in bed and join Bella and me in the morning. We’ve had to shift sides in bed for the time being as he always cuddled me on the wrong side and was touching the tender place where they cut me open.

  Elijah.

  He is something. He brought me to my knees when I opened the door and saw his little face and the sign he was holding. I had seen it straightaway, but I wanted to make a big deal out of it for him. I could tell he was excited and how important it was to him, but I didn’t realize how important it was to me.

  With the way things were, I wasn’t allowing myself to really feel. It’s been a slow process, but it started with asking Bella and Elijah to move in with me. I knew I needed them in my life daily and that going back and forth wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted a family again, and I don’t regret making that decision. I didn’t expect that hearing him call me daddy would affect me this much. I didn’t know I wanted it this much.

  I’m just hoping we’re done with the drama for a few years. I don’t want it to send Bella running.

  “What are you doing?” Elijah asks me as I’m looking at the state my motorcycle is in. After the crash, Gabe brought it back here, knowing I’d want to work on it as I recover.

  “Trying to bring this beauty back to life.” I smile at him.

  “Can I help?” He grins at me as he walks over and takes a good look at the bike.

  “Are you sure you’re up for it?” I chuckle, seeing him study it with intent.

  “Yes, Daddy.” He beams at me, and my heart skips a beat. I’m still not used to hearing it. Reading it was something special, but hearing it; man, it does things to me and my little heart.

  “Okay then, son. Let’s do this.” We fist bump, and I get on the ground.

  This feels like what I should have been doing fourteen years ago with Billy. Working on bikes, cars, anything; getting down and dirty doing boys stuff. In hindsight, I wasn’t doing anything like this with him. He was always with his mom, never with me. It makes me wonder if I was doing something wrong. With Elijah, it’s different. He might not be blood-related, but he’s my son. I
guess he was the first time he hugged me. Something shifted in me then. I wanted to push those thoughts aside, but they kept coming back.

  Elijah and Bella are my do-overs at having a happy life. Things aren’t always going to go well the first time around, but this is it. I know this is what I was meant to do with my life. Have a beautiful woman sharing it with me, an amazing kid and maybe more soon. It’ll depend on what Bella wants.

  We haven’t talked about having a kid together, but I hope it’s something we can look forward to in the future.

  After everybody left the day of my welcome home party, I took a good look around the house. The girls decked this house with Christmas shit all over. I should have known they would do something like that. Especially with what they did to the compound. I was expecting it, but I wasn’t ready for it. Even in our bedroom, they put Christmas decorations. I drew a line there and Bella took them down without whining. I think it was a test to see if I would just allow anything. Either way, we had fun that night with the tinsels; let’s just say she looked hot wrapped in just them.

  Besides the Christmas decorations, they redid Elijah’s room also. I have to say, I love what they did with it. They painted one-half of the free wall in a chalkboard black so he can just draw on it and wipe it off as he pleases. He seems to love it and hasn’t attacked any other walls. The rest of the room changed a bit. They rearranged the furniture and put a new bed in.

  It’s very different than what it was, and I’m glad they did it. It’s Elijah’s room now. I’ve accepted that fully, and this change has only helped me get on with things. I do wonder how Bella feels living in the house where Alina and Billy lived. I can’t imagine it being that easy for her. I know I wouldn’t like it, but then we’re talking about me. Bella is a lot more understanding and accepting than I am.

  There’s one big issue to all of this. Even though I like this house, I don’t see it as a home anymore. In hindsight, I don’t think I ever did. Everything from my past seems forced now and doesn’t mean much to me anymore. It might be harsh, but that’s how I feel.